[Georgina Meadows]

WELCOME TO LOS EUROSIA,

GEORGINA KATE MEADOWS

"It’s hard to know when you can’t see it
The shadows lined with words you keep in
The ghosts you hold, the salt you’re breathing
We’ll make it real or else we’ll make-believe it"

BASICS

NAME: Georgina (Georgie) Kate Meadows

AGE: 30

BIRTHDATE: February 4th

PRONOUNS: She/Her

SEXUALITY: Heterosexual

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

OCCUPATION: Photographer (and Occasional Ghost Writer™) @ The LE Herald

Georgie has a talent for capturing the essence of the stories her coworkers write with a sometimes startling ability to infuse emotion into her photos – even in the simplest of shots. While journalism is a passion of hers, she never had the patience or resolve for writing filler or stories that didn’t interest her, but she does occasionally immerse herself in a story and write under one of her coworker’s names. He doesn’t mind, because he’d rather just float through, and it’s kind of like Georgie’s doing his homework. And if she’s passionate enough about putting a story out there, she doesn’t care about getting credit, so it works in some sort of… symbiotic way?

NEIGHBORHOOD: East End

MEMBER GROUP: Gifted

POWERS: Mediumship

Georgie can see the dead, with one particular limitation: she only encounters them in the place they died, if they wish for her to see them. Usually this means they have a reason to want to speak with her. They recognize her as one who can see them and they seek her out for contact. She can communicate with them, but they cannot attach themselves to her; she must return to the place of their deaths to contact them again.

Whether her abilities have more reach is a question she has not as of yet explored. Could she summon a spirit to her, in the place of her own choosing? It is not a line she wants to experiment with, not a boundary she wishes to cross. She is barely comfortable in the parameters that exist as of now, and spent much of her life resisting her gift and completely avoiding any situations in which she might come into contact with a ghost (or what she has come to refer to as Them).

Most recently she has come to accept that she has some sort of an obligation to Them, and has been dipping her toe into the pool of contact more than ever. Hesitantly, but more often. And lately, with more conviction. What she once considered a curse has become more of a reluctant vocation, no doubt spurred on by the deep, tragic regret of her past: losing her best friend. Feeling responsible for her death. Seeing her ghost, and turning away from it when perhaps she could’ve helped, said her goodbyes, or at least relayed some message that would have offered her living family some peace.

Perhaps she sees it as a way to repent for her mistake or turn the page on that tragic night, the one that haunts her the most even decades later. These days, if a ghost contacts her, she will go to great lengths to help them: be that communicating with a loved one, shedding light on something left unresolved, or even tipping off the local police to stir up cold cases regarding their deaths. Whatever it is, really, that they need to find their peace.

It is still uncomfortable, and she still maintains her careful boundaries, but Georgie seems to grow more devoted every day to making up for the time she has wasted. Some ghosts’ cases consume her more thoroughly than others and sometimes she gets carried away, as if the more she does, the further she goes, the more relentlessly she works, she will make up for past failures or inadequacies. For now it’s more of an obligation than a passion, though more and more, the lines seem to blur.

And sure, what she does isn’t exactly on the up-and-up, but it isn’t that deceitful, and the means justify the ends — right? If she moonlights as an investigator, interviewing someone and saying she’s from the paper, it’s not a lie. She is from the paper, but she’s not really researching a story. And if she tips off the cops and feeds them information from a non-living source, well… how are they to know the difference? She chalks it up to anonymous sources courtesy of her job connections. They wouldn’t really believe the truth, anyway.

THE LOOKS

HEIGHT: 5'4"

WEIGHT: ~130 lb

HAIR COLOR: Brown lit with auburn

EYE COLOR: Chocolate brown

FACE CLAIM: Olivia Cooke

OVERALL APPEARANCE:

While not tiny, she’s dainty both in stature and features, with large, dark, expressive eyes and full lips punctuated by the occasional flash of dimples. They’re often present whether she’s smiling (more rarely) or serious, mouth tucked in an expression of focus or thought (the default). That’s not to say that she’s no fun, just that she’s not naturally at ease, so a smile looks more like an unconvincing flash of dimples that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Real, full-on authentic smiles are a rare gem to be coaxed from her, but when it happens, it is transformative, lighting her up from the inside.

Her hair is often gathered back into a loose twist or bun, always with renegade wisps escaping to frame her face and neck and, in the sun, it’s lit with hints of auburn. She has an overall warmth to her appearance despite being more aloof, personality-wise: she looks kind, gentle, inviting. She dresses in layers and favors comfy knits, autumnal colors, and subtle glints of gold, but she doesn’t fuss with complex outfit formulas and it’s always some predictable combination of the same: comfortable, yet feminine. The same signature gold hoops at her ears and dainty stacking rings on her fingers, which is as ornamental as she gets.

She favors jeans, boots, and has a special place in her heart for oversized sweaters. A battered old leather bomber jacket found in a thrift store is a comfortable favorite. She’s often lugging a tote bag or photography equipment and sometimes seems a bit scattered as if she’s juggling a dozen different things — usually, that’s mentally as well as literally — but handling it. (Honestly? She likes it that way.) You could call her effortlessly occupied. No-nonsense with a touch of cozy. It’s rare that she comes across as overwhelmed, though she does have her days.

INSIDE

LIKES: movies, books, ink, words, diners, pie, late nights and early mornings, information, libraries, new ideas, earbuds (to drown out the world and immerse herself in her mind/ideas/podcast/music/current point of focus), candles, the play of light and shadows, familiar paths, routine.

Photography — It began when she picked up a disposable camera at the age of eleven, trying to capture ghosts on film. After that, it became something to do when she lacked friends, spending hours hiding so she wouldn’t see One of Them. The world always looked safer through a lens; the camera her constant, reliable companion. In high school she began a photography club, contributed to the school paper, and her interest bloomed; after graduation it became a serious life pursuit.

Film — She’s always found solace in movies, a favorite pastime that now doubles as an intellectual hobby and a comfort. She’s amassed an impressive collection of movies over the years and she’s always finding new favorites. Perhaps, if her life had gone another way, she would’ve pursued cinematography or film critique. As it stands, the local movie theater is a safe place, and sneaking in after dark to watch films of her choosing from the archives is one of her favorite (secret) hobbies, thanks to the current manager having a (weird, somewhat unfortunate) soft spot for her and her stepbrother, Maverick, having a job there.

DISLIKES:

Spontaneity — It isn’t exactly that she dislikes it, but more like she doesn’t know how. At least, not outside of the confines of her own tightly-controlled orbit and safe spaces. Deep down she envies those who have it, desperately wishes she could be more like them; and the truth is, she could — but she’d have to step out of her comfort zone and learn to face the Unknown a bit more recklessly.

STRENGTHS:

Analytical — Jumping into the void is not Georgie’s style. Before making a decision, be it work-related or personal, she takes every step into account, sometimes ad nauseam. While this can be a huge strength for someone in the business of journalism, it’s also her downfall. It means that, at times, she gets in her own way, paralyzed by over-researching and finding out more rather than acting on her discoveries or executing them. In other words, she can be something of a research-obsessed information hoarder. When this goes too far, she can become scattered, losing her focal point to a hundred loose threads and spiraling into exhaustion, frustration, and disorganization. This is why she’d never make a good career journalist but can, instead, hyperfixate on stories that interest her and get them published under someone else’s name.

Perceptive — A lifetime spent in quiet observation means Georgie has a knack for reading people. She is insightful and intuitive, and has a keen eye not just for finding beauty in the ordinary, but for interpreting others and noticing things about them that others may not. It’s a skill she has honed almost unintentionally over the years, and it means that despite being reserved, she is quite interested in understanding — and figuring out — people.

Calm in Crisis — Living so much in her head and often intentionally on the sidelines as an outside observer means she can stay cool and calm where others might succumb to drama. She’s excellent in crises or emergency situations, able to work from her default center of detachment to shut down distractions and assess the situation to quickly find solutions. This goes for emotional drama as well, although admittedly, if it’s her own personal issues and drama, that’s a different story.

Visionary — Despite not being a risk-taker when it comes to decisions, creatively she is quite a different story. An analytical mind paired with her perceptiveness and insight lends her an uncanny ability to capture the essence of things through the camera lens. This is where she shines, and where she’s able to let her proverbial hair down, loosen up, get out of her head, trust her gut and feel thoroughly at ease. It also means she's good at finding creative solutions and new approaches to stories, re-framing problems and finding new ways to connect the dots.

WEAKNESSES:

Reserved — She’s something of a lone wolf, seeming at first aloof and detached, but the truth is, she has many layers to peel and it takes some effort and patience for anyone to earn their way in and get beneath them. She’s not cold, she’s just careful, and keeping emotion at a safe distance doesn’t mean she doesn’t care. Quite the contrary.

Skeptical — In almost all things, Georgie doesn’t take much at face value. That goes for news stories as well as people: she has to dig deeper.

Rebellious — Going hand-in-hand with her skepticism, Georgie doesn’t easily accept or put her faith in belief systems and established authority structures. She doesn’t subscribe to Blackstorm or the Sector, organized religion, or the police, or anything without a thorough examination from a hundred angles. She believes in journalism, with all of its questions and examination and shedding light. While you might not call her a rebel in the more brazen and conventional way, she constantly questions and challenges authority, and can be quite bold, stubborn and headstrong in this area. (It’s also a touchy point between her and her mother, a longtime Blackstorm devotee.)

Tightly-controlled — Contrary to what rebellion might suggest, right? But while she bucks under any outside attempts at control, she likes to be in control of herself – to a fault, sometimes. Predictability is her friend. She is only comfortable using her gift this way; facing the ghosts on her own terms. But it probably also gets in the way of her ability to grow. Perhaps someone could nudge her gently out of her comfort zone, free her from the purgatory of her own rigidity and the confines of her safe spaces to actually do something unpredictable. She has it in her, but she just can’t seem to let go.

OVERALL PERSONALITY:

Georgie is an observer. She can often be found on the sidelines, content to take it all in, but there’s more going on with her than meets the eye. Despite her calm, collected and sometimes aloof demeanor, she isn’t unapproachable. She radiates a certain subtle warmth, but to most she interacts with, there’s the sense that you’re only scratching the surface. And that’s the truth. While not shy, she’s reserved, with layers to peel should someone have the patience and fortitude to do so.

Since moving back home she spends a lot of time with her little sister Willow, but when she’s not with her, she’s either working or likely found in some solitary pursuit — watching a movie, reading at the cafe or a diner with her earbuds in, trekking around the beaches or wilds with her camera equipment in pursuit of the perfect shot. Sometimes she just likes to walk or sit, see things in the quality or color of light that others don’t seem to (take the time to) see. And while Georgie gravitates toward things she can explain, dig up and expose or at least SEE with the naked eye, the artistic pursuit of photography calms her. Helps her to walk back off the edge of her anxieties, gaining focus and perspective when she’s tightly wound and scattered.

She’s a bit cynical, sure, but it’s obvious she sees the beauty in ordinary things. She can definitely get lost in her own head (be it connecting the dots or questioning herself and everything else) and her artistic vision. She leans toward being cerebral, not grounded in her body; so she was always decidedly on the more uncoordinated side when it came to school sports or anything athletic.

These days she’s super focused on her family in the aftermath of her stepdad’s death. He was the only father she’s ever known, so she’s going through it too, but her coping mechanism is to focus on everybody else. Taking her little sister, Willow, under her wing. Checking in on her stepbrother. Dragging her mother out of bed on the bad days. Her method of comfort doesn’t involve crying together or being touchy-feely; she’s more no-nonsense and just reliably, relentlessly there. Even if you didn't ask her to be. Even if you don’t necessarily want her to be. Pulling you up by your bootstraps out of your black hole or whatever trouble you’ve dug yourself into — probably a little exasperated by it, but still, with her own brand of heartfelt persistence. Can it get annoying at times? Maybe. But she doesn’t care.

And that’s the journalist in her. No issues with confrontation from a work or principle perspective, relentless and resilient when chasing down a story or looking out for a friend, hyper-focused to a fault. Emotional conflict – AKA facing her own shit – is a different story. But yours? She can deal with. Chasing down/tying up loose ends for ghosts? Yeah, definitely. Is it all a way to avoid facing her own issues head-on, or looking too closely at herself? Possibly. But that doesn’t mean her whole heart isn’t in it… in fact, she isn’t really even aware of it.

BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Los Eurosia, CA

FAMILY:

Fox Holland — Father (57), Human, Sector.
Leah Meadows-Keane — Mother (55), Gifted (Power Sensing), Blackstorm.
Bobby Keane — Stepfather (57), Gifted (Geokinesis), Deceased.
Maverick Keane — Stepbrother (21), Gifted.
Willow Keane — Half-Sister (10), Human.

PETS: Fish.

HISTORY:

TW: various mentions of tragic deaths, suicide, abduction, etc.

Though Georgie was born in New York City, it is not a place she remembers. Her mother, a Gifted woman named Leah Meadows, was studying and interning in the psychology department at NYU when she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. The man she was seeing (if you could call it that, more like a complicated series of one-night stands) was Dr. Fox Holland, a psychology professor who was effectively her boss. He was immersed in research and Leah was entrenched in the first stirrings of a passionate underground revolution – much like Blackstorm – taking place in the city. When Fox found out her involvement (and subsequently her Gifted status), he gently disapproved. But when Leah discovered his quiet behind-the-scenes work for the Sector a few short weeks later, things imploded. Leah already suspected through her power-sensing ability that their daughter – just a toddler – was Gifted somehow. And while only time would tell, she could not be involved with a man whose entire livelihood and belief system clashed so fundamentally with her own. Who might want to hide, report, or control her — or their daughter.

So Leah packed Georgie up, along with what few meager belongings they had in their tiny apartment, and split for the West Coast, where – rumor had it – she might find sanctuary. In Los Eurosia, Leah quickly formed ties with Blackstorm. She found a job at the local college that, though it barely kept them afloat, was enough to afford them a rental in East End. And as she suspected, in time, Georgie’s powers slowly surfaced.

The first time Georgie saw a ghost, she was ten years old. She and her mom had awoken, along with everyone else on their block, to a blaze a few houses down. They huddled against the heat, watching the flames lick and roar and eat away the home of Betty, an elderly woman Georgie had taken to visiting each day after school for an hour or two. Betty had packaged cookies and a little TV by her Formica kitchen table where she switched on cartoons and talked, over the animated chaos, about the grown children and grandchildren she rarely saw. Georgie saw her now, in the dark lit by fire, in the flashing strobe of the emergency lights, walking out of her burning house and when she turned, looking at Georgie with her scorched face, all that was left of her house dress was ashes. Georgie screamed for them to SAVE HER, HELP HER, do something, but nobody did. Nobody else saw her, and Georgie certainly didn’t realize that Betty was already long gone. Her mother herded her back inside the safety of their own house. Minutes later, the firemen dragged Betty’s lifeless corpse out from the smoking rubble. The next day, Georgie saw her again on her way home from school, standing on the charred remains of her porch.

Over the years, a pattern emerged. Georgie could see people who were not really there. Or rather, people who were no longer of this world, whom others could not see. The first time she picked up a camera was to try and photograph one. She bought a disposable camera and the corner store and waited three long days to pick up the developed film. When she looked through the photographs, there was nothing. Just the bridge and the glimmer of the river behind it; no sign of the woman who had met her death jumping off.

Sometimes they spoke to her. Often times, they horrified her – especially the more grisly of them, the ones who’d met tragic or violent ends. She rarely lingered long enough to listen to what they said or look longer than she had to, and the world began to feel like a terrifying place. Because even though Georgie didn’t see them often – maybe once every few months, at most – she never knew when it might happen. Or where. Eventually she began to realize that she was seeing the dead where they died, and while that didn’t necessarily make it anymore predictable, it at least gave her some parameters. No hospitals. Her house was safe. Cemeteries, ironically, were possibly the safest of all. She’d never heard of anyone who actually died in a cemetery. That was where people went to rest after they were already dead.

But hanging out in the local cemetery did her no favors as far as making friends. In fact, at the tender age of twelve, it earned her the cruel and unfortunate nickname of Dead Girl. Cruellest of all, her classmates had no idea how excruciatingly accurate it was, no awareness of the secret she hid. But it was worth it for a while, the peace of mind in knowing that today, at least for a little while, she wouldn’t have to face One of Them.

By high school, she’d managed to shake it. Her mom got married to Bobby Keane, a fellow Blackstorm member; and along with him came a step-brother, Maverick. She spent a lot of time in the library and at the diner, picked up a part-time job waitressing, joined the school newspaper and spearheaded a photography club. Predictability was her greatest strategy: avoiding troublesome areas where she’d seen the dead before or calculated the likelihood as higher. Wherever she was going, she only took trusted routes, to the point where her friends labeled her Slightly OCD™. She held onto the truth as a secret, but at least it lent her some semblance of normalcy.

There were six of them, including Georgie, in their tight friend group: a sprawl of different interests and personalities, but somehow all drawn and fit together. Amongst them, dynamics varied, with tighter friendships and sometimes even fleeting (often secret) attractions blooming, but no matter what, they did everything together. Thanks to her commitment to avoidance, Georgie hadn’t seen the dead in years, but that changed one night during her senior year. They were all on their way to a post-homecoming football game party when the car accident happened… and Hannah Morrow, Georgie’s best friend, didn’t make it.

She saw her ghost there on the roadside, even as the medics pulled Hannah from the wreckage. Maybe her friends were still holding out hope, but Georgie knew. Her friends didn’t think twice about the way Georgie reacted. People acted in unpredictable ways in the face of trauma, and they were all going through it. They didn’t know what – or who – she’d seen, or that she couldn’t bring herself to face it, and if they noticed she was never the same after that night, that she pulled away, consumed by guilt and self-doubt, it was nothing unusual. Because none of them were ever the same.

The five that walked away — mostly unscathed — from that horrific scene tried to cling together, but in the end it defined their senior year. They never really recovered; were certainly never the same again, together or apart. After graduation they all scattered. Georgie ended up in Sacramento for college, and in time they all lost touch, went their separate ways and forged their own paths, hoping to leave that tragedy and its trauma in the past. But for Georgie, that didn’t really ever happen.

Even after three years of college and landing a competitive internship at a local city paper, she never stopped thinking about Hannah. One summer break she went back home to Los Eurosia, to the scene of the accident, and tried to contact her again, but it was too late. She was lost to Georgie. And still, even after earning her degree and a job at a well-respected newspaper and meeting Nick Morgan (and falling in love and, three years later, saying yes when he asked her to marry him), she couldn’t forget her. Or the chance she had blown. Or the way she had (probably, possibly, most likely) failed her.

Because maybe Hannah’d had something to say. Some final words or a goodbye. Maybe whatever it was could have given some comfort or clarity to her grieving family. And even if she had communicated nothing, knowing would have been better than wondering for all these years.

That was why, when Nick got promoted and a missing persons case for a local girl fell across his desk and he was assigned lead detective, Hannah understood how the parents must feel. When the case went cold, no leads, no sign of twelve-year-old Ava Starling, she imagined that the not knowing must be worse than even the worst kind of closure. The girl’s face was all over the city, plastered on missing persons boards and telephone poles, newscasts and social media. So when Georgie stumbled upon her ghost one morning while taking photos down by the riverside, she knew her. This time, she didn’t turn away. She knew what she needed to do.

She couldn’t let Ava’s parents suffer through wondering, and despite their and the Sacramento PD’s initial skepticism, they pursued the lead. After hours of combing the river, they found Ava at the bottom.

Nick was dumbfounded. Georgie hadn’t told him about her gift, but now he became nearly obsessed with it, consumed with all its potential for current and cold cases of all sorts. For Georgie, the Ava Starling case had been a “once and done” situation. An exception, really. She resisted further involvement and recognition, turning down interviews and hiding in her apartment for two weeks when the local TV station caught wind of the story. She didn’t want her face attached to the reports and headlines, but regardless, a brief media frenzy ensued, her privacy was breached, and a circus of desperate and crazy people came out of the woodwork to contact her. Wanting interviews, answers, help finding missing loved ones or hoping to communicate with those who were long gone.

One day, in the midst of it all, her mother called to tell her that Bobby had died. Going home for the funeral felt like an escape. It wasn’t a happy time — not in the least — but at least she could breathe. She could leave the house without worrying who might be waiting for her. She could get some space from Nick and, being apart from him, begin to realize just how deep their problems had gotten.

Georgie went back to Sacramento just long enough to pack her things, quit her job, and tell Nick it was over. She moved into a cheap row home in East End and took some time off to help her mom through the worst of it: the weeks of debilitating grief when she could hardly get out of bed let alone function enough to take care of her ten-year-old, Willow.

Maybe Georgie isn’t the best at words of consolation, but she is good at being there, doing what she says she is going to do. Picking up Willow from school, helping her with homework, holding the pieces together while Leah vacillates between falling apart and working her way back to a new normal. Checking in on Maverick, making sure he’s holding down a job, doing alright, eating more than Cup O’ Noodles. It’s been nine months now and Georgie still feels a little bit like she’s still getting back on her feet with recovering from a breakup, working through loss, and being back in the hometown that holds so many memories. With a job at the LE Herald and a place of her own back home in a town with ghosts — both literal and figurative — that she never planned on facing.

THE PLAYER

NAME: Nix

AGE: 30+

TIMEZONE: EST

[Rinse]

[attr="class","th th-flower-1-o"] ACCEPTED

Another lovely app and another exciting character! 🤩✨ Once more, can not wait to see this intriguing gal out there! I've been foaming at the mouth forever for a mediumship/ghost-y character and I just know reading Georgie is gonna scratch an ITCH. 😤

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