#happiestplacetask12

Secret 1 - An open secret. Something that is supposed to be secret, but that most people know about.

It's no secret that Phillipa is head-over-heels in love with Rose. In fact, it's the worst-kept secret in their entire circle of friends, a truth so glaringly obvious that it practically hums in the air whenever they're together. Every casual observer, from the barista at their favorite coffee shop to the old woman who sells flowers down the street, seems to possess an innate understanding of the deep, unspoken affections that bind the two women. Their connection manifests in a thousand tiny, undeniable ways: the way Phillipa's eyes soften and crinkle at the corners whenever Rose laughs, a sound that seems to hold the very essence of joy for her; the unconscious lean of Rose's head towards Phillipa's shoulder during a quiet moment, as if drawn by an invisible magnetic force; the shared glances across crowded rooms that speak volumes without a single word; the way they instinctively finish each other's sentences, or reach for the same book, or order the exact same obscure tea. Their friends have long since given up on subtle nudges, resorting instead to exasperated sighs and knowing looks exchanged over their heads. Everyone sees it. Everyone knows it. Everyone, that is, except Rose and Phillipa themselves. They remain blissfully, frustratingly, and utterly oblivious to the profound love blossoming between them, mistaking it for nothing more than an exceptionally close friendship, a bond of platonic devotion that somehow manages to mimic every nuance of romantic affection. And so, the silent, collective anticipation of their eventual realization continues, a shared secret held by all but the two hearts most intimately involved.

@beyondthebriars

Secret 2 - A secret that they don’t want anyone to know.

It was a truth Phillipa guarded fiercely, a secret she buried beneath layers of feigned indifference and cheerful independence. Deep down, in a quiet corner of her heart she rarely acknowledged, was the fervent, unspoken wish that her father would find love again. She imagined it often: a new warmth in their home, a shared laugh that wasn't hers or his alone, a partner who could bring a different kind of light into his life, and by extension, into hers. She longed for him to experience the joy of companionship, a happiness that didn't solely revolve around his children.

Secret 3 - A secret that they keep for the sake of keeping. If this secret got out, they wouldn’t really care, but it’s still a secret.

Phillipa's heart still quickened when she remembered that day. She'd been looking for a book in what she thought was an empty room, only to walk in on someone in the middle of undressing. Her eyes, in that fleeting moment of mortified surprise, had caught sight of something unexpected: a splash of vibrant ink on their skin, a tattoo. It was small, discreet, and beautifully done, but what truly struck Phillipa was the realization of its secrecy. She knew their parents, strict and traditional, would never approve. The unspoken understanding passed between them in that instant – a shared secret, a silent pact.

Secret 4 - A secret that only the people closest to them would know.

A secret, heavy and ever-present, was a truth only those closest to her truly knew: her mother had died giving birth to her. It wasn't a story told in hushed tones or veiled in euphemisms; it was a raw, unvarnished fact that shaped her existence. This knowledge wasn't a casual piece of family history; it was a foundational burden, a silent weight she carried. It colored every interaction, every milestone, and every moment of joy with an undercurrent of sorrow and, at times, a quiet, inexplicable guilt.

Secret 5 - A secret that only one person knows about.

Well thats actually @honeymxren she knows that she wants to kiss a woman.

Secret 6 - A secret they want to tell, but for one reason or another can’t, or won’t.

Her feelings for rose to rose, she doesnt want to ruin the friendship they have. (but lets face it none of my characters are great at hiding their affections)

Secret 7 - The secret that could make or break them. The secret that could ruin them.

Secret 1: Francis feels somewhat strongly about this: his living conditions need to be exactly how he operates and thinks, or he will experience a real panic attack. He’s come home in the recent past to find that his parents “cleaned” his living areas and bedroom for him, and the fallout was always severe. When Francis explains that he prefers his spaces to be his, this secret is the one he will always go into.

Secret 2: Francis would similarly have a real panic attack if this secret made its way to public knowledge: he worked hard to find the best clothing and jewelry (his ears are pierced) for his body type and spent an entire year researching online the coolest styles for his personality and style of expression. When people know that you tried very hard for your fashion sense, Francis has seen, they tend to devalue your wardrobe choices afterward. Francis will make sure that he is the only one who understands the effort that went into, and still does go into, his signature look.

Secret 3: Francis won’t mind if his friends or acquaintances ever learn this: he has perfect pitch. The Prices were not a musical family, so Francis discovered this natural gift in the spring of fourth grade, when he took part in an elementary production of Grease. (He played slick talker Sonny.) His gift of accurate vocal pitch discovered, Francis went on to learn the guitar chords for all of his favorite songs, including 80’s hits “You Might Think” by the Cars and “Take On Me” by a-ha. He still plays these songs in his bedroom and sings along to unwind after long school days.

Secret 4: Francis’s friends and immediate family understand that Francis possesses no instinct for physical danger. He would walk into traffic if he didn’t have a reason to stop and think about it, such as the bright red hand sign that urges one to wait to cross. If Francis ever gets seriously hurt—and he’s come very, very close—he will only have himself to blame for not letting this secret spread more widely.

Secret 5: Only Francis’s mother knows that Francis likes 80’s music more than any other type. Francis had to tell her in the summer after fourth grade so that she would buy him his guitar.

Secret 6: Francis wishes that he could talk about this more openly, but people wouldn’t understand his rationale behind using both he and they for his pronouns. The topic is widely diminished by those who do not want to learn more about it and choose to make fun of it. Francis likes the pronoun they because it shows that he is more than societal gender roles would imply. He likes the pronoun he because it shows that he is brave enough to identify as a man in a culture in which men consistently drop the ball.

Secret 1: While most of Tiana’s circle has figured it out already, Tiana prefers not to talk about this: her dream restaurant will celebrate the lives of Black heroes from American history, such as Rosa Parks and George Washington Carver. The reason behind her secrecy is that her ideas have been stolen in the past; a high school classmate copied Tiana’s final project in a literature class, and now Tiana takes care not to openly describe her creative work until it is complete. Tiana’s coworkers have already uncovered this secret, however. Tiana swore them to secrecy immediately.

Secret 2: When Tiana was fourteen years old, she illegally drove a car from her neighbor’s house to her own house. She did very well, for her age. After her mother arrived home from the store, Tiana lied and said that the neighbor girl, who was almost eighteen, had driven her and run back to her house for dinner. (This did not explain why the neighbor had supposedly left her own car behind.) The truth was that Tiana had been thinking about possible emergencies that could force her to drive a car prematurely, and she only wanted to know that she could do it. These days, Tiana chalks up the incident to teenaged impulsivity, but she would never tell her mother that she did it.

Secret 3: Tiana has a secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies that uses both white and brown sugar. This is not an uncommon way to make chocolate chip cookies, so Tiana wouldn’t mind if people knew this secret. After all, the real trick lies in combining the ingredients gently enough to make the cookies softer. (Most would-be bakers go a little too fast at this stage.)

Secret 4: Only Tiana’s mother and her friend Charlotte know that Tiana went by the nickname Ti-Ti for an entire summer in high school. She and Charlotte spent part of that summer at camp, where everyone seemed to have a nickname, and Tiana pretended that she had always gone by Ti-Ti. The appeal wore off on the first day back at school that autumn, when the principal gave a speech about “behaving more adult-like.” Tiana will blush if this nickname is ever brought up again.

Secret 5: Only Charlotte remembers when Tiana’s first car broke down outside the La Bouffs’ mansion. Tiana doesn’t swear, but she did that day. Profusely. Some truly terrible insults were born from Tiana’s rage toward her failing car.

Secret 6: Although Tiana deeply loves her mother, she can’t bring herself to relate to her mother any feelings she’s had about boys. She knows that some mother-daughter duos talk about boys all the time. But for whatever reason, Tiana feels best when she keeps romantic thoughts private. One boy in particular, who took sixteen-year-old Tiana to the homecoming dance, did make Tiana feel special, but she implied to her mother that he only seemed nice to her. Another boy, who won her heart at culinary school, was also described to her mother as “nice enough.” Maybe when she settles down with her future husband, Tiana will finally admit to her mother that she feels something.

Secret 1 - An open secret. Something that is supposed to be secret, but that most people know about.

It is a truth universally acknowledged; one should never get high off their own supply. But what's a little wine day-drinking going to do, to someone with such a strong tolerance to it like Guinevere? Regardless, for whatever reason, the quiet rumors of her possibly being a bit of a drunk offend her even more than the rumors of her having blood on her hands. At least the accusations of murder make her fearsome and interesting. In any case, she finds drinking less harmful and less serious than her previous nicotine addiction, even though smoking did make her look more attractive, mysterious and dignified, even if only to her own eyes.

Secret 2 - A secret that they don't want anyone to know.

All Guinevere's secrets are secret for a reason. Of all of them, arguably the most harmless one, the one she refuses to tell but has become growingly obvious, is her barely bearable loneliness. Years of pushing everyone away, of distrusting everyone who tried to come close to her, have come to bite her in the ass. Yes, she feels safer than ever from accidental bouts of vulnerability, but at what cost?

Secret 3 - A secret that they keep for the sake of keeping.

She isn't proud of it. Back when she was only ten, Guinevere bit her younger sister Joan in the arm during a scuffle over a doll. It was not just a nibble. The mark didn't properly heal until three weeks later. She managed to convince Joan to say it was a cat bite, but Guinevere suspects their mother knew all along that it was her. To this day, it still embarrasses Guinevere to learn how violent she could become, over such a silly thing.

Secret 4 - A secret that only the people closest to them would know.

Only Lady knows, and it was an awkward confession with the sole purpose of winning her new friend's trust. Guinevere was nineteen, still a wide-eyed medical student. She was well aware she was the most attractive young woman in her class and had no qualms using her looks to have her classmates help her with notes and summaries and studying materials to excel on her subjects. What she did not expect was to catch the eye of her neurophysiology professor. He began flirting with her right away, and Guinevere constantly turned him down. Instead, half because of her sincere attraction to him, partly because of her own amusement in teasing the professor, she started dating the professor's protégé, a quiet young man named David. So, when David suggested they lightly poison the professor for a little while, to put their theories and experiments into practice, Guinevere surprised herself by accepting; not out of any concern for the professor, as much as a powerful sense of curiosity.

Secret 5 - A secret that only one person knows about.

If he is still alive, that is... Shortly after her marriage to David, he got a job at a hospital, while Guinevere continued her studies and managed to secure an internship at a pharmaceutical laboratory. They were so in love at first. Guinevere was the picture-perfect wife, completely doting to her man, loving and caring even through her exhaustion. So she didn't think anything of it at first, when he began coming home even later than usual. Suspicions did arise when David's business meetings stretched for far too long, when he started dismissing Guinevere, when she found herself spending more and more time on her own. What was she supposed to do? In response, she grew colder and colder, until she could no longer deny it to herself and recognized her resentment towards him, her despair and her bitterness. And, as time went on, her suspicions finally were proven correct. After a big fight, and a brief separation, David asked her to come back. Guinevere had no love for him anymore, but she was tired of being alone. When he got ill one winter, however, she realized that was what she liked most: having someone at her disposal, someone constant and dependent on her. Was it so wrong, to slip a few drops of their carefully crafted chemical into his medicine? Was it so reprehensible, when clearly that was what David wanted, too? To be cared for, to be someone's center of attention?

Secret 6 - A secret they want to tell, but for one reason or another can't, or won't.

Her pride is both the reason she wants to tell, and the reason she also wants to keep it hidden. What would people really think if they knew Lucy Laverne came from a poor family from Missouri, the middle child of a relatively renowned family who had lost everything to their patriarch's gambling debts and bad investments? Would they admire her for her humble beginnings and hard work? Or mock her for her low-class circumstances? Whatever the case, the shame is stronger than the desire to be seen as plucky and self-reliant.

Secret 7 - The secret that could make or break them. The secret that could ruin them.

There are so many, truly. Which one would be the most damning? The truth of what happened to David? What she did to survive the rumors after Percy's horrible accident? The reason behind Bạch Phổ's unfortunate passing?

Based on the prompts below, tell us your character's innermost secrets. It is entirely your choice how you go about this; simple question and answer, long-winded prose, or even mini drabbles. You can choose one, or two, or all seven. The world is your oyster!

Secret 1 - An open secret. Something that is supposed to be secret, but that most people know about.

Secret 2 - A secret that they don't want anyone to know.

Secret 3 - A secret that they keep for the sake of keeping. If this secret got out, they wouldn't really care, but it's still a secret.

Secret 4 - A secret that only the people closest to them would know.

Secret 5 - A secret that only one person knows about.

Secret 6 - A secret they want to tell, but for one reason or another can't, or won't.

Secret 7 - The secret that could make or break them. The secret that could ruin them.

Things to think about:

Why is this secret a secret to begin with?

How long have they kept this secret?

What would happen if this secret got it?

If it did get out, what happened?

Your character's secrets can be as simple as 'one time they spilled a box of cereal behind the fridge and told no one and there's still cereal behind the fridge to this day', or as complicated as 'planned to steal the declaration of independence and ended up on the FBI's watch list'.

Now, for those reading each other's secrets, remember they are secrets. We know them, but it doesn't mean our characters do (unless, of course, you've plotted it out~).

With this in mind, we are also re-introducing the 'gossip' section of the @redwoodhollowreview - once in a while there will be a cheeky wee update post on significant happenings in character's lives. You can send me these updates in DMs at any time and I'll collate them once there's enough update to update you all with!

Every other month I will open the ask box for 'gossip time' where you can submit truths, gossips and blatant slander about your character, and each other's character's (a harken back to ye olden days of RP). The 'gossip time' posts can be reacted to in character, as if you're reading the town gossip's public Twitter feed, or the town's local Facebook page. (You know the kind, we've all been in one at some point.)

The first official 'Gossip Time' will take place this weekend, in line with a mini-event that will be announced shortly!

This task was inspired by [this] character development post here.