i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw CLARA WOJDA drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so +RESOLUTE and -CALCULATING that makes them feel EXCITED about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of FLICKERING CANDLES, STARLESS NIGHTS, OVERGROWN MEADOWS either way, i hope they get back safely.
heyyy y’all! i’m cora (she/they) and i’m so excited to get started! (also hit my DMs or discord killercora#6480 for plotting...please...i beg of you)
I. BASICS.
Name: Clara Margaret Wojda (she/her)
Age: 25
D.O.B.: June 6th, 1995
Sexuality: Bisexual
Chart: gemini sun, capricorn rising, virgo moon, taurus venus, virgo mars
Occupation: Candlemaker and part-time fake psychic (come get yer palm read)
II. OVERVIEW
tw: crime(?), child neglect, drug use
Clara spent her early years learning her parents’ business - fraud. She’s quite good at it too, along with lying and stealing. Though never an academic, she has an extreme amount of emotional intelligence, which she frequently uses to her advantage. However, due to her upbringing, she has difficulties trusting anyone other than her sister, Bea.
In her earlier years, she would often assist her parents in the management of their illegal poker games, bringing drinks to clients and slipping cards under the table. No one ever suspected the smiling blonde child.
Though she’d become numb to her situation, she found solace in a few things. Cigarettes, reality tv, cocaine, to name a few. These are things she tends to hide, for the sake of her sister. Due to her various substance abuse issues and increasing fascination with her parents’ line of work, she graduated with a C-average and quickly decided college wasn’t for her, choosing rather to pick up a series of odd jobs while pulling her own schemes.
At age 20, her parents, Nadja and Ivan, were arrested on charges of money laundering, fraud, and a slew of others she didn’t care to hear. All she knew was that now she and her sister were on their own. This was among the reasons she decided to follow her sister to Reed, she didn’t have anyone or anything else.
Now settled in Virginia, Clara is back to her old ways. She runs a tiny candle store out of the front of her house, specializing in odd and overly specific scents. On the side, she fools the more naive citizens of Reed by playing psychic. For $20, she’ll tell you your future via palm reading or tarot, your choice.
III. PERSONALITY
Clara is a brilliant actress, but not on stage. While troubled and angry with the world, she keeps it covered with a facade of niceties.
Despite that, she loves talking to people. It’s one of her few talents.
Definitely not a sociopath, but she has little empathy for the people she doesn’t REALLY care about, which is why she’s mostly excited about the murders more than anything. She thinks it’s like living in a Netflix documentary.
IV. CONNECTIONS
Tbh I have none in mind right now, so I’m open for anything. Maybe someone who can see through her mask? Maybe someone she’s extorted hundreds of dollars from through her scams? Toxic ex? Up to y’all!!!
[ cisfemale, she/her, jessica henwick, 23 ] i can't be sure, but i think i just saw CATHERINE SUN drive onto the parkway. don't they know we're not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they're so +PRAGMATIC and -RUTHLESS that makes them feel INDIFFERENT about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they're always reminding me of BROKEN MUSIC BOX, SHATTERED MIRRORS, STOLEN PILLS. either way, i hope they get back safely. [ paige, she/her, 18, cst ]
tw : bodily injury, language, drug abuse
catherine marie sun is the oldest child and only daughter of real estate agent elizabeth renwick and civil lawyer bennett sun. she has two younger brothers: holden + kieran. bennett and elizabeth were hard on their children, always pushing them to do better. holden became a lawyer like his father, kieran is top of his class in highschool, and catherine was a premier dancer for some fancy ballet company in new york.
this time last year, catherine was on the top of her game. she was up for the lead in the next ballet, until she hurt her knee. in one of the climatic leaps in the show, she tore her acl. the injury was severe, and not only took her out of the show, but required a surgery that would put her out of commision for at least six months. in the company she was in, six months was a lifetime. they gave her a permanent leave of absence, and, off the books, essentially told her to fuck off.
out of a career, the one thing she's wanted since she was a child, catherine returned home to reed, virginia. the grief set in, but the painkillers they gave her for the surgery made everything feel better. she became obsessed with them, but her perfect parents would never allow something like this to come out about their daughter. it was bad enough she ruined her career. so she keeps it a secret, her craving for anything to give her a fix, and her willingness to go down dark paths to get it.
[ cis male, he/him, manny montana , thirty-seven ] i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw IGNACIO SUAREZ drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so +GENUINE and -INDULGENT that makes them feel DISHEARTENED about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of THE SMELL OF FLOWERS AT FIVE IN THE MORNING, TOMBSTONES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, BODY COVERED IN TATTOOS. either way, i hope they get back safely.
jay again ! this is my misunderstood florist who for all intent & purposes looks creepy , but he’s a teddy bear on the inside ! his stats & bio can be found here , with a tldr below and the tw’s in the tags !
his mother was a florist while his father was a drug dealer who used his wife’s business to push drugs
thankfully she didn’t know, so when he was caught with not only possession, but also a deal gone wrong and charged with homicide, she was free to still run her business
ignacio was 6 at the time, so everything he knows is mainly from his mother
had a contrast of looking a lot like his father, but being a lot like his mother on the inside
through the flower business, he started delivering anonymous flowers to desmond from an admirer & still doesn’t wanna break their trust
he started volunteering at the graveyard when his mother pointed out the tomb of the man his father killed and hasn’t stopped since then
on the outside ignacio looks tough, almost like he’s mean, but on the inside he’s kind and compassionate. he understands why some would have preconceived notions of him though, so he tries his best not to judge them for it
also pretty much accepting any type of plot for him ! he’s just a soft flower man that looks rough on the outside lol
bonsoir ! my name is sam, its 5:30 am as im writing this, and im a mess. i use she/her pronouns and im from aus – hence the being up at 5:30am for opening and still being late smh. i have a habit of rambling so sorry for this intro in advance lmao. but thats more than enough about me, let’s talk about the other and more important mess, reed’s token aries: K O D A R E I D
tws: mentions of divorce, drugs, and ya know the murders
STATS.
full name: dakota reid
best known as: koda
age: twenty five
gender + pronouns: non-binary, they/them
occupation: waiter/bartender at salvatore’s steakhouse, aspiring podcaster
born and raised in reed, they’ve honestly left the area maybe a handful of times. not for a lack of wanting to, they certainly have wanted to and still want to, just a lack of money and time and motivation to plan anything “””big”””” (leaving ur town is not big but koda is lazy) in their lives
im gonna try not to get too into it bc i will go on forever but two important things to mention as far as their childhood. the first, when koda was sixteen their parents went through a really fuckin rough divorce. and like any sixteen yr old whose parents are getting divorced it pissed koda off. they have a moderately better relationship with them now but at the time, it was messy. at first, koda was very outwardly emotional about it, but as their emotions were just used as a weapon for their parents to use against one another they shut that shit down immediately. only showed their emotions in a way that was more of a nuisance to their parents: graffiti, petty shoplifting, being a dickhead in school, flunking grades (though they werent great to begin with), sneaking out all the time, all that bs
which leads to thing two: koda was a dealer towards the end of high school/the start of young adulthood. nothing big, bc they were a dumbass teenager in a small town just looking to piss their parents off. but because they were a dumbass teenager in a small town i assume theres a good possibility that if ur character is from reed: koda was their dealer. eventually they stopped bc people figured out they were just a sometimes v annoying middle man for the much easier to deal with guy that koda bought from + too much work. like most things to koda, drugs were meant to be just a fun past time, not a full time career.
after barely finishing high school they had absolutely no want to go to college. even at local reed college it was a lot of money to put down and for what???? for koda to do an arts degree they dont really care about and then do nothing with it ????? instead they just worked more. they’ve had the job at salvatore’s since they were fifteen and its really a staple in their lives.
when they are not at salvatore’s, they’re still being a menace tbh that did not end with high school or even the dealing. they’re usually skating around (would also be driving around and sometimes they are but its illegal because they recently had their licence suspended), probably spray painting some fence, maybe takin some photos on their barely working dslr, partying, drinking, stealing shopping carts from the local grocer, being a dickhead, u know the ~usual
despite being the local, so far they’ve not had any close connections to the parkway victims and thats unfortunately made them pretty insensitive about it. they’re far, far more interested in figuring out what the fuck is going on than they care about u know the loss of life and danger to everyone else in the town. in stats i mentioned they were an aspiring podcaster and thats because, u guessed it, koda wants to start a podcast about the murders they’re a piece of shit we already know this
and since this isn’t showing in the tags anyways: here’s a link to their pinterest board
WANTED CONNECTIONS.
housemates – koda is a broke mf, i want this connection to be with other broke mfs that are leasing a shitty house and probably have one too many people in it, but like: it works yk
childhood friends – obv koda has lived in reed their whole life, they’re from a very working class family, can be a connection through family or just through school im down for whatever
actual friends – this is probably gonna be limited to like a couple bc koda is so closed off lmao. while they’re friendly and enthuastic with just about everyone, theres not many koda actually considers genuine friends, these are the exceptions
co-workers – koda is confirmed annoying most of the time but they are at their peak annoying at work so if anyone else works at salvatore’s a. im so sorry b. lmk lets plot
party people – do u do drugs and other reckless impulsive bs at house parties? then this might be the connection for u bih – bonus if they’ve been partying together for fuckin ever
an easy thing – literally just the song easy thing by dom ferra. an easy romance, very much in its early stages, prob not official at this point, kinda learning what being in a relationship should mean together. only open to f/nb sorry lads
then just everything idk i need to start getting ready for work but pls hmu if u would like to plot ✌️
hello everyone! i’m glad I actually have some free time this sunday to come on & introduce myself + jolene to all you wonderful muns!! I am very excited about this group !! just a quick little introduction my name is gabbi (she/her pronouns), i am 21 years old & my timezone is cst!!
[ cis female, she/her, danielle rose russell , twenty-one ] i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw JOLENE STEVENS drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so RESPONSIBLE and STUBBORN that makes them feel CONFLICTED about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of READING IN A QUIET LIBRARY, CROSSWORD PUZZLES & A RAINY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. either way, i hope they get back safely.
FULL NAME: JOLENE MARIE STEVENS
NICKNAME: JO
AGE: TWENTY ONE
GENDER/PRONOUNS: CIS-FEMALE, SHE/HER
JOB: BARISTA AT LIFE CAFE / FREELANCE WRITER
HOMETOWN: REED, VA.
ZODIAC SIGN: CAPRICORN
when reading there is a warning for mention of death & murders
jolene stevens was born to walter & annabelle stevens on a cold winter night on january 15, 1999. the two were young, but thrilled to have a child of their own. things were going very well for the family until one night her mother picked up left the small town to expand her horizons. turns out the thrill of being a new mother only lasted her so long. that left walter and jolene on their own figuring the world out together.
the difficult part of living with a walter is that he isn’t your average father figure. he is passionate about his work and tends to throw himself into whatever he does. he’s an inventor by nature, always coming up with new gadgets and gizmos to make the world better— but from jolene’s point of view none of his inventions ever seem to be that ground breaking. with her father being the ‘town kook’ it became jolene’s responsibility at a young age to be her own parent. she would cook dinner for them, remind walter when bills were due and keep track of his well being as though he was her child. she loved her father, but he was not the easiest to live with. she always pictured herself as belle. a wonderful but quirky father who the town seemed to sweep them both under the rug as being too different.
as she grew older though people in the town started to take notice of jolene for her talents. she was a wonderful writer and a very smart girl. they would always compare her to the mother she never knew. too big for the small town she felt stuck in. even teachers of her high school would pity such a bright girl with being left taking care of her father.
oftentimes you will see her at the town library reading a book or writing a novel no one was ever allowed to read. her dream was to become a professional writer. whether that be on her own accord or for a large newspaper. —right now her dreams seem unattainable as she works at the local coffee shop trying to save up enough money to attend university. it was no hard task getting accepted, she had wonderful grades and plenty of recommendations. the difficulty came with the financial restraints and the guilt that came from not wanting to leave her father. although, she would never share that with anyone.
when the deaths started occurring on the parkway jolene was as concerned as any rational townsperson would be, but where her conflict of the situation started was with her father. instead of throwing himself into his quirky inventions his interest then moved to solving the mystery of who done it. walter turned their basement into a detectives dream with pin boards and biographies of the victims as he tried to piece together the puzzle. jolene was worried about her father being so invested in the crimes as she didn’t want him to get into trouble.
lately as the deaths rise her father has become particularly chaotic. accusing and questioning everyone— at one point even accusing her of being the killer. she has become concerned that her father’s behavior has turned from silly inventions to something much more serious and she’s not entirely sure what to do about it. now her dream of leaving the town and moving on with her life is moving further and further away, but her mother’s actions of picking up in the middle of the night is becoming more and more appealing.
WANTED CONNECTIONS
best friends — these are jolene’s closest friends who have stood by her through thick and thin. they are not exactly who you would expect her to be friends with, but they are a tight knight group who would do anything for each other.
new friend with a secret agenda — jolene is not one for putting herself out there, but when this friend came into her life she was pleased to find that they were a joy to be around. they were always spending time together and had no problem being at the house with her dad who seemed to oftentimes scaring people off. —but lately this friend has been more interested in her father’s theories about the case and it seems to jolene that they might have befriended her for the wrong reasons. whether this is actually the case is up to the mun!
an ex — dating in high school is always hard, but as a girl with a lot on her plate jolene found it difficult to keep it going. she had too many things to do and it was too difficult to make time for a significant other. this person might still hold feeling for her or maybe they’ve moved on to someone new but there will always be that awkward “what could have been” feeling whenever jolene sees them around the town.
coworkers — pretty self explanatory !! jolene works at the modern new coffee shop in town and works quite often. they can be work friends or maybe they dislike each other because of different work ethics! up to the mun!
romantic interest — this is someone who jolene sees around town and has her eye on. their might be a few flirtations, but no matter how hard this person tries jolene will never accept their invitation for a date.
also any other plots I am totally down for these are just the first that came to mind!! like this or dm me to plot something out with your character!!
[ cis male, he/him, archie renaux, twenty-four ] i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw ADAM “DASH” CHAUDHRY drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so +CREATIVE and -SENSITIVE that makes them feel PARANOID about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of RED-RIMMED EYES FROM LATE NIGHTS WORKING, ELABORATE STACKS OF EMPTY SODA CANS, and LOUD DANCE MUSIC. either way, i hope they get back safely. [ nie, she/her, 26, est ]
PINTEREST BOARD
PLAYLIST
BASICS.
NAME: Adam Chaudhry
NICKNAMES: Dash
DOB & AGE: October 31 / 24 years old
OCCUPATION: Dog walker, freelance artist, and go-to guy for all your tailoring needs
HOMETOWN: Tampa, Florida
PERSONALITY.
POSITIVE TRAITS: Passionate, resourceful, and creative
NEUTRAL TRAITS: Stubborn, sarcastic, and curious
NEGATIVE TRAITS: Jealous, resentful, and abrasive
FACTS.
Born and raised in and around Tampa, FL, Dash found himself in a bit of a lull post-grad. An alumnus of the Pratt Institute, he majored in Fashion Design and minored in Digital Arts, without much of a plan on what he wanted to do after college (King of hitting a peak in college and not wanting to grow up) and ended up back on his parents’ doorstep by the end of the summer. After about four months going to the beach every day and not getting much done, his parents got sick of his lazing around. It also happened to coincide with an upcoming surgery for his grandma, who lives in Reed, so they sent him up to VA to help her through her recovery.
Once his grandmother was back on her own two feet and fairly self-sufficient again, Dash just kinda.........stayed lmao, mainly because his grandparents are way less naggy than his parents. So he’s been in Reed for about two years now, working as a dog walker and a freelance artist. He has mainly worked with businesses and local bands in the broad area to create merch, logos, etc. He also has a website where he gets some online commissions. His parents still nag but from several hundred miles away, and does he feel like a constant disappointment and avoid talking to them? You betcha. :)
Ultimately, his passion still lies with design and he makes a lot of his own clothes. He’ll also hem your pants or patch something up for pretty cheap, if need be.
Dash is an all-around passionate, outgoing, sometimes-intense guy. He is very in tune with emotions and enjoys experiencing the world around him, whether that be through high nature walks or deafening dance music. He wants to feel, and to feel those things with other people, but that also goes for the less-than-rosy emotions as well. He gets very caught up in the negative ones, too. He can be very abrasive when annoyed, angry, or offended, and can’t quite mask when he’s upset.
Not to drag him but he is also a major simp sdkljag. Sorry he loves girls and wants smooch??? He still currently lives with his ex-girlfriend, Peyton Huckabee; he spends most nights on the couch, but is still pretty much at her beck and call. Can you say..... pathetique? <3
While not all-in w conspiracy theories, he finds them to be both a fun topic of research and conversation. IRT the murders, he’s wigged out and his penchant for cooking up crazy explanations is only heightening his paranoia. But he’s lucky in that he hasn’t lost anyone close to him as a result of what’s going on, so yeah he can often be the guy at the cafe who has wrangled you into a wild conversation about aliens and cults and stuff and you’re like..... bro I’m just here for a latte.
TBH his nickname comes from his mom’s childhood dog sdkagsad. Sorry man :/ But he does prefer to be called Dash. If you call him ‘Adam’ he’s just gonna assume he’s in trouble for something or you’re pulling a His Mom and threatening to throw a slipper at his head.
And uhhh, idk!!! He’s curious and wants to get to know people and also wants money so please hire him to walk your dog at least he’s begging. :’))))
WANTED CONNECTIONS.
Best friend, friends, hookups (past or present), clients, “enemy” (he’s intense enough to think of someone as a genuine enemy sdkljag), etc. — literally anything!!!
another muse and keeping it in the family with dani’s mother , lillian !
[ cis woman, she/her, son yejin , forty three ] i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw LILLIAN JO drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so +AMBITIOUS and -NARCISSISTIC that makes them feel WARY about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of ANSWERING EMAILS MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT, EXTRAVAGANT JEWELRY AND A TENDENCY TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY. either way, i hope they get back safely. [ léa, she/her, 20, gmt ]
infidelity, alcohol and death mentions !
lillian’s first generation korean-american from manhattan. she was lucky to be born into wealth and have it passed down to her too easily. her parents never pushed her but they didn’t need to - lillian pushed herself all on her own. she never cared much for the learning aspect or having knowledge, she was just competitive and wanted to be the best at everthing - to the point where she became an annoyance to her peers.
driven by success, it was to no one’s surprise that she wanted to go to law school. thankfull for her, she had an abundance of funds to do so, to go to ivy league schools and be set up for life. her support system was always taken for granted but she never had any reason to really appreciate things. lillian was a control freak and wanted it constantly. if things took her by surprise, she’d either just ignore it or face it head on and come up with a solution, there was never any in between.
while at yale, she met her husband. he had real ambition, much like her own and they hit it off. her was going to be a doctor and she a great lawyer. there was nothing that they couldn’t do. it was never a healthy relationship as they enjoyed pushing each other but when lillian became pregnant during her first year at work, they made the decision to get married. lillian was old school and she wanted that; she was always about keeping up appearances. a shot gun wedding they call it, and for good reason too. she was in control and from where she was standing, she had a great job, a husband and a child on the way and she would have it all.
however, what she didn’t understand was that some things had to give. by choosing to further her career, she chose her job over her daighter, dani. she loved her so much but wasn’t a fan of being mushy (the girl was a bit too loud for her liking and required a stern hand) but that just lead to rebellion later down the line. she did think once or twice that being a mother was not for her but it was her own doing. she felt awful for acknowledging it considering she couldn’t think of her life without her daughter, but she was always honest with herself.
she climbed up the ranks at work, reed was easy to dominate from that side of things but was always looking for more. the first time she thought about running for mayor was the evening that lee had brought her daughter home drunk out of her mind. it was really alarming and she could tell the girl had been crying but she didn’t want to push her. instead, she was the one to look after her. she had an incling her husband was going behind her back but she didn’t want to believe it. lillian chose to ignore it until dani was intoxicated again and leaked it. she was devastated when he moved out shortly after and proceeded to lie about it. she didn’t want to be a failure. her daughter’s behaviour wasn’t excusable, she was worried and she couldn’t fix it.
what people didn’t realise was that keeping up appearances was taking its toll on her. she became more aggitated and wasn’t a pleasure to be around for the most part, only donning a smile at functions while acting like a model citizen. she felt like she was losing everything so that’s when she decided that she’d run for mayor. her husband owed her that much so he moved back in for her campaign. everyone smiled and she was full of confidence that made her fall so much harder. lillian lost the election, her husband moved out and she was left a failure. she was always scared of being one and now she had failed at everything. she wasn’t a failure but everything was a recipe for disaster - she should have known better.
lillian was shocked when the murders started happening. her initial reaction was why were people there in the first place but that was her way of seeing everything in black and white. it was even more shocking when she heard that lee parker’s body had been discovered. dani had fallen out with him the night of his death, for all she knew, she was the last one that saw him alive. however she didn’t tell the police nor did she try to persuade dani to tell them. the girl had been through too much, her best friend was killed and the last thing she wanted to do was push her. her daughter needed her and she needed to step up and protect her.
Hi hello! I’m Bee! I never know what to say in the intros so here’s the basics: I use she/her pronouns, I’m 23, I live in the EST, I’m not currently working so I’m sure I’ll be around a lot if I’m not sucked into my rewatch of Grays anatomy too much. my discord is big miss steak#9778 if you prefer to chat and plot on there. Now onto Aster!
tw: miscarriage mention, cancer mention, death mention
[ cis woman, she/her, benedetta gargari , twenty-three ] i can’t be sure, but i think i just saw ASTER OLSON drive onto the parkway. don’t they know we’re not supposed to be driving on that haunted road right now? maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re so +GREGARIOUS and -RASH that makes them feel SHAKEN about everything going on. i guess we could also chalk it up to the fact that they’re always reminding me of CRACKED LIPS COATED IN CRIMSON LIPSTICK, CRUSHED VELVET DRESSES PAIRED WITH BEAT UP DOCS, A COLLECTION OF HALF DRANK TEA COVERING THE COFFEE TABLE. either way, i hope they get back safely.
Aster is Reed born and breed. She came into the world the hospital just ten minutes from the house she would learn how to walk and talk and sing joyfully off tune. Where she’d learned that love wasn’t always spoken but shown in the tenderness of cleaning up a scraped knee and making sure your favorite snacks are always in the pantry and finding time to read your child bedtime stories even if it’s over the phone because your shift went long.
Aster learned a lot about heart growing up, but not always what to do with it. She saw her parents love and fight with equal passion. Even when their marriage fell apart she couldn’t even be mad because she saw them fight so hard for it.
Growing up she was one of those kids that made witches brew out of mud and sticks and acorns and any other odds and ends she found during recess and always invited the kids sitting alone to help. And she always brought her classmates a cupcake on their birthday even if she didn’t know them because everyone deserves to be celebrated on their birthday. And freshman she went through a phase of writing secret admirer notes to just leave in random lockers so for just one moment they would feel like they were worth admiring even if she was taking the risk of inflating someone’s ego.
Aster is an empath through and through and has made it a very bad habit to run herself dry to keep everyone afloat. Unlike her parents she never learned when to give up the fight and walk away.
Her fierce tenderness was tested junior year of high school when her mother got sick. The big C. But after all those nights of barely sleeping in hospitals, Aster knew there was a place for her and her big dumb always caring heart. She knew she had to go into medicine. Her mom didn’t make it, but maybe Aster could help other people’s moms make it.
She was a little harder after her mom passed, a little colder. Or at least she tried to be. She didn’t want to feel like this tragic person with eyes like broken faucets, but she didn’t know how to fix the plumbing so she tried just freezing the water. But then the empty aching of running from herself set in so eventually she just had to let the water run till a dry season came along. It took about six months, but eventually she could hold herself together and her and her big heart moved along.
Then college came and she was determined to have it all, the tv worthy college experience. Freshman year she joined everything she could till she was properly burnt out and realized that premed was going to take a lot more of her attention and she got much more studious.
Then came senior year and the first time she let herself be selfish. Somehow her TA position got a little blurry and despite being madly in love with her boyfriend at the time she kept finding herself tangled up in her professor’s sheets. The guilt was heavy but soon she got even heavier. Before she knew it she was late for her period and there were little pink lines on a stick and her life was quickly changing.
While flooded with panic and guilt she was also thrilled. She always wanted to be a mom, more than almost anything. But before she could even figure out whose it was, she lost it.
The depression was almost as heavy as when her mom passed and she only had a few weeks with the new future she was creating for herself. Accept now she couldn’t even talk about it. Not until her ex best friend dragged it out of her. Finally some relief until her ex best friend turned on her for her own gain and blasted her business for a gossip column.
This wrecked everything, Aster lost her scholarship and ended up dropping out with a semester left to go. She also lost the love of her life. The whole incident turned her quite bitter, the bright eyed tender hearted girl was taking time off and left way the cold girl she tried to play the part of in high school.
Now she works at dana’s dinner and lives in her childhood home that her mom left her. She’s learning how to be warm again, that it’s ok to trust people. That there is value in being vulnerable and tender and having a big stupid always caring heart is a gift and not just something people will take advantage of.
As she was figuring her life out she reflected back on her mom’s time in the hospital and realized she wouldn’t have made it through without the nurses. So now she’s starting nursing school to give that heart of hers a purpose.
As for how she’s holding up with the disappearances. It’s hard for her. Being such a big feeler she can barely stand to have the news on, but that doesn’t stop her from hearing the gruesome details. Towns like this thrive on gossip and the dinner is not the place to avoid it. Everything is feeling very heavy these days so if you see her eyes red as she’s serving you coffee don’t mention it.
She does feel a bit guilty for how emotional she’s gotten because of it, none of her loved ones have been harmed, but there are people hurting, this town is hurting and there’s no one to fix it. This sort of thing really troubles her. All she can do is bring baked goods to those in morning and offer a shoulder to cry on or ears to listen, but it doesn’t seem enough.
Even worse, she can’t help but be consumed with the fear that it could be her father on the news next. She calls him everyday, sometimes twice. He’s very stubborn and she knows he does a lot of business out of town.
random facts:
she has two rescued cats. An all black cat named zelda and a calico mix named luna
she has a vast tea collection because its good for the soul and its also rude to not offer guests a warm beverage so she has to be prepared for whatever they might like
she thrifts almost all of her clothes and is like a magnet for the good stuff. Her wardrobe consists of lots of crushed velvet and silky lacy things and of course an abundance of sweaters and flannels.
She’s very bad at finishing projects. She’s pretty bad at finishing almost anything actually. Her apartment is filled with half knit scarfs, books with only chapters to finish but will never be opened again, unfinished drinks growing mold.
She has a scar on her ribs from a bicycle ride gone wrong as a kid when she was caught by the sharp branches of a fallen tree
she hates to text, she will call just to answer a simple question.
connection ideas:
childhood friends
her ex from college - if you like lots of angst this is the one for you
other exes
fwbs - even better if theres feelings they’re refusing to admit
ride or dies
coworkers
other nursing students or people that work at the hospital she might know from volunteering
after the incident in college she kind of went through a party phase so maybe people she partied with
