#phantasm.intro

[yanabortniks]

basics.

full name: Yana Mikhailovna Bortnik

nickname: Yana is already a nickname technically. She was named after her grandma Dayana, but her extended family on her dad's side calls her by a variety of Russian diminutives such as Yanka, Yanusya, Yaya, etc. Yana doesn't expect her friends to use any of them, but Dev's allowed to use "Yaya" ♡

faceclaim: Fivel Stewart

age: 22

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: unlabeled

hometown: Marquette, Michigan

birthday: December 23, 1999

zodiac: Capricorn sun, Aries moon, Pisces rising

traits: responsible, patient, ambitious, extreeeemely independent, resourceful, loyal, organized, self-disciplined, cautious, methodical, suspicious, sensitive, know-it-all, often expects the worst, nosey, cheap, rarely satisfied

major: Psychology

more info.

Yana’s parents are both semi-functioning alcoholics and her relationship with them is very… strained. She goes to weird and sometimes extreme lengths to appease them in a way that seems sincerely useless because they either don’t care or don’t notice. And some people who don’t understand the situation might often feel that Yana is making it seem worse in her head via her projections and insecurities, but on the flipside Yana’s like okay but you don’t get it actually!

Last year her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and is doing fine now, but between thinking about grad school and her future and just her constant, CONSTANT worries about her parents’ health due to their substance abuse issues, she fully spiraled out. Went MIA. No one heard from her for a couple weeks. (Romy intervened ♡)

She’s currently waiting to hear back from PhD programs to become a clinical psychologist and will go literally anywhere that takes her and gives her good money. What motivates Yana is not perfection but success, and it does have the habit of driving her up the wall sometimes but that is just the kind of sacrifice she has to make in order to fulfill a goal. 

Personality-wise, Yana is very much an extroverted introvert. She looooves being with her friends and she can spread herself out pretty thin sometimes, but she also needs to recharge on her own. She’s also very sincere and tries to push people toward vulnerability (tried to make the whole friend group watch the Brene Brown vulnerability TedTalk) and talk their issues out and always wants to take temp readings on how everyone’s doing.  (Real picture of her: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/4a/1a/4c/4a1a4cf5baeb1172e6e29b6fff5fe714.jpg).

Again, she’s often Doing The Most, which can be helpful but also very aggravating for those around her sometimes, about stuff like, spending literal hours in a Saver’s and making you suffer under those fluorescents and writing long handwritten letters to communicate her feelings. But she is also often hands-off irt other people’s drama. Like, you come to her for deets that could maybe clear up a situation and sometimes she’s like…. “I don’t think it’s my place to say anything, you should talk to that person about it” and suddenly you’re wringing her neck. Xoxo.

UMMM other than that, she’s a loyal friend who wants to establish a FT schedule, keeps all her bad grades stuffed in a binder that she keeps in her room, has a lifelong obsession with Cher, will sometimes sincerely fall to the ground from laughing so hard at your jokes, is the jumpiest bitch in the biz, likes goofy humor and when her friends playfully make fun of her (to an extent eeek), doesn't drink alcohol or smoke weed (though she may indulge in a teeny tiny edible), NEEDS concrete plans, rocking her light blue crocs half the time, passionately adheres to the 5-second rule of dropped food (kinda gross), semi-estranged from her older brother, thinks she’s the worst daughter to ever exist and she should be met with chants of “shame shame shame!”, likes cheap Pinterst crafts, HATES when people pay for her to the point where it has caused actual tension, she's Buddhist, likes to meditate, is constantly trying new things to "heal" her (different teas and crystals and apple cider vinegar shots), has a tattoo that references Vienna by Billy Joel, etc. OH, and she’s an RA!

pinterest // playlist

[ofdevburroughs]

 and autumn comes when you’re not yet done with the summer passing by ...

                                                    meet devlin burroughs.

basics.

full name: devlin maria burroughs

nickname: dev (always feels like she’s in trouble when someone calls her devlin)

faceclaim: courtney eaton

age: 22

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: bisexual

hometown: salisbury, massachusetts

birthday: november 13th 1999

zodiac: scorpio sun, capricorn moon, libra rising

traits: passionate, loyal, intuitive, charismatic, courageous, judgemental, resentful, jealous, secretive

major: microbiology (little freak coded)

more info.

a young woman who feels sure of herself as often as she feels in search of something more. but since the passing of her grandmother, she’s felt the latter more. the heaviness of a legacy combined with the emptiness of having lost the person you thought would guide you through it.

at first glance the burroughs seem entirely boring. her parents both accountants and her younger brother a mediocre jock at best. but there’s something strange about them. odd in the sense that there’s things, people in the family they don’t talk about. odd in the sense that she was always taught to avoid anything that would bring on bad luck. odd in the sense that her accountant, otherwise completely science and logic focused father visits a medium with his sister. that devlin is encouraged to visit too though she doesn’t because she feels like she never understands what is being said.

she’s smart, and kind, and passionate – although high walls around her can often make that harder to see, the group would have all been privy to it over the years in one way or another. even if she can sometimes be a moody, judgemental, secretive little shit. she cares deeply and doesn’t always know how to show it or even respond to the feeling within herself

she’s methodical, type a. an overachiever and borderline overcommitted to the life she believes she’s supposed to be living. shown most through her grades, the way she decorates her space, and that secretive nature of herself. very much doing the most all the time, often to her own detriment causing herself stress over things that don’t matter in the long run

she likes sad girl music and too hot showers. making pesto pasta from scratch and old elvis records. counting stars in the night sky. looking through old photographs of people she’ll never know in vintage shops. iced matcha lattes with oat milk and lipstick. card games with a glass of wine. oversized jackets and sunrises. spending an entire day in a museum or wandering a flea market.

picks at the skin around her nails when she’s stressed or bored. 

always has a fun little drink but its never water (always has headaches ....... not sure what could be causing them tho)

random headcanon because i didn’t include as much family/background stuff as i usually would: really enjoys cooking and enjoys entertaining so probably does regular dinners for the group <3 dinner at dev’s <3

pinterest // playlist

[amariaustin]

MEET AMARI AUSTIN

basics

 full name: amari dorathea austin

   nickname: they support the nickname haver community but he's not part of it. he chose a 3 syllable name for a reason, it's easy to remember and it's difficult to find a nickname for. but i'm sure some people have tried to give amari a nickname

    faceclaim: quintessa swindell 

    age: 22

    gender: nonbinary

    pronouns: they/he

    sexuality: bisexual

    hometown: raleigh, north carolina

    birthday: october 25th, 1999

    zodiac: scorpio sun, capricorn moon, libra rising

    traits: inquisitive, decisive, inventive,obsessive, brusque, cynical

    major: sociology

more info

until college amari lived a fairly isolated existence. this originally stemmed from the fact their parents (professors at nc sate) prioritized his academic intelligence over his social intelligence. when they were kindergarten aged they spent more time on their own doing puzzles than interacting with other kids. this trend continued into elementary school. he spent his breaks alone and safe in the classroom of his favorite teacher. however, as he got older he was solitary because he chose to be. he developed a bit of an individuality complex

speaking of school he was either a pleasure to have in class or a terror that wouldn't stop interrupting teachers to call them authoritarians 

even as a kid they had a hatred of arbitrary rules and a habit of rebelling quietly because they were aware of the consequences. one way they rebelled was by pretending to go to sleep when their parents put them to bed then getting up to read, play pokemon or sneak downstairs to watch movies after their parents went to bed. during one of their late night movie watches they stumbled across re-animator and loved the obviously fake cheesy effects and little freak of a protagonist. this was their gateway into becoming a horror fan.

he could talk for hours about how trends in horror reflect the socio-political climate they're produced in 

almost majored in digital media and communications because it seemed like the type of major that easily translated into a steady career but decided to major in sociology because they're more interested in it and love learning for the sake of learning 

amari always wanted to be a journalist. there's a photo of them as a small kid in an oversized trench coat and pork pie hat with a piece of paper with journalist scrawled on it clumsily sellotaped on it. however, they learned that they wouldn't always be able to write stories they agreed with it or pursue things that interested them. that's why running a podcast appealed to them

vegan and annoying about it

a chill loser but the most annoying winner because they end up gloating and saying immature things like “in your face!!”. he loves board games. his fave ones are clue and mouse trap

he has prayer candles in the image of the main characters from the craft  but he hasn’t lit them since the fire

other people would call his surroundings untidy but amari likes to think that he’s organised in a way nobody else understands. for example his keys are kept near a lose pile of notes from freshman year

[levitowsley]

— is my human suffering enough for you, god? is it getting you off, king?

basics.

full name: garrett levi towlsey

nickname: levi (will never introduce himself as garrett, i'm guessing the gang only found out that's his real first name bc he got some mail delivered and em was like who tf is garrett??? and levi was like 😳)

faceclaim: mike faist

age: 23 (i think he's the oldest of the group?? love that for him)

gender: cis man

pronouns: he/him

sexuality: i think he's straight???

hometown: fort worth, texas

birthday: may 19, 1999

zodiac: taurus sun, libra moon, capricorn rising

traits: easygoing, observant, doughty, melancholic, detached, acquiescent, resourceful, level-headed, organized

major: accounting (his guidance counsellor suggested it, he licherally doesn't care)

more info.

back in high school, levi was a stellar baseball player. everyone figured he'd end up playing professionally in the future. then in his junior year, he got into a car accident that fucked up his right leg v badly, ending his would-be baseball career.

kind of ruined his life tbh. medical bills put his parents in a lot of debt. they ended up getting divorced. he chose to live with his mom but he and his dad still have a relationship even if the dude lives in another state. (strained tho bc he feels as though levi lost all his potential w the injury :)

his injury held him back a year, his 'friends' moved on, leaving him to figure out who he was now that baseball wasn't his life. got into photography. sucked ass at the start but he's pretty decent now. has made him something of an observer in everyday life.

having a lot of time to just sit and do nothing, levi's boredom drove him to youtube where he fell down a rabbit hole of how-to and repair videos. he's become really handy over time. has probably taken apart and put back together everything in his house. to think, this all started because his ps4 controller broke.

he moves with a bit of a limp in his right leg. it's not super obvious when he's walking but on the rare occasion he has to break into a run, oh boy is it noticeable!!

is usually seen in the same outfit like he's some kind of video game character. black shoes, black jeans (sometimes he wears ones with rips at the knees if he wants to be spicy), and a white/gray/black shirt with a black hoodie over it. always wears this under his shirt since yana gave it to him.

has taken on a lot of quiet sitting down hobbies bc his leg :\ other than taking photos, he's gotten into chess, doing puzzles, watching docs (spooky ones or ones about serial killers), video games (likes open world, story driven ones bc hey at least i can run and jump in this universe right ahahah)

took him a while to be honest about how he got his limp but i feel like at this point the spooky 9 all know the truth. he used to make jokes about it though (a pirouette gone wrong, i thrash in my sleep, wasn't watching where i was going and fell, wore shorts once during a 4th of july party and a dog thought his leg looked juicy, etc.)

pinterest / spotify

[romyowusu]

template credit

But I love my friends, I love my friends We've got each other, don't need no others All of my friends, I love my friends We're a disaster, yeah you know it's true

meet rosemary romy owusu

full name: rosemary araba owusu

nickname: romy (you will get the evil eye if you call her rosemary unless you are her parents or auntie)

faceclaim: lovie simone

age: 22

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: lesbian

hometown: providence, rhode island

birthday: december 16, 1999

zodiac: sagittarius sun, aries moon, taurus rising

traits: reliable, sensitive, practical, volatile, competitive, self serving

major: sociology 

more info.

Being Romy's friend means you know just how keen and energetic she is; you know she doesn't have an off switch, just energizer bunny's her way through life until she passes out into sleep quickly only to rise again back to her peppy state

You know that she's always suggesting group hangs, mostly study dates but no matter what, you know she's overplanned it, started the group chat to arrange things and will be arriving early.

You also know that she is the type to always come to her friends' defense, that she always takes your side even before she knows all the facts, that she is often a little more manic when group tensions rise. Some of you may know how quickly she will be there for a hug, to listen or any other comfort. You know she can be discreet but when it comes to good news, she's eager to share

You know that grades are important to her, winning is important to her, which is why playing board games with her can get intense. You know she's a polite loser, but not a gracious one. You know that she's dreading graduation because it means being a student isn't her identity anymore. You know she wants to work her way up in a non profit but she doesn't care which kind.

You know she likes her dad but with him in Ghana they've barely interacted in person since she was small. You know she complains about her mom being too hard on her but they're so much alike it doesn't take long before they're back to puzzles and game show watching together. You know she has a brother who is her opposite, kinda lazy and aimless but more chill than her. 

You know her room is clean but her desk is covered in little trinkets and such she couldn't resist, you know there's more photos of you and the rest of your friends than you expected, you know she has a set of blankets and small pillows for anyone who wants to stay over 

You know she's been out since you met her, that she's the type to gush about whoever she's crushing on but you may not have noticed that she's been pretty quiet on that front lately…

I'm still working on a playlist but ill be adding more musings and likely an aes mb for romy