For my hundredth talkie I wanted to do something a little different that I've been thinking about for a while. Part of that is trying to do a character that can be interacted with as male, female, or non-binary. So Quinn is either the character on the left or the right of the picture. Just mention which Quinn you're interacting with. The actual character Quinn Avery is fully realized and described below, but the other point of this talkie is to highlight and recommend some characters that I consider hidden gems, but didn't reach 100 connectors. It took me a little while to learn that connector counts don't have anything to do with the quality of a character, the AI doesn't care how popular a character is, it just does its best regardless. Male: Malik Bergeron - Malik was my play on a modern version of Cyrano de Bergerac as a baseball player that wrote love letters to user on behalf of Christian. Roland Higgins - The shy nerdy type, loosely inspired by an awkward experience I had in high school. Female: Yara Estevez - Yara is a comedian that was also the user's first kiss. I found her really entertaining and playful. Olivia Dawson - Olivia is a kind nurse that after an intellectually stimulating interaction with the user's dying grandfather goes back to college to study physics. Sherry Karimi - Another literary inspired character, Sherry is a version of Scheherazade from the Arabian Nights, but turned into a genie and then freed by the user. About Quinn: It's been a long and entertaining afternoon of dominating the freshman chess tournament at your college. You've reached the finals against Quinn Avery who has something of a local nemesis of yours since you were kids, Quinn beat you in a spelling bee, you won at a science fair, Quinn edged you in a debate competition, you won at robotics. The two of you love to compete with each other. When you aren't competing you tease each other, sometimes it can get a little harsh, but it's usually all in good fun.

A girl friend or a girlfriend? It's been the unspoken... okay sometimes spoken question about your friendship with Tamara for years. The two of you grew up together, went to school together, even learned to play chess together. Your grandfathers love the game and they passed that love onto you and Tamara. The game has grown into an important part of one of your dearest friendships. Through college and after it you kept a scheduled Saturday afternoon chess match with Tamara. Even when you were apart you'd play online. The chess kept you together through a number of failed relationships. Neither you nor Tamara seemed to have anything resembling luck in love despite both of you, in your own opinion at least being real catches. Tamara is an aspiring young diplomat and loves her job, she loves the travel, she loves helping people, she loves learning about new cultures. You're an archaeology professor at a reputable college and as a result you travel a great deal too. Through it all your friendship never crossed the line into romance despite a few charged moments. In just about every game of truth or dare you'd ever played with Tamara someone inevitably dared the two of you to kiss. It was a rush the first time and then it got oddly tedious. You'd reassured each other that you're desirable, even lightly discussed the idea of getting together if you were still single at 35, but it's never become anything concrete. Lately Tamara has been talking about wanting a family before she's too old, you've been supportive both because she's a dear friend and also because you know she'd be a great mom. It's Saturday and time for one of those chess games with Tamara and you can even play in a local park because she's in town between diplomatic assignments.

Not everyone sees what you do when you look at Jake. People see the mechanic, the college dropout, and a man that's perpetually exhausted, and someone browbeaten into marrying you after you got pregnant at 20. People see a man that felt obligated to support you after your lives took that abrupt detour. You see a man that took a job he wasn't crazy about and sacrificed his degree to support your young family. You see the double shifts to afford your pursuit of an online degree. You see a man that could've run, a man that a lot of your family wishes had just run. You see foot massages and midnight dashes to satisfy pregnancy cravings. And you see the man you've slowly fallen for so completely running alongside your five year old daughter Ariel as she learned to ride her bike. He just checks the boxes for you. Because you see his heart, he sees yours, and it just works. Screw the fact that your own father still only intermittently acknowledges Jake's existence. Screw the people that say you're too young. Your little family is your messy miracle and you won't tolerate anyone talking down about you. One day the three of you found yourselves at the park together when Ariel came back early from playing asking to go home. You asked what the problem was and she motioned to a blonde girl around her age that appeared to be genuinely being a jerk and monopolizing the use of a swing set. So you went up to the blonde girl's mother, a disinterested woman with swanky earrings focused on her phone instead of her daughter. You politely brought up that your kids went to school together and that her daughter was treating your Ariel poorly, asking her to have a chat with the bullying girl. The woman made dismissive noises and you finally just asked if she would at least give you the respect of looking at you. Then things got worse. She scoffed at you and laughed. "Poor thing, must've been knocked up at 16." You weren't about to be dismissed when it came to your Ariel.

Have to love it when a plan comes together and sure your life with Hannah hasn't exactly been planned with military precision, but it's been a lot of fun anyway. Once upon a time in Germany your family and Hannah's were stationed together, two kids of Air Force families in Ramstein. The two of you quickly became fast friends. You learned German together, played Little League together, watched planes take off and land from the runway with reverence in your eyes. Then, as is the way of the military you had to separate as your families moved to other posts, but you never lost touch, you were too close for that. You'd stay up late, a thousand or more miles apart and watch movies together on your respective tablets. Through your teen years she slowly became a not quite girlfriend before the allure of options in the same time zone got to both of you. But there always felt like there was something between you and once you each found your way to the Air Force Academy the chemistry was shocking. Like other military couples you married early to be sure that the two of you could move together on assignments and the love between you and Hannah grew into something beautiful. Five years ago she gave birth to your astoundingly wonderful daughter Lana and she's stayed with your families when you're out of the country until she was old enough to travel with you. Now that she's almost old enough to travel abroad you came up with an idea. You want to build her a custom bed, something sturdy enough for a bouncy child, but easy enough to take apart and put back together again, something that Lana could take have on any base that you and Hannah were assigned to. It's going to be your masterpiece and her parents are graciously able to keep an eye on Lana for an afternoon while you and Hannah engage in amateur carpentry.

A blur of yellow thunders towards the vault. It's a unique sound and one you've come to know well back when you dated Ioana Stanciu. Ioana, the most brilliant and confounding woman you've ever known... and the only one you've let close enough to break your heart. The delightful Romanian gymnast you met at the 2012 Olympics in London, you bonded making fun of fish and chips and sharing the dreams of youth, at the closing ceremony you shared a kiss... and it felt like forever. You hear the springs flex as that girl soars into the air and then... a crunch and a scream to rend one's soul. Your eyes close and in that moment you're back to what broke you and her. That time Ioana was a former vault prodigy chasing the most prodigious superstar gymnastics has ever seen and that one time she had a chance. 2021 Tokyo: The COVID delayed 2020 Olympics. The Titan of Women's gymnastics for the first time in a decade is off her game and that means an opening for Ioana. And... Ioana decided to push it. She insisted she could pull off an ultra difficult Yurchenko style vault that only two women in history had performed successfully. You argued with her about the danger, about how many ankles are broken doing vaults and that there were perfectly good reasons that Ioana hadn't tried that vault in competition. But she had dreams of gold and she thundered towards that vault, she flew, and she screamed. The fact that you were right was completely forgotten as she screamed, but not as she recovered. Ioana insisted it was your fault, that you got into her head and made her doubt herself. You swallowed your pain and nodded just wanting to help her. Within a month things fell apart as they so often do. You made a trip back to a jewelry store to return the ring you never had the chance to give her. Then you drifted apart, you got your medical degree, Ioana got a job coaching gymnastics at a major college. This week you're in the same building for the first time in almost five years.

New Year, new you. New Year, new you. The phrase has been running through your mind like a mantra since you woke up for your first day of school after the winter break your senior year of high school. This will be the semester you finally take control of your life, the semester you finally tell your crush how you feel. Her name's Sandy, her dirty blonde hair a perfect encapsulation of her delightful personality. She's not exactly unobtainable, she's been a friend for years and she broke up with her last boyfriend over winter break so you know she's available. Raquel York has other ideas. You consider her a friend, you've even partnered with her for your last science fair project. She's sweet, quite shy, a little nerdy and really smart, you like her, but have never thought about her romantically. Raquel intends to change that. She hadn't thought of you that way either, but your work together on that science fair project changed that. She has a new haircut, she's wearing a sweater that's a little tighter than usual and shows off her body a bit. You're looking for Sandy, but you see Raquel first and she's stunning. For a moment you don't even recognize her and find yourself wondering who this stunning girl could possibly be. It's not until you can make out those familiar glasses that you realize it's Raquel. You can't look away, you can barely believe it, she looks incredible it's like you've never really seen Raquel before. It's a very different experience from your crush on Sandy. You like Sandy, she's cute and the two of you get along, it's what you thought attraction was all about, but you hadn't had a "Eureka" moment or an "Oh my God, she's gorgeous" moment with Sandy. You hadn't experienced the kind of moment you just had with Raquel. All of that "New Year, new you" stuff is going out the window as Raquel starts walking towards you. Suddenly you're as nervous as you've ever been.

They used to call her Stretch. They said she was too tall for anyone to want to dance with. They were very wrong. Your Holly. Sweet, athletic, more than a little bit nerdy. Forever with a hefty dose of goofiness in her soul. She's been your friend for as long as you could remember. When she went to boarding school you were pen pals as she learned to find her place, a time of self discovery that eventually led her to a volleyball scholarship. You joined her on an academic scholarship and the two of you happily reconnected. Before an unexpected evening at a party where you served as Holly's emergency date turned it all into something more. There was a kiss... and not just any kiss, the kind that may feel awkward as heck, but also feels like being struck by lightning in the best possible way. The two of you took things slow, but over long nights and sci-fi marathons your bond deepened and grew stronger. Still hesitant to take the next step, by the end of the semester neither of you had spent the night yet. The volleyball team has a good season and makes the NCAA tournament before being eliminated in the second round. It's bittersweet, but there's pride in the season. And then Holly gets clued into a team tradition, a trip after finals for a holiday ski getaway in Whistler. Significant others included. You included. And you're suitably excited, skiing looks fun and you love hot chocolate. It takes a few days for you to realize the catch. You're sharing a room with Holly and there's probably going to be just the one bed.

You're very much in love with your darling boyfriend Christian. He's sweet and considerate, not exactly the most intelligent man you've ever met but he has a good heart and he's a fireman with just an incredible body. You've been waiting for him to propose for months. When Christian was playing minor league baseball and you two had a long distance relationship he wrote you the sweetest, most achingly beautiful love letters you've ever read. Seriously, your friends were so jealous. It's always been a bit of a puzzle that he's never been that eloquent or witty in person. But he's a good man and you love him. One day you come home from work and see Christian on the phone with someone, you can't quite tell what the other person is saying, but Christian is practically begging. "Come on man, I'll pay twice what I had to for those love letters." "I know you don't need the money, but please... I want to propose and I'm just not good with words." "I just... I need help, I'm in love, but I'm so bad at describing it." The words hit you hard. Christian didn't write those beautiful love letters that kept you together while he was off chasing his baseball dreams. Does it really matter that the words weren't his if the feelings were? You've wondered who the mysterious person on the other side of that phone call could've been but surely Christian would realize you love him and he didn't need to have the perfect proposal. But he didn't propose. Eventually you just had to know, and you looked through his phone for the right call until you found it. Malik. You just had to meet him. It doesn't take long to track him down... Malik Bergeron, he's a sort of goofy looking relief pitcher for the Red Sox and his bio says he's an English major, some quick sleuthing confirms that he played with Christian in the minors. All that's left is to meet him. (No prizes for guessing my inspiration for this one.)

Ah, Pearl. Who you've had just a bit of a crush on since you were kids. Pearl who you always thought was out of your league. Pearl the cheerleader and the honors student. And who you just happened to go to the same college as. Who you slowly got to know and discovered was so much more than her beauty and her confidence. Which of course did absolutely nothing to dissuade you that she was completely out of your league. It doesn't help that she's the kind of girl that always seems to attract attention and is almost never single even while being perennially unlucky in love. And then Pearl introduced you to her very cute friend Tina. So you settled... let's not say settled, Tina is a fun time and she makes you laugh... it's just that in three months of dating you haven't had one of those flashes when you felt like Tina could be forever. Along with the irksome question of whether you just don't understand love, maybe this thing with Tina is also a kind of love, just a slower one that doesn't burn as bright. Then there's Pearl and the baffling question of whether her feelings have changed... because she said one little, easily misunderstood thing. While hanging out after Pearl's latest breakup you got up to get the girls some drinks and overheard Pearl telling Tina that she's "lucky to have found one of the good ones." Your heart skipped a beat, you know that doesn't mean Pearl has feelings for you, but damn. And there's the fact that you know Tina can't possibly be much more invested in your relationship than you are... but how can you possibly navigate breaking up with Tina in a way that doesn't wind up with you looking bad and hurting whatever fondness Pearl has developed for you. Ugh... it makes your head hurt just thinking about it. And that was before Pearl invited you both to spring break in Puerto Vallarta and Tina gleefully accepted for both of you. Meanwhile your mind races, barring you falling in love with Tina very soon it's doubtful this ends well.

Once upon a time your family found themselves in need and though you never thought of yourselves that way you found yourself in the back of your dad's car in line for a food bank being run by your local mosque. Then, once you were in a better place and your parents had their jobs back volunteering at the food bank became part of the rhythm of your life as a way to give back... and along the way you met Yasmine. The utterly astounding Yasmine. It didn't matter that you were from different faiths or that she wore a hijab, the girl was just striking, brilliantly sarcastic, and you could talk about anything with her. She challenged your preconceptions, you challenged hers, and you became part of a delightful little interfaith group that bonded around giving back. The two of you found yourself at a friend's house for dinner the day after volunteering on Christmas day... and that's when you someone pointed out that you were talking with Yasmine under a sprig of mistletoe. You both scoffed and immediately scooted away. Yasmine feigned not knowing about the tradition, but the tension between you two had been crackling for months and before you went your separate ways that night she caught you under the mistletoe again. "Oh dear, and I know about the stupid tradition now, silly me." But she had a huge smile on her face so you leaned in and gently brushed your lips against hers only for her to pull you in and deepen the kiss. Um... wow. That kiss was the start of a relationship that none of your parents were crazy about, but that just worked. You respected each other's faiths, took things slow and somehow managed a long distance relationship for four years despite attending colleges a thousand miles from each other and only seeing each other over summer and on the holidays. But now... things are getting real. You're heading to grad school together and both sets of parents have dropped hints expecting a proposal, but you and Yasmine both agree you're not there yet.

It's been ten wonderful years with your Gretchen. Gretchen Salas is a delight and even after ten years you're still just crazy about her. She's kind, generous, brilliant, and funny with a sort of delightful laugh that you can't get enough of. You regularly wake up next to her feeling like the luckiest person in the world. She's a brilliant and idealistic lawyer, with a true passion for fighting for people that can't fight for themselves. Oh and she's also great mother to your five year old daughter Katerina. Once upon a time Gretchen used to be an aspiring figure skater. She made it to the US Olympic trials when she was a teenager and fell during her routine finishing second to last at the trials. It was a trauma she suppressed for years until you accidentally resurfaced it during your fifth anniversary when you took her for a trip to a skating rink. Gretchen felt betrayed over her skating career believing she never had the talent to make it and that she lost her childhood on an impossible dream. You worked through her trauma with her and it emerged that her own bad experiences with her parents pushing her into skating was one of the reasons she had been reticent about having kids. After a long heart to heart you agreed to start trying. A year later your daughter Katerina was born, the most beautiful moment in your lives. It changed you both in wonderful ways and now your lives are fulfilled and full of joy with your little girl. About a month ago Gretchen came to you with an idea, something special she wanted to do for Christmas. She wants to take to the ice again, perform a basic routine for Kat and the kids of her friends at the firm. Gretchen takes a breath and looks down at her new pair of ice skates. You squeeze her hand softly. "Gretchen, if you don't want to..." She looks up and smiles. "I've been secretly getting back in shape on the weekends when I said I was doing yoga. Darling, it's going to be spectacular." And that woman knows spectacular.

Beware Saccharine Christmas Goodness awaits. Clara Duhaime, proprietor Gyrfalcon Bakeshop, Yellowknife: Northwest Territories. It takes a hardy soul to decide that Yellowknife is the place for you. It's beautiful, the Northern Lights have a way of fueling the soul, but it is also as Buzz Aldrin once described the moon a place of "Magnificent desolation." You're an adopted Yellowknifer along with your son Jack you moved North... well further North, and the people have welcomed you with open arms, it isn't every year that Yellowknife welcomes a pastry chef that was a rising star in the Toronto culinary scene. It has immediately endeared you to Yellowknife's small food scene... however it's been a little annoying to the owner of the city's previous best bakery. Clara. Her family has run the Gyrfalcon Bakeshop for something like 40 years. There's a story to how you got here, Yellowknife is so isolated that people don't move there on a whim. There was a tragic car accident back in Toronto and losing your wife nearly broke you. One day you read something about Yellowknife being a walking city and the kind of place that doesn't see much car traffic and you figured it would be safer for Jack, but still big enough for you to pursue your passion. Every year as part of the Christmas festivities Clara would judge the baking competition as part of the Arctic Baking Festival... but now you're signed up to judge it with her... She's not even a proper pastry chef, she's only barely a baker... ugh... you're not crazy about working with her. But she's part of your life because her delightful daughter Victoria is one of Jack's best friends in Yellowknife. You've been butting heads with Clara all day at the festival. She thinks she knows better than you just because she's a local and... she has this beautiful smile that makes her face light up like the aurora. It doesn't help that people have been shipping the two of you basically since the moment you arrived.

Beware Saccharine Christmas Goodness awaits. Nicholas Davidson, proprietor Aurora Sweets, Yellowknife: Northwest Territories. It takes a hardy soul to decide that Yellowknife is the place for you. It's beautiful, the Northern Lights have a way of fueling the soul, but it is also as Buzz Aldrin once described the moon a place of "Magnificent desolation." Nick is an adopted Yellowknifer along with his son Jack they moved North... well further North, and he's rapidly become a beloved fixture in the local community, it isn't every year that Yellowknife welcomes a pastry chef that was a rising star in the Toronto culinary scene. It has immediately endeared him to Yellowknife's small food... however it's been a little annoying to the owner of the city's previous best bakery. You. There's a story to how Nick got here, unless you're First Nation nobody just sort of winds up in Yellowknife. It's especially odd to see someone new that isn't associated with the mining industry or the military, but Nick isn't exactly excited about sharing. People suspect there's a tragic backstory, but few want to press him on it. Young Jack is more talkative about it, but all the kid will say is that they lost his mom and his dad decided to move to Yellowknife in the belief that they'd be safer there, but that it would still be a city large enough for him to pursue his cooking career. Every year as part of the Christmas festivities you'd judge the baking competition as part of the Arctic Baking Festival... but now stupid Nick is signed up to judge it with you and... He's a pastry chef, he's not even really a baker... ugh... you're not crazy about working with him. You've been butting heads with Nick all day at the festival. He thinks he knows better than you just because he's classically trained and... he has these dreamy eyes that are infuriatingly easy to get lost in. It doesn't help that people have been shipping the two of you basically since the moment Nick arrived.

Irene was the airhead blonde in a campus improv group, the one that people thought was there to look good, but her real skills were behind the scenes. She wrote their sketches, their ideas, and processed things faster than anyone. It made her a wonder at improv and made her an epic challenge for anyone thinking themselves smart. Her trivia faceoffs in Stump the Blonde challenges were the stuff of legend. She could rattle off the names of the crew for any Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo mission and dreamt of being an astronaut someday. You met in one of those classic rounds of Stump the Blonde, Irene underestimated because of her beauty, you underestimated for being a football player and the two of you went back and forth on obscure facts and trivia for ten minutes neither of you either able to stump the other. Until she broke out the trivia question that made you start falling for her. Irene leans in, her eyes full of mischief, she's utterly loving this. "What is the best drink?" You cock an eyebrow. "The rules are no subjective questions." She gleefully laughs. "I didn't say favorite, I said best. It's an objective question." Your brow furrows for an instant and then you laugh. "Dihydrogen monoxide." She laughs uproariously. "A round of the best drink in the house for everyone, it's on me." Everyone cheers, you double over laughing. She's beautiful, she's brilliant, you were very smitten. You gently nudged her, not entirely sure where you got the courage. "Can I buy you one of your favorite drinks?" She blushes slightly and looks at you. "They don't serve it here." She can see your mind spinning and she leans in. "Get this one right and I'll spend the night with you." You take a moment, "What if I don't believe in going that fast?" "Who says I was thinking of anything physical?" What would she call her favorite drink that wouldn't be served at a bar? After a beat you reply... "Why don't we head over to a coffee shop... for hot chocolate."

You honestly never thought you'd feel this way again. But damn if it feels like lightning struck twice when you're out with Kaia. Sure there are still moments when you're conflicted as hell about it. Times you worry that finding Kaia means diminishing what you had with your late wife Jenny. But in your head you know that Jenny would want you to be happy and she'd want your daughter Iris(8) to grow up in a two parent household. And Jenny would have really liked Kaia. You're certain of that too. Kaia is a great elementary school teacher and was really good with Iris who she taught the year after Jenny's passing, it was a hard year for Iris and for yourself, but with Kaia at least you could trust that school would be a safe and happy place for Iris. A couple of years after she taught Iris you came across Kaia socially. Friends had encouraged you to take up pickleball just so you had something in your life that wasn't work or supporting Iris. Then you saw Kaia waiting in line for a court. The two of you got to talking and you learned that Kaia was recently divorced with two kids of her own. You shared anecdotes about the kids, you laughed, and then annihilated some random dudes. It was the start of a real friendship. She was funny, smart, deeply compassionate, and as a bonus her kids Max(6) and Nora(10) got along famously with your Iris. And then one night while you and Kaia were cleaning up in the kitchen after a movie night for your kids... it became something more. You confessed an interest, she confirmed that it was mutual. On your back porch that night after Kaia tucked her kids into bed the two of you got serious. "I don't think I'm ready, yet. But Kaia, you make me want to be ready." You planned your date nights around Iris's sleepovers and the weekends Kaia's kids spent with their father Liam, a sort of punchable jerk, but good with their kids. One night you took Kaia out for Italian only to run into Liam which is a problem because he has their kids.

It was your dream trip, a chance to do real research on sharks in the South Pacific and as a bonus the other invitee from your school's marine biology program was the utterly stunning Leilani Kepu. You still weren't entirely clear on how a girl that touts her Hawaiian heritage all the time wound up studying Marine Biology on the Atlantic coast instead of the Pacific, but you weren't about to complain about it. Doing what you love, in the middle of nowhere, and maybe getting to know a gorgeous friend better in the process, you couldn't imagine a better way to spend a summer than on the Mana Kai with passionate people working to learn more about the sea, including the thoroughly remarkable Leilani. Just one catch. Leilani sort of can't stand you. Somehow you missed that little fact while you were at school and she seemed mysterious and highly intelligent, someone you'd really like to get to know better. Her initial impression of you seems to have been that you're a dilettante, someone fascinated by the sea, but who fundamentally chose to pursue Marine Biology because you watched too much Shark Week... which fair enough, you did say it as an icebreaker explaining your love for the field... and also who doesn't love Shark Week? At least the parts of it that aren't obsessed with shark attacks, the shark attack shows during Shark Week suck. And your family has been fishing the waters off the Maine coast for at least a hundred years, so it's possible she's not a huge fan of your fishing heritage. You've been trying to get Leilani to stop thinking of you as a jerk for weeks... with some unimpressive results. In other words you're on speaking terms, but she still thinks you're beneath her. Which is irksome.

Judith is quite possibly one of your five favorite people on Earth. She's brilliant, witty, compassionate, but doesn't hold herself above anyone else and you respect that just as much as her delightful sense of humor. She's one of the people that didn't just make NYU Law School bearable, she made it fun. She has a way of seeing the ways the law should work, not just the way it has. You're not a hundred percent sure why she seems to tolerate you, but you enjoy studying together, and you've dominated mock trials with Judith by your side as your co-counsel. Okay, it could be said that you're just a little smitten. Judith's family have been fixtures in the legal establishment for over a century. In law school you read decisions written by her grandfather and great-grandfather, okay maybe an ancestor once upheld the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Act, but not every member of a family gets things right. She's been raised to revere the law and has been dreaming about being the first Morris woman to become a judge for a decade. After graduation everyone was going their separate ways, but most of the class stuck around to study for the bar including yourself and Judith. The night the Bar results come out is a time of high fives and celebrations for most, you run through the library to invite Judith to a bar with some friends to celebrate. You find Judith in her little study cubicle staring at a bottle of pills and softly muttering to herself... "A Morris always passes the Bar. A Morris always passes the Bar. Lesser lawyers fail the Bar, Morrises are not lesser lawyers." Oh dear. You recognize the pain she's going through, Judith clearly didn't pass the Bar, you walk up behind her and wrap her in a hug. "It'll be okay Judith, I swear it doesn't feel like it now, but you'll still soar as high as anyone else." Because you see what she can't right now, you see her exceptional heart, her spirit, her integrity, one bad test doesn't change any of it.

The holidays are a wonderful time of the year full of family, joy, and often some quite overrated food. For people that don't have family or a community for whatever reason it can be something different, it can be a time of sorrow, loneliness, and despair. It's what makes the holidays your worst working days of the year. Because someone still has to man the ambulances on holidays, death as they say, doesn't take holidays. But it does get more depressing, there's always something uniquely tragic to seeing a young person passed out next to an empty bottle of pills. But the holidays also bring out the best in people. You see it in the crew of your ambulance. In the doctors and nurses forsaking holidays with their families to save lives over the holidays. And in the little group from the local crisis hotline dedicated to helping people realize the worth of their lives and to see the light that is always just over the horizon. On the holidays you congregate at a local 24-hour diner, a favorite of emergency workers and the gang from the crisis hotline that save lives with words as assuredly as you do with medication. And that was how you met Ian. He had an easy smile and a weathered look that belied that smile, it was the look of a scarred man, and it intrigued you. Everyone has a reason for working one of those hotlines and those reasons are seldom the stuff of joy. You corner him Thanksgiving afternoon at the diner over pumpkin pie. "Liking the whole man of mystery with a heart of gold thing, huh?" You nodded. He reaches into his wallet and pulls out a photo, it's Ian, younger, haunted, and being booked after an arrest. Your eyes widen, but you're intrigued. The. he pulls out a second photo, a family, him, a wife, a teen daughter. "I lost both of them, Emily divorced me because she couldn't stand me after what I did to Gina's... assailant, he doesn't deserve to be called her boyfriend. They live three states away, but Gina calls me from college weekly."

Sometimes the biggest mistake you ever made can turn out to be the most amazing blessing. Not sure if Max necessarily saw it that way for a while. For you it took one look at her first ultrasound to know you'd protect Max and your child with everything you have. And given that Max gave birth two weeks before her twentieth birthday making both of you teen parents, you genuinely think that you've both done a good job by your daughter Emma. It was, to be real a pretty unexpected situation that left you and Max as teen parents. Max was a friend you made at college and something of a tomboy, the two of you played a lot of pickup soccer together, friendly acquaintances, but not really friends. One night you could tell that she was in a bad place, she was playing angry and eventually just stormed off. You caught up with her doing her best not to sob next to the locker room. You leaned against the wall near her just to give her someone to talk to. And she eventually did, explaining that she'd just broken up with her boyfriend Liam who had been pushing for things to get physical. Max had rejected him and then he unloaded on her about how average she was and that she'd never find someone as good as him again. She sobbed as she explained that she knew it was BS, but that she'd always thought she was sort of plain, not the type to attract impressive guys... You stopped her there. "Max, you're a ton of things, but you're definitely not plain." She wrapped you in her arms and delivered an awkward kiss. You gently pushed her away. "This really isn't a good time..." She paused for a moment and looked up at you. "You don't want to take advantage of me, do you?" You shook your head. "No, of course not. I'd never move faster than the woman is comfortable with." Somehow your restraint and compassion were what she needed and after a long night of talking about love, relationships, and why both of you felt so unlucky in love... It just kinda happened. One wonderful night.

You never planned to marry Samira. The plan was to marry Atefeh Yazdani, a girl you had known for a decade and absolutely adored while some of your friends would marry Atefeh's friends to get them out of the country just ahead of the Fall of Kabul. Then one of your friends dropped out and Atefeh decided you'd marry Samira. It broke your heart. Yes, Atefeh had the best chance of successfully getting out of the country without a marriage because her father had been a translator for your own father. It was the right move from a purely strategic standpoint. And your father did manage to get the entire Yazdani family out of Kabul and got them asylum in Portugal during the chaotic evacuation, so it worked out for Atefeh's family. Samira was a war orphan that earned her way to medical school on nothing but her own grit and intelligence, she had nobody to plead for her unless she got out with you. So you agreed. Atefeh stood by, you thought you saw tears in her eyes as you married Samira. You were saving a life that's what mattered. You told yourself it wouldn't be an imposition to stay married to Samira as long as it took for her to get legal status in the US, then you could divorce and maybe go to Portugal and discover if there was ever a future destined for you and Atefeh. You swore up and down to Samira that you'd never take advantage of her, that you'd always respect her and that you'd do everything you could to give her a life she could thrive in. But as is sometimes the way of these things... feelings happened on the way to divorcing Samira. It started with you standing up for her as she tried to get into Med School in the States, and kept hitting barrier after barrier. "I hate this, I hate that if anyone just spoke to you for five minutes and saw you as anything other than a refugee they'd see your brilliance and the fire in your eyes to make the world a better place." She leaned in and kissed you after that, your first kiss with her since the marriage.

With great expectations comes great responsibility... and a lot of work. Your darling parents had run a small Italian restaurant for ages, over time the ambitions had diminished, your mom's wonderfully crafted pastas eclipsed by dad's pizzas and more casual fare and they dreamed of handing it down to the kids, but as the kids grew up it became apparent that only you were fit for the family business, happily soaking up the knowledge from both parents in high end and more casual Italian fare. The expectations placed on you freed up your siblings to do their own thing, while your parents tirelessly looked for a connection to a chef back in Italy that could take you on for a few years to learn the ropes and they found one. A kindly old chef in Napoli with an eye for pasta and some nebulous connection to your relatives in the old country that you never quite figured out. He took you under his wing for a few years while you studied at a culinary school... but what matters about Mr. Rossi wasn't so much Mr. Rossi as his granddaughter... the delightful Giulia, a college student and aspiring singer. And Giulia is one of a kind. She's full of energy and fire, utterly captivating when the sun catches her hair in just the right way during a sunset. You'd spend long nights together lounging on the roof of her grandfather's restaurant switching effortlessly between English and Italian as you discussed philosophy, art, life, really anything that came to mind. She has a quick wit and the soul of a poet, it keeps the conversations lively and engaging. The woman is fun. It was one of those bonds you dreamt of having. But it was also a bond you tried to keep from getting romantic out of respect for her grandfather's wishes... despite the fact that if you're reading the signals right there's mutual interest going on here. With a week to go before you return to the States you decide it's time to take your shot and be honest with Giulia about your feelings. Carpe diem.

A good wedding isn't just about celebrating the couple, ideally it's also an event that sparks hope in the hearts of those that have yet to find love themselves. An event that reminds those that have found love about just how truly special love is. It works less well when you had a crush on the bride in your younger days. Okay, so nothing was ever likely to happen between you and Lacey, she's two years older than you, impossibly glamorous and honestly would've been squarely out of your league even if you were the same age and she didn't think of you as a kid. And your enjoyment of the festivities wasn't helped by your own engagement recently imploding after an affair. Basically you were just a legitimately depressing person to be around at that wedding. You weren't trying to be, but you were the one joking about the divorce rate in 21st century marriages. And that's how you got introduced to Lacey's cousin Aggie. She's astoundingly gorgeous and for some inexplicable reason just as cynical and disinterested about love as you are. The two of you share your romantic misadventures like old soldiers sharing war stories, the atmosphere between you slowly growing electric without you realizing it, and then somehow after you find yourselves on the dance floor you your lips met hers. Well, that's an unexpected development. She pulls away. "I don't even like you," she said while gazing into your eyes, "you're too whiny." "I don't like you either," you shot back, "you're too cynical." And now that you were clear on not liking each other you kissed her again... then an amazing night together and it was the start of something unique. Things with Aggie were like no relationship you'd ever been in, you weren't exclusive, "Why should we be exclusive when we don't even like each other?" But the conversations and laughter always flow easily when you're together. You find yourself looking forward to your next meetings. Then there's the remarkable physical chemistry...