madison eloise watts twenty six • production assitant
south poinsettia, monleon
chaotic middle child energy . "she’s a mess of gorgeous chaos and you can see it in her eyes"
“Chasing a con man mystery through the Bay, or arts and crafts… Hmm, what a tough conundrum-” Quinn hummed, voice lacking that silk smooth delivery of her morning broadcast presentation, replaced with a haughty growl paired with slanted little grin. “The day the network gets me to do arts and crafts, remember, I’ve been cloned and destroyed. Don’t trust that Quinn.” She nodded slowly, a half-tease, for she knows she’s shifted into an image reeking of wholesome daytime television. Manicured, pristine kindness, approachable sass, milked down for audiences to chew, swallow. But those who worked with the beloved anchor knew her grit, the sharp edge digging into the floor behind her panel. She’d worked for years to finesse an amiable projection, but anyone who had enough strength to climb high sharpened claws when need be. “Up to mischief tonight, Madison? If not, care to join me for some?”
“I’ll be sure the remember that for the future,” Madison said with a slight laugh to her voice. “We can’t have a clone getting away with such a thing.” She wasn’t that surprised upon learning new information about her colleague. It was almost charming to get to see how different a person could be as soon as a camera was on them. Some might see it as a negative, but Madison knew it was all for the general public to consume. She hated to think how she might have to alter to be well received by the majority. “Honestly, I haven’t been here long enough to start mischief.” She responded with a grin, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “But you know me, I’m always up for a bit of fun. What exactly did you have in mind?”
Here, harbour lights glowed ethereal, like summer’s thick-heat fireflies, but kindled in cooler gusts of New Year. Quinn didn’t mind getting lost in the darkness blanketing Monleon’s Last Friday, frame rocking in languid sway as her hawk gaze basked in colours of reds, blues, greens from shopfront windows pouring onto Main Street’s cement sidewalks, allowing the anchor to dim her own mainstream grin in exchange for her natural foxlike slant- already slick from a few glasses of bubbly from the art gallery. Fingers, too, slick enough to purchase a print from the gallery as a conversation piece– her own sordid humour roamed over the detail of abstract shape, figures. No, Quinn Wilde wouldn’t stand for pretty paintings of patchwork landscapes, or realist porcelain-housed flowers- she proclaimed to be allergic to such soft style. Thus, she had her latest print wrapped, and placed under arm as she meandered through store fronts. Butter-blonde curls bounced as she rounded a corner, an accidental collide with a passerby, stuck in crescendo of items hitting concrete, followed by a magnificent rip of her latst purchase’s canvas.
“Afraid you don’t win any prizes for that aim ” she retorted after a beat, leaning down to pick up her print, unable to keep from laughing as she held up its limp, tattered form. “But maybe this piece is improved - which way’s the proper top?” She flipped it, summer bros scrunched in a teasing concern, “Better yet, what do you think it’s supposed to convey?”
Even with attending countless of these Last Friday events, Madison was always amazed how much it always brought the community together. And just generally a welcoming night for all. She’d spent the first moments of arriving browsing several of the stalls full of homemade pieces of art. There wasn’t anything in particular she was searching for, but there was never any harm done in looking. Upon reaching the end of the row she found herself faced with one of the bars that was hosting the band filling the streets with the sound of jazz. She stopped to watch for a short moment. Madison then began to plan out where she was going to head next in the city. As she began walking away, she had started humming along to the music. She took one last glance at the passionate musicians as she began to turn the corner.
“Oh-,” she let out with a gasp. Madison smiled softly upon seeing a familiar face. “I’m so sorry, Quinn. I hope you weren’t already attached to your new piece.” She tilted her head, watching as the blonde turned the print different angles. “I honestly don’t know. It’s definitely an even more unique piece now. Maybe you can add tape, or something, and contribute to the art yourself.” She chuckled lightly. “I'm not sure what it was meant to convey. But now you can create your own story for it. Call it the Last Friday Collision, or something”
Location: Monleon’s Last Friday, Bayfront Marina Park
Tagged: @monleonstarters
Olivia could not remember the last time she had a day off that coincided with a Last Friday, but she was certainly grateful to be off that day. Needless to say, she never really regretted having to work over eighty hours every week. But there were moments where she had missed out on some town events because she had been on call at the hospital. Thankfully, tonight was not one of those nights. She had been hoping to make the most out of the evening when she had convinced her husband to go with her, and they had spent some time strolling past the various stalls, debating if they should buy any of the various homemade trinkets that were being sold. Her husband got pulled into an emergency at work just around 7 pm, which she didn’t mind at all, and she found herself strolling around on her own when she noticed a familiar face. “Oh hello, I wasn’t expect to see you here. Are you having a good time?”
Madison had promised herself she’d make it down to the Bayfront to try and enjoy at least a couple hours of the event. She might have missed the passed few, but these Last Friday’s were always something she looked forward to growing up in Monleon. Whether she was being dragged around the stalls by her parents, or eagerly following her older siblings to find the craziest food items. And truthfully, they had been one of the few things she had missed during her time away. Since arriving, Madison had already wandered around a few stalls, seeing if anything would catch her eye. She was looking over a collection of rings as she heard a voice greeting her. Madison looked up to see Olivia. “Hey, I- yeah. I thought I best come check things out,” she replied with a warm smile. “I always forgot how much I love it until I’m amongst it all. What about you? Are you enjoying your evening off?”
How long they’ve been in Monleon: Returned just over a year/18 months ago
Birthplace: Monleon, Florida
Faceclaim: Lily James
wanted connections.
QUICK GET TO KNOW;
Born and raised in Monleon
Has 3 siblings - 1 older brother and sister, 1 younger sister
Didn’t appreciate being compared to her older siblings while growing up
Her mother died when she was 16 - doesn’t talk about it that much as she still has a lot of regret due to her last conversation being an argument
Got a small tattoo on her upper ribcage of her mom’s birth month flower
Left Monleon to go to NYU to study “Film & Television”
Got a confidence boost and sense of independence in the city, which lead to Madison having more not-so-serious, FWB style relationships over the years
After graduating she didn’t want to go back to Monleon, so she decided to stay in New York and moved in with her then boyfriend
Her boyfriend, Oliver, was one of her very few serious relationships. They stayed together for around 2 years
Came back to Monleon a year/18 months ago, after a bad break up
Moved into her own apartment in “South Poinsettia” a year ago
Goes to visit her dad often, usually for dinner on a Sunday night, since he lives close by in “The Palacio” area
She currently works at MX7 Production Studios as a Production Assistant
BIOGRAPHY;
tw: parental death, abortion
Madison was the third of four children born into the Watts family. And for the most part, you could class the Watts family as a pretty average one. Madison grew up in a mostly happy, and as you can imagine loud household. I suppose that’s one of the perks of having siblings. There was usually always someone around to go bother, or to bother you. With having two older siblings came the pressure of living up to the standard that had been set. Madison was aware of this pressure, but she wasn’t as concerned about it as her parents maybe wanted her to be.
That standard carried its way into Madison’s school life too. Teachers were aware of the Watts family name, and expected great things from Madison. It wasn’t that Madison didn’t do well at school. She would pass her classes, and get decent grades which meant to fell middle of the pack. Of course her parents were happy, or shall we say content, with this average result. It didn’t stop the reminders of being like her siblings, and to just study harder and “apply herself”. Madison would often grow tired of hearing the same speech over and over again. By the time Madison was in high school, it got the point where she would started to walk away from the conversation having heard enough. At the end of the day, in Madison’s eyes, she wasn’t failing any of her classes and was getting good enough grades that would help her in the future. What was so wrong with that?
When she was 16, Madison got a bit of a shock to her system when her mother died in a car accident. Madison didn’t find out straight away. Her father waited until she came home after spending the night at a friends house. And, of course, Madison didn’t want to believe it. To top things off, Madison felt even worse with her last conversation with her mother being an argument. Full of regret, Madison took it harder than her siblings. But she tried not to show it. Instead Madison found ways to avoid thinking and processing it all. She would spend as little time as possible at home, thinking that would help. And by the time it came for Madison to start her senior year, she then threw herself more into her extracurricular activities. While also joining any new ones she could.
Madison didn’t face much difficulty when it came to getting into college. She kept up her grades at the average standard, and had all of her extracurriculars under her belt. At first, she wasn’t sure where to go. And there was the temptation to stay in Florida. But in the end Madison decided to leave home, and find her feet elsewhere in the world. She took the big chance, and moved to New York and started attending NYU.
Life in the city gave Madison a boost of confidence, she managed to make a great circle of new friends and have a few not-so-serious relationships. That was until she met Oliver. It started as a casual relationship, but the two quickly fell for each other. There wasn’t much question to them moving in together once Madison had graduated from NYU and had decided to stay in the city, considering returning to NYU after taking a gap year.
The couple of years after having graduated, Madison was happy. She was gaining credits to help her career path, she had a loving boyfriend, had great friends and was getting ready to go back to NYU. And then Madison had a gut feeling to take a pregnancy test, which she was right in doing. It wasn’t at all what Madison wanted. She wasn’t ready for a baby. Her career had barely begun, and was about to return to university. Madison had only been with Oliver for two years, to her that was too early for their relationship. Especially considering they’d not spoke about their future in that way much. Madison sat Oliver down to share the news, but got a very different reaction from him. He tried to reassure her that they could do this together, they’d find a way to manage. But nothing he said managed to calm Madison’s panic and over-thinking, which in the end lead to her getting an abortion. It was that decision that shattered their relationship.
Madison withdrew her positions of returning to NYU, and she left the city within the month. She returned to Florida. To start with, Madison moved back into her family home. And she could tell her father was happy to have her back. It didn’t take too long for Madison to find her feet again. She was home after all. Within a few months Madison was moving into her own place in Monleon.
