BEACH KIDS | OVERVIEW 

• BEACH KIDS follows a gang of childhood friends (DUKE, LIMCA, SARSI and LEEDS), and THEIR GHASTLY COMPANION (Calpis) that SOLVE CRIMES and mysteries in the style of Scooby Doo.  
• Unlike Scooby Doo however the monsters and ghosts are completely real----
• ARC 2 OF BEACH KIDS traces how they grow-up and apart, and where their lives take them after their days of crime solving.
• The setting is reminiscent of California (Seal~Huntington~Redondo Beach) in the 1960s, as well as over the top B-rated monster flicks. BEFORE I EXPLAIN ALLOW ME TO JUST SPAM SOME PICTURES... 
  

VIBE & COLOR STORY | SOUNDTRACK

• HOHO AND NOW AN EXPLANATION--
• The town of BEACH KIDS! is set somewhere along a pretty touristy all-American/Californian coastline. Though it is plagued with an abnormal amount of paranormal sightings/B-movie horror movie premises, the people in themselves are pretty laid back! 
• There's a small theater and a couple of diners; a few drives down the local highway is a university reminiscent of UCLA. The town itself surrounds a pier and a boardwalk with an arcade, merry-go-round and Ferris wheel.
•  It's almost always sunny. The seasons are a formality marked by changes in beach-house specials and palm tree decore.

CHARACTERS

DUKE > LIMCA > SARSI > LEEDS ; HEIGHT DIFFERENCES SEEN ABOVE

DUKE | BELONGS TO CAE

DUKE IS THE EPITOME OF ALL-AMERICAN WHOLESOME
HE LOOKS LIKE AN ABERCROMBIE MODEL just... FYI.... also he is a boy scout.
KEYWORDS: SPORTY, FRIENDLY AND OPTIMISTIC!
His family is super friendly and close. They're the kind of people where when the kids bring in friends, they're automatically treated as part of the household! Duke has one older bro, a younger sis, and a babby of the household-- another boy-- in addition to a low key dad and a big-hearted, accepting mom!
He lives in a house like this one. (add more papers and stuff the kids bring in)
He likes ROCK AND ROLll b/c fuCKING WHOLESOME. CLICK CLICK.
He gets around on a bike with a baseball card in the spokes so it makes a motorcycle sound. Yes.

LIMCA | BELONGS TO NIE

LIMCA IS AN IMPISH SMART-ALECK with too much precociousness for one brain i mean really
HER VIBE IS TAKEN STRAIGHT OFF DAISY BY MARC JACOBS, AS WELL AS TWIGGY AND YOUNG SYLVIE VARTAN! (who is her voice actress). limca is rli pretty just FYI
KEYWORDS: THE KIND OF KID ADULTS HATE TALKING TO ; AIRY PERSONA, high levels of self-awareness and empathy! Overall, the one with all the resources and charm! 
Limca's family is literally Vanderbilt rich, first off. SECONDLY, Limca's parents are effectively retired and eternally on vacation-- however, they often form new business agreements abroad, adding to their EMPIRE! Limca's older brother LARK manages the affairs of the household. Lark attempts to control Limca, being the PROTOTYPICAL LAME ADULT/WHITE RICH DUDE and also literal piece of meatloaf he is. However, Limca is self-sufficient and Lark just embarrasses himself.
LIMCA IS PALE and tends to stand out from the group! She's not one for training, though she does enjoy leisurely tennis. THEMESONG. Also she's into taxidermy-

LEEDS | BELONGS TO NIE

LEEDS is the NERD and UNCOOL ONE of the group... But, he really wants to change that!
HIS VIBE is one that was obviously repressed by his image-conscious, albeit not too stylish parents. He looks uncomfortably neat until he grows older (and also stronger and hansamer wat)
KEYWORDS: NERDY PROTAG BOY THAT SUCCEEDS IN UNDERDOG AMERICAN MOVIES ABOUT SPORTS AND STUFF; soft-hearted, sensitive, strong-willed!
LEEDS' PARENTS are an upper-middle class family that desperately wants More in their Lives. As Leeds' father is brother to a dude that marries a practical Vanderbilt (Limca's mom), Leeds' mother pushes Leeds' father to use that connection. Leeds is forced to acquaint himself with his cousin Limca, but that works out pretty well!

 Leeds attempts to find some redeeming quality in his parents and never truly comes to hate them, needless aggression and all. At the beginning of the story, he adheres to their curfews and rules the best he can. He doesn't tend to talk about his parents with Limca and Duke... But he finds some consolation in Sarsi...

SARSI | BELONGS TO CAE

SARSI IS GUARDED FOCUS
Think cover of a Sports Illustrated athlete-- Nike's model. ETC ETC
KEYWORDS: INTENSE, POWERFUL, COOL-HEADED!
Sarsi comes from a trailer trash family, similar to Matilda's (except poor) or the kind that appear on Maury. They are stuck together by circumstance and tend to fend for themselves; Sarsi's parents are materialistic and crass, her eldest brother is an adult live-in who digs through her stuff, and her middle brother is pretty much a sociopathic Stephen King bully.

Sarsi finds any opportunity to stay out as long as she can to avoid her family (when she comes home at night, her mom is the type of trashy person that would ask Sarsi circa age 13 who she's been sleepin with TURNS HEAD). However, she keeps her head low, afraid that social services could pull her away from her friends!!! Her aim is to graduate high school and move on once her friends split, and she's considered a Real Adult in the eyes of the gvmt.

BECAUSE SARSI STAYS OUT SM, HER MUSICAL TASTES ARE PROBABLY THE MOST DEVELOPED AND OBSCURE. She spends a lot of her alone time listening to music CLICK CLICK.

HOW THE GROUP CAME TOGETHER!

• Duke and Limca met in kindergarten at the age of 5, with Duke as the king of their class, and Limca as its resident princess. Half-way through the year, Duke-- upon staying after class to help the teacher clean-up-- finds that the classroom pet rabbit has disappeared! 
• Limca notices Duke snooping around, and out of natural, impish curiosity decides to join in his search. They find the rabbit together and become fast friends with Duke finding mysteries to uncover and Limca providing the extra brain boost to actually solve them. 
• Due to the amount of time they spend with each other, Duke and Limca garner a reputation wherein most kids tend to assume they are an item. ALSO THEY LOOK REALLY ICONIC SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS TOGETHER--
• Duke only sees Limca as his BEST AND CLOSEST FRIEND! Limca is the SAME WAY. However, she soon notices the differences in their levels of self-awareness and intelligence-- but, feeling that she needs to stick by Duke to protect him, DOES JUST THAT. She also loves Duke a LOT because he doesn't notice/mind how rich she is (ie the only kindergartner that went to school in a limo). Duke offers to bike her home as she sits on the back rack it's REALLY CUTE. 
• In second grade, Sarsi soon appears on their team as the silent strong-girl (and third wheel). She comes to act as look-out and heavy-lifter as Duke and/or Limca play decoy and/or set-up the traps.
• In fifth grade, Limca's cousin Leeds moves into town as his parents attempt to get him to bond with her. Though they are both rich, Limca's immediate family is Vanderbilt-rich to their upper-middle class rich-- so I mean.
• Limca integrates Leeds as the tech genius of their group. He also keeps Sarsi company as Duke and Limca execute the final plans! 
• Leeds and Sarsi bond, with Leeds being surprised as to Sarsi's willingness to talk and listen, and slowly developing a crush on her. However much he admires her though, he feels himself inadequate a person for her-- so, he takes to following in Duke's steps (as he sees Duke as the ideal dude) to become someone worthy of the girl of his dreams!
• When they enter middle school, they meet a ghost named Calpis only visible to members of their group. Though they solve the case of his disappearance and death, he finds that he cannot move on. SO! He sticks behind: a college-aged wallflower who died forgotten and alone... now the coolest and most admired member in a gang of kids!

THE GROUP SOLIDIFIES

• The team gets TIGHT, and the dynamic stabilizes as pictured in the above diagram! 
• Duke becomes the BIG MAN on campus, heading multiple clubs and taking his place as the EVER-FRIENDLY AND LOVABLE class president. Duke also begins his long string of failed relationships that end USUALLY BECAUSE he puts mystery-solving before their relationships. OOPS! As his parents own a decently popular diner, the team often meets there, at their beach club house or at the arcade to hang and sTUFF! 
• Limca's popularity stems from her notorious GOOD LOOKS and PERSONAL STYLE, on top of her academics. Her precociousness continues to define her as she grows, and Limca finds herself the most self-aware of the group. She chooses to sit-back and have fun as much as possible, however, figuring she might as well play along and enjoy things while they last. She takes to taxidermy in order to preserve the dead things they find along the way 8 u   8
  
• Sarsi's troubles at home worsen and she takes every opportunity to keep outside the house. She's a notorious part-timer, working whenever she can to scrape up money to save for the future!
  
  Sarsi's dream to become an Olympic-level volleyball player, and this becomes apparent to her pretty early on. She's a very focused person, and probably the most cool-headed/serious-appearing one in the group. 
• Leeds begins as the weak tag-along who, in the face of his very flashy friends, begins to feel very small. He ends up picking a fight with some bullies who STEP ON A SORE SPOT REGARDING HIS PLACE IN THE GROUP. But, before things get too bad, Sarsi, Duke and Limca go in to save his ass. Leeds ends up crying out of frustration, as this incident just proves the bullies' points. The team ASSURES HIM that it is okay bUDDY b/c they like him just the way he is!!!
  
  LEEDS DOESN'T LIKE THINGS THE WAY THEY ARE. he seeks out sarsi and asks her to help him train and learn how to fight !!! through leeds, sarsi slowly realizes her love of coaching!!
  
  Leeds' parents notice the change in him, and begin to pressure him to concentrate more on his studies. Though he becomes increasingly hansamu, they worry about his future...
• CALPIS is their silly ghost friend, and they make him feel included whenever possible-- though, for whatever reason, they're the only ones able to see him !! He acts as their SENPAI, providing worldly advice whenever he feels it necessary. Gradually, he sees the group grow to become a lot cooler and swingin'  than he ever was and begins to worry if they'll see him for the phony he really is...

RANDOM GROUP INTERACTIONS

• The gang habitually solve crimes, becoming teen-idols within their home town. Their faces appear PRETTY OFTEN in the newspapers. 
• CALPIS DISAPPEARS A LOT, THOUGH THE KIDS DON'T THINK MUCH OF IT. 
• THE ONLY OTHER PERSON THAT CAN SEE CALPIS IS THE STRANGE HOBO THAT SOMETIMES WANDERS AROUND THE BEACH.
• GENERALLY SPEAKING, limca and leeds go with their respective families to vacations in exotic/foreign places !!! duke tends to go to SUMMER CAMP, becoming a TOTALLY RAD CAMP COUNSELOR when he's older ! sarsi tends to increase her summer job intake. sometimes duke joins sarsi in her part-times over summer when he gets back from camp
• DUKE AND SARSI TRAIN A LOT TOGETHER!!! LEEDS EVENTUALLY JOINS THEM ON THEIR BEACH RUNS, WITH LIMCA WATCHING UNDER HER UMBRELLA
• SOMETIMES THEY PLAY IN LIMCA'S BACKYARD WHICH OVERLOOKS THE BEACH ~if they really have to~ 
• THEY ALL LOVE GOING TO THE LOCAL ARCADE!!!
• SARSI KEEPS MOST OF HER STUFF IN THE CLUBHOUSE
• SARSI HAS A VERY COOL SENSE OF STYLE, KINDA LIKE FRANCOISE HARDY !!! LIMCA HAS ONE REMINISCENT OF TWIGGY!! SARSI AND LIMCA SOMETIMES GO SHOPPING WITH EACH OTHER
• LIMCA IS CONCERNED FOR LEEDS, as she knows the kind of parents that leeds has (and she DISLIKES THEM A LOT)
• SOMETIME DURING LATE MIDDLESCHOOL, leeds eyes a jacket he really likes and is REALLY COOL !!! he works really hard for it with the encouragement of the group and manages to buy it. before he can wear it, however, his parents throw the jacket out. 
  
  the group tries to prod and he weakly nods it off! sarsi finds him crying when he thinks no one's watching... and throws her jacket over him and pulls him into a hug. they talk about their parents and really bond over that 8_ 8
• PEOPLE SHIP LIMCA AND DUKE PRETTY HxC -- they almost always go with each other to school dances !!!
• sarsi almost always misses out on school dances due to work : c 
• leeds goes to school dances because his parents expect him to-- and he gets all dressed up and walks outside the house... only to kind of awkwardly wander off to find sarsi and keep her company-
• sarsi notices that leeds puts all this effort to keep her company, and can't help but feel a sense of INDESCRIBABLE HAPPINESS, as no one has ever gone out of their way for her before... WEH...

THE GROUP SLOWLY DRIFTS...

• Though the group has changed a lot, they still look to Calpis as their friend and mENTOR. Somehow satisfied, he disappears one night their senior year! No one really questions why, as Calpis disappears a lot anyway... And somehow no one really feels the difference because things are changing for everyone in their own lives.
• SARSI works hard, and manages to get a full-ride scholarship to a college in the next few states over. She packs her bags, though her parents tell her that she'll find her way back to their sink hole in town.
• LEEDS manages to pipe up the courage to ask Sarsi to their senior year prom-- which acts as a confession as well! Sarsi attends her first and last high school prom with Leeds TT___TT 
• After this, Leeds decides to CONFRONT HIS PARENTS for attempting to control his life for so long!!! Though Sarsi cannot be there for him, she sits with her bike on their front sidewalk. 
• Things go terribly, and Leeds' parents kick them out of their house, telling him that they'd like to see him get along in the world without them. Sarsi sees the way he walks and holds him tight. He cries into her arms, and she tells him that she's got his back and that she loves him.
• From her window, Limca notices Sarsi and Leeds walking together, happy for her cousin and friend, yet she Knows that they won't be coming back any time soon.
• LIMCA IS RIGHT, Leeds asks Sarsi if he can come with her wherever she's going. Surprised, yet glad, Sarsi agrees.
• Limca prepares for her attendance to the local, prestigious university and Duke's plans take him to a college on the east coast. He tells the group that THEIR FRIENDSHIP IS ETERNAL, and that they should remember to hang when they're older.
• But then adulthood happens, you know how it is...

The first thing she notices is Sarsi and Leeds.
The second is the closing distance—between their heights, their figures, their hands.
Adulthood was boring that way; things happen because it makes sense for them to happen. No surprises, just the novelty of its execution and the usual half-baked reflections (which she, of course, had anticipated too).
The pale blue shoreline deepens to purple with the dying sun, and she doesn’t call out to them.
An undercurrent of ocean wind billows at her ankles, and she sways with the rise and fall of her skirt. Both too slow and too fast, the contour of their figures become lines which become dots that merge with the horizon. Now, an inhale, and an exhale as the breeze settles to stillness.
When they’re nothing, she decides that it’s late enough to go home, and walks the remaining road alone.

ADULTHOOD!

duke X sarsi | limca X rasna | flinch X duke

• IN COLLEGE, Duke joins the PEACE CORPS for a few years to help out THOSE IN NEED in THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES! While he is there, he falls desperately in love with Flinch, an undercover reporter (like Anderson Cooper), out to change the world for the better and OUT POLITICAL CORRUPTION! Duke's exes were with girls that were p.  puppy dog crushes mostly! With Flinch, Duke sees a person he both wants to become and admires, as well as someone he wants to live the rest of his life with TT___ TT
• Flinch, however, prioritizes WORLD UTOPIA and UNIVERSAL JUSTICE-- and though he returns Duke's feelings, his ideals come before their relationship. Duke NOTICES FLINCH'S PRIORITIES and because he loves Flinch so much, decides to tell Flinch how important he is to Duke LATER!!! 
• Limca observes their interactions, and worries about Duke...
• SHE'S FUQING RIGHT
• Duke returns to college in order to finish his degree in Journalism (just like FLINCH AYY). All the while, Duke and Flinch keep in contact through letters, meeting up a couple of times over the two years.
• But then the letters become more hurried, and sparse.
• Until they stop-----
• Duke distresses, and Limca attempts to use EVERYTHING WITHIN HER POWER TO FIND FLINCH! (who btw totally died forgotten and half-insane in a ditch where no one knows him)
• But, decades pass, and Duke suddenly finds himself a famed reporter just like Flinch was. Having lost a sense of self-preservation, Duke undertakes exceedingly DANGEROUS missions -- which just serves to fuel his popularity !! He retains his usual peppy exterior, not wanting to trouble others especially Limca and his parents. But, Limca Knows and so does his Mom and it Sucks.
• LIMCA feels the BURDEN OF HER PRECOCIOUSNESS into adulthood, finding that everything turns out exactly as she thought they would. She starts a relationship with a college professor (RASNA), and befriends his  colleague and peRSONAL TORMENTOR (PEPPER). And life is good to her! And she thinks it's a little unfair...
• SARSI AND LEEDS MOVE TO THE BIG CITY !!! Leeds skips school for a year, taking up a full-time so he can get the funds to continue his education. SARSI gets her scholarship, but must also work in order to pay for their dinky little apartment and train and study to keep said scholarship.
• Though it's tiring, they have each other! Knowing the other person is working hard too brings comfort and something to look forward to day by day.
• Sarsi ends up joining a sorority full of other POWERFUL ACTIVE GIRLS, finding a kindred spirit and a new best friend! Leeds' coworkers come to admire his quiet strength! His strong will and gentle demeanor see him through subsequent promotions at the company.
• They soon move out of the apartment and into a bigger home. Sarsi achIEVES HER DREAMS IN BECOMING AN OLYMPIAN MEDALIST, using her money to start a foundation for underprivileged kids looking to get into sports!
• Leeds and her eventually start a family 8__ 8 and it so cute b/c they drive by the old apartment and hold hands thinking "This is where it all began."
• THE GROUP MEETS UP AGAIN FOR LUNCHES WHEN THEY CAN!! Leeds and Sarsi see Limca and Duke as they are, and think they must be doing well for themselves-- remembering the kind of people they used to be and seeing where they ended up! Limca knows that Leeds and Sarsi's priorities have changed, and is happy for them... But, iT HURTS.
• Duke gets better sometime into his late 40s... But, one day he just as Limca thinks he is recovering, he DISAPPEARS from the public eye. 
• Limca seeks Duke out and finds that SOMEONE had delivered him some missing letters from Flinch. 
• Overcome by happiness, Duke lapsed and isolated himself to read over these letters over... and over... and over again.
• Limca is embittered by the situation! She makes sure to stop by his house to bring him groceries and to make sure he's alive. But, another thing she knows is that with these letters, Duke is a lost case to her.
• And life goes on anyway...
• THE END