Starter: Open (Feel free to assume connections!) @aurorabaystarter
Where: Aurora's candy parlour
"We gotta split a packet or something, I can't eat all the sour gummies on my own." Lucy holds the haul of sweets packets in her arm like cradling a baby. Of course the store had to be packed, all those little shopping baskets already in use. In her mind she'd planned a night to sit and watch movies with the candy until she crashed from the sugar. "I saw they make Doctor Pepper cotton candy now, I need to get out of here before I truly give up on my impulse control."
open starter: @aurorabaystarter
location: oasis nightclub
The last time Ariya had been to the nightclub was when she had been feeling down on herself after a breakup. Something about the music and getting to dance while enjoying drinks made it much better. So here she was now, letting herself get lost in the music. It was nice and she missed this. She'd have to come here more often instead of forgetting about this place.
She finds herself moving away to where there are less bodies, accidentally bumping into someone on the way. "Oh, I'm sorry. Just had to get out of there for a bit and take a breather." She gave a small smile. "Hope you are having a good time though. I won't bother you."
[cis girl, she / her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, DAPHNE CAVENEY! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like EMILY ALYN LIND. You must be the TWENTY - THREE year old CRAFT HOUSE ASSOCIATE / STUDENT. Word is you’re ECCENTRIC but can also be a bit NEGATIVE and your favorite song is I LOOK IN PEOPLE'S WINDOWS BY TAYLOR SWIFT. I also heard you’ll be staying in AURORA BAY COLLEGE TOWERS. I’m sure you’ll love it! / @aurorabayaesthetic
full name. daphne jane caveney. nicknames. daph. birthday. twenty-four– april 10th, 2001. zodiac sign. aires. gender. cis woman – she / her. orientation. openly bisexual. birthplace. aurora bay, california. occupatuion. craft house associate, college student. residence. aurora bay college towers. distinguishing features. various moles, one scar in particular that looks like a bruise on her left knee.
MISCARRIAGE + IVF MENTION / daphne is the youngest of five kids — all older, though the younger 3 are her quaduplet siblings. mother is a prominent doctor who suffered through miscarriages between the four and their oldest brother, their father a lawyer who simply did anything his wife asked of him. a door mat, if you will. the pair decided on ivf when they decided they wanted just one more child. they got four more. the youngest born and the apple of her mothers eye, daphne never had a chance to figure out who she was before her mother sunk her claws in. while her father was the one to “deal” with the boys and their dirt, grime and rough housing, daphne was kept on their mothers knee and away from all that. primed to be anything she wanted as a child, the girl was placed into any extra curricular you could think of. all but an angel of a girl, daphne knew that she had to do what she was told in order to keep the peace her brothers fought so desperately to break.
put into competitive dance by the time she could walk, it was the only thing daphne really stuck with — all other hobbies falling to the wayside once she realized she was good. this talent particularly garnered attention from her teachers, who then would put more pressure on her to be perfect and win. her mother noticed this as well. winning became the goal post, and with every title, the next one was the new shiny carrot dangled in front of her. it became easy to forget why she was passionate about it in the first place.
INJURY TW / she quit when she started high school after a leg break during a performance. it was wrong in her teachers eyes: an injury shouldn't stop you from perusing your passion, particular after winning various competitions, both national and regional. daphne wasn't happy anymore. spending her years trying to make others proud, she has no idea who she wants to be. who she is without the medal around her neck and trophy in her hand. her mother wasn't happy about this. all that time, money --- gone. according to her, in the blink of an eye. daphne wasn't happy anymore. this is what caused the strife between daphne and her mother, that still stands current to this day. the two barely speak. if it wasn't for her brothers, daphne wouldn't speak to her at all.
she's lived in aurora bay for pretty much her entire life, sans a stint when the quads were 6 months old and their mom thought they'd be the next big acting thing, a - la mary kate and ashley. it didn't work out, obviously, and even she tried to go the kate gosselin route. no dice. moved back here and have been here ever since. dad comes from generations of natives to the area and mom .. begrudgedly moved here in her teens. has effectively hated it ever since, but was too comfortable to really pack herself up and go. daphne, on the other hand, kind of likes the comfortable. the same people in her grades, the same people she sees walking home from school. it's nice. calls herself the unwelcome committee because she usually finds people too late that they'd always get a different welcome committee, due to her lack of .. being social, i suppose. but she's not any less kind about it.
walks with a slight limp, due to her leg injury not healing 100% correctly. it's something she's self conscious over, and knows that it wasn't exactly her fault, but it's still the same feeling.
is a perpetual grandma. is always at home in time for jeopardy and it's subsequent sister shows, and goes to local bingo every week. days varies. she knows she's boring. daph is a little self conscious about it. is an extreme lightweight when she tags along to her obviously - more popular brother's parties, and has to be carried out by one of them at the end of the night. it's not to say that she's jealous of how easy it is for them to make friends, to have a large circle. it's just … okay, she is a little jealous. but it seems to come so easy and daphne feels as if she did something wrong that she can't do that too. she tries, and then overthinks, and it's turtles all the way down from there. will probably end up being a librarian or something.
daphne, for all intents and purposes, a good girl --- she likes to keep the peace and then in turn, likes the calmness sameness gives her. rarely parties or goes out, mostly due to not having many friends to do that with. relatively shy in the way that's kind of weird. wants to be social, but she's spent so much of her youth focusing on one thing, every else fell by the way side.
trying to keep the peace between her now feuding parents ( they're on the verge of divorce, daphne is sure ) and her rowdy brothers. more on their relationships below. despite the image her mother has tried to portray, daphne has always been closer to her father. a daddy's girl, if you will. despite the large family, she is extremely lonely. and isn't quite sure how to fix that --- try as she might, daphne always considers herself the "back up friend". the type of girl who has never been one persons best friend, and has never had a best friend of her own ( this would be a very much wanted wc in fact ... ) . the need and want to get out of her shell is strong, but she truly feels like she "missed her chance" to do so. like, girl, you're a baby!
a habitual hobbyist. now that she no longer dances, she's been trying to find the things to fill the void it brought her. it's half the reason she works at the craft house: she's tried her hand at it all, from crochet to needlepoint to diamond art. she likes crochet the best, though daphne isn't particularly good at it.
she's kind, but she does have four brothers. so make of that what you will. a little rough around the edges, daphne has never really had a group of friends. she's had friends, obviously, but they're the kind of friends that you only have because you share the same classes or live down the street. wants to be more ... social, but isn't sure where to start. witty. sarcastic beyond belief, even if a little skittish. once you get past her weird guarded walls, she'll talk your ear off.
her family. as much as i'd love her brothers ( she has 3 same age brothers who are all very sporty so it'd make sense to have something akin to teammates or even fans as much as that makes daphne roll her eyes ) and one older brother who i imagine is early 30's and lives in town, probably doing something far more interesting than daphne herself. married, even. i'd love some cousins, aunts, uncles, faux - nieces and nephews and close family friends who are so close that the lines blur between family or not. the caveney's have been in aurora bay for many years so i imagine they have a name for themselves, family aside.
friends. she doesn't have many, but those she does have, daphne cherishes. these could be acquaintances into friends, friends from school, even her roommate - or past roommates. friends of friends who vibe and want to get to know each other more. i'd love someone to become her first real best friend </3
ex - something(s). daph has only had one relationship, and that in itself was a dud. some high school thing from continued their entire high school career, up until they mutually called it quits. probably because they only stayed because it was comfortable ... or something like that. ex hookups, of which there aren't many. ex friends who they used to be friendly, but aren't, for some reason. lost contact or maybe they had a falling out and their friendship was the causality.
childhood friends. these could be people who lived in the same neighborhood she grew up in, people who knew her siblings during childhood and spent many hours at the caveney home. they could've stayed friends or drifted apart entirely.
INFLUENCES. good? bad? stable? chaotic? people who take her under their wing for the right or wrong reasons.
OTHERS I CAN THINK OF BUT NEED FLESHING OUT. friends / ex friends / exes or somethings of her siblings. neighbors in the college towers. someone who frequents the craft house. previous / current teacher / professor. ride or die. someone who gets her into all of the activities in town. enemies. unlikely friends. frenemies. mentor of some sort. previous teachers from throughout all grades. people she's met around town and gotten to know, vaguely. book club members.
[cis woman and she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [MIREYA CARDENAS]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [FIONA PALOMO]. You must be the [TWENTY-FIVE] year old [BARISTA AT SERENITY TEA SHOP]. Word is you’re [HOPEFUL] but can also be a bit [CLOSED-OFF] and your favorite song is [DEEP DIVE BY WALLOWS]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it!
tw: teenage pregnancy, tw: car crash, tw: parental death
@aurorabayaesthetic
For the longest time in her life, it'd always just been Mireya and her mom, Angelina. Angelina had gotten pregnant in high school at only fifteen and, despite everyone's insistences (and even her parents threatening to kick her out), kept her baby. The first few years were hard, Angelina having to drop out of high school and do whatever odd jobs she could to keep a roof over their heads, but she made it work for her and her daughter.
And Mireya? She idolized her mother. Angelina worked all day, studied to get her GED, and still made time for her. Her mother was her best friend, the center of her universe, and the day her mother got accepted into a nursing program when she was was only seven was probably the proudest day of little Reya's life--that is until she was ten and in the stands with Angelina's coworkers from the diner she worked at, probably cheering the loudest as her mom walked across the stage to get her diploma.
Her mom's drive helped fuel Mireya as well and she helped out as much as she could, always making sure her room was clean, helping with chores around the apartment, and never wanting to disrupt study time, which was definitely how Reya developed a love of books. She could spend hours in her little tent made of pillows and sheets, devouring chapter books way ahead of her grade level. She excelled in reading and writing, and Angelina encouraged her, all of Mireya's little spelling bee ribbons and role model certificates framed and put up right alongside Angelina's diploma.
When Reya was fifteen and in high school was when her mother met Cole. Mireya never knew her father, didn't really care to. She didn't need a father, but Angelina....she deserved a partner. Her mother dated over the years, but never anything serious, always putting her daughter and her work first. But even when she turned Cole down at first, he gently persisted, the two staying friends until finally Mireya talked some sense into her mother and told her to do something selfish for once in her life.
And the rest was history.
Cole was a kind and loving man. He treated Reya like his own daughter, had asked her permission to propose to Angelina, and this time when it was her turn to walk across the stage and get a diploma, they were the ones cheering the loudest in the crowd. That summer they got married, and at eighteen, Mireya finally had someone to officially call her dad. It was only made better when a year and a half later, Angelina found out she was pregnant, Mireya becoming a big sister just after her twentieth birthday.
Her little brother Samuel truly made their family complete and for a few blissful years, everything was pretty much perfect. They moved into a new home together, would spend their summers down in Aurora Bay, staying with Cole's family there. Every holiday and birthday was a big deal and honestly, they were the picture-perfect little family. So much so that when Mireya had gotten accepted into six different colleges, she ultimately chose Santa Clara University so she could stay close to her family in Sacramento, keeping a stellar GPA and making it a point to come home almost every weekend. Even after graduation and getting her own little apartment, she still was home all the time. In fact, she'd been home babysitting Sammy when she got the phone call that would change her and her little brother's life forever.
It'd been raining that March night, and from what she'd been told by the police afterwards, someone else had ran a red and t-boned their car. Angelina had died on impact (Mireya still hasn't decided if that was for the best or not) and her stepfather died on the way to the hospital. Reya doesn't even fully remember everything afterwards, just....going through the motions. She quit her job and sold her apartment, she took care of the house, she buried her parents. And then she did the easiest and yet hardest thing, she took on full custody of her brother, Sammy only four and half and not fully understanding why he'd never see his mommy and daddy again.
And Mireya tried to keep up some semblance of normalcy for him, but after weeks, she just couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't sleep in the same house where the ghosts of her parents lurked in every room. The house they'd built a home in, where she'd sit at the table and study, where meals were made and birthdays celebrated. She'd been sitting on that very couch when told she'd be a big sister. Every facet of their home held a memory that sucked the oxygen from her lungs and she just...couldn't do it anymore.
For weeks after the accident, her best friend Gianna, really the only 'family' she had left, had invited her to come live in Aurora Bay--a town she'd spent almost every summer in for the last seven years. And now almost three months since the accident, Mireya has finally agreed, selling her family's home and putting most of the money into a saving's account for her brother since her mother's will left practically everything to her and for the second time that year, Mireya's whole life shifted as she moved south with Sammy. She's gotten them a little apartment and got herself a job at the tea shop in town, just trying to get some actual sense of normalcy back in her life.
extras:
full name: mireya inez cardenas
nicknames: reya, mira, miry, rey
birthday: september 23, 2000 (sammy's is november 16, 2020)
height: 5'4
hometown: sacramento, california
fluent in spanish
attended santa clara university from 2018 to 2022
parents passed away march 15, 2025
moved to aurora bay in may 2025, but spent every summer in town since 2017
pinterest board
connections:
@giannasutherland - long distance bestie/reason she moved to ab
— welcome to Aurora Bay, [ARZU AYTEK]! I couldn’t help but notice that you look an awful lot like [NESLIHAN ATAGUL]. You must be the [TWENTY-SEVEN] year old [HISTORY TEACHER AT AURORA BAY HIGH SCHOOL]. Word is you’re [CLEVER] but can also be a bit [RETICENT] and your favorite song is [VAMPIRE EMPIRE BY BIG THIEF]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [OCEAN CREST APARTMENTS]. I’m sure you’ll love it! ( penned by rosemary )
[ pinterest ]
@aurorabayaesthetic
JUST THE FACTS
full name : arzu seher aytek.
arzu, meaning wish, desire, longing ; seher, meaning dawn, early morning, or intelligence ; aytek, meaning ‘ like the moon ’.
preferred name : prefers to be referred to as miss aytek, and is only truly comfortable with those closest to her using her first name. does not like nicknames.
birthday : january 11th
hometown : new york city, new york
schooling : new york university
languages spoken : english, turkish, spanish, some italian
height : 5ft6in
fashion sense : dresses most commonly in business casual attire ; always feels better when she looks put together, even on the more emotionally taxing days. in the warmer months, she can be caught in one of her more-casual-than-business summer dresses, though she always manages to look like the city girl she is, even when dressed down.
piercing(s) : her ears are doubled pierced; if one got the opportunity to see her stomach, they would notice the pale scars of an old bellybutton piercing from her university days.
tattoo(s) : an orchid on her ribs, covering the initials of someone she knew in another life.
jewelry : prefers gold, delicate jewelry, and rarely wears more than three pieces at a time.
notable piece(s) : always wearing her mother's wedding ring on her right hand, and her father's wedding band on her right thumb.
WE DON'T NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS
mother : yelda aytek (nee koray) - deceased.
father : eren aytek - deceased.
sibling(s) : emel aytek, older sister - deceased.
extended family : seher koray, maternal aunt - possible future wc, npc for now.
THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF ARZU AYTEK
tw: death, child death
cw: fire, house fire.
She remembers very little from before the fire, to her greatest chagrin.
Sometimes, when the wind blows a certain way against the leaves, or when she’s passing by the bakery downtown, Arzu will remember a glimpse of a memory; a bearded face beaming down at her as she stumbles along a river, strong arms held out to catch her whenever she stumbled too close, a wooden cabin barely visible nearby; a twinkling laugh echoing around a sunshine yellow kitchen, tiny handprints of flour decorating nearly every surface, and a woman who chases her with joy on her blurry face; or sometimes she remembers a small hand, only slightly bigger than her own, holding on to her tightly as they walk down a cobbled street, brown hair braided into a crown that for some reason, Arzu is sure matched her own hair on that day. If she strains herself enough, she can remember their eyes, brown, grey, and brown, and the comfort she had once found looking into them.
The last remaining member of a family she couldn’t remember; the only survivor of a horrible accident that she would never forget.
The move to America helped her forget the pain, for a while. Her aunt had been ill-equipped to take on a child, barely able to afford her shoebox apartment on her salary as a waitress and failing actress as it was, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her; more often than not, Arzu would watch her aunt come home from a double-shift at one job waiting tables, take a quick nap, then run off to her next job filming commercials and doing auditions. Just as her aunt Seher threw herself into her work, Arzu threw herself into her studies; determination burned through her as she observed her aunt working day and night just to ensure she could afford the two of them, and she would be damned if all that work was for nothing. They figured out how to survive in the big city, together.
When she’d graduated from high school at the top of her class, if had been her aunt who cheered the loudest, making up for the three other voices that should’ve been cheering along with her. When her aunt landed the lead in an off-Broadway production, Arzu had been sitting in the front row, mouthing along each line with perfect precision after spending every afternoon for months sitting backstage at rehearsals doing her homework. They were a team, one that had perfected their synchronicity so that every move seemed like a dance, one that did not need any other players.
University changed the sense of normalcy Arzu had deluded herself into feeling; the chaos of self-sufficiency and the mandatory socialization with her roommates sent her for a loop, and rather than break out of her cocoon to become the social butterfly she felt she could be, she locked herself away in her dorm, and focused on what was familiar. No matter how enticing the invitation, she always declined, stating there was some test she needed to study for, or an essay that needed editing.
Perhaps she grew tired of the unending cycle of studying, sleeping, and repeating; possibly her roommate that year had been particularly convincing ( those pre-law types always are). Both were possibilities, but the truth was rather simple: Arzu had become lonely. Her greatest mistake and heartbreak had resulted from the most straightforward yet strongest emotion she’d felt. Loneliness meant she said yes when she was invited to a Halloween party in her third year; loneliness meant she said yes when Brant Howard asked her to dance that night. And loneliness meant she said yes when he asked her on a date later that evening, after giving her the sweetest kiss she’d ever had.
She knew she was being foolish from the start; she didn’t have time for romance, didn’t have time to be swept off her feet. She had goals, and a timeline to finish them, and she would absolutely not, under no circumstances, allow anyone to impede on those goals, no matter how handsome or charming one might be. But perhaps she hadn’t accounted for just how handsome or charming Brant could be.
Every time she attempted to end the relationship, he did something to change her mind; when she’d insisted she needed to take more time to visit her aunt, and that a relationship impeded on her time with her only living relative, he’d offered to come along with her for those visits. To her secret joy, the two got along exceptionally well, and Brant became her date to any shows her aunt booked, always bringing along a bouquet bigger than the last. After a year, she’d attempted to end things for a short while whilst she prepared for finals, insisting she simply didn’t have the time to go one dates or accompany him to his family events; he’d taken it in stride, and though they were technically broken up, he’d drop off takeout for her on the nights she forgot to cook, somehow always knowing when that was, sent her an email saying good luck on the morning of each of her big exams, and had stood outside the hall waiting for her with orchids, her favourite flower, after she presented her final thesis. It was tough not to fall entirely in love with the man.
So, despite her best attempts, and stubborn thoughts that insisted she did not deserve anything good she did not work for, she allowed herself to fall. And as such is the truth with every fall from such a height, the end that was always to come, came, and the damage was catastrophic.
After three years, it was only natural to wonder, to begin having expectations. Though she’d never spent hours picturing her dream wedding or the groom that might be waiting at the end of the aisle, she’d daydreamed more than once about having something more with Brant. She let herself hope, and dared to ask if there might be something akin to wedding bells in their future one day. She hadn’t expected him to laugh, hadn’t expected the genuine surprise on his face when she didn’t join in his laughter. Hadn’t expected him to say that certain things were expected of him, that he couldn’t marry someone like her.
And suddenly, she remembered the family she’d never been allowed to meet, and the pained expression on his face whenever she brought it up; she remembered the long phone calls he took in his office, and that he constantly needed to take a walk after ‘to clear his head’. The puzzle she had been too blind to piece together became all too obvious.
Suddenly, she was alone in the world once more; she would not become a nuisance to her aunt, never again, and so it was her own shoebox apartment that she moved into, with only the company of nearly-forgotten ghosts to keep her company.
The teaching job had popped up shortly after she received the wedding invitation in the mail. She had barely opened the envelope, only enough to see the groom’s name before she felt too sick to continue reading. So when she came across the offer to move across the country for a job that paid too little but offered the chance to restart, she was almost too quick to accept.
This time, she insisted, she would not stray from the plan. She would put all of her passion into teaching, into finding a home, and she would guard her heart with all the ferocity she could muster, determined that loneliness was a small price to pay to keep all her pain at bay.
Welcome to Aurora Bay, YVONNE SAYLER! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like CAMILA QUEIROZ. You must be the THIRTY year old BARTENDER AT THE FOUR LEAF PUB. Word is you’re RESILIENT but can also be a bit DUBIOUS and your favorite song is DARK PARADISE by LANA DEL REY. I also heard you’ll be staying in CRYSTAL COVE CONDOMINIUMS.
Trigger Warnings: Death, grief, drugs
basic stats
Full Name: Yvonne Estela Moreira Sayler
Nickname(s): Yve (pronounced like 'Eve'), Slayer
Gender: Cis woman (she/her)
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Birthday: March 13 (30)
Hometown: Loch Lomond, Florida
Current Residence: Crystal Cove Condominiums
Time in AB: Two years
Occupation: Bartender at the Four Leaf Pub
Education: Just shy of a high school diploma
Religion: Non-practicing Catholic
Pets: None
Hair Color: Light brown
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 5'6
Tattoos: TBA
Piercings: One in each lobe
Favorite Movie: True Romance
Favorite Alcoholic Drink: Jack and Coke
Favorite Food:
brief bio
Yvonne grew up in a mobile home neighborhood in Loch Lomond, Florida. She lived with her mom, Julia, and no father, whom Julia has always claimed was Lou Reed of The Velvet Underground.
She was a moody, eccentric girl in school and ended up dropping out just shy of graduation to marry her boyfriend, who had graduated two years previously at a high school in neighboring Pompano Beach. He came from a wealthy family whom Yvonne got along with very well, at least until she eloped with their son. He already had his trust fund at that point and the two of them used it to leave Florida behind.
They ended up across the country in Phoenix, Arizona, and Yvonne was literally just happy being a wife and curating little hobbies while her husband worked. They were more or less happy for about five years, when she lost him to a drowning accident. In his will he'd left all of his money to her, which became an enormous legal battle with his family, but which Yvonne ultimately won, perhaps not least of all because she slept with his family's lawyer.
She then took her money and went to California, where she initially spent a few years in LA before deciding it was too fast-paced for her and relocating to Aurora Bay, still idyllic and still California but a little more her speed. She works now as a bartender at the Four Leaf Pub.
personality
Smokes a lot of cigarettes, thinks vapes are fuckingggg lame
Kind of a coke fiend tbh
Has gotten in trouble with law enforcement for swimming naked in natural bodies of water
Was made for hookup culture, one night stands are her thing these days ever since she lost her husband
Genuinely has no idea if Lou Reed is actually her dad but she very seriously doubts it
Was utterly derailed by the loss of her husband, obviously, but also emotionally vexed by the way the sudden freedom excited her a little bit too
Not at all academically-inclined but very world savvy and can take care of herself
Very friendly and loves to yap but has an introverted side and will sometimes hermit herself away and only be in the mood to see her close friends
Has a 'mysteriously rich widow' vibe like you don't THINK she killed her husband for all that money but you also wouldn't bet your life on it 😭
Has a great singing voice, very croony and old-timey
Loves making her own clothes and has a small Etsy shop where she sells her handmade stuff that she doesn't keep for herself, has been known to take commissions
Has the moodiest wardrobe, absolutely walks around in head scarf + sunglasses combo
Drives a powder blue Audi A4 convertible
connection ideas
Neighbors in Crystal Cove Condos
Some close friends, some regular friends, some acquaintances from around town and regulars at the pub where she works
Anybody who's bought clothes from her or commissioned something
An ex from the last two years that probably deeply didn't work out
Tinder/Hinge/any of those, one night stands, one-or-two-off dates, maybe one fwb but I don't see her maintaining that kind of relo very often
She's such a consumer. Does your muse sell stuff? Have a shop? She's a regular
Her attorney and financial advisor
Possible connection to her late husband (a cousin or sibling of his maybe) but this would have to be discussed
Someone who is absolutely convinced she killed her husband 😭
middle child (and middle child syndrome sufferer) with an older brother and younger sister.
grew up in a stable home with hard-working parents who instilled that in him and also inspired his own life goal of not having to work that hard for the rest of his.
respected the hustle, had no romanticisation of the struggle.
there was always something that he wanted that was just out of reach. a new bike as a boy, new car as a teen, not to have to worry about college loans and how he was going to fund the next semester while he was in the current one as a young adult.
loved to rough house with his brother as youths and was the accidental accomplice in a number of declan's frequent flyer visits to the emergency room.
grew up but didn't exactly grow out of that and can be a little bullish at times without meaning to be.
by fourteen he knew the rest of his life wouldn't be spent in georgia.
his teenage years from then until college were more like an exercise in escapism with most of it spent dreaming about being anywhere but home to the point where his parents were concerned about how disengaged he was.
always did well in school, academics always came easy to him and he he rarely had to put in much studying to do well.
when it came time to apply for college, he didn't apply to a single one in state.
with a number of acceptances to choose from, he narrowed it down to two: bachelor of science in management in MIT or bachelor of science in business administration at USC.
it only took minimal deliberation with himself before he accepted a place at USC.
took to college like a duck to water and left a lot of his previous life behind him in georgia, including some of his interests and hobbies.
very much reinvented himself in his freshman year and by his senior year he knew exactly who he was and exactly what he wanted -- a move to silicon valley after graduation, to head his own startup and aylin carrigan.
kodi was besotted from the moment he met her in a way he hadn't experienced before that point. he'd had a number of girlfriends up until that point but they soon felt like little more than stepping stones in the rearview when compared to what was in front of him.
he proposes fast and would have gotten married faster if not for the wedding planning and wanting to honour unifying both of their families, especially after receiving some skepticism from aylin's for the spontaneity.
splitting time between silicon valley and usc was no easy feat once kodi had graduated but they managed it until aylin's graduation when she relocated with him full time.
it was in that 2 years of splitting time that kodi met peter basara from an ad seeking a roommate.
they clicked instantly (matched each other's creative freak)
started working on an app called torch together from a throwaway idea that's still disputed to this day who's it was initially (it was peter's) and after two years, it had grown legs and boomed into quickly profitable venture with a number of buyout offers on the table.
faced with the prospect of a new chapter in his life about to begin, kodi knew that he had to do what was best for him and the future he wanted with his wife and he cut the fat.
unfortunately, that included cutting peter out in order to secure himself as ceo after a large cash infusion that required equity to be sold.
maintains to this day that he did what was needed for the company and it's success, which has since expanded tenfold (sorry dj whizbang)
as much as kodi tried to absolve himself of any and all guilt surrounding that betrayal, it changed something within him. first with his approach to business, leaving him unafraid to be cutthroat in pursuit of what he wanted which inevitably spilled over into his personal life.
the work days grew longer, burning the midnight oil felt perpetual and kodi was all but consumed with share prices and the uptick of money in his bank account.
it felt good to be able to buy his parents house for them, it felt better to be able to get a second home in his wife's hometown as a five year wedding anniversary gift for her.
the problem was he began to be present less and less in both.
if he wasn't working, he was thinking about work.
the things he had said he wanted in his early twenties were no longer a priority as his thirties sped towards him.
ever the businessman, he had successfully argued down the idea of having children to a more agreeable to his schedule adoption of two dogs with the promise that they would revisit that conversation when things on his end simmered down.
they never did.
with his ten year wedding anniversary approaching, kodi couldn't stave off a discontentment that he had been ignoring for a couple of years by then.
he had everything he wanted and set out to get and yet he couldn't pinpoint the source for why he neither woke up happy or went to sleep happy.
that's when the thrill seeking started.
he ordered his drinks a little stronger, he no longer turned down coke when it was offered to him at a party his wife opted to skip and when he met pru piper he let curiosity cross the threshold into infidelity without much thought for anything other than himself.
what started as a new year's eve kiss became a full blown affair.
it lasted for six months before it hit him what he was risking and he ended things with pru and decided to dedicate himself to fixing his marriage by any means necessary.
those efforts were short lived when a throwaway comment on one of pru's podcast episodes stirred up a wave of internet sleuthing that soon pieced things together.
unfortunate timing saw that news break on aylin's 30th birthday which put a fast end to his plan to ask her to renew their vows.
with no way for him to deny what he had done, he came clean about all of it.
in a move he genuinely never thought possible, aylin left.
he remained in their home while she moved back to her hometown and into their holiday home.
after receiving notification that she intended to sell that, kodi took his chance to show up in aurora bay with reason enough that she couldn't instantly slam the door in his face.
PERSONALITY.
+ ambitious, cutthroat, charming.
- hypocritical, inflexible, workaholic.
FUN ADJACENT FACTS.
dog dad to a chocolate lab and an american staffordshire terrier that he now shares custody with with his estranged wife.
rushed tau kappa epsilon (tke) in usc successfully.
big college football fan.
is in a fantasy football league.
was on forbes 30 under 30 list when torch went public.
was on jack sweeney's tracking list for how frequently he opted to fly private (all the time) and now does the occasional business class flight so he looks less hypocritical when he pitches torch's sustainability initiatives.
uncle / godfather to his niece kenzie (lil kj) that he adores who lives in georgia full time. never misses a birthday of hers or a holiday if he knows she'll be there.
CURRENT CONNECTIONS.
@aylinxc-s estranged wife.
@prupipers former mistress.
@peterbasara former business partner / friend.
@gavin-carrigan brother in law.
SPECIFIC WANTED CONNECTIONS.
tba.
GENERIC WANTED CONNECTIONS.
connections wise he’s pretty much an open book right now, but some baseline ideas that can be springboarded off are:
friendly.
a best friend / ride or dies / close friends / childhood friends from georgia / pseudo-siblings / friends / drunk friends / new friends / people he knew from usc / people he met in silicon valley / people he became friendly with during multiple visits to aurora bay over the years.
romantic
flirtationship / friends with benefits / one time hook ups / tinder matches / unrequited crush / exes from high school (georgia specific) / exes from college (must have attended usc).
antagonistic.
enemies / former friends / exes on bad terms / frenemies / rivals / negative influence / people who don’t fuck with him for everything that went down with aylin.
[trans woman and she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [ORIANA PEREZ]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [ZION MORENO]. You must be the [THIRTY] year old [HAIR STYLIST @ STUNNING STYLES]. Word is you’re [POLISHED] but can also be a bit [ALOOF] and your favorite song is [THE BOLTER BY TAYLOR SWIFT]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [CRYSTAL COVE CONDOMINIUMS].
@aurorabayaesthetic
BASIC INFORMATION !
FULL NAME: Oriana Calista Perez
NICKNAME(S): Princess
AGE: Thirty
GENDER & PRONOUNS: Trans woman & She/Her
SEXUAL & ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Heterosexual & Heteromantic
BIRTH PLACE: Aurora Bay, California
BIRTHDAY: 17 August
ZODIAC: Leo
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single
HEIGHT: 6'0"
OCCUPATION: Hair Stylist
EDUCATION: High School, 1 Year of College, Cosmetology School
NEIGHBORHOOD: Crystal Cove Condominiums
ARRIVAL IN TOWN: Born in AB, Moved away at 13, Arrived back in town late November 2024
PARENTS: Fransisco Perez (Father) — Living, Violetta Herrera (Mother) — Living, Elisabetta Perez (Step-Mother) — Living
SIBLINGS: Tatum Crabtree (Step-Sister) — Living
SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, French
PETS: None
BIOGRAPHY !
Oriana Perez was raised by a single father and her grandmother. She doesn't remember her mother—who skipped out on the family when she was three. Although her father was angry, he never blamed his child for his wife's departure. From that moment on, he worked hard to keep his family afloat, sometimes working multiple jobs in order to spoil Oriana. Her family, despite small, were all very supportive of each other. They weren't wealthy at first—and then her father finally got a job where he was actually making a decent salary. A few months later he met another woman and they got married.
Elisabetta already had another child from a previous marriage, so suddenly Oriana had to share everything with her new step-sibling and she wasn't exactly a fan. As much as she liked the idea of her expanded family and having more people around to care about her. But Oriana hated having to share her family with someone new. She had a competitive streak when it came to besting her new sibling. So when her sibling decided to start dancing, Oriana also joined. And she fell in love with it. Even when her sibling fell out of love with dance, Oriana kept at it. Dancing was where she realized that she was trans—she wanted to wear the dresses and heels and makeup that the other girls in her dance class were wearing. Although it wasn't until she was in middle school that she was confident enough to tell her family who were all supportive.
Although Oriana grew up in Aurora Bay, her dad had decided he wanted to send her to a private school. She was shipped off to a girl's boarding school in England and absolutely hated it. She had never been an academic oriented school, but being in Europe was good for the fashion loving side of her. Oriana ended up going to Paris fashion week several times and while she didn't graduate as one of the best students, she ended up doing alright in school. Although she ended up arguing with her dad about going off to university, eventually she caved and applied to a school in the states in California. Oriana wouldn't be in school for long though, as she quickly realized that was not going to work for her.
She stayed in school for two years, but it was in her junior year that things changed. In high school, she had started a fashion and style instagram. While it took some time to get off the ground, she started getting a really decent following and making money from her videos in her sophomore year of college. Although her father was angry, he couldn't exactly stop her from quitting school to follow her passions in the influencer space. Oriana eventually went to cosmetology school in Los Angeles and got a job at a decent enough salon. Her page turned more into showing her own work and got even more attention—enough that she started to get invites to red carpet events and work as a stylist on some movies.
It was at a red carpet event for a movie she was hired to work on that she met someone. The two quickly realized how compatible they were and Oriana had never found herself falling in love so fast with someone. The next few years went by in such a blur that Oriana barely remembers them. She found herself happy and successful—everything she had always wanted in life. When he asked her to marry, Oriana said yes without thinking about it. And then two days later she packed her bags and left a note saying she couldn't marry him. She left Los Angeles and went back to Aurora Bay.
Her father was confused when she showed up at his door, but he let her stay for a bit, until she got her own apartment. Oriana got a new job at Stunning Styles and posts online less often than she did before—but still has quite a following online. She has only been back a few months at this point, but she refuses to talk about why she just left Los Angeles and all of her friends are confused about where she went.
HEADCANONS !
Oriana was twelve when she managed to finally learn her mother's name. She was talking to her grandmother and the woman let it slip. Although Oriana has never looked her up, she is curious.
