#marlownewman

[merrock]

WELCOME TO MERROCK, MARLOW NEWMAN!

Marls (she/her, cis woman) was born on March 12, 1985 in Merrock, Maine, and is a local who moved back to town in 2020. They're working as a journalist at the Merrock Times, helping to run the Newman Family Farm, and live in the countryside. (written by chayya (she/her & they/them, est) & portrayed by emily vancamp).

FILLING CONNECTION: Newman Family sibling.

Hi, Chayya, welcome to Merrock! We're so excited to see Marls here in town. Make sure to check out our welcome page, and submit your account within 48 hours, and your personality & background within one week. Thank you! xx

face claim: Emily VanCamp

full name: Marlow Shay Newman

nicknames / goes by: Marls, Marley

pronouns & gender: she/her; cis woman

sexuality: bisexual

birth date: March 12, 1985

birth place: Merrock, Maine

arrival to merrock: local; returned spring 2020

housing: previously downtown; currently countryside

occupation: journalism

work place: Merrock Times; Newman Family Farm

family: second eldest of the Newman family

relationship status: single

filling connection: newman family, sibling

#merrockwelcomes #marlownewman

[vitusxaydin]

@marlownewman

Nine years old. Marlow had been bottling everything up since she was nine. 

Vitus couldn’t stop thinking about it, and he didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because modern-day Marlow reminded him so much of mid-twenties Vitus. Perhaps it was because Marlow was simply too kind a person to be carrying so much pain around. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t think of Marlow without seeing Deacon’s eyes flash in his periphery, those wounds he’d never been able to beg forgiveness for. 

He didn’t know why, but he didn’t need to know. He acted anyway. He arrived at the Newman homestead with a backpack slung over the sleek leather of his jacket. The farm, quaint and smelling of fresh cut grass, stretched out before him. The rolling hills of Maine and the promise of taking care of someone who desperately needed it beckoned him forward. Vitus’s mouth ran dry as he caught sight of the blueberries Deacon had told him about twelve years ago. But he swallowed his trepidation and made his way toward the door anyway, mentally crossing his fingers that only Marlow would be home that day.

#marlow #do u want gifs or no

[cagenewman]

WHO: Cage & @marlownewman

WHERE: somewhere in Maine

WHEN: August, 2023

The house that Cage was working on was proving to be a challenge -- not because of the shape it was in, there was actually less hard work to do than most projects he tackled, but rather because of all of the pieces he needed to put back together. And of course he couldn't source those pieces at home in Merrock, only able to find them a few towns over, a trip that would likely eat up his entire day. He had the thought of asking Colton to tag along, or making a day of it with Cordelia... but he also knew that it had been since the Gala that he had really had the chance to talk to Marlow. And he also knew how stressful making big life choices could be. Thankfully, she had seemed up for the adventure.

But there was no way he was going to drag her out on an errand without making it fun. That was why he hadn't hesitated to pull his truck to a stop at the little ice cream shop, nestled right next to a park. Given that it was the middle of a week day, there were some families, a few stragglers, but most of the park was unoccupied, and thankfully, they hadn't had to wait very long to get their ice cream, either. Licking a drop of his teaberry from the cone before it could trip, Cage looked over at his sister with a wide grin. "Wanna go eat in the park over there?"

#writing with marlow #marlow 006

[owenryder]

WHO: Ryder & @marlownewman

WHERE: Animal Sanctuary

WHEN: Volunteer Week, April 2023

"I don't mean to be a Debbie downer here..." Ryder kept his gaze on the sky for a moment, watching as a gray, dark cloud began to roll in to cover up he sunshine they had been playing in, having buddied up with Marlow for a few hours at the Animal Sanctuary, puppies scattered all around them. Puppies who were yapping and wagging their tails and having a great time... which did make him feel awful about the idea that soon enough, there was a chance they were going to have to make a run for it. "That weather is not looking good. I'm game to try to stick it out if you are, maybe it'll pass over us? Be one of those ominous storm clouds that never actually does anything?"

#writing with marlow #marlow 001 #;; i hope this is okay!!! <3

[tommymaddox]

CLOSED STARTER for @marlownewman Merrock Times office

After having his brain cells fried by Deacon, Tommy eventually finds his way to the office of Merrock Times. He walks into the main doors with a sandwich in one hand and coffee in another, attempting to fuel himself long enough to stay awake. It wasn't the first time he'd been here but given very few knew he was home it was a surprise. Tommy finds Marlow's desk unattended and sits in her chair, eating his sandwich as he looks at the items on her desk for a clue where she might be. Who knew finding the stand in matriach of the Newman's would be so hard?

#reply: marlow #thread003 #here its something

[garrickxvelour]

Who: @marlownewman

Location: The Enchanted Forest Gala | 7:15pm

Garrick was light on his feet. Soles of his shoes brushed short verdant blades, a gentle sway to his step. The glass of whiskey in his hand had long since been empty, nursed over the span of his evening, finished while standing off away from the throng of the party beside the creek. Flecks of mud caught on stray leaves and branches, and he payed them little mind. Accepting of the dark mess staining the toes of his shoes long before he tucked himself in the passenger seat of Vitus’s SUV.

The swell of music and chatter beckoned him closer, commanding him to weave around well-dressed couples and handsome townsfolk. The thin scent of tobacco and smoke mingled with the whiskey on his breath, chasing after him in wisps. Garrick sidled up to the bar to flag down a bartender. He motioned at them with his empty glass, passing it over as he ordered himself an Old Fashioned. His eyes combed over the crowd to his right, folks lingering by the bar with assortments of fruit skewers and umbrellas adorning their cocktails. To his back, was an open dance floor, filled with excited bodies bouncing along to the band, singing along to every song they recognized. The singer gestured to the partygoers, pulling away from her microphone to encourage their participation, beaming when they met her with enthusiasm. A glass clattering on the hard counter pulled his focus back to the bartender, offering them an appreciative smile as he grabbed his drink.

Garrick took a sip, gaze flitting over the remainder of the bar only to land on the back of a familiar blonde head. Her flowers slightly askew, buried in golden tresses tumbling to her shoulders, dipping into the delicate mint of her gown. He drifted up beside her, elbow pressing into the bar, body lax and loose. “Marlow, hey.” A floppy smile on his lips. “Almost didn’t recognize you without a backdrop of books. How’s your night been?”

#marlow #threads #gala 2023 #oh boy here we go

[jaceeverett]

WHO: Jason & @marlownewman

WHERE: Enchanted Forest Gala

WHEN: July 22, 2023

It was probably his fourth or fifth trip out to the creek, away from the hub of noise, the hum of people laughing, singing along to the songs they recognized the string playing, clinking glasses. Jason couldn't say that he liked noise; had specifically moved to the middle of nowhere to escape it, found himself a small plot of land on the outskirts of the state park to settle onto when he moved back home. But he was enjoying himself. It was just nice to be able to slip away, to lean down by the water's edge, picking up a small handful of pebbles and toss them one-by-one into the water, with a soft plink, plink, plink, only noticing with the ripples disrupted the image of someone else that she was nearby, turning his head to the side to catch sight of Marlow a bit upstream. Shaking the remaining pebbles in his hand, he started her direction, lifting his free hand in greeting as he approached, so as not to startle her. "Hey."

#writing with marlow #marlow 003

[narilily]

WHO: Nari & @marlownewman

WHERE: Silver Pines Jr.

WHEN: April, 2023

Finally, good weather. Nari couldn't even pretend to not be happy, whether she was spending time at the nursery, helping people find their spring plants, or gardening in her backyard... or, on a very good day, she found herself shooting a text to Marlow, asking if she had a free night to hang out at the miniature golf course, the promise of pig-out food to follow hanging in the air. It hadn't taken Nari long to make the drive from her little countryside cottage to the mini golf course in the suburbs, having changed into skinny jeans and a t-shirt, hoodie over her arm. After all, once the sun went down... not that it should take them that long to complete a round of mini-golf. Probably? She was a little rusty. Sitting on the halfway just outside of the little rental hut, Nari glanced up from where she was tapping away at her phone when she heard someone approaching, grinning as she saw Marlow. "Hey!"

#writing with marlow #marlow 002

[brooksienewman]

Who: Kellan and @marlownewman Where: Newman family house

"Marls?" Kellan called out, digging through the laundry room. "Did you happen to see my ugly plaid shirt thing?" He wanted to do some work out on the farm, but it was perfect ugly plaid shirt thing weather, it's just that this time of year with all the different work he was doing, his head was in about twenty different places. "Counterpoint, if you haven't, can you help me look because I'm about to pull out all of my hair, and if I'm bald, I won't be the handsome brother anymore, and we can't have that."

#f2f #marlow

[mcgreyson]

Who: Greyson and @marlownewman Where: Mods

Greyson always used this time to get some sketching done and to do consultations. He had been tattooing long enough that the requirement to meet before scheduling an appointment was a privilege and something he deeply enjoyed. He wasn't opposed to an occasional walk-in, but it had to be smaller projects.

He'd been attentively sketching as he listened to the mix of pop rock tunes playing over the radio and the tattoo machines buzzing in background. At this point, they were like white noise. It was only when he heard a break in the cacophony that he looked up from sketching poppies.

#f2f #marlow

[stellylee]

WHO: Stelly & @marlownewman

WHERE: Merrock Times

WHEN: March, 2023

With so many things happening in and around town, Stelly couldn't help but to be excited about having the opportunity to participate in all of it -- especially behind the camera. Between people like Alice and Marlow, it gave them plenty of opportunity to help them out with their stories, give 'em a little pop, a little something extra. That particular day, they had just filled up probably their third cup of coffee of the day, after finishing up classes and making their way to the Times building for a meeting or two when they saw a familiar blonde head pop into view.

"Hey, Marlow!" Stelly lifted their hand in greeting from the chair they were sitting in -- or rather sprawled across -- in the lounge area. "If you're coming in to grab coffee, I think there's one more cup... I cam close to finishing it, but not quite."

#writing with marlow #marlow 001

[merrock]

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Emily VanCamp

full name: Marlowe Shay Newman

nicknames / goes by: Marls, Marley

pronouns & gender: she/her; cis woman

sexuality: bisexual

birth date: March 12, 1985

birth place: Merrock, Maine

arrival to merrock: local; returned spring 2020

housing: previously downtown; currently countryside

occupation: journalism

work place: Merrock Times; Newman Family Farm

family: second eldest of the Newman family

relationship status: single

PERSONALITY

+ friendly, compassionate, easy-going - guarded, overbearing, flighty

Marlow is an easy-going people-pleaser. She doesn’t like to make a fuss or make waves. She’s everyone’s friend, or at least tries to be, striking up conversations when in town and trying to include everyone when at an event. The oldest daughter of the Newmans, Marlow has always been something of the social matriarch of the family. She plays the role of good-natured girl-next-door easily. 

In private, she’s a little goofier, with more of an intense edge. Despite all the good will Marlow throws around, she doesn’t have many close friends. She never needed them, really, with her siblings always around. She’s cagey when people try to get closer than a social acquaintance and doesn’t trust easily despite seeming to be “everyone’s friend.” She can be stubborn, set in her idea of what would be best – even if she defers easily in a social situation, she’ll privately complain. 

WRITTEN BY: Chayya (she/her & they/them), est.

BACKGROUND / BIO

triggering / sensitive content: parental illness/death, some gendered occupational discrimination

Growing up, Marlow was always “one of the Newmans.” While being lumped into a group like that might cause others to feel resentment, Marlow loved it. She loved always being part of something, always being thought of in relation to her family – she loved her family. The second oldest, Marlow took on a kind of ownership of the Newmans as her clan, a sentiment that only intensified when her mother died. 

Though only nine at the time of their mother’s passing, Marlow was the second eldest and the eldest daughter. While her father became somewhat focused on the baby, Marlow banded with Kellan to take care of the rest of their little troop. Most of that time, Marlow’s formative years, blur together in a mess of sorting out lunches and grocery trips, tending to the farm and the house, making sure that everyone else got what they needed. She pushed herself to never be a problem, to always be perfect. She helped her father with the farm and the baby, helped Kellan with the house and the other kids, she excelled at school.

Through high school, Marlow was reluctant to join clubs. She had plenty of friends in a variety of after-school commitments, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was needed at home. In middle school, when after-school clubs were mostly free childcare, she had been in cheerleading and soccer, music lessons and art clubs. She left those behind in high school, only joining the school newspaper and yearbook club in junior year, to add to her transcript for college.  

When that time did come for college, Marlow knew she would have to stay close. She couldn’t imagine leaving her family and even if she could, Kellan had already made his way to the West Coast with his scholarship. So Marlow made plans for a local college and took classes that she thought would be practical: accounting, business, composition. She found herself enjoying the writing classes most of all, and slowly built on the idea of journalism as a future. She could see herself enjoying that - helping people through her writing, developing a voice of her own.

After college, Marlow had her eye set on the Merrock Times, or maybe the local station. But by then, their family’s baby was nearing sixteen years old. Old enough that she didn’t need the constant attention she had before. Their father had seen how Marlow kept herself close to home to help the family and urged her to go out, to see what else the world had for her. And Marlow did what so many recent grads with big dreams did – she moved to New York City.

The early years were hard, but fun. Marlow was living in a series of tiny apartments shared with too many people, interning for pennies at whatever magazines or newspapers would take her. Whenever she shared that her dream was to write investigative features, to change the world with her reporting, she got scoffed or laughed at. The response was either cynical or personally disparaging. After all, she was just a pretty little blonde. Good enough to get the coffee and take meeting minutes, but not much else. Marlow pushed, as much as she dared, and the editors pushed back. Wouldn’t she rather write shopping listicles? Society pages? Fashion trends? Hadn’t she worked on a farm – would she like to do recipes or gardening articles?

After five years paying her dues, Marlow had landed a decent job, salaried at a mid-sized, respected newspaper. She could afford an apartment on her own, and she settled into her life. She visited home often, checking on the younger siblings and spending long hours on the phone with Kellan and Cage especially, her bookend brothers. She got a few promotions and was given more freedom to pursue her own pitches, investigations, and feature ideas – writing about corrupt corporations and tectonic shifts in the fabric of social justice. She was coming up on bigger and better things, gaining credibility. Her editor gave her more leeway and more support, her producer who protected her and her team. 

And then it all came crashing down. She got the call that her father wasn’t doing well. The diagnosis was terminal and Marlow knew what she had to do. It wasn’t even a question. She gave notice at her job, she packed up her nice apartment, and she moved back to Merrock, back into the farmhouse she grew up in.

She’s still there, now, her and Kellan together, and Cage not far off. Marlow is more or less still adjusting to her grief and the new order of things. She helps around the house and when it comes to getting the farm back up and running. She spends time with her nephew and his little band of animals, gives her brothers a hard time, runs into people from her childhood and adolescence in town. And, just recently, she accepted a position at the Merrock Times, solidifying the fact that this move back home is permanent.

#merrockbio #marlownewman #death tw #parental death tw

[vitusxaydin]

@marlownewman Beach Bash: August 25, 2023

Vitus hadn't grown up around a beach. The only time he went as a child was on those summer visits to Turkiye, to see extended family. Perhaps those fond memories had inspired the love he now had for the sandy expanse beneath him, and the sound of waves kissing the shoreline. Or perhaps he only loved the heat—summer's potential energy vibrating through his bloodstream, the exertion of every day beading itself on the lines in his forehead, a cool drink nestled in his balmy palm. Perhaps the heat equalized him and allowed him to forget, for a while, the incessant fever he lived with.

Whatever the reason, Vitus lay fifteen feet from his tent, sprawled out beneath the setting sun. With his hands cradling his head like a pillow, he lapped up every last bit of daylight as it faded. He was so utterly relaxed that it took a moment for him to realize that something had moved into the sun's way, casting shadow over him. With it came a slight chill, one he knew well. Vitus opened his eyes, a floppy grin already spreading over his face as he spotted her. "Hi."

#marlow

[cagenewman]

WHO: Cage & @marlownewman

WHERE: Paradise Gardens

WHEN: May, 2023

Truth be told, Cage wasn't sure what to expect from his afternoon with Marlow. Despite the fact that he would have preferred to hear it from anyone but Tommy Browning, it had been brought to his attention that something was going on with his oldest sister, and rather than let it fester, he planned on talking to her, figuring out what was going on in her life and to see if there was something that he could do to help... and then Colton needed homework help, or he got called into the shop, or he fell off of a ladder at work and got laid up for a few days, and next thing Cage knew, well over a week had passed since he had spoken to Tommy, and he felt bad. And stir crazy -- good God, did he need to get out of the house and be reminded of what the sunshine looked and felt like. And so, he pulled out his phone and fired off a text: 'coffee picnic at the gardens? my treat.' Easy enough. And hopefully not suspicious.

In true Cage Newman fashion for anything other than business related meetings, he was ten minutes late when he pulled into the lot, forgetting how much harder everything was when you had a bum ankle and a sore arm... and every muscle and bone in your body still felt like it was a little bit on fire. Thankfully for Cage, it didn't take him long to find his sister, rounding a corner and seeing her at one of the picnic tables set out in the outdoor section of the garden. He felt a rush of affection fill his chest at the sight of her, always grateful for the time that they got to spend together. "Hey, sorry I'm late," he smiled as he approached her from behind, pressing a kiss to the side of her head and setting the cup holder with coffees down on the table, a bag of donuts tucked in between them. "And before you say anything, I'm fine, don't make a fuss."

#writing with marlow #marlow 003 #;; lmk if you want anything changed! <3

[owenryder]

WHO: Ryder & @marlownewman

WHERE: Enchanted Forest Gala

WHEN: July 22, 2023

"Well, well, well, Miss Marlow Newman," Ryder broke into a grin as he saw Marlow from across the room, just inside the chapel. Looking stunning, of course. But that seemed to be the order of the evening. Everyone had shown up in their best dressed mindset, and in their best dresses, too. Which was a big step up from the last time that he had spent time with Marlow, which he marveled over with a laugh, "and to think the last time that I saw you, you were dripping wet and borrowing my clothes. You look great."

#writing with marlow #marlow 002

[tommymaddox]

July 22 Enchanted Forest Gala

Tommy Maddox as Cernunnos: the god of animals and wild places, life and death, fertility. Attending with @marlownewman

#merrockfashion #hand paint horns included #actually getting tommy to dress up is so fun