16 Works by travelingsymphony
Listing Works
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“I mean, I can take you to your physical therapy appointments? If you want?” Seonghwa asks before gulping down the rest of his beer.
Hongjoong squints at him, calculating to see if there was even an inkling of pity attached to his words. Because if there is, he will take the bottle from the older’s hand and smash it over his head without a second thought.
But there isn’t so after a few moments pass he tentatively says, “Okay.”
Odds are Seonghwa will just forget offering anyway.
(Or, Hongjoong is a cellist whose life is So Totally Not falling apart) (Just ask him).
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“Goodbye, Hongjoong.” Seonghwa says with a hint of mirth in his voice as he sits gracefully on his ass.
Pristine shoes are pressed square against Hongjoong’s chest before he can say something as stupid as: watch who you are talking to. Or something explicitly worse like: you remember my name. Before he knows it, Hongjoong is kicked out of the van head first with Seonghwa’s face being the last thing he sees.
The beginning of the end.
(Or, Hongjoong was warned of mutiny at a young age, and yet he still believes in Seonghwa).
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beacons & other bright things by travelingsymphony
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
28 May 2023
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“Kid looked like a riot, who was she?” Is the first thing Tess asks when Joel slides back into her truck.
Which, of course she does, because why ask about the fucking journal in his hand and a post-it note stating the date and time of his next appointment? At least she doesn’t point out how he is out almost 30 minutes later than scheduled.
“No one.” Joel says as he puts on his seatbelt, clipping himself in like a chain to a lead ball.
And he means it.
(Or, Joel and Ellie find each other in every universe) (It’s just that they meet in court-sanctioned therapy in this one).
Series
- Part 1 of two tales
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There is this specific feeling of realization Ellie has gotten used to over the past couple of months.
She felt it when Sam first sprung onto her that morning. She felt it immediately after Henry’s body hit the floor with a dull thud. She felt it when Joel tried to pawn her off to Tommy. And she really felt it when Joel was—fuck, is still bleeding out in a moldy basement.
It’s a calm, little tick in the back of her head that goes:
This is gonna haunt you for the rest of your life.
(Or, just another post-episode 8 fic).
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girlhood adjacent by travelingsymphony
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
20 Apr 2023
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Ellie’s seen this before. Seen it a billion times actually when Joel played Mr. Macho Man in front of everyone they crossed paths with. Everyone, but her until—
Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true.
Sarah was lucky to have Joel Before. He probably sang her to sleep every night when the goodness of his heart was easier to grasp. Joel wouldn’t have lied to her. His actual Brown-Eyed Girl.
And all it took was two words to leave Ellie painfully aware of everything she wasn’t and everything she would never truly be.
I swear.
(Or, Ellie and Joel’s first year in Jackson goes as well as you can expect it to).
Series
- Part 1 of a haunted house with a picket fence
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Seonghwa twists and turns to find his mother in the small crowd, but his lips pull into a thin line when no one of her familiar stature finds his eye. Someone else does though.
You’ve got to be kidding me, Seonghwa’s mind almost wails, clawing at the steel bars his brain has put around this specific area of thought, as he walks towards—
“Long time no see.” Hongjoong smirks as he throws his cigarette onto the ground.
(Or, Seonghwa goes back to the house to help his parents move out. Inevitably, Hongjoong is there too).
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Hongjoong has been waiting for this day since the ability to grow claws (among other unsavory things) was forced upon him. That being said, he didn’t think the first time he meet another supernatural whatever would include him stumbling onto their melodramatic suicide attempt.
But beggars can’t be choosers, right?
(Or, like all good stories, this one begins and ends in the same place: a graveyard).
Series
- Part 1 of two of us on the run
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Glancing over his shoulder, Hongjoong tenses in his seat for a moment. Seonghwa is already looking back at him.
The bartender winks from behind the counter with a fresh bronze mug placed right in front of him. He holds Seonghwa’s gaze for a moment and realizes how it doesn’t seem to burn into him as everyone else’s does these days.
Hongjoong turns back around and smiles at his mother, nodding at whatever she has been aimlessly talking about because that is what his father is doing right beside him.
But all he can think is: Goddamnit.
(Or, better days are to come, if only Hongjoong could get to them without fucking everything up along the way).
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“This is so stupid,” Seonghwa mumbles to himself as he rummages through the spare drawer he hasn’t touched in who knows how long. “So fucking stupid— gotcha!”
He fist pumps the air when he manages to pick up the piece of paper that hasn’t seen the light of day in years, but has never left his mind. Seonghwa blows the dust off the paper and rolls his eyes when the list’s title comes into view.
Dates to Go on Before Kicking the Fuckass Can by No1LikeMe
(Or, Seonghwa makes do on a list written half a decade ago in hopes of piecing his best friend back together).
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If Seonghwa wasn’t already more than halfway done with his degree, he could see himself changing it to what he likes to call a ‘BS in Being Blind-sided’.
“What… are you doing?”
Hongjoong whips his head around and a puff of hair flies into the air. The buzz of the electric razor in the blonde’s (wait blonde???) hand is the only sound Seonghwa can hear over the blood rushing in and out of his ears.
“I’m dropping out of college.” Hongjoong says bluntly.
Okay so don’t mention the Changing Major joke yet, got it.
(Or, if Seonghwa could love Hongjoong during his mullet phase, a buzzcut in comparison will be a walk in the park).
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Jeno watches Jaemin shuffle on his feet and turn his gaze to the floor. They are close, they get along great. The amount of fun nights both of them have had are too many to count. They almost fit together like puzzle pieces, but they fit best as really, really drunk puzzle pieces.
They stay where their friendship is safe and it is in the fun spaces where they are too wasted to talk about Jeno’s sleeping problems and Jaemin’s… whatever Jaemin’s problems are. He has to have some right?
So the two of them standing in the kitchen at whatever the fuck time it is talking around Jeno’s nightmare is definitely new territory.
(Or, Jeno’s sleep "schedule" is sort of starting to ruin his life. Well, more than it already has).
Series
- Part 2 of if you're on the water & co.
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A memory still pops up in Seonghwa’s mind about a time when the two of them decided to take a bath together after a long week of studying for exams and finishing up miscellaneous projects.
Seonghwa can still smell the lavender bath bomb that sizzled in the warm water. He can still feel the heat from Hongjoong’s skin where his back rested so snuggly against the older’s chest that not even the air could come in between them.
And he could only think: this is it, Hongjoong’s it for me.
(Or, Seonghwa is still stuck trying to figure out if breaking up with Hongjoong five months ago was actually for the best).
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falling in love (goes something like this) by travelingsymphony
Fandoms: Stray Kids (Band)
11 Jul 2020
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It’s not that Jisung has low standards in men he dates, it’s that he’s a fucking idiot (ask Hyunjin, he would gladly agree). This means he attracts just as equally idiotic people. It’s that plain and simple... and okay, maybe he does have low standards in the men he dates too. It’s whatever, really.
But for some reason, Jisung has this relatively odd aching feeling that tells him Minho is a little different from what he is used to.
(Or, Jisung’s 10 Signs You Are Falling in Love list might be filled with more bullshit than he’d care to admit).
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You know you don’t have to do this, Jaemin’s words rip through Donghyuck’s head like this is the first time he is hearing them. Maybe it is.
But Donghyuck looks outside the glass doors and sees stupid fucking Mark leaning against the passager side of the car, aimlessly scrolling through his phone and wearing the grungey orange beanie Donghyuck bought him for his birthday. And Donghyuck’s heart aches at the sight of his boyfriend for some reason.
It’s just Mark.
(Or, Donghyuck’s past relationships are sort of starting to ruin his life. Well, more than they already have).
Translations: Russian
Series
- Part 1 of if you're on the water & co.
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Out of all the people to be stuck with at the end of the world, it had to be Lee Donghyuck, Mark thinks while looking over at the younger with the most non-noticeable glare he can manage.
Fuck you, Universe.
(Or, maybe getting quarantined with your ex-boyfriend isn’t as bad as it sounds. Spoiler alert: it is).
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Seungkwan met Hansol when he was twelve and this is what followed.
(Or, being sort of in love with your best friend for a decade is a lot harder when you don’t think you’ll ever be able to stop).