whatever it takes ┊BIRTHDAY (O)

[JULIETTE]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; font-family: times new roman; letter-spacing: .6px; color: #494949;"]there were many things that were easy for juliette to grasp easily within time, but motherhood was something entirely different to take on. it was a continuous challenge for her, often testing her patience for herself and those around her with the various highs and lows that came along with having children. as the time went on in the first year of the twins' lives, she had come to the conclusion that she lacked the motherly touch she had always heard so much about. in some messed up way, it made sense to her. her mother wasn't very good at it either, maybe it ran in the family or it was just unlucky cards they both had been dealt, but it was difficult for her. there had been moments where she was ashamed, feeling as if she were failing at one of the most important jobs someone could have.

if things had gone differently, maybe it would have been best to never have kids. with someone as self-absorbed and vain as juli was, maybe it was best if she were the only person she had to look out for. there were times in the day where she would want time to herself and often grow frustrated at the simple fact that she couldn't. she would feel like pulling her hair out of her head when she would finally get the twins down only for one of them to wake up and cry, waking up the other in the process. it was tiring and at times she just wanted to scream into a pillow. even with all of the sleepless nights and spit up ruining her fancy clothes, it all seemed to be worth it at the end of the day.

she loved her boys beyond any words to explain it all. all of the crying and frustration faded away to something insignificant in the fond moments where matthew would smile up at her or milo would be sleeping peacefully in her arms - all she had to get over at that point was the god awful drool that always found its way on her chest and arms - but it was all worth it. they were beautiful, happy and healthy. the process was very slow, but juliette rousseau was beginning to learn how to put others before herself. maybe in the end that's what being a mother was all about for her, learning to accept the sacrifices she had to make.

it may have not came naturally to her as it does for others, but she was learning.

on top of the twins turning a year old, they had found out juliette was pregnant once more. they found out a bit later than with the twins with it being roughly already half way through her pregnancy if she had to take a guess. at first she was aggravated at the realization, but it wasn't long before she was spreading the news around and fishing for compliments on how she was glowing. she was able to tone it down for a bit though and give the twins their time to shine on their birthday, smiling happily as everyone praised and cooed over them.

of course, she made a big deal out of it. they wouldn't be able to remember the day, but she would and she wanted the milestone to be memorable. they were throwing the twins a party in the casino to celebrate them. it took a bit of searching and asking around, but someone was able to make some form of birthday cake for each of them and they decorated the casino with cute decorations for the boys.

juliette sat in a lounge chair, hazel eyes watching as manon and amelie danced with each of the twins to the music before setting them down to go get drinks. milo was quick to shakily get to his feet and walked over to juliette, laying his head on her lap and hugging one of her legs. matthew also got to his feet, but instead walked towards someone and started babbling incoherent words.

// the twins are a year old!! this is p late, their birthday was on june 15th but better late than never! feel free to have your character do whatever, they're in the casino n it's just a party CFGVHJKL

[spoiler= tags, updated 7/3/2021]◜NOW I BREATHE FLAMES ┊ EACH TIME I TALK◞
&. ❝ juliette monet knope ❞ |  juli , jules | female [ she/her ] .
&. 28 years old . | december 9th ; sagittarius .
&. 1/3 of the administration of the badlands .

◜MY CANONS ALL FIRIN' ┊ AT YOUR YACHT◞
&. graceful , intelligent , unassuming , arrogant , clever , affectionate , vain , elegant , respectful, well-mannered , shallow tendencies , calculative , relaxed , bold , manipulative .

◜ THEY SAY MOVE ON ┊ BUT YOU KNOW I WON'T ◞
&.  five foot two & one and hundred four pounds ; reference
↳ soft , long blonde hair that reaches the middle of her back ; normally seen in nice curls ; falls into a middle part
↳ hazel eyes ; either more green or more brown in different lighting ; long and full eyelashes that add a doll-like effect
↳ diamond face shape ; slightly pointed chin and pronounced jawline ; multiple beauty marks ; full lips
↳ petite ; not a lot of muscle
↳ always well-groomed and dressed nicely

◜AND WOMEN LIKE ┊ HUNTING WITCHES TOO ◞
&.  [ 9/10 ] physically  |  [ 8/10 ] psychologically .
↳ difficulty w/ guns [ hard ] | difficulty w/ melees [ medium ] | difficulty w/ hand-to-hand [ weak ]
↳ has really good aim with both guns and knives . quick and sneaky on her feet but once you get ahold of her it's pretty much game over for her unless she can wiggle herself free .
&. attack in bold #B57156 | [member=122]finny[/member] | PM for any major plots .
&. friendly or nonviolent actions may be powerplayed .

◜DOING ALL OF YOUR ┊ DIRTIEST WORK FOR YOU◞
&. [ 3 ] weapons | [ 0 ] armor pieces | [ 0 ] consumables | [ 0 ] aid items | [ 1 ] misc .
↳ one small pistol .
↳ one butterfly knife .
↳ one set of brass knuckles .
↳ almost always carries a lighter on her person .
↳ has a bengal cat named delphine .

◜IT'S OBVIOUS THAT WANTING ME DEAD ┊ HAS REALLY BROUGHT YOU TWO TOGETHER◞
&. auguste rousseau x monet rousseau | the second eldest out of five siblings .
↳ gabriel rousseau , 29, in the badlands
↳ amelie rousseau , 23 , in the badlands
↳ manon rousseau , 23, in the badlands
↳ victor rousseau , 20 , in the badlands
&. pansexual & panromantic ; mongamous . | has never been in love until micah , use to be very noncommittal .
↳ killed her ex fiance when he tried to kill her best friend romeo .
&. in a relationship ; married to micah knope .
↳ has twin sons named matthew alexander knope & milo christian knope who just turned a year old .
↳ currently around 4/5 months pregnant with their third child .
↳ sister-in-law to theodore knope .
[/spoiler]

[Shiloh !]

text

SALEM

ENTRY #01

8.15.16

BL ENFORCER

[div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 333px; min-height: 347px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-size: 7pt; color: #000000; line-height: 99%;"]Salem had forced herself to come. All she really wanted to do nowadays was isolate herself from the world, but then people would begin to question her. They'd know something was wrong and they'd start asking.

Instead of taking on her normal position in the shadows, being an onlooker to whatever party or festival happened to be going on, she dragged herself into the throng of the party and faced Juliette. "This is really nice," She choked out, turning her eyes to one of the twins. Since she gave up smoking she'd started picking at her fingers, leaving them red and raw. She winced at the pain she was inducing as she turned back to Juliette. "They're...growing up." What was she saying? She'd never interacted with the boys in her life. However, she felt as though she needed to say something nice to Juliette, not just for throwing this party but out of respect towards her for being such a dutiful mother to her children.

VITALS

> overall status: 100%

> physical status: stable.
> physical health: 100%
> physical afflictions: none yet.
> minor injuries: none yet.
> major injuries: none yet.

> mental status: stable.
> current status: stable.
> mental health: 100%
> mental illnesses: None
> mental damage: None

TAGS

━ ━xGENERAL
> Elisa Barone | "Salem"
> Female
> 23
━ ━xAPPEARANCE
>Human
> Dark brown hair that varies in shade, pale, blue green eyes.
> Carries at least 2 cigars at a time, a small handgun, and a small switchblade.
> tall, lanky and a bit awkward physically.
>
━ ━xABILITIES
> N/A
> N/A
━ ━xCONFRONTATION
> medium physically | easy/medium mentally
> non-violent power-play allowed
> no kill | request maim/capture
> ask to attack in bolded, underlined and italicized black
━ ━xRELATIONSHIPS
> Lionel King x Melissa Barone 
> Half brother Rafe
> Half niece Gigi
> Cat Chrisanthymum "Chrissy"
>Bisexual | no crush
>
━ ━xOTHER
> this text + this color = this meaning

I'VE COME TOO FAR TO SEE THE END NOW

━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ even if my way is wrong

a small everyone. | beware hidden scrolling

[TEDDY.]

[align=center][div style="width: 450px; text-align: justify; font-family: andale mono; font-size: 6.5pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 1px; line-height: 14px; color: #484a4d"]tw. mention of alcohol and drugs.

Theodore loved possessions. Possessions gave a man dignity and self-assurance that no other thing or being could provide. As materialistic as he was, the sheer joy that Teddy felt when surrounded by luxury was far more than a mindless obsession. No — he could seldom admit that his hedonistic lifestyle was built upon the basis that it would define his self-worth. Possessions reminded him that he not only existed,  but that he could enjoy his existence too. People preferred affluence because it was the assurance that all basic needs could be met without fail, and it was as simple as that. How amazing was that? He could exist in a world where many struggled to do so; that didn’t take affluence itself, but his wealth and enjoyment of such.

His indulgence could be quite a self-absorbed inclination which left little room for others to be afforded the opportunity to sit at the same level that he placed himself in his own mind. Particular people were priorities, including himself, but otherwise he rarely wished to focus on altruism when that was exactly the thing that would get people killed in this world. Teddy once was self-sacrificing and kind, and that had only brought him a great deal of grief in his youth. Nowadays, he reserved that genuine cut throat kindness — the unconditional kind — for himself, his brother, his sister-in-law, Papa and the boys. That was already a lot more than Teddy thought he could manage, and he was by no means great at juggling each person in his family when they all seemed to have a conflict of interest between one another.

It was exhausting the way he could feel the strain that Papa had put on Teddy’s relationship with Micah, a wedge which left two brothers quietly seething for their very own reasons. Teddy knew that he had to have been in the right — Micah was just good at holding onto grudges. Why would Teddy want to keep Papa at arm’s length where the distance would only further fracture an already fragile relationship? Why should he repeat his childhood all over again by nurturing a divide between father and son? It wasn’t nearly as much fun as lounging on a balmy beach in cool linen clothing beside his content father whilst being answerable to nobody for that very way.

❝ Would you ever want children? ❞ Papa would once ask Teddy whilst they drank black coffee in each other’s company one morning, Teddy swirling the leftover coffee grounds at the bottom of his porcelain espresso cup before he huffed a breath of laughter. No, actually; it had never been something that had crossed his mind before. Whilst he wasn’t outwardly opposed to it, it hadn’t been a life event that Teddy had ever seen himself being overly pleased about. He wasn’t good with children. He was good with the boys, but that was because he could paint himself as the high-toned uncle who would let the boys get away with murder. There was little responsibility attached to his role as Matthew and Milo’s uncle, just a fun new role to play to encourage his extravagant lifestyle.

Quite frankly, Teddy knew that he’d never be a good enough father to ever feel proud of such achievement. The thought of raising a progeny would change the way Teddy would be able to live a life that he already enjoyed too much. He was so stuck in his ways that he’d seem so selfish, overlooking a son or daughter in favour of a party, of a drink or of recreational drugs. With a child would come a level of commitment to a woman, a nightmare in its own right in Teddy’s mind. Perhaps he was stuck in his ways, but he wanted to remain the alluring bachelor his whole life because doing so was what defined his worthiness as a man. Being wanted by many felt so much more satisfying than being wanted by only one.

What scared him the most was the fear that he would be viewed by his child in the same way as how he and Micah viewed Papa; just barely out of reach. Indefinitely.

And so, Teddy would show no interest in settling down or having children like Micah had with Juliette. Forever, Teddy would remain only an uncle to the twins and his future niece or nephew, and Teddy felt solace in the fact. Raising a child seemed to be too much a responsibility for an epicurean who enjoyed his frequent sailboat trips and late night escapades to ever give them up to become a father. Instead, he would adore his two nephews on their first birthday, unaware that the way he treated them would be more than any child could ever ask for in a father.

With a fat grin on his lips, Teddy sauntered into the casino bearing gifts for the boys. Of course Teddy would go far out of his way to find high end gifts at an abandoned outlet mall for his nephews’ birthday. In a wicker hamper he carried, his gift contained a handful of cashmere knitwear along with a cable knit blanket with a silken trim. On top of the neutral articles of clothing sat two plush teddy bears on either side and a couple of sensory blocks in the middle. A handwritten card was among the small gifts, signed off by both Uncle Teddy and Grandpa.❝ Surprise surprise… ❞ Teddy sung as he approached, hoping that his gifts would be well received especially since Micah still seemed to be mad at Teddy for exposing the boys to Giovanni. If Micah was as frustratingly cantankerous today as Teddy felt he had been ever since Papa arrived, Teddy could see him the type to want to dismiss the gift all together.

Lowering the hamper on a nearby table, Teddy then fixed the sleeves of his shirt, rolling them neatly up his arm until he spotted Matthew wandering over, babbling incoherently in his direction. ❝ Aww, sha! Ya gettin’ big too big, the both of you. ❞ Teddy pointed out before lifting Matthew up into his arms. He soon wandered over towards where Juliette lounged with Milo, glancing over towards Salem as she spoke to Juliette before he welcomed himself heedlessly into the conversation. ❝ They sure are. Soon they’ll be sippin’ mocktails with Uncle Teddy at sunset, and flirtin’ with all the ladies too whilst they at it. ❞ Teddy joked lightheartedly, looking over towards Matthew before poking his belly playfully. ❝ How’s dat sound? You, me and Milo, partyin’ til da sun comes up. ❞