ʰᵃʳᵈᵉˢᵗ / * 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉

born in boulder, colorado, atlanta was raised by two hippies who believed more in nature than science. atlanta was homeschooled besides other children raised by similar parents, their group resembling more of a cult than a friend group. she spent her childhood in the woods identifying plants and rocks, reading little women by the creek, and forging a completely untainted view of the world with only a little bit of guidance from her parents. 

because of her unusual upbringing, it was a shock to their entire community when atlanta chose to get a certificate in elementary education, and join a system she spent her entire life outside of. however, her parents were always supportive of their oldest daughter, and financially supported her through community college as she earned an associate’s degree while simultaneously working at her mother’s floral shop. despite her general softness and wide-eyed demeanor, atlanta is an extremely hard worker who will go above and beyond to achieve what she wants. 

moving to jersey city was an impulsive decision—the only one she’s every made—and ended in the girl experiencing quite a bit of culture shock. after growing up in such a sheltered environment, to be alone on her own across the country turned out to be harder than she expected. although she found a job she loves, she’s still struggling to find her place. she’s a little too attached to her family, calling them almost daily to ask for advice and even though she’s twenty-one years old, she still feels like a child.

financially, she’s struggling. without assistance from her parents, the girl has no idea what she’s doing. checkbooks? never heard of her. on the one hand, she’s extremely responsible and organized, color coding her bills and bank statements and charting everything down in her handy-dandy planner; but on the other, she’s lost and no matter how many sticky tabs she uses it’s all still confusing. 

atlanta spends her days baking, crafting, and reading romance novels. you can often find her sitting on her couch, covered in layers of blankets, knitting or quilting while watching trashy reality television or listening to a john mayer album. she’s an extroverted homebody who’d rather be in her own territory than venture outside where she’d need to switch her fuzzy pink slippers for high heels. 

my son !! charlie had a pretty shitty childhood. his mother paid no attention to him being too busy selling mary kay cosmetics out of their living room, and his father was too busy having an affair with his coworker to notice that charlie was slipping through the cracks. despite his yearning as a child for his parents to come together and finally act like the nuclear family they looked like on paper, his parents ended up divorcing when he was eight years old. it was a messy breakup with neither parent wanting to take custody of the child, his father experiencing what it was like to be an out gay man for the first time, and his mother trying to reclaim the youth that she lost as a wife. eventually, the courts saddled the child on his mother, and to this day he can tell that she resents him. 

early on, charlie learned that the only person in the world he could rely on is himself which is why in high school he became a bit of a problem child. he’d listen to records too loud at first, or leave cigarette butts on the front step for his mother to find, praying that someone would notice him. since they never did, his antics escalated. what started as a few concerts a year with buddies, turned into him practically living in the backroom of the local diy venue, watching the bands with rapt attention. it was then, when he was seventeen, broke, and living in a storage space with other angsty teens, that he decided he wanted to work with music. having no musical talent of his own, he became obsessed with the culture as a whole, interviewing bands on the sly for his own records. it wasn’t until he was nineteen and in college that he realized he could do something with this curiosity. 

for his junior and senior year at college, charlie was the radio station manager. he booked bands, trained students, and went to so many concerts he stopped keeping track. but that wasn’t his passion—his passion was hosting. anything he got to hear himself on air, or sit behind a mic, he knew he was in the right place. a small show of his began gaining some traction after he posted it online in a podcast format, which landed him a job as an intern at a real non-profit station, which soon became a full-time position. 

he still goes to shows and gets drunk more nights than he should, but the full-time job has given him a sense of security that he’s never had before. for once, he’s content with the trajectory of his life and not lying awake in horror of the future. 

personality wise, charlie is a sarcastic asshole. he protects himself by being impossible to love, and he never attempts to filter himself. he’s moody and stressed, only really calm after a beer or a cigarette which feed into his addictive personality. however, he’s also extremely intelligent and creative, often spouting random facts about useless things without having to bat an eye. despite all of his shortcomings, he’s an extremely empathetic person who is very in tune with what others are feeling. however, that doesn’t mean he acts in tune with them. often, he uses that knowledge to purposefully drive people to the edge, seeing himself as an unworthy person.