Daily excerpt from chapter 14 of Underline the Blue:
Christian laughed. 'You've convinced them you have trauma? Oh my god. Nate. Anyway. Apparently your bond is so strong I have to repudiate it.'
Nate realised that's why Temsen had called Christian earlier. They'd explained it to him, they'd all agreed to it, and that's why Temsen had looked so disappointed when Nate had agreed to the call. He knew with a strange, horrible clarity, that Temsen - as weird as he was for a peak alpha - didn't want to put him through this. That's why Temsen was so angry. Nate was scared for the moment when he'd realise it was all Nate's fault.
'Please,' Nate whispered.
'Are you stupid? I don't want you. Do you want to know how much I don't want you? Kaden, come here for a moment, I need you to speak to someone.'
Nate was going to be sick. He was going to be sick. He couldn't see. The sound of Christian's voice muffled over the speaker, and then:
'You're so lucky you get to go somewhere so fancy.' A soft young man's voice, an omega's voice. 'He could've just broken up with you. This is a really nice way to do it.'
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[21 April - Taurus]
Janusz Bodanowicz is our fun-loving mechanic and ride-or-die supporter of his lover, Nate Prince. Whether a singer in a choir as a side character, or the main love interest and alpha companion in Underline the Blue, Janusz' upbeat approach to life matched with his high capacity for empathy and intelligence, has made him a rockstar, especially when up against characters who are struggling against trauma.
'I want you. I want you. I'm not walking away. I'm not going to walk away from you, Nate. I'm not going to leave you somewhere. I'm not going to make you leave if you don't want to leave. I want to look at you. I want to talk to you. I want to hear everything you have to say. I want to read your poetry. I want to help you. I want to be there for you, and hold you, and make your pain go away. I want to help you. I want to go on long drives with you. I want to sit on the beach with you, and watch sunsets with you, and tell you about my day, and listen to you about your day. I want you, Nate, I promise.'
Underline the Blue
Falling Falling Stars: Janusz first appears as a member of a queer choir that Efnisien joins. He's the tall, cheerful, friendly boyfriend of the sour and off-putting Nate Prince. Helpful without being a pushover, upbeat without being naive, Janusz navigates Nate's and Efnisien's difficult chemistry with ease.
Underline the Blue: Janusz steps up to be the main character as an alpha companion assigned to a shattered omega, Nate Prince. In Underline the Blue, Janusz gave up being a mechanic to help omegas become genuinely healthier, but he's not prepared to deal with the level of abuse Nate has suffered through, and becomes determined to do all he can to help Nate through the hell he's going through, falling in love along the way.
29 years old (at least in Underline the Blue) with dark brown hair in an Ivy League crew cut, and grey eyes. He often wears stubble, but not a beard. He's tall (and is often taller than many alphas in Blue) but lanky.
Pragmatic and insightful, Janusz often deliberately picks cheerfulness as a way of orienting to the world, and is fully aware that some people can find it grating. He's a lot more intelligent than many people give him credit, and he prefers it that way.
In Underline the Blue, Janusz wanted to be a mechanic, but his parents made him do a university degree first. He ended up - on a whim - choosing omega theory and ended up extremely invested in omega activism. He was selected to work at Hillview Rehabilitation Facility due to his exceptionally high capacity for empathy, and his ability to quickly 'access' the mindsets of most omegas.
Prior to Nate, every omega that has stayed with Janusz has graduated within about 3-9 months, which gives him the fastest track record in Hillview's history.
He is supervised by Temsen Ohlo Ohlo
He's aware of kink and BDSM practices
In Falling Falling Stars, Janusz chides Nate for being petty and childish, when they're all spending time together at a sushi train. As a result, Nate apologises and softens slightly, and this allows them to continue to stay connected.
In Underline the Blue, (this one currently has only happened in early access - chapter 15) Janusz takes on Temsen, and Hillview, calling him out for doing a terrible job and representing an institution that - in that moment - has utterly failed both Nate and Janusz. Temsen, recognising that Janusz is right, yields immediately, and says nothing, leaving Janusz to bridal carry Nate out of the medical suite, representing a big turning point in his relationship with Nate and with Hillview.
In all stories so far, Janusz is always with Nate, and Nate is always recovering from PTSD. That might change one day, but so far that's followed through!
Janusz' personality has stayed the same. Honestly, almost nothing needed to change transferring his personality from Falling Falling Stars to Underline the Blue. As a result, I see Underline the Blue as a more exaggerated telling of the foundational story that is hinted at in Falling Falling Stars.
Janusz is an adept mechanic and loves fixing up cars, as well as going on long drives. The only part about this which has changed is that in Blue he's no longer being paid for it.
Janusz and Nate were originally envisaged as a real life manifestation of the 'someone will die...' 'of FUN!' meme. But as I continued to write Janusz, he developed into a fully formed character who is mature, intelligent, and lives a goofier life because it makes him happier to do so. He's a lot more insightful than he sometimes seems, and is happy to seem less well-informed while he gathers information. He can be calculating, and what seem like spontaneous decisions are often thought out well in advance.
His surname Bodanowicz should be spelled Bogdanowicz, but as he's the child of Polish immigrants, his surname was Anglicised to be 'easier' to spell. He has always found this hilarious because the 'wicz' still throws people off anyway.
He loves baking, and is very good at it.
'The truth is that my parents were really strict about me going to university. They wanted me to have the education they didn't, and university is important in like…my extended family. I was all for becoming a mechanic, ready to get an apprenticeship and drop out of school, and my parents put their foot down and said if I really wanted to be a mechanic, I could do it after a degree. And being the mischievous shit that I am, I decided to go into Omega Theory so I could become a companion and fuck hot omegas.'
Underline the Blue
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No Sunshine at Rainy Day Entertainment 🌦️ (Part 1/2)
Ivan joins Owen, Nate and the rest of the team for the week, let toxic workplace politics ensue! Let's see where everyone's least favourite ex-boyfriend and golden child makes Monday the worst day of the week 😬
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Transcript under the cut:
[MARCO] Hey Ivan! Thrilled to have you with us for the week!
[IVAN] Hi Marco! Happy to join you all.
[IVAN] This has been a really fun project to freelance on, so l'm looking forward to seeing it come to life.
[MARCO] That's great to hear!
[MARCO] I'm about to head into a meeting with Dirk, Rob and Chris but Nate and Owen are happy to show you to your workstation.
[IVAN] Sounds good, thank you Marco.
[OWEN] Well, well, well! Long-time, no see Mr. Conley!
[IVAN] Hey man, happy Monday!
[OWEN] Glad to have you in office. I'm excited for you to see your awesome work thus far come to life before the next phase!
[IVAN] Yeah, I’m looking forward to it!
[NATE] My guy Ivan! Welcome to the city! Did you find a coffee spot to suit your tastes?
[VAN] Hey Nate! Yeah, I did, it was excellent.
[OWEN] Cool! Where did you get coffee from?
[IVAN] Spiced Cafe. Caroline suggested it, and she told me her friends own it.
[NATE] Oh good! Caroline knows all the good spots.
[IVAN] *chuckles* She basically gave me an entire itinerary on places to hit in San Myshuno.
[OWEN] *raises eyebrow* How very Caroline of her…
[IVAN] *blushes* She was very happy to share her wealth of knowledge, a-and I appreciate that, big time.
[OWEN] Oh, she's the best when it comes to that!
[NATE] A whole itinerary, eh? Real nice of her!
[IVAN] *clears throat* So, gentlemen. What sort of office atmosphere should I be expecting? I've only really worked with you two and Marco virtually.
[NATE] We have a great team! You'll meet Rob shortly. He's a super class-act guy.
[OWEN] And I would imagine Dirk and Hope will want to meet you. Akira is on vacation this week, Olivia will be in this afternoon...
[OWEN] And then there's Chris Williams, unfortunately. Wait, you probably have some sort of history, huh? Or your parents?
[IVAN] *clicks tongue* Yeah. I don't know how much Ben has told you, but his family likes to cut corners in order to make money.
They're easily threatened by anyone who will come against them.
[NATE] We know they royally screwed over your family for calling out their shit ethics.
[VAN] So Ben has told you everything, good. Beyond that, Chris has always had it out for me and I don't know why.
At first, it was just childish jabs that I ignored, but that turned into him trying to accuse me of plagiarism while we were at Foxbury. Luckily I had enough proof to get him in deep shit, but due to his family's influence all he got was a slap on the wrist.
[NATE] Shit dude! Just to spite you?
[IVAN] Yeah. I've never understood it
[OWEN] As if I couldn't loathe him more than I do! I'm sorry that happened to you man.
[NATE] You'll notice quickly that Owen really doesn't like Chris!
[OWEN] I can't stand people who suck, can you blame me? And don't get me started on what he did to my sister...
[IVAN] So how does he have a job still despite so many people finding him difficult?
[NATE] His dad is one of our shareholders!
[IVAN] Shit, for real?
[OWEN] We have to be really careful with what we say around Chris, and I mean anything.
[NATE] Let's get Ivan to his desk before he runs away screaming, shall we?
[IVAN] *chuckles*
[OWEN] Here you go, man! Nate's right behind you, and Rob is to your right, and I'm behind Rob.
[IVAN] So you three will shield me from Chris? I'm kidding, thanks man.
[OWEN] No kidding, huh? I think I hear Rob leaving a meeting...
*Door to office swings open*
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