[ … ] ❀ you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed { SUNNY GRAVES } walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who { SHE } is ? they kind of look like { OLIVIA COOKE } and i could be wrong but i think that they might be { 29 } years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last { TWENTY YEARS }. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of { JANIS IAN } from { MEAN GIRLS }. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at { MARINA MARKET } as a { CASHIER }. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the { THE MISCREANT } of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty { CONNIVING } at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty { WITTY } to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that { ONE BEDROOM } apartment beside me over in { MANGO BAY }. i better leave you to it. it was nice meeting you!
☾ playlist. ☾ pinterest. ☾ muse. ☾ connections.
━━ ⟢ i. the basics
full name: sunny louise graves
birthday: 06/12/1995
big three: gemini sun, sagittarius moon, scorpio rising
height: 5'5"
mbti: infj
sexual orientation: bisexual
hometown: point pleasant, west virginia
━━ ⟢ i. personality tidbits
has held a grudge for anyone who's ever done or said anything bad to her
probably regularly comissions etsy witches for hexes
has that anxious avoidant attachment style that makes her go swerve when she feels someone pulling away™️
she's a chronic ghoster 😔
she's pretty guarded but lowkey she's a hopeless romantic, although i don't thinks she'd even know what to do with a relationship that was healthy. she's like a dog chasing a car tbh
she can be very all or nothing in regards to that so like you may get a text from her once every other week or she’ll bomb you with them all at once in a span of five minutes
she thinks she's a great friend, but she's intense so she's not for everyone
struggles with anger issues, has outbursts that usually happen at the worst possible time
her hometown is where mothman was famously cited, and yeah she makes that a personality trait
she practices witchcraft and has an altar to the deities she worships
she loves to believe in the unbelievable, ghosts, aliens, anything paranormal, she's all over that
she's unconciously very self motivated, but lowkey thinks she does things for other people's benefits
she tends to have a criminal mindset and lacks boundaries stemming from her own upbringing
she doesn't really see anything wrong with crime as long as it in her eyes is justified
actively is always scheming her revenge, never get too comfortable she's coming even if it's years in the process :/
playlists are her love language!!!!1
finds comfort in meditation instead of going fucking insane, sometimes both
always falls for emotionally unavailable people, a lot of times her bosses or people not available 😭
very into metaphysics like tarot, astrology, etc
loves horror movies and probably watches at least one a day (probably while she’s eating dinner ngl)
━━ ⟢ i. go deeper
tw: alcohol, drug use, abuse, suicide
m o m m y i s s u e s 🥳
sunny grew up in a tumultuous household with her parents always fighting and money was always tight
it wasn’t until she was 9 that she moved to palmview where she was hopeful things would improve since her father landed a better job, but things quickly deteriorated
as she got older her mom developed bad habits with drugs, and her father coped with alcohol
as a byproduct she was kind of abandoned emotionally, and didn’t really have anyone to turn to
her mom was self medicating a larger problem under the surface, and sunny had the misfortune of walking in on her mom trying on several occasions to take her own life
as a result she couldn’t focus in school or, would hyper focus on the wrong things and daydream instead of listening in her classes
got the rep of not only the new kid, but the weird new kid
and as things usually happen, one day when her guard was down because her mom appeared to be doing better, so she decided to go hang out at a friend’s house after school one day.
when she returned home later than normal, she walked around her house looking for her mom. to her disbelief, she found her mom hanging from the shower curtain rod, and was in denial that her mom was really gone since she’d always caught it in time before.
hours later her father found sunny holding her mom up talking to her limp body about how she made a friend at school finally.
when the emts arrived on scene trying to load her mom onto the stretcher, sunny wouldn’t allow them to take her mom away from her until her dad had to physically pick her up and carry her away
she blamed herself for not being there for her mom sooner
she hasn’t ever really dealt with her mother’s death, i think in a way she tried to acquaint herself closely with death instead. she would buy ouija boards trying to contact her mother from the other side. hire psychic mediums, go to palm readers, anything for a sign from her mom. i think her anger really manifested more after her mom's passing, and caused her to stop caring as much about the consequences of the law because she felt like she had nothing more to lose.
━━ ⟢ i. connections
literally anything and everything
people she’s once passed on the street and projected romantic fantasies on, friends, friends of a friend, cousins, exes, ex hookups, ex situationships, enemies, neighbors, regulars at the market she works at, old co-workers, old classmates, old classmates that used to bully her, someone she's stolen from, people from places she's vandalized, etc etc gimme gimme gimme
"well! maybe not in the court of public opinion, but in actual court it often is. everyone has their own version of the truth," she shrugged, before her face turned to a frown. "my — what? hey come on, if anything it's the other way around! but, no. i'm really not. my work schedule doesn't really allow for much socializing." and the small little hiccup of the judgment of other people and the fear holding her back that she'd never be able to outrun it. "...i. hmm." wow. had sunny really just called her out like that so easily? the audacity. and also... kind of impressive, if not annoyingly so. "i guess i never really give myself the seconds to be scared. it's always on to the next thing. now, does that make me controlling, or just expertly efficient?" lennon teased, before meeting sunny's quip with an amused eyeroll. "oh, right, i forgot, because you're so serious." hearing her work described as drama so casually gave her a bit of lightheartedness she didn't normally associate with it, or with, well, anything. it was honestly endearing. "well..." there was a moment of pause, as if she wasn't sure how much detail to go into. "i guess that's up to him? the odds in these cases are never really good, sometimes the statistics are downright depressing. but. i don't know. i guess i could tell there was a front he was putting on. and i mean, judging by the fact that i barely ever saw his parents in the whole time i've been handling this case i can't really blame him. parents suck." okay, maybe that last bit was a bit more projecting. her chin lowered with her eyes, watching sunny avoid her stare as best she could, but lennon wouldn't look away, either. "well, that depends. are you giving me your summary 'i don't want to talk about it' answer or is this the start of friendship trauma sharing hour? because. i guess i'll accept either but i didn't just invite you over to make you sleepy, you know. i am here to listen if you need it." why she was saying that so earnestly was a genuine mystery to her. not because she didn't care, often she did too much, but — more because she didn't usually find it very easy to show it with her words. "you know. i'll just have to take your word for it. i usually try not to cry if i can help it. when i saw marley and me and realized what was happening, i literally left the theater and ghosted the person i was watching it with."
“ not gonna lie, that kind of skews my own perception of any interaction or thing i've ever had happen to me. i might be up thinking about this later. ” sunny admitted teasingly, but on a realistic note, it really was that deep. “ that's what you think. ” she said before tapping her index finger against her temple. “ and it's frowned upon to socialize with the people you represent, yeah? i mean, it get it. ” it seemed like a common thread in everyone's lives as they grew older that they drifted from socializing, but it seemed especially prevalent with lennon, which made sunny feel sad. “ hmm, i don't know. maybe both. or maybe one disguised as another. ” sunny teased with a small smile. “ whoa, what was that tone? i am serious. i promise. ” in all honesty, she really didn't have much use in being serious, and maybe lennon had a point. “ damn. it's always the parents. that sucks, though. i'm sure you wanna assume the best possible outcome, but the odds are against us all, aren't they? ” for better or worse. and while sunny took a small bite out of her pizza and chewed as she mulled over whether or not she wanted to trauma dump, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe her keeping things to herself was what actually was preventing her from sleep. “ well… okay, do you ever get tired of yourself? like traits you know you have, but you keep doing them because they're beyond your actual control? like you're a sim being played by some sicko person who chooses the worst outcome? and its like guilt, shame, and emotions, and feelings, and you think everything is gonna be fixed just by chasing this high about something, or someone, and then when you chase it you start to realize, if you catch it, maybe it's like a dog chasing a car, you wouldn't even know what to do with it if you got it. does that make sense? ” she didn't even know why she asked, because she didn't even think she was making sense at this point. “ oh my god, wait. you ghosted them because you didn't wanna relive the experience? – to be fair, that movie gets me every time. i watched it twice, and that was enough. "
"maybe - i don't know. i guess honesty is relative," she reasoned, before continuing in her thoughts. "it feels alright with you, but not everyone is so good at handling my babbling." in fact, most of the time, lennon was the one being sequestered to the monologues of other people, given that she was a generally pretty quiet person. cool, collected, some might even say somber. but maybe that was just sunny living up to her namesake, and dragging the somber-ness right out of her. or maybe it was because sunny was the embodiment of all the chaos lennon was used to. something about being around her made her feel like a kid again. "yes, yes, and yes," she admitted bluntly, figuring it didn't really do her any good to be demure about it, since — as had already been demonstrated — sunny could usually tell. "but! no one else is going to, so. nothing else to do but keep it moving," lennon shrugged. but her brows furrowed as she turned to listen to sunny's response, finding herself smiling. "wait. you're serious. sorry, i thought you were teasing me for a second." little interactions like this with her neighbor often made her pause. sometimes, it was nice to have a friend in this town, even if it was an unlikely one. "technically i'm not, but i will, anyways. basically, it started out as minor vandalism that escalated beyond settliing for damages because the owner found out the whole reason for the damages was an attempted theft. no one got hurt or anything, and i'm of the opinion that the kid was just having a hard time and made a mistake, but. you know how people can be." her voice trailed off in tandem with her gaze, as if she'd wandered off in her head just for a second. "why, because people are awful?" it was said with a smile, and she was clearly joking, but they both also knew there was a ring of truth to it. "sobbing? you were not sobbing." there was a beat as she considered for a moment, followed with the jovial curve of her lips suddenly faltering. "were you? is that why the music was so loud?" with a nod of her head, she gestured to the counter where what was left of the still warm restaurant pizza she'd ordered was sitting, famous for having the best sauce in town and, more importantly, a tried and true remedy for sadness and insomnia. after grabbing a few plates and sliding one towards sunny, she sat at a bar stool by the counter, hands perched under her chin expectantly. "so?" lennon blinked. "is it someone new, someone old, or were you just feeling your music a little too viscerally again?"
“ of course, leave it to a lawyer to say honesty is relative." sunny teased with a slight chuckle. when hearing lennon, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “ does that make me your metaphorical handler? but no, really, you're kidding. ” it wasn't that sunny couldn't tell that lennon was somewhat closed off, but maybe she was under the impression that she was so much put together that she had a lot of people in her life to open up to. “ wow. that's metal as hell, and that doesn't scare you? that nobody else is there but you to take care of it? or are you one of those people who prefer it because you like having control over things like that? ” sunny asked curiously. “ me, teasing? i never met her. ” she said while in fact teasing. “ but yeah, i'm so serious. if i had your job i'd be living for the drama of all of this. ” maybe that's why it was a good thing she didn't have her job. “ this tea won't leave this safe space, don't worry. ” jaw dropping when she listened to the other girl, she was finding that lennon's defendant sounded kind of relatable. “that's good of you to see the best in him. do you really think it was a hard time he was going through though? like first offense? or do you think he'll probably go back out there continuing a rampage learning from the mistakes he made by getting caught from this round? ” she asked nonchalantly. “ well, yeah, that and sometimes i think i deserve more for dealing with difficult soccer moms. ” sunny admitted with a shrug, leaving her meaning ambiguous. it took her a moment on responding, she was debating if she actually wanted to admit to having sobbed or not. “ i mean. ” her gaze averted as she shifted her weight to her other leg. “ it's possible ” she said quietly before clearing her throat. more than glad to follow lennon's lead, she took a seat on a bar stool, reaching for a slice of pizza to put on it. “ can't it be all of the above? i think i cycle! if that makes sense.” she admitted a little too openly. “ and besides, what's the point of living if you can't violently sob over things that may or may not be happening to you, and feeling the music deeply? ” sounded like a boring life to her.
Location: Sunrise cafe
Status: Open @palmviewstarters
Ripley was always one that loved to observe others, simply to see what made others tick. It had always been the case when they'd been more involved with crime, simply as reading people meant that a situation was more likely to be survived. People watching was also a great way to look for the more eligible women that they'd happily entertain in their more womanizing moods. But in this particular instance, Ripley instead found themselves nursing a black coffee and staring into the mental abyss as they questioned their steps in life that had led them to being self marooned in Palmview Grove. So much so they hadn't noted another beside them immediately "Oh, if you need the booth I can be done with this" They said in their low husky tone, their British accent thick as they waved dismissively at the drink before them.
call it intuition, but something told sunny to pick another spot to get a coffee and a sweet treat, but like usual, she ignored it. she hadn't immediately recognized anyone in the cafe, not that she was actually looking. she was too busy eying the bakery menu. but after placing her order she turned to go sit to wait on some food. her eyes narrowed, not being able to tell if she knew the person in the booth or not. but upon hearing their voice, it was unmistakably them. “ no, no thanks. i'm good. so, you out scouting for more women to take advantage of, or were you just in the mood for ambiance with black coffee? ” sunny asked with a sarcastic tone.
Savannah liked to believe that she was self-sufficient, but there were some things that even the most self sufficient person couldn’t do. “Hey,” Sav called to the person beside her. It pained her to have to ask for help, especially since she wasn't a short woman, but she’d spent the last five minutes reaching and stretching and completely failing in grabbing the item that was just out of reach of her fingertips. She huffed a little, pointing. “Mind grabbing that for me. I seem to be a bit vertically challenged.”
sunny wasn't the greatest employee at the marina market, in fact, sometimes she didn't even know how she was still employed. but even so, she continued to keep showing up for her shifts, and they let her. while she was stocking some of the order the truck brought in for the day, she was essentially in her own world before hearing someone speaking. “ oh, shit. yeah. actually i have a trick i learned because i go through the same struggle all the time. ” she grabbed a random object off the shelf beside her before using it to knock forward and maneuver the other before handing it off to the other girl. “ whew. i felt like i just worked out my core. here you go. "
why was she like this? lennon was not known for being a pushover — despite often feeling like one in the presence of family and in the memories that plagued her from her youth, she'd become something of a hardass now. in court, at work, with strangers. but people had a way of weaseling into her heart despite her best efforts. some especially more than others. "okay. maybe more than a little," she admitted, shoulders dropping in a moment of reprieve as she watched sunny's gaze shift to her phone. the corners of her mouth couldn't keep themselves from turning up at the phrase big girl job. "... yes. well. i do have an arraignment at nine. but my guy's gonna take a plea, probably just some community service. managed to convince him that that would be preferable to a juvie record; even sealed, that kind of thing tends to follow you around." she should know. "but, oh my god, you so don't care about that. sorry. i really need to learn to stop taking stuff home with me. either way. i'm up now." she stepped aside, leaving room for sunny to follow her back to her door. "you better! something tells me with some food in you and freeing up whatever's on your mind we'll both sleep better tonight."
“ doesn't it feel better to be honest? “ sunny quipped with a small laugh. as she listened to lennon's full scheduled day and she wasn't even talking like midday, but morning? she didn't know how people with real jobs did it, maybe that's why they got paid way more. bigger risk, or something like that. " jeez. that's a lot, don't you ever get stressed or burnt out? or want someone else to take care of it for you? " sunny asked curiously, knowing if the roles were reversed, well obviously, she'd have felt that way. ” you're so wrong, i do in fact care! i'm actually invested at this point, why is he gonna have a juvie record at all? if you're allowed to tell me. god i bet my record is unsealed – you know what? i get that, i take things home with me from my shitty job at the market all the time. “ she smirked like an inside joke to herself, knowing she only meant oranges. when sunny followed suit into lennon's apartment, she dropped the other girl's hand before reaching the kitchen. “ you're probably right, where's the goods? but also do you mean so you won't hear me sobbing through the wall? ” she asked jokingly with a small shrug.
location: The Book Nook
status: open @palmviewstarters
Maya was looking through the children's books, trying to find more reading material for her students. She already had the classics like Rainbow Fish and Chika Chika Boom Boom. Maybe she could find some books on loving yourself or some on embracing diversity; that would be good. She decided to pick out a few books for her students but also decided to look around for a book for herself. She picked up a book that looked like fantasy and read the back of it. She was so lost in thought that she didn't realize that she was about to collide with someone.
it wasn't unusual for sunny to be at the book nook buying more books she had overly ambitiously set out to read, only for them to collect dust on her shelves. it was mostly the occult variety, but she thought about branching out. keyword: thought. so she wandered toward an unfamiliar area, not much paying attention to her surroundings, mostly just eying the shelves, wondering where she'd ended up. until she felt force against her own frame, not realizing it until it was too late that she'd bumped into someone. “ oh my god, i'm so sorry. that was on me. are you okay? ” she asked before she reached down to start picking up books that fell from the collision.
her fingers still clenched, lips pressed in a hard line, lennon was all but ready to unload her best disappointed mom speech complete with hardened tone and pinched brows onto sunny — until, that is, she saw her face, reading the subtle shyness that reminded her of a kid caught with their hand stuck in the cookie jar as guilt, maybe erroneously, but she couldn't help it. her own expression instantly softened, hands loosening and lips un-pressing. "... no," lennon started to shake her head, feigning a casual, unbothered air. "no. not at all. — well." a tilt of her head, and she nodded once. "maybe a little. but. i'm not surprised the only part you heard was me offering you food," she teased, a hint of a smile approaching her. exasperated, though she was, it was always in a weirdly endearing way with sunny. she could never stay mad at her for very long, despite how quick she was to cut off most other people that weren't directly blood related to her. "you know what time it is, right? don't you have to work tomorrow?" she could almost hear the voice of her own mother just then in the back of her mind, chastising her. you worry too much, lenny. but even when she tried not to, she couldn't stop herself. sometimes it felt like if she didn't worry, no one else would. "everything okay?"
sunny genuinely did feel bad, she knew she couldn't have been the easiest neighbor to have. sometimes she swore she forgot about everyone else around and kind of disassociated from the world. maybe that was something she needed to look into, eventually. sunny's eyebrows tensed up until she watched lennon's features soften. “ only a little? i mean… come on, who couldn't hear pizza through a wall combined with blasting music." she said with a teasing shrug. with an almost panicked look on her features, sunny grabbed her phone out of her pocket and eyed the time. had it really gotten that late? maybe she did have trouble pinning time down. “ i mean… yes, but i guess the good thing is i don't have to go until late morning. shit. --- wait, what about you? you have like… a big girl job.” she didn't mean that condescendingly, sunny just knew if she didn't show up, she wouldn't be disappointing anyone at the market, except maybe her manager, and her future paycheck. but lennon appeared to have things way more together, it was incredibly admirable to sunny. taking a deep breath when lennon had prompted a loaded question, reached for the other girl's hand. " i'll answer that over pizza? ” she said, trying to downplay in case she had any residual mascara stains.
starter for @svnnygraves
location: mango bay apartments
"—hey!" the sounds of whatever weird shit her neighbor was listening to today were vibrating through the wall, admittedly — annoyingly, lennon kind of liked it, it had a good beat and the voice was almost soothing, if it hadn't been so loud. but liking it wasn't something she was willing to admit, especially not at prime sleeping hours. instead, she was knocking on the wall using the sternest, yelly-est voice she could muster without disturbing anyone else. "sunny, please! you promised no more music after midnight!!" if there was a response (but honestly, there probably wasn't) lennon didn't hear one, but instead of giving up she sighed a deep sigh and went out from her own apartment into the hallway, leaning into sunny's door so she could speak through the hinges. "listen. i may or may not have ordered some delivery earlier. if you switch to headphones, there's a slice of ocean view pizza with your name on it."
was there a saying about the liberating freedom one felt when they were out on their own? it was interesting how that pendulum swung between that, and soul crushing loneliness. sometimes within the same hour, hell, sometimes within the same minute. but surely there was nothing mambo no. 5 by lou bega couldn't cure sunny assured herself. arguably the best gift her father ever got her was a jbl party box speaker, and that being said, she was certain her neighbors and possibly beyond that thought it was the worst. with the music blasting from her speaking in her apartment, she could feel the vibrations on the floor, ignoring any kind of safety protocol for how close you listened to it, she leaned her head against the speaker, bobbing her head to the beat of the song. sunny hadn't even paid much mind to the time it must've been, not when time goes by so quickly, what was the point in keeping track? by the time we belong together by mariah carey was bumping throughout sunny's apartment, she could've swore she heard noise that wasn't her own. but all she could focus on was the disheartening lyrics coming from her party box. ' i can't sleep at night, when you're on my mind bobby womack's on the radio saying to me, “if you think you're lonely now" wait a minute this is too deep, too deep. ‘ “ god, so true, mariah, this is getting too deep. ” then suddenly the unmistakable noise from her door had her turning down her speaker before going to lean toward the door to listen. recognizing the voice, sunny opened the door. “ i’ll be completely honest, i only heard ‘ pizza ’ and that was more than enough for me. was i… too loud again? ” sunny asked her neighbor sheepishly.
sure , it was mila's suggestion in the first place . after all it's national oyster day or something and they have a buy one get one deal for the day , which seems too good to pass up now that they're here . it's when the oysters are finally served did she feel the sense of regret washing over her , a look of distaste evident on her features before she turns towards her company . “ have i ever told you that i've never had oysters before ? ” the question serves as an effect more than anything else , and her gaze flickers towards the delicacy again . “ they seem a little scary to me but uh , i thought i'll give them a try . ” mila lets her words trail , not so sure about it now that she's seen them up close like this – she doesn't even think it would get pass her throat . why would people eat something so terrifying ? “ you've had one of these before , right ? please tell me they actually taste good . they don't look like they do . ”
one thing about sunny, is she wasn't gonna pass up free anything. even if she wasn't particularly a fan of seafood, i mean some people were, right? maybe they knew something she didn't. albeit, she wasn't particularly the daring type when it came to food, she fell into that creature of habit category. but dammit, she was fun, she was daring, and it was just food, right? catching what mila had uttered, it caused sunny to sigh with relief. “ you really haven't? you're not just saying that? because…" she trailed off as she narrowed in her focus. sunny realized then she might've appeared to have been looking at the oysters more like a science project instead of a meal. “ confession time? ” she asked before scooping one up herself. “ we might be trying these out together at the same time, but you know what? we'll know for the future this way. should i count, or should we just…” get into it, she thought to herself. she angled her head trying to figure out how people even eat an oyster.
