ASCENT // DEMISE

Always with riddled smiles

[vanescos]

ALIZEH ROSHAN. The Tarnished Radiance. 37. Personal Assistant.

BIOGRAPHY || HEADCANONS || CONNECTIONS

INGRID SALINAS. The Enduring Ascent. 42. Dept. Head of Herpetology.

BIOGRAPHY || HEADCANONS || CONNECTIONS

JAYESH PATEL. The Caged Alchemist. 38. Owner of L.A. Lakers.

BIOGRAPHY || HEADCANONS || CONNECTIONS

RILEY THORTON. The Famished Chaos. 34. Bartender. Hitman.

BIOGRAPHY || HEADCANONS || CONNECTIONS

RUELLE ESPINOSA. The Reckless Dream. 28. EMT.

BIOGRAPHY || HEADCANONS || CONNECTIONS

YANMEI YIN. The Misguided Bloodhound. 53. Editor-in-Chief.

BIOGRAPHY || HEADCANONS || CONNECTIONS

[carteratlan]

The search for an ‘ugly sweater’ for a friend’s upcoming holiday party had proved to be more difficult than Carter ever expected. Then again, he probably shouldn’t have delayed it to this late since they likely all were already off all the store shelves. It wasn’t that he didn’t exactly mind the season, you just wouldn’t find him being the first in line or ahead of anything related to the festivities. 

At the same time, he’d been occupied with work and finding things to write about could be a bit more difficult when this particular time of year rolled around. Not that burying himself into his job was anything that new either. It had just been that way for a while now and he couldn’t lie and say that he did like to at least attempt to receive potential praise from his boss for his stories. 

Figuring he was coming up short on this current outing, Carter figured he’d just give up and instead took out his phone to see which of his contacts would maybe have a sweater to spare. Probably should have just done that to begin with. Just before glancing down at the screen, his sight happened to funnily enough pick up on a very familiar face that he was approaching on the San Francisco city street. 

“Well, hey boss.” He decidedly greeted with a slight grin, realizing the theater building they were near. “You taking in the show?” 

[vanescos]

Their face went from displeased to a thinly veiled scowl as their eyes narrowed, lips pursed ever so slightly. There was something off-putting about seeing their employees outside of work, like it was almost taboo. Yanmei liked to remain oblivious to their lives outside of the office and wanted them to be in the same state about her life beyond the workplace as well.

Part of Yanmei wanted to turn and immediately go the other way, but that would've been rude and while she was harsh and certainly toed the line of being a little too mean at times, Carter hadn't actually done anything to earn their ire. So the more polite part of Yanmei won out and they stood their ground.

"I was, yes. The arts should always be supported when it's good and proper art." None of that banana taped to a wall nonsense which Yanmei had zero tolerance for. "There really ought to be an age restriction, however," they huffed.

"Why are you in the area? I never guessed you'd be the type for the theater type, not that I imagine what any of you do outside of work, and I doubt you'll find much to write about here. Unless you're striving to make number one of fluff writers."

[vanescos]

LOCATION: Cris Consignment TIME: Evening STATUS: Closed → Jayesh / (UTP) ( @lcluna​ )

Jay sighed as he held up two ties in the mirror. His mind was far away, but he knew this was a necessary evil for the time being. Light, burnt orange or lavender? He kept alternating until he saw someone pass behind him in the mirror.

"Oh, excuse me! Hello, I need your opinion." He offered a polite smile. "Which color do you prefer? Which one says 'fun' more to you?" The suit he wore was a navy blue color with an artistic vine design embroidered on the jacket.

"I've got to go out later," he explained with a dejected sigh, "And have to look presentable, but I got to admit I'm not very good with these kinds of things."

[vanescos]

LOCATION: Coastal Trail TIME: Late Morning STATUS: Closed → Alizeh / Karina ( @ofthegolden​ )

Alizeh stopped and turned to glance back at Karina who was a couple paces behind her. “Don’t worry, you’re still the most stylish one here,” she reassured with a laugh though knew that’s not what was likely at the forefront of Karina’s mind. Once Karina had caught up she resumed the trek.

The ocean view accompanied them on one side with the trees on the other, and a relaxed smile rested on Alizeh's features as she inhaled the scent of the salty sea breeze and the earthy leaves which crunched underfoot.

“And we’re about halfway there.” Which was about the third time she’d already said as much, but it was true this time, but Alizeh had intentionally said it at various points into their hike both to make Karina think they were nearly there and maintain her motivation to keep going (of course, she surely doubted the truth behind the words by now) and to leave her in a state of unknowing.

"Then we can stop and eat at the top. How are you holding up? You're doing great for what it's worth, I'm very proud of you."

[vanescos]

LOCATION: Rainbow Grocery TIME: Early Afternoon STATUS: Closed → Ruelle / (UTP) ( @xinthedarknessxx​ )

She picked up a bell pepper, squeezed it a bit, then put it back down. The process was repeated a few times until Ruelle sighed and tossed some into her cart. Ruelle thought if she went to the grocery store she’d somehow be granted with the knowledge of what to do with all of the food on the shelves. Such a revelation didn’t happen and she was back to square one. Maybe she should spend more time watching cooking shows, she thought. At least the frozen aisle was always reliable and so she pushed the cart that way just in time to see someone else putting the last of the good flavored ice cream into their cart.

“Noooo!” She cried out, not actually meaning to say that aloud. Ruelle felt the heat fill her cheeks and she immediately honed in on the nearest cooler to her and pretend that the frozen produce was enthralling. Every few seconds she’d look over at the stranger to see if they noticed her. She hoped not.

[giffingcartoons]

[ghorbanis]

GIGI GHORBANI

The L Word: Generation Q | 2x05 Lobsters, too.

[diver5ion]

[aryastark-deactivated20181204]

Best of Harvey Specter (s01e09)

[vanescos]

Y A N M E I Y I N  ×  M U S I C ↳ A playlist for the one who spits prognostications like the oracle they pretend to be

Explosive - City Wolf

Revolver - bülow

Mercy - HURTS

This Is War - Thirty Seconds To Mars

Bones - MS MR

Lights On - Yours Truly

H B I C - Gin Wigmore

Wolf - First Aid Kit

Uprising - Muse

[vanescos]

A L I Z E H R O S H A N  ×  M U S I C ↳ A playlist for the one who must learn courage is fighting against your fears, not working around them

Not Enough - Anavae

Hunger - Florence + The Machine

Gimme a Minute - PVRIS

Hardest of Hearts - Florence + The Machine

Baby Be Brave - The Corrs

Brave - Sara Bareilles

Help I’m Alive - Metric

In Our Bones - Against The Current

Things Are Better - Alt Version - PVRIS

BONUS TRACK

Supernova (tigers blud) - Kat Cunning

[c-o-m-m-u-n-e]

[eternalyouth]

Alexxis Lemire via instagram

[vanescos]

CANE I SEE YOUR COLLECTION?

Ingrid has a small collection of canes, which was unintentional, but she figured if she has to use them on and off throughout the rest of her life she might as well get ones she likes. At first Ingrid hated using a cane. She felt embarrassed and frustrated, particularly when people gave her dirty looks and thought she was faking a disability. As she got older, however, she learned to shrug off negative reactions though it still bothers her a little though she won’t openly show it. Mostly it’s tiring to deal with.

She doesn’t avoid using a cane nearly as much as she used to when she was younger and will if she feels like she needs to. Ingrid has a few at home and a couple are kept in her office at work.

One of Ingrid’s canes is the kind with a concealed sword in it, which she got because she thought it was fun.

[vanescos]

LOCATION: Ars Longa Gallery TIME: Late afternoon STATUS: Closed → Jayesh / Tess ( @tessfms )

Being a pastry chef -- well, unofficially -- was half-baker and half-artist. He had to be able to decorate his confections in elaborate designs and scenes when the occasion called for it, and though there was none at present Jay still enjoyed the challenge of the artistic side of the pastry making process. Lately he’d been in an artistic slump, however, and decided to seek some inspiration at the local museum. Artists and designers alike often borrowed inspiration from those who came before them.

Jay mulled over the artwork before him with less of a focus on the meaning to the pieces than the technicalities to them: brushwork, color choices and how those colors interacted with one another, use of space, among other things. There were the occasional murmurs of recognition in the background, but he ignored those. Today was not a day he was going to allow to be ruined by his public image, not after he had crammed the previous day full of dreary duties so he could have a free day. Today was a day for indulging in his passions or else he felt he might go mad, and that always invited his more self-destructive tendencies.

“Excuse me,” he spoke, head turning to face the person near him enough to indicate he was indeed speaking to them, but not enough to actually take a look at who it was as his eyes were still fixed on the artwork before him. “Could you tell me a little bit more about this piece? Actually, no, better yet, tell me which of the pieces here inspire you the most or that you find most thought provoking? I’m just looking for some ideas, you see.”

[heroismsuggestion-archive]

I stopped believing in happy endings long ago.

I settle for closure.

[vanescos]

IT’S HARDER TO READ AN UNMARKED MAP THAN I THOUGHT

She believes that by aspiring to be a pilot, once she’s in the sky then the farther away she is from Earth the less her problems can reach her. This is one of Ruelle’s many naive ideas and she has yet to (but will) learn that this is not the case, and that she can’t run away from the things that trouble her forever before they will eventually catch up. She lacks solid direction because she’s never had to set it for herself when her parents had her whole life planned out for her, so all this freedom is overwhelming, but she’s learning and trying to figure things out.