#sorry x2 for the long af intro

[ruyasercn]

INTRODUCING: RÜYA SEREN

full name: rüya almira seren

nickname(s): none really, though her mother called her kâbus - which means ‘nightmare’ in turkish (her name, rüya means dream)

birthday & age: april 1, 1990 (32)

zodiac sign: aries

place of birth: new york city, ny

gender & pronouns: cis female, she/her

sexual orientation: bisexual

religion: atheist / former sunni muslim

occupation: bartender at crane brothers llt & the jagged yard

language(s) spoken: english, and very little turkish (though she doesn’t speak it very well, she understands it perfectly)

neighborhood: downtown

length of time in providence peak: just returned after being away for two months (was here for about a year and a half before then)

Hi babes! I’m back at it again with character #2 and I blame both Ashley and Taylor for the mess that is Rüya causing chaos on your dash. Once again, I’m not going to subject anyone to the 2,700+ word bio that I didn’t proof read or check for spelling on, so I’m gonna do some quick facts below! Please note that I’m about to list the trigger warnings for this bio and it sounds heavy af but trust and believe Rüya’s past is a bit dark but Rüya herself is pure bright af chaos. Trigger warnings for murder, blood, drugs, cancer, crime, death.

QUICK TLDR; From Brooklyn, found her father murdered at 12 years old, mom blamed her for dad’s death and they have a very strained relationship that consists of mostly fighting, has moved around a bit, lived in baton rouge the longest outside of nyc, moved home to take care of her sick mom, ended up living with old hs friends who were involved in some shady shit, got caught selling drugs and became a narc, was really bad but also really fucking good at it and got one of her agents shot once whoops, moved to PP six months ago once her mom was declared in remission and the ex roomies were sentenced; is pure chaos, hates being alone, loves to have a good time, and will judge you based off of your drink order. moved back to nyc two months ago when her mom’s cancer came back. her mom has since died and rüya is much more of a mess than before she left 🙃

Born & raised in Brooklyn, NYC

4th Generation Turkish-American

Doesn’t speak Turkish fluently but can understand it v well

Used to be a practicing Sunni Muslim - intermittingly wearing a head scarf (always during prayer more often than not outside of that), going to midday mosque on Fridays, prayed daily (when she started school it wasn’t 5 times a day but 3))

Had a hard time trying to combine her Turkish and American cultures- was raised in NYC and her parents were 3rd gen Americans but were still tied closely to their heritage - Rüya not so much, but she was trying

When she was 12 she was finally allowed to go to her first boy/girl party (wasn’t the first she was invited to but the first her parents allowed her to attend) - however her mom forgot they were supposed to be in Turkey for a wedding that weekend when she agreed to let her go

Rüya kind of threw a fit? Not wanting to go to the wedding and wanting to go to the party - essentially argued that she’d been to plenty of weddings in Turkey and this was the first party she’d been allowed to go to, plus they’d already told her she could go and she’d already gotten the present

Her parents relented because she was right, they’d told her she could go and the money for the gift was spent already, she hadn’t actually met the groom (the family member that was getting married), and they had just enough frequent flyer miles to cover her mom’s round trip ticket

The party turned into a girls only sleepover once the boys left and Rüya spent the night while her dad enjoyed some alone time at the house

When she came home the next day she found the front door open and her father bludgeoned to death in the living room with their house having been gone through and various valuables stolen

Turns out her father surprised a pair of home invaders who beat him to death when he confronted them about being in their home

She called 911 and stayed with her grandparents until her mom was able to make it home the next day

A month after her father’s funeral, Rüya lost touch with her faith, a decision made in anger but one that hasn’t been reversed. She essentially turned her back on religion because she was unable to understand how Allah could allow this to happen

Her father’s death was the catalyst for her and her mother’s relationship falling apart. Her mom, in her grief, said some things to Rüya that couldn’t be taken back

Mom blamed Rüya’s selfishness in wanting to go to the party for her father’s death, essentially telling the 15 year old that had she just done what was expected of her and gone to Turkey as a family her father would still be alive - that guilt has weighed heavily on her ever since

Her mom pulled closer to their Islamic faith after her father’s death, which caused a further divide

As she got older and her mother became more strict and Rüya pushed back, her mom started to call her Kâbus, or nightmare

Because of her rift with her mom, once Rüya turned 18 she left home. She crashed on a few couches of various family members/friends in NYC before leaving the city after a year (she’d saved up from working various odd jobs in the hospitality industry)

Moved to another city/state for two years with her significant other at the time (place is def open so if anyone wants to take this up as a wc 👀)

Broke up with said significant other (idk why she’s a mess) and moved to Austin, TX where she met @verdadurmaz​ while bartending at a popular college bar

Moved to Baton Rouge, LA w/ Ver until she was 26 when Ver moved to Cali and she went back to NYC bc her aunt told her her mom was sick

Moved in with some old HS friends who happened to be dealing/involved in some shady shit while she bartended at night and (begrudgingly) took care of her mom during the day

Got into a bit of trouble while back in NYC, probs had a few run ins with the law~ ended up becoming an (arguably difficult and bad) CI on her roommates and their lil operation~

Anyways her mom got better and she decided up and nope out of NYC bc they were fighting more than ever and the case against her old roommates had wrapped up. Called Ver and moved to PP

Was here for a year and a half p much, causing general chaos and resentment before she dipped bc her mom got sick again

Her mom was a lot more sick than she realized when she showed up - her mom, nasty as every to Rüya, and she died a month ago

Cleaned out her mom’s home (her childhood home) and sold it after the funeral before coming back

Is in a downward spiral because of her mom’s death and her ex (who she sent to prison whoops) coming back into her life (and following her to Colorado) so ya girl is losing it

Please see below for some wanted connections! These are in no way an extensive list and I do love to plot things out- especially angst. So pls come to me!!

Friends from New York/Baton Rouge

Neighbors - People who get angry at her for playing her music too loud at 3am (she’s a big night owl), People who she’s grown close to and they used each other’s apartments as extensions of their own homes (I love this plot a lot so pls), a neighbor who pretends to be her boyfriend when she can’t get a one night stand to leave (and she returns the favor obvs) - rn she lives with Verda

Regulars - People she serves regularly at either of the bars she works at. They could find her chatty nature obnoxious or she could serve as their bartender therapist ya know?

Hook Ups/One Night Stands/FWB - Pretty self explanatory

Ex from her first move - They dated in New York for a few months before moving to a whole new state together and staying together for another two years. Rüya ended the relationship because it never felt right to her, so there could be some animosity there

Chaos Pals - Honestly, she enjoys letting lose by drinking too much/dabbling in recreational drugs and she’s not going to apologize for it tbh, especially now. Her “dabbling” is rather constant so she’s in an altered state more often than not these days

Taco Tuesday Buddy - Taco Tuesday is her religion tbh and this could be someone she has a standing ‘date’ with every week to get tacos, have margs, and just hang out/catch up

Enemies/Annoyances - Rüya can be... a lot. She’s incredibly chatty and nosy and can absolutely rub people the wrong way upon first meeting so feel free to have your character annoy/dislike her!

I’m lazy so stuff from this list or this list. They all sound fun tbh!

[sweetsandstudies]

All summer, I have been staying up past 12:00 am doing God knows what. From binge watching Friends on Netflix to scrolling through Tumblr, I was sleeping till 10:00 am or later.

There’s my problem, I’m staying up late and also sleeping in late. Why is this a problem, you may ask?

Because I have to get up at 5:30 am when school starts.

That’s right, FIVE F**KING THIRTY AM ^

This is because the bus comes at 6:30 am and it takes around an hour to get to school with all the stops. With how I’m sleeping now, I would only get 2-5 hours of sleep (at my age I need 8+), which basically means I’ll be dead the whole day unless I bring coffee with me to school which I don’t have time to make/buy coffee in the morning. 

I have put together this list of ways to make falling asleep and waking up early for school easier. Hopefully some of you find this helpful!

Sorry the intro was so long. Also, please bear with me, as this is my second time typing this because the first time I was almost done and it deleted. THE STRUGGLES.

Start now

 If you have not started school yet, start waking up early now. Each day, work your way to the time you need to wake up for school. For example, I’m starting by waking up at 9:00 am, and slowly working my way to 5:30 am. I would make sure you get to the time you need to wake up at a few days before school starts, though, so you can get on a schedule.

Don’t go on your phone before bed

It’s a distraction, and the bright screen won’t help. Try reading a book instead; it should unwind you after a long day, making it easier to fall asleep.

Invest in a diffuser and essential oils or scented lotion

There’s this thing called essential oils. What a diffuser does is you put water and a drop or two of essential oil into the diffuser and it diffuses the essential oil into the room. There is lavender essential oil, and lavender scent is useful for relaxing/calming you before bed, making it easier to fall asleep. Putting the lavender essential oil in the diffuser will make your room smell of lavender, thus making it easier to fall asleep.

If you don’t want t get a diffuser, I also love the sleep lotion from the aromatherapy line at Bath and Body Works. It also has lavender essential oil in it. I recommend the lavender chamomile one, but the lavender vanilla scent is just as nice.

Mini workout or yoga

I’ve been trying to do a mini work out before bed each night (I forget a lot but I’m begin inning to get more consistent). It helps me burn a bit of energy before bed, allowing me to fall asleep easier. Here’s the mini work out I do:

10 squats

40 second plank

10 jumping jacks

10 sit-ups

15 leg lifts x2

5 push ups

Another option is yoga. There are some yoga poses that relax you and help you fall asleep

Also when you wake up, doing a few jumping jacks or something should help you feel more awake.

Tempereature

The comfortable temperature to sleep in is 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit or around 15-21 degrees Celsius.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by your body that manages your sleep and wake schedule. Eating foods at have good amounts of melatonin or that help make melatonin will help you fall asleep. Some foods include:

tart cherries

oats

bananas

There are also melatonin tablets people take to help them fall asleep. I personally did’t see any effect, but it might work for you. (heads up if your not a adult ask your parents first!!)

Set multiple alarms

One alarm does not work for me; I turn it off and go back to sleep. So since I use my phone for my alarm, I set 2-4 alarms before the actual time I want to wake up. That way by the time I turn off the last alarm, as the last alarm is the time I originally wanted to wake up, I’m up. 

For example, I have to wake up at 5:30 am when school starts. So along with my 5:30 alarm, I will set alarms for 5:15, 5:20, and 5:25. By the time I reach the 5:30 alarm that morning, I will not go back to sleep/ will be semi up becuase I had already woken up 3 times. It sounds crazy, but it works for me.

Also, if you use your phone for your alarm, choose the song your most into at the moment to be the alarm sound you wake up to. So instead of waking up to an annoying af rining/siren sound you’ll be waking up to your favorite song! I’ve been really loving the live action Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. If you also like the songs from the live action Beauty and the Beast, I would reccomend using the song Belle (not the repraise) for your alarm. It has this nice begining that’s very calm and peaceful which makes it a great song to wake up to.

Bedtime on iPhone

If you have an iPhone, in the clock app there is a section called bed time. It has you put in what time you need to wake up, how many hours of sleep you need, and how many days of the week you want the alarm set. It will then send you a reminder when you need to go to bed and have an alarm set for the time you need to wake up every day or for the days chosen. I’ve tried it and I think its a really cool feature.

Sit at the edge of your bed

This is a really weird tip, but I find that if I sent on the edge of my bed with my feet on the ground once I turn off my alarm, and I just sit there for a few seconds, it helps me wake up.

Go outside!

Once you wake up, going outside and exposing yourself to sunlight will help you feel more awake. Take a deep breath, enjoy that sunlight! Don’t do this if it’s all cloudy, mucky, and rainy, though. That would be a terrible way to start the day. 

If all else fails..

Didn’t get enough sleep? You can always fake it. Puffy under eyes? Try ice cubes, chilled spoons, or slices of cucumber. Grab your concealer for those dark circles. Throw a k-cup into your keurig or make a pot of coffee. Have a cup and take some in one of those cute travel coffee mugs to school. Tea works, too. Nobody will know that you didn’t get enough sleep because you accidentally watched a whole season of Friends! 

Whew, that was a lot of writing! 

Again, I hope some of you benefit from this. I would be very happy if you did.

^if you wake up earlier than 5:30 am and find what I said sort of offensive, i’m sorry! I am a total night owl that does not like/struggles waking up early, and 5:30 is an hour earlier than the time I woke up for middle school. also sry for swearing, I just really hate getting up early.