#tidbittime

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit time

Matthew is on the autistic spectrum, and I plan to rewrite the older stuff to better reflect that. Cassandra is canonically autistic, but the more I think about it, the more I can see Matthew being autistic too.

Like, he’s confident in his special interests, such as anything cardiology related, or medical. He has such a huge collection of biology books. But when it comes to making friends with new people, it’s a struggle. He and Kiya are best friends because they never grew out of contact.

When it comes to love, he never had any interest, but that was also due to being Asexual. He had a crush on Kiya for the longest time, but was happy for their dynamic as best friends to remain as it was when she came out to him.

When Grace came into his life, leading the charge and giving him all of the physical contact he didn’t know he craved, he couldn’t help but fall fast for her, trying his hardest to pace the relationship out of fear that she would be intimidated.

He doesn’t experience issues with auditory sensory overload like Cassandra does. However, he really cannot stand strong flavours. He has an extensive list of “safe” foods and recipes, and will only eat those. He’s willing to try new foods, but he will tell you immediately if he doesn’t like it.

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit time;

Matthew definitely would be the type of guy to have a cardiophile Tumblr account.

Like he’s just being thotty on main, posting pictures of himself in his work uniform, or custom photo sets using his basement equipment.

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit Time;

Grace and Matthew end up having children just before they enter their 30’s.

Twins are common in the family for Matthew, and thus they have fraternal twins. Their names are;

Phoebe Beatrice Phillips

Theo Oliver Phillips

Two years later, Grace fell pregnant again, and gave birth to another daughter, named;

Rhea Florence Phillips

Kiya and Cassandra became godmothers to all three children, while Florence became an honorary grandmother.

She was a bit hesitant about her new role at first, because she didn’t want to take it away from Beatrice.

But Matthew confided that Florence was an excellent mother to him too, and that Beatrice would agree too.

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit time;

After a few years of “empty nest syndrome” from Cassandra moving in with Kiya, Florence got married.

Her best friend from her university classes, Elena Doyle, moved to England, where they became inseparable after so long apart.

They started a handcrafted goods business together, after the pair found that they still have creative hobbies.

One day, Elena proposed that they enter a platonic marriage, built around trust and friendship rather than romantic or sexual connection. It took Florence a while to warm to the idea; she always thought marriage was exclusively for the sake of love.

But eventually she said yes, taking comfort in the fact that the rest of her life wouldn’t be so lonely now that her best friend stood by her side.

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit Time;

Florence was a very arty person in her university days.

She didn’t really believe she could get anything out of university, but attended because she didn’t want to be separated from Beatrice.

She took up a job in a supermarket to support what remained of her family - A sum of money that she inherited from her sister was enough to put Cassandra through university.

However, an old friend from Ireland reconnected with her, and they formed a small handmade crafts business.

Florence never married, or had any romantic/sexual relationships, only having a one night stand that conceived Cassandra.

She never once regretted it, instead being delighted that she was experiencing motherhood at the same time as her twin.

However, she felt somewhat broken. She didn’t feel attracted to anyone, whether it was sexual or romantic.

It took Matthew coming out as asexual for Florence to realise that there was a word to describe her own feelings other than “Prude” and “Freak”.

Ever since Beatrice died, Florence always felt a comforting presence in her home between 29-31st of October. On her 40th birthday, she could have sworn that the candle on her cake was blown out spontaneously, but that may have been the wine.

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit Time:

As an autistic woman, Cassandra has struggled a bit, mainly through her teen years.

Unlike most of her SEN group, she wasn’t diagnosed until she was 16 years old.

Though she had a fairly good support system in secondary school, that quickly changed in college.

Her confidence in herself lowered as she had to discard the routine that she maintained over the past 5 years, in favour for a very chaotic one. In addition to this, she was spending less time with Kiya and Matthew due to their differing career choices.

But she managed to pick herself up again when she joined the college’s geek club, after Florence suggested it to her. Between DnD sessions, cosplay shoots, conventions, and gaming nights, she found that it was okay to have a bit of chaos. This continued into her university years.

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit time;

Florence, Cassandra, and Matthew have matching tattoos of a Forget-Me-Not flower, after the deaths of Beatrice and Oliver.

Cassandra suggested the tattoo as she was very intrigued by the Victorian Language of Flowers.

Of course, Florence was the only one with the tattoo for a while, as Matthew and Cassandra were 14 at the time. But once the cousins were ready to head off to University, they finally got their tattoos over the summer.

Florence additionally has a tattoo on her inner forearm, of two hands linked in a pinky promise, to remember Beatrice and the promise they once made.

Matthew also has two hand prints, one on each shoulder. One handprint from his mother, the other from his father. This is a reminder of the last photo they took together as a family.

[deebee-lubdub]

Tidbit Time;

Cassandra has Iatrophobia (Fear of doctors and medical tests)

This seems ironic, given that Aunt Beatrice, Uncle Oliver, and Matthew entered the medical profession.

She was born premature, a month earlier than her expected arrival into the world. Her childhood was littered with doctors appointments.

These appointments would be chaperoned by her Aunt Beatrice, who worked at the clinic, thus alleviating her fears in the moment.

However, after the simultaneous passing of both her aunt and uncle, Cassandra struggled to attend any kind of healthcare appointment. Even more so, she hasn’t visited a doctor’s office for nearly 10 years.