To the Nines: A Russie Features Short

Kang Manor

Atlanta, Georgia

United States of America

August 2016

Whenever being interviewed, the question concerning being like his father would always rise. And the answers he gave would always be the same; Jin-ho would give a small laugh, fold his hands on his lap neatly, put on that quiet smile, tone down the confidence and instead increase humility. Open his mouth and speak about never being able to reach his father’s heights. Speak about recognizing that he would never be as good, but that he would do his best to live up to the Kang standard.

All of it would come to the point of it sounding rehearsed. He was surprised that the media hadn’t made any comment about it; that no newspaper or magazine had published how many times he just recycled his words endlessly when it came to living under the shadow of his father. But they kept quiet and he kept doing it anyway until the words tasted like nothing in his mouth.

Mathieu caught him after yet another interview. He merely remained backstage, waiting for Jin-ho to finish up. When they were both in the car, Mathieu cleared up his throat and spoke up. “You know, you’re starting to look and sound like a machine when you talk to those people.”

“I know. Don’t tell me,” Jin-ho replied shortly. Mathieu merely shrugged.

“I’m just saying. Seems like you’ve got a mask on.”

Russ' Updates #086: Goodbye May

Hey there, Darlings! 

So May is closing up tomorrow, holy shit. With that comes the end of Jin-ho’s time here on the blog, and the appearance of yet another Coalesce character. :D I hope you’re looking forward to it! 

"Hi there, everyone!" 

Anyway, my summer’s going pretty great so far. I’ve literally done nothing but rest around the house and watch Game of Thrones each week — and then I recently got into Hamilton, which is really freaking amazing. I highly suggest you guys listen to the soundtrack! It’s readily available both on YouTube and on Spotify as well. :> 

For this week, I’ll be focusing on closing May with Jin-ho’s last Russie Features short, and opening June with Tadashi’s. There may be some unplanned posts too, so keep an eye out for that! 

Posts to Expect:

[x] Russie Writes: A Russie Features Short
[x] Russie Photoshops: A Russie Features Graphic

Russie's To-Read List (2K16): A Russie Babbles Post

Good afternoon, guys! 

So my first year of college has officially ended, considering that the grades were (finally) released yesterday. I've got until August 8 until I go back as a Sophomore, and that pretty much gives me a little over two months to actually relax and try to regain the sleep and sanity that I've managed to lose since August of last year. :'D 

Throughout the school year, I've somehow managed to end up hoarding a shit-ton of books that I've been meaning to read but haven't been able to read due to lack of time and sudden increase in academic responsibility. With that, I thought: why not catch up with reading this summer? 

"Catch up and try to get your life together..."

In this post, I'll be talking about the six books which I really want to catch up with this summer. :D I'll try to explain how I ended up getting hold of the books and the synopsis if I'm not lazy. 

Hope you guys enjoy! 

OCs x Social Media: Kang Jin-ho

Taste Testing: A Transcendence Short

Starbucks

New York City

United States of America

September 2120

“You’re a sweetheart for letting me stay here,” Ansel grinned sheepishly at Elena, who rolled her eyes and nudged him into the cafe. “I mean it, Lena. I really do. Thank you. Are you sure it’s okay, though?”

“Management owes me a favor, I’m sure that letting you in immediately wouldn’t count as a work-related offence.” Ansel shot her a grateful smile and immediately sat in his usual booth, taking his laptop out of its case. Elena ducked behind the counter and immediately went into the staffroom, tying her hair up and soon sliding on the familiar apron the employees wore. Upon stepping back out, she saw that the brunet was already hard at work, drumming his fingers anxiously on the wooden table as he stared at the screen with an intense gaze.

She watched him for a moment then glanced at the glass windows. On mornings like those, business didn’t really perk up until eight in the morning, where the usual students and businesspeople would come in for their coffees. It was close to quarter to seven, and usually she spent the morning testing her coffees and experimenting with blends to pass the time. 

Besides, there was nothing wrong with that — if anything, it was a tradition of theirs. Prior to being an employee, there was a time in her college years that she had been invited to taste test some coffees. The branch in her campus was deserted, which was surprising. She then found out from the smiling barista that when the branches were at their ‘dead hours’ (as they fondly called it), the baristas tended to relax a little bit or make new mixes, test around the new batches of coffee brought in. 

Russ' Updates #085: Summer Season

Good evening, Darlings!

First, a moment of silence for the shit that happened on today’s Game of Thrones episode. I think that needs to be a thing, honestly. Okay.

"She got very upset."

On more happier things, I am officially on summer break! *confetti blast* I’ve been on break since Friday, actually, and it seriously feels good to be able to just…relax and not be pressured with academics and papers and not sleeping and all. I’m going to be considerably freer than ever until August, and I *think* I’ve got some great things planned this summer. (At least, I hope that I’ll be able to push through with them…)

More shorts (and maybe graphics) this week! Expect for Jin-ho’s final Russie Features graphic to be posted, and a few other things I haven’t really thought of, whoops. 

That’s all for this week — thanks for reading! 

Posts to Expect:

[x] Russie Writes: A Transcendence Short
[x] Russie Photoshops: A Russie Features Graphic

Succession: A Russie Features Short

Kang Residence

Atlanta, Georgia

United States of America

May 2011

“Mother.” Jin-ho’s throat felt dry, tight as he took in the image of his grieving mother. Da-hyeon tucked her handkerchief into her pocket and turned to him, reacting to the touch of her son. “You need to rest. I’ll keep watch.”

“You have to settle things for the business,” she told him. Park Da-hyeon, despite having been crying silently since the whole affair started, still maintained her calm, firm voice. “Fulfill your duties as father would have wanted for you.”

“His duties as your husband and my father come first than his duty as a businessman.” He squeezed his mother’s shoulder, “Please, mother. Let me do this. I need it. And you need the rest. Tony’s willing to stay.” A couple of feet away, Tony stood there solemnly with his trademark shades over his eyes. Da-hyeon sighed quietly before nodding and rising. Immediately did two of the guards approach them, Jin-ho asking them in a hushed voice for them to accompany her back to her room and keep watch. “Please rest, mother. I’ll meet you in the morning.”

“Of course.” She looked at her son from head to toe with an unrecognizable look and turned to move out of the room, nodding to acknowledge Tony on her way out. The male sent a small smile her way before making his way to Jin-ho, who this time adopted his mother’s position. The sound of the door closing reached their ears and Jin-ho let out a slow exhale of his own.

He too felt a hand on his shoulder but didn’t look back. “I can manage,” he told him. Tony rolled his eyes.

“I know that you’re tired too, Jin-ho. Your mother could see that.”

Control: An RRC Graphic

"I can't help this awful energy."

Russ' Updates #084: Endings

Good afternoon, Darlings!

It’s currently my finals week over here, and while I only have an oral and a legit final exam to study for, it’s still a little hectic. The good news is that by Thursday afternoon, I’ll be completely done with my first year of college — so you guys can definitely expect more content from that point on! 

You can expect a short for Jin-ho this week, something for the Transcendence or RRC verse, and then a post about my Freshman year. *shrugs* The last one may be weird, but take it as a sort of reflective kind of post as I reminisce about my first year in the wonderful time called college. I’ll try to make it as interesting as I can for you guys and will also try to include photos and all. :> 

Posts to Expect:

[x] Russie Writes: A Russie Features Short
[ ] Russie Writes: A Transcendence OR RRC Short
[ ] Russie Babbles: Try Not to Crash (College Roundup)

"Just one last push. Or two."

Tremble: A Russie Features Short

Kang Residence

Atlanta, Georgia

United States of America

May 2013

“Jin-ho, I’ve got a couple of things for you to sign,” Tony said plainly, stepping into the man’s office with a bored expression. The man’s brows furrowed at the center upon realizing that Jin-ho was not sitting at his desk as he usually would, and stepped further into the room with a hint of caution. “Jin-ho?” he asked carefully, dropping the stapled papers onto the nearby chair. His hand went to the gun holster and he wrapped it around the grip, senses heightened upon hearing short, heavy breathing coming from the back corner. “The fuck…”

Upon reaching the area, his brown eyes widened upon seeing Jin-ho on the floor, a hand clamped over his mouth and his own eyes looking panicked. The Korean, upon seeing Tony, attempted to speak but was unable to, merely choking on his breath. Cursing, Tony hastily approached the man, setting his hands carefully on the other’s shoulders. “Hey, hey. You’ll be fine. Okay? Come on. We know how to do this.” 

Jin-ho shut his eyes and both of them did exactly what they had grown accustomed to doing. Tony counted. With every multiple of three, Jin-ho attempted to breathe in. At 30, the Korean’s breath started to grow lengthier, less tense. At 66, Jin-ho’s shaking had subsided. At 84, he had opened his eyes. Catching sight of Tony there made his apprehensions fade out slightly, and Tony slowly slackened his grip. “How you doing?”

“I feel like death,” Jin-ho croaked. At that, Tony gave the smallest of smiles. 

“Yeah.” A laugh, “That’s what usually happens. Need anything?”

Jin-ho took a shaky breath. He had been able to remove his hand from his mouth at 36. “Water. I…I need water.” 

“Got it.” Tony pressed something and spoke — probably speaking to the mic clipped onto his collar — asking for a pitcher of water and a single glass. “Anything else?”

Mood Boards: Kang Jin-ho

Russ' Updates #083: Election Day

Good evening, lovelies! 

It's election day in the Philippines (though voting has officially closed since 5PM), and to be honest, I'm really, really worried about how it's going to go. The results really aren't looking good so far. If anything, I'm hoping that a miracle would happen...though it seems sort of impossible at this rate. :/

"It doesn't look too good from here."

I might end up talking about that in a future post (most likely after finals), but who knows? *shrugs* Anyway, for this week I'm still going to be focusing on Jin-ho's graphics and shorts, considering the hell that is to come this week in terms of acads as well as the state of the Philippines jk.

Summer's coming up for me, and you can definitely expect me to bounce back! 

Posts to Expect:

[x] Russie Writes: A Russie Features Short
[x] Russie Photoshops: A Russie Features Graphic

Domesticity: A Coalesce Short

Atlanta, Georgia

United States of America

May 2017

“I can’t understand how you’re able to like something with both mint and chocolate in it,” Aether muttered. She watched as Mathieu compared two pints of different brands and made a face, “If they’re separate, it’s fine. But having them together is another story altogether.”

“It’s chocolate with a kick,” he explained patiently, eventually choosing both pints and putting them into the shopping cart alongside the rest of their groceries. “A nice kick. Think of it like chocolate-flavored gum.”

“That’s still gross,” she sighed. Mathieu smirked her way and pushed the cart, the two of them checking out the different freezers full of ice cream. “You remind me of Lysette, honestly…she was also into those weird flavors. Like mint chocolate.”

“Remind me to high five her when she comes around.”

“Traitors.” Mathieu couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing the tone of her voice and watched her, seeing Aether slide the freezer door open and inspect the different flavors of ice creams. “If anything, though, having both of us like different flavors is an assurance that you won’t eat any of my food.”

“And mine yours.” The redhead made a face as Aether took two pints of the same flavor, “And you call my tastes weird.”

She cradled the two banana-flavored treats to her chest, “Shut up.”

The Conqueror: A Russie Features Graphic

Russ' Updates #082: Embracing May

Good evening, Darlings!

I hope you've been doing well (especially since Game of Thrones S06E02 came out oH MY GOD); school's starting to become hellish again and I'm really, really wishing for the semester to just end already. I've actually got three weeks to go until I start summer break, and I'm excited for that. Summer break would mean more time to rest and focus on my writings again.

Also, speaking of writings...

"Hope you're all happy to see me."

Kang Jin-ho is here as May's Russie Features character! It might be a little difficult for me to post consistently this month due to academic obligations, but I can at least assure you guys that the posts for him are still pushing through. I might actually just prioritize the Russie Features in order to keep the blog active and going. 

That's all for now! Have a great week <3

Posts to Expect:

[ ] Russie Writes: A Russie Features Short
[x] Russie Photoshops: A Russie Features Graphic