#tv.intro

[lorna-davidson]

“Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.”― Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking

Background: pregnancy tw, mention of abortion tw, depression tw

To achieve greatness was the only option Lorna Davidson ever had. At least according to her parents. There is no denying that she was born out of love. The youngest of two daughters and the third of four children, Lorna’s parents had instilled great expectations for how they were supposed to carry themselves in the world. Her mother’s family had always been wealthy but her father was a big proponent of hard work, his family having immigrated to America in hopes of a better life. Together, they had created a stable and lucrative life for themselves. Her father had built his own construction business from the ground up that had turned into him being one of the most sought out contractors on the west coast. Her mother, not one to just sit around and lean into her family’s wealth, was a well known corporate lawyer, bound to get anyone out of any mess. Their childhood was fun if not full of pressure. Though as the younger daughter, Lorna often was able to skate by under her sister’s failures but more often her achievements. Her older sister has always been the model child, the one who achieved the most and did it in record time. Lorna and her brothers often found themselves struggling to fit such a high bar but eventually found their way. Or at least they tried to. 

High school was a substantial time in Lorna’s discovery of herself. And despite her many late nights and dangerous boyfriends and girlfriends, she ended up graduating top of her class and eventually found her way to Stanford. Something her parents wouldn’t shut up about even though it hadn’t been her first choice. She had badly wanted to go to Berkeley instead but either way her parents were glad to know she would still be staying in her home state. But if she hadn’t gone to Stanford, she would have never met Beatrice and if she had never met Beatrice, she would have never met Giovanni. A fact that she used to find beautiful but now thinks of as a curse. If only she had fought her parents harder. 

Her friendship with Beatrice had been easy, almost instant from the moment they became roommates. They did almost everything together which meant that Lorna had been there the moment she met Gio. And had been there to witness them fall in love. Back then, she and Gio had been close, best friends even. Even with all of his ambition and the clear fire in his eyes, college Gio had been calmer, cooler. And they had spent many evenings talking about life, reflecting on their families and building a friendship that seemed built to last. But as Lorna has come to learn in her life, good things only last so long. 

It had been Giovanni who had introduced her to Jeffrey Decker. A name that easily caused a chill these days, if not a total gag reflex. To this day Lorna doesn’t really know if Gio knew what he was signing her up for but she believes he did. Knowingly throwing her into the lion’s den with a man who’s appetite was insatiable and was clear from the moment they met. At least at first he had been charming, sweet even and Lorna who had a track record for fleeting relationships felt enamored by it. She knew that he was married and while she had never been into a married person before, it felt easy to ignore whenever she was with him. Something that still makes her sick to think about. How she could be so naive. But it was nice to have someone she considered established take a liking to her until it got too real. And what had meant to be just a little fling had turned into so much more. 

She can still remember the day vividly. How her first call had been to Beatrice and she had sat with Lorna as she sat on the edge of the tub, waiting to see what lines would appear on the pregnancy test. But nothing could have felt worse than Jeffery's reaction. Another naive moment in thinking that he might want this baby, that he'd see it as a good thing. But she has been consistently naive when it came to him. Instead they fought, or more like he yelled and she cried. But no matter how much he yelled, she refused to give up the baby and she was fortunate enough that Jeffrey's wife agreed. 

Though she had never met the woman, she had become her savior but only for a moment until they made their intentions clear. Lorna would be allowed to have the baby but she wouldn't be allowed to keep it. And despite how good of a lawyer her mother was, even she knew that fighting a family like the Deckers was like signing your own death warrant. The Davidsons also believed it was a blessing in disguise, a chance for their daughter to be free and start over. 

But none of them had to carry the baby. And despite it all, it's still one of the most beautiful experiences of her life. Holed up in an apartment Jeffrey paid for in Tonopah (he made it clear that if anyone saw her and asked too many questions it would be a problem but she was still allowed to stay close) she fell in love with the life growing inside of her. She sang to him, read to him, talked to him, dreamed up a whole life with him despite knowing the reality. Her siblings had been especially supportive, especially her brothers who had become overly protective during this time and still are. 

And it had been her younger brother who had made sure she had a chance to hold her baby before he was taken. It had been a home birth and to this day Lorna still thanks the gods for her midwife. Shepherd had come into the world with ease and when Jeffery and Andrea had arrived, her brother had pretended that there was a problem with the door to allow Lorna a brief moment. She held her son close to her, held his hand, kissed his face and promised him that she'd love him no matter what. That she'd be his forever even if he never knew her. She committed every little detail about him to memory until the door finally opened and just as quickly as he had come into her life, her son was taken out of it. 

After that, it was no surprise that Lorna fell into a deep depression. Her family brought her home to Los Angeles and she lived with her parents so they could keep an eye on her. Beatrice came to visit often but there was no denying that Lorna had become a shell of herself. She thought about her son every moment of every day. It wasn't until Beatrice got pregnant herself that she started to snap out of it and put so much of her energy into being the best godmother she could be to Valentina. 

With an expensive therapist and some damn good medication, Lorna eventually found her way back to herself. While she never forgave Giovanni, she loved the children he had with Beatrice. She started taking the art classes she dreamed of. She started going on hikes with her youngest brother. She helped her oldest sister look after her own children, being an aunt becoming her most fulfilling role. Her older brother who had joined their father in the family business had even gotten her help on certain projects, appreciating the way she was able to visually map out their plans. Her family held her together and she's never forgotten it. 

She went back to school, getting a second bachelor's in architecture and immediately going on to gain her master's. In her free time she took more art classes and eventually started selling some of her paintings along with some pieces of pottery. She put her life back together and found a deep passion that allowed her to both express herself and also have a part in her father's business. Something that has brought them much closer. 

But that didn't mean she didn't keep up with what was happening in Tonopah Valley. As Shep got older she followed along with his school successes and on rare occasions took trips to Tonopah Valley that she told no one about. Not even Beatrice. She always stayed far away but she couldn't help herself. Especially for his school graduations or when he was accepted into the academy. It made her laugh, the idea of her son being a cop considering who his father was. She wondered often if he had a good relationship with Andrea or with his sister in the way she had with her siblings. She kept clippings from the paper or printed articles from his school's website. 

She tried not to do it too often but it was hard to deny just how much it hurt to be apart from him. To know that he didn't even know she existed. 

Which was why she saw her opportunity the moment Jeffreys death had hit the news. She had to read the article over and over again to let it sink in. She cried and then laughed and then her brothers insisted on celebrating. It felt so weird to celebrate a death but even her mother had joined them and she hadn’t seen the woman smile that much in so long. Perhaps her mother was harder on herself than she knew, not having been able to save her daughter sooner. But that news was soon buried by fear when she learned that Shep had been shot. It was then that not even her family could deny that maybe it was time. And though they were all nervous, it was a group decision, one that meant she had their full support

She couldn't do much at first. She took short trips and visited him at the hospital when no one else was around and he was unconscious and unaware of her presence. She read to him, played music for him, just as she had when he was in her stomach. And when he finally woke up, Lorna knew her decision was made. It helped that her godchildren had also relocated to Tonopah Valley and despite how long it had been since she had talked to Giovanni, keeping an eye on him didn't seem like a bad deal either. 

She finally made the move a month ago and has been lying low for the most part until she feels the moment is right. She bought a house in Glenn Estates, mostly because her brothers couldn't bear the idea of her being downtown again and her youngest is currently living with her. He swears it's for the great outdoors he'll get to be near but she knows it's to look out for her. Something she appreciates more than she could vocalize. And while she still does work for her father's company, she's decided to open her own space geared towards folks interested in making and selling pottery. It's a small space and really just a way for Lorna to connect with one of her favorite passions while also selling some of her work. She hosts classes and is hoping to roll out a series of artists dinners per Valentinas suggestion. The space only opened two weeks ago so it's very new and she's been trying to get the word out despite fearing Andrea getting a whiff of it. But she's older and wiser now. And no one is going to stand in her way. Not again.

Headcanons:

Has three dogs, Larry, Moe and Curly. They’re basically her kids considering she never had another one after Shepherd. She can usually be seen around her neighborhood walking with the three of them. Larry and Moe are both Australian shepherds and Curly is a French Bulldog. 

Thanks to her younger brother she loves the outdoors. She hikes often and goes for morning walks. She’s very proud of her garden and tries to do outdoor yoga as often as possible. Her meditation is central to her life now, not entirely sure she could be as level headed as she is without it. 

She’s also big on being green and eco friendly. She drives an electric car but only when she needs to. Most of the time she prefers to ride her bike or walk. She’s also big on farm to table, shopping locally and cooking with local products. Cooking is one of the money things she does most often with Valentina. 

She’s pretty unaware of the dynamics going on in town but is well aware of some of the work that took Giovanni away from Vegas. She’s a bit stunned to see him running for Mayor and hasn’t been looking forward to their reunion despite the fact that he had once been one of her nearest and dearest friends. Her main focus is her son so she’s keen on not getting involved in anything she doesn’t need to be. 

[devon-sinclair]

"The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction. The weight, the weight we carry is love." - Allen Ginsberg

Background: death mention tw

Devon Sinclair was never part of the plan. In fact one of the things that had cemented his parents relationship was their mutual understanding that they only ever wanted one child. But 12 years after the birth of Edward, Devon arrived under the shadow of slight resentment. His parents felt too busy to raise a newborn but did so anyway and a lot of the responsibility ended up on his brother Eddie who did his very best given the circumstances. What should have been Eddie’s adolescence turned into Devon’s childhood. It wasn’t all bad and the Sinclair’s had trusted neighbors and family who pitched in to help but there was no denying that Devon was not part of the plan. 

And that was the chip on his shoulder that he grew up with. Always feeling like a burden, especially as he entered his teenage years and Eddie was already on his way to being married and having kids. Before he could drive he was an Uncle and to this day that is probably the only title he’s ever been proud or happy to have. But Devon had a hard time finding himself. His brother already had a family of his own in his own children and in the Sons of Silence. As a young child he was always by Eddie’s side, always curious as the men with motorcycles met and started to come together. But Devon struggled to dream of the same future. He had no interest in getting his hands dirty or being in charge of anything. He was more interested in playing his games and helping his family get a computer even though back then they were so big it felt like he needed to move his entire bed out of the room to fit it in. But tech was his interest. Books and writing, history that he could study. Eddie would tease him but ultimately encouraged him and Devon grew to be someone who sought his brother’s approval much more than his parents. 

But his parents were his parents and they still projected hopes and dreams onto him. Hoped for him to be tougher like his brother, doing a job with meaning and practicality like their father. His father saw him as weak and his mother saw him more as a younger friend than anything else. He loved them both but didn’t feel as loved by them. So he sought that love elsewhere. In books, in school clubs, in the public library, anywhere he could where people would support his passions. So he was always out of the house, usually going wherever his best friend Nellie Decker was going and when he wasn’t with her he was pursuing something that would allow him to put his brain to work. And often he used this time to dream of a life outside of Tonopah Valley, somewhere beyond where he could be anyone. Where men on motorcycles wouldn’t see him and say “hey aren’t you Eddie’s brother?’ or the occasional mistake, “hey aren’t you eddie’s kid?” 

So Devon made a promise to himself to get out as soon as he could. He tried not to resent Nellie for getting out before him but her leave made his own that much more pressing. So a month after high school graduation, Devon packed his bags and left Tonopah for good. He hadn’t expected to be sad but mostly felt the sadness when it came to leaving behind his nieces and nephew. His brother who despite their differences and despite how much Devon resented the Sons, he admired and loved.Eddie would always be his hero, even if they didn’t agree. 

Life beyond Tonopah Valley wasn’t as immediately rewarding as he imagined but was extremely freeing. He went west first as an undergrad at Stanford University. He had a scholarship for tuition but worked multiple jobs to afford everything else. He learned what it was like to hustle for survival, to get his hands dirty in a different way. He would fix people’s computers, cleaned people’s toilets, washed dishes, whatever people would pay him for, he would do. And through this he learned the importance of being observant, something Eddie had tried to instill in him at an early age. And Eddie was the only person who he would really check in with until the kids started getting older and Eddie’s leadership took over. Devon still sent birthday cards and Christmas gifts and only made the mistake of going back to Tonopah for the first holiday break before he really never returned again until now. 

Devon made it his purpose to always be busy. He found jobs to take up, people to apprentice for, friends who had family’s he could visit while pretending he didn’t have his own. He signed on to every free trip or offering he could, always eager, always open to exploration. In his junior year of college he got the privilege of studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan and that alone opened up his entire world. He not only wanted to just get away anymore, he wanted to see as much as possible. He built a life where he could simply experience and learn as much as possible. This led him down many paths but Devon primarily made his career by being a programmer and a generous thinker. He went from launching a startup with some Stanford friends to pursuing a PhD at Oxford to becoming a guest lecturer before he became a full blown professor. That journey eventually brought him to a comfy gig at MIT which became so comfy he started to look for excitement elsewhere. 

And this was the moment of a second rebirth. Despite his consistent critique of the Sons, Devon saw the benefit of using his skills to help people in search of guarded information. It started as a little thing, helping people seeking information about their spouses affairs or their children's worrisome online behavior. But that eventually grew into more, helping people of great importance delete information or use information against other people. He wasn't a private investigator, just a gatherer of information. What happened beyond that was beyond him. If they were willing to pay, he was willing to do it. Until it got him in trouble and he found a particularly pissed off party after him, hoping to claim his life. So this second rebirth also came with increased physical preparation. Someone who had once been seen as frail and weak became someone who strived for the opposite. Gym days, personal trainers, rugby rec club, study of martial arts, joining a boxing club.  He became as strong physically as he was mentally and his services expanded, to say the least. 

Which is how he ended up in this moment. When he received an inquiry for a job in Tonopah Valley of all places, he thought it was a joke. But then the request came back around and he realized it was serious. Someone wanted help in gathering information about the townspeople in Tonopah Valley and Devon found it physically impossible for him to continue to say no. He had done work for The Enterprise before in the early years so he was familiar with Dante’s existence but Dev prided himself on having no loyalty. Which was the opposite of what his brother had taught him. 

So he decided to say yes. And for the first time in over 20 years, he’s finally returning home. Weary of the work ahead of him, excited to see his nieces and nephews and having no idea that his brother is no longer alive. 

Headcanons:

A very organized man despite the chaos of his mind. His apartment is super well organized (though right now really bare since he just moved) and he’s big on weekly cleaning. 

Has made a good amount of money for himself, lives super comfortably, and though he isn’t flashy, he invests in the finer things for himself when he can. 

Not on social media but has tons of burner accounts to help aid him in gathering information. Still a big fan of film and has tons of developed photos in boxes and albums in his home. 

The main person he stayed in contact with over the years was Nellie, they wrote letters to each other and to this day she probably knows the most truth about him. 

Can mostly be seen out in the early early hours of the morning. He loves a morning run, he’s big on physical upkeep as a means for protecting himself. He’s a meal planner kind of guy, big on his smoothies and tea before he has a coffee. But definitely prefers tea to coffee. 

Will start to develop a lot of regret as he gets used to being home. He intended to not stay long but as he starts to learn more about what’s been going on and his brother's death, he’ll start to spend more time trying to discover the truth. 

This includes being on the path of trying to redeem himself as Number One Uncle

Has never been married but was briefly engaged to a man he met in London (another bisexual king) and was with for almost five years before their relationship deteriorated.

[wefcundwonderland]

it hurts sometimes to find where you b e g i n, but you are perfect porcelain

Mikayla Beaumont // 30 (DOB: August 17th, 1992) // Creative writing major at ULV, waitress, and escort

hi this is my baby and I love her very much

Moved to Tonopah Falls beginning of August last year for school

Lived in NYC all her life before that with her single mother and they’re v close

Cancer CW: When she was 16, her mother found out she had cancer so Mikayla essentially put her life on pause to make sure she got the best care she could get. She started working as a waitress, then eventually decided to lie about her age and start stripping when she wasn’t making enough. The club was seedy enough that they allowed for people to pay for extras, so she eventually found her way into escorting after experiencing enough of that, so she had some control over who her clients were

Because of this, though, she kept people at arm’s length and didn’t have too many close friends.

She managed to make enough money at one point to help pay for her mother’s treatments and now that her mother’s been in remission for years, she’s decided to pursue her dreams of going to college and becoming a writer

She chose ULV to experience a new place/culture and is hoping to kind of “start over” in a way somewhere where people don’t know her. She hopes this will inevitably make it easier to make friends, especially because whether she’d like to admit it or not, she is v lonely and never truly got to experience a care-free life!!

She still occasionally escorts (especially during school breaks) because she’s gotta bring in money somehow to pay for school right but she does it under an alias and while wearing wigs, so she isn’t as easily recognizable.

So I’m looking for all kinds of connections for her like:

Neighbors!! She could use some friends who are nearby because this is really her first time living alone so it’s new and a little scary for her. Maybe even a roommate since she’s already been around the area for a year.

Friends galore -- okay maybe not too many at first, but she could definitely use a few who help to break her out of her shell a little and familiarize her with the area.

Maybe former clients? Someone who traveled to NYC often and/or used to live there and either hired her as an escort (doesn’t have to be sexual, could be her accompanying them to a wedding or an event of some kind) or went to the strip club she used to work at. Also maybe clients from when she’s done things in Vegas as well!

Somewhat related to the previous one, but maybe an ex-client where things got a little too real and feelings started to get involved so she cut things off and ghosted him

I’ll be submitting some more info on these specific ones, but I’m also looking for someone to play her parents (dad especially) and a half-sister she doesn’t know about so 👀 keep an eye on that.