tessa thompson. cis woman. she/her. bisexual biromantic. ⇝ hey, isn’t that jaye sosa? i think that the thirty five year old from manchester, england works as a baker at puggy’s cakes, but outside of that people describe them as flour on her face, smell of lavender & mugs of warm tea. i hear they are indecisive & lazy, but they are also known to be patient & upbeat. consider giving them a visit at their home in delilah’s den gated community and get to know why they’re called the horror buff.
tw death
Jaye was born and raised in Manchester, England and is the second oldest child, with her having a brother two years older than her while she has two younger sisters and a younger brother. She was born to an English mother and an American father, but spent most of her childhood living in Manchester so still holds onto that accent.
When she was thirteen, she moved with her family to Alaska where her fathers side of the family were from.
She took a while to get used to being around her fathers side of the family, but she grew quite close to her grandmother and grandfather, both of them having interests that she had. She was taught much more than she already knew about baking from her grandmother while her and her grandfather bonded about their love of horror movies.
She mainly kept to herself in school, with a small group of friends that she really cared about and that cared about her too.
She was in her final year of high school when she got the worst news that she could possibly get, her grandfather had passed away, leaving her heartbroken.
She continued on with the rest of her high school year, graduating and getting into a small college for baking.
Once she was finished in college she found herself a job in Puggy’s cakes as a baker, she loves meeting the customers that come in and gets to know them like they were her friends, some of which ended up becoming friends with her.
other facts:
She is bisexual and biromantic, she shared her first kiss with another woman the summer before her final year of high school.
She doesn’t have any pets, although she would love to have a dog.
She has two tattoos, one is a tribute to her grandfather while the other is a rose.
She was left her grandfathers large horror movie memorabilia collection in his will and she takes great care of it.
She has a horrible sweet tooth and has to stop herself from taste testing in work.
THERE WERE ONLY SO MANY PLACES that Stella hadn't gotten herself fired from in her life fully lived in Anchorage, and having a felony to her name did not help with that already small job pool. But with a wedding on the horizon, and God, was that not cheap despite any and every shortcut her and Cyrek tried to take with saving money, one would think the brunette would try to take the jobs she did manage to pick up a little more seriously. Or, at least not fantasize about getting her coworker arrested and directly insult the food being served. (One would be wrong.) "Long day or something?" She asked in response to the coffee comment, considering her own to be one even if she hadn't even yet reached the halfway point of her shift. "The pies are baked every morning by someone who actually knows what they're doing." A very unsubtle glance was pointed towards the kitchen with her statement. "If you got a sweet tooth." Her other greatest sin at this new job was her own sweet tooth did have her sneaking bites of the desserts when she could. "Maybe they'll even call him in for a lil' questioning right before work, see who's late then, yeah?" If only the world would deliver such petty justice for her. "Some understanding wouldn't hurt 'round here. What's your other job? 'Cause I'm 'bout already done with this by now."
Jaye couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape from her lips. "More like long week, got a lot of thoughts running through this head of mine, some of them work related, some of them just about life, tends to keep me up." She smiled as she tilted her head in thought. "Oh I have quite the sweet tooth, I'll take some cherry pie, or apple if there isn't any cherry. That would be quite interesting to see, I feel like you would be watching him walking in late with some popcorn and I would not blame you for doing that one bit." Jaye leaned back a little in her chair. "I work as a baker at Puggy's Cakes, so you can understand why I have a sweet tooth, I insist on having taste tests. How long have you been working here?"
giant superstore, 2nd february / @anchoragestarters
"What's the deal with this Zydrate stuff?" It was an abrupt question, probably not what you'd expect to hear from a random passerby in the toiletry aisle. He'd been looking for hair dye, the need to agressively bleach his hair and force it into some bright, garish colour having finally taken over him after a few months of letting his dark roots grow in and eat away at the previously well-maintained blonde. "There was an ad for it on TV. Some miracle happy drug?" he said, with a bitter laugh. The way he'd been feeling lately, Ash was sure he could use that but even he had his limits. There wasn't much he felt like trusting these days. But, God, did he feel like SHIT. He'd barely been keeping up with the news of this murder, his head still swimming with his own grief. There wasn't much room for anything else. His head was crammed fulled but his world was so, so fucking empty. Oof. "You think it even works? Or is it just some weird pharmaceutical scam?"
Jaye had been in the toiletry aisle grabbing a few things when she heard the voice coming from next to her, almost make her jump a little bit. She couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape from her lips, shaking her head a little bit. "You know I never heard anything like it before, I've never been one to go for one of those as seen on TV sort of things myself." She replied, turning her full attention to him, looking at him curiously. "I think that it is probably the latter, I don't think that it's one of those one or done things. Unfortunately I don't think happiness is something that happens quickly, takes time a long time, I know from personal experience."
He shook his head, a small smile playing at his lips. It was bound to happen. How many times had he lost track of where he was going or what he was doing? Far too many to keep count. Nate himself was surprised to have had nothing more happen. A simple run-in was what it was. As she moved, he made sure to grab up the packages, sliding them into his little handheld basket. Chicken and beef were the chosen ones today; something about getting the shrimp flavour made him feel a bit ill. These things never made sense to Nate, not when he had made that specialty pizza — wait, that might be the reason why. Never mind. "It's understandable. The whole town has a lot of things filling it up. Our heads are no different. I hate the snapping fingers too; it's like, man, I'm not going to come when called." Much less by strangers. He had slightly more leeway if it was someone who knew him. "But yeah, I mean, I'm not too much of a shouter either. Someone might try to tackle us down for getting in a fight." It was at least an amusing image.
Jaye had been getting lost in her own thoughts more and more recently, thankfully not in work but more while she was out and about. Once she had apologised, she moved out of the way and buried her hands in her pockets wondering how she didn't notice what aisle she had wandered in to, not the right one that was for sure. "Glad to see that we are in the same boat on that one, honestly every once and a while in work I get those people who do it, even when I'm with another customer." It was one of the more annoying parts of the job, usually the customers were very kind and patient but then you would have the ones in a rush, expecting to get their things quicker than most. "The only time I really yell is to get my nieces and nephews attention or to call out orders, I'm not the best when it comes to confrontations. I get more upset than angry in those situations."
where : buttermilk sky pie diner
when : january 24th
who : @anchoragestarters
cap : 0/5
"GONNA BE REAL WITH YOU, this cook is on the last forty minutes of his shift, and you're gonna wanna wait this one out 'til the next clocks in. Wouldn't eat a piece of toast made by that guy." It probably wasn't good for business to be openly suggesting against the purchase of food, at least for the mentioned allotted time range, but the brunette had never been a stellar employee, evidenced by her inability to keep a job where it wasn't her future mother-in-law calling the shots for much longer than a couple of months, the most recent on the long list having her stationed and bored out of her mind behind the host stand of the diner. Her time on the clock could've been better spent than pestering one of the few customers who were seated in the establishment, like the list of tasks including sweeping, wiping down windows, or filling the salt and pepper shakers that she was given to fill pause in patrons, but she hadn't paid it a bit of mind since her first day on the job. Her hazel eyes turned towards the open window into the kitchen that ready orders were sat upon, squinting a bit with disdain as they lingered before her gaze turned back. "Think he looks enough like that sketch that's been plastered all over the news to throw in a fake tip pointing them his way? Not like the police are doing shit else with their time, and I gotta let 'im know some way that he's messing with the wrong person if he's gonna run his mouth 'bout me being late."
Jaye had not been in the mood to cook for herself that day so she had decided to head out to the diner. She hadn't been there in a while but she enjoyed how quiet it could be at the best of times. She made her way inside and took a seat at one of the tables, looking down at the menu when the sound of a voice startled her enough to look up. Her eyes looked towards the waitress before looking over at the area where the kitchen was. "I guess that I will just nurse a cup of coffee until then, I could use one or three." She admitted, letting a small chuckle escape from her lips. "I mean I would say that he could pass for him. Oh he sounds like an asshole, I mean I understand being late for work, it's pretty chill about it where I work. With everything going on in this town, you can't blame somebody for being late."
He never professed himself to be an impatient person. However, he'd been standing in the middle of the aisle, basket draped against the harsh flesh of his left inner forearm, metal biting down, biding his time for her to move so that he might be able to reach in. Y'know, there was something about wanting to eat healthier for the new year, and not settle for fried foods all the time. Doctor's words settled in the back of his head, instead of those vices; maybe this was a sign he shouldn't be trying so hard, but Nate couldn't help himself. Tender, and easily bruised, and he'd sworn his tap on her shoulder was light enough, but she jumped nonetheless. This, causing a domino effect, made him jump. His shoulder knocked into the plastic, which was a small favour, bottles of less sodium soy sauce, rattling the shelf. "Whoa! I'm-I'm sorry. I get that was not radical of me, but. Like, I know it's a busy season and stuff, but." His embarrassment only mounted. He pointed rather weakly towards the shelf. "I couldn't reach around you and I'm completely out of ramen."
Jaye began to swear at herself in her mind, she knew that it wasn't the best idea to snap at somebody, much like nearly everybody in town, her mind was all over the place and she was taking it out on a stranger. Her eyes looked over at him before turning her head towards the shelf that she had been standing at. "I apologise, honestly my head is just full of all sorts of things and I didn't even realise what aisle I was standing in." She moved out of his way. "I am also sorry for snapping at you, I'm not that fond of people tapping me or clicking their fingers at me to get my attention, but I understand that it was better than shouting at a random person in front of the ramen." She chuckled softly.
Christmas shopping was not for the faint of heart, that was the cardinal lesson Paige learned upon first arriving on American soil. Where she originated, in the depths of a tundra, holidays were not as paramount as they were elsewhere. That was likely because Paige's own family was a particularly miserable one, and they loved surrounding themselves with company that shared the very same nihilistic outlook. Paige wasn't nearly as interested in that drudgery, however, fully expecting to someday assimilate into American society. It would just have to start with a sprig of holly and peppermint sticks. "I am sorry!" she apologized firstly, Czech accent thick and slightly stifling her as she tried to form a sentence without fumbling. "Meant no harm. I just — need advice. But if you are not wanting to talk, I will go, it is no worry. I am just not very good at gifts. I only ever shop for myself before today."
Jaye had turned around fully to the person who had tapped her on the shoulder. Her eyes widened a little bit hearing the words that came from her mouth, she felt horrible. "I am very sorry by my reaction. I'm that fond of having people touch me out of the blue, but you didn't know that." She apologised, holding up her hands before she spoke once more. "I would be more than happy to help you out if you need it, I know a bit about shopping for others, I help my family get their shopping along with my own at times. How many are you shopping for?" She asked curiously.
Bryn pulled his hand back and nodded, “Yeah. Duh. But, you know, I figure this might be better than yelling 'hey you!' from several feet away. Be thankful.” Bryn glances up, then stealth rolls his eyes as he looks to on side of the street. Before holding up the item the other had dropped, “You dropped this. In any case. But, I guess it wasn't important. Soo-” Halfway pulling out of the other's reach, he grinned, provokingly, “I don't think you could though. Help me, that is. Satan couldn't even corrupt me more.” Putting the dropped item back toward them, he offered to try to let them take it from him again. Then quickly moves it from out of the stranger's reach, pointing it, “Oh. Do you see that- That- Do you see it?” He pointed at a tree, “It's sick with something.” Bryn commented before blinking, looking at the item Jaye had dropped and then quickly holding it back out to them again, “Anyway, here.”
"Well I think that it would have been better in my eyes if I'm being honest with you." Her eyes looked him up and down before they fell on to what he was holding in his hand. It was her notebook, with all of her notes and recipe ideas along with ingredients that she would need over the coming days. "Oh come on do you do this with everything you are giving back to somebody, people used to do that to me in school." She sighed as she reached up to grab her notebook from him. "This is just what I need today, at least you are not keeping this up." She held out her hand and took her notebook from him. "It has recipes in it that I'm working on, it also has my grocery list."
Jaye had been doing it a long time and knew that this was the busiest time of the year for the bakery, yet somehow it seemed to be hectic. With everything that happened over the year, it honestly didn't surprise her, the town was always just full of surprises to her. Thankfully that day was one of her days off, a much needed one as she knew that there was going to be a lot of orders in the next couple of weeks. She was using that time off to get some shopping done, she had a list she wrote of everything to do and everything to get. Her eyes were focused on the piece of paper when she felt somebody tapping her on her shoulder, causing her to jump. "You know, there's other ways of getting somebodies attention." She spoke as she turned around. "May I help you?"
It was serendipitous that one of their best bakers was a self-proclaimed horror buff — Anka was something of a scaredy puss themselves and didn't indulge into the macabre genre outside of the lightest of thrillers that would play on their usual channels. Clapping their hands together when the other agreed, they grinned and scribbled down their initial ideas. "Ya'know, I think the kids will like this a lot — me an' some'a my friends taught 'em how to put together gingerbread houses last holiday season. I ain't much good at decorating the houses, but I think it's the spirit that matters when it comes to this stuff, don'tcha think?" they said thoughtfully, tapping the eraser end of their pencil against their chin, "What about sugar cookies and we'll cut 'em into shapes, like cobwebs and cats an' have our students decorate 'em? I don't think we gotta charge a lot for a fee to the classes. Just enough to cover the supplies and a little extra toward the shop 'cause we'll have to close early." Looking to their coworker inquisitively for her input, they smiled. "Say... what are ya doing after Halloween, anyway? I was thinking'a hosting a little Friendsgiving. I got a group'a friends I get together an' cook with. Ain't the same as baking, but we'd love to have you."
Jaye was glad that she had grown up with a grandfather who had a love of horror which she seemed like the only member of the family to take after him. She couldn't help but smile at Anka, watching their reaction warmed her heart so much. "We could do that again this year. Oh of course, it's all about the fun that you have when it comes to things like that, I know people that take it way too seriously." She chuckled softly. "That sounds like a great idea to me, something simple to start them off, I bet that they will end up with more of the icing everywhere, but I don't mind the clean up. I couldn't agree with you more, only a small fee seems fair." Jaye tilted her head and began to think. "Friendsgiving? I've never heard of that before, does sound like a good time, I may warn you I am not the best cook.I could make mac and cheese"
@anchoragestarters › OPEN STARTER … CAPPED. ( 0/4 )
DATE & LOCATION: october 31st, all hallow’s evil event / a witch’s brew
what do you do when you’re a middle-aged woman? if fifty-four is deemed middle age since she’s only four years past a half-century old ( semi-centennial, my god ) and a dash of having a mid-life crisis. eliana thought she was going hysterical after what she’d witnessed at frankenstein’s house of wax around in the earlier months. she had nothing else to do but overthink, so why not assist with the event? at the end of the day, an italian woman was bound to help out in any way she could with food and drinks, feeding the partygoers. hopefully, it wasn’t just that as she’d like to have some fun of her own. the mother, dressed as esmeralda from a children’s movie, kindly beamed as someone walked up to the booth, “what can i get for you, amore?”
Jaye had told herself that she wouldn't be going to the festivities, she had just gotten over being ill and felt like being outdoors would probably bring it back. However, her family were all going, so she dressed up as Wonder Woman, something her niece helped her pick. They had all arrived and somehow ended up going different ways, Jaye finding herself going to grab herself something to eat, she knew if she was going to be there for a while, she wasn't going to be doing it on an empty stomach. As she made her way up to the booth, her eyes had been on the food, startled by the voice. "Oh, I uh, I'm sure, what's the favourite of the night?" She asked curiously.
DOROTHY PRACTICALLY EXISTED FULL TIME in some sort of state of haphazard doubt, the disgusting emotion sinking in each thought that popped into her little redheaded mind and unrelenting until it spoiled whatever it could get its hands on. "Maybe it was written for people who are already at a decent level of mastering cooking? Are you supposed to check for that before buying a recipe book?" Even something more simple like trying to cook up a nice dinner couldn't be safe from the unappeasable questioning she would naturally spiral down, only made worse when she didn't have a voice of reason in the tone of her siblings or her partner or her friends to pull up and out of the clutches of unsureness. "Is there something I can use that just....isn't alcohol?" Her head quickly shook, regretting the question as soon as it had left her mouth. "Nevermind, that definitely was a stupid question." One hand raised to instead wrap a lock of her own red-dyed hair around her finger, tight enough to give herself something to focus on over her own concern. "Maybe I should've stuck to baking over trying something like this. Everything seems to make more sense and not have any vague instructions there. Is it possible to bake a romantic meal?"
Jaye tilted her head for a moment as she began to think about what she had been just asked. "You know, I don't really know, I sometimes get cook books for gifs, I think people see that some of them have baking recipes in the back. Honestly makes me think that they don't know what to buy me for birthdays." She couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape from her lips. "I mean I'm sure that there is something that you can have, I believe there was some non alcoholic stuff on the next isle if that's what you would prefer." She offered up ignoring what she had said about it being a stupid question. She was the kind of person that never believed that stupid questions existed. "I mean everyone has to get out of their comfort zone sometimes, I mean there's pasta bakes, I think that could be romantic, I mean I haven't been on a date in a while so best take my words with a pinch of salt."
Clueless yet of the events that would transpire on their lover's trip into town, Anka had consoled with their fellow baker on means to uplift the spirits of Anchorage's residents and raise the funds to put back into their ranch. Upon putting their noggins together, they'd jumped from bake sale to baking classes. ( Already, they were wondering if they could con the girl gang into signing up for the hell of it, with the non-negotiable clause that the baker was going to boss them around. ) At the moment, their classes were in the process of knitting themselves together. "I was thinking'a something spooky with Halloween coming up," they said as they set a littering of recipe books on the table, dusting the cover off the oldest one and taking a seat beside Jaye, flipping a notebook open and a pen in hand, "Something different every week. What about starting with something simple like... Fluff stuff? Oreos, marshmallow..." The belle didn't celebrate Halloween themselves, but they didn't see why they couldn't make it festive for their soon-to-be proteges. "Each week could get more advanced? What'cha think?"
Jaye had noticed that moral was low all around town, usually happy customers would come in looking down in the dumps. It made her sad and when Anka mentioned coming up with an idea to help out the town, it made her almost jump for joy. She would to anything to help bring even a little bit of happiness back in to the town. It first started off with the idea of a bake sale, it brought her back to when she was a child and the bake sales they would have, then it became baking classes. Jaye wasn't much of a teacher, but she had the patience for teaching and it didn't matter who it was, she would help them out with any problem big or small. "Oh that sounds like a great idea to me, yeah something like some spooky cookies, fluff stuff sounds amazing!"
where : siren's call liquor store
when : july 29th
@anchoragestarters
DOROTHY TRIED TO KEEP HER HEAD HELD HIGH as she entered the store portion of the Siren's call, clearly out of her element but trying to give off her best imitation of fitting in. She was probably overthinking it, picking apart every aspect of what she did moreso than any other person would, but the intimidation over not fitting in won over any logic that tried to worm its way into her brain. The acrobat possibly would've turned right around and left if she weren't on a mission to recreate a specific recipe that called for some wine in the sauce, the desire to impress Pesor stronger than the one pushing for her to turn on her heel and get out of there. Even as her fingers were turning pale from how hard she was gripping the shopping basket she was carrying, she tried to remain her cool. Until a major issue made itself present. The recipe wasn't specific enough, though, which left her dumbfounded in the aisle, as she asked the person who was closest, "This is probably a dumb question, but do you know if red or white wine is better to cook with? The recipe book didn't specify, and maybe this is just something everyone knows, but I have no idea..."
Jaye very rarely went to the liquor store, if she was in the mood for something it was usually picked up on her grocery run. However, she had a reason to be there, a friend of hers was coming over to visit and she knew that it would be nice to get them a bottle of their favourite whiskey, much like she did every time they visited, which was at least twice a year. She had been wandering around, trying to find the whiskey when she heard a voice coming from next to her. "Oh well that is a very silly recipe book if you ask me. I mean it all depends on what you're cooking, but white wine is supposed to be better, I haven't really tried it myself, more of a baker than a cook myself."
it truly depended on emmeline's state of mind as to whether she was able to handle such content and as time went on, the town of anchorage was unnerving her. still, she attempted to brush it off, to keep as positive and level headed as she possibly could - she was slipping less easily, that was something, at least. "it's fine." the woman nodded and released a gentle hum. "that sounds like my kind of thing, then. not wanting to be scared beyond belief but with a certain niche quality." she chuckled. "do you have any recommendations? or should i just take a stab in the dark- pardon the pun." she was quick to give that disclaimer.
While Jaye had grown up with a love for the horror genre, even her grandfather started her off with things that would be suitable for children until she was ready. It was something that she continued to do, even offered up movies for people if they offered. "Unfortunately there are those people who would say that a movie isn't scary and then it's scary. Lucky for you, I am not one of those people. As you said not everybody wants to scared beyond belief watching a movie." She said with a small smile appearing on her face. "Well if you want to start with the black and white ones I would go with Frankenstein or Dracula or even The Mummy."
"people are a lot of things but definitely not boring." it was hard in some respects, particularly that she herself had her fair share of failed relationships, one of which had brought her here to begin with, yet she was trying to help others to work through it. "i have to say, you sound like a very interesting person to watch stuff with, even if it is a little scary. it's more still images that are an issue of mine, because i don't know the story so i'm trying to fill in the blanks and perhaps that's how i scare myself." the woman shrugged again. "but tea, wine and popcorn is always something i can get behind." emmeline chuckled. "i've never seen any of the black and white ones, seen the stills of nosferatu, but again, seeing a still image and filling in the blanks."
"You never met one of my teachers in high school, oh he could put you to sleep with one sentence." She couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape from her lips. "But I think that was more down to his monotone voice more than anything." She added. "Why thank you, I tend to watch what people can handle scare wise, I would never make somebody watch something they don't like. I can see why it could scare you, I would be trying to find out the mystery myself. It really is a pretty good combination if you ask me, I could never say no to popcorn." She smiled warmly. "Oh they really are wonderful, not too scary, they are what got me in to horror movies."
emmeline loved having conversations with people but as most of her role involved talking, she was left drained in her personal life. the woman was trying to forget her reason for moving here, to get closer to an ex that was happy in their own right - she didn't want to ruin that nor did she feel any desire to do so. if she were to be honest with herself, the situation would have gone entirely different a few years back as she would have tried to make them work as a unit again but now, she was at a different stage of life. "well, i'm a busy woman. work takes up a lot of my time and so i prefer to just go home and have some tea... or wine-" she chuckled. "it would depend on the day." another chuckle escaped her before she shook her head. "oh, it wouldn't be my first choice. some things do tend to freak me out a little, especially when october time comes around. you're meant to have that dissonance that it is fiction but when it's not so far off reality... that's when it gets a bit scary and i don't want to think about it too much. watching a horror movie would definitely be a wine over tea night."
"Ah I get where you are coming from, I do hope that your work while keeping you busy, isn't boring. I mean I love here, last place I worked had one of the worst bosses I have ever had in my whole life. Here is like a family of sorts if you ask me. Nothing like a nice cup of tea, or glass of wine after a long day, I more go to the tea." She couldn't help but let a small laugh escape from her lips. "I love them, I grew up on them. That's where I can agree, if something seems a bit too real like something that's happened in town I can't watch it. I do love the classic horrors, the black and white ones, my grandfather gave me his collection when I was older. Wine and popcorn does sound like quite the delicious combination."
