Reach For the Stars

Vanessa Zhi is 21 years old and a resident of Brooklyn. She is a third student in McKinely University and is taking up Astrophysics. She is also a part time model, and has done some ads for H&M, La Perla and a few editorials for Elle and Vogue.

[designedbykurt]

Kurt smirked at his friend. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say. It’s already going to be a struggle making sure Tina and Eve wear proper outfits for a wedding.”

Kurt got to his feet, offering Vanessa a hand. “Follow me.” He led Vanessa into the tiny second bedroom of his and Shay’s apartment which he used as his studio. Robin was flopped in his doggy bed in the corner, but raised his head as the pair walked in. Kurt pointed at the seat for Vanessa, while he opened up his fabric closet and started digging through. “I have a few things in mind…”

[vanessazhi-blog]

Obediently following Kurt to his studio, Vanessa sank into the seat that he directed her to. She’d only been inside his studio a handful of times and had always found it a delight to be allowed to be inside, to take a peek into his creative process. “How much fabric do you have in there?” The blonde curiously asked, trying to peek into the closet over Kurt’s shoulders.

[designedbykurt]

“No black,” Kurt agreed with a nod. “Not unless you’re planning on going to any funerals. I may let it slide for a black-tie reception, but that’s it. And don’t even dare think about wearing anything black to my wedding this fall.” 

Kurt was nearly done with the first sketch when Vanessa spoke. He looked up and smiled softly. “I always take fashion seriously, Vanessa. And of course I’m happy to help; what are friends for?” He frowned slightly, then added a couple lines on an outfit, leaning over to show it to Vanessa. “What do you think? We can play around with different patterns; whatever suits your fancy.”

[vanessazhi-blog]

Giving Kurt a cheeky grin at the mention of Vanessa wearing black to his wedding, the blonde easily replied. “I’m obviously going to be wearing whatever color you want me to wear Kurt, I don’t want to offend the groom do I?”

Leaning over to peer at the sketch that Kurt presented to her, Vanessa made pleased noises. “I love it! The color palette you chose is going to be a good change for me. And when you say patterns, what did you have in mind?” She asked, taking a snapshot of the sketch with her phone as reference.

[thatisstylish-deactivated201511]

[designedbykurt]

“Hmm…” Kurt pursed his lips as he tried to picture what Vanessa meant. “Hang on…” Kurt got to his feet, hurrying over to his studio-room, returning a few minutes later with his sketchbook and pencils. He sat down next to Vanessa again, starting to sketch out his vision.

“Androgynous, but we want fashionable… I’d avoid too dark colors here…” He bit his lip as he concentrated, trying to get every detail perfect.

[vanessazhi-blog]

“So no black?” Vanessa asked, already mentally crossing off the things from her wardrobe that heavily featured that color. As Kurt sketched, the blonde quietly sat next to him, her eyes fixed firmly on her phone as she scrolled through her emails and maybe Instagram as well, happy to enjoy the silence between them at that moment. 

“Thank you,” she suddenly blurted out. “For taking me seriously and helping me.”

[designedbykurt]

“Hmm, let’s not resort to tears yet, shall we?” Kurt said, picking up the top magazine. He flpped through, frowning. “Ugh, far too much floral print for my taste. Just what are these editors thinking?” He glanced up at Vanessa, giving her a once over. “Tell me, what are you particularly looking for in a summer wardrobe? Like, dream version. Fashion trends aside.”

[vanessazhi-blog]

Wrinkling her nose at the floral patterns she saw, Vanessa snuggled next to Kurt and replied. “Okay, I want a summer wardrobe that skates the line between masculine and feminine, so slightly androgynous? And more of shorts and jeans than skirts and dresses because when have I ever worn a dress? Then I’m thinking more of sneakers than combat boots because those are just heavy. Is this making any sense to you?” The blonde asked, her eyebrow furrowed the entire time she was speaking.

[designedbykurt]

Kurt glanced up from his iPad, where he had been scrolling through the latest celebrity gossip that he had missed during the day. Even with twitter alerts set in the corner of his desktop while he was working, there always seemed to be a million things going on that he managed to miss. When one worked in the fashion industry, being on top of gossip was very important after all.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the pile. “That’s an impressive stack. All of it duds?”

[vanessazhi-blog]

Pointing at the few on top that had sticky tabs peeking out from the pages of the magazines, the blonde let out another frustrated huff before dropping herself next to her friend and pulling out her phone. “Well, not all of them, but I mean, two pages out of a hundred in every magazine is pretty bad. Should I go over them again or sit and cry against your shirt? Because I think wearing black all throughout the year is getting me labelled as the goth chick in my classes.”

[yoursixwordstory]

Don’t you dare waste my time

(via yoursixwordstory)

[cohenhyphenchang]

“Whutchu talkin’ bout,” Tina demanded, reaching for another egg. “These are perfectly fine.” She obeyed, scooting closer to Vanessa and laying her head on her shoulder, chewing loudly into her ear. “We want all of the above, obviously. Well, I do. You’re a model. Carbs are your sworn enemy, last time I checked. They’re okay for middle aged spinsters though, so I’m all good.”

[vanessazhi-blog]

“Mushu, your taste buds have clearly jumped off the cliff and landed on a pile of rocks if they’re telling you that these eggs are still fine.” The blonde muttered, tilting her head at an angle so that Tina’s chewing wasn’t so loud and irritating. “Shut up, I’m only a part time model now, full time college student and runner taking precedence over modeling,” Vanessa retorted, flipping through the app and ordered a somewhat balanced meal of carbs, protein and maybe some vegetables in the form of avocado. “So I went and got Mexican because it is magical and Chipotle is a blessing to the world.”

[cohenhyphenchang]

Tina shrugged and grabbed the container, along with two plastic-wrapped wooden chopsticks from her endless supply. 

“Maybe we can survive on this until one of us musters the energy to order Seamless.” She took off the top and plunged her chopsticks in, extracting the jiggly brown egg and shoving it into her mouth. She stopped chewing momentarily and squinted. “Funny, Wah Fung never used to serve this with salad…”

[vanessazhi-blog]

Taking one of the chopsticks, Vanessa picked off a bit of the egg and narrowed her eyes at the rest of it as she chewed. “Okay, I think century eggs can get spoiled. Surprise surprise,” she muttered, putting her chopsticks down and resignedly picking up her phone. “Come to me, okay, so do we want bagels, pizza or pasta? Carbs are my friend right now.”

[cohenhyphenchang]

Tina frowned for a moment before starting towards the corner of her studio apartment, where the pathetic excuse for a kitchen was located. Yanking open the fridge, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. She pinched it with two fingers before venturing a peek inside. The door was stocked to the brim with various beers and cheap wine. She recoiled in horror as she saw a milk carton and tried to remember the last time she’d even had milk. On the center shelf was a single take-out container of century eggs that she’d been meaning to eat.

“Yo V,” she called over her shoulder, “Do century eggs even go bad?”

[vanessazhi-blog]

Rolling over to face the general direction of the other girl and the fridge, Vanessa wrinkled her nose and shrugged her shoulders, calling back. “I don’t know. I mean, they’ve been sitting around for a century already so what’s a couple of more weeks going to do?”

[vanessazhi-blog]

“Give me something edible that hasn’t been sitting in your room for the past century or covered in mold,” Vanessa dramatically exclaimed as she collapsed on Tina’s bed, hand outstretched for said food request.

[byameliak-deactivated20151208]

marvel women: soo joo park as sundragon (pamela douglas)

[emilyaxfordstan]

this is for the girl who fell in love with space. this is for the girl who keeps her razor sharp wit hidden under her cat-eyed eyeliner. this is for the girl who laughs at the stereotypes linked with models. this is for the girl who loves to spend time in her friend’s rooms bothering them. and this is for the girl who adores her two older brothers.

texture not mine, neither is photo

[toiletvevo-blog]

 j u s t g i r l s   |    who said being a girl was a bad thing?

[vanessazhi-blog]

Picking up the stack of magazines that had been lying next to the coffee table, Vanessa dropped them on the couch next to Kurt and turned to him with a serious look on her face. “I need new summer outfit inspiration. Help me please.”

[vanessazhi-blog]

update on Vanessa’s life

as of April 26, 2015

Vanessa is currently a third year Astrophysics undergraduate student. She still models for magazines and print ads but she’s chosen to focus on her studies for now and place less emphasis on that aspect of her life. Aside from academics, she is still a member of the track & field and cross country team of the University and has plans to be captain of either one after the respective captains graduate. She still picks up a few shifts at her parent’s restaurant but she has managed to work out an arrangement with them so that she doesn’t end up burning herself out so quickly throughout the year. 

Vanessa has invested in a proper sleeping bag that would allow her to camp out in the physics lab, especially when pulling all nighters or when dealing with sensitive experiments. She still makes it a point to terrorize some of the freshmen that she comes across and considers to be full of themselves. She also has a standing lunch date with Kurt every week as a way for both of them to relax. 

[crouiiic]