#ivf tw

[stoneinc]

*     ◟    :    〔   ruth wilson  ,      cis-woman    +   she / her    〕      claire stone  ,      some say you’re a  forty one year old  lost soul among the neon lights.      known for being both  conscientious  and  emotional ,  one can’t help but think of  you keep me crawling  by   aurora  when you walk by.    are you still the  ceo   of   stoneage inc ,     even with your reputation as the liability ?     i think we’ll be seeing more of you and crumbling behind closed doors, intense glares of dissatisfaction and  creased silk blouses,     although we can’t help but think of jeanine matthews (divergent), rachel duncan (orphan black),   and rebecca bunch (crazy ex-girlfriend)     whenever we see you down these rainy streets.  

oh look, it’s me bringing more morally grey female muses with daddy issues (now never to be resolved) and an obscene and overwhelming amount of power....

triggers: mental illness tw, abandonment tw, abuse tw, just very bad parenting in general tw, death tw, mention of pregnancy tw, ivf tw,

     claire, the first and only (known) child of multi-billionaire damon stone. born somewhere in the south of england, conceived in a ‘dingey bar’/a quaint countryside public house, and not a particularly wanted asset by her parents. her parents had been allies that supported each other’s work and had similar ideas about the future, they got on but were hardly romantic. perhaps their sexual affair had been because of loneliness or driven by their own narcissistic tendencies. both brilliant minds in their own right, they never really stopped working or striving for the future, thus, leaving their child somewhat neglected.

      an emotional child wasn’t something that was ideal for either of them - a massive inconvenience. claire would cry and cry only to be met with logic when all she needed was some contact, a hug from either of them. it was her mother who particularly despised her crying when she was trying to work, so much so that she would resort to physically gripping her daughter a little too tightly, not the type of contact she wanted. damon hadn’t seen his partner cracking but she was. 

    claire’s mother had become so consumed by research that she was unable to think about anything else. her obsession with technology, specifically artificial intelligence, had consumed her and lead her to constantly write journals (ones that would never be published under her name). obsession turned into delusions and resulted in her early death. her mother’s passing deeply affected claire, not so much damon. she was old enough to understand that something had been wrong but not how or why. one minute she had someone whom she called mother, the next she hadn’t.

     her mother’s journals were punished under damon stone. they brought about new opportunities for him and investments started coming his way. from a young age, claire had shown an interest in her father’s work because she quickly saw it as a way to garner affection from the man and get that ‘quality time’ she wanted. prodigy wasn’t an accurate description of claire but it was the words used when she attended university at fifteen. her entire life had been studying and was a compliant child - the thought of exams had terrified her but she had listened to damon and applied what he had taught her (or what she had overheard in passing). 

   it was an investment that paid off for him - she would stay with someone else and that freed up his time to devote to research. he hadn’t even told her that he had moved to the usa until she had turned up (as a surprise) at her now former home only for someone else to answer the door. luckily for her, the strangers had the right temperament to calm her down but she feared being abandoned and she had felt like it had happened. damon assured her that it was not the case but what kind of parent would not only move but move countries and not tell his child? damon’s selfish actions had preyed on her insecurity of only having him and losing him just as easily as her mother seemed to go.

    it upset her and her father couldn’t understand why. he had seen a fatal flaw in her, a weakness that he had a severe distaste for. while her academics remained at the top of her class, multiple professors advised that she was too young for the institution, that it was breaking her and that she should be withdrawn from the course. they made a point of it to damon but he declined. the professors spoke to claire but she’d burst into tears and say that it couldn’t happen, that she needed to do this. if she wasn’t able to keep up with damon’s intellect, she felt she’d lose him completely.

       nepotism would serve her well as she assumed a role in stoneage inc. at straight after completing her phd, at the age of twenty two. her academic would quickly be washed away by the inside hatred others would have for her, claiming the ‘special treatment’ due to the blood in her veins. at this point, her personal and professional life had fully merged into one. as stoneage inc. had more and more success, damon would only treat her as a colleague and would ridicule her, perhaps worse, for her emotional outbursts. he had always made them worse but he had hoped that if she received poor treatment, it would deter her from making the same mistake. claire wasn’t ‘strong’ like he was - all it did was knock her down. 

    to an onlooker, she was the classic spoilt prodigy nepotist baby in new york city. she would go out and party, would always take it too far and would even accidentally injure herself in the process. reckless and spoiled. when damon came to pick up the pieces, it was the only time he was kind and actually took care of her. however, he would take notes and label her as a liability in his mind and also spread it among his most trusted advisors.

damon kept her away from his dodgy dealings and somewhat forced her into motherhood when she assumed responsibility for sabine. the man made sure she was approved and that further lead her away from the research field. to claire, sabine was just someone that needed someone - who was she to argue with that? she wouldn't realise that it had been a calculated move, a rather misogynistic one from her father. claire quickly became attached to sabine. she cried and claire would have the natural instinct to run to her and give her a hug, to give her something she never got growing up (or rather rarely). AT SOME POINT, claire did become an overbearing mother and her control issues definitely started influencing their relationship with each other. it's not something that she realises she's doing but she is a stone after all - can you really fight your nature?

    over the years, claire would continue her research but would be kept at arms length. damon wanted her to remain out of the corruption and tensions, to keep her at arms length personally so she wasn’t a distraction. no one would know why mr. stone kept her so distant when also writing her as the sole inheritor of  stoneage inc. (keeping her in the dark would do his legacy and multi-billion dollar empire a favour in the future). 

    she would also develop her own unwanted feelings towards androids. they were emotionless, efficient, everything her father wanted her to be. perhaps that was why he was so obsessed. the woman found herself wishing far too many times that she was one - maybe appreciation would come with that. it was a thought that she’d run away with, primarily while drinking alone in her exquisite penthouse. it was so easy to just erase a models memory, to reinvent it for a particular purpose. it felt like dangerous territory and she knew it. claire envied them but her interest was peaked if they could be capable of taking on a particular emotion, a download of her own negative feelings onto a drive. it didn’t seem realistic but it also didn’t seem impossible. however it was only a thought, one that turned into several but none ever actioned or analysed. 

     multi-billionaire damon stone drops dead. that would be the headline. an unexpected death at a crucial moment in trial talks with the government, a bereaved claire steps in to close the deal. cause of death remains undetermined and foul play has not been ruled out. a surprise and expected, claire stone assumes the role of ceo of stoneage incorporation as well as inheriting her father’s fortune. it was a partnership that would be described as destined. she had failed at winning her father’s affection and she wouldn’t fail again. that was easier said than done.

    there is a period when it seems the woman doesn't care about her dear father's passing - she was thrown into the deep end and wanted to do well, finally given the chance to prove her worth. it was odd how little tears she shed given her past emotional outbursts. there was a lot she needed to be doing. there was a lot of pressure on her but for the first time in her life she not only accepted it but thrived on it. it was like a temporary high for her. with damon out of the picture, claire's life felt better and that didn't feel like it was stopping.

people would think it was the wrong time to try for a child shortly after her father's passing and her peaking in her career but claire felt like it was the perfect time - everything was going right. someone had donated and her ivf treatment had succeeded after a few rounds that had made her ill. she'd push through. of course, the maternal image does not go without stoneage capitalising on it, to show that it is just as about people and the new generation as it is about ai. claire doesn't believe everything that comes out of her mouth, she hates everyone telling her she's glowing when she feels absolutely terrible but it was good for business. the woman who's got it all - that would be a frequent headline.

at the end of june, claire has another daughter at a birthing centre surrounded by trusted confidants and a small selection of vetted staff members. the high from it all is beyond her. she names her celine but hopes no one will call her cece for short but lina instead. so many emotions are going through her during that first week and the room is silent after she utters the words 'i can't wait for him to meet her'. it's like she's been hit with a dose of reality, it finally sinking in that her father isn't here, neither is her mother. the memory of her and damon in the theatre clapping for sabine comes to her, they'd been so proud of her but she was unable to imagine that situation for the baby up against her because it was unattainable. finally breaking down in tears follows that, an extremely delayed reaction but an action, nonetheless. claire felt like she had destroyed her own happiness by making that statement, it forcing her to acknowledge what was happening, what had actually happened to her?

now comes the time where claire feels like she's pushed herself too hard. every thought somehow leads her back to him and nightmares start up in her very little sleep time. her subconscious has blocked something out and she can't uncover what. at the same time as trying to care for celine, she feels like sabine is the one that needs the most attention from her. she does as much as she can from home because she feels like lina's too tiny to be taken into that place - she wants to keep her from it.

     to those outside, claire stone is a formidable force but others within the corporation know that it’s only a matter of time before she cracks, and when that happens they will be there to assume the inc. for themselves...

THE UNKNOWN

the something that she has blocked out entirely and at this stage doesn't know about. the first model of replicant stoneage put out was an C1AI.re, a replicant that had been modelled by the couples own daughter with some modifications on the features that they thought weren't attractive/wouldn't 'sell'. the models were suddenly discontinued several years after their release, previously being a model to be upgraded. it was when damon had grown to despise his own daughter.

C - Claire

1 - first

AI - what it says on the tin

.re - replicant

perhaps some plots??

honestly looking for anything and everything but here are some ideas

people who work for meta news - perhaps they’re old friends that have spoken in a professional setting before? someone who ran a succession story on claire without permission, someone who’s been trying to get her to do that tasteless all-about-me interview after the death of her father? an ally that has buried stuff (can be discussed) for her in the past? 

sentient androids that, you know, want her gone. self-explanatory. also perhaps a privately hired android? only the best, of course. 

someone under her wing - we all know after reading my ramblings claire is a mess but would be nice if she had people under her wing, most likely started before she assumed her new role in the incorporation. what their intentions are is utp. maybe even her own protegé? someone with potential?

i’m tired right now so i’m stopping here but i love brainstorming and would love to get plots with you. this probably wasn't all of it but i love to muse!!

[blackcatsims]

Hey all,

I completed my fourth round of IVF recently. This is the second time we made it to the embryo transfer stage. Unfortunately we found out yesterday that the pregnancy didn’t take.

I’m telling you this because I’m feeling pretty sad and hopeless at the moment, so after tonight’s post there won’t be any original content for a while. At least until I feel well enough to get out of bed, put the wine away and turn on my computer lol

Sorry for being so personal on main, and I’m double sorry if reading about this triggers or upsets anyone in any way. I don’t share my personal life on any social media except for here because (unlike people who I’ve actually met) you guys have always made me feel the safest here. Thank you for that.

Love you heaps. Bye for now xxx

[silver-lily-louise]

A Whole New World - Chapter 3: Power in Your Corner

In which Alec makes his first wish. Chapter title from ‘Aladdin’. 

Chapter 1: AO3 / Tumblr Chapter 2: AO3 / Tumblr Chapter 3: AO3 / read it below!

~oOo~

He hears the door click open, and Alexander’s voice comes echoing from the tiny entrance hallway. ‘Magnus?’ Magnus looks up from the last third of Les Mis – which he’s enjoying, still, but by the gods, how could there be so much of it left? – and feels himself smile as the man himself appears, unwinding his scarf and managing to further muss his already-windswept mop of hair in the process. ‘Alexander,’ he says in greeting. ‘Pleasant day, I hope?’ ‘Huh? Oh – yeah, it was okay,’ he says, excitement dancing bright and lovely in his eyes. Before Magnus can query it, Alexander quickly drops into the seat next to him, leaning forward as he tells Magnus, ‘Listen – I was thinking it over on my lunch break, and I think I’ve decided on a wish.’

Magnus sits up from his stretched-out position, swinging his legs off of the couch and banishing the book back to his lamp’s library with a flick of his wrist. ‘That’s wonderful news,’ he says, gesturing upwards with both hands, allowing his fingertips to spark in lilac and mauve, inordinately pleased when Alexander’s eyes widen. Magic, he had decided centuries ago, was as much showmanship as science. ‘So tell me, Alexander – what does your heart desire?’

Alexander takes a deep breath, and speaks as though he’s consciously slowing his pace down – though, notably, not enough to return to his normal speed. ‘Okay. So. My sister, Izzy, and her husband Simon – they’ve been trying to have a baby, and I was wondering if you could, you know, help with that?’ It takes all of Magnus’ considerable self-control not to raise an eyebrow at his phrasing. Unfortunately, it’s a wasted effort, as Alexander seems to realise the next moment what that sounded like, and turns a delectable shade of cherry red regardless. ‘I mean,’ he says, his voice a little stilted with embarrassment, ‘they’ve been having IVF treatment, and the last two attempts have failed, and they have their last chance tomorrow, and – I don’t know, if it’s possible, or-‘ Magnus holds up a hand, halting the ramble. ‘Alexander.’ He smiles gently. ‘Of course it is possible. You are not the first wish-maker to ask for something like this, not by a long shot. I’d be happy to help.’ He lets his smile widen into a teasing grin. ‘Final answer?’ Alexander nods, looking relieved and happy, the tension draining from his posture. ‘Yeah. My first wish is for Izzy’s IVF tomorrow to succeed.’

***

The next day, Magnus arrives at the clinic fifteen minutes before Izzy’s appointment. Five minutes later, a familiar couple arrives, and the woman says, ‘Hi - Isabelle Lightwood, I have a 3:15 appointment with Dr Anderson?’ They take a seat not far from him, and Magnus peers at them discreetly over his magazine. Alexander showed him a photograph of the two of them together, but even without that, he thinks he could have recognised them. Isabelle looks very like her brother – the same dark, shiny hair, earnest hazel eyes, and strong, serious brows. She’s holding onto her husband’s hand, a slightly shaky smile on her face as he rambles on softly, encouragingly, and she looks lost somewhere between excited and afraid.

They’re called through, still holding hands. Magnus ducks into the restroom, checking that it’s empty, and snaps his fingers, changing his appearance with a glamour. He heads back into the waiting room, picks up a different magazine, and takes a seat in a chair closer to the corridor they left through.

Some time later, they reappear, a slight shuffle to Isabelle’s gait and Simon’s arm curled loosely around her waist. Magnus puts down the magazine, and pulls a cell phone out of his pocket, frowning down at it as he strides towards them. He gives a soft grunt of apparent surprise as he bumps into Isabelle, his palm briefly resting over her navel and sending a spark of magic into her system. ‘Oh – so sorry,’ he says, flashing each of them an apologetic smile before he continues on his way.

He resists the temptation to look back, and leaves the clinic out of the side entrance.

***

When he arrives back at Alexander’s apartment that evening, Magnus immediately spots him stretched out on the sofa, in much the same way he himself was earlier. ‘Hey!’ Alexander leaps to his feet, switching off the television and putting his half-empty bowl down on the coffee table, before rushing over until he’s stood right in front of Magnus. Excitement and fear are warring on his face, a sight breathtakingly similar to what Magnus saw in Isabelle’s expression earlier. ‘How’d it – well – Did it work?’ At this point in the proceedings, Magnus isn’t even surprised to find himself smiling anymore. Alexander just seems to have that effect on him. He reaches out, stilling the excitement somewhat with a hand at his elbow. ‘It went perfectly,’ he said. ‘A small nudge, a hint of magic, and voila – wish granted. I expect that in a few weeks, Isabelle will be calling you with some very good news.’

Alexander beams at him, and maybe he’s been stuck in the lamp for too long, because until just now Magnus had forgotten why smiles like that were likened to sunlight. ‘Thank you. That’s just – God, I’m so happy for them. Thank you for that.’ ‘You’re most welcome, Alexander.’ He drops his hand, making a small shooing motion. ‘Go finish your dinner, you’ll get indigestion leaping up in the middle of a meal like that.’ Alexander does as he’s told, but calls back over his shoulder, ‘Yours is on the table, if you’re hungry.’ Magnus blinks, trying to school his face back into something casual. ‘Thank you,’ he says. He’s been saying that a lot, since he got here. He wanders over to the table, humming appreciatively at the sight and smell of a generous bowl of tagliatelle, with just the right amount of Bolognese sauce stirred through it. He snaps his fingers, simultaneously reheating the food and conjuring a light dusting of parmigiano-reggiano.

He walks back out to the living room, a little surprised to see that Alexander hasn’t resumed the show he was watching, and is instead turning to face Magnus as he takes a seat. ‘I hope it’s okay,’ he says. ‘It’s from an Italian recipe book my parents bought me for Christmas.’ He chuckles. ‘I’m not what you’d call a natural chef, but give me a list of instructions, and I’ll get there.’ Magnus samples a forkful of pasta. It’s a little light on the garlic for his taste, but it’s delicious, and he digs in eagerly. He was hungrier than he thought, and he can sense Alexander’s satisfaction at providing adequate sustenance for his houseguest.

Alexander turns back to his own meal, and Magnus takes the opportunity to look at him surreptitiously, curiosity once more curling around his thoughts. When Alexander’s gaze flicks back towards him suspiciously, he realises that he wasn’t being as surreptitious as he thought. ‘What?’ Alexander asks. ‘Do I have Bolognese on my face?’ Magnus chuckles, shaking his head. ‘No, no such thing. It’s just…’ He trails off with a shrug, but Alexander stays focused on him as they finish the last mouthfuls of their meals. Magnus banishes the dishes with a lazy wave of his hand, and Alexander smiles in appreciation, but doesn’t say anything, clearly giving Magnus the opportunity to continue speaking.

Which, eventually, he does. ‘I meant it, before,’ he says, ‘about people wishing for children, for successful pregnancies. It’s very common. But this is the first time I can remember someone making that wish for a loved one’s sake, rather than their own.’ Alexander looks down, and Magnus wants to tell him that it’s certainly nothing to be embarrassed about, but he doesn’t want to interrupt when Alexander starts to speak. ‘I don’t know, it’s just… She’s wanted this for such a long time. And after they kept trying, and getting nowhere, and decided to start having the treatment – she was just so upset. She came over, and she was crying, and I knew I couldn’t do anything to make it better for her.’ He swallows hard, and Magnus almost winces in sympathy. ‘Then, after the two failed IVF attempts… She was putting a brave face on it, talking about the possibility of adoption – which obviously, is a great option, I mean, Jace was adopted and we wouldn’t be without him – but I could just tell, that even if she wasn’t out of options, another setback was just… I wasn’t sure she could handle it.’ He looks up at Magnus, and his eyes are shiny, and Magnus is pretty sure his own are too. Alexander shrugs. ‘I don’t know, it just seemed like the right thing to do. If I’ve got a way to help her, I want to, you know?’

Alexander’s looking at him like he’s expecting derision, criticism for some naïveté on his part. Magnus smiles at him, and sighs. ‘You continue to surprise me, Alexander. I’ve granted a lot of wishes, but rarely one so selfless.’ Alexander looks down at his feet again, mumbling something that might have been a thanks, or possibly another I don’t know, and Magnus makes a mental note that while he’s here, he should make a habit of giving compliments. Alexander could really use some practice receiving them.

But for now, he changes the topic, lightening the mood once more. ‘By the way, I couldn’t help but notice your bow,’ he says, gesturing to the wall behind them, where a navy and silver bow is proudly mounted on the wall. ‘It’s in beautiful condition, so either you dust your décor more than anyone I’ve ever met, or you actually use it.’ Alexander smiles. ‘Yeah, I’ve been into archery for a while now. Probably since I was… fourteen? Maybe? I’m not great, but I enjoy it. It’s good for some downtime – helps me switch off my brain.’ Magnus snorted lightly. ‘I’m sure you’re being modest.’ Novices had simple recurve bows, not nearly as difficult to wield as the compound contraption behind them. ‘You’ll have to dazzle me with your skills sometime.’ He winked, fully expecting Alexander’s blush, but fully delighted by it all the same. He might not be here for long, but there was no harm in flirting a little while he was, he reasoned. After all, Alexander was sweet, and handsome, and possibly one of the most thoughtful men Magnus had ever met.

Plus, he had always found people who could handle their weaponry very, very attractive.

~oOo~

[lithiumwolff]

Work’s been draining me lately, and I don’t want to push out replies just for the sake of clearing drafts. I know I’ve got nearly 40 sitting there, but I’d rather answer when I can actually give them the time, energy, and writing they deserve.

I am also going through IVF treatment and as I have not yet experienced side effects of medication yet…it is expected. On top of that I need to make sure my mental health is in check.

Thank you for your patience

[merrock]

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Kerry Washington

full name: Serena Astraea McCoy-Bardales

nickname(s) / goes by: Nira, Rena

pronouns & gender: cis woman and she/her

sexuality: sexually fluid

birth date: September 13, 1974 

birth place: Yonkers, New York

arrival to merrock: January 2024, but moving prep for her business had started in early December of 2023

housing: the coast 

occupation: CEO and Owner of GrandArcher publishing in Manhattan, NY and opening a smaller firm in Merrock.

work place: three story building for GrandArcher publishing in Downtown, Merrock

family: ex-husband Rafael Bardales since 1999, one child born 1992 - father unknown, and one child born after the divorce via IVF in 2000

relationship status: divorced

PERSONALITY

Often known for her strong-willed personality, Serena is tough, passionate, and sometimes can be seen as having a chip on her shoulder. Even sometimes seen as being a bitch, but she has a heart of gold, that takes some time to pull back the layers to really see the woman she is underneath. Serena will be known as a hard worker, often dedicating more time to work than anything else but if there’s one thing that will always take priority over anything else, is her children. Though they’re grown now, she is still the mama bear she was all the years they were growing up. In other words, she’s a powerhouse of a woman to be dealt with.

WRITTEN BY: Bri (she/her), est.

BACKGROUND / BIO

triggering / sensitive content warning: teenage pregnancy, IVF

Serena McCoy-Bardales was born in a particularly warm day in September to loving parents that were firmly upper-middle class in Yonkers, New York. For many years prior to her birth her families history was located in New York, her father inheriting a brownstone the was passed down from one family member to family member before ending up in their name. If there was one thing she knew growing up was that she was that she was incredibly lucky, she couldn’t say that her and her sibling were given everything, but they were surrounded with love, able to get a relatively normal education through high school, and growing up in New York City was just an added bonus. She got to experience different cultures, foods, people, and find the excitement of traveling the different boroughs and just seeing so much life that she was sure so many people didn’t get to experience in the younger years. 

When she was eighteen she took up a job as a paralegal, thanks to some family friends who helped her work her way in, because she was sure she wanted to go to school for law. Still, her mother had said maybe working in the field would be a good idea before investing so much time and money into something, her mother had always known she had a flair for the creative side. Early into her career she fell pregnant and just merely eighteen with a man that she met at a club, it was after going out to celebrate with the bosses at a fancy posh upper west side night club, with men with money, and one thing turned into another, and a few handful of weeks later she didn’t know his name, his phone number, but she was having his baby. In 1992, she welcomed her first child, and with the help of her parents, and her job, she managed to get by. She struggled slightly being so young, but she had seen so many other younger mothers having it worse, she she didn’t complain. 

Just a few short years later, she met a man who would captivate her, his personality charming, his dedication to the business unyielding, only he was one the firms biggest rivals. Which meant it was all but scandalous to even think about him. Though it seemed she had captured his thoughts as he actively persuaded her and she made him work for it, and oh did she make him really work for it, even just to get her phone number. Once he had, it was hook line and sinker. With a toddler being toted around he welcomed them into his life, without any hesitation, and after a whirlwind romance were married in 1996. Everything seemed perfect, when she admitted that law wasn’t for her, he supported her going back to school, fulfilling her dreams, becoming an editors at a local publishing house and never once looked down on her as being less then. All she wanted now was to make them their own little family unit, but she was waiting for the right time to bring up children given the case he had been working under. 

The year of 1999 was the year that would both make and break Serena in so many ways. It was the year she thought they’d finally expand their family, but instead, she was serving divorce papers to her husband after an illicit affair was admitted. Packing her child up, she moved out and back home, with the support of her parents, and started to rebuild the pieces of her life. She won’t pretend that what happened between them didn’t break her in ways that could never be fully repaired, she never fully trusted a man again. After accepting a promotion to becoming a lead editor, she opted to go through with IVF and have a second child on her own, determined to prove to herself that she didn’t need the man for the family. Her parents moved out of the brownstone and moved south to Georgia where other family resided leaving it in her name, and she made a comfortable living there as she worked her way up the ranks of the publishing house. 

Endless hours, missing sleep, making sure she was still a present and active mother in her children’s life, but she became ruthless in her business life and by her mid-thirties she had worked her way up to VP of the publishing house. The money was beyond more than she had ever received, but something left her unfulfilled and with clients who loved her, some workers who were unhappy, she took a chance, and a large loan on her 40th birthday and opened her own publishing house, GrandArcher, in the center of Manhattan and after the first year of struggling and figuring out all the kinks, watched it start to grow and thrive into a multimillion dollar business with several authors under her belt. 

With her getting older, and having a strong team under her, she’s decided that it’s time for her to step back and be more of a face figure — though she will still be there for the big decisions — and found a cute town of Merrock and had a downtown building renovated into an office and a gorgeous house on a coast purchased, building a small satellite office for her company in the small town so she can start enjoying the more quite side of life rather than always being in the crazy throngs of New York City. 

[eviexgibson]

EVELYN GIBSON ; THE INTRODUCTION

NAME: Evelyn Olivia Gibson

NICKNAME(S): Evie

AGE: Thirty-six

RESIDENTIAL AREA: Downtown

OCCUPATION: Nurse Practitioner at Turner Family Practice

LENGTH OF TIME IN BRIAR RIDGE: 6 Years

CONNECTIONS SPREADSHEET & THREAD TRACKER & BIOGRAPHY (TBD)

BASICS.

BIRTHDAY: September 28, 1987

PLACE OF BIRTH: Briar Ridge, South Carolina

GENDER IDENTIFICATION: Cis Female (she/her)

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single, Divorced

POSITIVE TRAITS: Loyal, Patient, Humble

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Impulsive, Selfish, Tempered

FAMILY.

MOTHER: June Gibson

FATHER: Liam Gibson

FAMILY: younger sibling, younger sibling

CHILDREN: Blair Gibson (6 years old)

PETS: Tessa (Chocolate Labrador, 5 years old)

BIOGRAPHY NOTES. 

infertility tw, ivf tw, divorce tw

evelyn gibson was born and raised in michigan and was one of of three children, but the eldest of all of them. she has one younger brother and one younger sister that she has always remained close with no matter where she was in life.

though fully named evelyn, she had always gone by evie and rarely evelyn. she was only called that if she was in trouble with her parents or one of her siblings was trying to annoy her.

evelyn was a straight A student without trying very hard and unfortunately for her younger brother and sister, evie had set the bar rather high when it came to expectations.

she was wildly independent and always wanted to do things for herself no matter how easy or difficult something was. evie had a vast need to learn new things and learned best with hands on experiences.

after high school, she went to college and that was where she met her platonic soulmate. evie was always incredibly social and able to be friends with just about everyone she came across. val was supposed to be no different, another friend in her life that may or may not make it when college was over.

they were two peas in a pod, having even met their future husbands not long after each other. val got married and she stood up in her wedding. evie got married and val stood up in her wedding. even after val left to philly, the two never lost touch as evie stayed behind to finish school to become a nurse practitioner.

while some people hid their problems from their friends, val was the one person that she could tell anything and everything to. she was the first person to know that evie was unable to have children and the first person to know what a strain that put on her marriage.

the two of them supported each other through everything, evie even visiting val often in philly when things were going good and not so good with henry. there wasn't anything that evie wouldn't do for val, even taking her into her home for a while when things ended for henry and val.

then it was evie's turn for her life to fall apart. val had been growing in her content life and evie had been supporting her every step of the way, being her biggest cheerleader. and then, evie found out she was pregnant. she didn't even tell her husband right away because she wasn't sure that it would be true.

however, the night that evie was going to tell her husband, he handed her divorce papers. he didn't try to cover up why he was divorcing her, saying that it was because he had found someone younger and someone that didn't want children. that had been something she never knew, always being under the impression that he wanted children - which was why they tried so hard.

so, this time evie reached out to val, needing a friend to lean on and moved to briar ridge, knowing that she was newly pregnant and now newly single. it hadn't been hard to find a job at the local family practice in town for a few months before she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Blair.

for the last six years, evie has been living in briar ridge with never ending support from val. she has not heard from her ex-husband and has not really opened up her heart to dating, though she has been on dates since her daughter has been born. most important to evie is that her daughter has the best life and never has to experience anything like she went through.

[catalinaroleplay]

Gender & Pronouns: Female, she/her

Date of Birth: April 20th, 1989 (30)

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California.

Neighborhood: Lafayette Square

Length of Residency: All her life.

Occupation: Owner of Little Sprout Studio

Face Claim: Shay Mitchell

BIOGRAPHY

TRIGGERS: BRCA Gene, IVF, Early Dementia. 

The Santos family never lived extravagantly. In fact, most of the time Carlo and Analyn Bautista lived paycheck to paycheck. Praying to god that they could pay their rent and bills each month and still have enough left over to buy their newborn daughter Mahalia the things she needed. Things such as food, diapers, and clothes. Money was always tight and the self-sacrificing first-generation immigrants from the Philippines often skipped out on buying things they needed or wanted in order to provide for Mahalia. Analyn worked three full-time jobs while her husband Carlo juggled being a full-time law student with a demanding job at an industrial factory. With finances constantly tight around home Mahalia was made aware at a very young age to never ask for frivolous things. While most kids begged for candy at the grocery store or threw temper tantrums when a certain toy wasn’t underneath the tree at Christmastime Mahalia learned to be grateful for what she did have rather than focus on what she did not. Her formative years were spent finding entertainment in the little things. She didn’t have many toys but created her own fun by helping her mother cut coupons or making a game out of helping her father study with his flashcards. What Mahalia enjoyed the most however was using his old forgotten notebooks lying around their apartment to create her own worlds with misspelled words and vividly colored drawings. A hobby her mother encouraged by buying books for her daughter whenever she could. Together, whenever Analyn had a free moment, they would read until the world around them disappeared. If Mahalia inherited her intelligence from her father then she had gotten her mother’s love of literature.

She used to daydream about one day becoming a writer but that all changed one fateful day. She was ten when she returned home to find her mother a weeping mess on the floor. The family’s corded phone clutched between white-knuckled fingers. Two weeks before he was due to graduate from law school and begin a job at an up and coming law firm Carlo Bautista had been shot at a convenience store near his campus in a robbery gone wrong. Thus changing the entire course of Mahalia’s life. From that moment on, she abandoned her dreams of writing for law instead. Wanting to accomplish what her father never got the chance to. It was that path that ultimately led her to Elijah Lyon’s Intro to Law class at the University of Southern California. Nineteen, wide-eyed, and passionate about what was being taught, she quickly became one of Elijah’s favorite students. Even after leaving his class she would often show up at his office hours to catch up, ask for advice, or pick his brain on various other topics. So two semesters later when she showed up at his office after summer break visibly pregnant and clearly distraught he hadn’t thought twice about helping her. Mahalia refused to disclose to him who the father was but she had made it clear that she didn’t plan on keeping the children. Twins, both girls according to her OBGYN. When Elijah suggested they start looking into adoption companies to help her find the perfect home she insisted that she already knew of a perfect home for her children, his. Unbeknownst to him, Mahalia had heard through the grapevine that Elijah and his husband were put on a waiting list for adoption and had been on said list for a while.

Having witnessed their kindness for herself she couldn’t think of anyone else she would have rather raised the children she herself could not. Seven months later she gave birth in a hospital holding the hands of the two men who would cherish her twin daughters as their own. Her only request was that they waited until she wasn’t around to name the children. As sure of her decision as she felt it had still been hard for her to leave behind the two bundles of joy and she didn’t want to make it any harder by growing attached. Even upon the two men’s insistence that she could still be a part of her children’s lives she refused. So much so that without even telling Elijah in advance Mahalia left USC and California altogether, leaving neither of them anyway to contact her even if they wanted to. In honor of the brave strong young woman who had gifted them the existence of their daughters, they named them Dahlia and Magnolia. Giving them each a piece of their mother’s name. The two girls grew up in a home full of unconditional love and support. While they may not have had as much as their more financially privileged friends they had each other and two fathers who would move heaven and earth for them and at the end of the day that fact alone with enough.

As a child, Dahlia was often referenced as a wallflower to anyone who was asked to describe her. It wasn’t anything unusual. From a young age, she was known as the altruistic, tender, infrequent in her wailing, whilst caring about others even as an infant in comparison to her counterpart, Magnolia. Many referenced her as the butterfly. Or even, more recently as people caught the awareness of her name ─ the colorful, tuberous flower that graced lives from midsummer and autumn ─ knew her name suited her to perfection. Still, as the sisters were growing up together, watching her older twin by less than a minute, Dahlia appreciated Magnolia always taking center stage for the both of them, salvaging the hushed identical from any state of trepidation. It never caused any burden or competition between the girls. Instead, it brought continual and endless amounts of support at any life endeavor her sister decided to fancy even if it lasted for a week. First, it was gymnastic, then it was the attempt of soccer, and the list continued as time ticked on. She couldn’t quite understand but it would be like this for Magnolia for the rest of her life. An unexpected love for soccer caused Dahlia to commit to it. It was everything unlikely for her. It was the first time when she shined into a brand new light being the center stage on the field ─ which was the only thing she wanted to shine in. The aggressive vitality she brought onto the soccer field at the age of five was something uncommon for the tender natured twin. It was in a way therapeutic and life-changing. It would be the start of a beautiful future ahead of her. It encourages her to further chase forward with her dreams instead of being a coward, hiding in the distance as others enjoyed themselves.

Confidence was always a fleeting state of coming and going for her. As she loved her sister and always would. Sometimes, Dahlia often wished during the years of puberty she could grow into her beauty and all of the awareness from the boys like her sister, who absorbed the attention so effortlessly. There was no denying Dahlia had boyfriends in high school. A total of two serious relationships throughout those four years. One that started in her sophomore year ending the same school year. The pairing were opposites, but they made the effort. Going to homecoming and Sadie Hawkins together, both parties decided toward the end of their sophomore education they were better off as friends. No hard feelings, they are mutual pages. Yet, as Junior year started, attending homecoming by herself, a week afterward, a new love story with Justin Hartfield would consume her life. This was her High School sweetheart. The first love that defined all of her future lovers to come. It was awe-inspiring. It was heartbreaking. It was complicated. It was far from easy. It consumed her. And other days, the girl was full of hatred and wanted nothing of this relationship. He tested her. She tested him. It was your typical high school relationship. They were younger and helplessly in love ─ believing what they were currently going through was due to their face and preparing for their future and all of that was true. It was a year and a half of her life that taught her lessons that other life experiences couldn’t. While the pairing was far from compatible, both of them were each other’s biggest supporters. Justin was the first person, besides her sister and father, who were the first people to know about acceptance into Yale University with a full academic and soccer scholarship. It was a period of her life that she would never take back.

Yale University. It was a literal dream come true. The first moment when Dahlia stepped into kindergarten, the stygian tressed female’s dream of attending Yale University was etched into her conscience. To be on the preeminent behavior. To have her grades reflect all of the diligent years where she favored studying over to a party. All of her priorities were set in stone from a young age. It was her moral compass to become someone. If it weren’t for both of her father, Elijah, and William, instilling this mindset in both of their twins, the dream she had wouldn’t have become an actual dream. As the exhilaration of emotions consumed her, a moment of anxiousness lingered upon her mind. She didn’t necessarily know what she wanted to do for her future. All of the years of her studying distracted her from dreaming and imagining what kind of degree she could achieve. It was all about the grades. It was all about being able to tell everyone in the future that she ended Yale University, only to not know what was ahead of her and what she was going to study. It made her instantly feel anxious and doubtful if she should even attend Yale with little idea. It was when both of her fathers sat her down and gave her a stern talk about how it wasn’t uncommon for incoming students to be unaware of what they wanted to do. If anything, it was expected because this was a new chapter of adulthood away from the confines of their parent's grip. It made sense. It affirmed her to the utmost capacity. It was her father’s encouragement to not think about going in undecided and finally give a response. In the fall of 2008, Dahlia Marie Lyon would attend Yale University. 

Getting out of the confines of Catalina Island, California, and moving to New Haven, Connecticut was a garden-fresh, yet substantial in comparison to the hometown residency of the isle off the coast of Los Angeles. In awe at the thought of her being able to experience seasons ─ something she had never endured, even though the winters in Catalina were frigid but snow, man, this was an out of body experience. The youngest twin would get to see the seasons change all around her whilst further growing out of her shell and finding a future of her own. At the beginning of her Freshman year, for nearly two months, it was a period where she returned to doubting her ability to being away from home and as a future graduate from Yale University. The majority of her evenings, long after her roommate disappeared and the silence fluttered over Dahlia, a long-distance call would ring in the Lyon residency, only for whoever decided to pick it up would hear a wailing voice from the other side of the phone. It had never been something Dahlia intended to do. It was all of the comfort and her familiarity ─ her magnificent sister was spending moments with her nephew. Milo Park. Only to find out over one of the wailing calls which only increased into a mirth state, on top it further caused her to miss her family. The small, knit tight-family back on the isle was living and growing. There were monumental moments being missed. The people she couldn’t hug at any and every moment possible few numerous planes rides away. It was a period where she doubted herself once again. Yet, further adjusting to the swing and atmosphere amongst her, the friendships flourished from her soccer teammates and having multiple classes with a few people who lived on the same floor. It took time, but all in the end, the adjustment, and the wailing were soon replaced with illumination darting off the tip of Dahlia’s tongue. Everyone, especially her grandmother living in Crema; who heard about her granddaughter's fears, was relieved by the turn of her outlook. Slowly, but surely, it helped her grow out of a face of radical fear, considering as the future years of her life would only bring her further complications. 

In the course of her prior-year of the university, the confidence within the female grew even further and transpired into her second year of university with grace. After spending the first year of university as an undecided major, a clarity happened after spending a summer volunteer at the local hospital on top of working at her father’s restaurant, she decided a future in the field of health science. An idea, once finishing her undergraduate, instead of committing all of the way to become a Doctor, but to become a Physician's Assistant which would cause her to get her Master’s. There was finally a plan set forth. As well as the decision of her major and the entirety of her future, the stygian tressed female found two other girls in opposite fields but united together by a singular Female Studies course. It was an instant connection with the girls. It was from that point on, the girls would refer to themselves as  ─ The Yale Crew. If it hadn’t been for Yale University bringing them together, there would be no other possibility for the crew of ladies to take over the world one day at a time. The beginning of her college education was rocky, but after time and having all of the patience, everything began to finally make sense. It would be the best remaining three years of her undergraduate education. Things finally made sense. About freaking time. 

Graduating with her undergraduate in Health Science. In the early stages of her master's program for becoming a Physicians Assistant, Dahlia was effortlessly on cloud nine. What could go wrong? Well, plenty of things. One of her close girls, also known as The Yale Crew, became frightened by the fear of potentially having the BRCA Gene ─ that have been found to impact a person’s chance of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer, after taking a course for her graduate program and the topic hit through the class only to silence everyone at the actuality of those suffering with this mutation. It was an increased risk for those who end up getting tested to find out they have this mutation. The supportive set of friends decided on a Friday afternoon to go to the local clinic to get tested  ─ all three of them. It had been a promise from the first months of them being together that no one would ever suffer alone. Hand in hand, the three entered a weekend full of anxious worries, only for their eternal world to change on the Monday morning as Dahlia received a phone call politely asking her to return back to the clinic. Whereas her girls didn’t receive a phone call, the spike of anxiety took over her. All of the girls in their uniformed promises rescheduled their day to be there for Dahlia. It was the longest, yet nerve-wracking experience while the trio sat in the office patiently awaiting the purpose of their reason for being there. The already dwindling state of emotions simply hit rock bottom as information about Dahlia having the BRCA gene from the line of genetics ─ her mother, a fleeting surrogate. 

The news immediately shaped her entire world. It was the last portion of her academic semester in completing her Masters for Physicians Assistant. Even with the rattling state of her conscience and the reality, along with potential, of her future life and conditions, she pushed through the last of her coursework to earn her degree before making an instant pit stop in her isle of Catalina Island, California to inform her family upon the news before taking it upon herself to make the most of the plans of her future by going off on an adventure of a lifetime ─ traveling still she couldn’t no more. It started off with Crema, Italy, taking the time to visit her grandmother, who welcomed her granddaughter with wide arms, cradling her and nearly suffocating her to death. It was the comfort, yet guidance from her family, in the obstacle of taking the measures of her life in the palm of her hands by living it to the fullest and holding nothing back. To finally enjoy and to not fester over everything on second thought. This was precisely what she did as the adventure took over her. Traveling across the world ─ Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and so forth. Left and right, over the course of a year and a half, she took the world over by storm by taking the time out of her travels to start post videos of her adventures for her family and close friends. Little did she expect the popularity of her travels causing her to boost into YouTube stardom, as the community of her followers calling themselves ─ Dahlianators. It was just a memory she documented for a few, but magnificent reasons, for moments to reflect on in the past when and if the ability of her traveling was an out of this question possibility. It was right there, and then when she festered in the moment of success and increasing stardom while ticking another place off her ‘Places to Visit’ list. 

The universe was against her at any moment of merriment, Dahlia decided then and there. Receiving a phone call from her sister about the startling news of their father’s early dementia caused the twin to pack her belongings and purchase a one-way ticket to Los Angeles International Airport before hopping onto a ferry to return back to the isle of her home, Catalina Island. The travel bug had vanished away from her. It was time to focus upon the reality ahead of her ─ her father and what she was going to do with her life. Having no desire to put her Yale degrees to use, the women instead decided to take up a position at a local yoga studio in Catalina, run by an older lady, named Betsy, who had been in the business industry for the past twenty years and was proceeding on flourishing. The dynamic between the pairing was instant. Betsy reminded Dahlia of her grandmother, who was living in Crema, Italy, at the moment and had been ever since she was a young girl. Anytime Betsy wanted to step away or didn’t want to be at the studio any moment longer, Dahlia offered to close the studio down for the evening or offer to get up early in the morning to prepare for the day. It took immense measures to be responsible but it was suited ideally for her. Putting the energy and passion into her classes, one evening Betsy had approached the twin and offered to put the title and ownership of the studio in Dahlia’s name, especially since Betsy believed her time as a business owner had come to an end. The future of the studio would be in rightful hands.

Since having the ownership of the studio for two years, Dahlia worked feverishly to remodel the establishment to make it a heaven of her own ─ Little Sprout Studio. It was her first baby, but not only her last, hoping for a new addition in due time. The moment when life finally decided to be on her side, along with the experience of growing up and living life to the fullest, another decision of her future had finally hit her. She wanted to have a child. Even if she were to be a single mother, the woman would be marvelous at it because she was no longer thrashing. The stygian tressed woman was finally living without a single fear. At thirty, the idea of having children five years in the past frightened her, but now with the state of her life and the accomplishments left and right, doing this only seemed right because everything was starting to make sense for once. It was an adventure but it would be something she’d take in the palm of her hand and run with it. The process of IVF wouldn’t know what was coming for it. Dahlia was ready. 

TRAITS

Positive: -- | -- | --

Negative: Anxious | -- | --

Dahlia Lyon is portrayed by Steph.