op i am OBSESSED with this!! there is so much good here.. starting with the details of the piano pieces and training, the reckoning of prodigy-proximity as a personality trait, the not-quite-friends familiarity of the competitive juniors circuit - the world feels so real and it gets the reader to care about the music as part of caring about the story and the characters. and your characters!! i love how you set up the uncertainty and the progression of unrealized *yearning* from junhui's pov, as well as his conviction in avoiding shua when he thinks he has to.
junhui wanted to ask what he meant. who "we" were? was it because they were both men? was it because they were competing against each other the next month? was it because joshua had simply never seen him as more? such a real thought process, and of course joshua hong would never say more if he didn't have to...
the first part was not essential. half of junhui's friends don't even know where he lived freshman year. yet junhui chooses to establish a connection before them anyways. jun you are so jun...
"i'll see you next time," junhui had said to the moon, and only the moon. sigh...
the last scene is soooo perfect :'))) i appreciate the open-endedness and pure joy, the way it brings the story back to the theme of youth and acts as a reminder that they haven't yet lost it, even with all the hard work and heartbreak. i really love the source material of the prompt, and your fill builds off/expands it in such an excellent and original way. thank you sm for sharing!!
Re: [FILL] plum blossom
junhui wanted to ask what he meant. who "we" were? was it because they were both men? was it because they were competing against each other the next month? was it because joshua had simply never seen him as more? such a real thought process, and of course joshua hong would never say more if he didn't have to...
the first part was not essential. half of junhui's friends don't even know where he lived freshman year. yet junhui chooses to establish a connection before them anyways. jun you are so jun...
"i'll see you next time," junhui had said to the moon, and only the moon. sigh...
the last scene is soooo perfect :'))) i appreciate the open-endedness and pure joy, the way it brings the story back to the theme of youth and acts as a reminder that they haven't yet lost it, even with all the hard work and heartbreak. i really love the source material of the prompt, and your fill builds off/expands it in such an excellent and original way. thank you sm for sharing!!