#putting toddlers in good clothes is simply put a very bad financial decision

[largemandrill]

Lil baby guy Kiann because omg this little goober has been permeating my thoughts for weeks

[catalinaroleplay]

Gender & Pronouns: Female, she/her

Date of Birth: April 20th, 1989 (30)

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California.

Neighborhood: Avalon

Length of Residency: All her life.

Occupation: Podcast Co-Host / Bartender 

Face Claim: Shay Mitchell

BIOGRAPHY

TRIGGERS: Teen Pregnancy, Drowning, Child Loss.

The Santos family never lived extravagantly. In fact most of the time Carlo and Analyn Bautista lived paycheck to paycheck. Praying to god that they could pay their rent and bills each month and still have enough left over to buy their newborn daughter Mahalia the things she needed. Things such as food, diapers, and clothes. Money was always tight and the self-sacrificing first generation immigrants from the Philippines often skipped out on buying things they needed or wanted in order to provide for Mahalia. Analyn worked three full time jobs while her husband Carlo juggled being a full-time law student with a demanding job at an industrial factory. With finances constantly tight around home Mahalia was made aware at a very young age to never ask for frivolous things. While most kids begged for candy at the grocery store or threw temper tantrums when a certain toy wasn’t underneath the tree at Christmastime Mahalia learned to be grateful for what she did have rather than focus on what she did not. Her formative years were spent finding entertainment in the little things. She didn’t have many toys but created her own fun by helping her mother cut coupons or making a game out of helping her father study with his flashcards. What Mahalia enjoyed the most however was using his old forgotten notebooks laying around their apartment to create her own worlds with misspelled words and vividly colored drawings. A hobby her mother encouraged by buying books for her daughter whenever she could. Together, whenever Analyn had a free moment, they would read until the world around them disappeared. If Mahalia inherited her intelligence from her father then she had gotten her mother’s love of literature. 

She used to daydream about one day becoming a writer but that all changed one fateful day. She was ten when she returned home to find her mother a weeping mess on the floor. The family’s corded phone clutched between white knuckled fingers. Two weeks before he was due to graduate from law school and begin a job at an up and coming law firm Carlo Bautista had been shot at a convenience store near his campus in a robbery gone wrong. Thus changing the entire course of Mahalia’s life. From that moment on she abandoned her dreams of writing for law instead. Wanting to accomplish what her father never got the chance to. It was that path that ultimately led her to Elijah Lyon’s Intro to Law class at the University of Southern California. Nineteen, wide-eyed, and passionate about what was being taught, she quickly became one of Elijah’s favorite students. Even after leaving his class she would often show up at his office hours to catch up, ask for advice, or pick his brain on various other topics. So two semesters later when she showed up at his office after summer break visibly pregnant and clearly distraught he hadn’t thought twice about helping her. Mahalia refused to disclose to him who the father was but she had made it clear that she didn’t plan on keeping the children. Twins, both girls according to her OBGYN. When Elijah suggested they start looking into adoption companies to help her find the perfect home she insisted that she already knew of a perfect home for her children, his. Unbeknownst to him Mahalia had heard through the grapevine that Elijah and his husband were put on a waiting list for adoption and had been on said list for a while. 

Having witnessed their kindness for herself she couldn’t think of anyone else she would have rather raised the children she herself could not. Seven months later she gave birth in a hospital holding the hands of the two men who would cherish her twin daughters as their own. Her only request was that they waited until she wasn’t around to name the children. As sure of her decision as she felt it had still been hard for her to leave behind the two bundles of joy and she didn’t want to make it any harder by growing attached. Even upon the two men’s insistence that she could still be a part of her children’s lives she refused. So much so that without even telling Elijah in advance Mahalia left USC and California all together, leaving neither of them any way to contact her even if they wanted to. In honor of the brave strong young woman who had gifted them the existence of their daughters they named them Dahlia and Magnolia. Giving them each a piece of their mother’s name. The two girls grew up in a home full of unconditional love and support. While they may not have had as much as their more financially privileged friends they had each other and two fathers who would move heaven and earth for them and at the end of the day that fact alone with enough.

As an infant Magnolia had been a worrying amount of difficult. Crying just as her parents managed to get her sister Dahlia asleep. Crawling out of view the second an adult took their eyes off her. Biting guests and pulling the hair of literally anyone her chubby little fingers could grab hold of. It had gotten to the point where Elijah and William Lyon had no choice but to bring their worries to the family pediatrician. After hearing them out, the kind man assured the new parents that she’d grow out of her aggressive personality as she got older. Only that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Her playful antics only grew up with her except now instead of being a handful of a baby, she was a nightmare of a toddler with partial understanding of the English language and full access to functioning feet. Compared to her, Dahlia was looked upon as an angel who’d been sent from up above. Despite her knack for finding trouble no one could deny that her loud laughter and even louder personality became a staple of the Lyon household. Like her sister, she inherited her mother’s angelic features but what laid beneath was nothing but the wild heart of the two men who adopted her. With both assets she became the co-mascot of the Lyon home. Charming guests and family alike with her wild tales and even wilder antics. Constantly convincing her sister to join in on whatever random schemes came to mind with little regard of what kind of trouble it’d cost them later on.

Elijah and William always knew that twins would be a handful but with Magnolia’s relentless energy and mischief making it felt more like having four children instead of two. Eventually, as she got older they found a way to channel her energy by signing her up for gymnastics at the age of four. Unlike her sister who fell in love with soccer the moment she attended her first practice, Magnolia hated everything about gymnastics. There were too many rules, too many mean girls, but mostly her hate stemmed from the fact that she was horrible at it. Grace and balance hadn’t exactly been something she was naturally inclined with. Nevertheless, her parents refused to let Magnolia throw in the towel. Unwilling to raise a quitter and in the end her hate had been helpful. Tired of being made fun of and seen as the underdog Magnolia Lyon poured her all into the ‘dumb’ sport her parents forced her into and she got good. In as little as three years she’d gone from the worst on her team to one of the best. And just like that hate became love and no one could tear her away from the gym. Doing splits, cartwheels, and front flips were no longer chores to her but things she did around the house and at school simply to show off that she could. Not to mention the mean girls that used to make fun of her suddenly wanted to be her friends. As far as Magnolia was concerned all was right in the world. Or well it was until seventh grade came around and Magnolia found herself falling more and more out of love with the sport of her youth.

Suddenly mastering difficult routines and tricks had come second to the way the girls looked and the awards they could bring in. They were weighed in front of each other almost every other practice. given strict diets. and told to focus on the sport first and everything else second. Even at twelve Magnolia knew something simply wasn’t right. No one was having fun anymore and the girls who used to be some of her closest friends were now being told to see each other as rivals instead. Slowly but surely Magnolia’s love reverted back to hate and by the time high school came around she found herself trading the toxic world of gymnastics for the more team orientated world of cheer-leading. It ended up benefiting her in more ways than one. While on the cheer team Magnolia quickly fell in with the popular crowd. Earning her the attention of multiple suitors who wanted nothing more than to court the pretty cheerleader with a fiery personality. Many of them barely even came close to catching her eye and if they did, it wasn’t for long. Her naturally fickle personality ensured that even if she returned someone’s affections it usually didn’t last longer than a few weeks. By the time sophomore year came around Magnolia Lyon was known for the trail of broken hearts she tended to leave behind. All of that came to screeching halt when she was forced to take part in peer tutoring. Unlike her sister who excelled in science classes they were always Magnolia’s worst subject and if she wanted to continue to be on the cheer squad (and more importantly still be in the running to become captain senior year) it was expected of her to remain a C average in all of her classes. 

Paired with Mason Park the two immediately butt heads during their study sessions. Lia constantly came in late, never paid attention, and then complained when she got a bad grade on a quiz or test. Something about Mason’s golden boy status around school annoyed her to no end. He wasn’t just insanely smart but an all-star athlete, class president, and genuinely well liked by everyone at their high school. Even by the loners who tended to hate everyone. They were fundamentally different in almost every way yet love found a way to blossom between them. By the time winter break came along they were already an official couple. All was well for a while. Like a typical young couple their relationship was filled with highs and lows but they were going strong and most importantly they were in love. So when Magnolia found out that she was pregnant a couple months into their junior year their was no doubt in their minds that they would be able to handle it. Naive and headstrong they bravely announced the news to their parents but not before dropping another bombshell, that they planned to get married as well. Magnolia’s fathers hadn’t taken the news well but were prepared to follow whatever course of action their daughter thought was best for herself and her future child. Mason’s parents on the other hand had gone nuclear. They blew up at Lia, accusing her of ruining their son’s life and trying to drag him down to her pathetic level. They had never liked her but seemingly tolerated her presence in their son’s life under the assumption that their relationship would never last past high school. 

But now that the two were planning to marry each other so they could raise a child together they didn’t feel the need to continue the facade of pretending to be alright with the relationship. They gave their son an ultimatum: leave Magnolia and disown the child she was carrying or leave their home. He left their home and promptly moved in the Lyon household due to the graciousness of Lia’s fathers who felt for the boy. They weren't thrilled by the aspect of their daughter being thrown into the world of adulthood so early either but knew her well enough to know that once Magnolia made up her mind there was little to no way of changing it. Eight months later while the rest of her friends were celebrating the end of the school year Magnolia and Mason were celebrating the birth of their son Milo Park. Fortunately they had a couple months to bond with their son and get used to being parents before the school year started back up again. Forcing both of them to struggling with course work, gossiping classmates, judgmental parents and faculty, and the jobs they were given by Lia’s fathers to be able to support themselves and their son. They still lived within the Lyon household but were expected to be able to provide for Milo themselves with only occasional financial assistance from Elijah and William for bigger things like medical bills. The two men didn’t do this to be cruel to the young parents but to teach them responsibility and to ensure that they would be able to take care of themselves and their son when they eventually moved out of the home. 

They wanted to assure that they were guides for them and not clutches. When Magnolia graduated high school she opted to not pursue farther education. Academia had never been her strong suit in the first place and the pair certainly didn’t have enough money for both of them to be attending college, especially with a little one at home. So instead Magnolia decided to focus her attention on earning money and taking care of their son. Mason worked as well as attended school and despite all the odds they made it work. For four years they worked in harmony like that. They didn’t have much but they had each other, their son, and the rest of the Lyon family to lean on for support to help them raise Milo. Things were far from easy and there were a lot of times where it felt like they were burning the candle at both ends but everything felt worth it because it was for their son and the little family they had fought so hard for to exist. Eventually they saved up enough money to move out of Lia’s childhood home in Lafayette Square where they still lived with her fathers into a small but cozy two bedroom apartment in Avalon. It was there that things started going off the rails for the young family. It started with their different parenting styles which had gone pretty much unnoticed before since they had always had Elijah or William to let them know what they thought would be the best thing to do in any given situation. But away from their calming influence they couldn’t seem to agree upon what course of action to take. 

Ranging from simple things like the bed time schedule to more complicated stuff like what to do when Milo acted up or whether they wanted their son to be entered into experimental medical trials. Then Mason’s family suddenly reached out wanting to be apart of their son and grandson’s lives again much to Magnolia’s discomfort. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her son or even her husband to have a relationship with the other side of their family. It was simply that she couldn’t bring herself to trust them again. It didn’t help that they seemed to show no interest in mending any bridges when it came to her or her family. They only cared about Mason and Milo and it put yet another rift between the young couple. When it rains, it pours, and less than a year later Mason and Magnolia ended up losing Milo. In the midst of being away at a school trip to a water park Milo Park drowned. It was completely accidental and no ones fault in particular but the loss affected both of them deeply. Mason threw himself into his work and Magnolia drowned herself in alcohol and anger. Eventually, and to no one’s surprise, they filed for divorce unable to piece themselves or their relationship back together after such a loss. Immediately upon filing the divorce Magnolia hopped on to a plane to Italy where her grandmother owned a quaint home in the countryside. She spent a year and a half there attempting to heal herself surrounded by the love of her twin sister and grandmother who both fiercely kept her embers burning during a time in her life where she no longer held the strength to keep her spark lit. 

It was there in Italy that Lia befriended a gentlemen who lived next door to her grandmother. He was an retired detective and would spend afternoons spinning Lia tales of the cases he had solved throughout his life. As the daughter of a lawyer criminals had always fascinated her and listening to his stories about having caught many she decided to start a podcast retelling those same stories and all types of others upon her arrival back to Catalina. It started off as a hobby, something to pull her focus away from the grief and towards doing productive. Eventually she started to bring her interests of the supernatural into her podcast as well as homage to the son she had lost who had always believed in the magical wonders of vampires, aliens, and werewolves just like his mother. Her podcast has grown in the years since. She’s no longer a one woman team. She had a co-host, a producer, and at least two million worldwide listeners. Her hobby now has a real chance at becoming an actual career and instead of being excited about it Lia remains frightful. Everything is going well in her life right now but due to the traumas of her past she can’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop. She is so terrified that it’ll happen when she least expects it to happen so she's constantly on guard. With her career and her heart. Ever since losing Milo and finalizing her divorce she keeps most things at an arms length away. Not wanting to get attached or her hopes up in an odd way of ensuring that she wont ever get hurt again.

TRAITS

Positive: Enigmatic | Inquisitive | Resourceful

Negative: Cantankerous | Fickle | Unyielding

Magnolia Lyon is portrayed by Hayley.