#can we bring back the current music thing. like from LJ
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spookygibberish · 3 days ago
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Normal guys
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skekzok-the-ritual-master · 4 years ago
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Out Of Character Questions
ROLEPLAYER GET TO KNOW YOU PROMPT
Tagged by: @hedonistschambers
Tagging: @ask-skeksa-the-mariner, @allpowerfulemperor, @asktheornamentalist, @askurva-thearcher, and anyone else who wants to :)
OOC About Your Character(s)
1.     What do you want to get out of playing this character(s)?
I used to RP on Tumblr a lot in the Megamind fandom, and seeing other Dark Crystal RPers on here made me want to try getting back into RP a little. Since I don’t have any Dark Crystal OCs who lend themselves well to RP, I decided to go with a canon character, and skekZok was a prominent one who hadn’t gotten a blog yet. I’ve always liked looking at characters and thinking about what makes them tick, so this gives me a fun chance to do that for him.  
2.     Describe your character(s) with three words.
Cultured | Sadistic | Hypocritical 
3.     What made you decide to write this muse?
I’d been following the blogs of a few other Skeksis RPers, and the absence of Zok had been remarked on. Since he’s one of my favorites, I decided to make a blog for him and join in the fun.
4.     If you could change one event in your muse’s life (in their main or canon verse), what would you change?
That’s a tough one, because Zok really doesn’t suffer that much in canon compared to other characters. I might stop ZokZah from trying to burn out part of his soul, but skekZok wouldn’t exist and there wouldn’t be much of a story if I did that. (If we include the JM Lee novels, I’d change it so he doesn’t throw skekSa under the bus.)
5.     If you could tell your muse one thing, what would you tell them?
“Don’t stab the blonde Gelfling girl. It won’t prevent the prophecy, and she’ll just come back to life anyway.”
6.     If you could give your muse one gift, what would you give them?
I’d love to see his reaction to a Swiss Army knife.
7.     If you had to take one positive thing away from your muse, what would you take away?
I’m not sure how positive this is, but I’d take away his ability to believe his own lies. It would be interesting to see how he tries to juggle all the conflicting rules and stories he’s come up with over the centuries. 
8.     If you could “borrow” one aspect of your muse and apply it to yourself or your own life, what would you borrow?
His talent for speaking in public. I wish I could command an audience like he does.
9.     Do you genuinely want your muse to be happy? What do you think would make them most happy in life?
Considering the kind of things that tend to make Zok happy? Maybe. As for what would make him happiest, he believes it would be achieving immortality and remaining one of the highest-ranked of the court and having skekSa as his permanent mate, but that still won’t heal the spiritual emptiness inside him. Much as I enjoy Zok and Zah as separate beings, I do think reunification was the best thing for them. If he and SaSan could have been together after that, that would have been even better.
10. Do you enjoy putting your muse through angst? What do you think would break their heart the most?
I don’t mind angst in small doses, as long as I plot it out with the other player(s) beforehand and we agree how it will turn out in the end. Zok doesn’t lend himself easily to angst, but losing his place in the court hierarchy or having one of his allies turn on him would do it. He’s also come to genuinely believe the mythology he’s invented over the centuries -- anything that seriously challenged that worldview would be hard for him to deal with. 
11. What do you love about your muse?
A lot of things. His charisma, his striking blue eyes, the way his voice is deeper and smoother than most of the other Skeksis, how over-the-top his gold outfit is, how he’s so attached to his headdress that he doesn’t even take it off in the spa, how unrepentantly creepy and sadistic he is -- he’s a very enjoyable character, even if he is a horrible birb.
12. What do you hate about your muse?
He's not an easy character to have interact with everyone. He can pretend to be nice when it suits him, and he’s not totally incapable of caring about people, but he’s still nasty enough that I can tell in advance a lot of interactions wouldn’t go well. 
13. What about your muse amuses you?
The contrast between the austere image he tries to keep up, and how frazzled he gets when something upsets that image (”MY CARRIAGE!”). Also when he gets sarcastic or looks down on the others when they act in a less-than-civilized way. 
14. What about your muse makes you sad?
All the people he’s hurt, and how unwilling he is to see that his way of life isn’t sustainable and won’t truly make him happy in the end.
15. How would you describe your muse to someone about to meet them, in person, for the first time?
“This guy is a creep, but he believes in good manners. Tread lightly, and you should be okay.”
16. Would you like your muse as a person if you met them in real life?
LOL no. He’s an awful person who is best left in the realm of fiction.
17. In what ways are you better than your muse? In what ways are they better than you?
I like to think I’m a much nicer person than he is. I can be blunt and a bit of a troll sometimes, but I really don’t like hurting anyone, or trying to force people to do stuff they don’t like. As for Zok, he’s much more confident and well-spoken than I am, and he’s had the determination to stick with one job for a thousand years. 
18. Why do you think you connect to your muse?
We’re both interested in culture, myth, and history, and feel better when we can assign some order to the world around us. 
19. What aspect of your muse’s personality is most important to you? What aspect of your muse’s personality do you think is most important to them? Is it the same? Why or why not?
As I see it, the core of Zok’s character is that he wants to bring order to the world; that’s why his job title is ‘Ritual Master’ rather than ‘High Priest’ or something more overtly religious. If he can’t see an obvious reason why things are the way they are, he’ll invent one that makes sense to him (and serves his needs). 
I think this is what Zok sees as his most important trait too -- in his mind, he took a bunch of feral newborn creatures who (by all rights) were never meant to have existed in the first place, and helped turn them into a civilized, godlike people who rule an entire planet. But that feral nature is always under the surface, and they still need ritual and order (and yes, punishment) to keep it in check. 
20. Has your character(s) changed over the time that you have been playing them? How have they changed?
I haven’t been playing Zok for very long, but I’ve recently had a chance to write how he feels about deeper questions, like what it would mean for Skeksis to have children, and what happens to Skeksis and urRu souls after they die. I think it’s made him a bit more three-dimensional. 
About You!
1.     What is your name?
Kate, a.k.a. Crow or Lady Stormcrow
2.     What is your profession?
Social worker, currently working in substance abuse treatment.
3.     What do you do to relax?
Watch favorite TV shows, play video games, listen to music, hang out outdoors, chat online. 
4.     What is your favorite treat (desert)?
I have a big weakness for flan and other custard desserts. Also caramel.
5.     Favorite movie
Amadeus (1984).
6.     Favorite book
Good Omens (and yes I loved the series too). 
7.     Favorite vacation spot
Grand Cayman. We were supposed to visit again this spring, but COVID happened.
8.     Favorite Disney movie
I’m not sure I have one favorite, but I love Fantasia and The Rescuers.
9.     How did you first get into role playing?
Almost 20 years ago, lol. When I first started going online in high school, I made an online friend ( @ksclaw ) who introduced me to the concept. We played interactions with our SWAT Kats fan characters, and she helped me get the hang of it.
10. What was your first platform? If it was something other than Tumblr, what made you get into Tumblr?
It was Livejournal. I discovered Tumblr in late 2011 after my friends in the Megamind fandom introduced me to it, and most of us migrated here from our old LJ community. I loved being able to reblog whatever struck my fancy, and while my interest has waxed and waned, as you can see I’m still here.
11. What’s a grammar rule you find yourself breaking or ignoring a lot?
I like to think I have pretty good grammar. I know I’m guilty of run-on sentences, though, and I overuse ellipses and mix up ; and -- far too much. 
12. Are there any languages besides English in which you think you could comfortably roleplay?
Not really. I can speak and understand a little Spanish and French, but not enough to write anything meaningful, and I’m wary of translation software for anything beyond a short sentence. Sorry!
13. Do you listen to music while your write?
Sometimes. Usually not when I’m doing the actual writing (that’s distracting, and I like to hear the words in my head), but I’ll listen to it beforehand to get myself in a mood or get some inspiration.
14. Are you a morning, day, evening, or night writer?
Late morning after I’ve had my coffee is usually my best time. Unfortunately I’m usually at work during that time, but on slow days and weekends I try to take advantage of it.
15. How does tiredness affect your writing?
It turns me into a zombie who can dream but cannot actually write.
16. What is your biggest obstacle to writing every day, if time doesn’t count?
Lack of motivation. I daydream and imagine stuff easily enough, but putting it down into writing is much harder, especially when I’m braindead from work.
17. How many drafts is a paralyzing amount?
More than 5 is daunting, though fortunately Zok hasn’t gotten that many yet.
18. Is there anything character-wise or writing style-wise that you can’t stand?
Players who are unwilling to have their characters be in the wrong, or who get upset if my character doesn’t react the way they wanted. Not all interactions are going to be smooth and happy, and I’m fine with that. Your character is not you, just like mine is not me.
19. What kind of anonymous questions are your favorite?
Weird ones. I like having my muses react to them.
20. What is your weakest point in writing? Angst, fluff, dialogue, etc.?
Fluff is kind of tricky. I don’t have trouble imagining it, but I get paralyzed thinking “this is too indulgent, I shouldn’t publish it, no one but me will like it, etc.” Maybe that’s part of why Zok appeals to me, because he’s not the fluffy type. 
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scmyr · 5 years ago
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luka sabbat. cis male. he/him. /  samyr delcine just pulled up james joint by rihanna  — that song is so them ! you know, for a(n) twenty-four (24) year old retired actor / singer and rapper, i’ve heard they’re really -temperamental, but that they make up for it by being so +creative. if i had to choose three things to describe them, i’d probably say smoke filled recording studios, messy handwriting, tattoos. here’s to hoping they don’t cause too much trouble ! ( LJ, 20, est, they/them )
career claim: roddy ricch, dababy, the weeknd
hey y’all! guess who’s back at it again with a new muse? it’s LJ, @kcia​‘s mun, and this is my second baby, samyr. i’ve actually had this idea in mind for a while, and i’m finally bringing him into fruition. if you’d like to plot with him, just drop a like on this post! 
basics.
NAME: samyr delcine. PRONOUNS: he/him AGE: twenty-four. BIRTH DATE: july 16th, 1995. BIRTH PLACE: port-au-prince, haiti. HOMETOWN: compton, california. CURRENT RESIDENCE: los angeles, california. NATIONALITY: haitian-american. ETHNICITY: afro-haitian, unidentified white side. RELIGION: non practicing christian. OCCUPATION: singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, retired actor. LANGUAGES: haitian-creole (native), haitian-french (native), english (fluent). SEXUAL ORIENTATION: confused. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: confused.
visual.
FACECLAIM: luka sabbat. EYE COLOR: dark brown. HAIR COLOR: dark brown. HEIGHT: 6 feet, 1 inch. WEIGHT: 149 pounds. TATTOOS: here, here, here. PIERCINGS: ears. NOTABLE TRAITS: lips, height, hair.
background.
he was born in port-au-prince, haiti to a single mother. he never met his father because his father was someone that his mother hooked up with while she was studying in the states. it was her last year in college and she didn’t know she was pregnant until she was about three months along. she took a year off and went back home so she could have him. she considered putting him up for adoption, but as soon as he was born and she looked into his eyes, she “fell in love with him and couldn’t part from him”, or that’s what she always tells samyr. 
when he was six years old and his mother was twenty-seven, she decided to go back to school and get her degree. she spent the first six years of his life working two full time jobs and a part time job just so she could provide for him and save money at the same time. after she saved enough money, she packed up their things and moved them to america, california to be exact, so she could graduate and get a better paying job. she finished up her criminal justice degree and got a job working as a law clerk while she put herself through law school. she finally graduated, passed the bar exam, and now she’s a highly sought after criminal attorney in the states. 
his childhood was a hard, yet happy time for him. hard because he and his mother lived in california while his mother worked for a very low salary. it was difficult for them to make ends meet, especially when she was still in school. even though she eventually became an extremely wealthy lawyer (she started making money around the time samyr was fifteen, but by then he was already making money from his show), things were hard at first. he was still a happy kid though. his mother gave him a lot of love, and he had friends and a cute puppy named chichi (she’s still alive, with her old ass ;-;) 
samyr’s first taste of the spot light was at a young age. he did a little bit of modeling for stores and brands, but didn’t really get his big break until he was 12 and landed one of the lead roles of a children’s sitcom. he loved acting when he first started doing it, and worked hard for the several seasons that he was apart of the show before it ended. he was nineteen when the show ended. he did cameos on other shows, and acted in a few movies during the course of the show too. 
he’s a very passionate and dedicated person, but once he’s finished with something and wipes his hands clean of it, he’s finished indefinitely. he felt as though after several years of acting on one show and doing other acting jobs, that he was ready to bring to a close the chapter of acting in his life. he enjoyed it, still does, but he wanted to pour all of his time and effort into the next aspect of his life - music.
he had actually started getting into music around the middle of his show’s run. he had been in the industry for a while and started making friends with musicians who had introduced him to the art of music. he quickly fell in love with it, not just singing and rapping, but the technical aspects of the music industry as well - producing, sound mixing, composition, e.t.c. 
he released his first music project while he was still acting. it was in 2011, and it was a mixtape that he dropped out of the blue. people didn’t know who it was at first because he just dropped it on soundcloud and his account wasn’t under his own name. but some fans ended up doing some digging and made the connection.
after that, he would occasionally drop music projects here and there (i’ll eventually make a little timeline of his music releases, more so for my own means of keeping track, but to also give you guys an idea of what he’s released so far!) 
now he focuses primarily on music. overall, his sound and lyrics are explicit, but there are still two sides to him - the ‘hard’ side (dababy, roddy ricch) and his softer side (the weeknd). he likes having that kind of duality, because it gives him the freedom to explore himself as a musician. 
personality
he’s a very hard worker, and extremely prideful. he doesn’t like accepting help from others, especially if he thinks they’re pitying him. he and his mother used to get a lot of “offers” of help, which were honestly just people feeling sorry for them, which he absolutely hated. he doesn’t even like asking for help when he knows he needs it. if you ever catch him asking for help, you best believe it’s because it’s his very last resort. 
if samyr’s face and name weren’t connected to his music, no one would even think that he was the one rapping and singing on his tracks. a lot of his music has explicit sexual innuendos and undertones, and holds a little aggression from time to time. it’s a complete contrast to samyr’s lowkey personality. what most people don’t know is that writing music is his outlet. he doesn’t get frustrated or angry (most of the time) because when he feels those things, he channels it into his writing. 
that being said, he does have a little bit of a temper. it’s something that his mother says he gets from his grandfather, a man he had never met because he passed away before his birth. he has a high tolerance for things, but if he’s pushed over the edge, he gets black out angry. he hates that though, which is why he stays ‘medicated’ most of the time (lmao he stays high) 
he’s so deep in the closet that he’s finding christimas presents. he knows that there’s nothing wrong with being gay, he’s an avid supporter of the lgbtq+ on social media platforms and such, but it’s just something that he struggles to accept about himself. his mother is very open minded, but he has a lot of family members who aren’t, and he doesn’t want them to disown him. 
kinda gets angry/upset if his own sexuality is brought up? maybe not really angry or upset, but just really defensive? again, finding christmas presents lol
very particular with and protective of his hair lol has definitely smacked a few people’s hands for trying to touch it
wanted connections
girl(s) that he’s dated in the past to as a way to somehow force himself to be straight. most of them ended due to him not being able to fully invest himself emotionally. we can discuss if they’re on good/bad terms! 
a few best friends, he definitely needs those 
if anyone has a muse that has songs with a male rapper featured, samyr’s your guy
the first guy he’s ever kissed 
relatives on his father’s side (he just recently started searching for his father, so it’d be interesting if he had cousins or half siblings around!)
someone that he confides in about his sexuality 
a guy who helps him explore his sexuality 
pr relationship(s) 
pr friendship(s) 
media fueled rivalry 
enemies
frenemies 
celebrity friends that are always seen out together (events, award shows, sports games, out shopping, e.t.c) 
literally anything?? i’m open to anything and everything!
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kookiehao · 7 years ago
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[SEVENTEEN] OT13 - the thread that binds us (2/?) - 7300 words
Title: the thread that binds us Author: kookiehao (arashianelf on LJ and AO3) Pairings: OT13!friendship, hints of jicheol Genre: Fluff, fantasy, angst Rating: G Summary: A person's life can be deeply affected by tiny little things that occur far away from them; the butterfly effect, it's called. However, sometimes it's things that occur closer to home that can change a person's life forever.
For Choi Seungcheol, it begins with this: an old man comes to visit in a small town on the outskirts of Daegu.
Notes: If you follow this on AO3 as well, the one there gets updated a lot faster than the one over here! Just an FYI :)
one | two | three | four | five
Jihoon approaches the doorway slowly, eyeing the hinges carved into the wood on either side of the doorframe, hinting at how the fireplace had disappeared. Jihoon squats to look closer at the wooden flooring, but the lines of the panel that now covers the fireplace and mantel are well-camouflaged amongst the rough lines typical of wood flooring.
He stands again, now examining the door that has been hidden behind the fireplace this whole time. Ignoring the way his phone is buzzing, he tries the door handle, which opens easily for him. The door opens with a loud creak, and Jihoon makes a mental note to get some oil for the hinges.
He takes a deep breath, coughing a little at the dust, and nudges open the door. Upon entering, he feels along the wall for the light switch, and looks up at the staircase curling its way up that is illuminated by the lights at the top landing.
Retreating from the stairwell, he grabs a random thick book from one of the shelves and places it along the doorframe in case the door shuts on him. He isn’t taking any chances at locking himself in until he examines the door and how it works. First though, he plans to explore the area the winding staircase leads up to.
He turns on the flashlight on his phone, frowning down at it with annoyance as it buzzes non-stop. He turns on silent mode, and turns his attention back to the staircase. He takes slow steps up, worried for the structural integrity of the staircase, but the wood holds his weight with nary a sound.
Aiming the light around, Jihoon observes that the walls are still made of wood, much like the rest of the house. He takes the last few steps up onto the landing, where another door waits.
Again, this door opens smoothly, and Jihoon searches for the actual light switch. Flipping the lights on, he stops in the process of turning off the flashlight and stares at the state-of-the-art producing equipment across the room.
He absently turns off the flashlight, locking his phone and slipping it into his back pocket, approaching the equipment reverently. Other than the large desktop computer screens and accompanying monitor, there’s an electric keyboard along the wall, along with an acoustic guitar in its stand.
A thin layer of dust lies over everything, and Jihoon makes a mental note to bring in some cleaning supplies as soon as possible.
Jihoon is pretty sure the computer has the best digital audio workstation downloaded without having to turn it on. He eyes the audio interface lying innocently on the table next to the one with the desktop screen, and the large studio monitors placed at the corners of the room, both on the floor and on the ceiling.
There’s two microphone stands with good quality microphones and pop filters in this room. Jihoon walks over to the door next to the whole electronic set-up and opens it, sighing in bliss at the second soundproof door and what lays behind it as he turns on the light for the next room.
There are bass traps, acoustic panels, and sound diffusers randomly scattered and built into the walls of the recording studio, meant for ensuring the most high quality recordings in the room. Jihoon walks back out of the recording studio and opens one of the cupboards along the wall, and damn near cries as he sees unopened, brand-new boxes.
Unopened, brand-new boxes of one of the latest models of MIDI controllers, the monitor isolation pads he’s always wanted… This is Jihoon’s studio dream come true, and he bounces a little, eager to set everything up.
He’s pretty sure if he looked through the other cupboards he would find other things needed for producing and recording, but he stops, putting everything back to rights and switching off the lights.
He closes the door behind him, slowly walking back down the staircase and examining the door that he had left open. Next to the door frame is a lever that is currently down, which answers his question about how to open the door when it closes behind him.
Just to test it out, he nudges the book out of the way, taking a deep breath as the door clicks shut. He hears the rumble of the fireplace moving back into place on the other side of the door, watching as the lever moves back up with a sharp click. When all is quiet again, he pulls the lever, holding his breath.
The rumbling starts again, and when it stops Jihoon tests the door, sighing in relief when it opens. Finally leaving the stairwell, he closes the door behind him, book in hand, and turns to watch the fireplace emerge from the floor.
‘Well,’ Jihoon thinks wryly to himself, ‘I know where I’m living out of for the foreseeable future.’ He places the book from where he took it from, picking up the notepad and book still lying on the piano. Walking out silently, he switches the light off, door clicking shut quietly behind him as he pads his way back to his room.
The group chat, when Jihoon deigns to check it, has exploded in the wake of his announcement. He sighs, scrolling all the way down without bothering with backchat, lounging in bed until he feels tired enough to sleep.
To: three years is up!!
say moo: i’m not even going to bother with backchat
say moo: i was busy exploring the fucking secret room in the music room okay i didn’t have time to reply anything
say moo: anyway, there’s a state of the fucking art studio behind that secret door.
say moo: it’s my new home now.
size is irrelevant: a studio? behind a secret door found in the music room?
size is irrelevant: wow i’m so surprised
say moo: shut up you ass. no wonder you were tiny when you changed.
size is irrelevant: that’s irrelevant, hyung. i’m still like, a head taller than you normally.
say moo has changed his name to jihoon
jihoon: who the fuck keeps doing that.
im THE dawg: does that mean there are other secret rooms in the house?
i hate being last: i’ve always said that the house looks bigger on the outside than it does on the inside! secret rooms would actually explain a lot. now if one of you would actually listen to me when i say things.
I’M A CHICKEN: the maknae’s suffering: an excerpt
I’M A CHICKEN: wait it’s like super late why the frick is the maknae awake
I’M A CHICKEN: actually why are we all awake
hiss hiss mf: i’m almost done with filming soon, so i’ll be able to come down after that. in the meantime, try finding more rooms? there has to be more.
hiss hiss mf: channie, go to bed.
jihoon: yeah, i’m planning to do so. come asap please. this manor is fucking big.
i’m a horse and look like one: why not ask the others in the manor to help you?
i hate being last: yeah yeah i’m going now good night hyungs
jihoon: they’re hiding shit from me. and minki-hyung nearly ripped into me, so clearly they don’t trust me.
jihoon: i’m not asking anything from them until i absolutely have to.
I hate carrots: Smart idea. I’ll be able to make my way down soon as well. Give me a few weeks to settle my book.
I hate carrots: Good night, Channie.
goatlamb: got a few more weddings to cover, before i can come down. why do people like to get married immediately after the new year?
goatlamb: rest well, chan
jihoon: fuck knows why. just come down as soon as you can.
jihoon: i’m off to get more work done.
orange is the new black: i like how casually everyone just ignored jihoon’s questioning about who changed his name again.
i’m a horse and look like one: avoidance is the key to not getting killed, jisoo-hyung. as long as no one rats us out, we’re safe.
supposed to be tiny but not: someone called me? give me a moment to read backchat
hiss hiss mf: of course he chooses to appear now.
supposed to be tiny but not: what do you mean by that, moon junhwi?
hiss hiss mf: nothing, hyung.
supposed to be tiny but not has changed jihoon’s name to say moo
orange is the new black: you’re just courting death, hannie.
supposed to be tiny but not: nay, death’s courting our missing cat. i wouldn’t court jihoonie even if my life depended on it. besides, i have you, don’t i?
orange is the new black: okay, hannie. I’ll be home late today. i have a few patients coming in a few minutes.
supposed to be tiny but not: okay~ I’ll leave the food for you in the microwave!
goatlamb: ugh, domesticity
size is irrelevant: really? you’re saying that? you??? seo myungho you’re going to break seokmin’s heart.
i’m a horse and look like one: just mine?? gyu don’t lie your heart is broken too
size is irrelevant: my heart was broken from the beginning. I never expected anything going into this relationship. It just means he isn’t getting dinner tonight.
goatlamb: …
goatlamb: just because it’s gross doesn’t mean I don’t like it…
I’m a horse and look like one: you’re just saying that because you don’t want to go without mingyu’s food, aren’t you.
goatlamb: in my defense, it’s really good
I’m a horse and look like one: …true
size is irrelevant: you two shut up and get home already. the food is getting cold.
Jihoon grabs the music score notepad that started the whole thing, and flips to the first open page, inspiration having struck him.
The notes flow from his pen to the paper easily, and he hears the music playing in his mind as he scrambles to record down as much as he can before it slips from his fingers. Already, the exact notes are fading, and Jihoon hums a bar a few times to try and remember what came next.
He spends the next hour like this, bent over the notepad and trying to remember the music that had come to him all of a sudden. He throws his pen across the room, frustrated at the fleeting inspiration that strikes him at the oddest hours.
Sighing, he gets out of bed to pick up the pen and places both pen and pad on the table, switching off the lights, figuring that since his muse has once again left again, he might as well get some sleep.
“I’ll show you the way to your room first,” Jungsu says, even as the oak doors creak open. “I’m currently staying in the Cat bearer’s room, but once I’m gone that room will be yours. For now, you’ll be taking one of the guest rooms, next to Taehyung, the gardener that will be taking over the current one when it’s time.”
Seungcheol nods in understanding, walking up to the man and boy now standing on the porch. The boy observes his approach with cool expressive, intelligent eyes, and Seungcheol shrinks back a little.
Then the boy smiles, and his eyes crinkle up, giving Seungcheol the best smile he can muster. While the two older men greet each other, Seungcheol approaches the boy, who greets and introduces himself quickly.
“Hello! I’m Kim Namjoon, and I’ll be your butler for the future, I hope we can get along well,” he bows, and Seungcheol bows on instinct as well, returning the greeting. “I’m Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me!”
“Seungcheol-ah, I see Namjoon-ah has made your acquaintance. This is the current butler of the house, Jung Yunho,” Jungsu introduces the tall man next to him, and Seungcheol is struck by how good-looking he is.
He bows deeply, greeting him. “Nice to meet you, Yunho-ssi. My name is Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me.” Yunho laughs, ruffling Seungcheol’s hair. “You’re so polite! Maybe you’ll be a good influence on Taehyung. God knows that boy doesn’t have any respect for elders unless absolutely necessary.”
Seungcheol smiles shyly, ducking his head in embarrassment and thanks. Jungsu smiles as well, leading the way into the house. “Come on, I’ll start the tour with the entrance hall. Leave your shoes there,” Jungsu instructs, removing his own shoes and placing them in one of the shoe cupboards, holding it open for Seungcheol to do the same.
Behind them, Yunho and Namjoon bring in their bags for them, Seungcheol having reluctantly relinquished his to Namjoon as Jungsu led him past.
The entrance hall doesn’t look like much, apart from the table along a wall next to the shoe cupboards. It is this table that Jungsu leads Seungcheol to, where a large, old leather-bound book lies on the table top.
The table comes with a small mantel, where there are three rows of hooks carved from the wood. The first two rows of hooks are empty, but the third has keys hooked on them, with plain keychains. Jungsu removes a key with a cat keychain hanging from it from his pocket, hanging it on the first shelf.
“The other twelve hooks in the first two rows hold the keychains for the other zodiac bearers. They’re currently all out, so they’re empty,” Jungsu explains upon noticing Seungcheol’s curious glance. Seungcheol makes a soft sound of understanding, turning his attention to the book lying on the table top.
“This book is one of the more important ones in the manor. No one that isn’t supposed to can open it, and it is only ever on this table top for two occasions: when a new zodiac bearer arrives at the manor, and the first time that zodiac bearer changes,” Jungsu says, tapping the book cover, where the words ‘The Zodiac Register’ are embossed in gold.
Seungcheol is passed the book, and he opens it to the first page to find a table of names. Thirteen names, to be exact. The first column, titled ‘Names’, lists down the zodiac bearers’ names, the second the zodiac they represent, the third the date they first arrived at the manor.
The fourth takes up most of the page, titled ‘Description’. In each row, a detailed description of the animal they change into is given. Seungcheol makes a soft sound of amazement at the details, looking up at Jungsu with wide eyes.
The old man laughs before taking the book gently from the boy’s hands. He flips it to the middle, where an empty table lies, waiting to be filled in. “Go on then,” he then says, handing Seungcheol the book back and a pen he pulls out of his pocket, “fill in your name and zodiac.”
Seungcheol does as he’s told, filling in his name and the zodiac he represents in his best handwriting. He stops to stare at the row he’s half-filled in when he’s done, before passing the pen back to Jungsu, who keeps it. He’s about to reach out to flip to the previous pages when Jungsu speaks.
“Alright, you’ll be able to look through this book later when you’re free, all right? Let’s move on with the rest of the manor,” Jungsu leads him further into the manor, Yunho and Namjoon having moved along to put their bags in their respective rooms a while back.
“The only ones that can open it are zodiac bearers, isn’t it?” Seungcheol asks, and Jungsu nods, grinning down at him. “Smart child. Yes, only zodiac bearers can open that book. When there’s no need for it to be out, I tend to keep it in my room. It’s one of the safest places in the house, you see,” Jungsu explains, leading him down the hallway.
The hallway opens up to another hallway running perpendicularly, as well as a grand staircase leading upstairs. Jungsu tells him as they turn right, “This is what we call the Central Wing, and it’s where everything is. That staircase over there leads to the second floor, where we have a recreation room and other various rooms.”
Seungcheol’s head whips left and right as he tries to take in everything that he sees as they walk past. “The first floor of the Central Wing has the kitchen and the reception room, which really is a ballroom or occasional dining room. There are other, less important rooms here as well,” Jungsu lists.
“As you’ve probably noticed, the walls have platforms protruding out from them, and the ceiling beams have platforms as well. The ceiling has horizontal beams for cats to perch on and rest, and the platforms give them places to relax,” Jungsu points them out to Seungcheol, who is watching as a striped cat makes his meandering way up a series of platforms.
All around them are cats dogging their footsteps, occasionally getting distracted with the empty cardboard boxes and circles formed with string lying around. “We employ any and every tactic here to keep the cats occupied,” Jungsu relays to the younger drily.
Jungsu opens a door, which leads to yet another hallway, this time with a staircase smackdab in the middle. “This is the East Wing, where all the bedrooms are. First floor is the guest bedrooms, second is the Zodiac bearer bedrooms. There are thirteen on each floor, as you would expect. Currently, four of the rooms are occupied, now five with you,” Jungsu says, leading him to a door.
“For the guest bedrooms, there’s a whiteboard next to each of the doors, so you can write your name there so people know that the room is occupied,” Jungsu tells Seungcheol, bringing down the portable whiteboard and marker for him to write his name.
“Now, Taehyung stays next to you,” Jungsu points out the name on the whiteboard of the room next to his, messily decorated with whiteboard magnets and doodles, “he’s the gardener of your generation, so he’s probably in the woods right now.”
Next, Jungsu opens the door to Seungcheol’s new room, and enters. Seungcheol follows with some mild hesitance, emitting a soft noise of shock at the cosiness of it all. There’s a bed in one corner, and a closet in the other, on either side of the large windows framed by curtains.
There’s a light breeze blowing into the house through the open windows, and the soft blue curtains rustle in the wind. There’s a cat perched on the windowsill, enjoying a stray patch of sun, and opens an eye a slit when Seungcheol approaches.
His bag is at the foot of his bed, and he sits down on the bed, testing the mattress. Next to the closet is a desk for him to put whatever he wants, as well as a laptop that Jungsu picks up and hands to him. “Welcome to Zodiac Manor, Seungcheol-ah. This is your welcome gift from the staff here, as well as me.”
“I can’t accept this, harabeoji,” Seungcheol starts, but Jungsu waves him off. “It’s already been bought, they threw the receipt away too. You have zero chance of getting us to return it. Also, you’ll need it in the future. Trust me, kid. I know what I’m talking about.”
Seungcheol quietens, running his hands across the smooth surface. “Thank you for this, harabeoji,” he says after a few seconds, placing the laptop on the bed next to him. “It’s my pleasure, so no need to thank me,” is all Jungsu says.
“This door over here leads to your personal washroom. Each bedroom comes with their own washroom, so no one has to worry about fighting over who gets to use the bathroom first and the like,” Jungsu continues after a moment of silence, clearing his throat.
“If you need any supplies for the bathroom, just tell Yunho or one of the other staff, and we’ll get it for you when we go into town next. I’ll let you get settled in for a few days before we bring you into town to get you acquainted with the people living there,” Jungsu tells him, and Seungcheol nods gratefully.
“I’ll leave you to wash up now, that drive was long enough that I want to take a shower,” Jungsu says. “When you’re done washing up, just head up to my room via the staircase in the middle of this wing. The Cat zodiac bearer’s room is all the way at the end of the hallway.”
Seungcheol nods his understanding and Jungsu leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Seungcheol takes a deep breath when he’s finally alone, letting the situation sink into him. This is going to be his home for the foreseeable future, and these are the people he’s going to have to live with for the rest of his life.
It’s a daunting thought, but Seungcheol steels himself for it. He at least hopes he’ll be able to get along with everyone else.
The time passes quickly when Jihoon is able to settle into a routine. He wakes up in the mornings, feeling like death personified, and goes to the kitchen for breakfast, where he warms up his brain by deflecting probing questions asked by the others and staunchly not reacting to the thinly veiled barbs shot his way.
He exchanges polite conversation with everyone as much as he can, the Jimin mentioned the first night being Park Jimin, Taehyung’s best friend. He learns that along with Namjoon, Seokjin, Yoongi, and Jimin, Taehyung is part of a budding coven, which normally has ten people.
He’s pretty sure that Jonghyun, Minki, Aron, Minhyun and Dongho are part of some secret group as well, but doesn’t want to risk Minki’s wrath to ask until he has Jeonghan here to buffer as well as Dongho.
Speaking of Dongho, Jihoon has gotten into the habit of sending him snippets of audio, and the older does the same, exchanging advice and criticism about their work. It has helped him improve the standards of his tracks a lot, and Jihoon is pleased.
After breakfast, he holes himself up in the studio, closing the secret door behind him so no one knows where he is. He works in the studio until dinner, when his stomach drives him back to the kitchen after he forgets to eat lunch, as usual.
After dinner, he explores the manor, trying to find more secret rooms. So far, he’s been in the music room one, and he’s pretty sure that the recreation room has one as well. He knows that there should be some kind of sign telling him where the secret rooms are, but he hasn’t found it yet.
When he’s tired, he goes to any place with a high concentration of cats, playing with them to pass the time. Gongju and her mate come up to him often, meowing and pawing at him until he plays with them. The chocolate brown cat with white markings that Jihoon always saw around Seungcheol keeps his distance, and is usually perched on one of the platforms close by, observing Jihoon.
The days pass like that, and before he knows it, Jisoo is about to arrive.
To: three years is up!!
orange is the new black: jihoon, i’ll be heading down in a few days. jeonghan’s still busy closing a deal but he’s coming a few days after i am.
say moo: thank fuck
say moo: i need jeonghan-hyung here to buffer minki-hyung. i’m about to go insane.
I’M A CHICKEN: minki-hyung still isn’t happy, huh?
say moo: apparently he’s going to remain unhappy until we give him an adequate explanation, but i don’t know if we’re allowed to talk about that yet.
orange is the new black: …i think we’ll withhold that information for now, yeah? i don’t trust them fully yet. there’s new people too, so god knows what they can spread with that information if they have ill intentions.
say moo: alright. it’ll be good to finally have people on my side in the manor. i’ll inform them tonight about you guys arriving soon.
That night, Jihoon does as he said, informing the table at large that Jisoo and Jeonghan would be arriving within the next few days. Jonghyun and Minhyun exchange glances with each other, as does Taehyung and Namjoon, which does not go unnoticed by Jihoon, but he chooses to remain silent on the matter.
“Finally. I was wondering whether what you told us that first night was a lie. Good to see I’m wrong,” is all Minki says on the matter, and Jihoon is once again out of the kitchen as soon as he is able, hearing the kitchen break out into low whispers when he’s gone.
He briefly wonders if he should stay by the door to listen about what they’re talking about, but rejects the idea. One of the witches would probably sense him, or something. He’s pretty sure Jonghyun’s group is hiding some power as well.
From the past few days he’s been able to observe that whatever Namjoon’s growing coven knows, Jonghyun’s probably doesn’t, and vice versa. Everyone’s keeping secrets from each other because they don’t know what each other’s exact goals are apart from finding out happened to Seungcheol, and because they don’t know how much they can say.
However, in terms of interactions, Jihoon would have to say that the coven is maintaining a rather neutral stance, while Jonghyun, Minhyun and Minki are more standoffish towards him.
Still, the manor is filled with tension, and Jihoon doesn’t like it. He misses the times when Seungcheol was there, tying everyone together. He remembers letting Seungcheol bug him when he was trying to compose, or when he was trying to read a book in peace.
He thinks of Seungcheol’s bright eyes when he beams at someone, and the way the townspeople always greeted him with love whenever they wandered into town. He thinks about the quiet times spent together just lounging on the couch while the others made a mess of the recreation room.
He thinks about anything and everything that Seungcheol reminds him of, and in that moment, he is filled with the most intense longing and grief, all the more determined to find out what happened to Choi Seungcheol and give that man a piece of his mind for causing them to worry so much.
Shaking his head to free himself from his thoughts, he continues down the hallway and going up the grand staircase, walking to the recreation room, where he’s been concentrating his efforts for the past few days.
He enters the room, switching on the lights. He’s been combing through the room inch by inch, and has yet to find anything out of place or hidden. The recreation room is filled with bean bags and the most comfortable couches, along with every game system currently on the market.
Jihoon continues on to the shelves places between the windows, where rows of game CDs and board games and card games are lined, and continues what he’s been doing for the past few days. He removes the things on each shelf one by one, making sure there’s no protrusions from the wall.
As he does so, he grumbles to himself, “Why did I have to find that secret room? I have to lug a chair every-fucking-where now because I’m not tall enough to reach the fucking top shelf. I should wait until Mingyu comes and make him do the rest of the shelves.”
He’s moved onto a bookshelf that has books concerning tactics about different games (he saw a few Minecraft books that he’s keeping in mind to read for later) when the chair tilts after he climbs onto it. He stumbles and jumps off just as he’s about to fall back first.
Kneeling down onto the floor, and moving the chair away, he sighs when he notices a small circular panel on the floor. Seeing as just pushing that one switch didn’t do anything, he heaves the beanbags around the chair away.
Just as he’d thought, he spots three more small circular panels in the floor, forming a perfect square with the one panel pressed down by the chair. He carries the chair over, placing each leg over each panel.
Going over to the shelves, he removes a thick hardcover book and drops it onto the chair seat, smiling in satisfaction as the chair sinks into the floor and a loud click echoes around the room. The wall opposite the one with the television mounted on it shifts backwards and to the side, revealing a door.
Just to make sure, Jihoon goes over to the door leading to the Central Wing hallway and locks the door, before returning to the now revealed hidden door. He removes the book from the chair just to see what happens, watching as the chair slowly rises and the wall move back into place.
Nodding to himself, he places the book back on the chair and waits for the door to appear again, before he opens it and enters. Just like the one in the music room, there is a staircase winding up, and the stairwell is dark and dusty.
He turns on the light and makes his way up the staircase, observing that just like the one leading to the studio, the wood of the staircase is in very good condition, despite all the dust. Opening the door at the top of the staircase, Jihoon notices that just like the studio, this one has a second door for soundproofing as well, and opens it and turns on the lights as well.
He then just stands there, gaping at the miniature theatre that greets him, with a large wall-to-wall viewing screen on the opposite wall. The seats are couches, the same ones as those in the recreation room downstairs, and when Jihoon looks up, there’s a projector mounted on the ceiling to project the films on the screen.
There’s dust everywhere, like he’d expected, but a fucking movie theatre? This was nowhere near whatever he was expecting to find in a hidden room. “Fuck, at this rate I’m going to need to carry a portable vacuum cleaner,” Jihoon says to himself, after sneezing thrice in a row.
He leaves the room, turning off all the lights behind him. When he’s out on the staircase landing, he pulls out his phone, typing as he walks down.
To: three years is up!!
say moo: I found a movie theatre this time.
i’m a horse and look like one: say what?
say moo: a fucking movie theatre
i love bananas: they had a movie theatre at home and we didn’t know???
say moo: yes
I’M A CHICKEN: oh my god
im THE dawg: what happened why is kwannie yelling in my ear
im THE dawg: oh what the hell are you serious
orange is the new black: language, choi hansol. but yes, the sentiment is the same for me.
I’M A CHICKEN: if you find a karaoke room i don’t care where i am or what im doing, im coming down immediately
He snorts, exiting the secret room after switching off the lights, removing the book from the chair and putting everything back to rights. He unlocks the door and exits the recreation room entirely, making his way back to his room, scrolling through social media as he walks.
After Seungcheol is done washing up, he exits the room, climbing up the staircase slowly and finding himself in a hallway similar to the one on the lower floor. Only, instead of just whiteboards hung on the walls on the right of each door, there are wooden nameplates nailed into the doors, with an animal intricately engraved on each one.
He walks down the hallway, darting left and right to look at the different nameplates and whiteboards. At the end of the hallway is a door with a cat nameplate, as well as a whiteboard that has Jungsu’s name on it with angel wings as a backdrop.
He knocks on the door with trepidation, and after a moment the door opens. “Come in!” Jungsu calls, and Seungcheol peeks his head around the door. Jungsu smiles when he sees him, closing a leather-bound book and placing it on the table.
“What’s that?” Seungcheol asks curiously. “Oh, this?” Jungsu looks down at the journal. “It’s a journal, where I write my thoughts in whenever I have time,” Jungsu explains. “Each generation of Cat bearers tend to keep journals because sometimes it’s good to write things down,” Jungsu says, gesturing to the rows of shelves that are along a wall.
“Because a lot of them are old, they fall apart easily under direct sunlight, so I keep them in these cupboards with no glass, so they don’t get damaged. I also have a dehumidifier in each cupboard to make sure they don’t become mouldy,” Jungsu tells him.
“It’s weird, though. I only have the journals from the Cat bearer five generations back to now. I can’t seem to locate the journals prior to that generation’s. Anyway, here, these are the ones I’ve filled in in the years I’ve lived here,” Jungsu says, opening one cupboard, showing him the row of leather-bound books slotted in neatly next to each other.
“Woah,” Seungcheol gasps, looking to Jungsu for permission before taking one. He flips through it quickly before putting it back, feeling as if he’s intruding on Jungsu’s privacy. Jungsu closes the cupboard after he makes sure everything is in place.
“Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the manor. The East wing is simple enough, all of the rooms are similar to the ones you’ve seen,” Jungsu leads the way out of the room, and Seungcheol dutifully follows, trailing the old man.
They head out into the hallway and through the door that leads to the Central Wing, and Jungsu points out the various rooms to him as they pass. “There’s the music room, and that one is the recreation room. The one opposite the music room is an office to do work in, and the one opposite the recreation room is an art room.”
“The other rooms, you can discover on your own,” Jungsu tells him. “I have to show you some other stuff later, too.” They walk to the other end of the Central Wing’s main hallway, where a door is closed.
“Welcome to my pride and joy, the West Wing of Zodiac Manor,” Jungsu says proudly, opening the door to reveal the largest library Seungcheol has ever seen inside a house. Well, granted, it was a manor, but still.
“Woah.” Seungcheol walks into the West Wing, eyes darting in all directions as he beholds the sheer number of shelves in the wing. Instead of rooms, the entirety of the wing is a library, with three floors. In between shelves, there are numerous reading nooks along the wall, framed by large windows to let in the sunlight.
There is a staircase leading up to the third floor and another down to the first floor in front of the door, and another across the wing. There is also one in the middle of the wing, and each row of shelves has a mobile ladder.
“The books are all arranged depending on whether they’re fiction or non-fiction, then by author. The non-fiction books are arranged according to topic as well,” Jungsu tells him, smiling at the younger’s reaction.
“We also have a section focusing on all the lore anyone has ever collected regarding the zodiacs,” Jungsu informs him in a more serious tone, catching Seungcheol’s attention. “You mean…” Seungcheol trails off, to which Jungsu nods, understanding the unsaid question.
“Yes. This is the largest collection of books regarding the curse. Whatever anyone has ever published, be it in a research paper or in a book, fiction or non-fiction, we have it. No matter how ridiculous the things they write are, we have it. After all, even the most nonsensical things can have kernels of truth in them.”
Jungsu points out the section to him, all the way at the other end of the wing. Seungcheol itches to go and check out what books the library has to offer, but refrains from it for now. He has all the time in the world to explore the West Wing.
“That’s all for the inside of the house, now I’ll give you a tour of the outside,” Jungsu says, leading Seungcheol back out of the library and down the grand staircase. Seungcheol remains quiet, a thought having occurred to him.
“Harabeoji, what would have happened if I’d refused the bracelet? If I’d refused taking on the curse as the Cat zodiac bearer?” Seungcheol asks, and Jungsu halts in his tracks. “…you would have changed anyway when the time came. Once you’re chosen, there’s no stopping the curse. All I would have had to do was wait for you to change, inform your parents, then take you away.”
Seungcheol stares at Jungsu in shock. The old man turns to him with a sorrowful expression. “I wouldn’t have gotten to say goodbye?” Seungcheol asks softly. Jungsu nods, and elaborates.
“The best time to take someone who doesn’t want to accept the curse is when they’re changed, because it’s harder for them to run away when they’re not used to their new form. And once they’re within the barrier, they can’t escape.”
“That- that’s just cruel!” Seungcheol exclaims, to which Jungsu sighs and says, “Well, a lot of the world doesn’t care if they’re cruel to Cat zodiac bearers or not. It’s partly for their own protection as well. Cat zodiac bearers aren’t treated well outside of this town, Seungcheol-ah. You’ve heard of the reputation we carry.”
Seungcheol falters, recognising what Jungsu is saying to be true. He’d heard the townspeople talk about harabeoji when they’d recognised the bracelet he wore. With no argument, Seungcheol falls silent again, and Jungsu continues walking, Seungcheol following quietly.
“This is the kitchen,” Jungsu tells him softly as they enter, and Seungcheol looks up from his thoughts, observing the happenings of the kitchen. “That man manning the stoves over there is the chef for my generation, Kim Jaejoong. His protégé, the one rolling the dough at the counters, is Park Jisung.”
Upon hearing their names, the two look up from whatever they were in the process of doing. “Jungsu-hyung! Giving the tour, I see,” Jaejoong says, wiping his hands clean and turning the fire on the stove low. Jisung does the same, patting his hands clean of flour and washing them.
Seungcheol bows low, greeting the two. “My name is Choi Seungcheol, please take care of me!” Jaejoong laughs and replies, “No need to stand on formality, kid. We’re all family around here.” Meanwhile, Jisung bows back as well, introducing himself. “I’m Park Jisung! Let’s get along well!” Seungcheol nods to both replies, smiling.
“Alright, alright, I’m sure the two of you still have a lot to do. I’ll continue on with the tour and let the two of you get back to your work, eh?” Jungsu says, to which the chef and chef-in-training nod in understanding, going back to their work.
Jungsu leads Seungcheol across the kitchen to the back door, which connects to the gardens and beyond that, the woods behind the manor. “This is the gardens of the manor, where we have all kinds of things growing here, from herbs used in cooking, to those used in potions, as well as flowers and fruits.
“The current gardener is Kim Junsu, and his protégé is Kim Taehyung. They’re probably somewhere in this maze right now, I’ll introduce you to them later during dinner,” Jungsu tells him, showing him the hedge-maze that was Taehyung’s idea, who is, apparently, a witch that specializes in plants and potions. They walk through the well-worn paths of the gardens to the iron-wrought gate built in the brick wall.
“Remember when I mentioned the lands surrounding the manor in the car? That treeline over there is the beginning of the woods,” Jungsu says as he opens the gate, “The manor lands extend all the way until the barrier, which is the town boundary. Of course, the woods extend past that, but we only own the land up until the barrier.”
They stand at the treeline, enjoying the breeze and the sounds of nature. A cat emerges from deep within the woods, coming up to them for scratches. Seungcheol obliges gladly, squatting down to stroke down its back and between its ears.
“That about concludes the tour, I should think. There are rooms I didn’t tell you much about, because those are mainly for witches and practitioners to use, but there’s two more things I have to tell you. There are many hidden rooms in the manor, some of which I probably haven’t found yet.
If you find them, you get to do whatever you want to them. Contractors and builders are always sworn to secrecy via confidentiality agreements as well as the best lawyers we can find. Of course, you can try building whatever you want by yourself as well.” Jungsu leans against a tree, looking at the view the manor presents against the backdrop of the setting sun.
“Lastly, I have to show you how to open the Cat’s bedroom door. I opened the door for you earlier, but this is a trick all Cat zodiac bearers have to learn. No one else knows how to open our door, so keep it that way, alright?” Jungsu tells him, moving back in the direction of the manor.
Giving the cat one last scratch, Seungcheol stands up, following Jungsu back into the manor and to the door of the Cat zodiac bearer’s room. “Why does the Cat zodiac bearer’s bedroom door require so much effort to open it?”
Jungsu shrugs at the question. “I think one of the previous generations must have been very paranoid. It’s been like this for three generations at least.” Seungcheol frowns, dissatisfied with that explanation.
They come to a halt in front of the bedroom door in question, and Jungsu changes the topic, focusing on teaching Seungcheol how to open the door. “You can’t open this door in the usual fashion,” Jungsu shows him, pushing the door handle like they do for other doors. It doesn’t move, indicating the door is clearly locked.
“What you need to do is to push this panel here, which has this symbol etched into it,” Jungsu points out a panel on the door itself, which has a triangle-shaped triskelion when Seungcheol looks closer at the symbol about half the size of the nail of his pinky.
“Then nudge the one on the doorframe over here with your elbow, and push the door handle upwards,” Jungsu continues, showing Seungcheol each step in detail. With a click, the door opens.
“If you’re inside the room, there’s a button on the floor you can step on to the left of the door. To exit, just step on that button and open the door normally.” Jungsu points to the button on the floor, almost indistinguishable from the regular wood flooring if not for its odd shape, then closes the door, the locks engaging once again.
“Now you try.”
10 August 2010, Tuesday
Apparently all Cat zodiac bearers start a journal, so this is me starting one.
I’ve met almost all of the people living in the manor permanently, I think. There’s the previous generation, Park Jungsu, Jung Yunho, Kim Jaejoong, Kim Junsu, Park Yoochun and Shim Changmin, and then there’s my generation, which has me, Kim Namjoon, Park Jisung, Kim Taehyung, Hwang Minhyun and Min Yoongi.
If there’s regularly so many people living here, an outhouse may be a good idea.
Maybe a treehouse?
[chapter two end]
three
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staxilicious · 7 years ago
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One of the bloggers I follow did a review of their own accomplishments for this year, along with a list of goals for the coming year LAST YEAR, and so reblogged that with how that played out and then the same for this year, which got me thinking about my own lists for those things.
The months between July 2015 and the end of December 2016 were the worst months of my life, no hyperbole. My goal for all of that time was “live through this, keep my cat alive through this, not lose myself in this process.” At the end of 2016 I had a 5x10 storage unit that was FULL, a shed at a friend’s that was about the same size and also full, my apartment so full of boxes that the only things I could get to were the bathroom, my bed, some (but not all) of my clothes, the “kitchen”, and my desk, plus the garage of the house where I live filled with boxes. My goals were to get through all of those things and get back on track with my creative pursuits and spend more time with my loved ones.
What actually happened in 2017, political dumpster fire aside, was that I spent the entire year dealing with the health repercussions of those 18 months of constant extreme stress. I have a number of health conditions that are all exacerbated or triggered by stress (which it would be tedious to detail here) and all of them were tripped, plus I had brand new body things that happened including 2/3rds of my hair falling out between November 2016 and February 2017 (it did start growing back in around the end of February and is now at the length where it is ALMOST long enough to go into my ponytail but not quite). All of which left me with the overall impression that this year was a wash on ANY accomplishments, but then I stopped to really think about it.
After some consideration, I realized that I did get a few things accomplished this year:
-          I met and spoke with quite a few of the people who live in my neighborhood, including half the people who live along the cul de sac where I live.
-          Read over 300 books. It was more but the ipad I was using to do so has crashed and so the exact number and names of those books is out of reach right now. (to be fair, mostly as audio books)
-          Did some more work on learning to compose music
-          Wrote some poetry
-          Took a lot of photographs, including taking several walks (in warmer weather) specifically to take photographs.
-          Did a series of product photos for someone’s webstore.
-          Won NaNoWriMo
-          Began learning Spanish this summer and have progressed far enough that I am catching things in Spanish language conversations I run across in the world, and understanding about a third of any Spanish language programs I am watching (making it more possible for me to watch Spanish Language programming without having to focus on subtitles 100% of the time).
-          Made myself several necklace/earring sets to wear with my current wardrobe
-          Began sculpting with clay again.
-          Got The Band Back Together. (got my old IRC crew back together and using slack to be in touch like the old days – this was a major undertaking and involved bringing a lot of people together to contact all of those folks who I don’t have contact info for. This was long overdue.
-          Actually did get through one of those storage units worth of stuff (I know this because I have more room in my apartment now than I did at the beginning of the year, and the friend sold their house so all of my stuff stored there was brought here).
-          Created a City game setting for D&D/Pathfinder games to run a live game and online game in (which has involved a LOT of work, and illustration as I have done all of the maps by hand, and created other illustrations for how things work in the city), and begun running the live game there.
-          Started gaming again on a weekly basis.
-          Drew a several new pieces
-          Actually got back to cleaning up pieces that I drew a while back and then left hanging. I have been making major strides with getting pieces finalized again.
-          Started being more active on Tumblr again.
-          Moved from LJ to Dreamwidth (although this is something I need to post to more, I am sure).
-          Spent time with my sister.
-          Saw a fair few movies *in the theatre*. I think I averaged one every other month this year, which is a LOT more than the previous 2 years.
-          Got the first step done for several projects that I have been dying to work on for several years now.
-          Got another Fairy Gothchild <3
-          Spent a lot of quality time with an old friend, helping them get healthier.
-          Got some mending done.
 Which is a not insubstantial amount of accomplishments for a year I felt like I did NOTHING AT ALL, but it took really putting these things into words to see that. If you feel like your year has been a whole lot of nothing, stop and consider what you have done this year and how you would describe it to other people. You might be surprised at just how much you have done.
 My goals for the coming year include: 
-          Becoming fluent enough in Spanish to understand song lyrics. (which, given that songs are as fast or faster than speaking speed and distorted, is pretty damn fluent)
-          Speak more regularly with my sister and neicephew (the latter will be easier now that we are both on discord)
-          Get through all of the boxes of all of the things so I can actually use my table, and just reduce the amount of stuff I have (including getting things out of storage so I don’t have to pay for it).
-          Make a lot of art. Drawings, sculpture, music, poetry, photographs, etc.
-          Big Project Stuff (see “got the first step done” above)
-          Get my mother’s writings transcribed and edited
-          Get my mother’s patterns scanned, transcribed, and edited
-          Get back to spreading my mother’s ashes in the places she asked me to (there are SEVERAL)
-          Begin to learn Korean
-          Read the Qur’an
-          Do a lot of editing (I owe 2 friends edits on their novels)
-          Spend time with friends just hanging out together.
-          Get through the books on the TBR shelf.
-          Get back into promoting the Bath Salt store.
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