delaina

[delaina]

Delaina can't help but to laugh at the recommendation, especially coming from Tamara. "Fox, I thought we knew each other better than that. Only time I'm reading is when it's the caption of a TikTok or a client's emails." She holds up the cookbook that she's been mulling over like she's guilty of something. "My turn to ask a question — think this is beginner friendly? I'm reaching my thresholds of pasta intake and I'm afraid if I don't spice it up a little, I might actually turn into a linguine noodle."

open for anyone @fairfordstarters

location: The Book Nook

Whenever Tamara had a day off with nothing planned, her routine usually consisted of heading to the pool. She would throw her headphones in, crank up her favorite playlist and lose herself in a book as she soaked up the sun. The only problem was, she had just finished her book last night and was in search of what to read next.

She wandered between the narrow aisles of the bookshop and occasionally pulled a book out to read the blurb on the back. "Have you been reading anything interesting lately?" she asked the person browsing a few shelves over from her. "I just finished a cheesy romance book but I think I'm looking for more suspense/thriller next. Any recommendations?"

[delaina]

It's an early morning for Delaina — she accredits it to the fact she's having to feel out a customer who works hours even stranger than her own, and there are simply some people out there who do better with sunrises than sunsets. She's never been that person. She thought getting a dog would bring out the morning person in her, but if anything, it's only made her resent a gray morning sky before the sun threatens to peek over the edges. Regardless, she's the face of professionalism, and she diverts herself to the closest establishment offering up caffeine on the right side of town.

It hardly crosses her mind that someone's just totally strolled past her and the few other stragglers in line until she's watching it happen. They cut her right off as she reaches for her wallet to pay for the americano she's ordering. The audacity of some people, she supposes. She's mildly impressed if not annoyed by the faux pas, but it isn't until the girl seems to clue in with surrounding reality that she softens. She gets it. "Yeah, you did," she points out with a small laugh. "But we've all been there. Everything okay? You kinda... well, you flew in the joint like a high-category hurricane. Most people tend to notice a line." She gestures behind her at the other waiting patrons. "Don't worry about paying for my stuff. We only have to get even if you spill your shit on me."

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Mia shouted angrily, grabbing some clothing she found laying on the floor. She couldn’t be fussy this morning, she had to wear whatever she just picked up - after all, she was running late for work. The brown haired woman couldn’t exactly be late for work either as she had to hand over her presentation to her boss before the children came in. Mia questioned why she wanted to work as a teacher when all she truly wanted in that moment in time was more sleep. “Coffee.” She blurted out to herself, shrugging on her backpack. The brunette looked in the mirror, she really looked like a school kid. She was wearing a jumper, leggings, boots and a backpack with her hair tied in a bun. Mia always worried the children wouldn’t take her seriously if they had her in class and she felt as though her attire wasn’t helping her case either. Mia ran out the door, locking her apartment after her.

Mia was currently on one mission - get coffee. The short woman ran down the streets, trying her best to make it in time for coffee and work - she couldn’t do her job this tired after all. The brunette wasn’t usually one for coffee either, she was truly a tea lover through and through. Although, she did know when she was needing it - it just meant that she would be up all night marking papers before crashing hard. “Coffee, coffee, coffee.” The girl murmured, looking up at the shop that stood before her - Java Junction. She sped in, not realising she had jumped the queue. “Can I get a triple-shot espresso iced coffee please?” She asked the server, pulling out her phone from her bag to pay. The brunette looked up at the server with a puzzled face before turning round to the person before her who was also about to pay for their items. “Oh my God, I am so sorry.” She blurted out, looking the person up and down. “I just jumped didn’t I? I’m like the worst person ever. Please let me buy you your stuff.”

[delaina]

PRIDE BY THE BEACH. CUSTOM MADE FOR⦂ @brendannichols​ LOCATION⦂ THE BEACH.

Yeah, okay. Maybe this wasn't going to be Delaina's finest moment. Pride brings out the happy, an unadulterated joy that she finds it hard to tamper down, especially when the town demands they all display the gay in full blown fanfare. She's been drunk since high noon and someone welcomed her to the party out on the beach with a joint: couple that with the music and she's a little too loose for comfort. It sends her accidentally stumbling into someone else once they play her song (every song for the last half hour has been her song, so really, she's got no ground to stand on) and her drink sloshes out the side of her cup, all down a very pretty girl's bikini cover up. "Fuck," Delaina giggles into her hand. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I'm... well." She gestures at herself. "I'm a little gone. Can I make it up to you?" The answer, she finds out quickly, is no, as told by her very aggressive, very flamingly heterosexual boyfriend who's got quite a bit of toxic masculinity going on and isn't nearly loose enough to appreciate the vibes of Pride. Instead, she's out here having to be her own knight in shining armor. "Look," she says over the prattle. "I didn't mean to spill my fuckin' drink on her. If I really wanted to steal your girlfriend, I could do it a hell of a lot better than that. Seeing that she went for you, it wouldn't take too much." She glances over her shoulder, trying to find the motherfucker who came as her strictly platonic date. Which is, of course, when she gets shoved. Hard. Fuck indeed.

[delaina]

RUE & JULES in 2.05

[delaina]

THE CHARACTER.

FULL NAME: Delaina Ashlyn Bailey

GENDER: Cis woman

PRONOUNS: She/her

AGE + BIRTHDAY: 32 + June 27, 1991

LENGTH OF TIME IN FAIRFORD: Five years

HOUSING: Downtown

OCCUPATION: Event planner & coodinator

THE INTERVIEW.

If you could recommend one hidden gem around town everyone should try, what is it? What makes it so special?

"Mug Shot Cafe, only because I have yet to be dethroned on the Caffeine Challenge wall. My picture's gonna be there forever, bitches."

Top five songs currently on your Spotify?

"Listen, if there's one thing in life nobody can ever dispute, it's that my Spotify and music taste in general's immaculate. Kesha's newest record is fuckin' incredible — Eat the Acid's probably my top listened to song off that. Then it's Number One Fan by MUNA and the classic bad bitch anthem that is Rihanna's Needed Me. Rilo Kiley's Portion of Foxes has been one of my favorite songs for ages, so it'd definitely wind up on there... last one would probably be Megan Thee Stallion's Her. You know those songs that randomly enter your head at any given point in the day, like when you're in traffic or brushing your teeth and have nothing else to do but think? That's when that song queues up in my brain. Can't say I'm mad about it."

Are you a leader or a follower?

"Feel like we've all got a little bit of both in us, but I'd say leader. At the end of the day, if I'm just following the crowd and waiting for them to dictate my next steps, what kind of life am I living? Are we even really living, or are we just copying and pasting the expectations across the board? I'd rather look stupid as hell and know that at the end of the day, at least it was my own stupidity and not someone else's."

It’s the little things in life; tell me three things that bring you a great deal of joy or put a smile on your face.

"Snuggling up on the couch with Bunny and a glass of wine at the end of the day, opening up a brand new Sharpie marker to use for the first time, a summer evening out and about."

THE PERSONALITY.

— + tenacious, convival, self-assured — - capricious, quixotic, serpentine

DELAINA IS PORTRAYED BY JENNIFER LAWRENCE, AND WRITTEN BY WILLOW.

[delaina]

JENNIFER LAWRENCE Dior Beauty (August 2022) By Cass Bird

[delaina]

🍾 ▶️ 🛑

🍾  — What is the last thing your muse celebrated? How long was the celebration?

"I quite literally celebrate things for a living, so if we're getting technical here, the last thing I celebrated was probably last week? Some high school graduation shindig. Didn't even have sparkling grape juice, so not my idea of a good time, but... I got paid. Can't complain much."

▶️  — Make a playlist of five songs that your muse would enjoy.

"Jump Around, House of Pain; Unholy, Miley Cyrus; Small Talk, Kid Quill, 3005, Childish Gambino, Champagne & Sunshine by PLVTINUM & Tarro."

🛑 — What is one of your muse’s pet-peeves? 

"When people crack their fingers or pop their knuckles. Cease and desist, you absolute fucking nightmares."

[delaina]

TULIP: FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY, WHAT KIND OF CAKE DO YOU ASK FOR? ORANGE BLOSSOM: IF YOU COULD PICK THE GENDER AND APPEARANCE OF YOUR CHILD, WOULD YOU? MARIGOLD: DO YOU LISTEN TO WHAT'S ON THE RADIO?

TULIP: FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY, WHAT KIND OF CAKE DO YOU ASK FOR?

"All cake's good cake. I've been asking for one of those Milk Bar cakes for years though and never have had that wish fulfilled, so any time anyone wants to make that dream a reality, I'd be appreciative."

ORANGE BLOSSOM: IF YOU COULD PICK THE GENDER AND APPEARANCE OF YOUR CHILD, WOULD YOU?

"Nah. Just seems like it's more trouble than it's worth, playing the hands of fate."

MARIGOLD: DO YOU LISTEN TO WHAT'S ON THE RADIO?

"We all get desperate at times — so, yeah."

[delaina]

⛎ = What is your muse’s zodiac sign? Does it fit their personality?

Laina's a Cancer through and through; her rising and sun sign are both Cancer, so she's Extra. She's got a dry, goofy sense of humor, something that coupled with her heart, is what she uses to reel people in. She's charming as fuck. Full of great ideas, and will absolutely twist herself into a Gordian knot over trying to make others around her satisfied. It's the people pleaser and event planner in her, and it goes back to the intentionality she has in her relationships. She's a tough cookie but she is wildly mercurial. Delaina will flip on a dime for less, and she's notorious for climbing in her head and having trouble escaping. Though she be commitment-phobic, she'll love you with everything she has.

[delaina]

Carnation: If I handed you a concert ticket right now, who would you want to be the performer?

"Phoebe Bridgers, without question. Or Beyoncé. Who doesn't want to see Beyoncé perform live?"

[delaina]

CALLA LILY, 🍼 , CAIRO

CALLA LILY: IF YOU DIED RIGHT NOW, WHAT SONG WOULD YOU WANT TO PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?

"I'm between something sentimental like James Taylor's You Can Close Your Eyes, or making everyone sit through a song like Darude's Sandstorm to see who gets all my inheritance."

🍼  — Does your muse have children or do they ever want to have children? Do they think they will/would be a good parent?

"No children here, but I wouldn't mind having them? It'd be one of those things where I'd have to have found the right person and we both want a family before I'd agree to it. Being a parent's a big deal. I dunno if I'd be a good mom, maybe? I feel like I'm a giant seven year old myself on a good day, so if anything, we're all about at the same intelligence level. Can't see how that'd bode poorly."

CAIRO: WHATS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE?

"The steps you take don't have to be big, they just have to be in the right direction."

[delaina]

NEW YORK CITY: WHAT GETS YOU UP IN THE MORNING?

"If it's not my alarm clock, it's my other alarm clock that has paws. If I don't wake up with a paw on my face or Bunny's nose directly in my ear, something's up."

[delaina]

CHICAGO: WHAT DO YOU ACHE FOR?

▶️  = Make a playlist of five songs that your muse would enjoy.

POPPY: WHAT COLOR WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD HOME?

CHICAGO: WHAT DO YOU ACHE FOR?

"A martini, my chiropractor to work out this knot at the base of my neck, and to settle down."

▶️  — Make a playlist of five songs that your muse would enjoy.

"CUFF IT, Beyoncé; Talk, beabadoobee; Motion Sickness, Phoebe Bridgers; Becky's So Hot, Fletcher; Sex on Fire, Kings of Leon."

POPPY: WHAT COLOR WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD HOME?

"Something nondescript and entirely unmemorable. I think we had a red front door? Brick red. So stupid."

[delaina]

PRIMROSE: FAVORITE KIND OF SOUP?

"That chicken gnocchi soup they have at Olive Garden. Shit hits the spot every time."

[delaina]

🍕👽🏖️

🍕 — What is your muse’s usual pizza order? Do they order any drinks, sides, or desserts to go with it?

"Supreme pizza, with a side of crazy bread — which, for the record, I do not share — and those heavenly little cinnamon breadsticks with the frosting. Maybe a craft beer or a Diet Coke (glass bottle only) to go with it. My idea of a good time."

👽 — Does your muse believe in aliens? Have they ever seen a UFO? Do they believe they’ve been abducted before, or do they know anyone who claims to have been abducted?

"Say what you will, but I think it's pretty damn egocentric to think in the entire universe, we're the only living organisms. Aliens don't have to be the little green men from Mars — I mean, it'd be cooler if they were, but you know, the lame ass bacteria counts. I always think I see UFOs but then it turns out to be a plane? Apparently I've never been outside. As far as being abducted, ha. If I at any time claim I've been abducted by aliens, you know I've reached my threshold of obnoxiousness. They'd never take me; they'd be too busy looking for some kind of way to undo their mistake."

🏖️  — What would your muse be doing on a day out to the beach? Are they the type to get in the water or just sit on the shore?

"We grew up in Oceanside, so we were always near the beach — actual beach, too, where it's not cold most of the year and the water's a death sentence. I learned how to surf when I was a teenager but never was any good at it. Was pretty content to lay out and get a tan, watch all the cute girls in their bikinis. Dunk a girl I had a crush on in the water. Usual shit. Nowadays, I just like sitting on the shore with a book or taking Bunny for a walk where we can get our feet wet."

[delaina]

💔 = When is a time your muse was heart-broken? Was it someone else’s fault or your muse’s? What did they do to get over it?

"Maisy. But we're not talking about that." Because she still remembers the odd feeling in her stomach driving back to the station, as though the moon had fallen from orbit and the Earth's gravity was now off kilter, the hairs on the back of her neck refusing to settle when they returned and an eerie silence welcomed them back. She remembers getting the phone call requesting her back at Tri-City, and there's a faint ringing in her memory of someone screaming — maybe it was her, or maybe it was just the sound someone's soul made when it was shredded. She didn't talk at Maisy's funeral, she didn't talk at the grief counseling and group therapy sessions, and she doesn't talk about it now, 18 hours sitting between her and the corpse of her former life that's collecting cobwebs. She can't.

[delaina]

AMSTERDAM: WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL NIGHT OUT?

"Not to be that person, but any time I leave my house, shit manages to find me. Hit up a bar for pregaming, few hours at the club where I am painfully reminded that I am past my threshold for clubbing days based on the demographic around me and the fact that my knees pop every time I bust out the good ol' fashioned pop-lock-and-drop-it from high school, and then let the wind take me wherever it manages to catch me post shots. Could be very Lady Gaga of me in the sense of club, 'nother club, 'nother club, no sleep, or it could end up with me in bed by 10:30 surrounded by whatever fast food joint I had to terrorize."