#so i open the top drawer where i keep a bunch of sketches and all of my sketches are gone

[brennbug]

*

[bahorell]

Les Amis (& co.) and what they’re like camping

Enjolras: Is kinda scared of the woods. Also he’s that guy that really has a hard time putting his phone down because “I just have to respond to this one email”. “Yeah give me one second I’m dealing with a work thing”. “omg did you hear about what’s happening in Canada? It’s horrible those poor people” “Enj the point of this is to get away from everything for a couple days” “Right I know…”. So if there’s even one bar of service they gotta go find a different place. When he isn’t on his phone he’s very active in all his friends activities. He’s not super outdoors-y so he mostly tags along when other people do things. He’ll have Baz or Courf take him on rides on their paddle boards. He’ll tag along when Chetta and Ferre go on hikes. He’ll be Feuilly’s little helper person when Feuilly’s working on building the fire. Or he’ll just hand out with people at camp or on the beach of the lake/river and just talk.

Combeferre: Loves camping because of all the bugs and critters! Found the tiniest little frogs on the shore of the lake one time and made everybody look at them. Brings plant and animal and bug ID books with him and will take little leaves or flowers and stick them in the pages of the book when he thinks he found a match. He doesn’t usually snack too much when he’s at home but when he’s in the woods he is always eating something and it’s really when he’ll let himself just go balls to the wall with the junk food. The only thing he doesn’t really like about camping is that he doesn’t get to go on jogs in the morning because he’s smart enough to not run into the woods in the middle of nowhere with no service by himself.

Courfeyrac: Has an inflatable paddle board that he bought! He likes to play lifeguard and will paddle around to all his friends who are swimming and give them rides to shore. He likes to share his paddle board with his friends but he didn’t have enough money to buy a super super fancy one that has a large weight capacity so usually if someone else is on it with him it sinks into the water enough to stress him out. Also he shares a big tent with Combeferre and Enjolras and he likes to sleep in the middle of the two of them.

Joly: Invested in a super super cute small teardrop camping trailer a couple years ago. It’s easier for him to get in and out of than a tent or god forbid a hammock (Bahorel has to lift him into it then Joly wants to get in one… this is also partially because Bahorel sets up all the hammocks and they are p much impossible to get in unless you are also 6’7”) The inside of the camper is just a bed and the back hatch opens up to cabinets and drawers and a counter and stuff that makes a nice little make shift kitchen. He’ll set up the camp stove and the cooking area right next to it. He’s not super involved in any of the cooking it just gives him less stress when the food area is organized and the table legs are on a flat surface.

Jehan: Jehan tells the ghost stories. They aren’t very good at telling ghost stories so nobody really gets scared (except for Marius and if they’re really doing a good job Enj will get a little spooked). They also wake up with the sunrise so they’re up and ready to start the day at like 5am… and they really aren’t quiet about it so they manage to wake up 2/3 of everybody else at camp. Has more dietary needs than other people so when every one gets together to build a grocery list and meal plan for the trip they’ll make their own list. They really don’t mind because they HATE sharing snacks so having their own little baby cooler all to themselves is the best. Bousset: Somehow manages to have the most amazing balance and can get on and off Bahorel or Courf’s paddle boards like it’s nothing but when he gets in the canoe with anybody they somehow always tip it over within like 20 seconds. He is the opposite of Jehan he’ll sleep until like 2 in the afternoon if one of them doesn’t come to wake him up. He’s also usually in charge of getting all the booze together for the trip bc he’s very aware of what everyone likes to drink. He takes turns with Chetta sleeping in the trailer with Joly since not all three of them can fit. When he’s not sleeping in the tent he’s sharing a tent with Grantaire.

Feuilly: Fire guy. Loves the fire. Is always excited for the sun to go down so he can start the campfire. Will not take his eyes off the fire. I mean seriously. They once played never have I ever and when it got to be his turn they timed him to see how long it would take for him to realize it was his turn bc he was too busy staring at the fire to pay attention (it was a solid 4 minutes). Sleeps in a tiny little one person tent that would make anybody else claustrophobic but he LOVES it. He does set up a hammock right next to Bahorel’s. He doesn’t sleep in it but the two of them will take naps together in their hammocks. He also has to dowse his body in SPF 10000000000+ because he’s the whitest person ever, and somehow he still manages to get a sunburn on some part of his body.

Bahorel: He’s the guy thats super picky about the camp spot. “eh i mean this one is cool but it’s a little too close to the other campsite and I don’t wanna be that close to other people thats the point of this trip is to get away from everybody.” “This one WOULD be perfect but it doesn’t have good access to the lake so it’s gonna be hard for those of us that have boats to get down there” “Bahorel the boat ramp is like 1/8 of a kilometer away we can just walk down to that…” “i mean we COULD… but it just kinda sucks” Also Bahorel has this super nice hammock system with like a bug net and a rain tarp, he will not sleep on the ground because he is scared of bugs and also the baby boy likes getting rocked to sleep. He always follows Feuilly around when he’s looking for a place to put his tent and he’ll set up his hammock right next to him. And he WAILS to Feuilly when they get back home because his SKINCARE ROUTINE GOT MESSED UP FEUILLY OHHH MY GODDDD

Grantaire: Not super big on camping but if he’s with his friends he’s having fun. There’s something about being in the woods that makes him quiet… but not in a sad way. He feels really peaceful when he isn’t dealing with a bunch of people in a big city (Even tho he loves the city). He always brings stuff so that he can draw or paint the mountains or his friends on the lake but he usually doesn’t get enough time to really make anything more than a sketch. He’s not scared of water but he avoids going in the lake if it’s not a part of it that’s deeper than his tummy. He won’t get in the boats unless there’s a lot of coaxing (usually by Enj)

Marius: LOVES being in the woods. I mean really loves it. Surprisingly it’s usually Marius that sends out the text to the group chat that’s like “hey is everybody free in a couple weekends? I wanna go camping!” He just really doesn’t like going by himself or going with just one or two people. He wakes up super early as well and usually will sit with Jehan and share coffee waiting for everybody else to wake up. Sometimes the two of them will go on a little walk together. He winds down pretty early in the evening though since he wakes up so early and is usually ready for bed by like 8:45pm. He’s also that guy that wants to eat all the berries on the bushes they walk past and has almost given Combeferre a heart attack like 7 times.  

Eponine: She’s… alright to camp with. She gets kinda grumpy in the mornings because of how cold it is but she warms up (both temperature wise, but also her mood) once she’s eaten and it’s gotten warmer out. She really just likes to lay in one of the communal hammocks and read book after book. She’ll also tag along with Gavroche on a lot of his little adventures. When she’s not with Gavroche or letting Combeferre show her all the little bugs and cool plants he found, she just sunbathes. For HOURS straight. Going camping for her is just a really long fun weekend to get her tan on.

Cosette: She’s so fun to camp with!! She’s like… the best person to camp with. She always does the planning and researches everything there is to do at and near the campsite. She knows all the hiking trails nearby and what areas have service and which ones don’t. She knows which campsites have lake/river access. She also makes the best camp coffee. It’s really the only time she drinks coffee unless it’s like… finals week or she’s got an early flight or something. She also ALWAYS has to tell her dad where they’re going. She shares her location and route with him on the drive there and texts him to let him know she’s about to lose service and texts him the second she has a bar of service. He’s just very protective and she wants to make sure that he knows she’s safe. Plus if anything DOES happen he knows where she’s going and can come save the day.

Musichetta: She sleeps like the entire time she’s camping. She’ll wake up in the morning and move from her tent or the camper and go lay in one of the communal hammocks near the fire ring and doze off with her hot chocolate… which she has spilled a couple times. Once it warms up a little she’s walk down to the lake or river and lay down, get her tan on, and take a nap. One of her favorite things is to go on hikes with Combeferre. He’s one of the only people in the group that can keep up with her. If they go with other people usually by the time they reach the end of the trail the rest of the group is about 2 miles behind them. One of the best parts of camping for her is going home and showering after not showering for like 3 or 4 days.

Gavroche: Spends the entirety of the first day trying to find the perfect tree to put the perfect swing on. He also likes to try to find any big rocks near the campsite and go bouldering and run around on top of them. He still really has that childhood curiosity about everything and no fear. He’ll run off trail trying to find deer or elk. If he doesn’t get back home with a couple scratches or bruises he doesn’t consider it a good camping trip. He also will swim out to Bahorel’s paddle board and Bahorel will grab him out of the water and throw him back in. Gavroche thinks it’s the most fun thing in the world even though he’s growing really fast and it’s taking a little bit more muscle every year for Bahorel to throw him as far as Gav wants him to.

[jungshookz]

CHAPTER ONE: It begins.

it’s... cold. 

why is it cold? 

the first thing you hear is the sound of someone calling for you, but his voice is shaky and he sounds like he’s on the verge of tears

“y/n… please… please wake up…”

your eyelids feel heavy and you can’t seem to open your eyes no matter how hard you try

fingers prod at your back and you instinctively go to flick them away but you can’t seem to move

“please wake up… please wake up…”

what the hell is going on?

when you finally manage to peel your eyes open, you find yourself staring directly at a pair of tattered old sneakers that you recognise to be jungkook’s

you know they belong to him because the seams on the right shoe started to split last week and he’s been too lazy to order another pair for himself

okay

well

if there’s one thing you know for sure, it’s that you don’t know where you are

“don’t leave me alone… i can’t do this without you…”

all you know is that your body is aching and your ears are ringing and your head is pounding and you feel like you’ve just woken up from a one hundred year long nap

long story short

you are noT feeling very well

a pained groan slips past your lips as you slowly push yourself up off the ground before reaching up to press your palm flat against your forehead

jesus christ

your brain feels like it’s about to melt out of your ears

“what’s going on?” you croak, “where are we?” 

you clear your throat before reaching up to wrap your fingers around it 

it kind of feels like you swallowed sandpaper and then gargled saltwater right afterwards 

you reach up to rub at your tender cheek seeing as it was squished down against this rough wooden floor for god knows how long

“what... what’s... what’s going on?” you ask dumbly before looking around the room 

you’re not sure what time it is but it’s obviously nighttime because you can barely see anything

you look over to see soft moonlight peeping in through the cracks in the wooden planks that are nailed against the windows

the only source of viable light is jungkook’s flashlight and even that’s starting to die on him a little bit

“don’t be so loud-” jungkook hisses as he glances towards the closed door warily, “i-i’m not sure. i woke up ten minutes ago. do you remember anything at all?”

“i wish i could say i did.” you mutter before looking over at the door as well, “where’s everyone else?”

“no idea.”

“huh.” 

it’s weird

you really can’t recall anything that happened prior to this moment

you dO know for a fact that the eight of you were together at some point… but now it’s just you and jungkook

“well… okay, lemme just-” you slowly get up onto your feet before stretching your limbs out

your joints pop and crack back into place as you twist and turn and shake the numbness away 

okay yeah

you’re definitely have to go for some kind of a massage as soon as you find a way to get the hell out of whatever crackhouse this is

“i’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.” you wrap your arms tight around yourself before shivering

it’s a little drafty in here

“oh, really? there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why we woke up in what seems to be an abandoned old house?” jungkook hisses as he gets up off the ground as well, “i can’t remember anything. something isn’t right here!”

“at least we’re still alive...?” you mutter, checking your hands and arms to see if there are any scratches and bruises

nothing

which is a good sign, right?

“how are you being so calm about all of this, y/n?” jungkook frowns

you reach down to dust off the front of your jeans before shrugging, “someone has to be, because if we’re both panicky, we’re probably never going to get out of this place.”

“wha-”

“did you find any other tools besides that flashlight?” you ignore jungkook’s panic-infused comments as you make your way over to the large set of drawers at the other end of the bedroom

“no, because i’ve been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes. the flashlight was near me when i woke up.”

“maybe there are some batteries in here somewhere…” you yank the creaky drawer with a grunt 

you’re met with disappointment when you see that all that’s in here is a folded piece of paper

“what does it say?” you jolt in surprise when jungkook suddenly speaks up directly behind you and you give him a gentle nudge with your elbow before picking the note up

don’t let the light die

“don’t let the light die…?” you frown lightly before peering over at the flashlight in jungkook’s hand

really??

you’re not supposed to let the light die and all you get to help you with that is a dusty old flashlight?

that’s the equivalent of bringing a water gun to a sword fight

“what do you think that means?” jungkook whispers and you shrug in response

“i don’t know. this seems like some kind of an elaborate prank or something. and whoever wrote this has the handwriting of a three year old toddler, so i wouldn’t worry too much about it,” you tuck the paper into your back pocket for safe-keeping before pushing past jungkook to explore the rest of the room, “how long do you think we have until your flashlight dies?”

“not sure…” jungkook shakes it before tapping it against his palm, “maybe, like, twenty minutes at best?”

“okay, well- oh, wait!” you spin around before letting out a scoff, “we’re so dumb - we can just use our phones-”

you pat your pockets down and-

…

…

where’s your phone?

you curse quietly when you don’t feel the familiar rectangular shape anywhere

whoever put you here took your phone too???

harsh

your snapchat streaks are all probably gone by now

you and jungkook had a 1385 day streak!

okay

you know what

it’s fine

you’ll just email snapchat later and beg them to restore the streak it’ll be fiNE

in the meantime, you should probably focus on getting out of this place instead of your snapchat streaks

“okay, let’s just-” you run a hand through your hair before looking around the room, “just help me look for something, anything we can use to defend ourselves in case we need to- i don’t know, fight someone?“

“oh, god. you think we’re going to have to fight our way out of here?” jungkook whines, his brows knitting together in concern

you whip around to glare at him, “you’re the stronger one out of the two of us, so you better be prepared to fight if we need to, you wuss-”

there’s a bunch of junk scattered around this bedroom so you’re sure you’ll be able to find something to use

you’re a little bit hesitant to get on top of this bed because you don’t know how old this house is and the sheets look pretty nasty

the mattress creaks underneath your knees as you crawl on top of it and your nose wrinkles at the musty, mildewy smell

gross 

you flip over the questionably stained pillows one by one and perk up when you spot another folded note under one of them

“another one?” you mutter to yourself as you pick it up 

don’t turn around

god

what is with all these cryptic messages, seriously?

you don’t have time to try to figure out what all of these mean!!

“y/n, check it out!” you turn to glance over your shoulder to see jungkook holding a baseball bat up triumphantly, “found it in the closet!”

“oh, sweet! good job, kook.” you hop off the mattress (thank god) before scurrying over to join him by the closet, “what else is in here?”

you nudge him to the side before dropping to your knees to dig through the mess of items on the ground

“nothing much…” jungkook hums, “clothes… shoes… you know, normal things that go in a normal closet-”

you pause upon noticing a tattered looking leather journal buried underneath all the clothes

“and there’s this.” you pull it out and dust the cover off before wiping your hand on the side of your leg 

it crinkles as you open it up and you smooth your hand over the first page 

the pages are wrinkled and yellowed and honestly you can barely read the words because most of the ink is faded

you flip through it slowly and reach up to adjust jungkook’s hand so that you can get more light on the book

“what’s that?”

“someone’s journal or diary or something, i guess?”

“...i feel like that can’t be a good sign.”

you flip through the pages faster and faster and you feel your heart starting to pound in your chest

these messages are… creepy

don’t turn

can’t hide

no door

trust him? trust them? 

all smiles :-)

“damnit.” you mutter to yourself as you bring the book closer to you to trY and read the faded messages

on the last page (the rest of the book is blank) is a messy sketch of what appears to be a bunch of long panels formed into the shape of an octagon with a little red ‘x’ in the very centre of it

?

okay

so

here’s what you know  

you woke up in a room in a house and you don’t know how you got here

the only source of light you have is a shitty old flashlight

the only kind of weapon you have is a shitty old baseball bat

this journal has a bunch of weird messages scrawled inside of it but you don’t know if the information in it is important or if the owner of the journal is just insane

and… yeah!

that’s about it

there’s really not much else to unpack here

and as much as you would like to stay here wondering what the hell is going on, you really don’t have the time for this and it would probably be more productive to actively try to get out of this place

and you feel like if you bring the book with you, something spooky might happen… so maybe you’ll just leave it be

at least that’s what all the scary movies you’ve ever watched have taught you

you never mess with the journals!

you toss the book aside before getting up onto your knees and dusting them off

“alright, c’mon-” you brush past kook and head towards the door with the baseball bat in your hand, “let’s go.”

jungkook’s lips part and he lets out a squawk before stumbling over to join you, “what- wha- what do you mean ‘let’s go’?”

you turn to look at him right as you’re about to reach for the doorknob before raising a brow, “i mean, let’s get out of this room so we can get out of this house-“

“no!” jungkook shakes his head frantically before backing up, “i-i think we should just stay in here until the morning. it’ll be safer that way and we’ll be able to find everyone else a lot easier.”

your shoulders drop and you resist the urge to roll your eyes

he wants to STAY here?

you’d very much like to LEAVE here so you can go back to the comfort of your own home

and you feel really gross!! you wanna take a shower!! rinse all this grime off!!

“jungkook, from the looks of it, it’s not going to be morning for a couple more hours, and you said yourself that the flashlight probably isn’t even going to last one hour.” you gesture to the flashlight in his hand - which flickers and dies for a brief second, proving your point - before placing a hand on your hip, “now, c’mon. i have a bat. you have your fists. we’ll be fine.”

“but- what about that note you read earlier? a-about not letting the light die and stuff? a-and all the messages in that book?”

“exactly! we can’t let the light die - someone had to have put it there for a reason, right?” you appeal to jungkook’s spooky little conspiracy in an attempt to get him to lift his feet up off the ground, “that means that we need to make use of our only source of light and get out of here as soon as possible, okay? we have each other. we’ll be fine, kook.” 

jungkook chews anxiously at the inside of his cheek as he thinks to himself

a good ten seconds of silence ticks by and he still hasn’t responsed

oh for god’s sake

you let out an exasperated sigh, “look, if it makes you feel any better, i’ll lead the way! and we can hold hands or something.”

“i don’t-” jungkook reaches up to scratch the back of his neck, “i don’t need to hold your hand-“

“alright, fine, we won’t hold hands since you’re a big strong man who definitely isn’t scared shitless right now,” you shake your head and reach for the doorknob again, “can you please just get over here so that we can-”

BAM!

you immediately fall backwards in surprise when suddenly someone starts pounding at the door

you wince as your elbows hit the ground and sharp pain shooTs up your arms

oW

“are you okay??” jungkook helps you back up onto your feet and you nod quickly as you keep your eyes glued on the door

it’s being pounded on so hard that it’s practically vibrating

“HELP! HELP ME!”

you recognise the voice to be taehyung’s and you can’t help but feel a sense of relief even though relief should be the last emotion that this situation brings

“LET ME IN, PLEASE- PLEASE, I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE IN THERE, PLEASE LET ME IN-”

you go to open the door but jungkook suddenly grabs the back of your arm and yanks you backwards, “n-no!”

“wha-” you turn around to look at him with wide eyes, “what do you mean ‘no’?! are you insane??”

jungkook’s grip tightens around your arm and he looks over at the door warily, “y/n, don’t open it!”

“PLEASE- PLEASE, I DON’T WANT TO DIE-”

“we have to open the door!” you hiss, “taehyung’s in trouble!”

“but- if you open that door, all three of us could die!” jungkook stammers, “that locked door is the only thing keeping us alive! we don’t know what’s out there, y/n!”

you jump as the doorknob starts to rattle violently

at this point, taehyung could probably break the door down and come in himself

you look down at jungkook’s hand around your arm and then back up towards the trembling door

What do you want to do? 

> [A]: Open the door! That’s your friend out there! Taehyung would do the same thing for you… right? Wouldn’t he?

> [B]: Are you serious right now?! Jungkook’s right! You can’t open the door, otherwise whatever’s out there is going to get you guys too! Sorry, but everyone for themselves…

Place your vote here. 

You have one hour. 

Good luck. 

[toxoiddiamond]

T H E B A S I C S Given Name: Seong Ki-mun Nicknames: He briefly went by the name Kyle in middle school because he was tired of people teasing him about his “weird” name. But by the time he got to high school he didn’t care anymore and was back to going by his real name. (He also started purposely mispronouncing the names of anyone who made fun of his name– think A-a-ron.) Age: 30 Birthday: November 23rd Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius Birthplace: Anaheim, California Current Location: NYC, New York Speaks: English, Korean (fluently, but his family teases him about his “American accent” all the time) Dominant Hand: Right Education: He got his Associates Degree from LaGuardia Community College, then transferred to NYU and got his Bachelors in Arts & Sciences. He cheerfully refers to college as the most money he’s ever wasted in his life. Occupation: Teaching Assistant in the English department at CUNY Hunter College. He mostly assists with the Writing and Poetry classes, but also helps out with various Literature classes and acts as a substitute teacher within the department if a professor is out sick or anything. He sometimes ends up being treated more like a personal assistant– sent out for coffee or lunch, asked to type up notes or sort paperwork, but he doesn’t mind. Vehicle: Ki-mun’s aunt and uncle bought him a white 1998 Honda Prelude when he graduated from high school, and he still has it to this day. He doesn’t drive much since it’s so impractical in the city, but he likes having it around as an option for longer trips, road trips, etc. Worldly Possessions: Tons of random art supplies– pencils, charcoal, sketchbooks, clay, paints, brushes, etc. Notebooks completely filled with poetry (with many of the poems scribbled out). A fancy smart TV. A bunch of bean bag chairs. A super nice tablet (Ki-Mun may have a bit of an obsession with having the latest technology~). Tons of socks– like, way too many socks. He has an entire dresser drawer just for his socks. Pet(s): A super adorable calico munchkin kitty named Bugsy.

A P P E A R A N C E Height: He says 5’8”, but he’s closer to 5’7”. Hair: Dark black. Very full, soft and shiny. Always seems to fall perfectly into place even with the bare minimum of effort. He usually just puts a bit of pomade in it and tousles it. Facial Hair: His facial hair is very patchy, so he doesn’t bother growing it out. Eye Colour: Brown Skin Tone: A makeup artist friend of his, Andi, occasionally asks to put makeup on Ki-mun as practice (and also for fun) and has informed Ki-mun that his skin tone is “warm beige.” She also informed Ki-mun that he is an Autumn– Ki-mun doesn’t know what that means, but he likes to share it as a fun fact anytime he has to introduce himself to a group of students. Clothing: Ki-mun dresses like a pretty typical hipster, honestly. Skinny jeans, oversized sweaters, band tees, peacoats, cardigans, leather jackets, etc. He usually wears contacts, but occasionally wears big ol’ glasses. Distinguishing Marks: Does being adorable count as a distinguishing feature? Face Claim: Justin H Min

H E A L T H Physical Health: Not bad. Ki-mun was born HIV positive, but has been taking antiretroviral medications since he was a kid. At this point, his viral load is basically non-existent and he is considered to be in remission, with a very good prognosis. Because of the medication he takes, his immune system is not the best, and he is much more susceptible to getting sick as a result. During cold and flu season, Ki-mun will often wear a mask when he’s out in public– his aunt and uncle ingrained that habit in him from a young age (and also wore masks themselves so he wouldn’t feel like the odd one out). Physical Abilities/Limitations: He’s decent at almost anything to do with art, but is especially good at drawing with charcoal. He also likes doing speed-sketches, figure sketches, etc. He is also weirdly good at baseball, and plays on the New York City Metro Baseball Team as part of the NY Blacksox during the season (June through August). Also, he is great at tossing food directly into people’s mouths– popcorn, M&Ms, etc. He hardly ever misses. Addictions: Definitely caffeine, but no serious addictions. Allergies: He gets a mild rash when he eats or touches strawberries. Mental Health: It’s not horrible? It’s not great, but not horrible. As much as he denies it, Ki-mun is pretty lonely, partly because he has such a hard time letting anyone in. He’s not the most trusting person, and tends to keep people at arms’ length until he’s sure they can be trusted. At the moment, he only has one person in his life that he would actually consider a friend. Everyone else is just an acquaintance to him. Ki-mun has sort of “accepted” the idea that he may end up being alone forever, even though that’s not really what he wants.

H I S T O R Y Summary: Ki-mun was born in Anaheim, California, and got off to a pretty rough start. His mother had AIDS, and unfortunately, it was passed on to Ki-mun. He was fine and had no symptoms for a few months, but eventually began to get sick, though thanks to swift treatment, he recovered quickly and the HIV never progressed. As Ki-mun got older, his mother’s health began to deteriorate, until finally they moved in with Ki-mun’s aunt and uncle so they could help take care of her. She eventually was bedridden and had to stay in the hospital full time. One of Ki-mun’s earliest memories is of visiting his mother in the hospital for the last time, which is absolutely one of his worst memories. After his mother passed away, Ki-mun’s aunt and uncle took him in and raised him as one of their own children. They love him like crazy and were amazing parents to him, and Ki-mun has always been grateful to them– not only for raising him, but for loving him as much as they love their actual children and never making him feel like he mattered less. He had a relatively happy childhood in spite of everything. After high school, Ki-mun decided to move to New York– he wanted a change of pace, and wanted a chance to start over and reinvent himself. He found a job and began taking classes at the community college, managed to get his associate’s degree after a year and a half, and transferred to NYU to get his Bachelors. Ki-mun was a very dedicated student and didn’t spend a lot of time getting to know any of his fellow classmates, going to parties, making friends, etc. Still, he ended up being roped into a friend/study group, which is where he ended up meeting Spencer. Spencer was the first person that Ki-mun had serious feelings for. They were friends for the better part of two years, each attracted to the other but both too nervous to say anything. Finally, a week before graduation, Ki-mun got up the courage to confess how he felt, and they became an official couple for all of one day. Unfortunately, once Ki-mun explained to Spencer about his diagnosis, Spencer flew off the handle and accused Ki-mun of being deceptive, being a liar, being manipulative, etc. He told Ki-mun he was disgusting and to never contact him again, and that was that. Shortly after Ki-mun’s heart was smashed to pieces, he packed up everything he owned and moved to a new area of the city, wanting to put at least a little bit of distance between himself and his old friend group. It was here that he met Andi and became close friends with her, and also found a job at CUNY Hunter College. Although Ki-mun feels that his life is generally good and happy– he enjoys his job, has a really good friend and coworkers he likes, he has gotten really into his poetry lately and has been reading it at open mic nights– he can’t help but feel that something is missing from his life. Job History: He worked in his aunt and uncle’s restaurant from ages fifteen to eighteen. When he moved to New York, he did a little bit of job hopping before finally settling on a job at a grocery store– he stayed at that job until he graduated from college and took his job at CUNY Hunter. Fondest Memories: Despite the fact that his childhood was pretty rough at times, Ki-mun has a lot of great memories as well. Family trips to Korea, various birthdays, his graduation day. He also has fond memories of his job at the grocery store– as much as he didn’t enjoy the work, he really liked his coworkers. Plus, all the various spur-of-the-moment adventures Andi has dragged him into. Worst Experiences: His mother dying when he was four years old. Finally getting to be with the person he’d been hung up on for two years, only to be broken up with after less than a day.

C O M M U N I C A T I O N Speech Pace/Style: Sarcastic. Often sounds like he might be annoyed. He speaks in monotone with most people, even when he’s not in a bad mood, so people often think he’s angry or doesn’t like them (and to be fair, they are sometimes correct). If he’s talking to a friend, he’ll definitely be more animated and not so grumpy. And if, by chance, he’s talking to someone he’s attracted to (*coughDODGERcough*) then he’ll get a little tongue-tied, like he wants to flirt but he doesn’t really know how. Accent: American. When he speaks Korean, his American accent does come through a bit, something his family likes to tease him about. Favorite Phrases or Words: When he’s done listening to someone and wants them to stop talking to him/stop telling him a boring story, he will just say “cool” in the most monotone voice he can manage. It usually works. Usual Curse Words: He says “Jesus Christ” and “oh fuck” a lot.

P E R S O N A L I T Y, M I N D S E T, A N D B E L I E F S Personality Type: ISFP-T Sense of Humor: Definitely sarcastic and dry. He can be mean at times, but usually only if the person deserves it. As a result, Ki-mun has been described as “sassy” more than once. When he’s with people he actually likes, Ki-mun is a lot more lighthearted and not so sarcastic. Habits: Twists his lips a little when he’s thinking hard. Rolls his eyes when someone says something he thinks is dumb. Also rolls his eyes and sighs if he’s stuck in a conversation he really doesn’t want to have. When he’s reading his poetry out loud, he never looks up at the audience/whoever is listening because he’ll get too nervous if he sees everyone looking at him. Fears/Phobias: As much as he tries to act like he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him, Ki-mun is very secretive about certain aspects of himself, and is very afraid of someone finding out more about him than he wants them to know. He can’t stand having his privacy invaded, and it honestly makes him feel sick to think of the wrong person knowing too much about him (he still hates that he ever let himself be so vulnerable with Spencer, and blames himself for not seeing more clearly what kind of person he was). Strengths: Ki-mun is very creative and has a knack for all kinds of art. Although it’s hard to get to know him, once he becomes friends with someone, he is fiercely loyal and would do anything for them. As a teacher/teaching assistant, he is exceptionally patient– much more so than in other aspects of his life. He is always happy to answer questions and help anyone student who needs it. Underneath his harsh exterior, Ki-mun is a kind person who just has trouble opening himself up to others. Flaws: He has built up a lot of walls around himself in an effort to try and keep himself from getting hurt. Every time he’s let those walls down, he’s ended up regretting it and building them back up even higher. Anyone who wants to get to know him has to be very determined. Ki-mun is also not the type of person to be nice just because social conventions say he should– if he doesn’t like someone, he won’t talk to them. If he thinks someone is boring, he will tell them so. He can’t stand small talk and will never willingly engage in it. This makes him a very difficult person to interact with. Hopes/Desires: He is not entirely sure what he wants to do with his life, but right now, he’s happy just working and exploring his options. All he knows is that he wants to keep writing poetry, possibly get some published, and keep working in a field that lets him play to his strengths. Wildest Fantasy: A cure for HIV/AIDS being found. Self-Esteem: It’s a little complicated. On some level, Ki-mun is confident in himself and proud of all he’s accomplished in his life. But at the same time, he has it in his head that he doesn’t deserve some of the things he wants, such as a romantic relationship, marriage, a family, etc. He kind of views himself as damaged goods, unfortunately. Religion: He was raised Protestant, and his family used to be fairly devout. He went to church every Sunday, they read scriptures and said a family prayer every night, etc. But the older the kids got, the less active in the church the entire family became. His parents and siblings are still casually religious, and Ki-mun has held on to certain aspects of it, but he doesn’t care about going to church or reading the bible or anything.

R A N D O M Sleeping Position: Usually on his stomach, occasionally on his back. Boxers or Briefs?: Briefs Day or Night?: He’s okay with both. He works during the day, which he likes, and in the late afternoon/evening he goes to the cafe and hangs out or reads his poetry. Top or Bottom?: Bottom, but he’s willing to switch if his partner wants to. Partying or Relaxing?: He likes parties, but he really prefers relaxing when it comes right down to it.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S Closest Friend: Andi is currently the only person Ki-mun would call a friend. He has a lot of acquaintances, but no one else that he’s really close to. Relationship History: He dated a couple of people in high school, but it was just puppy love and nothing serious. He had a couple of flings in college as well, just short-lived, purely physical relationships, and the only sexual encounters Ki-mun has ever had. And then there was Spencer. Ki-mun has not even been on a date since that whole debacle. Sexual Partners: Just the two guys Ki-mun had brief flings with. Thoughts About Sex: He enjoys it. He’s also pretty sure he’s never going to have it again, and has come to accept that.

P A R E N T S Name(s): His mother’s name was Seong Bo-ram. His aunt and uncle are named Park Min-ji and Park Kang-dae. Age(s): His mother passed away at the age of 28. His aunt is 57 and his uncle is 60. Social Standing: His mother was very well-liked, but was shunned by a lot of her friends after she not only became pregnant out of wedlock, but ended up contracting HIV. His aunt and uncle are well-respected in their community, and also well-off financially, firmly in the upper middle class. Occupation(s): His mom was a flight attendant. His aunt and uncle run a small Korean restaurant which is extremely popular– on weekends there’s often a line of people outside waiting to get in. Religion: Protestant-ish. Quality of Relationship With Their Children: Ki-mun’s mom loved him a ton– the reason she left him to her sister and brother-in-law is because she knew they would love Ki-mun as much as she did, and she was right. Ki-mun is still very close to his aunt and uncle. Living/Deceased: His mother is dead, but his aunt and uncle are alive.

S I B L I N G (S) Name(s): Park Kang-min,  Jang-mi (aka Jamie) Sanders, and Park Bo-ram (named after Ki-mun’s mother). Age(s): 33, 31, and 27. Social Standing: They’re all doing quite well in life and are upstanding members of society. Occupation(s): Kang-min is a commercial airline pilot, Jamie is currently a stay-at-home mom but plans to go back to work as an RN once her kids are a little older, and Bo-ram is a violinist with the California Symphony. Religion: They’re all sorta Protestant, but Jamie is the only one of them who still goes to church now and then. Quality of Relationship with Character: Even though they are technically Ki-mun’s cousins, they always refer to him as their brother. They’re all pretty close; they don’t talk all the time or anything, but when they do, they get along very well and have always enjoyed each other’s company. Living/Deceased: All living~

D A I L Y L I F E Living Arrangements: Ki-mun lives in a modest studio apartment fairly close to both his work and Central Park. The apartment is well-decorated, with a lived-in, cozy sort of look. He’s very comfortable where he is, not at all bothered by living in a small space, especially considering how much more expensive it would be to upgrade to a one-bedroom.

[kotoriqueen]

College Isn’t So Bad.. Chapter Update! Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter 4.5 | Also on AO3!

Keith’s been working hard and staying up late to study, so it’s inevitable that he’s going to get sick. He just doesn’t like to admit it. Hunk’s worried, and as happy as Keith feels about someone caring about it, he can’t figure out why someone would care for him so much.

And all of this makes Lance and Pidge think Hunk has something for Keith, but Hunk says “We’re just friends! Friends care about each other!”

“I thought about getting you something because we consider us good friends.”

It’s the words that echoed through Keith’s head throughout the rest of his shift at work. He regretted keeping the stuffed hippo Hunk won him in the backroom until he could clock out and head back to the dorms. Hunk showing up seemed to make the rest of his night go better. Since the start of his shift, his work day had been hell. The store looked like a mess, and he got couples coming in making out against the bookcases. He got the few girls talking loudly, laughing loudly, gossiping loudly in the bookstore. Not to mention taking selfies in every part of store, which Keith tried to avoid getting in the best he could but he had to fix up that section when they were taking selfies. Not to mention the kids that came into the store, begging and pleading Keith for a discount on books.

Not that Keith could blame them, and he’d pass out discounts like high schoolers with gum if he could. But he’s lucky enough he gets a ten percent discount on things, and he books and supplies were still expensive to him.

Yeah. Hunk coming in during his shift made him relax a little. It seemed like the terrible mood he had been in since the start of his shift was to prepare him for Hunk’s sunny personality to come waltzing through that door to make it all right. Him and his bright smile that could make the sun jealous. His shining eyes that could make the shining stars seem full in comparison. His sunny personality that was so warm that it made Keith relax so much he could sleep underneath the sun like a cat.

Yeah. Hunk was a good roommate and friend. Keith wouldn’t switch roommates for the world.

When his shift ends, Keith helps Luxia close down the store before they gather their personal belongings and clock out together. Keith walks to the dorms alone in the dark, the sidewalk being lit up by the lanterns pressed into the grass by plastic stakes. The stuffed hippo is in his bag, making his tote bag look stuffed compared to how flat it was when he left the college dorms. He’s hoping no one questions it, even though he doubts anyone would remember if his bag was empty or stuffed when he left anyway. He enters the dorm building, and goes for the stairs, heading straight up to his room. He takes his keys out of his pocket, the metal clanging together as he searches for the right key and opens the door. Once inside, he closes and locks the door, back resting against the door as he pulls the stuffed hippo out of his bag.

“Oh, you’re back.”

Keith jumps; startled at the sudden voice. He looks up to see Hunk standing by the walkway to the door, hands on his hips and a smile on his face. Keith swears he almost had a heart attack from Hunk being there. Honestly he’s a little surprised Hunk’s not asleep. Was he waiting up for him? Oh god. Keith really hopes that’s not the case.

“Sorry, did I scare you? I didn’t mean to. Honest.” Hunk says, arms falling from his side and shrugging. “I was just waiting up for you so I can make sure you get food in you.”

“I would have been fine, Hunk.”

“Eating microwavable macaroni and cheese isn’t fine, Keith,” Hunk scoffs, shaking his head. “I make better macaroni and cheese than Kraft. Which, speaking of, that’s what I made. It just has a bunch of different cheeses.”

“You really didn’t have to make me anything, Hunk. And you didn’t have to wait up for me? Aren’t you tired?” Keith’s panicking now. Why does he have a nice roommate, and what did he do to deserve Hunk? Plus how the hell does someone react to something like this? Regardless of saying these things, he’s following Hunk to the kitchen anyway, with the stuffed hippo held against his stomach, arms wrapped around it. “I.. uh.. appreciate it though.”

“Don’t mention it. You’re a roommate and a good friend. As friends, it is my duty to make sure you eat properly,” Hunk says, going for a pot and opening a drawer, taking a large plastic spoon out of the drawer. He scoops some macaroni and cheese into a bowl and pops it in the microwave. When it gives a beep, he places it on the counter, sticking a spoon in the bowl. “Come on. Eat.”

Keith lets out a sigh, knowing he won’t get out of this. He sets the stuffed hippo down on a chair, placing his tote bag on there, as well, and steps over to Hunk’s side. He takes the bowl in his hands and turns, back pressed against the counter as he takes a spoonful of macaroni and cheese. His eyes widen at the taste, tasting several cheeses that work so well with each other. He ends up eating half the bowl before he notices Hunk’s staring at him with a wide grin on his face. Keith feels his face flush in embarrassment. Hunk was just watching him eat. Or, well, that’s not bad – not as bad as how Keith was sucking up the macaroni and cheese like he was a vacuum. Keith swallows down the mouthful he has before speaking.

“Uh, sorry. You probably don’t want to watch me eat this as if I was a competitive eater,” Keith says, lowering the bowl. “You don’t have to stay up with me, you know..”

“I don’t mind. To both those things. I’m glad someone appreciates my macaroni and cheese that’s not just Lance and Pidge,” Hunk says with a small laugh. “Plus, I want to stay up with you. You look tired, and I want to make sure you get to bed and not just.. pass out on the couch.”

“It was a tiring work day. And I’d rather talk about it.” Keith’s lips form into a small pout at that last part though, a little offended. “I’m not going to pass out on the couch!”

“Hey, when you’re tired, literally the floor is comfortable.”

Keith’s about to open his mouth to retort, but Hunk’s right. There were times where he was so tired that he’d just sleep on the floor at his desk. Sometimes in the bath tub until Shiro found him sitting in cold water and woke him up to get him dried off, dressed, and into a proper bed. Though that was six months into he started living with Shiro, where Keith preferred baths over showers because they were more relaxing. Keith never fell asleep in a bath again after that, and by remembering that moment, his face heats up a little with embarrassment. He quickly shakes it off though, finishing with his bowl of macaroni and cheese. He thinks about asking for seconds, but he doesn’t want to ask for too much. He thinks about it for a good half a minute before shoving his bowl over and asking for another bowl.

Hunk laughs and nods, giving Keith another bowl filled with macaroni and cheese.

Keith goes to bed with a full stomach that night, though he mostly stays up sitting at his desk trying to do schoolwork.  He ends up drawing random doodles in his notebook, just simple little sketches that don’t really mean much. It’s just small flowers and leaves with light shading from his pencil. Letting out a small sigh, Keith pushes himself away from his desk and changes his clothes into sleepwear; a simple pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Jumping on his bed, he covers up with his blanket and end sup falling right to sleep.

When he wakes up, he wakes up to his alarm again as well as a pounding headache. It’s behind his eyes and when he sniffles, his nose is clogged. Without a doubt it’s a sinus headache and Keith groans. He prays he’s not getting sick, seeing as how he works a noon to eight today and tomorrow he’s supposed to have a study session with Hunk, Pidge, and Lance. He doesn’t even know what time all four of them are supposed to meet up, but he hopes it’s not early so he could sleep in a little. He’s not really one to sleep one, but considering he thinks he’s getting sick – but hopes he’s not – he could use all the rest he could get if he’s not dealing with school or work. And with college students wanting to show up to class rather than sleep in the dorms to get better, Keith knows there would be more germs going around campus. It would be surprising if half the students didn’t end up sick in the same week.

Keith gathers things up to take a shower, changing into work out gear. The steam from the hot shower clears up his congestion a little, and when he’s out of the shower, he remembers the medical supplies Shiro sent with him. He hasn’t needed to open it yet, and he manages to find it with ease. There’s pills to relieve sinus congestion and aspirin, so he takes both, hoping they work fast. He has schoolwork to work on after he goes to the GYM on campus. And, again, he works at noon today so he’s really hoping the medicine works so he doesn’t drag through the afternoon and evening. He takes in a deep breath before heading down to the GYM, hoping his body lets him go through his usual workout with the medicine in him.

After thirty minutes in the GYM, Keith feels hotter than he’s supposed to. He’s even sweating more than he’s supposed to. He goes to the vending machine, purchasing a bottle of water and chugging half the bottle down before going back to his workout. He doesn’t even last ten minutes before his throat feels scratchy. Frustrated with himself, he decides to leave the GYM. Once back at the dorms, he takes a short, cold shower, hoping that helps him cool off. Thankfully it does, and he lets out a sigh of relief. He ties his hair up, changing into a tank top and a pair of shorts for the time being. He’ll change into something more acceptable for work later, but for now, he needs his body to cool down. He sits in his room with his desk fan pointed directly at him, leaning back in his chair and letting the cool air hit him. It feels good, and he could sit there forever. Which it’s unfortunate that he can’t, considering he has work in just a few hours. And those few hours go by fast when he decides to just sit there, not touching the homework he tried working on last night.

Well, he does have tomorrow to do it. At least then he’ll be with the others and they can motivate him. They’d all motivate each other like Hunk said Thursday. Keith snorts at the thought he could properly motivate anyone. He can’t even motivate himself to do schoolwork. Motivating himself to sketch or photograph was a different story, though.

Before he knows it, it’s time for him to get ready for work. He peels himself off his desk chair with a groan and going over to his clothes, changing out of his shorts and tank top into a pair of pants and a simple t-shirt. He wears an apron over his clothes anyway, and Luxia never specified a dress code, but he might as well make himself look presentable and not wear a shit with writing on it or the jeans with rips and tears in the legs.

He fixes up his hair, slips a few bottles of water in his tote bag and slips his glasses on. He decides to take the aspirin and sinus congestion pills with him, just in case he needs to take them. (He’ll need to, but he’s still hoping his congestion doesn’t get that bad for him take medicine during work.) After grabbing his phone, he heads out, but as he leaves his room, he bumps into Hunk.

“Uh, sorry, Hunk,” Keith says, stepping back into his room. Hunk stares at him for a long moment, completely quiet. “..Something wrong?”

“Huh? Uh, no. Not really.” Hunk responds quickly. He was looking at Keith, honestly. Has he always worn glasses and he just hasn’t realized it? Hunk swallows hard, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was just about to make myself heading to eat before heading to class. Do you want something?”

“I don’t really have much of an appetite right now, plus I have to head to work, so I don’t have much time,” Keith says, fixing his tote bag on his shoulder. He’ll probably end up getting hungry later and then he’ll regret those words, but there’s always a vending machine in the lobby, right before the bookstore, actually. “Don’t worry about it. What class do you have?”

“An engineering class. There’s a test coming up, too, so our study session tomorrow with Lance and Pidge is going to help. If you’re still up for that?”

“Of course I am,” Keith answers, a small smile appearing on his lips. Hunk looks skeptical though. “..What?”

“I don’t know, you just.. don’t look so great?” Hunk questions and Keith raises an eyebrow. “Not like that! I mean.. you’re swollen around your nose. And you sound congested. Are you getting sick? We can do the study session some other time so you can rest. I can make you soup when I come back from class and bring it to you at work, too! Should you even be going to work?”

“Hunk. Hunk. I’m fine. Trust me.” It’s a lie, but Keith hopes Hunk believes it. It’s more that Keith would be fine. A little congestion isn’t going to keep him from studying with the others, nor is it going to stop him from working. “It’s just allergies. I have something to take care of it.”

“If you say so..”

“I’ll see you later. Have fun in class.”

As if anyone could have fun in class. Then again, Hunk seems to like engineering as much as he likes cooking considering the talk they had Thursday when Hunk was fixing Red. So Keith supposes that there’s one person out of a thousand that actually liked going to class. Keith leaves the dorms and heads to work, where he ends up popping another aspirin before clocking into work. Luxia is having him open boxes in the back and sort things, to make it easier to stock. Keith lets out a breath of relief, because he doesn’t think he can deal with people right now without his temper getting the best of him.

~☆~

Hunk’s engineering class seemed to go by quick. You know what they say: time goes by fast when you’re having fun. And for Hunk, he has a lot of fun in his engineering class. He learns so much that his notebook is filled with notes that are colour coded as well as numerous post it notes in the notebook, marked with chapters and information to keep it even more organized. He’s a little disappointed that the class ends so quick, but when he leaves, he heads straight for Lance’s and Pidge’s dorm, where they are both awake, but sitting lazily on the couch as they play a fighting game.

Sometimes Hunk’s grateful to have an extra key to their dorm, other times he wishes he would forget about it and knock so one of the two would get up to answer the door. (Lance would probably be the one answering, because when Pidge is comfortable, she is not getting up even if there’s a fire. Even then, she wouldn’t think it would worth losing her comfort because of a fire.)

“Please don’t tell me you two have been sitting like that all day,” Hunk hopes they haven’t, but Pidge and Lance exchange looks for a moment, going quiet. “..You have, haven’t you.”

“You told us not to tell you.” Pidge says with a shrug. “It’s a lazy kind of day, Hunk. Let us have this.”

“Please tell me you’ve at least eaten?” Hunk says, hopeful but the two go quiet again. “Oh my god you guys.”

“We’ve eaten!” Lance declares, gesturing towards the chip bag and bowl full of dip on the table. “As Pidgey says – it’s a lazy kind of day.”

“You two need to eat something other than chips and dip.” Hunk sighs, walking over to the couch and grabbing the controller out of Lance’s hand and pausing the game. “Get off the couch and get dressed. We’re going out for lunch.”

“Do we have to go outside? I don’t want to deal with people today.”

“You don’t want to deal with people at all, Pidge,” Lance says and Pidge shrugs. “I guess Mama Hunk is right. We need food. C’mon, babe.”

“I’m not a mother! I just care about my friends and their well being.” Hunk huffs, folding his arms over his chest. “I’ll buy, too, and Pidge, peanut butter cookies are not a lunch, they are a treat.”

“Mom read my mind!”

“I’m not a mom!”

Hunk wonders what he did to get friends like Lance and Pidge. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his best friends. When they got together, Hunk hoped Lance would be able to make sure Pidge ate properly. He and Lance grew up with large families, and learned recipes along the way. Sometimes Lance would cook something homemade, other times it’s pop a frozen pizza in the oven and call it good. Especially when Pidge is a picky eater, it’s hard to make something she’d actually eat to fill her up. (But she’d eat a bunch of food if Lance’s or Hunk’s families offered it because she knows how to be polite.)

It doesn’t take long for Pidge to get ready; she throws on a t-shirt of Lance’s a pair of overalls, letting one strap hang off while the other is on her shoulder. She decides to wear a baseball cap for the day since she can’t be bothered with her hair. Lance on the other hand took triple the time it took Pidge, and he comes out wearing a simple shirt and jeans, and also comes holding a hairbrush. He knocks the hat off of Pidge’s head and proceeds to brush the nest that sits atop his girlfriends head. Hunk chuckles as Pidge struggles to get Lance off of her, insisting her hair is fine, and yet Lance still keeps at it.

“My hair is fine, Lance!” Pidge huffs, but gives up on fighting, arms folding over her chest. “Meanwhile it took you like, fifteen minutes to get ready just for something simple.”

“Hey, I look good, my face is cleansed, and I’m ready to show the world my beauty.” Lance says and Pidge lets out a snort.

“What beauty?”

“Pidge! You’re my girlfriend! You’re supposed to tell me I’m beautiful!”

“Then I’d be telling a lie.”

“Wha- Hunk!”

“You’re beautiful, Lance,” Hunk says with a grin. “Your face reminds me of the sky; clear like your face, a gorgeous shade of blue like your eyes, and smile shining like the sun.”

“Aw, Hunk,” Lance is smiling wide, face flushed. “You flatter me. See, Pidge. That’s how you’re supposed to act.”

“Why would I want to act like that? That’s gross. Save that for Keith, Hunk.” Pidge says, waving a hand. “You’ll never catch me saying that shit.”

Hunk’s face flushes at that accusation, “P-Pidge! I don’t like Keith in that way! He’s just a good guy and a good roommate. I told you guys that yesterday!”

“Uh-huh. We totally believe you, buddy.”

Lance finally manages to get Pidge’s hair brushed, and as soon as he sets the hairbrush down, Pidge grumbles, reaching for her hat. She puts it back on, and Lance narrows his eyes at it. He decides to leave it be though and the trio leaves to go get lunch. There’s a nice little sub shop near campus they both like, and Lance drives, with Pidge resting in the backseat on her phone. They order their subs and sit down at a table, with Pidge’s feet propped up on Lance’s lap. He acts like he minds, but he can’t exactly force Pidge’s feet off his lap when they’re sitting across from each other. They talk about Hunk’s engineering class, and Lance talks about how he’s dreading midterms coming up. Pidge thinks she’ll ace them all, which Hunk and Lance have no doubts that she would.

Somehow they get on the topic of Keith, and Pidge shares a few stories and some information about him. Hunk’s making mental notes, and he sighs with relief to hear Keith’s not a fighter when it comes to taking medicine. If he is getting sick like Hunk thinks he is, he’d like to help his roommate and best friend the best way he possibly could. Though from what he hears, Keith would chug down a bottle of DayQuil before reading the dosage in order for him to stay up if he has an assignment due or has something important he has to do during the day.

So that means Keith would be stubborn with getting rest. Peachy.

“Why the sudden interest in Keith anyway, Hunk?” Lance questions, eyebrow raised. “And why ask Pidge. You could ask all these things yourself.”

“I just want to know more about him? And I feel like I’d be annoying if I asked him a thousand questions at once.” Hunk shrugs. “Especially if he likes to keep to himself. It’s good to know these things so I don’t anger him in the future.”

“I highly doubt you would. Keith may have a bit of a temper, but he usually controls it pretty well? For the most part anyway,” Pidge explains. “I’ve known him for a while, and his temper usually came when he’s stressed. Or when I whooped his ass in games.”

“That’s understandable, though. I get angry too when you beat me at game – even first person shooter ones!” Lance says. “You’re not supposed to be good at those! Those are my games!”

“Tough shit. Also, Hunk, you’re right to come to me for this information. Keith usually doesn’t talk about himself much. When someone asks him to tell them about himself, he freezes up and may say the same thing about two or three times before he finds something else to say,” Pidge continues, stirring her straw around in her glass, ice clinking against the glass. “It wouldn’t be annoying, but I feel as if Keith would freak out because he doesn’t know what would be the right thing to say. He’s.. a special sort of case. But it’s not my place to talk about his past.”

“Huh..”

He’s learning a lot about Keith, and silently wonders if Keith would ever talk about his past with Hunk. He knows he and Lance are open to talk about their family and their pasts, Lance especially. Pidge was different; she doesn’t talk about her family much unless she asked, finding the information about them basically boring. Not to mention it puts a downer on her mood to talk about her brother considering he’s halfway across the world studying abroad. His schedule is jam packed, so he rarely has time to talk to Pidge over skype. Pidge’s lucky enough to get a letter from him every month. Although she understands why her brother chose to study abroad, she doesn’t have to like it. Everyone was different.

“And I’m pretty sure you can only get him to say his tragic backstory when you hit level four of his friendship.”

Oh. Well that answers that. What level was he even at now? Was he even at a level?

“We should get going. There’s actually this dessert shop I want to stop by since we’re down here,” Lance says, pushing out away from the table and stretches, arms over his head. “As much as I love your baking, Hunk, I have a taste for something sweet now.”

“Non-taken. Even I get impatient when I’m baking.” And he sometimes licks the batter out of the bowl, but he won’t tell anyone that. Though something else crosses Hunk’s mind. “Uh, I’m going to grab one more thing before we go.”

He knows Keith didn’t seem to want a surprise visit at work from Hunk, and he seemed to turn down the soup idea, but the sub shop did sell good soup. He might as well get a small cup of the chicken noodle soup they have and surprise Keith with that anyway.

~☆~

For Keith, it seemed like his shift dragged on forever. On weekends, it was either super slow that watching paint dry was more interesting, or crazy busy that it was difficult to get five minutes to take a breather. There was no in between.

Even if Keith was organizing things in the back, and later stocking them, his first hour seemed to go by crazy slow. He’d dreading going out on the sales floor to stock, because he’d have to deal with people, but each time he checked the time, he’s lucky five minutes passed since the last time he checked it. Now it’s barely been three and a half hours since he started – and those hours when by so slowly – and he feels as if he’ll never get out of work. He’s been going at a slow pace with organizing, just to try to kill time faster, but that doesn’t seem to be working. He lets out a huff, deciding now would be a good time for a break. He still sounds congested, and Luxia wanted to send him home when she saw him, but he insisted he was fine. (“Just take it easy,” she told him. “If you don’t feel well enough to be here, you’re free to go home whenever you’d like.” Yeah. Right. Even if Keith had a broken arm, he’d still work because he needs money.)

Keith groans as he gets off the stock room, having had been on his knees for a while separating the different designs of stationary they had gotten in. It’s fall, and Halloween is a good month away, give or take a few days. With that, the bookstore is sent fall themed and Halloween themed stationary, thinking more people would buy something more decorative than plain. Luxia confirms that it has worked in previous years, especially since whoever buys a notebook, gets a pack of pencils half off. The only bad thing about some of this stationary? Some of it has glitter on it. Fronts covered in brightly coloured leaves, glitter pressed into the design. Some of it has gotten on Keith’s fingers, and without a doubt it’s in his hair and his face.

He takes off his apron, and tells Luxia he’s going on break. He heads outside of the bookstore, going to the vending machine, and using a couple of dollars to buy himself a Powerade. As soon as it comes out of the vending machine, he shakes the juice and opens the bottle, taking one long sip of it. The cold feels good on his throat, and he already feels some of his energy being restored.

“Keith?”

Keith blinks, turning his head to see Hunk, as well as Pidge and Lance. Keith blinks, wondering what they are doing here again. Coming to see him at work couldn’t be that interesting, could it? Unless they just needed something from the bookstore and just ended up seeing him while they bought things. Keith thinks it’s the second option, honestly. He’s never had friends, and if he did make a friend or two, it’s because they wanted something from him. Or they acted as his friends for a while before excluding him from everything, ignoring him, and then started to tease him behind his back.

Yeah. His life wasn’t a fun one, and he’d rather not look back it now but he can’t help but feel anxious. He doesn’t want this to happen again. He likes Hunk, even though he can’t understand why he cares about him so much. It took him months to figure out why Shiro wanted to help him, too. He guesses he should be thankful, but he’s lived with people that didn’t care, and as a young boy, he just thought that was the harsh part of life. He just took it as it came and thought it was normal. But that’s a side of him only Shiro and Pidge know of, and he knows neither of them would spill his past to people. Not like he’d be angry if they did.

“What are you guys doing here again?”

“We came to visit! You know, that’s what friends do?” Lance says, a wide grin on his face. “Especially if you’re working in the bookstore. That’s retail, my dude, and it is not fun.”

“You’re not allowed to say anything, Lance. You got a job at LUSH during the summer and you loved that job.”

“It’s still retail, and retail sucks, Pidge, no matter if you love or hate your job.”

“Anyway, yes, we did come to visit you, Keith,” Hunk speaks up, stepping forward, away from the other two. “I wanted to see how you were doing? You were pretty congested when you left.”

“I’m fine. I told you that,” Keith says, folding his arms over his chest, holding the Powerade bottle in his left hand by the cap. “I’ve been working in the back so I haven’t been dealing with people. I’m on break right now, though.”

“Good! You have time to eat some of the soup I got for you!”

“You did.. what now.”

There’s tables outside of the bookstore, near the vending machines, and Hunk walks over to one, Keith following, leaving Lance and Pidge behind. Hunk takes a styrofoam container out of the plastic bag, popping off the plastic lid, and steam rises into the air. Keith can’t really smell it, but the soup looks good, he’s not going to lie. And considering all he’s had was a granola bar or two, he could really use some actual food right now. Heck, his stomach is growling just from the sight of it. He prays Hunk doesn’t notice, but he does, and Hunk lets out a light laugh while Keith’s cheeks burn with embarrassment.

“Come on. Sit down and eat up,” Hunk tells him and Keith takes in a small breath before doing as told. He’s not going to deny food since Hunk spent money on him and brought this to his work just for him. Hunk takes a seat right next to Keith, and as soon as he does, he pushes some of Keith’s bangs back to feel his forehead. “You feel a little feverish, Keith. Are you sure you’re going to be okay for our group study session tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Keith says, taking a spoonful of soup. The steam is clearing his congestion and he’s able to taste some of the soup thankfully. When he looks over to the seat next to him, Hunk still has a concerned look on his face. “Hunk, I swear I’ll be fine. The aspirin I’m taking has a fever reducer in it and I’m taking something for the congestion. It’s just allergies acting up.”

“If you say so, but I’m still worried, alright?”

But why does Hunk worry so much, Keith wonders, but not aloud. His chest feels warm because he’s glad someone cares and worries about him, but he still can’t wrap his finger around the concept that someone would go out of their way to make sure he was alright. Keith eats some of the soup in silence, watching the time as he does, just to make sure he doesn’t get back to work too late. Luxia seems carefree, so he’s sure she wouldn’t mind, but he’d rather get back to work on time.

He’s had to take off his glasses midway through eating because of the steam that came from the soup, but two minutes before he has to head back to work, he takes his glasses and wipes them off on his shirt before slipping them back on. He pops the plastic lid back on the soup, having had finished about half of the soup before he covered it. He’ll probably eat more later. (Keyword probably.)

“I have to head back to work,” Keith explains, knowing Hunk would prefer it if he ate the whole cup of soup, but Keith doesn’t time to do so. He’ll eat more later. Probably. “But.. thanks for bringing this, Hunk. I can pay you back--”

“No! No no. I’m not allowing that.” Hunk interrupts, putting his hands up. “You don’t have to pay me back. Please. I’m just being a good friend here, Keith. You could be getting sick, or it could just be allergies like you said, but I still want to make sure you eat right so you don’t make yourself worse.”

“If you say so.. Still, thanks.”

And Keith smiles and Hunk feels his heart stop. Why does Keith look cute when he smiles? That can’t be fair. Especially when he’s wearing glasses, and he has his hair tied up, and glitter on his face – how did he not notice that last thing before?

“I’ll see you later, Hunk,” Keith says, putting the soup back into the bag and gets up from the table. “I’ll be fine for tomorrow.”

“If you’re sure. I’ll see you later, Keith,” Hunk responds with a small grin. It seems like Keith’s smile grows a bit wider and Hunk watches Keith walk back into the bookstore.

Hunk lets out a sigh, relaxing, and within seconds, Pidge and Lance are next to him.

“Was that a dreamy sigh because you think he’s cute?” Lance comments, raising an eyebrow. “Or a sad sigh because you hate watching him leave, but you love watching him go?”

“Lance, no! Neither of those two things!” Hunk’s face turns warm, hands covering his face. “A sigh of relief because he seems to be doing better! And he’s still on for the study session tomorrow.”

“Speaking of, when are we doing that?” Pidge says, leaning on Hunk since he’s still sitting. “The earlier the better considering we have a lot of studying to get done. As much as I don’t like waking up before noon, it’d be worth it for the studying we get in.”

“There’s a small cafe near the campus that I’ve been meaning to go to actually,” Hunk mentions. “We can have it there, and they open at like nine? They have a few different locations, but I haven’t had a chance to go to a single one. And plus the one near campus just opened up this summer? The Five Lions?”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about that! I’ve been to, like, two of their locations. The whole place is practically rainbow, their aprons are colour coded, and the interior is so bright and colourful that it’s a nice, happy place to go to.” Lance says, a wide grin on his face. “I’m game to go there. Leave at nine, then?”

“That’s so early,” Pidge complains, slumping because she is not eager to wake up that early to study. “Better buy me a double shot of espresso while we’re there because that’s the only way I’ll get up.”

“Sure thing, Pidgeon.”

“I’ll let Keith know when he gets back from work,” Hunk says. “He should be back by eight-thirty tonight, and he’ll get enough rest to be able to get up that early.”

“Can’t you text him?” Pidge offers, though when Hunk looks at her blinking, she realizes-- “Right. You don’t have his number. Give me your phone.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to give out his number like that--”

“Just give me your damn phone, Hunk.”

Reluctantly, Hunk digs his phone out of his pocket, handing it over to Pidge. He still thinks it’s not a good idea to hand out Keith’s phone number to people, even if it is just Hunk. Pidge types the number in, and she’s about to hand the phone back over when Lance snatches it out of her hands.

“I’ll text the Mullet,” Lance says, and Hunk’s panicking because what the hell is Lance going to say. “Oh, interesting name to have him as, Pidge.”

“What. What did she put.”

“You’ll find out,” Pidge says with a grin and leans on Lance, trying to see what he’s typing in. He ends up showing her before he sends it and her grin grows wider. It makes Hunk even more nervous. “I like it.”

“What did you--” Lance hands the phone back over and Hunk looks at the contact name and then the text Lance sent. His face glows crimson. “Lance! Pidge!”

He so wishes there was an ‘undo’ button on text messages.

~☆~

Keith’s still in the stock room, nearly done with organizing merchandise. His phone vibrates in his apron pocket, and takes a quick glance around before taking it out to see what the notification was. It’s from an unknown number, but he opens the message anyway.

Hey, Keith! It’s Hunk. I just wanted to inform you that the study session will be at 9AM tomorrow at the Five Lions near campus. Don’t worry about money – I can pay for you. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!

There’s added emojis such as a smiley face and hearts, and there’s even a kissing emoji on there that makes Keith wonder if that was an accidental emote or on purpose. Though the hearts and kissing emoji make his face flush, but he tries not to think anything of it. He quickly saves Hunk’s number and makes a mental note to text him back later on.

And as he’s cleaning up the stock room, he feels himself smiling. He silently admits he can’t wait for tomorrow either, and makes another mental note to fight with Hunk over who was paying.

[omnical]

I Sing the Body Electric... (1/?)

( Next )

Summary: All her life, forensic pathologist Dr. Angela Ziegler has dabbled much with the dead. After a bout of self-realization, she decides it was time she learned how to deal with the living.

And maybe ask her colleague out for a date somehow.

Genre: AU, Romance. Dark humor. Oh, and ghosts and psychics (anyone a fan of pushing daisies?)

Characters/Pairings: Angela, Lucio, Fareeha (mentioned), Pharmercy

Rating: T, mentions of body gore and third party violence, dark humor.

Links: AO3

Victim died from a singular sharp force: a penetrating wound to the head, resulting in cranial injury.

Left side, approximately 1.53 inches superior to the left orbit.

No murder weapon discovered in the crime scene.

Angela hummed, tapping her lip with the pen.

She paused the voice recorder and wrote her thoughts down on a yellow notebook, leg bobbing, her mind sinking deeper into concentration. By her elbow, a steaming cup of coffee remained untouched, and a nine-hour-old, empty sandwich wrapper laid crumpled up in a ball. Empty coffee cups littered her desk, alongside a mess of sticky notes with crucial thoughts written on them, such as: ‘the nasal cavity?’ and ‘lentil soup’.

Her uniform smelled freshly of antiseptic and murk from the examination they had performed earlier today. It sunk into her skin, her hair; lingering under her nose. Nothing she wasn’t used to, but being used to the smell did not mean she wouldn’t enjoy a long, hot shower back home. Finally, wiping biscuit crumbs off her wobbling keyboard and cracking her long, crooked fingers -- Angela got to work threading the details together. Her peering blue eyes did not break away from the notes and sketches she accumulated, as she typed down her meticulous observations regarding the case. And after what felt like hours, Dr. Ziegler sat back stiffly, curled hands hovering above the keyboard as she skimmed through her official autopsy report, eyes straining from overexposure to the monitor light.

She needed a few more moments of scribbling and typing and biting her pen. Playing the recorder again, keeping it on repeat; she listened to the sound of her voice, crackling and interspersed with static:

Body was found by janitorial staff at 1:30 PM.

According to the man in question, he was lying face-down on his desk, his pose suggesting a struggle, which explains various points of discoloration on his skin…

Blunt force trauma found on abdomen… bruising prominent beneath the left rib –

Where was his position when he received that bruise again?

Angela hummed, her thumbs tapping a random rhythm on the keyboard's space-key.

Once she reached the end of the tape for the third time, marked by a soft ‘click’, afternoon had already come and gone, her desktop monitor the only light bathing her in blue. She hid the recorder in the drawer, her free hand busy alternating between drafting a few rough sketches on paper, and typing exact details on the autopsy report. The doctor took a moment to grab a folder for Case #765 on top of a pile, opening it and flipping over to the photos of the crime scene: dried blood splattered outwards in every chaotic direction on the victim’s mahogany desk; his leather writing pad askew, probably because of how the body fell upon its expiry. She pinched her pen idly between her nose and upper lip, noting how neat the rest of the victim’s desk looked otherwise. She wondered what Satya would say about that particular pattern of blood. It looked like a bunny rabbit.

“Doc Ziegler?”

Cutting herself off in the middle of her thoughts before it drifted too far, Angela reached out to grab her coffee cup, not minding its ice-cold contents, and re-read her notes during their Internal Examination. Angela could only imagine what kind of weapon the murderer used. Or get an idea of what it was, at least, after seeing the results of the death blow herself. This seemed like a tricky one.

“Doc?”

Now if she were to make a guess, it would have been an extremely sharp knife with a serrated edge or…

Angela blindly grabbed for her pen, cocking her head when she realized, during her feverish thought process, she had lost the blasted thing somewhere and could not for the life of her remember where…

“Yo, Dr. Ziegler!” Angela blinked rapidly when Dr. dos Santos’ face appeared in front of her peripheral vision, her blurry sight sharpening until she could see the quirk of his eyebrow and his amused smirk up close. “Busy?” After a pause, a few seconds spent allowing her mind to buffer as she forcefully snapped herself back into reality, Angela jumped in her chair and uttered a small and startled ‘oh’. Her speeding thoughts halting violently in its tracks, not unlike a race car screeching out of the road in a rabble of chaos. She blinked again and, similar to the spread of colored dye blooming in water, her mind began to consciously feel the kinks and aches in her bones ignored for too long. A beat, and she realized her stomach had also released an embarrassing rumble on top of it all. She sent Lucio a sheepish look.

“Doctor, I’m sorry, I -- ” Angela shoved her skewed glasses up her nose, “You startled me.”

Lucio shook his head and rested hands on his hips while he regarded his frazzled mentor. There were biscuit crumbs dotting the corners of her mouth, and her blonde hair stuck up in several different directions all at once. Her clothing was rumpled and frayed, high heels pushed to the corner of her desk, leaving her feet covered in wrinkled stockings, and -- there were coffee stains on her shirt. He sighed, wondering who was really looking after who, in their professional relationship.

“So,” he said, elongating the word into a drawl, “Please tell me you ate lunch?”

Dr. Ziegler cleared her throat, “Yes, of course I had lunch.” she said, wiping crumbs off her chin. “I had something hot and soup-like almost an hour ago, and – “

“I don’t think coffee counts as ‘lunch’, Angela.”

Angela groaned in defeat and closed her eyes, watching bright spots dance beneath her eyelids as her body melted into the chair like putty. She breathed in deep, then stretched her legs out with an exhale. “Just finishing up on some paperwork, that’s all. You know how I get carried away sometimes.”

“How about all the time? And I think ‘carried away’ wasn’t exactly the term I was looking for. Try ‘workaholic’, or ‘perfectionist’.” Lucio leaned his hip against Angela’s desk, crossing his arms, and peering down at her with a mock frown, his neon green headset bunched up around his neck. Even if Dr. Lucio dos Santos was many years younger than her, and technically working under her, Angela hunkered down into her seat feeling much like a child under the watchful eyes of a parent. “When was the last time you took a ten-minute break, young lady?”

“I am not working too hard,” Angela groused. She sat back up in her seat with a grunt, feeling her back and neck pop. “This is just regular me, doing my regular me things,” She shot him a look. “Mom.”

“Don’t give me lip, young lady, you know you’re wrong about this,” Lucio said, “As your colleague, you know I respect and look up to you. But as your friend? You gotta start taking care of yourself, Angela.”

Angela huffed through her nose and began to get her hands busy, stacking the mess of reports which covered her desk into a neat-ish pile, and actively trying to avoid the look Lucio was giving her. “Just be glad I am out of my funk, Dr. dos Santos. I am happy, motivated, and ready to take on the next seventeen cases.” Even the smile on her face felt fake. “Bring it on.”

“Uhuh.” Lucio wryly glanced at the mess of documents under her desk. “Angela, I’m sorry I gotta tell you this, but you have got to get a hobby. Doing something other than work might help you more with this midlife crisis thing.”

“I am not having a midlife crisis thing. I’m not that old, doctor. And–” Angela raised her eyebrows, denial written plainly across her face, “I do have a hobby,” she said with a shrug, “It just so happens that my hobby is related to my work.”

“Your hobby is dead bodies.” Lucio muttered.

“Solving problems. Discovering the unknown.”

“… About dead bodies.”

“Now, if you would kindly excuse me,” Angela threw her entire weight into tossing a giant, teetering stack of documents on the floor next to her feet with a huff. “I was, in fact, about to go and take my break.” she said, dusting her hands together, “Want to have lunch with me, doctor? It will be my treat.”

“It’s seven-thirty in the evening, Doc.”

“Oh, well, time flies I suppose.” Angela said, opening one of her desk drawers, then absentmindedly shoving Jim Jam wrappers and empty coffee cups inside. As if that would make her trash disappear in the morning.

After six months working in King’s Row Forensics Department, the terrifying sight of Dr. Ziegler’s desk hygiene was common enough for Dr. dos Santos to see. He learned early from older residents how futile it was to drag Dr. Ziegler away from a job, and Dr. dos Santos no longer stared at her and her atrocious, self-destructive habits in awe. Their student-mentor positions didn’t stop Lucio from chastising her about her work ethic, especially after witnessing drawn shadows prominent under her eyes everyday, and her smudged make up only completed Angela's usual look. Now one of Lucio’s many fears was finding Angela Ziegler in their morgue someday.

However.

Dr. dos Santos peered at her above the rim of his glasses, and noted the glow about her cheeks with a raised brow.

"Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen you this excited about solving a case since…”

“I am always excited about solving cases.”

“But where was that Doc Ziegler who was ‘tired of it all’ and who ‘wanted to do something new with her life’?” he asked, “Someone who wanted nothing to do with ‘death and dead stuff’? Don't give me that look, you know what I'm talkin' about."

"Lucio--"

"Where was that Angela Ziegler who was planning to quit and maybe try being a football coach or a field medic or something?”

“She is still here, and she happened to get a grip on reality after a lot of thinking.” Angela said, ducking her head, as if that would hide the dusting of red on her cheeks. “Besides, I am already finished with this case. The precinct needs it urgently tomorrow, and, you know…” she stumbled on her words.

“And?”

“I had to finish it quickly.” Angela finished lamely, her voice raising an octave higher as if that would make her sound innocent with her intentions. “Detective Amari was asking about it this morning, and I felt compelled to help her crack this case as soon as possible.”

Lucio felt both his eyebrows reach up his hairline. “Oh. I see. I see.” he said, a twinkle reaching his eye while he casually turned to check his nails, trying to appear more interested with its polish rather than the conversation itself, “Detective Dimples is an awesome source of motivation, isn’t she? Hoping to share a hobby with her, huh?”

“Oh, Lucio!” Angela almost jumped out of her chair, smacking his shoulder with a manila folder. “Don’t call her Detective Dimples.”

“Hey, you were the one swooning over her ‘smoky voice‘ and ‘beautiful smile’ a few days ago.” Lucio laughed, rubbing at the spot she slapped. “Admit it, doc, you’re too gay to handle another meeting with her.”

Angela exhaled, and schooled her features before she became too flustered; raking her fingers through her hair, and hoping the red flush now covering her neck down would fade before another nosy nancy came into the office.

Relax. You are a doctor. You are a professional.

She straightened up in her chair, and folded her hands together in her lap. “I wanted to make sure I handed it in right away, that is all.” she said, managing an impressive professional lull in the tone of her voice. “I didn’t want to make our relationship with the precinct worse than it already is. And secondly,” Angela’s brows pinched in annoyance, and pointed at her office with a sharp jab of her forefinger: “‘Detective Dimples’ stays inside this room, doctor.”

“Detective Amari’s bone structure and cheekbones are so sharp and prominent–“

“Lucio.”

“It makes me want to take up anthropology. Oh Detective.”

“Lucio!”

“Fine, fine, I promise I won’t bring it up again.” he said, trying not to double up in laughter, his poor attempt almost making him slip off her desk. “Professional reasons my ass, though, I know you’re her favorite in the lab. Always asking about you and your ‘thoughts’.” he waggled his eyebrows, “You should ask her out instead of doing this–” he motioned his hands at her vaguely, “Weird flirting ritual thing you’re doing. I doubt you can woo her by talking about dead bodies, Doc Ziegler.”

“I do no such thing, doctor.”

“You need to get out there and get a life. Any life. Get a hobby. Get some friends. Ask Detective A out on a sweet date. Live a little.”

“I do have friends. You’re my friend, yes? Sometimes I even read books.”

“Thrilling.”

“And the detective and I do connect, socially, but just as acquaintances and nothing more.” Angela said, pulling her fingers thoughtfully, “I am a grown woman, doctor, I have complete control of my life.”

“Last time you spoke to her, you struck up a conversation about bile.”

“Well, I thought it was fascinating.” Angela grabbed the rest of her documents and began to rearrange them in a tray next to her monitor, this time with less gusto, feeling herself hunch over as her mind began to conjure up depressing thoughts. “I don’t think I am her type, anyways.”

“Oh, nonsense.”

But it was true. Whether Angela liked it or not, why would anybody consider dating a frumpy, high-strung workaholic, who liked to open up dead bodies for a living?

Dr. Ziegler and Detective Amari were connected through their profession only, no matter what her feelings were. They barely did anything beyond striking awkward pleasantries and empty conversations with each other. Trying anything more proved too much for her to handle. She found it difficult navigating through compelling words above work jargon, while stuttering and pushing through her infuriating and terrifying feelings. Not even the universe was kind enough to let them to meet on different circumstances, thus, they only ever saw each other to discuss murder cases among... other things.

Angela’s eyes, tired and unfocused, turned to look back at the autopsy report, wishing she could get sucked back into its world, where things had more clarity and sense and nothing was embarrassing.

Angela wondered when speaking with the dead became easier for her than dealing with the living.

She checked the time on her digital clock, blinking when she read it was now seven-forty six in the evening. The lights from the city cast a glow over the smoggy horizon, and as Angela listened carefully, she could hear police sirens echo off from a distance. She wondered if it was going to be another case they would eventually find through their doors.

Another body, another life ended.

She felt a hand on her shoulder ground her, all teasing gone from Lucio’s voice. “You won’t know unless you try, Doc.”

EDITED (26/09/17): Just the pacing and switched some words :) Thank you!

[scartale-an-undertale-au]

Papers of Homelessness - Chapter 32

(This banner had been made by the awesome and amazing artist @benteja​​. i am so honored that she had drawn this banner for this story. please go and show her all the love in the world that she deserves!!! \[^o^]/)

BEFORE | NEXT

a/n: I'm so sorry about the lateness of this chapter, I was having such a terrible writer’s block. which is why i’m changing the update days to Thursday, since I prefer to actually post the chapter when I get home instead of queueing it and getting stressed over it.

anyways, enjoy the chapter ^^

The rich smells from the dining table should have warned you, but holy shit!

Your mom went overboard.

It wasn't a meal. It was a feast! She had even pulled the holiday blue table cloth! There was a shallow pan of broiled meat in some dark sauce. A serving plate of grilled vegetables with coarse salt and balsamic vinegar sprinkled over. A bowl of spaghetti and small bowls of different spreads and salads.

Frisk's hand slipped from your sleeve and you glanced to see her hands come to her mouth, her expression hidden from your perspective, but your mother's growing smile gave you a pretty good idea.

"I apologize," Mom chuckled sheepishly as you both stared at the table, "I kind of got too excited over the thought of you coming today and made too much."

And this is where you got your 'made too much' problem…

Frisk was still staring, but they finally made a deep intake of breath. "…For us?"

"Of course!" Mom said happily and gestured for the door to the kitchen. "Just go wash your hands first, alright?"

You both nodded a bit awkwardly and you led her to the kitchen, where you fished out a towel from the top drawer near the sink, handing it to Frisk who was washing their hands.

"Thank you…" Frisk muttered and you gave a lop-sided grin, going to wash your hands as well after she had finished. You led her to the door and gave a pat to her hood head.

"It'll be alright, okay? Mom is really happy to see you."

Frisk nodded.

Well, that would have to do for now.

You two then entered and sat at the table, your mother sitting across you, a big spoon in her hand as she picked a plate from the stack next to her, smiling at Frisk. "What would you like, dear?"

Frisk fidgeted. "…a bit…"

You frowned at her quietness and looked at your slightly disappointed mother. "Give her a bit of everything. There is always seconds, no?"

Mom agreed, beginning to scoop up food to the plate. You felt a tug at your hidden hand and looked down to see Frisk's hand. You looked at her to see her relax a bit.

You rolled your eyes. She was worrying for nothing. Mom would never let any guest eat less than two servings of her food.

You remembered that one time when a bunch of people were supposed to come by for dinner and the new beef cut your mother was planning to try out was actually mostly fat. She was having a severe breakdown over the fact that her guests weren't going to have any food. You just tried to calm her down and showed her the package of hotdogs you had found in the fridge to use as an extra ingredient with the beef. Thank god no one noticed or you would have had to deal with a depressed mother for the rest of your life.

"Chara? What do you want?" You snapped from your thoughts and shrugged at your mother.

"Surprise me."

Mom rolled her eyes and shoved a lot of meat and veggies to my plate. Ah, the old food to grow big and strong… not so big and strong, you grumbled mentally as you stared at your long limbs. You took the plate from her and placed it down, taking a peek at your date mate, smirking when you saw the pile of food in front of the stiff woman.

"Dig in," Mom said and Frisk nodded, taking the fork and knife and digging straight into the meat.

Getting right into business, huh? You preferred eating the side dishes and the main together so you picked a sweet potato and a piece of the meat, putting them in your mouth.

Salty and sweet. Perfect.

"Thanks mom," You mumbled around your fork. Mom beamed and took some of the food for herself as well.

You three ate silently with mom asking occasionally about work and school and you would reply, adding some stories about Frisk with some costumers like the one with the impatient costumer that was screaming at Frisk while she just stared at him coldly and handed him his coffee. Or the woman coming in with a baby and Frisk looking at you in panic since they don't do babies.

That made mom snigger and Frisk to huddle into themselves. You raised a brow at them but stopped telling their stories after that.

Finally, mom asked Frisk what she enjoyed doing. Frisk looked up from their plate for the first time and you realized that they had actually finished their plate. Without saying anything, mom gestured for the plate and Frisk silently gave it, jolting when it came back moments later with more food.

"Told you seconds were coming," You smirked. "Mom will force you to eat if she thinks you were starved."

"Now, Chara, don't make it sound so awful," Mom giggled, "I just like to see people eat my food. So don't be shy, alright?" She told Frisk.

"Okay…" Frisk muttered, picking their fork again.

"So what do you like to do?" Mom asked again just as Frisk stuck a piece of meat in their mouth. The hooded woman looked a bit up before quickly chewing and swallowing, shrugging.

"Working… drawing…" Frisk trailed off.

Mom clasped her hands. "Oh, I saw some of your sketches. And they're so amazingly done. Are you self-taught?"

Frisk shook their head. "Some nice ladies…"

"With your crooked nice radar I wonder how nice they really were," You joked and got a glare, the hood kind of muffling the effect. You shrugged, grinning.

"Ignore my son. He can be sharp-tongued at times," Mom gave you a scolding look, which made you shrivel a bit. Frisk's shoulders shook and you sent a malicious glare their way.

"…dulled knife…" Frisk muttered and you bristled. Mom cracked up and shook her head in amusement. You glared at her but then realized that you were tag-teamed and decided to keep your dignity intact and returned to your plate, your body burning with humiliation.

The rest of the meal was less awkward but still quieter than you had thought that it would be. Soon you all cleared your plates and you stood up out of habit and gathered the dirty dishes, bringing them over to the sink at the kitchen and starting to wash them.

You heard faint chattering and relaxed a bit. At least your mother seemed keen on Frisk. It would be a bit problematic if the two would have been too awkward with each other.

Well, nothing much to do now except hope that nothing would go wrong—

"Chara!" Your mom called.

You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?

"I'm stealing Frisk for a while so stay in the living room, okay?" You immediately swiveled around and rushed out of the kitchen to see Frisk being dragged away by your mother, who was grinning excitedly.

"Mom!" You called and rushed to them. Frisk didn't seem to be bothered the turn of events, but you knew that your mom was up to something, and that something wasn't good. Mom turned to you in confusion.

"What is it?"

"What are you planning to do to Frisk?" You accused her, brow furrowed. Mom blinked and then laughed, dismissing your words. "Oh, relax, my child. I only suggested some kind of activities to do just the two of us and Frisk agreed."

Frisk nodded and shrugged. "She said that…"

You still felt suspicious, but if Frisk was sure… "She is going to turn you to a giggling high school girl."

"A what?"

Oh right, Frisk has never been to one probably. You sighed and gave up. "Just be careful."

"…Okay…" Frisk muttered back and followed your mother as the devil waved cheerily and led the doomed woman towards the closet room…

The closet room? Why to there?

Feeling like you had lost Frisk to a great evil, you returned to the living room and sprawled on the couch with a big dread in your stomach.

"It's ready!" You jolted from the loud call, sitting up and looking back to the hall to see your mom run out happily from the closet room.

You gulped. "What did you do?"

Mom looked at you and grinned mischievously. "Why, I made Frisk so adorable!"

…

Wait, what?!

"You did what?!"

Mom rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, eyes hard. "I'm not an evil witch, Chara. Frisk and I simply had some girls' time. And I suggested her trying some of my outfits."

"She let you see her face?" You asked, hoping that she didn't force Frisk's hood off… though you knew that she wasn't that kind of a person.

Mom's expression softened and she nodded. "She said that she's trying to stop being scared of showing her eyes. I think that's admirable."

"Oh…" Well, it was evident that Frisk was tired of hiding her face after confronting Sans and Papyrus, but you didn't know if she was ready yet. "Did she cover her face again?"

Mom shook her head. "She seemed really determined to be hoodless." The tall woman mulled over something before jumping, eyes widening. "I forget!"

Before you could ask what she forget, she turned to the hall and called, "Frisk! Come out!"

The door to the closet room opened and Frisk peeked their head out, face uncovered and long hair spilling down. They seemed hesitant to come completely out and you raised a brow and stood up, coming to the door. Frisk seemed to shy into the room, the door coming closer to shutting.

You stopped and turned to your mother in confusion. Mom smiled warmly and pushed by you to stand by Frisk, extending a hand to them. "How about just a quick round and then you'll switch back?"

Frisk looked at her and then at her hand, brows furrowed and hands on the door tightening until the knuckles became white.

You were about to tell your mother to leave Frisk alone when the younger woman sighed and nodded, turning to you and signaling you to move back. Blinking, you complied and she took a step forward and swung the door open as if in defiance.

You jolted, eyes falling on the outfit Frisk was wearing.

Oh.

Oh.

No wonder they were hesitant to leave the room.

They weren't wearing their usual jeans and hoodie… Was it just you or was the hall getting really tiny now? And warm?

You were staring. You knew that. But it was kind of hard not to.

Frisk… well, they weren't wearing unmatched clothing for sure this time.

They were wearing… a really nice sundress. It was light sky blue with a… well… nice laced neck opening.

…Those weren't watermelons. Those were melons.

You slapped your eyes and turned around, feeling your face burn.

Shit. Shit. Shit. This isn't funny at all.

Mom was right, she was adorable.

Shit. Shit. Shit—

"Chara?" You felt a small hand on your shoulder and jumped, the heat rushing to your ears and neck, embarrassment filling you. You were turned a bit to face the shorter woman, whose eyes were blank.

Your throat felt tight as you forced a smile. "It looks really neat…"

Goddammit, Chara!

"Are you okay?"

No.

"Yes."

Frisk didn't seem to believe you and you tried to shrug, ending with a small shudder and a grimace. "It just surprised me… do you like it?"

Frisk shrugged, her hand trailing down from your shoulder to your hand, oblivious to how hot your arm was feeling. "It's airy…"

"Oh…" Shit. This is not good. You need to calm down. You sound like a lunatic. And you probably insulted Frisk twice by now. Calm down, Chara. What the hell is wrong with you!?

"You're red," Frisk commented.

Thank you for stating the obvious!

"I'm fine…" You muttered, face so hot you were sure you could fry an egg on it. "Just caught by surprise…"

"You said it already…"

Fuck.

"Frisk," Mom interrupted, "Don't worry. He's just embarrassed since he liked it so much."

"Oh."

"Mom!" You cried out and spun around, seeing your mother smirk but with dark scolding eyes. You gulped and looked down, feeling childish. You turned a bit to Frisk, gaze catching her slightly slanted eyes stare back intensely.

The back of your neck was uncomfortably hot. You squirmed a bit but then steeled yourself and reached to pat her hair. "You really do look nice in it, Frisk."

"…Thank you…" Frisk replied and fingered their dress.

What have you got yourself into?

You sighed and brushed your fingers over her long hair that now was barely reaching her lower back. Frisk kept staring into your eyes.

Her eyes were sparkling… was she happy about your comment? You felt satisfaction from that settle in your chest.

A loud throat clearing snapped you out of your stupor and you realized that your and frisk's faces were really close…

You blinked and quickly straightened up. Frisk snorted and shrugged. You turned to see your mother stare at you with barely suppressed laughter. You soon realized that your mother had seen you acting like a love-stricken fool… Shit.

"You two looked so wrapped in your own world I didn't want to interrupt," She smiled and said in a chipper tone. "But do get a room, won't you, my child?"

Damn it, mom…

Frisk gave a louder snort than usual.

NEXT

[alexjameswilliams]

Concept Development and Time Based Design - First Uni Project!

Understanding the brief

My understanding of the brief is that I need to create an animated storyboard based of an event in my life that I found exciting or memorable. 

I need to do various different research into what type of animatic I am going to create and have the end result looking like, immediately I have gravitated to a more picture based design, where I would take pictures and then draw over the top of them, and it is this research that will determine how that drawing will look like and if it can be done. 

Before that I am going to create a digital mind map of potential ideas that I can create with the tools and environment around me. (The website I am using is called bubbl.us https://bubbl.us/)

Completed Mind Map

This is what I have created for my mind map, there are not a whole bunch of ideas because I was pretty set on one idea from the get go. However I have still generated quite a few ideas based on memories that I can remember vividly. 

When creating this I did actually steer towards the High School section, which wasn’t the greatest experience, but the themes of loneliness and having to hide my true self I thought could make for a great animatic. Despite this I am sticking with my original idea of Meeting Connor. 

I am keeping this idea because it is something that happened at uni and I can easily take photos of the exact locations and people involved, also because it was very recent I remember everything about the day making it easy for me to create initial designs before final ones digitally.

In addition the emotions that I felt that day are hopefully going to be much more exaggerated, meaning facial expressions will be much more intense making it much easier for them to be understood without the audience being told directly what the character on screen is feeling. 

Meeting Connor “exaggerated” ideas?! **OLD IDEAS**

(These ideas are just going to be simple bullet points that I can refer to in the future. These will be the exaggerated emotions and how I can potentially portray them in an animation.)

When both characters text, see inside my head, drawn brain with eyes showing expression e.g. nervousness, fear

OCD tendencies, doing little things multiple times to show the worry in the meeting.

Drops of sweat rolling down face 

Music that accompanies can get progressively intense as the animate goes along, until the opening of the door and they see each other, returns to slow, and more calmer expressions and feelings. 

Once I have done smaller thumbnail sketches of this animate I will describe the actions in more detail.

Art Style and Other Works from students and professionals

This is another students work that was shown to me in the initial lecture, and immediately it caught my attention because it was clear that images were taken and drawn over which is the idea that I want to pull off as well. I actually really like this style of how they have drawn it as well, it is sketchy and very drawing like, I like the rough edges because to me it adds character and depending on what is being shown on screen it can provoke certain emotions in audiences and that is what any sort of media aims to do: PROVE EMOTION.

Now I am going to continue research to find more professional art work like this and how I can take aspects from all to make mine original rather then a dupe.

Professional examples / Inspirational work

These two examples stuck out too me for very different reasons. 

The first one is a scene from the series Prison Break which what seems like a car escape. The artist who created this is called Marcus Endean (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1057232/) , he has done multiple storyboards for other programmes like Fear the Walking Dead and also films like War for the Planet of the Apes and he is now currently working on Deadpool 2 as a storyboard artist.

I like the style that he has done because it looks very rough around the edges but it is still able to tell the story, and the lines actually contribute to it, showing the speed of the action that will take place. The theme of sketchiness is what I think I will employ when creating my storyboards digitally. This is because I am not the most confident or best drawer so being able to draw things a bit out of place and still have it look professional will be enjoyable to do. 

Moving onto the second one, this is just a storyboard created by an artist called ChangHong Ren (https://ch-ren.deviantart.com/) , his style repeats through most of his work. His style is both very solid and also sketchy depending on what he is doing, or sometimes it is a mix of the two like you see above. However the thing that struck out to me was the splash of colour in each of his storyboards, the splashes are placed in all different places and they are all different sizes and compliment different aspects of the drawings, most of the colours that you see draw your attention to that part of the screen which I found really unique.

This would benefit me because I know drawing my animate itself would be time consuming and colouring would be even more, therefore this is giving me the idea to just draw and then add different splashes of colour, unlike Ren I think I would play around with using different colours each storyboard to portray emotions further making it more understandable how the characters are feeling in that moment. 

These are of course ideas but I will be playing around with them in the design process.

Technique example

I attempted to create a slide based on the style of this storyboard. I chose to make the spot of colour more prominent than in the example, just to fill the screen a bit more and show the intensity of the transition from white to red. 

I do like this technique however to create an entire animatic with this technique for me it wouldn’t have come out looking professional as my artistic skills are not up to par, if they were a little bit better I may have gotten away with it but I wanted to show a shot use this technique to show that I have acknowledged  research.

Books illustrative examples (style)

THE HOBBIT

The first two book illustrations are from The Hobbit, the book has over 10 illustrative drawings throughout, depicting certain locations that are described in the book.

I chose these specifically for different reasons, the first one I chose because I loved the use of lines to create the environment, there are blocks of black colour but the lines are predominant and that style of drawing in particular really interests me just because of how simplistic yet effective it looks.

The second one I chose because of its pattern like style, the use of circular shapes is really what drew me in, i’m not particularly a fan of the huge blocks of black but the circle shapes looks like an interesting concept to play around with.

TOLKIEN A DICTIONARY

The last two images are from a book called Tolkien A Dictionary which inside describes and sometimes illustrates key characters, creatures and locations we know to be a part of the Middle-Earth Universe. 

I chose these images for the same reason, purely because I loved the sketchy look to the illustrations, similar to the previous images which was populated by shapes however these lines are more sketched and rough around the edges which I actually kind of prefer in way, I like that you can have something looking sketchy but also professional, artistic and detailed at the same time.

I have previously mentioned this style of sketchiness before, these illustrative drawings are reinforcing the idea of potentially having this as my drawing theme for my storyboards. 

Similarly the idea of having no real colouring in my storyboards is also becoming to be a more solid idea, I previously researched a storyboard artist who used just one piece of colour to draw the audiences attention to a specific part of the storyboard and I recently was taught in a lecture on Photoshop how to do this technique, so it has made me feel better in that aspects as I now know how to do it if I decide to do that style of colour on my storyboards.

Storyboard Animation Examples / Inspirational Work

SHUT UP! Animated Storyboard

This an example of an animated storyboard that I found on Youtube. It seems to be about a boy who has an argument with his Mum and then storms out the house to find a world that he didn’t expect, populated by monsters and other creature like characters. I chose this one as an example out of others because I liked the way the storyboards changed with the theme on screen so for example when the floating monster was chasing the boy, it zoomed into the monster and the entire storyboard shot shaked, this happens multiple times. Also when the main character starts to run or the action gets more intense, the lines that are used are more rugged and messy, I feel it really helps portray the emotions and feelings that the boy feels. 

I can use this type of method where other elements aside from what you are seeing on screen helps portrays emotions, for example moving the entire storyboard, or doing harsher and more lines to portray emotions better.

The World's End: Animated Storyboards

This id another animated storyboard example, from the film The World’s End. The real life outcome is displayed alongside the previously created storyboards and they seem to match perfectly. What I like about this animate is the very basic look it has, the characters are made out of the basics of shapes and shaded very subtly to create dimension. Despite them being this simplistic they were clearly understandable as they were able to create the film using these.

The theme of very simple lines, dots and shapes have been very common with most of the research I have done in regards to the style of storyboards I would create, primarily because I am not the strongest drawer so seeing storyboards and pictures that are populated by lines and other simple shapes makes me feel better knowing that I can create something understandable yet creative using those elements.

Reverse Storyboard // The Hobbit the Battle of the Five Armies (The White Council VS Nazgûl and Sauron)

(3:46 - 4:50)

The Hobbit is one of my all time favourite franchises, this scene in particular features great visuals and shots when the White Council fight and banish the Nazgul and Sauron. As you can see I have pinpointed the area of the scene I will focus on, this minute of footage really shows a lot of the shots and angles we know and use for example close up, medium shot, long shot and over the shoulder shot etc.

I will be creating 6 storyboards, but making sure that each shot features a different type of shot. I’ll be using a screenshot and then drawing over the top of it in Photoshop, hopefully accurately recreating the shot digitally using all the colours present as well. The technique I will use will be similar to the one I use for my actual animated storyboards so this will give me some good practice before that.

Thought and design process - Reverse Storyboard

Using tools in Photoshop

Initially I planned on using the colours from the original images to create my storyboards, however I got half way through doing it and it didn’t look what I had hoped the colours didn’t correlate well with each other in a sketchy form. Unfortunately I didn’t save that error to document in this research to show progression but the error influenced me to use some of the tools in photoshop. 

For example the screenshot at the top shows grey shapes that I created with the Magnetic Lasso Tool, the contrast between the fire and castle walls allowed the tool to easily trace around the walls in the frame to create the solid objects you see in the screenshot. 

I used these tools as well for the characters: Saruman, Elrond and Galadriel. As they also had contrasting background colours that the magnetic tool could easily pick up. 

This tool dramatically decreased my time creating the storyboard, and allowed for a more structured look. 

The only negative is that I could only fill the object with one colour, whereas if I sketched all of it I could use multiple grey tones to create dimension and texture, the only solution to this issue was to do some shading over the top which is a bit tricky as I was sketching over a block of colour.  

Layers 

I really made use of layers in the creation of storyboards, it allowed me to not worry about overlapping colours with other objects, I could freely sketch and have the lines be crisp and not overlap. All I had to do was make sure I was selecting the right layer when sketching.

So far...

This is the first reverse storyboard so far, I still need to add shading to the grey blocks of colour from the walls and tidy up a few lines but I like the way it is turning out, I like the combination of structured objects as well as sketchy ones. 

Previously I said I was going to use colours, but using black, white and grey tones made for a better look.

The only thing I think I can improve on is the look of the characters, I did make the characters more light colours but they are still just blocks of colour, I feel I need to go back and add more detail to get that humanoid look, without making them look silly.

In addition in this design process the idea of using blocky objects created by the magnetic tool mixed with the sketchiness you see makes for a really good look I feel. I think this will be the look of my actual storyboard, using the lasso tool for the background elements and sketch out the people and more intricate details that cant be traced.

Finished Reverse Storyboard

Long shot / Over the Shoulder shot

Unfortunately, as you can by all three drawings I am not a gifted artist. However you can see that this first drawing did take up a huge chunk of my time and looks considerably better then the other two which, to be honest I did rush. 

The point of this exercise was to pick a scene that featured various different camera shots, for this first one I felt it was a mixture between a predominantly long shot and also over the shoulder as the backs of the White Council are facing us, but the long shot is predominant because all characters are in full view. 

Medium shot

Quality of this drawing has dramatically decreased from the previous one, but the shot is clear I feel. This is clearly a medium shot as only half the characters body is shown, I do not feel the camera is too close for it to be a close up or too far to be a long shot.

Close up

Again, this drawing is significantly more lacking detail then the previous two but the shot of a close up is very clear, only her face is seen in the shot, allowing for full facial expression recognition.

I chose these three shots, because the scene itself features lots of similar shots, lots of close, medium and long shots, these ones I have drawn were the first ones shown in the scene I chose in the given time period displayed next to the video.

**ART STYLE UPDATE** **NEW VISUAL IDEA** **LITERAL EPIPHANY**

I literally just had an EPIPHANY in the shower and thought of a whole new way I can create my “Meeting Connor” animated storyboard. I have stated previously that my art skills are lacking so to save myself a lot of drawing to do I have decided that I want the main character per se to be my heart. My heart will portray the feelings and emotions I felt during this time. There will be real life visuals as well, where me and Connor communicate via text, but instead of my face being drawn reacting to it, it will be my heart. This will allow me to be more creative with the backgrounds where the heart is in frame, I am excited as well to give a heart facial features and bodily movements and really over exaggerate them. 

I believe this will be really good if created properly, similarly it has made me more motivated to create my animated storyboards because initially I was very demotivated because my drawing ability suffers.

Next I plan on quickly typing up a plot for “Meeting Connor”. Screenshots will be shown below.

Meeting Connor initial ideas 

This is the result of my amazing epiphany!!!

I have quickly jotted down a plot for my animated storyboard, I was typing so quick because I didn’t want to forget anything which is why it doesn’t look very pretty.

Hopefully I am able to stick to this dimmed down plot, next I am going to do some thumbnail sketches in which I can really decide what the visuals will look like, but this noted plot will be the basis for my sketches and final animate.

Also I hope I am able to create this idea in Photoshop the way I want, I feel I will,be able to because the visuals are quite simplistic in design, I will just have to create a lot of storyboards with lots of different actions to portray emotion.

The only thing I need to make sure of is that the brief specifically mentions narrative, I have to make the animate look interesting and keep it interesting throughout, despite not having to really go over one minute, that is still a long time that I need to keep audiences interested. Despite this, my sudden realisation i feel makes my idea 100 times more interesting and will keep audiences focused and watching because it won’t be what everyone else is doing. Just like the brief said I “have re sequenced and reinterpreted to modify the story and their intended message”.

Thumbnail Sketches

These are my completed thumbnail sketches, I followed the notes you see above perfectly and I was able to create a decent amount of storyboards, I didn’t storyboard every movement as that would take far to long to create and take up time that could be better spent actually creating them in Photoshop.

I really like how I have incorporated both fictional and non-fictional storyboards. 

In addition I am excited to really exaggerate the emotions of the hearts and change the colour of it as the bond between the characters gets stronger. Similarly as the heart is a recurring element I will be able to copy the hearts shape rather than drawing it out every single time, this will again save time in the long run. 

Extended research - In a Heartbeat Animation

After completing my storyboards and speaking to other people about my idea, one person stated that there is an animated short called In a Heartbeat which is about a closeted boy who’s heart chases after the boy he likes, and in the end both their hearts come together to form one. 

This is fairly similar to my story, but I had no idea this existed until being told.

I double checked with my lecturers and they all agreed it was fine to carry on with the idea because I wasn’t aware of this before hand but they suggested I document it just to let people know.

My story will obviously be far less detailed but the focus on the heart is the key similarity here.

Development of animated storyboard

I have picked screenshots that link to the art style I chose. As you can see I have incorporated both sketchy and solid created objects in my animated storyboard. It looks similar to my reverse storyboard aside from the fact that the characters in my actual animate are in more detail rather then blocks of colour. In addition, like I said before it is in full colour whereas originally I planned to do it with just one faded colour in the areas of importance. 

However this changed when I changed the entire concept of my animate, I would have used that style if the focus was on my actual character and not my heart, I needed to put colours in to show the transition of the hearts emotions, going from grey to pure red which showed its feelings. 

These screenshots show the progression of my tidiness in After Effects. In the first screenshot as you can see it is very unnecessarily filled with pre-composed folders, this is because I created elements of my animated storyboard in after effects, editing the shapes each layer, and as you could probably tell that took a very long time that could have been used elsewhere and before I understood this I couldn’t start again as I was too far ahead in the project.

However the second and third screenshots show more structure in my work. After realising that I was using a lot of time I did realise that I could just create them all in photoshop and place them into after effects and then animate them there using the tools provided. It also looks much more pleasing too look at rather then seeing huge lines across the screen because of the pre-composed folders. Also I created two separate folders, one for Photoshop files and the other for After Effect creations, this just allowed to place things in one big folder rather then having them all out and having it look messy.

Flat Storyboard

The final things to do now is create the flat storyboard, so now I am going to create screenshots of all the shots and put it into a document ready for Friday which is the submission deadline.

(Storyboards flow from left to right)

Text appears from left to right.

Zoom into chest (MS - CU)

Zoom into heart from bottom left to top right. Notification buzz to wake the heart up.

Tilt and zoom into phone.

Close up of heart, heart then grows arms and legs.

Zoom into add friend icon.

Fade into request accepted.

Heart starts feeling, changes colour and moves arms and legs in excitement.

Zoom and tilt into hey message.

Spinning frame with zoom and shocked facial features.

Quick zoom into hey reply.

Heart turns more red, very happy features, moving limbs.

Fade into 4 months later Cardiff left to right.

Heart still very happy, much more red.

Shocked features, question mark above head.

Quick zoom and tilt into meet tonight message.

Nervous pacing of heart for multiple frames.

Fade into walking down corridor.

Heart looks hysterical very worried, wild bodily features.

Fade into Connor opening the door.

Heart peeping out of jacket.

Zoom into heart on jacket.

Peeping heart on neck of top.

Zoom into heart on top.

Both hands move in closer and closer each frame till touch.

Fade into hearts embracing together.

Evaluation

Overall I feel that I have performed well in this project. I was able to quickly decide on a topic for my animate and once that was out of the way it allowed me to really focus and nail all the research in terms of style and influences. 

I also already had a style in mind, that being the sketchy style, I chose this purely because I am not the strongest artist, so doing a sketchy style allows me to be rough around the edges but still have it look effective. 

The Photoshop lectures also really helped, I learned a lot of ways in which I could create my storyboards. In addition I used my graphics tablet throughout this whole project and it made everything so much easier because it is basically like drawing straight into the computer.

In addition to using the internet for research I also used books that I own with illustrations, just to show a wide variety of research rather than just the internet.

This project really allowed me to develop and change a story to my desire, to make it more appealing but also believable which I feel I have done as I have used both real life and fake elements, keeping them both linked throughout the entire animate.

To improve I feel that I would make the movement animations more flowing, meaning I would need to create more and more shots, I feel that I didn’t really put much detail into the more complex movements however they are still visible and understandable I feel. 

Similarly, in the future I really need to work on time management, this has been an issue throughout college as well as this uni project, I need to balance my time in both the research and creative aspect. I could possibly create a timetable of what to do on certain days, so I can balance both the creative aspects perfectly and potentially still have time left over at the end of the project to go back and sort through everything.

[rongasm]

What do you think Stiles and Lydia's house would be like as adults?

Okay I hate how specific my head canons for this are. 

Outdoors: 

Yellow house

Small

Deep red door/shutters. 

There’s a small backyard patio that Lydia literally makes Stiles do all the work on, so like they have a deck with a grill and a big table (bigger than their kitchen table) and Lydia sits out there grading papers and bossing Stiles around while he does literally all of the gardening and heavy lifting, 

He wants to hate her for it but he gets very, very nicely rewarded. 

Living Room:

Stiles gets to pick out the couch, that’s his one job, and Lydia builds the rest of the room around it. 

One of her art pieces is hanging up above the couch. Stiles does it when she’s out of town, and at first she’s mad but she grows to really like it and it actually inspires her to paint more, which it turns out is really amazing stress relief for Lydia. 

They have nerdy-ass throw pillows. 

Like, one of them has Shakespeare on it. 

One of them has the periodic table of elements

One of them has the cover of Stiles’ favorite book that his dad used to read to him when he was growing up. 

So on, so forth.

There’s candles everywhere, which they totally intend to use but once they get a dog they’re banned from lighting them because suddenly everything in the house is a fire hazard. 

Lydia’s got cozy blankets hidden behind the couch and she likes to wrap herself up in them when she’s got a cold. All you can see is the top of her hair and a red little nose. 

There’s really fancy, expensive looking art/photography books on the coffee table for guests and Stiles always puts his coffee cups on them. Which, one one hand, yay, coaster, but on the other hand Lydia payed $80 for that book when they were in Paris??? Like???

They have an alcohol cabinet in the living room that they rarely ever touched but Stiles keeps stocked. He always knows what people want when they come over, due to his bartending days in college, which makes him an excellent host. 

Kitchen: 

Pretty small

Stiles whines about lack of counter space frequently but then Lydia has to sit really close when he’s cooking so like. What’s the real loss, here?

There’s a small circular table that comfortably seats two and less-comfortably seats three. They keep saying that they’re going to get a bigger table, but they never do because they ultimately not being able to host stuff. 

(If they do people over, it’s in the summer, on the back patio, but other than that, their house is their space and they like it that way. They go to Scott’s for most holidays, anyways.) 

The fridge is covered in a collage of their lives. Postcards from Isaac, magnets from Kira, pictures of the pack members printed out and lovingly stuck on there. 

There’s a really nice picture of all of them together on the little table next to the front door, where they keep the mail and put their keys in the little dish next to the fake flowers, but this is where all the lovely, goofy pictures are. 

The window is perched over the sink, looking out into the backyard, and Stiles likes watching Lydia’s face in the morning sunlight as she washes their plates after breakfast on Saturday mornings. 

Lydia’s Office: 

Almost everything is white or soft blue

This is her sacred room, it’s very soothing to her 

There’s shelves and shelves of books, a desk made of black wood, and an extremely comfortable chair that goes with it. 

There’s pretty and simple art on the walls so that it’s not completely bare, but not nice enough art that Lydia feels distracted by it while she’s working. 

It’s usually very neat but also covered in stacks of paper, upon which Lydia keeps her reading glasses. (Whenever she can’t find them, they’re always in her office.) 

Stiles is rarely allowed to come in, and if he is in there, he has to sit on the white couch and be quiet. 

Same goes for the dog. 

It has a window seat, which is why Lydia loves it, and she’ll frequently just go read on the window seat on the days that she doesn’t have much to do. 

She sketches Stiles from memory on rainy days while she sits in the window seat. She is on a quest to get his nose right-- feels like she can never quite capture its spirit

She’s A+ at drawing his mouth though, probably because she has a very intimate knowledge of it. 

Staircase

Light wood, no carpet. 

There’s black & white pictures in dark black frames leading all the way up the stairs. 

Lydia is very proud of the way they’re arranged. 

She thinks they’re very aesthetic. 

The stairs are lined with pictures of the most important people-- Stiles’ mom and dad on their wedding day, Lydia’s mother holding baby Lydia, Scott and Stiles as little kids, Scott and Stiles as teenagers, Allison laughing and wrinkling her nose as she holds a dandelion, Malia, Kira, and Isaac posing together at a long-forgotten Christmas party, Mrs. McCall hugging Stiles around the middle at his college graduation, Stiles and Lydia and Scott at Lydia’s thesis defense, Stiles and Lydia sitting with his dad at the kitchen table on Thanksgiving, several pictures of Scott’s little girls, together and separately, and finally, at the very top, Stiles and Lydia on their wedding day, a candid that Kira had caught with her expensive camera that had somehow come out better than anything their official photographer had snapped of them. 

Bedroom

Their bedroom is the room of the house which had taken the most compromise. 

It’s a soft white color with gauzy white drapes that blow prettily in the breeze whenever the windows are open. 

Stiles says it reminds him of the veil in Harry Potter. 

There’s a very tall king sized bed with a very simple, modern bed frame and a dark headboard. 

The duvet is deep, dark blue. The sheets are white. The large decorative pillows that they throw over the bed are another shade of blue. 

Lydia loves these. Stiles hates them because it makes it harder to leap onto the bed with finesse at the end of the day. 

He usually ends up taking them off when he comes home from work, kicks his pants to the floor, and settles into bed to do nothing. 

There’s two bedside tables with matching lamps. 

Lydia’s bedside table always has a book on it, marked with her spot. She tries to read a little every night but for the most part does not succeed. It also has a nice candle on it and an old silver clock that was her grandmother’s, and a picture of Stiles and Scott. 

Stiles’ bedside table usually has money from his pockets, candy wrappers, mugs, and folders from work that Lydia is always tucking into his second drawer down in an effort to straighten up because “it’s not like you’re going to do work in bed anyways, Stiles!” 

It’s also got a picture of him and Lydia at the winter formal sophomore year and another one of Lydia with his dad. 

Stealing this from @rememberiloveyou: Lydia, for their anniversary one year, bought a huge wooden slab and painted “I love you” “I know” onto it in beautiful white brushstrokes and very fancy handwriting. It hangs right above their bed and is Stiles’ favorite part of the room. 

He had been begging her to let him have a Star Wars poster. This is the compromise. 

There’s a little chaise lounge in the corner which is supposed to be for decoration but ends up being where Stiles shoves most of his clothes when he’s too lazy to walk over to their walk-in closet and throw them in the laundry bin. 

Lydia’s bureau was a gift from her mother when she moved into her first apartment with Stiles and it is boss. 

Antique, enormous, with a huge, ornate mirror that is her pride and joy. 

It has one of those soft, cushy stools. 

Her makeup drawers are so organized she wants to cry. It is literally her happy place. 

There’s a bunch of blue rugs that stretch across the hardwood floor. Their dog likes to sleep on them. In the winter, Stiles cracks up as Lydia jumps from rug to rug to try to avoid how cold the floor is. 

And then there’s a guest room that is easily the fanciest room of the house and is Lydia’s pride and joy. Stiles didn’t give a rats ass what it looked like so she just sorta went off and made it super decorative and modern. Also, they’ve got a bathroom with a separate bathtub and shower because Lydia loves taking baths. 

[webbygraphic001]

20 Best New Portfolios, May 2018

Welcome back, readers. It’s May, and that means the weather’s getting hotter. Stay inside, away from the evil, evil sunshine. Relax, grab a lemonade, and browse through this month’s collection of portfolios. This time around, we have a whole lot of grid-based minimalism with black borders, and some other stuff, too.

Note: I’m judging these sites by how good they look to me. If they’re creative and original, or classic but really well-done, it’s all good to me. Sometimes, UX and accessibility suffer. For example, many of these sites depend on JavaScript to display their content at all; this is a Bad Idea, kids. If you find an idea you like and want to adapt to your own site, remember to implement it responsibly.

Frank Chimero

We’ve actually featured a previous version of Frank Chimero’s portfolio once before, back in February 2016. Where the previous iteration was mainly focused on selling his writing, this version includes portfolios for his design and illustration as well.

It’s still pretty simple and modern, but there’s now a definite tendency toward using more images. Also, those pencil strokes in the background are a very nice touch, and fit thematically with all of the work he does.

Platform: Static Site

Jacqui Nguyen

Jacqui Nguyen is an architect, and her one-page portfolio pulls off something I didn’t expect to see this month: an accordion-based layout that I actually kind of like. It doesn’t hurt, mind you, that it’s styled to look vaguely like a file drawer.

I have a weird love for office supplies I never use. Anyway, that slight touch of skeuomorphism is just enough to set her site apart without delving into the realm of leather textures and other abominations. Above all, it is functional. That feels appropriate for an architect.

Platform: WordPress

Tej Chauhan

Tej Chauhan combines the presentation style website with pseudo-brutalism (read: minimalism with monospaced type) in a way that I find interesting. On the one hand, you have the presentation-style layout and handling of images for the portfolio, plus the nigh-unusable navigation so prevalent in presentation sites. (The red dot is the menu button.) On the other, every other element is near-brutalist in its aesthetic.

I wouldn’t adopt Tej’s approach to navigation, but the rest of the design presents some interesting contrast in style.

Platform: WordPress

A Friend of Mine

A Friend of Mine is a design agency that took on an interesting challenge when designing their portfolio: limiting the sense of style and personality as much as possible. Their whole shtick is that they tackle every problem differently, according to the situation. They don’t have a “house style”.

In execution, this means that their site is as simple as possible, taking minimalism to its practical extreme. I like to think that the constantly changing background color on the first part of their home page is a symbol of their commitment to doing everything differently as-needed.

Platform: Static Site

Studio Six

Studio Six’s agency portfolio is basically a study in what you might call corporate elegance. It has some of the hallmarks of artsy work, some fantastic typography, and the some of the restraint of your average corporate site. It manages to strike a balance between all of the elements that you don’t see to often.

Platform: Static Site and/or JS App

Katie Shillingford

Katie Shillingford is a fashion stylist, and her site goes for that magazine feel without trying to completely copy magazine layouts. It’s actually one of the better examples I’ve seen of adapting a print medium’s aesthetic to the web, even if it is loaded down with slideshows galore.

Platform: Static Site

daji studio

daji studio is the portfolio of Kenji Yoshida, a sound designer. You might expect, then, to be blasted by audio the second you open the page.

But lo and behold, Kenji is polite. No audio plays until you click one of the many “play” buttons scattered around the pleasing grid-based design. Be like Kenji.

And the site looks cool, too. The audio visualizations that take over the whole screen when you click a play button can be jarring at first, but overall, I like them.

Platform: WordPress

Hiatus

Hiatus is a team of video editors, and their site is deliciously creative. From making their branding look kind of like a pause button, to the rustic style of their site, to the layout that literally keeps the branding front and center at all times, this thing just… well it made me look.

Plus, unlike most video studios, they don’t hit you with a bunch of auto-playing video. You have to actually click on a project and then click play, so you’ve got plenty of time to set up your headphones first, and it won’t hurt your data caps unless you want it to.

Platform: Static Site

Under After

Under After is another minimalist portfolio that spices things up with just a hint of an illustrator’s touch, here and there. The site’s strongest point is really its typography, but the general layout is pretty snazzy as well.

I actually really like the way they designed those testimonials, and it might be the first time I’ve ever said that. Or not. I just know I don’t say it that often.

Platform: Static Site

Base

Base is a branding studio, and they’ve gone with a website design that forgoes any real fancy touches, and gets straight to showing off their work. It’s simple, it’s clean, it looks good.

Platform: WordPress

Mathilde Serra

Mathilde Serra is an art director with a strong emphasis on type. Combined with the strong colors, and a penchant for illustration, her portfolio looks classy and creative.

It’s so good, it’s almost worth the pre-loader. No but really, go look through the case studies. They’re beautiful.

Platform: Static Site

Johanne Roten

Johanne Roten is a Swiss graphic designer, and the Swiss style definitely shows in her work. It’s got that feeling of near-extreme-minimalism we’ve come to associate with our favorite some of our favorite designers from there. It’s also maybe one of the more well-organized one-page portfolios I’ve ever seen.

Platform: Static Site

Make Architects

Make Architects is an interesting portfolio, and not just for its design, which looks darn good. It takes that asymmetry-focused minimalism that got so popular last year, and combines it with a more business-friendly aesthetic.

It also spends half of its home page showing off not just their work, but advertising how they work. ie. it’s an employee-owned company, etc. They put just as much effort into letting you know what to expect from their business practices as anything else. It’s an approach I’ve seen before, but these people do it right from the get-go.

Platform: WordPress

Studio Thomas

Studio Thomas is one of those studios that has, with some mild animation aside, chosen the dead-simple look for their site. I am rather partial, though, to the header/navigation. It takes an interesting approach to telling the user where they are on the site at all times, putting the page title right up top with the site’s name.

It’s like they think telling you what page you’re on is equal in importance to telling you who they are. And I can’t say I disagree.

Platform: Vue.js / Nuxt

MAD

MAD has also gone for a dead-simple look, but they’ve given their type and visual flair a distinctly playful look through very small touches. It’s a subtle kind of full-site branding, but it gets the message across while keeping the site usable and readable. I can get behind that.

Platform: Static Site

Artomatic

Artomatic is bringing us yet more of that minimalism with lots of black borders that is this month’s theme. Well, there’s also a sense of carefully-imposed order, and one of the nicer approached to video that I’ve seen.

Platform: Static Site (probably)

Creative Media Design

Creative Media Design is a German design studio with a style that you might call simple, professional, efficient, and quintessentially German. True to the ambitions stated in their name, though, the site is livened up with the excellent use of accent colors, and a few small touched of handwriting-style type.

Platform: WordPress

MD

MD is yet another site on this list competing for “most minimalist thing since blank paper”. I mean, portfolio slideshows aside, it has a one-column layout. And yet, it still looks good.

Platform: Static Site

Drexler

Drexler’s studio portfolio spices things up by going back to the old asmymmetry. I mean, what’s old is new again, right? Or at least what’s old is a refreshing change of pace in a sea of grid-heavy aesthetics.

Platform: WordPress

Josh Sender

And lastly, Josh Sender has introduced me to the beautiful Romana BT family of typefaces. Just look at those headings. I mean, the rest of the site is good, but those headings are beautiful.

I also rather like the approach to the navigation used on this one-page portfolio. It’s simple, efficient, and mostly stays out of your way, while never being exactly hidden.

Platform: WordPress

Add Realistic Chalk and Sketch Lettering Effects with Sketch’it – only $5!

Source from Webdesigner Depot https://ift.tt/2wEtBZD from Blogger https://ift.tt/2wF2hdy

[iyarpage]

20 Best New Portfolios, May 2018

Welcome back, readers. It’s May, and that means the weather’s getting hotter. Stay inside, away from the evil, evil sunshine. Relax, grab a lemonade, and browse through this month’s collection of portfolios. This time around, we have a whole lot of grid-based minimalism with black borders, and some other stuff, too.

Note: I’m judging these sites by how good they look to me. If they’re creative and original, or classic but really well-done, it’s all good to me. Sometimes, UX and accessibility suffer. For example, many of these sites depend on JavaScript to display their content at all; this is a Bad Idea, kids. If you find an idea you like and want to adapt to your own site, remember to implement it responsibly.

Frank Chimero

We’ve actually featured a previous version of Frank Chimero’s portfolio once before, back in February 2016. Where the previous iteration was mainly focused on selling his writing, this version includes portfolios for his design and illustration as well.

It’s still pretty simple and modern, but there’s now a definite tendency toward using more images. Also, those pencil strokes in the background are a very nice touch, and fit thematically with all of the work he does.

Platform: Static Site

Jacqui Nguyen

Jacqui Nguyen is an architect, and her one-page portfolio pulls off something I didn’t expect to see this month: an accordion-based layout that I actually kind of like. It doesn’t hurt, mind you, that it’s styled to look vaguely like a file drawer.

I have a weird love for office supplies I never use. Anyway, that slight touch of skeuomorphism is just enough to set her site apart without delving into the realm of leather textures and other abominations. Above all, it is functional. That feels appropriate for an architect.

Platform: WordPress

Tej Chauhan

Tej Chauhan combines the presentation style website with pseudo-brutalism (read: minimalism with monospaced type) in a way that I find interesting. On the one hand, you have the presentation-style layout and handling of images for the portfolio, plus the nigh-unusable navigation so prevalent in presentation sites. (The red dot is the menu button.) On the other, every other element is near-brutalist in its aesthetic.

I wouldn’t adopt Tej’s approach to navigation, but the rest of the design presents some interesting contrast in style.

Platform: WordPress

A Friend of Mine

A Friend of Mine is a design agency that took on an interesting challenge when designing their portfolio: limiting the sense of style and personality as much as possible. Their whole shtick is that they tackle every problem differently, according to the situation. They don’t have a “house style”.

In execution, this means that their site is as simple as possible, taking minimalism to its practical extreme. I like to think that the constantly changing background color on the first part of their home page is a symbol of their commitment to doing everything differently as-needed.

Platform: Static Site

Studio Six

Studio Six’s agency portfolio is basically a study in what you might call corporate elegance. It has some of the hallmarks of artsy work, some fantastic typography, and the some of the restraint of your average corporate site. It manages to strike a balance between all of the elements that you don’t see to often.

Platform: Static Site and/or JS App

Katie Shillingford

Katie Shillingford is a fashion stylist, and her site goes for that magazine feel without trying to completely copy magazine layouts. It’s actually one of the better examples I’ve seen of adapting a print medium’s aesthetic to the web, even if it is loaded down with slideshows galore.

Platform: Static Site

daji studio

daji studio is the portfolio of Kenji Yoshida, a sound designer. You might expect, then, to be blasted by audio the second you open the page.

But lo and behold, Kenji is polite. No audio plays until you click one of the many “play” buttons scattered around the pleasing grid-based design. Be like Kenji.

And the site looks cool, too. The audio visualizations that take over the whole screen when you click a play button can be jarring at first, but overall, I like them.

Platform: WordPress

Hiatus

Hiatus is a team of video editors, and their site is deliciously creative. From making their branding look kind of like a pause button, to the rustic style of their site, to the layout that literally keeps the branding front and center at all times, this thing just… well it made me look.

Plus, unlike most video studios, they don’t hit you with a bunch of auto-playing video. You have to actually click on a project and then click play, so you’ve got plenty of time to set up your headphones first, and it won’t hurt your data caps unless you want it to.

Platform: Static Site

Under After

Under After is another minimalist portfolio that spices things up with just a hint of an illustrator’s touch, here and there. The site’s strongest point is really its typography, but the general layout is pretty snazzy as well.

I actually really like the way they designed those testimonials, and it might be the first time I’ve ever said that. Or not. I just know I don’t say it that often.

Platform: Static Site

Base

Base is a branding studio, and they’ve gone with a website design that forgoes any real fancy touches, and gets straight to showing off their work. It’s simple, it’s clean, it looks good.

Platform: WordPress

Mathilde Serra

Mathilde Serra is an art director with a strong emphasis on type. Combined with the strong colors, and a penchant for illustration, her portfolio looks classy and creative.

It’s so good, it’s almost worth the pre-loader. No but really, go look through the case studies. They’re beautiful.

Platform: Static Site

Johanne Roten

Johanne Roten is a Swiss graphic designer, and the Swiss style definitely shows in her work. It’s got that feeling of near-extreme-minimalism we’ve come to associate with our favorite some of our favorite designers from there. It’s also maybe one of the more well-organized one-page portfolios I’ve ever seen.

Platform: Static Site

Make Architects

Make Architects is an interesting portfolio, and not just for its design, which looks darn good. It takes that asymmetry-focused minimalism that got so popular last year, and combines it with a more business-friendly aesthetic.

It also spends half of its home page showing off not just their work, but advertising how they work. ie. it’s an employee-owned company, etc. They put just as much effort into letting you know what to expect from their business practices as anything else. It’s an approach I’ve seen before, but these people do it right from the get-go.

Platform: WordPress

Studio Thomas

Studio Thomas is one of those studios that has, with some mild animation aside, chosen the dead-simple look for their site. I am rather partial, though, to the header/navigation. It takes an interesting approach to telling the user where they are on the site at all times, putting the page title right up top with the site’s name.

It’s like they think telling you what page you’re on is equal in importance to telling you who they are. And I can’t say I disagree.

Platform: Vue.js / Nuxt

MAD

MAD has also gone for a dead-simple look, but they’ve given their type and visual flair a distinctly playful look through very small touches. It’s a subtle kind of full-site branding, but it gets the message across while keeping the site usable and readable. I can get behind that.

Platform: Static Site

Artomatic

Artomatic is bringing us yet more of that minimalism with lots of black borders that is this month’s theme. Well, there’s also a sense of carefully-imposed order, and one of the nicer approached to video that I’ve seen.

Platform: Static Site (probably)

Creative Media Design

Creative Media Design is a German design studio with a style that you might call simple, professional, efficient, and quintessentially German. True to the ambitions stated in their name, though, the site is livened up with the excellent use of accent colors, and a few small touched of handwriting-style type.

Platform: WordPress

MD

MD is yet another site on this list competing for “most minimalist thing since blank paper”. I mean, portfolio slideshows aside, it has a one-column layout. And yet, it still looks good.

Platform: Static Site

Drexler

Drexler’s studio portfolio spices things up by going back to the old asmymmetry. I mean, what’s old is new again, right? Or at least what’s old is a refreshing change of pace in a sea of grid-heavy aesthetics.

Platform: WordPress

Josh Sender

And lastly, Josh Sender has introduced me to the beautiful Romana BT family of typefaces. Just look at those headings. I mean, the rest of the site is good, but those headings are beautiful.

I also rather like the approach to the navigation used on this one-page portfolio. It’s simple, efficient, and mostly stays out of your way, while never being exactly hidden.

Platform: WordPress

Add Realistic Chalk and Sketch Lettering Effects with Sketch’it – only $5!

Source p img {display:inline-block; margin-right:10px;} .alignleft {float:left;} p.showcase {clear:both;} body#browserfriendly p, body#podcast p, div#emailbody p{margin:0;} 20 Best New Portfolios, May 2018 published first on https://medium.com/@koresol

[unixcommerce]

20 Best New Portfolios, May 2018

Welcome back, readers. It’s May, and that means the weather’s getting hotter. Stay inside, away from the evil, evil sunshine. Relax, grab a lemonade, and browse through this month’s collection of portfolios. This time around, we have a whole lot of grid-based minimalism with black borders, and some other stuff, too.

Note: I’m judging these sites by how good they look to me. If they’re creative and original, or classic but really well-done, it’s all good to me. Sometimes, UX and accessibility suffer. For example, many of these sites depend on JavaScript to display their content at all; this is a Bad Idea, kids. If you find an idea you like and want to adapt to your own site, remember to implement it responsibly.

Frank Chimero

We’ve actually featured a previous version of Frank Chimero’s portfolio once before, back in February 2016. Where the previous iteration was mainly focused on selling his writing, this version includes portfolios for his design and illustration as well.

It’s still pretty simple and modern, but there’s now a definite tendency toward using more images. Also, those pencil strokes in the background are a very nice touch, and fit thematically with all of the work he does.

Platform: Static Site

Jacqui Nguyen

Jacqui Nguyen is an architect, and her one-page portfolio pulls off something I didn’t expect to see this month: an accordion-based layout that I actually kind of like. It doesn’t hurt, mind you, that it’s styled to look vaguely like a file drawer.

I have a weird love for office supplies I never use. Anyway, that slight touch of skeuomorphism is just enough to set her site apart without delving into the realm of leather textures and other abominations. Above all, it is functional. That feels appropriate for an architect.

Platform: WordPress

Tej Chauhan

Tej Chauhan combines the presentation style website with pseudo-brutalism (read: minimalism with monospaced type) in a way that I find interesting. On the one hand, you have the presentation-style layout and handling of images for the portfolio, plus the nigh-unusable navigation so prevalent in presentation sites. (The red dot is the menu button.) On the other, every other element is near-brutalist in its aesthetic.

I wouldn’t adopt Tej’s approach to navigation, but the rest of the design presents some interesting contrast in style.

Platform: WordPress

A Friend of Mine

A Friend of Mine is a design agency that took on an interesting challenge when designing their portfolio: limiting the sense of style and personality as much as possible. Their whole shtick is that they tackle every problem differently, according to the situation. They don’t have a “house style”.

In execution, this means that their site is as simple as possible, taking minimalism to its practical extreme. I like to think that the constantly changing background color on the first part of their home page is a symbol of their commitment to doing everything differently as-needed.

Platform: Static Site

Studio Six

Studio Six’s agency portfolio is basically a study in what you might call corporate elegance. It has some of the hallmarks of artsy work, some fantastic typography, and the some of the restraint of your average corporate site. It manages to strike a balance between all of the elements that you don’t see to often.

Platform: Static Site and/or JS App

Katie Shillingford

Katie Shillingford is a fashion stylist, and her site goes for that magazine feel without trying to completely copy magazine layouts. It’s actually one of the better examples I’ve seen of adapting a print medium’s aesthetic to the web, even if it is loaded down with slideshows galore.

Platform: Static Site

daji studio

daji studio is the portfolio of Kenji Yoshida, a sound designer. You might expect, then, to be blasted by audio the second you open the page.

But lo and behold, Kenji is polite. No audio plays until you click one of the many “play” buttons scattered around the pleasing grid-based design. Be like Kenji.

And the site looks cool, too. The audio visualizations that take over the whole screen when you click a play button can be jarring at first, but overall, I like them.

Platform: WordPress

Hiatus

Hiatus is a team of video editors, and their site is deliciously creative. From making their branding look kind of like a pause button, to the rustic style of their site, to the layout that literally keeps the branding front and center at all times, this thing just… well it made me look.

Plus, unlike most video studios, they don’t hit you with a bunch of auto-playing video. You have to actually click on a project and then click play, so you’ve got plenty of time to set up your headphones first, and it won’t hurt your data caps unless you want it to.

Platform: Static Site

Under After

Under After is another minimalist portfolio that spices things up with just a hint of an illustrator’s touch, here and there. The site’s strongest point is really its typography, but the general layout is pretty snazzy as well.

I actually really like the way they designed those testimonials, and it might be the first time I’ve ever said that. Or not. I just know I don’t say it that often.

Platform: Static Site

Base

Base is a branding studio, and they’ve gone with a website design that forgoes any real fancy touches, and gets straight to showing off their work. It’s simple, it’s clean, it looks good.

Platform: WordPress

Mathilde Serra

Mathilde Serra is an art director with a strong emphasis on type. Combined with the strong colors, and a penchant for illustration, her portfolio looks classy and creative.

It’s so good, it’s almost worth the pre-loader. No but really, go look through the case studies. They’re beautiful.

Platform: Static Site

Johanne Roten

Johanne Roten is a Swiss graphic designer, and the Swiss style definitely shows in her work. It’s got that feeling of near-extreme-minimalism we’ve come to associate with our favorite some of our favorite designers from there. It’s also maybe one of the more well-organized one-page portfolios I’ve ever seen.

Platform: Static Site

Make Architects

Make Architects is an interesting portfolio, and not just for its design, which looks darn good. It takes that asymmetry-focused minimalism that got so popular last year, and combines it with a more business-friendly aesthetic.

It also spends half of its home page showing off not just their work, but advertising how they work. ie. it’s an employee-owned company, etc. They put just as much effort into letting you know what to expect from their business practices as anything else. It’s an approach I’ve seen before, but these people do it right from the get-go.

Platform: WordPress

Studio Thomas

Studio Thomas is one of those studios that has, with some mild animation aside, chosen the dead-simple look for their site. I am rather partial, though, to the header/navigation. It takes an interesting approach to telling the user where they are on the site at all times, putting the page title right up top with the site’s name.

It’s like they think telling you what page you’re on is equal in importance to telling you who they are. And I can’t say I disagree.

Platform: Vue.js / Nuxt

MAD

MAD has also gone for a dead-simple look, but they’ve given their type and visual flair a distinctly playful look through very small touches. It’s a subtle kind of full-site branding, but it gets the message across while keeping the site usable and readable. I can get behind that.

Platform: Static Site

Artomatic

Artomatic is bringing us yet more of that minimalism with lots of black borders that is this month’s theme. Well, there’s also a sense of carefully-imposed order, and one of the nicer approached to video that I’ve seen.

Platform: Static Site (probably)

Creative Media Design

Creative Media Design is a German design studio with a style that you might call simple, professional, efficient, and quintessentially German. True to the ambitions stated in their name, though, the site is livened up with the excellent use of accent colors, and a few small touched of handwriting-style type.

Platform: WordPress

MD

MD is yet another site on this list competing for “most minimalist thing since blank paper”. I mean, portfolio slideshows aside, it has a one-column layout. And yet, it still looks good.

Platform: Static Site

Drexler

Drexler’s studio portfolio spices things up by going back to the old asmymmetry. I mean, what’s old is new again, right? Or at least what’s old is a refreshing change of pace in a sea of grid-heavy aesthetics.

Platform: WordPress

Josh Sender

And lastly, Josh Sender has introduced me to the beautiful Romana BT family of typefaces. Just look at those headings. I mean, the rest of the site is good, but those headings are beautiful.

I also rather like the approach to the navigation used on this one-page portfolio. It’s simple, efficient, and mostly stays out of your way, while never being exactly hidden.

Platform: WordPress

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