"she moved out recently ," she stated , as if that explained everything. "i just want to celebrate her achievements. she works so hard. she deserves it." a small smile played on her face and she nodded , pleased , as the young man rattles off a few titles. "she doesn't have dirt femme yet. i'll take that one."
“ for you daughter ? ” milo echoes back , recalling how his parents always brought home albums for him to spin from a young age onward . “ you're a good mom , ” well — maybe he was quick to assume , but that was beyond the point . “ we do have tove lo . we just go in a reissue of queen of the clouds but it looks like we also have … dirt femme & blue lips ? do any of those sound about right ? ”
#the dream social interaction
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY Gregory Eddie and Caleb Hill -> 4x07 Winter Show
you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed SIGRID HOLMSTRÖM walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who SHE is ? they kind of look like GEMMA CHAN and i could be wrong but i think that they might be 45 years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last TEN YEARS and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of ISABELLA MADRIGAL from ENCANTO. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at PALMVIEW UNIVERSITY as an ART HISTORY PROFESSOR. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the OVERACHIEVER of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty ALOOF at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty TENDER to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that FOUR BEDROOM apartment beside me over in EMERALD POINT. i better leave you to it. it was nice meeting you!
STATISTICS !
name: sigrid holmström ( née yang ). nicknames: sigge ( family ), solros ( søren ), mamma ( signe ) gender & pronouns: cisfemale + she/her. sexual orientation: heterosexual. spoken languages: swedish, cantonese, mandarin and english. birthday: may 19th, 1980. address: # 532 pacific drive.
BIOGRAPHY !
being an only child to immigrant parents in a small town where no one looked like you, sigrid had quickly grown up with some pretty high walls around her. the expectations from her parents as well as the perceived judgement from others turned sigrid into a very serious child. she knew that she had to do and that was excel. ever since primary school she put her all into her studies, into being the best. she was strategic as well, only picking things that worked out for her. if she noticed that it didn't come naturally to her she would quickly move on to something that did. and she made sure that it was something that was useful. one thing she couldn't let go of was art. one day her school had gone on a field trip to a museum and sigrid had to be pulled away from the paintings. the next day she was in the library renting every book she could on the painters she'd seen in the museum, almost obsessively reading up on them. at first it was done almost shamelfully, books hidden in drawers and read after her parents had gone to bed. she knew it wasn't what they wanted for her. they wanted stability. they wanted her to have a secure future with a job that paid well. deciding to study art history was one of the scariest things sigrid had ever decided to do and when she told them she could see the disappointment in their eyes. it strained their already cordial relationship, but for the first time sigrid knew what she wanted.
meeting søren was the happiest of coincidences, though sigrid didn't feel so at the time. she was working at the register in a small café in central malmö, with a view that overlooked the ocean and the central station. she was saving up for her own apartment to move closer to the university she would start her studies at the upcoming semester. søren was older, was from a whole different country, and he was absolutely charming. at first sigrid tried to ignore him, because surely it was just his version of a summer fling. something to pass the time. but every week he came bringing flowers, each bouquet bigger than the next. for the first time sigrid allowed herself to want something, something that was unrelated to academic excellence. she began longing for the days where søren would appear in the doorway. most days she was saving his favourite pastries so they wouldn't get sold before he got there. once she gave in it was like the dam broke. things moved fast, too fast, and it ended up with the two of them on the bathroom floor of sigrid's tiny studio apartment. the pregnancy test she'd taken on a whim seemed to almost mock her and she'd been sure that that would be the end. of course søren would surprise her once again. he held her when she cried, wiped her tears and made her laugh when things seemed hopeless. the words, shakily spoken in the worst mandarin she'd ever heard, made her laugh until she cried and cry until she laughed. the ring was perfect and the way his arms fit around her could calm the wildest of storms.
signe was everything to sigrid. the moment she first held her she had fallen head over heels in love and all of the worries were, momentarily, pushed away. even through the tears and the pain sigrid knew that signe was perfect. as was søren. he took time off of work to let sigrid finish her studies and it seemed like fatherhood was made for him and him only. sigrid spent the first months feeling like everything she did was wrong, and would longingly look at søren when he interacted with their daughter. it didn't come as easily to her and she wondered if it ever would. it was only a tear - filled conversation with her husband that, once again, calmed the worries she had. moving to the states wasn't something sigrid had ever thought about. her career had just started to take off when she saw the official looking envelope on their mantlepiece. søren seemed almost embarrassed of the opportunity he'd earned, but sigrid knew that it was her turn to be the support this time around. it was hard to pack up their life, but after ten years in palmview both their careers were thriving and signe was growing up to be someone sigrid only felt immense pride of. looking back sigrid knew that the decision had been the right one.
CONNECTIONS !
𝖎. søren holmström ( husband ) 𝖎𝖎. signe holmström ( daughter ) 𝖎𝖎𝖎. tba. 𝖎𝖛. tba. 𝖛. tba. 𝖛𝖎. tba.
as sigrid heard a knock on her door , she suppressed a sigh. it was close to lunch and she had hoped that it would've remained uninterrupted. her frown , however , got instantly flipped upside - down as she saw her daughter , beautiful as always , come through the door. sigrid was immediately hit with the intense longing that was unanimous with signe's departure from their home. still , sigrid couldn't deny that her daughter was thriving. "ah , daughterly guilt. finally something you inherited from your mother." it was said lightly , but one couldn't deny the truth in the words. sigrid held out her arms and swept signe in for a long , warm hug. "how are you , my little grape ?"
⇢ 🌸 STATUS ﹕ closed. ⇢ 🌸 TAGGING ﹕signe + sigrid!! (@ofelation) ⇢ 🌸 LOCATION ﹕ palmview university.
Signe made her way up the familiar staircase of the humanities building with a to-go iced coffee in one hand and a wax paper bag in the other containing a cinnamon bun. A peace offering, if she was being honest with herself. Signe didn't visit her mother's office often, not because she didn't love visiting her mom, but because Sigrid Holmström was a consummate professional. The girl had always felt guilty about disrupting her mother's crisp, orderly and polished world at the university. Switching the coffee to her other hand, she knocked twice on the office door before opening it without waiting for a reply. “Professor Holmström,” Signe began, her voice full of playful formality. “I come bearing caffeine and carbs. And maybe a bit of daughterly guilt. You free for a little break?”
most days her husband was a very put together. then there were days like these where he barely remembered to put shoes on. sigrid was standing at the information desk in the lobby , about to text søren to let him know that his dinner was waiting for him. just as she was about to hit send a familiar , smooth voice behind her. "you're such an idiot ," sigrid replied with a loud eyeroll , even as a soft smile spread across her face. she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss , not wanting to give too much pda at his place of work. "forgot something today ?" she asked teasingly and raised his bag with the leftovers he'd saved for today. she handed it over and , in a moment of want , reached out and took his hand. she hadn't seen him since this morning , when she left for work. "will it be a late night tonight ?"
「 ✱ 」 STATUS ﹕ open . 「 ✱ 」 LOCATION ﹕ seaglass hospital . 「 ✱ 」 WITH ﹕ søren & utp ( @palmviewstarters )
doctor holmström had been working at seaglass hospital for close to a decade, and there were still days that surprised him. those days he preferred spending evenings with his wife — or with their daughter when she was home for an evening — but every few weeks he was scheduled for the emergency department, and it was one of those nights where the hours would stretch into the early morning and he would likely return covered in questionable bodily fluids. it was when he was walking back to check on the junior doctors that he paused, backed up, and turned to the figure waiting in the lobby, straightening his name badge and approaching … “have you been seen yet, or are you waiting for anyone ? do you want to come through to the consulting room and i can check you over ? ”
you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed LIAN TANG walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who SHE / THEY is ? they kind of look like JESSIE MEI LI and i could be wrong but i think that they might be TWENTY6 years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last THREE YEARS. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of PHOEBE BUFFAY from FRIENDS. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at RETRO ROOTS as an SALES ASSOCIATE. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the POLLYANNA of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty DISMISSIVE at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty CHEERFUL to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that TWO BEDROOM apartment beside me over in CORAL COVE. i better leave you to it. it was nice meeting you!
STATISTICS !
name: lian tang. nicknames: li, lily. gender & pronouns: demi - woman + she / they. sexual orientation: queer. spoken languages: english, some mandarin. birthday: june 24th, 1998. address: # 4B coral cove.
BIOGRAPHY !
this bio contains triggers such as toxic relationships and mentions of sexual assault
lian moved with her parents from china at age fourteen. they were supposed to settle down closer to their family in san diego, but somehow ended up philadelphia. it was uncomfortable at first, new language, new culture and new people staring at the girl who was stuttering through her sentences. but, they adapted. and she found a group of friends eventually, one of them a boy with a wide smile and big hands she liked to hold when no one was looking. sure, he was a bit older, but he was kind and that was all that mattered.
their first kiss happened when she was just shy of fifteen, heart pounding in her chest and hands holding onto him as if they were meant to be there. his kiss was bruising, maybe a bit more than she expected, but as always, he was nice. her parents, naive in the way parents who didn’t really knew their children are, were delighted at the fact that their only daughter was in love. he was charming, funny, intelligent, everything they could want for a son-in-law. so much so that they didn’t mind that lian spent more and more time with him, a few hours away in seneca. before lian knew, all their things were at his place, her sixteenth birthday fast approaching.
his words grew harder. it took her a while to notice, but a comment here and a harsh word there somehow became a regular thing in her daily life. for someone that had been met with nothing but kindness, this was a confusing thing to deal with. his hands started to wander. and every day that went by, lian felt more unease. she tried to express her feelings to her parents, but ... 'he is so nice'. always so nice. it fell on deaf ears and lian stopped calling after a while. they woke up the weekend after her sixteenth birthday ( spent with her boyfriend and his friends ), body aching and head pounding, mouth feeling like ash. her memories of the night before wiped out without a single trace. on the couch in the living room was her intelligent, charming, nice boyfriend who pulled her in for a kiss with a cheerful 'thanks for last night, babe, we all loved it.' and a few moments later lian threw up in the bathroom. her life after that was a daze, days just passing by in a thick fog. stuck in an apartment that brought her nothing but unease, with a man that suddenly was a stranger.
salvation came years later in the form of a ROOMMATE WANTED posted on a forum and a smiling face that somehow felt like sunshine when she saw it. she left without a word, didn’t bring anything except the teddy bear given to her by her parents ages ago and a thought of things maybe working out after all. healing came slowly, but while hesitantly reaching out and building connections with people around her it became easier and easier to smile again.
CONNECTIONS !
𝖎. found family ( 0 / 3 ). 𝖎𝖎. tba. 𝖎𝖎𝖎. tba. 𝖎𝖛. tba. 𝖛. tba. 𝖛𝖎. tba.
sigrid hadn't planned on going inside the record store , but seeing the advertisements in the windows made her venture inside , aiming to find a gift for signe. her daughter had moved out recently and adjusting had been hard for all of them. still , sigrid was proud of her daughter for wanting to try to stand on her own two feet. it was quiet inside except for the music playing. as sigrid aimed for the pop section she was stopped in her tracks by the boy working there. "oh , i— i was looking for a gift for my daughter." it was always hard to start a conversation with someone new. "do you have anything with tove lo ?"
location: mango bay record store ! status: open , uncapped ! @palmviewstarters
after two weeks closed & radio silence , mango bay record store was opening its doors yet again . tanked reviews , a complete overhaul of staff , & milo was back to square one with things . at this point , liquidation might've been the better choice , but milo's stubbornness made it hard to say goodbye . after all , he made a commitment to be here at least for the foreseeable future . fleeing his problems yet again wouldn't work . would it ? a chime of bells from the front doors signaled the first customer of the day , sending milo into high alert . “ hey , welcome in . if you're here for the gossip , there is none . however , we do have the highly coveted record store day wicked vinyl — if that's more your flavor . "
the young man looked like he had lost a fight with a paint bucket. and truth be told , sigrid wasn't totally sure he hadn't. still , she smiled back at him , too deep in the process to think much of it. "that's very kind of you ," she allowed , trying not to turn away from the compliment but instead taking it for what it was. "i truly am rusty though. i spend more time teaching about art than actually making it myself." the question gave her pause and she smiled softly at the shapes that made up her childhood on the canvas. "it's what i remember from my childhood home ," she replied softly. "my family home was close to the ocean and my parents would take me sometimes." she motioned to the grassy fields, the ocea seen in the distance. "this was one of my favourite places growing up." sigrid couldn't help but let out a laugh as the young man sheepishly asked for advice on the mess created on his shirt. "i'm sorry , the only thing i've ever found works is gently dabbing on the stain with soapy water and before throwing it in the wash. you might have to make a mad dash home."
Charlie had been wandering past the painting station with a bottle of water in one hand and paint smudged on the edge of his shirt; not from actual artistry, but from trying to help a kid open a stuck tube of acrylics, leading to what could only be described as a disaster. He'd just given up on scrubbing the shirt against itself with the water, scrunching his nose as he'd definitely made it worse, when he'd caught sight of the woman speaking and paused, something about the calm focus in her expression catching his attention.
He stepped a bit closer, eyes scanning the half-finished landscape. “That’s beautiful,” he said, flashing her a warm, easy smile. “Rusty’s just code for still got it.” He crouched slightly beside her canvas, hands resting on his knees. His hand had been placed much gentler over the left one, positioning his fingers precicely to avoid the long scar, years of practice making it second nature. A beat passed, then his eyes flicked from the brush in her hand to the painting itself. “What inspired this one? Or is that a secret artist thing I’m not allowed to ask?” There was a teasing sound to his voice, light and curious with the genuine interest of someone who had a newfound appreciation for both art and the artist’s quiet passion. "Also, can you please tell me how I can get this out of my shirt? It's my favorite and I'm not tryin' to toss this one just yet."
who: sigrid & open @palmviewstarters [ cap at 5 ] where: sunrise café
it was always a bother when sigrid forgot something at home. on more than one occasion she would run out the door without her keys , notes for the day , glasses , you name it. and she'd always prided herself on being well - prepared. today , much to her dismay , she’d come to realise that her lunch box was still in her fridge at home. whatever leftovers she’d looked forward to eat during her lunch hour was quickly forgotten in favour of jumping in her car and going to the nearest place she could find. luckily the sunrise café wasn’t too far away. sigrid hurried inside and got in line just as the lunch rush began picking up. with a simple cheese and turkey sandwich in hand , she turned to leave and nearly ran over someone in her hurry to get back to the university. “oh, goodness, i am so sor— hi !" sigrid felt a small smile play on her features. “how have you been ?”
who: sigrid & open @palmviewstarters where: the painting station
when sigrid had heard that there would be a painting station , she'd been very excited. it wasn't that often that she brought out her paints these days but it was a freeing activity that always helped calm her busy mind. she'd been sitting in front of her canvas for little over an hour and the landscape she'd been creating had slowly been taking shape. "this was such a nice event ," sigrid said. "i feel a little rusty , but it's getting somewhere."