don't lose hope

Hope Kang. 22. Barista at Java Junkie Cafe. she/her

[hopekang]

basics

Name: Hope Kang

Age: 22

DOB: September 17th, 1999

Gender, Pronouns: cis woman, she/her

Sexuality: Straight, but uncertain if that’s true

Height: 5′3

Tattoos/Piercings: No tattoos, single lobe on each ear

background

Hope Kang is the youngest of three children. She was born in Gravewood, and will most likely die there, to. She’s not sure it’s something she wants, but then again, she’s not sure of anything. Raised by an overbearing Mother who wanted nothing less than perfection from every single one of her Children, Hope found herself with few options on where to go. Instead, she’s sucked it up, and let herself be the perfect child.

She was only just starting High School when her eldest brother, Randal, enlisted. He had just turned eighteen, and saw it as an easy out of town, and was gone in the blink of an eye. Hope never wanted him to go. No overbearing parent was worth putting his life on the line, she tried to tell him that. It was all so stupid, he could save up for an apartment across town instead. Hope would even help him look. But, no. He was determined to fight, see the world, free himself from the tether of parents who would hold his financial instability over his head for years to come. It was six month after being stationed that they got the phone call he had been killed by a landmine. The family grieved, but no one took it harder than Hope in the silence of her bedroom where no one could see her.

A year passed since the loss of her brother, and Hope was thriving academically. Top of her classes, AP courses as a Sophomore, she was the one everyone wanted to cheat off. And, of course, she’d let them. What was the point in saying no? It was the night that report cards came home when her elder Sister, Elodie, announced her pregnancy to the family. The house erupted into chaos. There was yelling and crying. Elodie packed two bags, and walked out the door before midnight. Hope’s straight A report card sat stained by a spilled glass of soda on the kitchen table, forgotten.

From then on, Hope was praised as the favorite child. No one had to worry about Hope. Hope got her work done, and got good grades. Hope achieved everything that was set in front of her. Hope did exactly as her parents asked, and did her best to make everyone as happy as possible. What was there to worry about? She’d carry on the Kang legacy, following in her Mother’s footsteps as the Housewife extraordinaire. She’d have 2.5 kids and a white picket fence of her own, and build the next Gravewood generation.

She graduated Valedictorian, the title wasted on her as she settled with staying home. But, even if she had gone to College, what would she have studied? It wasn’t part of the grand plan to get a higher education, and she didn’t feel like she had the skills to navigate it on her own. At least staying home she didn’t have to figure anything out. Her Mom signed her up for plenty of volunteer work. She’ll tutor neighbor kids on occasion at her Mom’s request, and she picked up a job at her Mom’s recommendation at the coffee shop to make some extra money.

There isn’t a thing in Hope’s life that feels like her own. She feels as if she’s a puppet on strings that will never be cut loose, unaware of her own personality, opinions, and even feelings. Everything about her has felt coerced or trained, and now that she’s in her twenties, it’s terrifying to her. To be a full grown adult and not know who she is? It leaves a bad taste in her mouth, one that makes her want to scream in the face of her Mother, find a way to escape life in Gravewood. But, she’s reliant now. She doesn’t have the means to be her own person, and wouldn’t know where to start even if she did.

The first time she’d ever felt in control is on some website that her Mom would consider abhorrent. It was an accident that she found it, just wanting a place to talk to someone, anyone, who would listen. It didn’t take her long to realize that the people there didn’t seem to be interested in conversation. It would have been so easy to log off, and look the other way. But, people wanted to know her, and compliment her. It filled her with something to know she wasn’t little miss perfect to the people on this website. She wasn’t the High School know-it-all that did every group project on her own or the Valedictorian that attended Church every Sunday without fail. She was just some girl named Hope, that they found beautiful and lovely. And, she was hooked. 

No one taught her the rules. She didn’t know that she was supposed to hide her face, block her IP address, and keep identifiers out of her frame. For Hope, this was all just a thrill seeking adventure. It made her feel good, and everything else seemed to fall by the wayside because of it. Until, one night, she logged on to see her name scrawled across a piece of paper in black sharpie. Only then did she see her reckless behavior for what it was. The stranger insisted he meant her no harm. It just seemed like a good way to get her attention because he wanted to get to know her better. 

Hope was hesitant at first, but the stranger told her so much about himself that it started to seem innocent enough. He really seemed to want a friend, and that’s all she wanted, too. Someone she could tell about the struggles of living at home with an overbearing Mother. Feeling like she was going nowhere in life fast. He wanted to meet, and asked time and time again, but Hope always turned the offer down. But with everyday that passes, feeling more and more like a caged bird, Hope has to wonder if it might just be worth it.

headcanons

√ Hope still lives at home with her parents, citing the fact that she doesn’t want to upset her Mom by leaving her with an empty nest. In reality, Hope wouldn’t move more than down the street, too petrified by the idea of her family’s reaction if she were to ever leave town. But, it’s cheaper to stay in their house, so that’s what she does. 

√ Hope’s Father, Richard, avoids being home as much as possible to avoid dealing with his overbearing wife. He desperately wants to connect to Hope, but has no idea how, since Susan has morphed her into a perfect carbon copy of herself. Hope feels very little connection to her Father because of this divide, feeling like the only warmth she gets from him is when they pose for the family Christmas Card.

√ Hope tried to stay in touch with her older Sister, Elodie, when she moved out. It was secret correspondence, all traces immediately wiped from her phone. But, when the baby was born, and Elodie asked Hope to steal money from their parents, Hope cut ties. Stealing (even if it was for her own flesh and blood) would end in disaster for Hope, and she couldn’t handle the idea of ending up like Elodie.

√ Hope worries that she’s never had an original thought. When asked for her individual opinion, she almost always conforms to the person in front of her and what they’d like to hear her say. It’s a point of contention with most people, but the fear of God has been struck into her to never anger anyone. It’s part of the reason she struggles to maintain friendships.

[hopekang]

tobegriffb·:

halloween event ⮕ open starter

Griffin had a toxic relationship to partying. On the one hand, he hated it. The penthouse suite of the Astoria was decked to the nines, but the extravagant bordered on the tacky. Fake Grecian columns crawled with ivy as a pay-per-hour DJ blared a David Guetta club remix. Anachronisms and lazy costumes abounded. Men Griffin had never liked even in the light of day fancied themselves the Zeuses of the evening, displaying their beer guts in full glory while double fisting Bud Lights and grinding on women who had aged past the sexy nymph costume long ago.

On the other hand, he had always yearned for an invitation. Not specifically to Isadora’s soirees - they weren’t exactly exclusive affairs; to receive an invitation one need only have a Gravewood address. But to those secret parties hosted by the ones who considered themselves the town elite. The cool kids, to put it in grotesque words. Sometimes a party need not be involved at all. The invitation was metaphorical. An acceptance. A nod of approval. A look in someone’s eye that confirmed: yes, you are one of us.

Even now, he couldn’t escape that feeling, and he resented both himself and everyone around him for it. It was particularly painful to stew in that bitterness while covered in shiny gold glitter.

Of course you have to attend, his grandfather had told him. An endless fountain of booze makes for an endless fountain of Banshee material.

The disguise was helping, at least. Griffin’s own genius idea. Not just to participate in the masquerade, but the anonymity it afforded him was perfect for happening upon moments he otherwise wouldn’t. Whenever Griffin was around, people usually left the room. Or stopped talking. Or grimaced. So that night, let him not be Griffin. Let him be nobody.

Nobody was casually tracing the wall of the penthouse, drink in hand, watching others drunkenly carry on. When the music became too much, he quietly slipped into a back room to escape the noise and crowd. That’s when he saw it. The moment. Something newsworthy. 

With his free hand, Griffin slipped his trusty DSLR out from underneath his costume, quickly snapping a photograph before anyone could notice or protest.

“You seem to be enjoying the party,” he commented, leaning against the wall to look down at his camera screen. “Indulgence does fit the theme, though I don’t know if your particular mythos would approve of… all this.” 

෴

Hope found a stupid joy in avoiding too much contact with Jamie through the night. Making it seem like she was off having fun somewhere, when in reality, she was just bouncing from group to group, taking the occasional drink, and pretending she cared enough to socialize with a crowd of people who wouldn’t remember a thing about their conversations the next day. 

Frankly, it was exhausting, and why anyone partied for fun was beyond her. But, she had just narrowly escaped a game of never have I ever (a game that the sheltered Gravewood girl wasn’t all too welcome to play anyway seeing as she could get everyone out with simple things), and she needed to breathe without the looming threat of getting pulled into yet another drinking game or conversation with someone slurring their words, and falling all over her as if they were friends. 

She finds herself in a more quiet corner of the party, once again. Investigating the decor of... well, she actually couldn’t tell if it was regular decor that was painfully gaudy or if it was specifically for the party. Little black and gold vases lined up on the book shelves, some with art drawn into the front, some without. Hope’s willing them to be decoration, because how pretentious if not. 

The next thing to catch her eye is the fact that one of these said vases is smoking. And, maybe this act alone confirms she’ll be the first to die in a horror movie, but she reaches into the vase, narrowly avoiding the heat of whatever is smoldering to pull out a half extinguished joint.

Her nose wrinkles as she sent wafts towards her, and she drops it into the nearest abandoned liquid filled cup, but before hearing the familiar click of a shutter.

Head turning, she spots someone leaned against the wall, face shrouded in a golden mask, but his voice is far too familiar for that, alone, to be enough. 

“You didn’t see the smoking pot? I just didn’t want to burn down the penthouse, that’s all. I don’t smoke that stuff, personally.” She’s trying to keep a level of desperation out of her tone, but she’d be kicked clean out of the house if she ended up in any publication, even the Banshee, with a joint in her hand. “Parties aren’t my thing, I wasn’t even going to come until I got talked into it.”

[hopekang]

indyerstraits·:

“Boo!”

Jamie held a plastic spider on a thread as he loomed over Hope’s station on the couch, huddled up with the TV like they’d become best friends. 

“I didn’t bring you here to hide in a corner, Hope. It’d be pointless to get in trouble if you didn’t have any fun,” Jamie said as he held the spider aloft, dangling it before her like a pendulum in hope that she’d be entranced by the spirit of Halloween. 

“This is what we call a party,” he said condescendingly, sweeping a hand out at the small bunches of cliques collected together in different parts of the penthouse. “Note the ridiculous garb, boozy refreshments and copious age regression. No party is without its anatomy. The DJ’s just a humble brag, though.”

Circling around the couch, Jamie pocketed the spider before grabbing Hope’s hand and tugging her from her seat. The strong stench of alcohol was already wafting off of him like a thick cologne as he lead her through the jungle of bodies, acting as a spearhead with his liquor fueled bravado. He grabbed a half-filled cup that had been abandoned by a stranger and offered it to her. “This is the glory of our youth. You may want to partake before it’s gone forever.”

@hopekang·

~

Hope really should have seen it coming, but all the same, she jumps as Jamie sneaks up behind her. Frankly, she still didn’t know how to carry herself at parties. Not even proper ones not thrown in someones basement or backyard. Every other party she ever attended, she was paraded around like a show pony while her parents listed off all her current achievements. 

When Jamie had dragged her along, she had hoped that he’d forget about her for long enough that she could make it through a movie or two before sneaking out unnoticed. 

“You didn’t, but have you considered that, perhaps, I did.” Leaving the house unannounced wasn’t exactly against the rules after she turned eighteen. But, a debaucherous party, full of people her Mother hated? Well, that would certainly earn her a week of silent treatment if she caught wind.

She scoffs with a touch too much confidence for someone who has spent the past hour trying to make herself as small as humanly possible to avoid being perceived by anyone else. “I know what a party is, Jamie. It’s exactly why I’m over here, and don’t smell like a distillery, unlike some people.” 

All the same, she allows herself to be dragged from her seat, and dragged through the crowd. Tentative hands take the cup he extends to her, and her nose scrunches. “Does the glory of our youth have to be a half finished drink that’s been left unattended?”

[hopekang]

ALCYONE 

                  Goddess of the Sea, Moon, Calm and Tranquility.

Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus and either Enarete or Aegiale, in Greek mythology. She was the wife of Ceyx, son of Phosphorus. Alcyone and Ceyx would often refer to themselves as "Zeus" and "Hera", which enraged the god of gods. As a punishment, Zeus threw a thunderbolt burning Ceyx' ship, and killing him. Later, either Ceyx in ghost form or the god of dreams Morpheus taking Ceyx' form appeared in front of Alcyone, informing her of what had happened. Alcyone was overtaken by grief and killed herself by falling in the sea. The gods, feeling sorry for the couple's fate, transformed them into halcyon birds; the legend has it that the halcyon birds build nests when the sea is calm.

[hopekang]

mariannebyrne·:

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Mari knew as soon as Hope uttered the word Dune that she’d be inviting her to see the superhero flick instead.

It was nothing against Dune, per se, but when she’d been browsing the showtimes she hadn’t even bothered to consider the movie. She had not read the book and had no interest in doing so. Timothée Chalamet was not a selling point. It didn’t matter that Mari had entered the conversation with every intention of getting out of it as gracefully as possible, a ‘see you around’ already on the tip of her tongue at first greeting. No, Hope’s lack of enthusiasm had shifted her plans.

Still, she waited a beat after Hope had given her some encouragement. She wanted to make sure that she wasn’t acting impulsively, that she was fully prepared to engage in a longer conversation with someone who (strictly due to timing) had seen her at her lowest point.

Maybe they would bond over… explosions? Magic? A well crafted instrumental track under a fight sequence?

And then they could really just forget the whole Ski Lodge thing had ever happened.

“Does Spider-man outrank it?” Mari asked, gesturing towards theater number 3. “Because from what I can tell it’s going to be me, those two kids over there clearly skipping school, and maybe a couple of grandparents watching this man fling himself across… New York?”

The pitch of her voice rose to match her uncertainty, but it was only about the setting of the movie. She had made her choice when it came to Hope Kang.

“I don’t think anyone would care if you swapped one showing for another. I truly believe that half of the people in town just sneak in anyway.”

~

Hope’s training in years of basic etiquette would not allow her to invite herself along with Marianne regardless of how much better that sounded than sitting through several minutes of a poorly crafted movie with a much better book. All she could do was cross her fingers that she’d take pity on her, and invite her along, or the theatre was as empty as she had been promised so she could sit in the back corner on her phone for an hour or so. 

“I think anything else in this theatre outranks it,” She muttered, though she certain wasn’t bitter about the fact someone had saddled her with this movie. Well, she was, but it was probably her own fault for telling the person working the booth that she’d take anything.

“I think so, my superhero knowledge is pretty lacking.” Her brother had always been the superhero fan. Most of what she had gotten was long lost to the recess of her mind without his constant deep dive explanations of comic book storylines. 

Relief immediately floods her system when Marianne invites her to tag along, and she does her best not to seem eager. They’re far from the best of friends, and the last thing Hope wants to do is send an already delicate relationship into a tailspin by being too excited to be invited along to yet another movie she didn’t have much desire to see. 

“Oh, all the time, I’ve seen it first hand. I don’t think they ever bothered to fix the lock on the emergency exit door in theatre two,” Hope mused, “But, I’d much prefer Spiderman, honestly. I don’t think anyone will notice.”

[hopekang]

rabbxtdotsasha​:

Sasha continued to just look at her. He wasn’t judging her, he wouldn’t. “Uh, I mean, good for you, unless you’re whole rebellious thing you had goin’ on got you interested and you’re not actually doing that. Are you actually doing that?” He had so many questions to ask and he wasn’t even sure where to start. Did he even see what he thought? Sasha thought he’d come over and help pack up, maybe grab some lunch afterwards but finding out Hope was showing herself to the internet was…wild.

~

Not only did Hope plan for no one to ever know about the camming situation she had found herself falling into, but she didn’t expect them to find out through negligence alone. At least it was Sasha and not her Mom or Dad, but still. The questions were already starting, and Hope’s face was undoubtedly beet red. She could try and lie her way out of this, and insist that this assumptions that curiosity had killed the cat was right. But, she had her doubts that he’d even believe her if she did. “It’s a very long story of how I fell into this, and I’m sure you don’t want that mental image in your head, and I’ve probably said too much already. I just– fell into it, and haven’t had a reason to not do it.” She sighed, hand dropping to her sides in defeat. “Is this going to make things... weird? Like, are you... is it a dealbreaker on friendship or something?”

[hopekang]

damarisbailey·:

Damaris’ head tilted back in frustration, a whiney groan buzzing her mask. Matted lips pursed and she continued to clomp as loudly and as quickly as she could barefooted down the hallway to her door. At this point, she felt like Hope was her mom and she wasn’t being allowed a sense of freedom - toddler like qualities shaping Damaris’ frame. 

Looking back at Hope, who had collected all of her things, Damaris waited impatiently - Marge Simpson like noises escaping her nose as her eyebrows furrowed. The woman was the spitting image of a troll doll’s face squished in half. She only hoped that her friend would hurry up so she could lay butt naked in the air conditioning under the blankets.

~

Hope was nowhere near the best under pressure. Specifically if that pressure was her friend attempting to strip in the middle of the hallway instead of in a bedroom. She felt like she was wrangling the daycare kids at the church. Just two feet taller, and a lot  stronger. 

“It’s just the third door on the left, right? That’ll take not time at all. Come on,” Hope encouraged, corralling Damaris in the direction of her apartment, her discarded articles of clothing clutched in her hands as they made their way along. “See? We’re already at your door. Now, where’s your key?”

[hopekang]

jasperstjames·:

━━▲━━

Jasper’s body may have been fully functional by that point, but that didn’t mean that it was acting normally. His fight or flight had been triggered and adrenaline was coursing through him, daring him to make a move one way or the other.

And yet beyond moving from his awkward freeze in the doorway, he’d chosen to do neither. He was still standing somewhat close to the door, hovering by the hostess stand with both the prayer that Marie would save him from himself and the hope that she would stay far away. And his brain sure wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Whether that was because of Hope’s mere presence or the smile she’d just graced him with as she actually said his name was anyone’s guess.

“Oh, yeah… hasn’t been that long since that happened. Though I guess some people would say it’s been forever. But don’t trust my mom on that - I think she’s actually happy to have me back in town. She may actually never let me leave again,” he joked, making every effort to appear cool, calm, and collected when internally he was cringing.

Their whole secret ‘I’m going to bare my soul to you and you can do it in return’ thing meant that he knew more about Hope Kang than Jasper St. James, wildcard TikToker who never went on cam sites, had any reason to. Though they hadn’t had a decent chat since his last disappearing act, he still knew enough to be aware of the fact that any joke about an overbearing mother might land weird. He didn’t even have an overbearing mom! He had exaggerated for dramatic effect. Mrs. St. James was normal!!

He had meant to put his best foot forward, but the adrenaline had caused him to overshoot and shove it right into his mouth.

Literally one minute into their conversation and he was killing it.

“Sorry about the-” he decided to gesture towards the door then, acknowledging the obvious freeze that she’d caught and been nice enough not to mention. The lie that slipped from his lips next came to him so quickly that he was satisfied his brain would finally be able to carry him through the rest of their (likely short) chat.

“You look different. It took me a minute… But how’ve you been?”

~

In all her years of knowing of Jasper, and his somewhat wild persona, she had never pegged him as someone who could come across so... awkward. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time they had interacted in years. Maybe it was because he didn’t want to be interacting with her at all. Hope could have accepted either as fact. 

Still, she could participate in friendly conversation. Years of being taught the importance of polite small talk had prepared her to maintain a conversation with almost anyone. Even someone like Jasper who she certainly had nothing in common with. 

Hope laughed a little, the concept of an overbearing mother nothing she was a stranger to. Though, he had just come back from living across the country, she figured that she was just excited to her son again for the first time in years. “Well, hey, I know it’s not California, but there’s nothing quite like Gravewood, right?” Like he planned on staying around for long, anyway. He’d be on the next plane back the second another celebrity got put in the hot seat.

She wasn’t sure if it was already time to look for an exit strategy out of this conversation with the way Jasper was acting, but she’d tough it out for a bit longer if only to be polite. It wasn’t going poorly by any means, she just didn’t want to trap him into a conversation he didn’t want to be a part of. 

“Don’t worry about it,” She waved it off, completely aware of how awkward the encounter was, but she wasn’t going to dwell on it, either. 

“Oh, yeah,” She said with a laugh, fluffing the ends of her hair. It had grown a bit since the big chop at the lodge, her hair just starting to reach her shoulders again. That, paired with the lack of glasses, and the slow change in attire she had been sporting would be enough to throw anyone who knew her before through a loop. “I’m trying out something different, I guess. You like it?”

Not that his opinion would make her break her, but there was something about years of seeking approval that was hard to shake. “I’ve been good. I have my own place now, so I’ve just been trying to make ends meet as best as I can. So I’ve just been... here, really.” A depressing thought, though she would let it roll like water off a Duck’s back if only so it didn’t follow her around the rest of the day.  “How about you? How’s being back in town going?”

[hopekang]

teddyxmiller·:

“I definitely recommend a pet. I got a dog about a year ago, her name’s Pepper, and having a little buddy around is so much fun.” He’d always felt bad having a dog in the city, keeping her shut up inside most of the time, but now that he was back on the farm, he could let her run around and she loved it. Pepper followed Teddy everywhere, and she was always by his side during his sleepless nights to keep him company. “For an apartment, a cat is probably a better idea though.”

“Did Susan put up much of a fight when you said you were moving out? I mean, she might’ve chilled out since I last saw her, but from what I remember she was a force to be reckoned with.” Teddy could still remember the day he’d found out that Hope wasn’t allowed to hang out with him anymore, and while it hadn’t surprised him, it had still sucked. But, he didn’t fight it. Sometimes he wished he had. 

But, never being the type of person to cause a fuss or speak up, he hadn’t.

“Honestly, it was a little weird at first. It’s still a little weird. I was really hoping puberty would’ve hit hard so I could grow a beard and be completely unrecognizable, but it didn’t. So, some people see me and give me weird looks. But, for the most part it’s been okay. Work on the farm has been keeping me pretty busy, and Grammy isn’t getting any younger, so she’s got me running around after her too.” Teddy explained with a nod. It was nice to not have to keep secrets anymore, in Gravewood, everyone knew everything, so he could just try and be himself. He did leave out a few things, however, instead focusing on the positives. “It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

~

“You have a dog now? I’ll have to meet her, I bet she’s adorable.” Hope had never had a pet, but somehow, starting with a cat or maybe even a fish seemed much more doable than starting with a dog. Cats were at least somewhat more independent as long as things were kept clean, and food was kept in the bowl. She was responsible enough to manage that much. Though, she knew if she were adopting a cat, she’d have to bring Jamie along with her. She’d never hear the end of it if she didn’t bring him. 

“I think she’s gone the opposite direction. She’s somehow managed to get worse,” Hope mumbled, spinning her straw around in her drink. “Honestly, though, she put up less of a fight than I thought she might. She just tried to guilt trip me with a lot of crocodile tears. But, I can deal with that, so it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

If she were so brave all those years ago, she would have maintained her friendship with Teddy. Even in secret if necessary. But, she had not been so brave. Though, why dwell when he was in front of her now? They could pick up where they had left off, and be friends again without any overbearing parents standing in the way. 

“Well, that’s good. I’m glad that people haven’t been too weird.” She never understood that, anyway. It wasn’t as if he had done anything. He was probably just as surprised as the rest of the town was when everything came to light. “And, I’m glad that your Grandma is doing well. I hope she’s happy to be back on the farm.” Hope nodded, relieved to hear that it hadn’t fallen apart yet. “I’m glad. I hope it stays that way.”

[hopekang]

ellexreynolds·:

Outside of Mack and Damaris, and the occasional time that she bumped into Marianne, Elle didn’t have a lot of girlfriends left. Most of the ones she’d made in high school had left town to go to college and she’d never heard from them again. Not that she really minded, she would’ve hated for them to see her now, the shell of the girl she had once been, trapped in a loveless engagement that she was desperate to get out of. It was a sad existence, but she thought that having more people to call her friends would make it more bearable.

When Hope agreed to join her, Elle was a little surprised, but she hid it well. “Great.” She smiled, nodding her head as she started walking in the direction of the diner. “After dealing with city hall, even for short periods of time, nothing makes it better than a milkshake from Marie’s. I learned that the hard way.”

~

New friends were a good thing. Even if Elle was probably a friend her Mom would have approved in– the rarest kind of person –it still felt nice to seemingly be starting a new chapter of her life where she could do what she wants and see who she pleased. Besides, it would be good to get to know people she had seen every day in High School anyway. It just made sense to her. 

“That does sound like the ideal come down from all that stress,” Hope agreed. Then again, when wasn’t a milkshake from Marie’s the solution to all the problems in her life? “I take it that makes you a regular at Marie’s then? Since you deal with it every day?”

[hopekang]

teddyxmiller·:

WHO: Teddy & @hopekang WHERE: Marie’s Diner

Hope was one of the few people that Teddy had been glad to reconnect with when he’d come back to Gravewood. There had been a time when the two quiet kids had been good friends, and even though Hope’s mother had cut their friendship short (not that Teddy blamed her), he was happy that now that they were older they could almost pick up where they left off.

Anyone who knew anything about Gravewood knew that Marie’s was the best place to get a burger and milkshake, and even after being go for as long as he had, Teddy had made a point of stopping in weekly since he’d returned to his hometown. Usually he went alone, but he’d run into Hope earlier in the week and had asked if she wanted to join him.

As they sat at the table opposite each other, Teddy listened as Hope filled him in on the things he’d missed while he was gone. It felt nice, easy, like no time had really passed at all. And he was grateful for that, grateful to have a friend again.

“So, you moved out? How’s that going?” He asked, wondering what it must be like to have that kind of freedom. Susan Kang was someone he remembered well, and he was sure that Hope moving out hadn’t gone down well with her at all. She had always been strict, something Teddy couldn’t relate to at all. His parents had, from what he remembered, been pretty laid-back, and his grandmother was about as far from strict as someone could get. “You’re like a real adult now, that’s pretty impressive.”

~

Teddy and Hope had been fast friends as children. Both quiet and polite little kids, they clicked in a way that most people wouldn’t usually understand. What would they talk about if neither one wanted to talk? But, really, it was always a sense of comfort getting to be around Teddy. When everything had happened with his family, she was devastated that her Mom had cut contact between the two of them after everything about his family came to light. She had argued that Teddy hadn’t done anything wrong, but her Mom didn’t want to hear a single word. 

But, now she was a free bird. She could make her choices on who she spent time with, so when Teddy asked her to join him for lunch, she jumped at the chance to reconnect with an old friend. 

There was every chance that things could have been difficult or awkward between them after all these years. They had grown and changed, and weren’t too little kids keeping to themselves on the playground anymore. Regardless, it was as if no time had passed between them. It was still so easy to talk to Teddy. 

“It’s going... pretty great, honestly. It’s a little lonely some nights, but I’m thinking about getting a cat. That might help. But, all in all, it’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made.” What was that old saying? Distance makes the heart grow fonder? Maybe she could learn to appreciate her Mother more if she wasn’t consistently under her thumb. But, if nothing else, she would be granted the freedom to try. Hope laughed at the implication that she was some full fledged adult. “I don’t feel like one. I feel like I’m just playing a very high stakes game of house.”

“How about you? How do you feel about being back? Is it going okay?”

[hopekang]

ellexreynolds·:

“Exactly.” Elle nodded, letting out a soft laugh. It wasn’t even close to what she had imagined for herself when she was younger. There had been a time when Elle had had big dreams. She’d always thought she’d go to college, to law school, and become a hot shot lawyer. Arguing was something she used to have a knack for, able to talk her way out of almost anything. But, as she’d gotten older, as her circumstances had changed, she’d figured out that it was just easier to fall into line than to actually stand up for herself. So, she’d ended up never going to college, instead getting a job given to her because of a business arrangement. But, a pay check was a pay check, right?

“I was gonna head over to Marie’s to get something to eat, did you want to come along?” If she was being honest, Elle wasn’t expecting Hope to say yes. They weren’t close, or even really friends. Sure, they had friends in common, but the two had never actually hung out outside of group parties. But, the thought of going and eating alone didn’t sound all that appealing, and neither did going home.

~

The invitation to Marie’s, while unexpected, was not unwelcome. Hope was glad that she was branching out, and seeing new people. She had grown so used to her little bubble, either pre-approved friends or friends she held in secret, that she didn’t often get to spend time with people outside that circle. But, now that Hope was working on getting out of the house, and putting in the effort to be her own person, that meant she could chose who she wanted to spend her time with– no longer by sneaking out the window. It was strangely empowering after years of being a caged bird. But, that was why the caged bird sings, wasn’t it? 

“Yeah, that sounds great, I’d love to. Thanks for the invite.”

[hopekang]

rabbxtdotsasha​:

Sasha grinned, forgetting anything about what it could do to their friendship because at the end of the day, Hope was still there for him. Both her and Noah were too nice to really do much against him. “Hey, at least you’ll have someone else chill to live with, and a couple of cats. Definitely a better option, no offense to Susan. I can’t tell you how fucking great it is to not have to sneak anymore.” He was partially talking about his own not having to sneak around that he was gay, but also in being able to live freely without the actual sneaking of who he was sharing a space with. “Yeah, sure,” he grabbed the books, accidentally knocking the laptop in the process. He caught it, the laptop not quite closed from before, bringing up a bright screen at the movement. He rose a brow looking down at it.

~

It happened in slow motion. First watching her laptop plummet towards the floor, and then Sasha catching the half open device. It should have been relief she had felt if she didn’t know which tab was left open on the computer. There wasn’t even a chance to grab it form him before Sasha, very obviously, caught a visual of the site. Still, Hope dropped what she was holding, scrambling across the room to confiscate the laptop from him. “Wow, good catch, I can see why you play sports, I can take that from you so it doesn’t get knocked off things anymore, that would be bad,” Hope insisted, arms out stretched to take the computer back from him, and save herself from any further embarrassment. 

[hopekang]

mackenziegthomas·:

Mack had spent hours practicing her best bimbo impersonation in the mirror before this mission. She was self-aware enough to know that she had a tendency to say things that were.. brash. She glanced to the dealer, checking to see how believable they were.

The dealer didn’t seem very convinced- despite the blank tough-guy look, she could see the crinkle of eyebrows. Maybe they needed to layer it on thicker- “We heard from some of our friends at Gigi’s- apparently you help a lot of us… So we knew we had to try you.”

Her sad attempt at flirting seemed to work. though, and the dealer finally responded. “If you guys are looking for a really good night.. I’d start with the really good stuff.”

The white baggie of powder he held up between them was unmistakable. Mack glanced back at Hope, checking in for a moment before she next spoke.

“Do you offer coke as a first try to just any girls off the street? Are all the Gigi’s girls buying it off you?” 

~

Could this man smell the fear on Hope? Because she was sure her nerves hung heavy in the air of the car, but she really was trying to play it cool. The worst possible choice was to bail out of the situation now, so she just had to power through, same dumb smile plastered on her face as she tried to form any sort of idea in her head in how to help the situation along. 

But, Mack beat her to the punch, flirting with the dealer, and it worked. As if she needed any more proof that men thought with their dick instead of their head, but she shouldn’t be complaining that they were still very much alive, and getting somewhere. 

Even though that somewhere was being offered a bag of cocaine which Hope wouldn’t be touching with a ten foot pole no matter what their weird little undercover interrogation called for. But, she gave Mack an affirmative look and shrug when she glanced back at her.

A certain level of suspicion returned to the Man’s feature at the sudden line of questioning. “Gigi’s girls get a deal,” He deadpanned, “What, you think your friends are trying to fuck you over?”

"Well, I guess that’s why all the girls sent us your way,” Hope purred, trying to make this seem less like a game of twenty questions, “Although I’d like to think we’re getting special treatment.” She tossed in a little pout as she leaned her head on the headrest of the seat in front of her, scanning for any sort of threat in the front of the car.

[hopekang]

jasperstjames·:

It was a light scoop day for Jasper St. James.

He hadn’t been back in town for all that long by the time he’d realized that every couple of months, people liked to take a break from the drama and simply concentrate on continuing to exist. It was the eye of the hurricane period, the months-to-years stretch between earthquakes where everyone began to wonder if they’d finally ended for good. Gravewood was consistent, the town’s drama hangovers occurring with enough regularity that Jasper knew he was about due to shake things up again.

But no one was biting.

That was how he’d ended up prowling the street that morning, looking for news in any place he could find it. Hanging around La Bodega, hesitating around the Mayor’s Office, and eventually landing around the entrance to Marie’s.

He’d just decided that he was probably more likely to get gossip from eavesdropping on the brunch crowd when he opened the door and almost crashed right into Hope Kang.

He hadn’t allowed himself the full disaster moment, the very sight of the girl thankfully having him freezing in place, but at what cost? Because he’d been stopped mid-step. In the middle of the doorway. Like some weirdo.

What was he supposed to do? Or say?

When he’d stumbled upon her on the (now beloved) chat site they both frequented, he’d recognized her instantly. It had also caused a level of panic within him the level of which being arrested at Taylor Swift’s abode hadn’t even managed to rouse (he was feeling some of that again in that moment).

He knew Hope Kang. He had all sorts of ideas in his head of what she was probably like, built up after years of avoiding her from the moment their hands had touched when he borrowed her pencil in the sixth grade. He kept loose tabs on her on Facebook, followed her from his finsta, knew enough to piece things together… he’d sent flowers to her house (anonymously and directed at the family as a whole) when her brother had passed.

It was not stalker behavior.

He had not at all been looking for Hope when he’d hit his low point and ended up legitimately just tipping girls to have someone to talk to. What he’d been after was a semi-to-fully nude therapist, someone to hear his problems and then never see him again. He’d stumbled across a few who had been pretty decent before fate had brought them together.

By that point he’d had to add a little more than a hat to his disguise. He’d lowered his voice, taken on an Australian accent, added glasses, and kept himself in low lighting at all times, his computer screen functioning as close to a ring light as he was going to allow in order to protect his identity.

She therefore didn’t know that the mysterious man who had legitimately poured out his heart and soul to her was Jasper St. James. And at the rate they were going, she never would. He’d asked to meet up several times, but chickened out last minute. By the time he’d worked up the courage to reveal himself at the ski lodge, the universe had prevented it from happening by plunging that place into an unreachable darkness.

How could one not take that as a sign?

But that didn’t mean that he could gracefully dip out of their public encounter. Not when she’d already turned to look at him. He had to make things seem… normal.

So, he spoke up… at a slightly higher pitch than normal, just in case. His body finally allowed him to resume a normal range of motion too.

“Hope Kang! As I live and breathe. How long has it been since we had a chat?”

@hopekang·

~

In an odd twist of irony, Hope Kang could not stand the taste of Java Junkie’s coffee. She didn’t mind it when she got her job there, but one too many free shift drinks can ruin anything in due time. Of course, she took the free drink for all it was worth, but she always made her way to Marie’s on her days off for a half decent cup of coffee instead of subjecting herself to whatever Java Junkie was serving. 

Besides, on occasion she ran into Jamie and got to bug him for all of twenty minutes, and now Mack as well. It was a nice way to catch up with friends. She was actually socializing. Her younger self would be proud.

Today was no different. She did her rounds of friendly hellos, fielded a few questions about her new living situation, and slid an unnecessarily good tip underneath the emptied coffee mug. All there was left to do was get home, and continue to contemplate whether today was the day she was going to send those pictures to get her mystery man back for ghosting her. 

She had not been quite so receptive to chatting since the lodge, because it wasn’t the first time she had been stood up by him. Though, ever the people pleaser, she had yet to cut him off entirely. Every day, her finger hovered over the send button, pictures locked and loaded, just a little bit longer than the last, but she could never bring herself to commit to sending them. He had to have had his reasons. He seemed interested in her. Maybe he did actually live in Australia, and didn’t know how to tell her. It could be any number of reasons why things hadn’t panned out yet. Still, that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt every time plans fell through. 

In her distracted state, she barely noticed the person on the other side of the door, nearly walking directly into them. She blinked owlishly, processing the face in front of her, it taking only moments to click where she had seen it before. 

Jasper St. James. YouTube extraordinaire fallen from grace– not that she really followed him, his content was always crass and overall obnoxious. But her Mother had her finger on the pulse Gravewood news, and Jasper was nothing if not Gravewood worthy news. 

Regardless, Jasper had always been nice enough to Hope. She had never been the butt of any of his jokes or victim of any of his pranks in High School, which Hope still found surprising. She figured she would have been an easy target. He had always seemed so far out of her stratosphere that she figured he had forgotten she existed at some point.

But right now? He was just frozen in the middle of the doorway with his eyes locked on her, blocking her exit from the building. His face was unreadable until something clicked. Maybe it was recognition? 

“Hi Jasper,” She greeted, a friendly smile on her face, “A while, I’m sure. I don’t know that I’ve seen you since you’ve been back.”

[hopekang]

rabbxtdotsasha​:

Sasha thought about it for a moment and it really didn’t. Not after Mack and Noah started dating. Nothing was more weird to him than that. “Nah, it’s all good.” Maybe it was strange, but he’d get used to it. He didn’t have a choice. He had gone through enough and Shawn had taken him from a lot of his friends, he wasn’t going to lose another just because she was moving in with his best friend/crush. “Dude, I left for college and still came back to so much shit.” He started to help her sort things out, organizing the best he could. He wasn’t great at anything that required a large amount of knowledge or fine skills, but man power was something he was good at. “You’re almost there. I’m sure it’s gonna be a great time all on your own. It’s so….freeing.”

~

“It won’t change anything,” Hope assured, sticking a few abandoned notebooks into yet another miscellaneous box, “You can still talk to me about whatever you need to, I can compartmentalize like nobody’s business.” She really didn’t want to move out of her house and have their friendship crumble in the process. Not that she thought that it really would, but the possibility was enough to have her stopping it before it even started. “I think it’s going to be good, too. Even if it just means that I get to be the same old reclusive Hope without Susan breathing down my neck. Plus, there will be no more sneaking friends in and out of the house. How nice would that be?” And how silly was it that she had to do any sneaking in the first place. “Hey, I think there’s another few books over there, can you toss them to me,” Hope asked, sticking her thumb over towards the corner. 

[hopekang]

mariannebyrne·:

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Mari nodded along as Hope went ahead and politely answered her dumbass question, the obvious answer perfectly in line with her expectations.

Of course Hope was there to see a movie. Why else would someone be past the ticket counter at the movies? Or even at the theater in general? Once the question had been asked, however, it felt like there was no way to back down from the next logical question.

“Which, uh… which one?” she tossed out.

And then she promptly shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Marianne really didn’t know why her self-preservation instincts were suddenly so wonky. Perhaps she’d been accidentally conditioned that way when she’d trapped herself outside in the freezing cold. Or perhaps it was truly that she felt the need to at least try with the other girl when otherwise she might have been silent. Either way, Mari was taking her sweet time with her chewing, attempting to remain casually interested in Hope’s answer to her question before she glanced down at her own ticket.

“Oh… and do you have an interest in the Spider-man? Because I haven’t seen any of the others in this trilogy, but I’ve heard this one is good? I’m assuming they don’t make these so you have to watch them all to really follow along…”

~

“Oh, uh,” Hope recalled that same question the person behind the counter had asked her. She had ended up just saying something along the lines of ‘whatever has the least people in the theatre lately’, and just paying the fee without a second thought. She glanced down at the ticket stub, hoping it didn’t seem like she was unaware of what she was seeing– even if she totally was. 

Dune. Ugh. Maybe she should have picked instead. The book was good, but she had no desire to see adaptions of books anymore. It always crushed her love of a novel when they absolutely brutalized the story with cinematic, Hollywood grandeur.

“Uh... Dune, I guess. Not my first choice, but anything to be out of the house for a few hours.” 

Hope was weighing the pros and cons of asking if there was something wrong, but it didn’t seem worth it. Besides, she had assured Marianne that she would forget all about the events of the Lodge, and she was nothing if not a woman of her word. 

“Oh,” Not the follow up she was expecting, “No, I doubt you’d need much context. Besides, superhero narratives don’t deviate from each other that much.” Did she have any interest in Spider-man? hardly, but anything sounded better than the movie she was slated to see. “But, yeah, it’s gotten a lot of good hype from what I’ve heard.”