#task9

Chan and Changbin are recruiting more members for their house and want YOU!!

1. Who does your muse consider their best friend? What’s the story?

Nicola has a few people that she would consider a best friend. She doesn’t let too many people get close to her but when she does it’s something special.

First and foremost is Gabe. They haven’t known each other for their whole lives but it feels like they do. They met at her gallery and it was one of those it’s you that I’ve been waiting for moments that forever change your life. He’s her person and the one person that knows her better than anyone else. He was the first person that she let get close to her and she has never looked back since.

She does have a best friend that she grew up with. This friend was also the reason Nicola got into so much trouble when they were younger. They were known as Double Trouble and they are still close but there is a lot that Nicola hasn’t told to her yet.

Ryan is also someone that she would consider a best friend. When they met it was something that Nicola had never felt before and they risked everything to be together. She could tell him anything at one point in their life and they were engaged at one point but after the death of their daughter Sarah a lot of things changed and Nicola started to push him away even though he was the person that she needed. He still means a lot of Nicola even though she can be stubborn about it. They always seem to find their way back to each other in some form.

2. Who does your muse consider their worst enemy? What’s the story?

Now this one….would be her father Nikolai. Nikolai is her biological father and he never really treated Nicola like he was his. He tried to control her life which only made her rebel. She holds a grudge against her dad and she’s not willing to let go of it. He’s the reason why she doesn’t have her daughter Sarah anymore and she’s not one bit afraid to let him no. He gets under her skin and knows what buttons to push and she will push back. All she had ever wanted was to know that she loved her and she had never gotten that. She doesn’t want anything to do with him and part of her is like well there has got to be a reason and maybe I need to hear him out. She’s pushed him away for so long so there’s no real father/daughter relationship.

3. What was the best time in your muse’s life? The best time in her life would be the day she found out she was pregnant with her daughter Waverly. Nicola never thought she would be a mother again and once she heard Waverly’s heartbeat it all changed for her.

4. What was the worst time in your muse’s life?

Jesus, this is a tough none. Losing her daughter Sarah is the worse thing she’s ever been through. It really sent her into a dark place where she pushed people away from her and she still does push people away to an extent. Losing her daughter was and is still the worse pain that she has ever felt in her life. Losing her mother was another loss that hit really big. Eryn Marchette is the only real mother figure that she has ever truly known and losing her on top of losing her daughter Sarah really shook Nicola.

5. What were/are your muse’s parents like?

Eryn who Nicola considers to be the only mother she has treated Nicola the way a parent should treat their daughter. Eryn and Nicola were extremely close with one another. Eryn supported Nicola in everything she did and she’s the reason that Nicola loves art.

Nikolai is another story. Even though Nicola is his biological daughter he chose to keep his distance from her. He didn’t treat her the way that a father should treat his daughter and he is one of the reasons why Sarah was murdered and Nicola still blames him. His is currently in prison and makes attempts to contact Nicola who wants nothing to do with him. She wants to keep Waverly safe so she does her best to try to keep Nikolai from knowing that he has another grandchild.

Nansi is Nicola’s biological mother. She gave Nicola up when she was a baby. She didn’t want the responsibility of being a parent and she had her own addictions. She reached out to Nicola and Nicola tried to have a relationship with her but there was no connection. Nansi just wanted money and even stole a necklace that Eryn had given to Nicola.

6. What motivates your muse the most?

She is motivated by her family first and foremost. She would do anything to keep those she considers family safe. She would do anything for those that she loves. She is inspired by art and music. She sees the beauty in things, sometimes the things that nobody sees.

7. Since you started writing your muse, in what ways have they grown?

When I first began writing Nicola was created while I was substitute teaching in a class that I am not very good at teaching. It was a simple idea that started as a way for me to keep writing. She was so guarded at first and didn’t want to let people in because of things that had happened to her in the past. She’s definitely a fighter and she’s allowed certain people to get close to her and be a part of her life, her family. She’s not as guarded but she still has walls up around her heart that nobody has really been able to knock down. When I’m writing her she has control and I never really full know what way she’s going to lead and I love that. I mean I get inspired by a lot of things, some things work and some things don’t. Sometimes all it takes is a song, a quote, an image or a movie. I kind of have a little something in mind for a Drabble so we will see.

8. How would you like your muse to grow in the future?

I really would love for her to confront her father and her biological mother. There is a lot of anger and pain there and it’s a big part of why she feels the need to run and why she has trust issues. There is a lot of things that she needs to get off her chest and it’s going to be explosive once she does.

9. Is there anything you want to do with your muse that you haven’t yet?

There is a lot. Sometimes it feels like I have a never ending list of things that I would want to try. She hasn’t been to Eryn’s grave since the funeral and maybe visiting her old family home which holds a lot of memories both good and bad. Maybe some romance…whether it be with the father of her daughters or someone new I’d like to see her open herself to the possibility that someone will love her and accept her for who she is and that someone will love her daughter. I have been toying around with some ideas of when she took off after her daughter Sarah died and Eryn was killed…so there’s some room to play. There are things that she really needs to say and when she lets loose it’s could be dangerous.

10. What or who is your muse’s weakness?

In a literal sense cinnamon and chocolate which sucks. She has found alternatives to the chocolate. Her daughter would be one way that she could be hurt. Deep down she has that fear that something could take Waverly away from her and that scares her more than anything. If anything were to happen to anyone that she considers to be family it would cut her deeper than anything. She has a fear of losing people that are close to her.

11. What or who is your muse’s greatest strength?

She is a fighter for sure. She’s a warrior and survivor. She’s been through so much and she’s pushes through and has come out on the other side. She’s very resilient and I admire that about her. She’s not afraid to get her hands dirty if she has to.

12. Would your muse fit into a crossover you haven’t tried yet? Which one?

Oh Jesus ohhhh the ideas that have been in my head. I’ve never really done a crossover thing though it has crossed my mind. I love MARVEL and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a few other shows and movies so I may or may not have something in mind that I want to try so we will see.

13. Does your muse think they are morally right in how they live their life? As the author, do you think your muse is morally right?

Nicola does what she feels is right. She wants to protect her daughter in ways that she couldn’t with Sarah and she would die trying if she had to. She may do things that someone may consider wrong but she’s human just like we all are. As the writer behind Nicola I see her as human. We all do things that we need to in order to protect the people that we love. Life isn’t always full of rainbows and good times there’s the bad and the in between and it’s nice sometimes to trot that line between what is right and wrong because it’s something that we all struggle with.

14. Does your muse focus more on the present, the past, or the future? How so and/or why?

Nicola tries not to focus on the past. The past is the source of her nightmares and she has to live with it. She lives with the fact that she had a daughter that will never grow up and experience life the way that her sister will. She focuses on the present and the time she gets to spend with Waverly and getting to be a mom. She does think about the future and what it holds. The past does creep back in on her especially when there are articles written about her father and the death of Sarah and her mom Eryn.

15. Are you proud of your muse? Why?

twist & shout! | marley & sawyer’s pride booth.

a new spin on an old classic - marley and sawyer have created a giant game of twister. pride goers will be competing for gifts donated by local, lgbtq+ owned/friendly shops and are highly encouraged to check them all out post-pride. even if you don’t win, be sure to stick around until the last round of the day - it’s bound to get messy! marley didn’t mix food coloring and shaving cream all day for nothing!! so come! get a little messy, love your neighbor - or at least get a little tangled up in them!

all proceeds will be donated to the center on halstead to provide lgbtq+ youth a safe place.