[Yuroshi]

.

[bakuraas.]

resssss

[SpartanAmethyst]

Means to an end - SpartanAmethyst - currently a waiter trying to put himself thru college - hates it - wants to be a storm chaser / study the weather

Alternate idea: works as a waiter at the Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom in Orlando. Adores his job, but is waiting on his big break to become an actor for Disney.

[Chickpea]

Username: CompleteChicken
Name: Rory
Gender: Male
Prompt: (3000 word limit)

Wip!!

Extra: (optional)

[messenger]

tentative mark

[Knickknacks]

Username: Knickknacks
Name: Alexander; sometimes called 'Alex' but most often known as 'Sandy'
Gender: Male
Prompt: [1520/3000]

Age: 4
Sandy was filthy.

Almost his whole body was covered in dirt. The young kit’s clothes were so dirty that it was impossible to tell what color they’d been initially, but his smile was bright and proud. He clutched his small shovel like a warrior’s sword, gesturing proudly to the large hole he’d dug in his family’s flowerbed. To an adult it looked like a mess, but to Sandy it looked like the promise of treasure, a fountain of riches.

“I’m going to find dinosaurs someday, Mama!” He said by way of explanation when his mother asked him what he’d been thinking, digging up her flowers like that. At the giddy look on her small son’s face, she hadn’t had the heart to scold him.


Age: 7
And that’s how fossils are formed! proclaimed the book, ending on a full-page image of a smiling paleontologist, complete with a smiling dinosaur skull in the rock beside him. Being a whole seven years old, Sandy thought the image was a little bit silly, but the book was still interesting to him. He imagined finding a fossil- a whole skeleton- someday. He imagined his face there in the book, smiling up at other future paleontologists. Yeah. That sounded nice.


Age: 12
Sandy’s nose was buried in a book again. As was the usual, a picture of a skeletal dinosaur decorated the cover. A small heap of similar books- everything from kids’ picture books to nonfiction books about archaeological digs- was gathered on either side of him. Alexander was a regular presence at his local library by this age, always looking for new books to read about his favorite subject. Though some kids grew out of the interests they’d had as small children, he’d kept his. The more he learned about archaeology and paleontology, the more fascinated he became.


Age: 18
Alexander was going to college, and he knew exactly what he wanted to study. He knew exactly what he wanted to do in life. A little cliche, maybe, but there it was.

He was grateful for that certainty. Through high school, he’d heard classmates deliberating and trying to decide, unsure of what path they wanted to take their lives on.

Sandy’s initial passion for dirt that he’d had as a little kit had faded, but he was still fascinated by the prospect of digging up history. He would be majoring in paleontology, since that was where his main passion lay, but still had interest in archaeology and would be taking a wide variety of courses in connection to both fields. Keeping his options open.

It would be hard work, Sandy knew. A full load of challenging courses was sure to keep him busy. He had never been the best or the smartest back in high school, but he was a hard worker and that had yielded results. When he was working on something he was passionate about, it didn’t really feel like work. Alexander gave a lopsided grin at nothing in particular, shouldering his bag, excitement sparking wildly in him. He was looking forward to this next chapter in his life- one step closer to the career he wanted.


Age: 21
Alexander couldn’t believe this was happening. He felt like he was four years old, excited in a ridiculous heady way that was probably highly unprofessional. The others didn’t seem to mind, though- they smiled back, shaking hands and welcoming him to the team.

He was going on his first dig. He had signed on for a trip abroad in his final year of school, going out to observe an dig in progress, and do a little work on site.

After years of studying fossils and seeing them through glass in museums, he was going to be out in the field. Where discoveries were being made- right now!

The grin was back, childishly wide, but Sandy couldn’t seem to squash it. He settled into his seat on the bus, next to another classmate of his- a biology major who had come along for the ride- and cast his mind ahead, imagining what it would be like when he got there.


Age: 28
Sandy was filthy. Tired, too.

Also kind of despairing a little bit.

He sat in the shaded tent, head in his hands, fingers pressed to his temples. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard- what was now echoing around inside his head. His chest was oddly tight, and he could hear the blood rushing in his ears, pushed along to the frantic beat of his heart.

He swallowed hard. He wasn’t going to cry. It had to be a misunderstanding of some sort.

But no, he thought cynically. He’d heard it loud and clear. His mentor, the head paleontologist at the dig, on the phone with the head of their expedition, taking credit for a find that belonged to him. Him, Alexander.

A great find it was, too- a nearly complete skeleton! Sandy had been the one to uncover the first bone of it, to stay awake the longest working to uncover the rest, and he’d just heard the kalon he’d been doing jobs with for nearly a year, who he’d looked up to, taking credit for his find.

So much for my first major achievement, Sandy thought darkly. He’d always considered himself to be more of an optimist, but this revelation- that his friend and mentor would do something like this- had thrown him all out of sorts, making it seemingly impossible for his mind to travel down any paths other than dark, self-pitying ones.

Why am I doing this? He considered, resting his chin on his paw. The thought felt almost treasonous- questioning his own pursuit of the career he’d thought he always wanted. Why am I living like this, scraping for jobs and recognition? I’ve worked so hard for so long- and for what? Why?


Age: 20
Sandy had never really been a writer. He’d done fine at writing papers back in high school, but had never been the best.

But this research paper had been... almost fun for him. Twenty pages on the progression of archaeology. This didn’t feel like work. This felt like a scavenger hunt. It felt like searching for fossils- for history.

It wasn’t as though he was working all the time- far from it. Alexander had made a number of friends at school, and spent time with them at every opportunity. He was, however, one of the more disciplined ones of the group, and consequentially usually one of the first to finish his work.

His friends thought he was kind of crazy. Sandy smiled at his laptop screen, scanning a paragraph he’d just finished revising. Maybe he was, a little bit. But in his view, being genuinely excited about the work you were doing was the opposite of a bad thing.


Age: 10

Sandy was fairly certain he was in heaven. A whole week of science camp! With kids who loved science as much as he did! No stupid math classes interfering with anything!

(Sandy knew, logically, that math and science often went together. But he was firmly seated in his opinion that math on its own was boring and a waste of time. So there.)

He bounced in his seat on the bus, fiddling with the rock in his palm. This ride felt far too long to the excited kit. He knew specifically that this camp would cover archaeology and paleontology. He was excited for all of it, but... that was probably going to be the best part of the camp, in his opinion.


Age: 3

Sandy was filthy yet again. The tiny kit was ferociously attacking a patch of mud with a plastic shovel, leaving large gouges in the soft earth and large splatters on himself. He had invented a game for himself, in which he dropped rocks in the mud, stirred it around, and tried to find them again. Like scientists digging for bones and things, he thought. Except for how scientists didn’t do the hiding part- just the finding part. In any case, he was having fun with his game for the time being. And that was all he needed.


Age: 28

Alexander’s face was streaked with tears now, despite his best efforts. He sighed, rubbing his forehead again, a small half-smile on his face.

“Yeah, yeah, okay, subconscious,” he muttered, almost laughing. “I get it.” The memories kept coming: he remembered trips to museums and libraries, days spent digging rocks from his parents’ garden as a little kid, summer camps and research projects and digs.

“I’m not doing this for glory,” he said quietly. He sounded a lot more firm than he felt, but saying it out loud seemed to help. He took a deep, steadying breath.

I’m doing this because I love it. I’ve always loved it. I’m a part of something awesome here, and I don’t need glory or recognition to realize that.

(A noble sentiment, maybe, but he still kind of really wanted the rest of the team- and, yeah, himself too- to get the proper recognition. He’d handle that later.)

~*~

[【Ｗｉｌｄｆｉｒｅ】]

Username: Wιℓ∂ƒιяє
Name: Feldspar
Gender: ♂ Male?
Prompt: (3000 word limit)
Extra: (optional)

Possible mark. I have some ideas.

He probably has some kind of dream career he is trying to work toward, but he’s currently stuck at a fast food restaurant/possibly a front for some kind of underground operation. He has to deal with annoying customers and problematic coworkers + other stuff and he is only being paid minimum wage.

Welcome to McDonald’s, how may I McHelp you?

[leanlynx]

Mark.

[puddssoul]

Username: puddssoul
Name: Talyn
Gender: male
Prompt:
Talyn's paws moved with a practiced grace throughout the lab, touching test tubes as though they would shatter with the lightest touch and manipulating machines with the gentlest of presses. The way he moved betrayed just how long he'd been working there, and there was a contented look about his face as he did the various jobs he'd been assigned for the day. His co-workers were kind (in fact, one was on a coffee run for him right now so he'd have it for his first break of the day) and the lab was clean and bright compared to every other place he'd worked.

College had been hard, he wouldn't lie about that. Many sleepless nights and struggling through tests and teaching himself how to study properly had lead him to here - to being able to help people, although maybe not in the way he'd always thought. Not a doctor, but a geneticist.

His current lab was run on a grant from the government that allowed them to attempt to match DNA in cold cases and bring closure to many families that had been waiting months, years, even decades. He'd been lucky to have been selected one of the ones to be a part of this team. Many workers had been turned down, which just made Talyn even more determined to do his job to the best of his ability every day that he was able to be there.

It was hard to believe that when he'd first arrived at his university, Talyn had been full of hopes and dreams to be a great doctor. That, of course, was a dream utterly shattered when he was involved on a car accident when he was rushing to school. Fine, he had crawled out of his car to help the other driver, but the mere sight of blood made him fall limp on the concrete, passed out. Hard to be a doctor when he couldn't stand the sight of blood, so despite having some of the best grades in the class, he was forced to switch his major to something a bit less involved.

That was when he started to hear about these cold cases on the radio and online, and he felt great sympathy for those out there waiting for answers. After a few weeks, he walked into the campus office and switched everything over to become a geneticist and be able to analyze DNA and other helpful things.

Of course, even graduating top of his class wasn't enough to get him here immediately. He worked in many places first, studying what caused various health issues and birth defects in one lab, and making sure potential parents didn't carry them in another. A few years at each, with each step leading him higher and higher up the food chain so to speak just so that Talyn could be somewhere he'd dreamed of being.

On break now, Talyn sipped at his coffee and smiled. Not many could say they worked at their dream job, but he certainly could. Not a single thing about it bothered him - he'd befriended most of his coworkers and hung out with them outside of work as well, his boss was incredibly kind, the lab provided everything that they could need and was constantly checked for safety, and despite being somewhat of a charity movement, the pay was good. Enough for a nice house and just about anything a single man could want.

It was never boring, either. One of Talyn's responsibilities included obtaining the samples themselves from the various police departments the cases hailed from. He could write a book with the crazy, wild things that often he saw happening when he went to greet the officers and claim his prize. Not to mention the free donuts and food they often packed along with him. Who could turn down free sweets?

Sometimes he even got to meet with the families. There were lots of smiles, tears, and 'thank you's. Many of them would try to give him gifts, but he usually turned them down unless they really insisted. He did this because he loved it, not so people would give him things.
Extra:

Talyn, despite having much empathy for those in hard places, has always been a realist and someone who puts reason above emotions. When faced with the common dilemma of an oncoming train with two people tied to one set of rails and three tied to the other, he would always say that the train should be rerouted to the two - after all, saving three lives was better than two, regardless of who the people on the tracks actually were. He tends to be a little bit of a pessimist, and can come off as a bit of a know-it-all to some who have met him without really meaning to. It just comes with all of the facts he's gathered in his life and being a generally smart kalon who often speaks without putting too much thought into it.

Socially, Talyn knows how to make his way through a crowd but is far from being a social butterfly. He's the one to have a lot of friends and acquaintances, but very few that he actually trusts and spends time with regularly. The majority of them are people he knows from work.

One of the major side effects of his job is that Talyn tends to be a bit paranoid. He doesn't hand out his phone number to just anyone, and very few even know where he lives unless it's necessary. If he joins a chat forum online it's anonymously, and he's careful not to hand anything out - like his age, name, or location - that could lead someone back to him. It also makes him a bit obsessed with safety, checking everything is unplugged before he leaves home and double-checking that the doors and windows are locked. Many have chalked it up to OCD, but Talyn will tell you he doesn't want to become another sad story like those that end up on his desk.

He has a few side hobbies for what little free time he has, such as calligraphy. It's very soothing and calming to Talyn after a stressful day, and he's volunteered to do invites and things for friends and family just to get a chance to flex his skills so to speak. Years of practice have made him quite good at it. He also enjoys tinkering with things, taking them apart and attempting to put them back together. He's learned how to fix a lot of appliances in his home this way - such as his beloved coffee pot, or his TV remote.

Family is a double-edged sword for Talyn - he'd like to have one in the future, but is also terrified that if he did, something would happen to them. After all, safety can only prevent so much, and seeing the families of those who have lost someone, he's not sure he's strong enough to live on like they have to. He wouldn't know what to do if he lost a beloved spouse or forbid, a child of his own. The idea of losing a close friend is bad enough, so he often finds himself subconsciously pushing away people who attempt to get close to him without even realizing what he's doing until they're long gone. Talyn assures himself that it truly is better that way, that what he has now is enough for him.

[sun struck]

Username:
Name:
Gender:
Prompt: (3000 word limit)
Extra: (optional)

Mark<333