ALL APOLOGIES

[indy5000]

INTRO - OVERVIEW - PINTEREST

[indy5000]

living in the belt too long is ill-advised for ones health.

of course doctor's never say that outright, why would they. there's no reason to study what abject poverty does to a psyche, especially not when there's nothing wrong with the belt, not really, not when terra says everything is just fine. but jaein knows, deep down there has to be some sort of adverse effect. living in constant stress and chaos can't be what everyone transferred from the outerworld to terra to find, and if they did jaein thinks his ancestor's ancestors were some sort of stupid on an unquantifiable level.

but then again, maybe it's fine. maybe jaein just lives in a state of chronic dissatisfaction and that's the real issue. but a nagging feeling tugs at him and swears there has to be more to life than this.

taking a long drag of his cigarette, jaein heaves out a sigh with the exhale smoke and lawls his head back as leans back onto his elbows body splaying against the hood of his car. the beyond park is almost a neutral territory of sorts, he's sure that's why wonshik likes to meet with him here; none of the stomach-churning poverty in the belt or the nauseating level of superfluous spending in the gated districts⏤ just the pair of them as they are and nothing more.

"you know my sister dragged me to see that new movie you were in?" jaein says between drags, cracking a smile as he takes speaks as if somehow one of the more awkward experiences of his life is now somewhat funny in retrospect. "she's such a big fan of you she wanted to see it so bad but thought she'd look like a loser going to see it by herself so she dragged me along. you owe me 20 merits for that one, bro."

it's not as if it was a bad film, by all accounts it was actually pretty good albeit one he'd rather not watch with his teenaged sister but the pieces fall where they may. the only problem jaein has with wonshik is in films is the inability to suspend reality. wonshik might be ultra famous all throughout terra, but to jaein at the end of the day nam wonshik is just nam wonshik; the same kid who jaein had been forced into playdates with over the years, not the heartthrob of the silver screen that the world's made him out to be now.

"next time pick up a script for an action movie, or some type of thriller. you know something that'll make it worth my while next time i get dragged to the movies again." jaein smiles in a sort of shit-eating way to show the lack of discontent in his words and instead leans into the gentle teasing. "you were good in that movie though, i guess."

DREAM PALETTE ft. @sparedpart

[terrascapehq]

> good evening, [user]. you have THREE patch updates waiting to be installed. click REBLOG to download?

LOADING… PANEL UPGRADES [ the new panel upgrade now allows for synchronised customisation between two users. ]

the receiver can create a playlist, moodboard, web weaving, or any other aesthetic that they’d like about their muse’s relationship with the sender, and terra will upload this to their fully customisable shared panel.

LOADING… SECURITY REINFORCEMENT [ terrascape prides itself on security, and all your secrets are safe and confidential with us. ]

write ~3 headcanons about your muse and the sender’s, and terra promises to keep it safe from prying eyes.

LOADING… IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS [ communications on terra are now faster and better than before. ]

send ✉️ for the last text the receiver sent to the sender,  💌 for a heartfelt text the receiver sent to the sender,  📨 for a text the receiver sent and couldn’t recall in time to the sender,  📩 for a drunk text the receiver found in their drafts that they haven’t sent to the sender.

Keep reading

[indy5000]

reina:

[ ... ] “thank you for waiting,” she reaches out, fingers brushing the back of his hand lightly before she picks up the menu in front of her. reina turns the page and briefly scans the list of appetisers, her fingers tapping along the menu’s edge. “have you been here much?” she asks, pulling the menu down to look at him, “if you have then i’ll let you do the honours. i trust your decision.”

jaein's got a bad habit of assuming the worst in any situation.

once, an ex-girlfriend told him he was always looking for the bottom to give out from underneath him. said he always had one foot in and one foot out, as if forever bracing himself for disappointment. at the time, jaein didn't have the words to explain why he was the way he was.

how do you explain to a person who's lived a charmed life what it's like to live at the other end of the spectrum? how can someone who's always gotten everything they've ever wanted understand what it's like to see your greatest desire pulled out of your reach every time?

noh jaein has the language to explain his pessimism now; disappointment is inevitable, it's a question of when not if.

reina is nicer than he'd been expecting, prettier too⏤ he wasn't lying when he told her so and despite his cynicism he smiles genuinely at her when she compliments him back. most girls on coach are just as jaded as him, his own first date on the app had been with a woman eight years his senior had gone so poorly he'd considered giving up on the app entirely but the addictive nature the app and the last few remnants of blind optimism had kept him on.

that last bare bit of hope in him wonders if it's all been culminating into now. doubtful, a more scornful bit of his mind replies.

"yeah no my friends and i come here when we've got something good to celebrate," he says raising his and calling out for a waitress. the restaurant isn't the nicest place he's ever been, nor is it close to the worst and he's been on enough dates to know it's better to go to a somewhere in the middle for a first date, to set expectations somewhat decent and try and attempt to raise the bar should they make it pass this initial introduction. "when i was a kid actually my parents used to bring me here for special occasions too."

his face suddenly flushes red at the realization that he's laid one of his cards bare, that somehow a polite little restaurant such as this had meant the world to him at twelve. he gives reina a polite smile before ordering grilled abalone and two drinks, for the pair of them.

"the restaurant's owner, his brother-in-law is actually a fisherman so this time of year he has some of the best abalone you can get." jaein adds, as if somehow trying to better sell her on her meal though he doubts how much she actually cares about the origin of where tonights meal is coming from. he fiddles with his hands trying to think of something to say, his sister told him once how girls hate it when the conversation die on first dates and he's finds himself rifling through a mental catalogue of questions that feel appropriate enough for a first date.

"so i guess we should probably get to the 'getting-to-know-you' part, right?" he finally asks folding his hands together as he leans back in his chair. "is this your first time using coach?"

[indy5000]

plumbers in allara make a good living.

or so the story goes. it's some bullshit his dad heard from a friend of a friend who's brother transferred to the allara server a couple of years ago. something to do with skilled laborers being respected or something of the sort.

the whole thing sounds like a pipe dream to jaein, no pun intended.

even still, as he's laying on choi haerin's kitchen floor looking up at a half-dismantled sink he thinks it'd be nice to make a good living. after all, he'd like to live in a nice house too, maybe settle down one day with a girl who's nice and patient and smarter than him, maybe apply for a kid or two should they want it.

a fucking pipe dream for sure.

pushing himself out from under the sink, jaein grimaces at the state of his hands. there's something corroded in the pipes that leaves his hands smelling like rust and metal. it's the kind of problem he never would've imagined would happen in the gilded district but he supposes not even the rich can avoid the eventual decay of all things in terra. still though, in a house this nice it's odd to find such bad damage.

"well," jaein says wiping his hands on his jeans as he stands up to speak to haerin. "honestly it's probably best we just replace the whole sink, you've got an insane amount of damage in the piping honestly. it's like it came from the belt almost."

he sighs and thinks about the cost. he could be an asshole and rip haerin off, she's sure she doesn't exactly know what the going rate for what this amount of work should cost. but then again she is his best friend's girlfriend and truly, even if she wasn't he's sure he'd have the same feeling of guilt gnawing at his stomach for simply considering the thought.

"i tell you what, i'd normally charge like about 250 merits for this but because you're you, if you buy the material i'll do it for 150." scratching his chin he sighs again, some form of a poor man's conscious begging him to be a bit kinder to the poor little rich girl before him. "though i guess you could ask jaehyun too, he'd probably buy the material and do it for free honestly."

FORGET IT ⏤ ft. @moonsnitch

[indy5000]

at some point it starts to all feel like a bit of a joke.

jaein's been on fifteen first dates in the last some-odd months thanks to coach. a couple scored above 60% though he found something about each girl that left him unable to quite follow through with the whole, commitment and happily ever after that's supposed to be standard with this sort of fair.

fifteen dates in he starts to know just how the night will go before his sixteenth date even shows up.

he sits and waits, fingers tracing idly along the grains of wood on the table as he waits for his date. her name is reina and she's pretty in a conventional sort of way, much prettier than the girls he grew up with and just by a picture alone jaein knows a girl like maruyama reina is worth more than jaein could ever afford.

even still, he shows up earlier than planned just for the vain hope that just maybe the promise that for once something worthwhile in his life could be found⏤ that just once terra could live to the promised utopia it's supposed to be.

there's some comfort that soothes a still anxious corner of his mind when he sees her across the room. she's prettier in person, though somewhat different than the version of he'd created of her in his mind.

the fictitious version of her had been haughtier, colder, someone all together disinterested in the whole frivolity of first dates. the reality of the girl who walks into the restaurant is different; her fretful disposition is obvious a mile away and jaein doesn't make any attempt to soothe he waves her over to their table in a way he realizes falls just short of chivalry as she makes her way over.

he ought to have walked up to her, said his hello, pulled her chair out, done the whole romantic lead type of deal that only really exists in movies. this many first dates in he knows where his shortcomings fall and he's sure the lack of romantic overtures here will count against him at the end of the night.

"reina?" he asks, almost stupidly as she sits into her seat opposite him. who the fuck else would it be? he wants to ask but his commitment to making an awful impression isn't that strong so he sighs instead before shooting her a polite smile. "you're a lot prettier in person, your avatar on coach doesn't really do you justice."

ALL OF THIS AND NOTHING ⏤ ft. @fiskesprett

[indy5000]

what's good s/o to me bringing my second chara two days late but better late than never, anyways this is jinah's mun and i'm still gonna yap a lot (sorry) but here is my boy noh jaein who's like idk incredibly dissatisfied with life in terra but like what are you gonna do? please give this a like if you'd like to plot and under the cut is some bg info and potential plot ideas!

BACKGROUND

starting with the birth chart scorpio sun, taurus moon, leo rising. is it a red flag? idk the astrology folks can discuss

so jaein was born in the belt, currently still lives in the belt, will probably die in the belt and trust me he's not happy about that fact

there's really no reason he and his family are there other than generational poverty aka the by product of generational wealth so like tbh his grandpa fought as hard as he could to get out and failed, his dad fought as hard as he could to get out and failed, and now jaein has his turn

tbh he actually like really resents his family for being poor and like resents his parents esp for being broke and using what little money they did have to apply for kids bc like y'all can barely take care of yourselves why are u bringing kids into this???? but also like is very much ashamed for resenting his family because he does love them it's just u know hates that life is so hard bc this is supposed to be utopia and if it is why tf is he in a communal living hall broke as hell like how shit was the outerworld for people to be like "yeah no this is heaven"

also like he does overall have a good relationship with his family like idk the trauma fr is being poor but his parents do love him and like they are fairly close knit and stuff

other than that though was like actually a really happy go lucky kid growing up despite like being self aware about the lack he grew up with, and like tbh was into typical boy things as a kid aka iron fist (tbh still a huge fan probs has like favs that he supports honestly), skateboarding, also really into like cars and motorcycles bc his dad used to race motorcycles (probably illegally but then again terracorp never like got on them so is it really illegal???) and now he races, probs just like general mischief kids get up to but over all like you know a well meaning enough and very friendly kid

CURRENT

tbh in a lot of ways tbh he hasn't really changed?? like def more jaded than he was at like 12 but you know hobbies and stuff still remain the same

now he works as a mechanic in his uncles shop and tbh could probs do a much better job than a mechanic near the mega buildings or the gated district and do it for half the price

like does he have booksmarts???? idk not too much but the boy is good with his hands which is probably more important in his line of work anyways

still very much into iron fist and plays tho obvi not competitively and like supports his favs like to the point of having a stream on in the bg while he's working on someone's car

still p poor tho like always has more money outgoing and incoming, sometimes picks up random odd jobs just to keep his account out of the negative like if you ever need a guy to do random ass manual labor? he'll probs do it like a merit is a merit you know?

also still races!!! obvi not the sanctioned sport like iron fist and idk shit is probs more popular than the belt than other places (bc why actually race shit when you could just simulate it??? idk broke ppl shit) but still he enjoys it and he's good at it so like who is he hurting

also skates but again like who cares and also his mom keeps reminding him like bro ur 27 years old it's time to grow up, settle down, meet a nice girl and apply for a kid. but does he listen? no he's just trying to enjoy is time tbh and also feels fucked up about bringing a kid into the life he was born into since y'know he resents it

PERSONALITY

i feel like you can kinda get the vibe of him already but basically he's just a guy trying to chill as much as he can without thinking of the weight of the world on his shoulders financially

can be a bit moody and obsessive at times (what scorpio isn't) but like overall means well and is still a pretty friendly guy who's got a bad habit like of comping work or sometimes doing odd jobs for free bc he means well and just wants to help and also like hates the idea of ripping people off

though very unserious and has been dumped more than once bc he doesn't want to grow up and settle down bc idk he's scared but also like what's the crime in wanting to be free and enjoy your own life??? why does he always have to live for other people type deal

PLOTS

iron fist: people he plays with, pro gamers he's a huge fan of, others not so much..., etc

people he grew up with in the belt!!! maybe someone jaein's lowkey a little jealous of bc they got out, people he's still really close with

flings/exes idk not the worst bf in the world but is there a reason he's single rn? probably yeah

someone who has him do odd jobs either idk maybe they kinda pity bro or like just like having him around (like ur paying for a friend??? maybe but also you are getting work done out of it so is it really a bad deal?)

ngl i actually prefer brainstorming so if nothing fits your fancy but you still wanna plot hmu!

[neobi]

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