#talia calaise

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Some nice shots of the family from the wedding but they were ruining my perfectly manicured post:

Sorry Astra, you got Mike Wazowski'd.

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talia and ollie go swimming while the boys are away 🏊‍♀️

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theodore.... the man you are... the father you are

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olivia and her mother are thick as thieves since beau went away to college - and ever since olivia had her doubts about her agency over her life path, talia takes every opportunity to encourage her that her dreams are possible. they stop by the modiste's shop and chat with her a while - talia embarrasses ollie by asking the modiste if she's taking apprentices. she isnt, but talia takes the time to whisper to olivia to look around - look carefully, see how the store is laid out? see how she displays the ribbons? how would you do it differently?

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the rheist-calaise family, circa 1910

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theo's being a great dad again, it must be a day that ends in Y. this is little sulien rheist-calaise! we finally get a kid who looks like talia. ft. talia with her head in the clouds trying something new, as per usual. three kids in the house means she needs a faster way to make and mend everyone's clothes! they splurge on a brand new sewing machine that olivia ends up being fascinated by.

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In the summer of 1909, Theodore and Talia, now freshly in their 40s with their children old enough to mind each other, find time to resume their walks along the shore together. Theodore's mind has been ill at ease for months. He can think of little else besides how little he's accomplished, how time races through his fingertips like sand... how thoroughly he ruined any chance of Talia's to become a famous musician, how his daughter stares openly at the lace-trimmed dresses of other girls, how his son struggles with essays by candlelight for scholarships he must win in order to attend college. "You might've found someone better than me. If I had only let you." "No," softly, reminding him as often as he needs, "I never could have done better than you."

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Generation 1 - 1890

Talia Calais

Birth Year : 1868 Traits: Adventurous, Creative, Loner Aspiration: Musical Genius

Talia was born amidst the morning mists of Brindleton to a Greek orange merchant in 1868, raised with constant music and an unusual freedom her whole life. She was slated to begin traveling and becoming involved in her father's business when she came of age - tickets had already been booked to Windenburg for her to start her own connections abroad, when she ran into a childhood friend and the chemistry clicked.

One thing led to another for two young people in the throes of feeling alone and uncertain of their lives, and they were married and expecting within a year (and not in that order). Despite being as spoiled as she could be by a man of lower middle class means, an undercurrent of dissatisfaction permeates her life... haunted by a lifetime of adventure once steadily built, now swiftly taken.

Despite the fact we are in the thick of Gen 2, I didn't have an idea for heir intros when I started this challenge and needed to get the founder in here ASAP! I have a lot of regrets about Talia's story and following tropes that I observed in other legacy challenges (or within the guidelines of the challenge itself) that didn't serve her character authentically. If I could start over, I would have had her and her now husband meet in wild, adventurous circumstances - a jungle in Selvadorada, a Christmas ball in Windenburg, a lake district in Henford. Their courtship would have been tense, electric, and mutually inspiring, spanning the globe - for Talia, nothing less would have sufficed.

But alas! I might not have been able to envision such an idea without putting forth what happened in this timeline. At the end of the day, I needed to get started, and I'm glad I did.

Might backdate this post so it appears correctly chronologically in the tag - style difference be damned😊

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the rheist-calaise family, circa 1905

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"Do you regret our life together?" The frost hadn't yet begun thawing in the early morning sunlight - and judging by the temperature, it wouldn't thaw at all. Theodore had all but snuck up on her, his mood having been melancholic for days. Her fingers and back were numb from washing laundry in the cold, and it manifested through a wry, sarcastic tongue. "After three children, it's a bit late to be asking that, Theodore, don't you think?" He said nothing for a long moment, and she knew she had hurt his feelings. "... No," she relented, heart twisting, kissing her husband of 20 years who she knew had a fragile heart under his stoic demeanor, "Of course not. Of course not, Theo."

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The Kashyap family arrive, finally, to Pier 54. Nima's husband Robin, son Noah, and sister-in-law Namas did not make the journey.

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Summer of 1909. Talia walks home with Olivia, who has just spent the whole day with her friend Violet, and is full of ideas about her future on the way back home. "Maybe I can dance in the ballet. Or-- does ballet have singers? I could sing for them. Sing the story?" Talia laughs - her daughter is typically gentle and hopelessly shy, like she was at her age, but seeing her friend always makes Olivia playful and energized like other girls her age. "I thought you wanted to be a seamstress. And before that, you thought you'd be a pianist like me. And before that, you wanted to-- what was it? Sell daisy chains?" "Yes--" Olivia twirls, "All of them. At the same time. Can I?"

"I would be so very proud of you, Olivia." Talia says, voice gentle, "Whatever you chose to do. As long as you promise me you'll try something. Anything. And you give it your all." "... But... I will have to give it up. Won't I?" Olivia asks, gazing up at her mother. She asks as though the question has been on her mind. "When I'm married? Maybe I should try lots of things. So that I won't feel bad when I give them up." "... Well," Talia fumbles, shocked, "No. Not always-- not- necessarily."

But... hadn't she? Given it up? Life had taken a turn down a different pathway, and her own goals stayed behind and watched her go - if they were ever even hers, instead of her parent's desperation to marry her up in society. It bothers Talia immensely that her daughter wonders if her own pretty dreams are a waste of time, when both she and Theo had always strived to show their children that anything was possible, especially in this new century.

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talia re-realizes her husband is not only fine asf but loyal, focused, nurturing. so. newly unable to keep her hands off of him, the heir is conceived after 7 years of marriage 🎉 theo (@agentoctosims's boy) is the kind of person who would put his head down and work his whole life without a thank you if he felt like you deserved it. and, well, he felt like talia deserved more than having been shotgun married to a nobody who needed her family's money to put a crumbling roof over her head. for a long time, maybe a part of her agreed. but he's also the kind of person that unintentionally proves to you he was the right choice all along

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nobody loves the new dog rosie like beau ;; he's always playing with her and taking her for walks with a lore-unfriendly bright red leash talia is fatigued but happie, baby #3 is on the way

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merry chrysler! 🎄 talia's twin sister nima visits for the holidays, meeting beau as a grown boy and her new niece olivia. everyone meets nima's well-to-do husband, lord robin kashyap, who seems polite enough, but he really does laugh too much, and it's kind of strange that an titled englishman would be doing business in a place as slow and fishy as brindleton bay instead of enjoying the high life back home... its an exciting, tiring day, capped by talia gifting theo with an cross stitched "You Are More Than Who You Were". the dress was a gift from him at the beginning of the night 💘