#spamming a bit today aren't we

[saintseiya-thoughts]

Oh god oh fuck she's at it again

[jymwahuwu]

okay hi i’m new here and i was wondering if 1.) i could be 🍧 anon. and 2.) i was hoping to request yandere!jing yuan with a fem!reader who and yes this goes back to another rq you did of jing who kept spamming and calling reader to do the naughty, becomes super fed up with his shit and starts avoiding him irl. as like, she’s avoiding him and what have you, the texts- calls- and pictures all get progressively more frequent, until you’re basically waking up to pictures of him laying in bed w/o a shirt or, a pic of him after he gets ready- asking if you like his outfit and think he looks good.

but like reader becomes so annoyed that she tries blocking him, changing her number, avoiding him, and he only takes it as motivation to keep up his antics because he KNOWS how flustered it makes you, and he isn’t going to stop. but now he’s becoming slowly more creepy to the point he calls you and says “oh hey bby i’m on my way over 😘 leave the door unlocked for me”

anyways— thanks if you get the chance to do this request! i love ur work and can’t wait to see more from you!

related content: yan! jing yuan keeps spamming you and calling you

thanks for your encouragement! sure u can be 🍧 anon! visiting your house is really creepy lmaooo is there any way to stop him?

TW: yandere, non-con, harassment, looks like delusional but he's not delusional, somehow super lucid

Oh this is going to happen someday, you have all the desperate attempts to stop Jing Yuan- block him, keep changing numbers, check yourself on the street if you are being followed, and walk into the crowd. What you get are messages from [new number] praising your stunts (for avoiding him) and telling you that he really wants you to bend over if it's not in public. There's even something like "[photos 2], [photos 9], [voice message 2:16]". A large number of explicit texts and photos to lure your desire.

You look for a button to turn off message notifications, but somehow there's no way, just like you can't hang up those calls. You believe that your mobile phone has been hacked, but that is the power of Xianzhou technology, what ability do you have to refuse…?

Today's a weird but good day - you didn't see [new messages 42], nor were you distracted by morning and late-night phone calls leading you to surreptitiously watch porn. You're at home enjoying the peace of mind while sipping your favorite drink and watching space TV. However, halfway through the show, you receive a call from the general.

"Huh?" You were a little numb.

"Oh hey baby I'm on my way over!" There was a cheerful voice over there, which brought a bit of sunshine compared to the previous low voice. "Remember to leave the door unlocked for me-" You didn't hold it steady for a few seconds, and the drink in your hand spilled out - what does it mean? Jing Yuan on the way to your house?

"Wait… what?!" The call was over. You opened the chat history with your trembling fingertips, there was indeed a message last night saying "Baby here has a surprise for you tomorrow so we can have a good time (♡˙︶˙♡)"

What follows is your choice, but with the same consequences. You can leave the house temporarily, or stay in the house but lock the door and put a stick or something on the door handle. Leaving the house will only be caught by him like a kitten and brought home under the shocked eyes of everyone. And the option to lock the door, you're so naive, aren't you? Jing Yuan rings the door bell first and tells you "baby your dear boyfriend is here". After getting no response, the general murmured that he was lucky to have your spare key, and you who eavesdropped behind the door covered your mouth to suppress the screaming - how could he have your house key? Seeing that the door handle was stuck, Jing Yuan casually smashed the door handle with a relaxed smile on his face.

It's like a surreal nightmare for you now with an immersive live-action experience.

"Baby, I'm home. Are you eager?" He put his hands around your waist and lifted you off the ground. This is the first thing Jing Yuan does after entering your home. No matter how flustered and annoyed you are, asking him to put you down, the general will hold your waist tightly, feeling your breath contentedly. It takes a full minute before you get back to the ground.

Jing Yuan tries to act like a thoughtful boyfriend, cuddling with you on the couch watching a show (ignoring your struggle in a huff, stroking your boobs), giving you teahouse's popular drink (and throwing the original drink). There's a raised tent rubbing your butt, and you writhe in embarrassment.

General's plan for you is a sweet date at home, and… a sex marathon! He already told you how to pamper you, right? He started holding your cheek and kissing you affectionately and slowly, even as you whined with your eyes closed and pushed his chest with tears. He shudders as the cock buries into your warm and tight walls. It was better than he'd ever imagined in any call. You whimper "no", "this is too big", "I don't want to…" Jing Yuan shushes you, tells you you are adorable, stretches you unhurriedly with his dick.

Even though your house is small for him, Jing Yuan sees this as a lovely bird house. He starts fucking you all over the house, from bumping you on the dining table to overstimulating you and forcing you to squirt on the bed. If you have a balcony or a garden, Jing Yuan even considers taking you out to tease you a little. Of all the furniture, his favorite is your little bathtub. After being exhausted, Jing Yuan puts you in a bathtub filled with warm water and bubbles for you to relax, just like a responsible boyfriend would do. After taking a bath, he knew that you might not be able to walk by yourself now, so he carried you to the bed. He changes you into a pajamas patterned with furry animals. He loves doing these sweet things for you!

General pats you on the back, gently wiping away your tears. Your screaming isn't getting any help. You can only whine, sob, and sniff - until... you hyperventilate and fall asleep. He knows it's a packed schedule for a first date, so it's understandable that you'd be overwhelmed.

He took a picture of your sleeping face, clasped his fingers with you, and fell asleep together. There will be more sweet dates in the future. You will get used to it, right?

[six-eyed-samurai]

YOU HAVE 30 UNREAD MESSAGES...

SUMMARY: Rindou loves you and all but...you really aren't supposed to be spamming his phone during a meeting right now.... A/N: This is absolute crack, based off a recent convo and dedicated to my unhinged moot @plebbypebblepleb WARNINGS: Sanzu on drugs and swearing

>>look at this cat I found

>>he's so cute!!!!!!

>>IM GONNA DIE FROM CUTENESS can we pls pls adopt him???

>>never mind

>>HE BIT ME

Rindou felt his eye twitch. He discreetly swiped away the notifications on his pinging phone away under the table. Thankfully no one had noticed yet, although Ran was grinning slyly at him he always was.

Twenty messages.

Barely ten minutes had even gone by in the meeting.

Luckily he had turned off volume for his phone. Mikey wouldn't be too happy to have his Bonten meeting so frequently interrupted so unprofessionally. Rindou didn't have much interest in being laughed at or questioned by the others either.

>>riiiiiiin

>>I was watching some videos

>>would you become a 100 foot boa constructor who eats British children boiled and gets skinned to be used as socks or boots for a Russian lady I consumed three centuries ago (she tasted like coconut)

I'm in a meeting<<

And no???<<

Rindou continued to nod at Mikey's words, doing his utmost best to divide his attention between his rapidly typing fingers and his boss while Ran ducked his head under the table curiously and came up with a wink and a very obvious smirk. Koko eyes them both suspiciously.

He was used to this. Absolutely. One thing that came with dating you was that you had a tendency to spam his phone with updates of what you were doing, odd things you had seen, the most creative of questions and pictures bordering on unhinged.

He wouldn't change it for anything, of that Rindou was certain. He loved you to Pluto and back and in an every day fight he'd take your side over Ran (even despite the elder Haitani’s “miserable” theatrics of supposed betrayal). The texts livened up the dreary work of being part of the number one most wanted criminal gang.

But…

>>I'M NOT FINISHED

>>or drink fruit juice that will give you the seven most deadly diseases

Both are terrible<<

>>[image attached]

WTF<<

>>Like it?? <33

I don't want close up pics of your feet<<

>>how dare you

…it was quite the inconvenience when he was supposed to be working.

Like right now.

Rindou reached up and rubbed his temples. Mikey was getting to the important part and he was really struggling to concentrate. It wasn't like you didn't know he was busy. He had specifically mentioned it today. Rindou couldn't fault you either - this was just your love language and…this was probably revenge for him misplacing your favourite shirt.

He briefly considered ignoring your texts for now, until he could answer them later. But then it'd probably spiral to a 100+ and the vibrations were really starting to get to him. And he did once promise to never ignore anything you said after you apologized for talking too much. You might even call him.

Ugh. What a conundrum.

Ran’s smile widened and a new notification sprang up on Rindou’s phone.

>>Ah ah ah lil bro

>>texting your gf in a meeting?

>>you're very obvious about it

>>I'm sure Mikey will notice soon~~

Great. Two idiots were spamming up his phone now. Couldn't he ever catch a break? He caught Kakucho’s frown at him and adjusted his poker face again.

Shut up<<

You're on your phone too<<

>>I'm just warning you~~

Rindou exhaled sharply and kicked his brother under the table. Childish, but Ran was a child and he deserved it.

>>Rin???

>>guess what!!

>>my fav singer just dropped a new album!!

>>can we buy it later

>>pleaseeeeee

“Haitani Shithead! What are you doing under the table?”

Crap, Sanzu caught him. Rindou shrugged, leaning away from his side-eyeing neighbor. “Nothing, just need to arrange some things on my phone for some debts to be collected,” He lies casually.

The pinkhead is probably too high to realize the holes in the fib. Thankfully he lets it go with another pop of a pill. “Sure, don’t gotta be so secretive.”

“Also, don’t call me Shithead.”

>>[3 images attached]

>>chat wake up what is going on in my friends gc rn

Yes, Rindou wanted to scream, he absolutely had to be secretive…with the cursed pictures you had just sent him. Thirty unread messages already and the meeting wasn’t even ending yet! God, Ran wasn’t helping either - he too was now spamming Rindou’s chat.

>>rindou and (y/n)

>>sitting in a tree

>>k

>>i

>>s

You know what, he could make his excuses later. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Rindou massaged his temples again, sighed deeply and looked down on his phone.

He blocked the both of you.

***

Of course it came back to bite his ass when he went home later that night: having taken extreme offense to the block you had promptly banished Rindou out of your once shared bedroom and he was exiled to the couch.

Which was being hogged by Ran who claimed he was there first for his sixth nap of the day.

Maybe next time he should just “lose” his phone before a meeting.

[becomingmina]

MAD - SERIES MASTERLIST W/OT8

ONGOING SERIES

KEYS : {F} FLUFF {A} ANGST {M} SMUT {S} SUGGESTIVE

Mina’s notes: Thanks to the anon with this very great idea 🫶 MAIN MASTERLIST HERE

BANG CHAN 방찬 / CHRISTOPHER BAHNG : {F, M} "I can't believe I rather sleep than go out with you today.." planted a kiss to your shoulder making you giggle. “I'm such bad boyfriend." he continues and you nod.

LEE KNOW 리노 / LEE MINHO 이민호: coming soon..

SEO CHANGBIN 서창빈 : {F, S} He must've been so confused patiently waiting at home for you to come over the whole day. "I'll come home now, I'm sorry."

HWANG HYUNJIN 황현진 : coming soon..

HAN JISUNG 한지성 : coming soon..

FELIX 필릭스 / LEE YONGBOK 이용복 : {A, S} You stay up a bit longer, unable to stop replaying the situation in your head and also hoping he'll turn around to hug you. But he never did and eventually your body gave in to sleep as well. **Felix had the original request**

KIM SEUNGMIN 김승민 : coming soon..

I.N 아이엔 / YANG JEONGIN 양정인 : {A, M} "Yeah true," he rolls his eyes at you now. "We aren't even dating. But then go ahead.. Go ahead and tell me why you are missing me so much then? Spamming my phone with "I miss you"messages?" He scoffed, lifting his hand to air quote you.

[dr-spectre]

You mentioned something about Splatoon 4 thoughts earlier today, and I really wanna hear you ramble about that. But I also really wanna listen to you ramble about a Hypno Callie rewrite lmao. So if you haven't already, since there's a good chance I missed it lol, what would a Spectre Hypno Callie rewrite look like?

OH DUDE NOW YOU'RE GETTING ME ALL PUMPED UP TEHEHEHEHE! ITS TIME FOR ME TO RAMBLE!!! Imma go ultra autism on you!!! It's gonna border on fanfiction territory! (Not the creepy or romantic kind...) Don't say that I didn't warn you...

Splatoon 4 Ideas.

Now here's the thing right. I only have a few ideas on a Splatoon 4 so I don't think I can do a giant ramble about it yet. But so far I got the idea of Splatoon 4 taking place in a giant futuristic city near the beach. So you get this cool plaza area near the beach and I got that idea from the AMAZING Project Splatoon 3. Seriously go check that out, it is amazing!!!!!!!

But you can also go into the city and explore some of it. And you can ride a bike to different shops and have your own apartment!!! I know people want apartments for the next game and yeah I agree. We NEED an apartment maker, it's the next logical step from lockers!

Also for weapons... I would LOVE to have a flamethrower weapon but instead of fire it's mist. A crank operated shooter made out of bike gears where you gotta keep spamming the ZR button, kind of like the Octoshower's weapon. A Wii Zapper charger!!! PLEASE NINTENDO! A saw blade Splatana. Maybe a pool noodle Inkbrush? That would be funny. Maybe a Painbrush that has a fan on it? Man... I'm starting to sound like Sheldon HAHAHA!

For the new Idols, it would be a duo instead of a 3 Idol group because oh my god 3 team Splatfests are so unbalanced sometimes. They would have the colors red and cyan. I don't have much on what they would look like, but I imagine one of them is a female Inkling with a cyan color and the other is a male octoling with a red color. It's time we have a proper God damn male Idol that isn't a giant manta ray!!! Now since I cannot draw for shit and I don't have the desire to draw (drawing has made me so angry so multiple times so I stick to writing and rambling) so I'll just show some pics to show you what kind of vibe I'm going for.

(Yes I'm not fucking joking. I've gotten inspiration from Silver the Hedgehog and Spider-Punk...)

I think it would be an interesting dynamic to have a fancy, highly teched out character paired up with a grungy and punk character who's loud and funny. I can imagine their music to be futuristic and techno while including segments of rock. Basically techno rock with romantic elements in it.

I would like some quality of life improvements and just general improvements as well, like being able to customize EVERY part of your look without having to go through that annoying character creation menu in the crater. Faster levelling up for abilities, ability drinks and food actually giving you which ability you want instead of a chance at it. Way more pants and a pants shop. WAY MORE hairstyles, eye colors with an option to select from a color wheel, eyebrows, scar and tattoo options too with a new tattoo vendor. (the tattoos are explained in game to be temporary ones even though they secretly aren't, to make sure parents don't get the wrong idea lmao)

Maybe some gameplay tweaks too? like including very slight momentum when going downhill? It has to be very slight though for balance. I would like to add a dolphin dive like mechanic where if you press the jump button in the air in your swimming form, you'll quickly stomp to the ground, and that speed will be carried over when swimming in ink for a little while. Maybe faster horizontal wall swimming too? Basically make the gameplay a little bit faster is all I'm trying to say, Splatoon doesn't need a giant gameplay overhaul, just small tweaks to make the last game seem worse to play lmao.

And of course, BETTER SERVERS! WE NEED DEDICATED SERVERS! NOW!!!!!!!!!!! EVEN IF ITS JUST A FEW IT'LL BE SOOOOOO HELPFUL! STOP BEING STUPID NINTENDO! GOD!

Um... anyways!

Now, in terms of story.... I would have 3 parts, one is the main campaign while the other two are DLC. The main campaign is focused on the Salmonids. You play as a new agent (Agent X or something, i think that's a cool name) as you explore these islands Super Mario 64 style where you do missions and try and stop the Salmonids from getting out of control as they gone on a rampage from an unknown cause. You have to complete enough missions on an island to go to the next.

Basically, think of Salmon Run maps and areas found in Mario games but they are WAY LARGER and more complex areas to go through with NPCs to talk to. I really want Splatoon 4 to expand on the concepts found in the hub worlds in Alterna and go fully into a 3D Mario sandbox style game.

You also have to team up with Frye, Big Man, Neo Agent 3 and Marie who join up with a new cast of characters who are in charge of guiding you to new islands (haven't thought much about what these characters are) to figure out what's going on. Callie doesn't appear in the story as it's explained in a Sunken Scroll that Callie is helping Octavio figure out what to do with the Fuzzy Octarians that are still trapped in Alterna. And yes Octavio has now fully joined the New Squidbeak Splatoon which Callie is very ecstatic about.

Cuttlefish is fully retired and doesn't appear, and Captain is taking a break from captain duties, leaving Marie to watch over Frye and Big Man as she is their boss anyways. Now, where is Shiver in all this? Well... here me out... she's the villain. And no she doesn't have any sort of bullshit evil headgear on. She's a villain due to being corrupted by greed and wanting more power. She has become addicted to the high she gets from winning and feeling powerful and has teamed up with the Salmonids to gain even more power and cash. She's been fully consumed by power and cash and Frye and Big Man are not on board with her plans as Shiver doesn't wanna give back to the people in Splatsville anymore. So Shiver leaves the group and gathers up the Salmonids and commands them.

However it's revealed that Shiver is doing these things because she had a bad family upbringing in her clan and was always talked down to and treated as weak. So all that trauma and resentment is finally on the surface and Shiver is lashing out at everyone because her pain is so much for her. There could be some themes about found families and healing trauma with the people that you love and stuff like that. Haven't thought too deeply about it. But I would really love to see Deep Cut forgive Shiver and just hug and cry it out. I'll cry alongside them lol.

Now, the second story is focused on the Squid Sisters and takes place before the events of the main campaign. You play as Agent 4 and Callie finds you lying on the floor and tells you that Inkopolis Plaza has been covered in a strange fog and a weird green substance that looks like gooey moss. The buildings have changed and there's all this weird plant life and dust everywhere. Callie escorts you to the tower found in Inkopolis Plaza to figure out where Marie went and that's where you meet Octavio who got shot down in his mech from a laser.

The three go inside and the building looks very similar to the aesthetics of Side Order but with a hospital liminal space edge to it. It looks like a twisted dream hospital environment with a giant lobby in the middle.

This kind of vibe but more open and less hallway like. It should invoke the feeling of going to a hospital as a kid.

However, instead of an elevator to go higher, it's a giant spiraling staircase that grows after each floor Agent 4 completes. Basically the gameplay is the same as the rogue like gameplay found in Side Order but its heavily expanded upon with new enemies, objectives, color chips, etc. However... during the first 12 floors you hear these weird whispers and voices that sound very similar to Marie's voice.... Callie says she's getting major Deja Vu, and then Marie's voice is fully clear and echoes throughout the building, telling Callie in specific to leave her alone and to get out of here. They don't listen and continue forward.

When you reach the 12th floor, you go inside a giant white chamber and you see Marie in a new outfit that's similar to this outfit found in the Splatoon 2 artbook. Basically this but with a cool cloak and squid tentacle patterns on it and a gas mask instead of shades.

She's standing on some kind of green gooey moss and looks angry. Marie attacks Agent 4 with her charger and its a stealth boss where you gotta sneak around and get up to Marie and knock her down from the moss pile. Evil Marie has always been a beloved fan concept in the community, like Hypno Marie has so many cool fan designs out there and i think that could work honestly.

Callie manages to knock the mask off of Marie with a splat bomb but she's still angry. Callie grabs onto Marie and Marie calms down and cries. Agent 4 looks at the gas mask and its just filled with regular oxygen, nothing special about it. No hypnosis gas or anything. Just regular oxygen... Marie says she's sorry and explains that stuff from her past is catching up to her and making her unwell (you can guess on what I'm referring to wink wink.) She was unable to sleep for several days and was being manipulated by someone...

The thing behind Marie's manipulation appears from the ceiling and it's this giant white metallic squid that has transparent glass on some of it's body and arms, which shows this bright green goo flowing inside it. (think of Overlorder but he's a squid). I don't have a lot of information for this guy but this villain was created to cure Fuzzy Octarians, but due to unknown circumstances it went out of control and its coding was changed to "heal" people's pain by covering the planet in a modified and twisted version of Marie's low tide ink which now has evolved to be very similar to plant life. This goo/ink neutralizes certain parts of the brain, leaving the victim completely unfeeling and depressed, unable to feel anything, even physical touch or sensation. The villain manipulated Marie by going inside her head, analyzing her memories and telling her that all she has to is to get rid of "the intruders" and he will "heal her pain."

After the Marie boss fight, you have to travel up to 40 floors instead of 30 and during the downtime you get to learn about the Squid Sisters. Stuff like Callie and Marie before they blew up, who came up with their outfits, more info about their parents and managers, Marie talking about how she has trauma and nightmares from the events of Splatoon 2 and is terrified that one day Callie may leave and never come back again, Callie diving into her time in the Octo Canyon and finally clearing up what happened to her, Octavio showing remorse and sorrow for the actions he has done over the past 100 years. Basically Side Order but with the Squid Sisters, Octavio and Agent 4. I know it's a lot like Side Order but Side Order is so damn good so why not do it again but improve upon the gameplay you know?

That's all I got for this story and it's probably gonna change and be tweaked over time.

Now for the third story of Splatoon 4. I barely have anything for this but it will star the new Idol duo of the game, Off the Hook, Eight and Captain. I think it'll be like Octo Expansion in terms of gameplay and difficulty, but also expanded and longer to complete.

OKAY! NO MORE SPLATOON 4! TIME TO TALK ABOUT HYPNO CALLIE!

Hypno Callie Rewrite.

Honestly, the way I would go about rewriting Hypno Callie is very simple... Remove the Hypnoshades. That's it. She can still have them as an aesthetic part of her outfit, but i would make it so Callie is no longer hypnotized and it's WAY MORE clear to the audience that Callie is suffering from mental illness and that she left with the Octarians, not "kidnapped, overpowered and brainwashed into being a mind controlled slave." Splatoon 2 was always about the separation of the Squid Sisters and their eventual healing and reunion, it was always gonna be about that but due to time constraints probably, they rushed it and introduced bullshit shades to make it easier and simpler, they then tried to fix it later with an obscure post with a relationship chart that no one even fucking talks about, even timeline explainers fail to fucking mention it... ugh...

Making Callie an actual antagonist that has been manipulated by Octavio, whispering to her and playing into her insecurities and pain is way more compelling and makes more sense for Octavio to do as a character. Like how the fuck did he come up with the Hypnoshades and why did he only use it on Callie? He can just make hypnosis tech out of nowhere? Huh? It makes way more sense for Octavio to just manipulate her as he is a master of words and propaganda.

So what I would do is introduce a new mandatory collectable in the Splatoon 2 Hero Mode called "Callie's diary." At certain moments in the campaign Agent 4 and Marie find pages from Callie's diary as she explains her feelings and pain from being overworked and feeling some resentment as Marie has stopped calling or texting her. Marie looks so ashamed and disappointed and starts blaming herself for Callie's disappearance. Some of the diary entries include the photos found in Sunken Scrolls 21 and 22. The last diary entry found in Sector 4 is an emotional rant from Callie the day she went missing. She rants about how she can't take working anymore and how she's so lonely. Her last line is "if no one truly cares for me up here... Then... Maybe..." And there's a small tear stain at the bottom of the page.

Now for the final boss, the main plot points would occur sorta the same way, you fight Octavio and Callie, after a bit Marie comes in and shoots her in the eye, Callie calms down, blah blah blah. I actually really do like the idea of the "low tide ink" that the English translation team introduced. I think it's a neat idea that Marie has this special ink that calms someone down so I'll keep that for the rewrite.

However, during the final boss, i would make it to where Marie is really trying to reach to Callie and trying to convince her that she is loved and she matters, she tries to apologize for her actions and explains that Octavio is just manipulating her for the Octarians' goals. Callie fights back and doesn't wanna listen to her, constantly trying to shut her down. Marie even reminds Callie of their childhood and it almost gets to Callie, but she becomes more emotional and angry, she's so confused because deep down she knows Marie is right, but she's so scared to listen to her because she doesn't want to get abandoned again.

However what really gets to Callie is Marie collapsing on her knees and crying, just begging her badly to come back to her. And Marie says "I love you...." Callie is in shock and starts getting flashes of good memories with her and Marie. She holds the shades in her hands and destroys them. Callie leaps into the air and collides into Marie's arms, and they cry their eyes out and say sorry to each other.

The battle plays out the same but i would like to add another cutscene after Octavio gets his shit kicked in, Callie and Marie are on Sheldon's van and they look at the sunset together. I think that would be really sweet and connect beautifully with the credits and Fresh Start.

I took a lot of inspiration from the game Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and two boss fights in particular. The Miles vs. Peter fight, and the Spider-Man vs. Scream/MJ fight. In those boss fights, it's sort of like a therapy session for the characters in that the people under the symbiote are venting about their issues and expressing their anger they have kept hidden for so long, and the person on the other side is trying desperately to reach for them and save them from themselves. It's really powerful shit honestly and it made me feel emotional seeing Peter go "ALL I WANTED WAS TO SAVE EVERYONE! MJ! MAY! NOW THE CITY THINKS I'M THE PROBLEM! you think I'm the problem." Like i know it's kind of crazy to take inspiration from a game made for adults and take some of it into Splatoon but... I really don't give a shit. Children's media can show powerful scenes of characters struggling with their inner demons. They can do it and have proven to be successful. Children can handle it, they can.

Now... i have worked on a Splatoon 2 finale rewrite and I'm pretty much almost done with it, i need to finish the last bit of it and then go over it again so I'm fully happy with it. However i don't know how to present it as it's in the form of a script and idk how that's gonna work on tumblr, i mean i could put it on AO3 but idk if i wanna make an account just to post one thing on there and idk how many scripts get posted onto AO3 anyways...

It's like I'm a chef and I'm cooking something, but there's no waiter to deliver the food lmao.

ANYWAYS! Thank you for reading my autistic ass ramblings! I got so much free time that i just so much of it just writing down fan concepts for things on different games and stuff (I have a 42 page and counting document on a potential Sonic Frontiers 2.) Yeah... I got THAT kind of autism, not the maths and science one... Again, thank you for reading!

[roxygen22]

Still Here (Chapter 4)

Summary: Timothée invites you and Madison out to the lake.

A/N: This Timothée variant is so dad-coded that I'm falling in love with him myself.

Catch up on previous chapters here.

You spent the next few days helping your mother clean out and rearrange your old room to be livable once again instead of a dedicated craft space. You checked your phone constantly the first couple of days after your lunch with Timothée, but slowly resigned yourself to the fact that he may not reach out after all. You wouldn't blame him if he had changed his mind. The two of you hurt each other pretty badly all of those years ago and were practically strangers again thanks to time and distance.

On the fifth day, as you were perusing job ads in the local newspaper, you heard your phone ding. You stared at the device for a moment in disbelief. Was it going to be a message from him, or just another spam text that gets your hopes up? You flipped it over and spotted:

"Want to go out to the lake on Saturday?"

You bit your lip and grinned, hugging your phone to your chest. Finally.

"Sounds fun! Let me see if my parents are available to hang out with Maddy." "She's welcome, too."

Wow. You weren't used to that. Your "friends" in California weren't much on kids tagging along on your outings. It got to a point where you didn't go out much at all because getting a sitter was too expensive.

"Really? Thanks! I think she'd enjoy getting out of the house." "Of course. Let's meet at my place early around 7am so we can have some fun before it gets hot. Do you remember how to get here?" "As long as you are still on Hawk Road, I can manage ;)" "Yep. See you in a couple of days."

<><><><><>

Saturday morning finally arrived. It was hard to convince Madison to get out of bed, but with some persuasion (i.e. favorite breakfast) she was up and dressed relatively quickly. You went through your verbal checklist to ensure you had everything you both needed for day of fun in the sun:

"Phone charger, check, snacks, check, cooler of drinks, check, sunscreen, check, spare clothes, check. Alright, I think we have everything. Let's load up!" As expected, you were able to find Timothée's place with ease. He had a small house on the same land as his parents. You had spent enough time there as a teenager that you still knew the route like the back of your hand.

Timothée was already outside packing stuff into the bed of the truck when you arrived. He turned and waved as he heard your car make its way down the gravel driveway. Once you stopped, he walked up and opened the door for you. Another gesture you weren't used to anymore.

"Good morning!" You looked up at him from your car's seat and smiled. He hugged you once you stood.

"Morning, [Y/N]." He pulled back to look at your face, smiled again, then looked to the side as he spotted movement behind the car. "Hey, Madison!"

"Hey," she replied flatly as she walked up to the two of you. You pulled the girl into your side.

"Mornings aren't her favorite. She'll warm up eventually." You looked down to give her that "mind your manners" look.

"That's alright. I'm not a morning person either, unless I'm up for something fun. Like today!" Timothée said cheerily. That's when you noticed something connected to his truck.

You leaned around him and exclaimed, "You have a boat now?!"

He chuckled. "I did grow up a little bit while you were away, [Y/N]."

You laughed awkwardly, but then quickly froze when you realized, "Oh no, we don't have life jackets. I didn't know, so I didn't plan for..."

"Don't worry, I already thought through that. I had an extra adult one on hand and borrowed a kids' life jacket from the neighbors. By the way, they have some kids around Madison's age. I think their youngest may even be in the same grade in the fall. They want to meet you both."

"Oh, it would be so great if Madison could at least know one other kid when school starts up. Are they new in the area?"

"Relatively. They moved in about five years ago," he replied.

"Ah, I see. I have a lot of catching up to do," you noted. You looked down at your daughter and squeezed her shoulder, "And we have new friends to make."

"I may not even still be here when the new school year starts, remember?" Madison grumbled.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to have some friends around when you come visit your grandparents, though, right?" Timothée chimed in.

She shrugged. "I guess not."

"Right, well, back to the fun at hand. Before I saw the boat, I was going to offer that we all pile in my car since there is more space. We can just follow you over there instead," you stated.

"Nonsense. We can all fit in my truck. Here, let me put your things in the back." You opened the trunk and allowed him to transfer your bags and cooler.

As he walked away, you bent down to talk to Madison quietly. "His truck only has one row of seats. Are you okay with sitting in the middle between us?" Just because you had known Timothée most of your life didn't mean she would (or should) be automatically comfortable around him.

"Sure, I've never ridden in a truck like this before, or in a boat!" You could tell she was starting to perk up. She ran over when Timothée opened the heavy passenger door of the old blue truck and climbed inside eagerly. "Whoa, we're so high up compared to your car, Mom!"

Once you followed suit, Timothée shut the door and ran around the front to the driver seat to join you. "Alright, everyone buckled up?" he asked. You and Madison nodded. "Then let's go!"

As he drove, you pointed out some of the places from your childhood. This triggered some reminiscing on Timothée's part about some of the shenanigans the two of you got into, which made Madison giggle. She seemed to enjoy hearing about some of your irresponsible moments. Hearing her laugh again was like music to your ears. You looked over at the two of them as they laughed together. Even though it was at your expense, you couldn't help but smile. Maybe this is what it could have been like had you stayed, the two of you together with a child in between.

Your arrival at the lake interrupted your reverie. Soon the three of you were out on the water and heading for a cove Timothée liked to frequent. Madison sat at the front of the boat with you close behind. She was nervous at first, gripping the edge of the boat, but quickly loosened up. Her long blonde hair flowed behind her as she faced into the wind. She looked back at you with a grin and yelled, "It feels like I am flying!" You laughed and waved, then looked back at Timothée, who was watching the two of you with a soft smile...

...which quickly turned into a mischievous grin. "Watch this!" he shouted. Now out on open water, he opened the throttle on the motor. The nose of the boat raised out of the water with increased speed. This time, you were the one gripping the edge of your seat while your daughter screamed, "Woohoo!" with both hands in the air. You could hear Timothée laughing behind you.

Much to Madison's disappointment, Timothée had to slow down as you neared the cove. When you approached the shore, he turned the motor off and jumped out to drag the boat to the bank. The girl jumped from the boat to the sand. "That was awesome!" she exclaimed as she shucked her lifejacket.

Timothée offered his hand to help you down then grabbed the bags and cooler. "Glad you're enjoying yourself, kiddo. Now, can you help me find a spot to set up our stuff?" he asked.

Madison ran up a small hill and quickly spied a dry grassy space to lay out the blankets. "Over here!"

"That's perfect, Maddy." You laid out a blanket. "Why don't you sit here, take your shoes off, and put sunscreen on, then you can go wade around while I get everything else set up. But no swimming until one of us can join you."

Madison rolled her eyes. "Okayyyy..."

You raised an eyebrow. "Or I could make you sit here all by your lonesome while Timothée and I swim, if you're going to be like that."

"No, no, I'm good. Shallow water only." She gestured to cross her heart then ran back down the hill.

Timothée set the cooler down beside you. "I know it wasn't part of your plan years ago, but you're really good at that."

"What's that?" You gave him a questioning look.

"The whole mom thing. You seem to have a knack for when to give her space and freedom, and when to rein it in. Oof, and that eyebrow raise. Even I stopped in my tracks."

You laughed. "Oh just wait until I have to break out her middle name. That's when it's really serious, Timothée Hal Chalamet." He playfully shuddered. "But, uh, thanks. I feel like I fail at it all the time. Especially these last few months. Parenting is supposed to be a two person job, you know. Or more. Like they say, it takes a village." You dropped your head to prevent him from seeing the tears welling up in your eyes.

Timothée reached out to lift your chin. "I think you'll find a village here to help you, if you give them a chance." He brushed a stray tear from your cheek with his thumb.

Before you could respond, Madison interrupted with a squeal. He dropped his hand and cleared his throat as you quickly turned to investigate. "A fish touched my leg!"

You both chuckled. "I guess we better get down there," you said. You both undressed down to your swimwear and joined her. The three of you played and swam for hours. Once Timothée caught you by surprise by grabbing your waist, hoisting you out of the water, and throwing you back in. Madison giggled when you came back up spluttering, then asked to be thrown next.

This continued for several rotations until he was worn out. Both you and he needed a break. Madison was still going strong but was willing to come back into the shallows if it meant staying in the water.

Timothée sat beside you on the blanket as you dried yourself off. You could tell an idea dawned on him by the look on his face.

"Is it alright if I let her drive the boat around a little when we're back in open water? With help, of course?"

"Sure. That should be incentive enough to get her out of the water." You paused. "Thank you for today. I haven't seen her smile and laugh this much in months. It's all been so hard on her."

"Oh, think nothing of it. I come out here all the time to get away from life for a bit. Based on what you told me at lunch the other day, you hadn't had a chance to just stop and have some fun. I'm glad I could offer that."

"You...you're being so sweet to me."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, we never talked about the way we ended things. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you weren't important to me."

"No, I'm sorry. I should have been happy for you. Instead I selfishly focused on what I was losing versus what you were gaining. After some time, when I was able to see past my own hurt and look at things more objectively, I realized how incredibly brave you were to pack up and chase your dreams," he replied.

"I didn't reach them, though," you said sadly.

"Yet. You still have time," he said matter of factly.

You scoffed. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but life is too crazy right now to even think about finishing school."

"Well, just don't lose sight of it. K?" You nodded. "So shall we pack up and head back?" He stood and offered you his hand.

"All good things must come to an end, sadly," you replied, allowing him to help you stand. The two of you folded up the blankets and hauled the stuff back to the boat.

As you predicted, Madison whined when she saw what was going on. "I don't want to go yet!"

You smirked and looked over at Timothée. "I got this," he muttered to you under his breath. "Hey, kiddo, would you want to go if I let you drive the boat?"

"Really?!"

Timothée nodded. "Only when we get out in open water, but yes, I'll show you how to steer."

Madison looked at you with big puppy dog eyes. "Can I really drive it, Mom?"

"Hmm," you put your finger and thumb on your chin to look deep in thought. "I suppose so."

"Yes!" She jumped up and down and pumped her fist in the air.

"Now go get your shoes and lifejacket back on," you instructed. You all loaded up in the boat and set on your way. Madison was visibly vibrating with excitement as she sat beside Timothée next to the motor.

"Ready?" he asked once out of the cove. She nodded emphatically. "Alright, we're not going to go as fast as we did on our way out here, ok? Now, you have to face forward, but put your hand here on the handle behind you. Good. You will need to push or pull the handle in the direction you want to go. If you want to head right, push right. Left, pull left."

"Got it. Right is right, left is left."

"Ok. I am going to twist the handle to get us going again. You focus on where we're heading." She looked at him very seriously and nodded. Timothée slowly increased the speed. Madison looked nervous for a brief moment as she experimented with how far to push or pull to get the boat to move.

"You're already a pro!" Timothée shouted.

"Look Mom, I'm doing it!" She beamed. It was a beautiful sight. You pulled out your phone and took their picture. You made a mental note to send it to Timothée later.

Madison steered the boat almost the entire way back to the boat ramp, and then Timothée took over. After he expertly brought the boat to rest at the dock, you and Madison unloaded your belongings while he got the truck. After loading up and heading out, Madison fell asleep against your shoulder before you even got to the highway. You rested your cheek on her head, reveling in the closeness. She didn't come to you for cuddles like she used to.

The girl stayed asleep even once you arrived back at Timothée's house. He gently picked her up and carried her to your car.

"Thank you for your help," you said softly as you stood by the car door. "And thank you again for today."

"I enjoyed it. Hopefully we can do it again sometime this summer."

"I'd like that, and I think it's safe to say she would, too." You grabbed the door handle and turned. "Hey, uh, want to grab dinner sometime this week?"

Timothée smiled. "Yes."

<><><><><>

Chapter 5

Masterlist

Tag List:

@croatianprincess

@bluizh

[khoipyan]

you’ve received a text!

headcanons of octavinelle’s texting styles when texting with you!

warnings; no major ones, hinted to be dating in azul’s and jade’s, can be seen as platonic or romantic

notes; snore mimimi.., FLOYD I LOVE YOU FLOYD LEECH FLOYD LEECH WAAAAAAHA SOBS SNIFF CRIES COUGH 😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ im sorry

(notes have nothing to do with the fic i am just so in love with floyd)

azul ashengrotto

formal all the way. Capitalized letters, punctuation in place and even uses BIG BOY WORDS?!

when texting azul, he tries his best to keep formal even with you.

sometimes uses emojis, but very rarely and only with you. i think his favourites are 😊😓🤔 in the most non-joking way possible.

If he's in a rush or just happens to slip up, there may be a time where he forgets to put the proper punctuation endings (.?!,), but he'll be sure to correct himself in that moment.

EXTREMELY RARE but he might use acronyms (unless it's something like ASAP)? only because i can imagine him going:

"Love you, in a rush, TTYL. ❤️"

honestly an average speed texter but much better using a keyboard, probably owns a tablet with some sort of keyboard attachment.

barely uses the texting app on his phone because he's more used to emailing people. not enough for said messaging app to catch dust, but you get the idea.

(also kind of think he doesn't understand tone tags but he'll try if you want him to, not that he'll use them often but if you ask then he shall.)

jade leech

another formal texter... this time he doesn't slip up at all. sure, he'll make very infrequent typos, but he'll catch himself before he hits send.

bro does NOT use any of those yellow emojis to express how he is feeling over text. he's old fashioned.

generally doesn't use emojis unless with people he considers to be more than clientele (even if you guys are just seatmates or something), but when he does...

your two choices are :) or :(. that's it. maybe even the winking versions if he's feeling a tad bit extra.

regardless, he makes use of the emojis that aren't the people/yellow emojis. his favourite emoji has to be the mushroom one because he thinks it's cute despite the fact it doesn't realistically look like a mushroom at all.

(also yes, i know mushrooms with red caps speckled with white do exist, BUT DO NOT BE TELLING ME THOSE SPOTS ARE THAT BIG. maybe i'm in denial but THERES NO WAY.)

he'll be putting that mushroom emoji with anything.

"Did you have a good day today, dear? 🍄" "May I come over today? I wish to see your face again. 🍄" "Can you perhaps come over to Mostro Lounge today? Floyd wants to play with somebody, and you'll be able to see me while you're at it. 🍄"

literally the most random uses for the mushroom emoji.

it's ok we love jade for that

floyd leech

his texting habits are so irregular you don't even know WHAT to expect. usually does capitalize his letters at the start of his sentences, but sometimes he'll start capitalizing random words out of NO WHERE.

"Hey shrimpy..... wanna Play With me.... come Over to mostro im bored"

when he's upset he doesn't bother capitalizing anything, why put in the extra amount of work when you're moody?

emoji user REAL. typically anything you'd expect from genZ slang, to be honest. his favourites are 😱😇🤬☹️ and you know what, HE PROBABLY USES THOSE SHARK MEMOJIS BECAUSE HE THINKS IT'S FUNNY (and it is).

the most non-driest texter ever, also if you don’t respond to him within 0.0001 seconds he’ll start exploding your phone with spam messages (unless you’ve told him not to do that, then maybe he’ll only send 2-3 after-messages from then on)

has absolutely no intent of using proper punctuation, the type of guy to use multiple ellipses in one message.

honestly, his texting habits make him less intimidating than he actually is in reality.

— due to be edited at anytime —

[punsmaster69]

29/OCT/20XX

"Thanks for coming over, Sans."

"no big deal. what's wrong with the-"

"...oh."

today i was woken up by a swarm of texts and calls by undyne. that isn't unusual in itself, but she said something was broken with her tv.

—

"i'm up i'm up"

"stop spamming me"

"Please come fix tv."

"alphys not willing to fix it or what"

"She's not here, and I KNOW you aren't doing jack shit right now."

"you're not wrong"

"why so urgent?"

"We're supposed to watch a movie tonight but we can't do that if she's fixing the TV instead!!"

"what did you do to it, anyway?"

she started typing, but stopped and didn't respond further.

"ok"

"be over in a sec"

—

"jeez, you really did a number on this thing."

"You can still fix it, right?"

"maybe."

"RIGHT??"

"probably."

"let's take it to her workshop."

the bulbs buzzed as i turned them on. white light illuminated the room's walls, covered in random manuals and posters. a gutted phone sat in the middle of the workspace, along with some random pieces and bits. undyne swept everything to the side, clearing space for the tv.

——

"Alphys, darling-"

"Oh. You're not Alphys."

"nope."

mettaton leaned over to see what i was doing.

"..Ah, yes. The poor television..."

"Undyne threw a controller at it in a fit of rage."

"over what?"

"My skills were too much for her to bear.."

"Resulting in this unfortunate casualty."

"...that's what i figured."

"anyways, alphys is out right now."

"...Right."

"Since you're here, you'll test a new product of mine, won't you?"

suddenly i felt sick, and hoped it wasn't going to be anything food-related.

to my relief, he only pulled out a shiny pen.

"It's brand new, it's fabulous, it's: MTT Brand Pen Number Three (Now With More Glitter)!!"

"Try it out, will you?"

[A glittery pink ink glob sits on the page. There are lines in the ink, like it was supposed to be something..]

"...might need a bit of workshopping."

he ignored me.

"Ooh! How fabulous!"

he shook the pen. glitter leaked onto his hand.

"Stunning! It's absolutely overflowing with the essence of Mettaton...!!"

"sure."

"A glowing review already!"

"Thank you for participating in product testing, Sans-darling. As thanks, you can keep this one as your very own!"

"..great."

and just like that, he was gone.

....maybe papyrus'll want this.

——

she powered on the tv.

everything looked normal.

"Nice! Thanks for the help on short notice, Sans."

"no problem, but..."

"don't throw anything else at it, alright?"

"I won't!"

"...."

"Maybe I'll stay off of it until Alphys gets back."

"probably for the best."

"i'm gonna get going."

"Wait, can I ask you something?"

"what's up?"

"..Are you doing okay?"

"why do you ask?"

"You were super sick, like, just last week. And now you're acting perfectly normal again, as if nothing even happened."

"Are you really okay?"

"......."

headaches aren't really noteworthy.

probably from the harsh fluorescent lights in alphys' workshop anyway.

"yeah."

"i'm good."

"If it turns out you're lying.."

"I'm gonna kick you into next YEAR, got it?!"

"..Once you're healthy again."

"ok. got it."

"seeya, undyne."

"Seeya, nerd."

——

"WHY DO YOU HAVE A PILLOW ON YOUR FACE?"

"blocking out the light."

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU."

he lifted the pillow up.

"blocking out the light."

"DO YOU HAVE A MIGRAINE AGAIN?"

"..IS IT A NORMAL ONE?"

"pretty sure."

"OPEN YOUR EYES, PLEASE."

"...OKAY. SEEMS FINE."

paps put the pillow back down and turned off the light.

he took my water bottle and shook it, seeing how much there was.

then he pulled my blanket over me better.

deeming everything acceptable, he sat down with me.

"oh, right."

"mettaton gave me a glitter pen. it's in a bag in my left jacket pocket over there, if you want it instead."

sifting through my coat pocket (and removing a handful of condiment packets,) he pulled out the pen excitedly.

"fair warning, it leaks."

"DO YOU HAVE ANY PAPER IN YOUR POCKETS THAT I CAN TEST IT WITH?"

"uhh.. my journal, i guess."

[A glittery line starts, and stops in a glob. It starts again, forming messy pink words.]

"HELLO! THIS IS A SENTENCE, TO TEST A PEN. AND HERE IS A HEART, TO TEST A PEN!"

[Arrow pointing to a glitter heart. The page ends here.]

[The next page sticks to the last one, but manages to come apart without tearing. Little shapes and doodles in pink coat the page. They start out splotchy, but improve as they go on.]

[Nothing was written further by Sans.]

[darkfictionjude]

I'm the etymology nonnie, and today is my birthday (I turn 25, which means I'm officially old).

I didn't need to say it, but I wanted to anyways. Maybe I'm just abusing the parasocial relationship. We aren't even acquainted, not truly. Even though I'm sure I'm at least some sort of entity in your brain.

But I didn't came here to speak about my failings and mortality, nor to make you uncomfortable with ramblings about the weirdness of parasocial relationships.

I had some things I wanted to comment.

1) In the fake date quest, we get to recommend a country for the couple to visit. A part of me wonders, however, if the "mom said we had relatives from there" is actually an option for all the countries listed, or is only present in some (I chose Colombia, by the way, in part because if I remember correctly Imre has some roots there, and because my own country, Chile, was not an option and I didn't want to choose Argentina just because we are close geographically). If that's the case, did you plan this addition from the beginning, or was somehow influenced for the ask about the possible hispanic Crown family origin (but, basically, giving in a way a choice to the player, at least to some extent, to choose a specific place where the family could have some roots)?

2) I must admit, although MC and I have different birthday dates, I did imagine a bit my MC (who is male as I am) and Imre spending MC's birthday. Maybe a dinner together, the usual cake, some dancing. As well as the horizontal kind of dancing, if you get what I mean (I'm so cringe, why did I write this? Lol). I'm living vicariously though an MC that hasn't even reached that point in his life yet. And worse, I wouldn't want to be MC either. So this must be Imre's fault. (Have in mind this point was not meant to be a question of any sort, like the first one was, because I'm aware you only want to answer one question at a time; I'm just putting everything together just to not spam your ask box).

3) I wanted to praise the side quest structure presented in the newest update. While it lacks the immersion that the first side quests acquirement had, I think it's more convenient and clear. I knew I was making a choice, and allowed me to make an informed choice of what I wanted to experience. I also enjoyed how the fake dating side quest changed depending on how MC tried to fulfil Charley parents expectations. My MC may not be fit, but damn if I wasn't going to make sure he tried his best at sports. He didn't exercise during his confinement to be defeated by a pigskin, no sir.

You do occupy some small part in my brain etymology nonnie I remember all the nonnies that are named (that sounds oddly romantic 💀💀💀💀😭😭😭)

1. Yes actually it was influenced by the thought that the crown family could have Hispanic origins. I thought it would be a clever way to add ethnicity and background in a way that came naturally into the story. It’s for all the places you can choose so mc can come from anywhere depending on where they’d like to go. I did something interesting though in that all the “anglo” countries it was your father that said you have relatives there and all the “non-anglo” countries that your mom says her side of the family comes from.

2. Not the horizontal dance 😂

3. Oh and thank you. I know the first round of side quests was immersive but I wanted it to be clean on the second round. To have every player see the side quests available and what they entail plus I felt like it needed to be different this time around as mc has sort of stumbled into entrepreneurship. And yeah I did really want the theme of traditional gender norms to colour the fake dating side quest given how disgustingly antiquated Charley’s parents are

And happy 25th!! If Imre was real he’d be 24 years older than you, ah age gap relationships

[hyukassubi]

🎟️ Meet me at the shore ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆

Pairing: Huening Kai x Fem!Reader

Content/Tags: best friends to.... Still best friends 🫶🫶, fluff, reader is a writer, Huening Kai is a ball of sunshine, beaches, bookstores, best friends reunite

Summary: You're burntout as hell a month going into your author career. You can't pinpoint exactly why, but for all you know, you don't want to continue like this forever. That's until your childhood best friend knocks on your door, suggesting to spend the day off together with you. Really, how can you say no to Huening Kai?

Genre: fluff. Some bittersweet moments, but mostly fluff 🫶🫶

Warnings (?): Mild cursing here and there, bullying, reader feels lonely at times, burnout, otherwise nothing too explicit

Wc: 10k+ <33

Dedicated to: All the burnt out fanfic writers out there who need a little bit of cheering up!!

Taglist! @kaisdefender

| Masterlist | Moodboard | Playlist |

i.

When was the last time you felt happy?

You immediately knew the answer to that.

A month ago, your dreams came true. Your world came to life. What started as a small project turned into something much, much larger. And now, your novel is out there for readers to feast their eyes upon. 

Seeing this word document become a book, and then holding it in your hands, it was like holding a newborn baby for the first time. Sparks rushed through your body like fireworks, screaming ‘we did it, we made it.’

And then a month passes by, and all the sparks were just… gone.

The rush that coursed through your body from publication and stuff just... it wasn't there anymore.

You spent the month taking a break from writing. After all, Hyuka did recommend you to take things easy. And you did. You didn’t write for a whole month, even when the urge to spam words on google docs came itching inside your brain. 

So. Why instead of feeling rested, you were restless? Thumping the heel of your foot over and over again, biting your lip while staring at a random corner in your living room.

Now comes the big question of 'what's next?'

You stared into the distance. It was twelve in the afternoon and you're on your couch doing absolutely nothing.

You shook your thoughts off, forcing yourself to scan the room. This room- this apartment- you've always wanted to own in the future.

The couch that felt more like resting on a giant maltese cat, the shelves of books you've collected over the past decade, the balcony outside where your favorite small coffee table resided. There, you can look down at all the google corporate workers having a miserable day as you write your next best seller.

You love this place so dearly. You knew that well in your head. But you didn't feel it, for some reason. Not now, not anymore. Even if you're forcing yourself to right now.

Rest, Y/n

You repeat Hyuka's words in your head.

Take it easy, okay?

You had emails to reply to today. 

You had to keep going. Just because you aren't writing doesn't mean you're jobless.

You exited your living room. 

The more cooped up you were there, the more tense you'd feel.

That's when you noticed, at the corner of your eye, a caller by the name of Hyuka was, well, calling you.

You picked up, "Hyukaaa, how've you been?"

Huening Kai is your best friend, the only guy who can make you smile, the only person you share your projects to. The both of you have been at it since high school, and you have always kept in touch since then.

He whined, "Y/n, I've called you so many times. Why didn't you pick up?"

You checked your phone.

11 miss calls from Hyuka

You paused, your shock evident in the short moments of silence. "Did something happen? Were you injured during practice-?"

"Nah, I was just bored."

This guy.

"Oh. Sorry I... slept in." You lied.

And Hyuka knew it. "It's not like you to sleep in. Miss calls? Yes, you don't want distractions when writing. Sleeping in? No. Hot girls don't ‘sleep in’."

"You really had to call me out like that huh? But yeah uh I guess today wasn't so..." You couldn't finish your sentence. You didn't know how to. In all honesty, it wasn't just today you felt this way.

"Y/n?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"...Yeah?" 

"No you're not."

You clicked your tongue. "Bruh."

Hyuka wheezed, and you did too.

Then the both of you balled out laughing. 

It wasn't even funny, not at all. 

Hyuka's laugh was just contagious.

After calming down a little, you proceeded, "Okay, yeah maybe I'm not."

“Hmm. Is it because of debut?”

You thought for a moment.

You can't just not write, even though you know taking a break is what you need before getting into a burnout but you got into a burnout anyway and now your life feels short lived and meaningless and what was this all for again?

You sighed. "I don't know."

Hyuka hummed on the other end of the line. 

You could picture him nodding at your profound words. You wish he was actually here. Just calling him makes you happy, but you'd definitely feel a lot better if he was actually next to you talking about... literally anything.

You didn't expect him to say anything.

You didn't want to pressure Hyuka to listen to your venting sessions regardless. He just wanted to hop on in because he was bored, after all, you don't want to put all this sudden weight on him.

What you also didn't expect was for Hyuka to leave the call without a word.

No goodbyes, no nothing.

Just a beep, and then silence encapsulated the whole room.

A grueling three seconds passed by.

You... plopped onto your chair. Your heart nothing but... it's nothing. It's empty. Hollow. Everything's so fuzzy and quiet. Way too quiet.

You got back to work, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

Ten minutes later, a voice sounded from behind y- wait you live alone-

"Y/n! Pst!"

Who the hell says pst when they're yelling from your front door? You got out of your bedroom and made your way to-

"Hyuka? What are you-"

Donut sunglasses rested on Huening Kai's hair like eggs on a nest, a funky piece of accessory for his rather plain white button up and black khaki pants.

All negative thoughts from before evacuated your headspace. You held in your laughter.

Your fashionista blew you a kiss.

You caught it and blew one back. "What's with the… dunkin donuts aesthetic outfit?"

Hyuka didn't answer your question. He's smiling from eye to eye, and you kinda felt grateful to have someone this happy to see you. 

He bounced up and down his heels, fiddling with the strap of his backpack. "I know this is all unexpected, so, sorry if I’ve interrupted you by any chance-"

"No. No it's perfectly fine." You reassured him. "It's more than fine actually... its been a while since we've..."

"Met in person?”You raised your brows. “Yeah, it's been a couple months, but we call each other pretty much everyday anyway, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah.” Huening Kai walked closer to you, as if letting you in on a secret. “I thought maybe it would be better if we could hang out together."

You blinked.

He blinked back.

You blinked a couple more times. "Today?"

"Yeah, right now." Then he got on his knees and hugged you, locking your legs together. He's still such a kid, you thought. "Please Y/n, it's been soooo long. I miss you so so much."

"I mean- I miss you too but... right now?"

He looked up at you, arms still latched. "Are you busy today?"

"..." 

Anything to escape emails, you thought. Anything. "Not really, no."

He got off of you and front rolled into your apartment, his sunglasses defying the laws of gravity, remaining stuck on his head. "Then let's go!" He jumped up and down, more vibrant than the power of a thousand beams of sunlight.

Perhaps it was the way he held onto you, or the way he smiled, or the way he made a grand entrance by frontrolling into your apartment from the doorway, but something just tickled your gut, and in a good way. All you knew was that your heart melted through your chest the way ice cream drips down the cone on a hot summer day, and you didn’t hate the feeling. It's been a while since you had someone… since you had someone.

You chuckled. "Where to?"

"I don't know!" Hyuka said helpfully. "And that's the fun of it!" He grabbed your wrist and ventured ahead of you further into your writing coven. "I'll help pack your things, just put on some good music and the both of us will be done in no time."

God, this man still really is a kid.

Til this day, you still question why he's still by your side. Even when you don't get to hang out a lot with him these days, somehow, the both of you just make it happen.

Through short texts or hour-long calls, not a day goes by without either of you hyping the other one up.

The moment he left the call earlier, the world pauses and your mind starts making up excuses. Bad wifi? Something came up in the studio? Were you bothering him? Your brain starts clogging up with all these possibilities that may not even be true. 

But, now he's here. Maybe this was his master plan after all? "You left me hanging on that call.... because you were secretly planning to do this?"

Hyuka stopped on his tracks. He had a lot going through his mind, even though he didn’t show it. What if you didn’t like this? What if he was bothering you? What if he’s just, simply, annoying?

At the end of the day, voices were just voices. He knew you wouldn’t get annoyed, he knew you never found him a bother.

He looks back at you like you, smiling dearly because you mean so much to him.

And he means so much to you, too. You both knew that. 

You smirked, now crawling to his side. "You know just how to make me feel better, huh?"

A low, short chuckle.

He held onto you tighter, and you held back.

ii.

You were a kid once, in highschool, all alone with nobody to talk to. Not a loser, but nowhere to belong. It wasn’t until the ninth grade, you found someone you care about.

While everybody sprinted out the door to go eat at the cafeteria or play outside or harass each other, you could be spotted sitting on your assigned desk, doing your own thing. The classroom seemed more tolerable that way. It didn’t matter if you missed out on drama, scandals, opportunities to develop deep connections with people. That all happens outside the classroom, and you want to keep things that way, even when you start feeling left out, it doesn't matter.

You're better off creating stories in the classroom by yourself rather than talking to anyone in this damned building. 

You can feel a keen pair of eyes still looking at you.

You prayed that whatever God up there would make this guy stop looking at you, it ruins your focus-

Oh. It was just Huening Kai, your seatmate. 

He was. Okay. He didn't give bad enough vibes to pick on you, at the very least. Or ask for self-inserts in your stories.

"You know, y/n, I am still so very confused why you’re constantly taking notes in class. I've never seen anyone this dedicated to using all their recess periods for studying."

Oh. So that's why his self-insert requests haven't been coming in.

Huening Kai is the type of kid to talk with everyone, and no, not just classmates. Literally everyone. You don't know how he does that without draining his energy. 

The both of you don't necessarily talk a lot, however, but considering he's your seatmate and all that, the weight of first impressions kind of just disappears on its own.

"I'm not studying, actually."

He said in a monotonous voice, "Oh. My God."

You hold your laughter at his shock yet deadpanned reaction. "Truth to be told, I am not in fact a hardcore nerd."

"Then what are you doing sitting around with, like, twelve thousand notebooks."

"It's just three extra notebooks."

"Close enough." Something about the way his eyes… sparkle… with intention, like he’s actually looking at you, with interest. It’s kinda like a child begging their dads to play outside and have some fun.

You pressed your lips into a needle-straight line.

You, a reserved writing machine, having fun with ... (you eyed Huening Kai) a corgi.

"... We could chill and talk about my mystery notebooks?" You shrugged your shoulders, suggesting the choice was up to him. He'd probably say no, you thought, I mean, usually people would not be interested in books and ask questions just to look polite and all-

"Okay." He smiled, sliding into his seat. "So, what are they for?"

You tidied your desk a little, making yourself look more 'presentable'. "These are for writing purposes."

"Writing stories?"

"Exactly, I write everything in my notebooks."

He grabbed your notebooks, looking at them in awe as if they were newly refined portraits from the Renaissance era. As long as he doesn’t open them, it’s all good. "Is it like a full length novel or short stories?"

"Both." You grabbed this one notebook in particular that was so thick it looked like a dictionary got a BBL. "This notebook in particular is for the novel."

"Really? This whole thing?"

You nodded.

Huening Kai couldn't stop making goofy gasping faces at your hell of a thick notebook. "What's it about?" He asked.

You take a deep breath, preparing yourself for the inevitable rambling that’s about to occur. "It's this historical piece where this ballerina, our main character, who comes from a low income family, dances to earn money. She catches the eye of the prince. This prince wants to learn to dance with her, to which the king and queen strictly disagree with considering that form of dancing is too 'feminine'." You pause right then and there before you unleash your inner sociology professor and ramble on and on and on and on about your fantasy worlds. "That's it. The plot is pretty simple, I know-"

"Ooooo I love dancing." He said the word ‘love’ with at least thirteen syllables.

You knew that, though. Everyone knows Huening Kai’s quite the dancer.

"Oh yeah? You think you'll really enjoy reading my book then?"

"Yeah, yeah! Ask me for any dancing advice if you need it for your book... wait never mind, I don't know anything about ballet..."

"That's alright-"

He turned a page. "May I read it right now?"

It was then you snatched your book from his hands, clutching it defensively. You wouldn't even let yourself re-read the first draft of your own novel. "What? No, it's not finished yet."

"But you'll take long to write it." He said not unkindly, putting his hands together as if praying to God. "I'll be patient, I promise."

Some part of you thought you'd regret the rest of your life giving anyone else your 'mystery notebooks'.

You took a look at Huening Kai, his puppy dog eyes staring back at you.

Does this man really look like he'll rip your baby into shreds? Or publicly read out your novel word by word to a sea of musically stars and pencil chewers?

His puppy dog eyes blink back at you. It really was like he had sparkles in his eyes, through that way-too-neat bowl cut his irises shone with… something unfamiliar. Something non-existing in your brain textbook.

"Hmm...”you pretended to think, ”you sure you like the premise of the book?"

He nodded furiously.

"You sure you'll be patient enough to see it til the end?"

Another aggressive nod.

"Okay, then it's settled, looks like I'm not-"

"Huening Kaiiii!" Some random guy- Hueing Kai's friend probably- sounded in the distance. A head popped out the door frame, "Huening Kai come here!"

Huening Kai and you exchanged a glance.

"Oh, uh, sorry y/n, I have to go now." He stood from his seat, and never would you've ever thought you'd wish to have someone stay by your side just a little longer.

"I'll talk to you soon, okay?" He stared at you a little while before rejoicing with his pals.

You waved him off, knowing in your head you won't be talking with him, or anyone, for the next couple of days.

And you were right.

You tried to not let this get under your skin.

---

Something about watching the way you shut the world out while writing makes you appear... quite mysterious. That's one way to put it.

But also unique. While everyone goes to make friends, you are ignoring studious lessons to keep up that writer grind. Even during boring classes, instead of sleeping over muffled lectures, you're wide awake writing stories. It's a cool tactic. Whenever Huening Kai looks at your direction, he now knows damn well you aren't jotting down the teacher's explanations, and it's hilarious to him, how slick you are.

It was an ordinary day like any other. The class was writing up biology notes.

Huening Kai was sitting next to you, you were sitting next to him. 

He pauses writing notes for a moment, taking glances at the girl next to him.

You're so cool, he thinks.

I want to talk to her some more. 

He looks over his shoulder during class again. 

Your hair drapes the entirety of your face as you wrote on your 'mystery notebook', pen gliding across the paper like pipe line icing on cupcakes.

This time, he pouts instead of holding back soft chuckles. But she's always writing.

It's so easy to spark up a conversation with other kids.

It's easy to not feel like a bother, to talk to people looking forward to talk to you. But, since you're always on your notebooks, he didn't want to disturb your laser focus, even when he feels like talking to you more than the others.

He sighed.

Huening Kai went back to his notes. 

If you aren't willing to talk with anyone, there's no reason for you to be talking to him.

His pen glided across the page with you in sync. 

So what? 

He wouldn't let your book destroy you and your potential friendship with him.

Recess is your golden hour for writing. So, imagine Huening Kai’s shock when he waltzes into the classroom to find you missing. 

It didn’t sit right with him, seeing you not sitting in your usual spot. It’s like a cat hasn’t returned home to their owner late at night. It makes their owner anxious, worry shooting the pit of their gut.

He walked out of the classroom to the schoolyard. He scanned the crowd. The sky was infiltrated by thin clouds, there were girls and boys, but no you.

At least, you weren't a part of the crowd.

You were sitting under a tree, contempt, writing that novel of yours.

The sight of you under that tree at uttermost peace, it made Huening Kai smile.

Hope you didn't mind a little company.

He approached you.

Your pen stops. 

You lock eyes with him.

Huening Kai brought a hand out. 

"We meet again."

And then you burst out laughing.

He stood there, head empty. Was his shirt back forward? Was his lips still stained from eating chocolate sandwiches? Was his hair a mess?

"We meet again? Usually it's like a hey or hello."

Huening Kai replayed it in his head again. 

Oh. 

Yeah that was unintentionally funny. A cool wave washed over his chest by then. Relief, sprinkles of pride. Joy. It was nice seeing you laugh, he guessed.

"Next time, I'll cartwheel my way under this tree." He teased, and you can't tell if he was being serious or not. "How about it?"

You looked up at nothing in particular for a moment. "Eh, not like you'll see me here again anyway."

"Why?" Huening Kai stood next to you now, connecting his spine with the tree trunk and then sliding down right by your side in a seating position completely different from you- his thighs on his chest while your legs sprawled out and free.

"I came here to write because of the ambiance," you faced forward to where the rest of the school resided, "but then, turns out, this is the ambiance." you pointed towards the crowd ahead.

You shut your book, a soft thud escaping its pages. 

Huening Kai's attention was right back at you, and he knew just the words to motivate you. "Hey, why don't you take the day off writing and talk to me?"

Huening Kai expected a chuckle, a death glare, or reluctance, a bit of something that goes like 'in what world do you think I'll ever let you– or anything else for that matter– put a halt on my creative prowess?'

You shrugged your shoulders and nodded along, "Sure, why not?"

That cool wave washed over his chest again, and it felt better the second time. He wasn't even trying to repress his lips from curling into a smile. You're just so... unbothered.

It's your loneliness that made him a bit more interested in you, how someone could possibly be the way you are. The way you bring yourself with calm confidence, your warm energy that makes him feel cozy and relaxed.

Or your dedication to your books. Your passion, your quietness, your warmth.

Or maybe Huening Kai didn't really need a reason. 

Your existence is a good enough reason.He just wanted to talk to you.

He hugged his shins, fiddling with his fingers. "You know, I haven't told you this but I think what you're doing is exceptional."

You rested your head on the tree trunk, looking at him in the corner of your eye. 

"You've already said that, actually."

He didn’t. He hadn’t And even if he did, what’s the problem with saying it again? "No, I said your book is great, and it really is, but like. You too, ya know?"

You sat quiet for a moment.

Those words, you received them a lot, from yourself.

Hearing them come from somebody else’s mouth…

Clarity rippled through your head, like those gentle waves that leave white seafoam behind, dissolving into the spaces between the speckles of sand on shore.

You chuckled.

You swung your hair behind your back with the flick of your wrist. "Of course I am."

Huening Kai wheezed, flicking his short hair in the breeze too. "Of course you are."

The both of you did model poses back to back.

You both were idiots. Idiots that go a little too well together, idiots that were meant to cross paths with each other.

"I think you're cool too." You started. "You're... funny. Vibrant. And," a solemn look casts over your face. There were so many good things to say about Huening Kai, and somehow, you were able to condense it into a few words. You blanked out, looking into a void, waiting for the right words to simmer to the surface."... you just might actually care."

If lightning could be struck on someone, and instead of agonizing pain, they felt an immediate consolation course through their body, then Huening Kai has just been abused by a thunderstorm. 

The relief in his chest, surging through like hands running down silk gloves. 

But also, sadness.

Even though Huening Kai has only actually known you recently, he wants to tell you that so many people care about you. He doesn't know precisely who, but... there has to be someone. 

Anyone.

Instead of saying any of that, Huening Kai chuckled. "Of course I do, I expect you to care about me too." His throat was getting tighter, and tighter.

Why hasn't anyone bothered giving you a second chance? Why do they just assume you liked being alone? Why haven’t they reached out to you sooner? 

No. Why didn't he reach out to you any sooner?

"Huening Kai?" Your voice was low and soft, nearly a whisper. "Mhm?" Huening Kai put on his best smiles.

"What if I told you I actually wanted to become a ballerina?"

Another bolt of lightning, and this time, it was a little more exuberant than the previous ones. "...Wait, that's just like..."

"The main character?"

"Yeah! Her! I can totally see you doing the curtsy." Was that even a ballet move? Huening Kai didn't know. He just knows you'd be a stunning ballerina. It fits. 

He can imagine you twirling your way across the room with elegance, then, performing on stage while the crowd roars, and then he'd... he was getting ahead of himself.

You chuckled, and there was... something off about the way you chuckled.

The way your eyes stuck on the ground. "Yeah, but then I quit."

Just when Huening Kai thought he found someone more like him, you shattered his credence. "Aw, no... why did you quit?"

"It's complicated."

"Tell me everything. I can't fathom how someone as determined as you just..." gave up like that, Huening Kai didn't say.

An indefinite look casted your face, looking into the void of the past. "It wasn't my choice. My parents got broke, like, really really broke when I was in sixth grade. It was to the point they had to put me into the foster care system, and I kinda just moved from house to house from there."

Huening Kai shifted closer to you. You know that feeling when you’re a little kid, you’d never think any of your family members would pass away? That’s the type of disbelief Huening Kai felt towards you, not that he couldn’t believe tragedies like these could happen, he just didn’t think it could happen to someone he loves, to you. 

"Were those other families nice to you?"

You chuckled, not unkindly, gaze shifting apart from Huening Kai’s. A reel of memories in a photographic fashion flashed before your eyes. 

You remembered the many adults that looked after you, how bitter it slowly grew the more you moved houses. 

The expressions on people’s faces when you’d make a family tree of sorts, for a project, and they see the saddest looking tree to ever exist– faces of strangers where mom and dad and daughter all don’t look the same. 

You told yourself it wasn’t a big deal. You kept telling yourself just that. "Yeah, but they only last a couple months. All of them do. As soon as I meet some random nice lady I call my 'mother', she's gone and another stranger awaits me at their front porch. It's exhausting, meeting so many new people like that. And it's so ironic, it's just." You looked at the crowd ahead of you for a moment. "If I can't even stick to a proper family, then how am I sure I'll remain friends with anybody?"

Huening Kai can't even imagine what it must be like- to not be able to do the things you love. "I'm so sorry... I mean, I talk with lots of people too but it’s different, that just sounds tiring." 

"It's alright, I guess I just... write so that... Like, I believe somewhere out there, my work is a reality, you get me? That, somewhere in this universe, I do exist as a ballerina with a loving family and a friend and... I'm sorry, that sounded so stupid out loud."

"No, it's not stupid." He had a lightbulb moment. He understood now, why you were the way you are. "You know what?"

"Huh?"

"I'm forcing you to join the dance club."

You blinked at the boy sitting next to you, because that's all you knew how to do at that very moment. 

"Huening Kai that's very nice of you but-"

"I'll suggest some ballet, to the club, I mean, from time to time," His words were a mess, just like his thoughts, but, point is, Huening Kai will make your dream a reality.

He will take it upon himself to make this the universe where you get to be a ballerina, so you won't have to exclusively exist as words on paper anymore. "I'm not sure how," he admits, "but I'll make it work." He stood now, taking his hand out. "I promise."

You stare up at his tall, determined figure. 

For once, you were genuinely speechless. You continue staring at his hand for an uncomfortable amount of time. "Well, that's quite ambitious of you."

"You still love ballet deep in your heart, especially if you're still writing about it. I want to help you, even if it isn't much..." Huening Kai racked his brain for anything that'll possibly convince you to join the dance club, "I mean... it's free...?"

You smirked, "Ahh yes that's the best part." And you shook his hand.

Huening Kai chuckled. Don't worry, if you had forgotten all the moves, we'll learn to dance together, he wants to say.

Don't think about the others, they'll probably watch and stare but their opinions don't matter, he wants to add.

We could dance together, the look on Huening Kai's face was more than enough to portray those words.

An all-too-familiar clanging noise ripped through the air. The school bell went off. Recess was over.

You sighed, getting up from the hard ground with Huening Kai's hand still in yours. "Come on, we gotta head back to class." You grabbed your notebook and let go of his hand, still walking close to him.

"Just tell me if you're interested," Huening Kai hoped you were, "and we'd be happy to have you there."

You gave him a small nod, "I will."

Huening Kai gave a small nod back, "Just call me Kai... or... Hyuka."

"Hyuka? That nickname is so adorable, wait-" You grabbed a notepad and pencil out of your cardigan pocket, "Do I have your consent to use your nickname as a potential character name for my future writing projects?"

So 'Kai' isn't a cute nickname, huh? Huening Kai chuckled. "Ooo, having a clone of myself sounds so chaotic, I love it.” Huening Kai had too many thoughts in his head, but he didn't mind the clutter. He promises that in this lifetime, as selfish as he sounds, you’ll both be dancing partners. In this way, he'll get to revive your love for ballet, and he won't have to dance alone anymore.

Huening Kai plopped down on the floor of the practice room, wiping his sweaty face off with a towel. A few girls gathered around him. They were dancers too.

He didn't really feel like talking to them, or anyone for that matter. He was beyond tired.

"Huening Kai!!" some random girl skipped towards him. 

Have we talked before? Have we met before? Wait, who are you? He didn’t really care, he didn’t want to know.

"You looked sooo good dancing just now!!" she screeched.

"Yeah right?!" Another girl butted in. "He's literally so hot."

"I wish I was as good as him." Another stranger sat beside him.

"And just as cute." The first girl added.

They all chuckled amongst themselves while Huening Kai sat right there fighting to breathe. They probably just joined the club to get to talk to him. Probably. Unfortunately.

Another girl walked in.

Blood pulsed in his ears. Huening Kai fought the urge to just walk right out the door-

Until he realized he knew this girl.

"Excuse me?” You looked at the tired boy. ”Uh, Hyuka? Are you okay?"

Huening Kai's face lit up, quite literally like electricity in a theater room just switched on back after a blackout. "Y/n?"

You eyed him, saying not unkindly: "Hot damn bro, look at you-"

"I know right???? Look at him!" One of the dance club girls interrupted.

You looked at that pick me with your typical resting bitch face. "Yeah, he's a sweating mess and you guys aren't helping.." You gave her a full body eye roll, then flapped your hand. "Move."

The girls did as they were told to. They gave you looks, but you didn't care. Huening Kai was the only one giggling.

You squatted in front of him, wiping his face clean like a puppy just hopped out of the bath. 

Some girl whispered not too quietly, "I wish I could touch him like that." 

You and Huening Kai positively heard her, and that just made the both of you red in the face from trying so hard to hold in your laughter.

"There," You still tried hard not to burst out wheezing, "all clean. Go drink some water."

"I did though."

You grabbed his bottle. "More."

Huening Kai's eyes were somewhere else, but he was definitely still talking to you. "Why are you here anyway?"

You set the bottle down.

"Thought I'd give modern hip hop a shot," You said.

He wanted to hug you right then and there. 

He gave you the brightest smile he could muster, and you copied him.

It’s like magic. The moment you entered the room and took care of him, his energy is back to its maximum capacity. 

And just like that, he was on his feet again. "Come on, let's dance together."

iii.

The bus ride to the beach was anything but quiet.

The bus was a cute thing. It was petite, teal, not so crowded. And the windows were wide open, allowing you to view the wonderful rows of shops outside. There were florists, fruit stations, kitten shelters, aligned shoulder to shoulder with each other, settling down for off-hours. The 4 pm Sun dipping down the skyline, blasting subtle hints of yellows in the sky.

The bus came to a halt.

But… (you looked up) this isn’t the beach…

Huening Kai got off the bus before you. “Thought we’d stop by here first before going to the beach.”

You nodded along, your focus however was entirely on the bookstore, looking at it like a painting in an art museum. But the words that left your lips didn't portray your enchantment of this building bestowed upon you. "Hyuka, are we really gonna go here..."

If anything, you sounded bored.

Hyuka faced you, not disappointed, not surprised. "Don't you love bookstores?" He knew you love bookstores, how wouldn't he know that?

"You said we're heading to the beach."

"Oh- yeah that can wait." He grabbed your hand. "Come on, have you been here before?"

You followed along. "Not here, no."

"Me neither." He smiled his cute smile. "Explore we shall!"

We shall indeed, was what Hyuka expected you to say. You shook your head instead, stopping at the entrance. "Hyuka, no, I won't go in there."

Huening Kai eyed you suspiciously again. "Ouch. Okay. But like. Why?"

You took a step back. "We should just head to the beach, somewhere both of us could have fun."

It finally clicked in his head, why you don't want to enter such a place. "Hey, you think just because we're in a bookstore I won't have any fun?"

He was right. "Well... yeah, I guess."

Huening Kai walked up to you at his own pace. There's something about the way he's looking at you that's just... it was off. But a good kind of 'off'. Like it was a hidden intention to it.

He says, "Artists support artists, remember?"

Your breath hitched.

A long lost memory resurfaced in your head.

---

At the end of every school day, you’d walk out the class putting on a tune on your phone. The bus ride home was noisy as is, you got to block those around you out. 

You’d put on any song. Hip-hop, indie, vapor trap, anything you felt like listening to at the moment. Any tune that would spark creativity for a new writing piece, something to distract you for the time being.

Today, however, as you stood under the bus stop, you turned the volume down.

It was raining, a light drizzle. It was the softest of pitter-patters, a delicate thing. Like each drop was a unique tune of its own, and you were enchanted by its melody.

Sometimes, perhaps the life around you is more beautiful than you make it up to be.

Something bothered the harmony, splashes that seemingly grew louder...

You took your headphones off, looking to the side.

Huening Kai’s head down, sluggishly making his way through the empty street drenched in rain..

He didn't even bring an umbrella! You clicked your tongue, not necessarily disappointed, but very much concerned. "Hyuka, come here. It's me. And only me."

Huening Kai looked up. The moment he recognized you, he walked just a teensy bit faster. You chuckle at him. He looks just like a corgi walking his way to you.

"Huening Kai, you're a wet mess. Do you have a towel on you?"

Huening Kai didn't respond, not a single word. 

He just sniffled.

"Hey... Hyuka?" 

The sight of Huening Kai in front of you, puffy eyed and hiding, trembling in fear.

Your gut twisted. "Who is it? Did one of those girls bother you? Which bitch do I need to come after tonight?"

Huening Kai shot up a glance at you so violent he almost toppled over. "WHAT?!- No-" and then in a much softer voice, "No, it's... not about them."

"Just because it isn't specifically them doesn't mean I'll leave my kill list empty." Behind all this determination, your heart stung so bitterly, so dense, all because of the sight right in front of you: The happiest boy you know pouting in front of you, shoulders sagged, a sobbing mess. Eyes red and puffed in horror because of something vile he must've experienced. 

And you weren't there to protect him.

You felt so bad, so guilty that you weren’t there for him.

But you’re here now. And you’ll hear him out til the end.

"It's the boys. My friends." He continued, voice so low as if those same 'friends' of his were right there next to him.

Your one and only Hyuka, you failed to protect him. 

What were you doing instead? Listening to your spotify playlist on loop?

You cursed at yourself. "What did those guys do to you?"

"Made fun of me." Hyuka laughed. He laughed and it hurts so so much to see him laugh right now because you know damn well he's only doing that because he's hiding his pain thinking it’ll bother you. As if he is bothering you. "I tried to push it off but..." Another chuckle, only this time his voice croaked and more tears spill out.

You held his hands, so he won't have to fiddle and pick on his fingers anymore. So they would feel even just a little bit more at ease in yours. "Aw Hyuka- it's okay. I mean this is not okay but..." You too were a mess, looking for the right words.

Y/n! You're a writer, think! You paused for a moment.

Speak from your heart.

"Hey, Hyuka? Look at me."

He looked at you, and the sight of his face bore into your head, and not at all in a good way.

"Let's sit down, yeah?"

Huening Kai sniffled some more. "But I'll get the seat all wet."

"That's fine, that’s not a problem at all, I'll cross my fingers and hope the seat won't get cleaned, so the next person to sit on it are those same boys who made fun of you."

Huening Kai sat down, but he wasn't laughing.

The pain he felt, the guilt you felt, it's all completely unimaginable. And it's not like you even know the whole story yet.

It's so easy to let the words out on paper, but in real life? Your body kinda acted on its own, you don’t know what you’re doing, what you want to say. The words just came out, and, you just, did it.  "Here... come on-"

Huening Kai flinched, eyes wide and pure. 

He’s scared, and you didn’t expect that to hurt you so much. "No, I don't want to hug you, you'll get wet and sick, too."

You scoffed. "So?"

He blinked, and for a couple seconds he didn't know what to do, whether to keep pressing on the fact he's fully soaked or take a step back.

It was then he chose not to go with either of those options.

He squeezed you to death.

The rainwater seeped into the fabric of your uniform, you couldn’t care less. You clutched onto Hyuka tight, worried that the slightest breeze will push him away and you'll never get to see him again. He continued sobbing into your shoulder.

"Okay." You patted his back. "Okay, tell me everything."

"The boys- I was- We were just talking and then I brought up that I'm taking dancing seriously and want to be an idol when I grow up and... they made fun of me for it. Maybe they were just joking around but... I didn't think of it that way. I feel stupid for-"

"No, this isn't stupid, they are. They have no right to make fun of you." The irony of it all.

Huening Kai, known for his smashingly good looks and cute demeanor, known for being a bubbly ray of sunshine, praised for his talents and social skills and dancing- oh especially dancing- was being made fun of because he wants to become an idol? "I think there's nothing wrong with you for wanting to be an idol." You let go of the hug, but still sat close to him. "Nothing at all."

Huening Kai looked around. He looked anywhere else but you. He just couldn’t, he just couldn’t. "It feels... I don't know. I just... sometimes I don't believe I could make it, too. Regardless of my friends making fun of me."

You took a deep breath, slinging an arm over his shoulders. "I know." You chuckled, the look in your eyes now reminiscing the distant past, that is, your middle school years.

Only this time, Huening Kai turned his head. "Hm?" Even while crying, he’s still an angel.

"I know what that's like." You rephrased. "People also don't believe I'd make it as a writer, but it's people like that who probably only have money-related goals anyway, right?"

He nodded, letting your words sink in.

"At the end, we all die in the same coffin, and, I believe when that time comes, money doesn't measure someone's life well lived, but instead, their happiness. If being an Idol makes you happy, please, by all means go for it. And then, the good people in your life will stick around and be there for you." You stuck your thumb out, pointing it in your direction. “Like me. Let me be your biggest fan, other than yourself.” There was no lie in your words, only compassion.

For a while, nothing happened.

The raindrops continued drumming the street, the salty taste still looms close. 

Your arm is still rooted along Hyuka’s soggy shoulders. You can hear him breathing deep breaths, long and draggy, very much needed breaths. 

He brought his head up, looking at you. Still trembling whether it's from the boys, the rain, hell, maybe even you but he’s trying. 

Once your gazes meet, something far deeper than words can portray settled in hos eyes– admiration."You're very smart."

You smiled all smug. "Of course I am, a genius like me only shares their knowledge to those I find worthy of trust." You leaned closer to him by then, digging a finger into his chest.

"You're also a bit over dramatic sometimes."

You clicked your tongue.

This dude. 

"Hey-"

"I'm kidding!" Huening Kai wiped his tears away. "But it's true though."

The two of you chuckled, and for a moment, you both were just two goofs again, just tiny little specks of dust pre-existing in this vast universe. 

That.

That feeling right there was, somehow, comforting.

Huening Kai's hand flipped over, reaching for something- your hand. "Okay," he grasped it firmly, "I'll go for it. I won't let my friends tell me what to do with my life."

It didn't matter if anyone was watching you guys. They, too, are also just little specks of dust in this big, big world. "Hell yeah, that's great. That's fantastic, actually." You gaze at Hyuka, making sure he knows that if no one's proud of him, not even himself, you got his back. "I will cheer you on until the end, I promise."

"Good to know." Hyuka couldn't thank you enough. There's just too many words to say.

Huenin Kai wonders why you haven't laughed at him yet, or degrade him or something. Anything. And looking at you now, he knows the answer as to why.

You truly, truly believe in him. 

Huening Kai never knew a person like that could exist, someone who is completely different from you, yet, they get you all the same.

"I'll cheer you on for sure." He meant those words the most, more than any 'thank you' ever could.

It was then you brought out your fist. "Artists support artists."

Huening Kai fist bumped you, thinking to himself that sad, rainy day,

She's so cool, I’ll love her to death.

---

Huening Kai brought up his fist.

You smirked at him. "Artists support artists." Your fist clashed into his. 

You thought, I'll definitely add this to one of my books.

The bookstore was entirely made of wood: The shelves, the floor, the staircase. It even left this woody scent while also maintaining this fresh, indie vibe.

"What book did you get y/n?" Hyuka strolled next to you, side by side walking in between random isles with no sense of direction, kinda like a prince and princess strolling down a courtyard.

You shrugged your shoulders. "I don't know, I think I might want to try out some romance though."

You had peculiar taste. Everything about the novel you bought didn't have to be perfect, no, however, if it didn't speak out to you, if it didn't remind you of you, there's a high chance you'll not buy it.

So imagine your surprise when Hyuka pulled out a random book from a random shelf at a random aisle suggesting you should give it a read. "What about this one?" He scanned the summary, "Err, some high school girl and high school guy fall in love."

You snatched the book from him, the cover so glorious and extra and fancy, it was so made for you. "Hyuka, I love you so much." It had to be on your bookshelf, right now.

"Hehe, I know.” He flipped his hair like the genius he is. “What should I get?"

You look at him with that look. That look that says ‘but I thought you don’t like reading?’ "You're also getting something?"

Huening Kai nodded. "I want to get into reading too, a little, just for you."

You eyed him, and you can tell, he knows just what you're gonna say. 

"Read my book then."

"But, y/n." He whined, to which you gave him your evil writer smirk. You know, the face you make after writing an unexpected character death scene which leads to your readers coping by posting to their shattered-hearts desire on multiple social media platforms, bonus points if it's the love interest you're killing off!! "I don't need to read it,” He complained,”I know everything already!"

He isn't wrong.

You didn't write your novel all on your own.

You contacted Hyuka all the time for a reason. When brilliant ideas shoot you like an RK62 rifle, Hyuka is the first person you ramble about it to, and poor poor boy has to sit there listening to all your rambling.

Or on the flip side, when you're having those slower writing days, you hit him up too, and he comforts you through those uninspired time periods.

So it doesn't necessarily surprise you when Hyuka told you he hadn't bought your book. He did know everything about it, things that didn't make it to the final cut, the things that did, the ugly first couple of drafts.

There was no point in reading it, you thought. "You're not wrong."

Hyuka looked elsewhere, head in the clouds. "Hm. I'll read it anyway."

"Seriously? I was just joking, you know." No, you weren't. "You could read literally anything else. What about some romance? Or high fantasy?"

"Nope, I'm sure now, I'll read your book." Hyuka pressed on. "It's yours after all, you wrote it, and if I liked listening to you talk about it, then I think I'll enjoy reading it, too. Now..." He clutched your hand, jogging down the aisle without warning. "Let's go find that book."

iv.

At the beach, you thought you'd read your books together while the waves crash and the sun sets and the sky is a gorgeous shade of pink and the salty air wafts in your nose as you take deep, meditative breaths.

But no.

On this empty beach, Hyuka whipped out a cylindrical block from his backpack- a speaker.

If this were a scene in a movie, this would be the part where the happy music stops and the characters are wide eyed and crickets sound effects commence. "What are you doing?"

Hyuka smiled at you the way a seven year old child would at their father after scribbling his monster truck with crayola markers, cuteness overpowering guilt. 

"Y/n," Hyuka says slowly, in that adorable voice he knows you can't resist. "since I made a promise to read your book, promise me you'll dance with me-!"

Bile shot up your throat. "No. Not here."

"Huh? Why?"

"I'm not dancing in public."

Hyuka looked around. "But the beach is empty, I'm the only one watching. Come on y/n, it'll be fun!"

Hyuka's cute demanding voice was working on you. No it wasn’t… Okay maybe it was.

Your toes curled, further planting yourself in the ground.

God you don't wanna do this. "But- Hyuka, I know you have good intentions but it's so. It's been so long, I don't know if I still got the hang of things-"

"Sure you do. Hang on, I know the perfect song for this." He plays your favorite song (or at least your favorite song of his) on the speaker- Our Summer.

The familiar tune runs laps in your mind, goosebumps blooming across the valleys of your arms. Music does sound prettier aloud than plugged in with headphones on. It does make you… less stiff.

"I don't know how to dance to this-"

"Me neither?" Hyuka proceeded to fix the speaker, placing it upright on a blanket over the sand. "We never had an official choreography for this song, so I thought the both of us can just make it up as we go?” He drags you by the hand, causing you to lose grip of the sand and stumble as you walked. “It doesn't have to be serious or anything. It's for fun, is all that matters."

Fun.

Yeah, that’s right.

"Y/n?"

It hit you like a plane hit a bus hit a car hit a person. "Fun..." That's what mattered at the end of the day. 

We all die in the same coffin, and by that point, only one's happiness is the proper measurement for a life worth living. 

"Okay.” You spoke to no one in particular. “No one else is watching..." and even if they were, does it matter?

Hyuka looked at you, like, really looked at you.

Did he feel concerned? Confused? Scared this is a bad idea and he shouldn't have bothered you in the first place? 

"Y/n." He called your name once more, extending his arm. "Join my dance club?" He smiled his perfect smile. "Please?"

You stood frozen, unsure why your throat started closing up.

Hyuka continued, "I'll suggest some ballet." A giggle. "I'm not sure how, but I'll make it work."

Memories bubbled to the surface. You were sitting under a tree, this damningly uncomfortable tree, thinking today will be peaceful, today will be different and it really was so peaceful and different because this boy– this young boy beaming with curiosity and innocence– comes up to you and changes the world around you.

You held Hyuka's hand tighter. "I still love ballet deep in my heart." Your feet did its thing, they stepped this way, they skipped that way.

You spun Hyuka around, laughing along with him, sand flitting around, your hair in your face but it didn’t matter that neither of you were completely off-beat because you were having fun.

The variations of ballet and hip-hop dancing are so unfittingly perfect, so freeing, so you.

Memories rush back to you like wildfire.

The classroom, the mystery notebooks, the noisy corridor, the tree, the rainy day at the bus stop, Huening Kai.

Huening Kai, who was a small corgi with a dream to be a star, turned into a golden retriever idol with the same heart of gold. The same boy who you parted ways with after graduating high school but never parting ways with you.

Everything was a massive blur. One moment, you're under that tree talking with your best friend Hyuka, the next moment you're alive and free and so happy in this empty sunset beach. One moment you are comforting this poor soaked boy at the bus stop, the next moment he's a full grown man holding your arms swaying to the rhythm.

The song closes, and you're standing right as the waves hit your shins in sync. 

Your heart is pounding, it's pounding so loud but it feels so good to be young and free again. You walk further away from the shore, not looking or going anywhere in particular. You pant, not able to take a breath.

Just then, your feet left the ground.

"Hyuka- HYUKA PUT ME DOWN!"

Hyuka lifted you up bridal style, with such ease as if you were nothing but a hydrogen atom, running back to the waves.

You want to punch him. He was running at Godspeed, and. You didn't want to get your outfit wet. 

But he's too pure to be punched. 

BUT YOU WANT TO PUNCH HIM SO BADLY. "WAS THIS YOUR MASTER PLAN ALL ALONG???" 

Hyuka wheezed hard, not having heard you scream this loudly up until this point.

"YOU'LL NEVER KNOW-!" Just as he screamed, he slipped and fell frontwards into the waves, him too getting all soaked in sea water. Now both of you looked like something out of the Titanic.

"DUMBASS!" You shrieked, but Hyuka couldn't hear you... because he was in the water... and couldn't get out for some apparent reason. "Oh." You got your hands around his waist and pulled him out, "Hyuka, you okay?"

Hyuka held onto your arms, cheeks red, cackling like a maniac. "I wasn't supposed to fall. I swear I did that accidentally on purpose."

You knew he did that on purpose. As you dragged your bedraggled corgi out of harm's way, where the knee-deep waves can't drown him, you... you wanted to say something.

You had to say something. The words 'I love you' didn't feel right. You had to say something else, something more.

The sun dipped halfway into the horizon, the sky frosted in thin clouds. It was just you and Hyuka, Hyuka and you. You never felt more at peace... with someone.

You squeezed his waist tightly, not too tight so he won’t choke, just enough to get him to notice, which he did.

"Never leave me, Hyuka."

Hyuka fell silent for a moment, letting those words melt into his head.

Because he understood just how important those words mean to you and him. "I love you too."

Epilogue

A couple months go by.

Huening Kai walked down the pavement, heart pounding in anticipation.

It wasn't hard to find the signing for your second published book, not when the entire bookstore was plastered in eye-catching posters and, moreover, crowds of fans lined up for an autograph, to be able to see you.

Huening Kai didn't have to wait, though. As per your request, he could skip the line and get a pre-signed copy... for free. 

He bragged about this to the other members, to which they said things such as 'aww she's so sweet' (everyone) or 'why can't I get my own copy?' (Beomgyu) or 'dumbass, we could just share.' (Yeonjun to Beomgyu). 

Huening Kai waddled into the bookstore, ignoring the quizzical stares he got from people. The line wasn't any shorter inside.

Huening Kai's jaw dropped. If it detached from his skull, it would be rolling off the floor like unraveling the red carpet. The line was so huge your signing podium was on the second floor. That's right, the line continued as he crab-walked up the stairs.

And there you were: In a suit, taking pictures with fans, piles of books resting on both your sides.

Huening Kai never saw you in a suit, but he must admit, you rock a suit better than he ever could.

He shifted towards you.

You look up, pleased.

"It is I."

You stared at him with an expectant gleam in your eyes. "Hello, my little corgi." Then you passed him what seemed like... a violet parcel tied with twine? "A special copy for a special person." You winked so very discreetly.

He nodded, bowing down before you. Like. Full on kneeling, hands together, forehead kissing the ground type of bowing. "I am honored."

As he was still on his knees, you whispered, "Meet me at the cafe."

He nodded once more. "Good luck with your signing."

He walked away, vanishing into the crowd, leaving you just as you saw him. But that’s okay. You’ll see each other… in a while...

An hour or so had passed. Or maybe two. Perhaps three.

Huening Kai stayed put in the cafe, the ice cubes that once piled in your matcha latte he bought for you now melting away. He read three chapters of your newly published book, which, wasn't a world record for speed reading or anything, but he enjoyed his 'mysterious cafe booktok girl' moment while it lasted. Because of you, he got motivated to indulge into this new cozy hobby.

Huening Kai yawned, not because the story was particularly boring, he just needed a break. He stared at the violet parchment paper and unraveled twine, sitting on the edge of the table.

A special copy for a special person.

He folded the paper neatly, spun the twine over his fingers, then snuck it in his pocket for safe keeping. He couldn’t just throw it away, he thought.

Finishing the remnants of his grape smoothie, having nothing better to do, he scrolled through the book, flipping pages mindlessly, checking each and every minor detail: The title of each page, a font change, an image, a picture of him and you on the beach he never forgot taking-

Wait-

He flipped the pages back, nose butting in the spine of the book. His eyes locked on that one page.

That one,single page.

'Dedicated to Hyuka'

He closed the book. 

Opened it. 

Closed it again.

A minute passes by. Maybe two. Perhaps three.

He opened the book.

He got to that page.

And once he got there, he couldn't rip his eyes off the picture. Its printing quality is spot on and the both of you look so so pretty and he couldn't be any happier.

Back when he had black hair, back when your hair too was long as a ghost's in need of a fresh chop. 

Back when you were in an author slump and he was in need of- he choked, and not in a bad way- you.

Curious (and also not ready to read the hell of a paragraph underneath the picture), he turned to the acknowledgements section to see if you spared any comments for him.

You did.

To Hyuka, the boy who taught me how to dance, I thank you for bringing this book (and its author) to life.

His heart thawed when reading that. 

So he read the sentence. 

Over and over. 

And over again.

How were you able to make him feel this way?

How could he be this lucky?

He forced himself not to curl the pages, a bad habit of his, because. This book was just too precious. If he left even one page damaged, wrinkled, unstraight, he'd sob knowing the fact he practically ruined the most precious gift you could offer.

He flipped to the next page. 

That page.

The page.

Years ago, this boy came to me. He was the only person who ever cared for my writing back then, the only person who believed in me. He helped bring this book to life, and the book before that, and older works I haven't gotten to publishing yet. He encouraged me to partake in my other hobbies too, to give them more attention. Because of him, he ignited my love for writing and ballet. He's quite literally my will to live. I appreciate him more than words can say for simply existing as the same timeline as me. Hyuka, you helped me so, so much. Even if you think you're doing the bare minimum, just know, bare minimum isn't really common these days, as well as endless gratitude. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

His fingers stayed clamped to the page. Why were you such a good writer? How did you know the exact words to not only translate the fictional world from your mind to paper but also the exact words to make your best friend cry?

"Hyuka! Hey, sorry to keep you waiting. The fame is really getting to me." You fanned your hand. "My hands hurt from all that signing."

Huening Kai almost fell off his chair. 

He sucked back his tears. Act normal. "Y/ndon'tscaremelikethateveragainplease."

Somehow, you were able to make up most of what he was saying. "I texted you that I'll be here soon though, didn't you see?"

He did not. "Sorry. I was reading your, uh, masterpiece hehe."

"Oooo d'you like it so far?" And then you kicked it off from there, rambling about your book, the signing, and random topics here and there.

Huening Kai forgot he was crying for a second, but his heart still remained sore, his body still tender from reading that paragraph. No birthday wish or late night appreciation text on WhatsApp could top that off. He wants to hug you so bad right now.

"Hey, Hyuka?" 

"Hm?" He still has that angelic smile, even when he's in pain (the good type of pain) on the inside.

"Wanna go to the beach again?"

He choked. "Of course. Uh, when though?"

"Right now."

He blinked. "... Right now?"

"It'll make my book signing day even better." A pause. "I mean- this is very short notice and maybe bad timing if you think about it actually but-"

"Yes," He spoke quietly at first, "please, let's go."

You blinked at him. "Wait really?" With how busy the both of your schedules were, what are the chances the two of you would-

"Yes really! I want to dance with you. Be it ballet, or hip hop. In another universe maybe we could be dancing together all the time." His voice cracked. "Do you know how much I..." It's been so long since Huening Kai has ever felt this small, since Huening Kai felt so... appreciated. The type of appreciation that isn't related to his work or his face but him. He sunk back into his seat, eyes distancing off of you. "Is this what you felt when I asked you on that beach escape?"

You stared at him, wondering if he'll ever look back up. It, too, has been a long time since you've seen Huening Kai like this. "Hyuka, I'm sorry I don't-"

Hyuka waved his hands around, "No. Don't be sorry I- I was sputtering nonsense I-"

"No, no, you weren't saying nonsense Hyuka." You started. "I felt really happy when you asked me on that beach escape. It's like... The feeling transcends words, the burst of energy I felt, the rush of old memories with you, the way I can feel my heart pound loudly in my chest again." You smiled, and it meant the world to Hyuka.

Huening Kai couldn't wait any longer, he knew just what he had to do.

Huening Kai grabbed his drink. He didn't have a speaker, so he settled with his phone. He reached his hand out. "What are we waiting for?"

You stared back at the boy, now a man, in front of you. "Let's go."

When was the last time you felt happy?

The ground shifts from soil to sand, the sunset is more orange than pink at this hour.

You look at Huening Kai.

The image of a fifteen year old boy smiled back at you.

You whisper to him now, “Meet me at the shore”

a/n: I spent about a month and a half writing and perfecting this piece to the best of my capabilities, but even then, I wasn't so strict with myself on this piece, because, that's quite literally my point of writing this: To have fun. to let loose, to enjoy writing again. I do genuinely hope this fic makes all the tired, underappreciated artists out there feel more loved and respected; I genuinely hope this work has touched the hearts of those lonely souls in need of a friend, seriously, you guys are so independent and such awesome people, it baffles me how you haven't found your special someones yet; and to all the ningdungies who came here for Huening Kai, thanks for stopping by, I hope this fic fed your hyuka-content-deprived souls *brings forth spoon and bowl*nomnomnomnom* Thank you for reading up until this point, I greatly appreciate you and hope you stay tuned for more!!

Reblog and review if you like my work 🫶🫶 they are greatly appreciated!!

[kerrikins]

It's hard for me to tell at the moment whether I can't see anything in the Build tag because of the massive amounts of spam or if it's just that people aren't saying anything, but I guess that is neither here nor there, other than that if nobody is saying anything after the last week it leaves me a bit ??

I last posted about this whole topic back in July - if I remember it was right at the start of the July 17th leaks, though at this point I'll admit that it's all become a bit of a blur. We've had what, now, five leaks since May? Yeah.

I've thought a lot about whether or not to post again since then. I had a friend visiting from out of the country at the time, and between that and the insanity that is my workplace at the moment, I quite frankly did not have the time or the brain space to actually work through my thoughts and put them down on paper, so to speak. When I did have some more time things had quieted down again, and I thought - well, no use dredging it up again, since I'd already laid out a lot of my thoughts here and then on twitter, too. There was also the unspoken fact that I didn't know whether or not there would be another leak, of course.

So here we are a month later coming off of another round, and after the last week I feel the need to finally get some things off my chest.

First of all, I've done some poking around and I'm disappointed but unsurprised to see that as usual, there is very little discussion outside of pro-Build spaces about how disturbing and obsessive all this is. The campaign of hate, bullying, harassment, coercion and blackmail continues and by and large people are happy to participate in it because apparently those things become okay when they are dealing with someone they view as a bad person as long as they pay lip service to 'well they're both bad people', which does not even come close to being an actual criticism of what she's doing. As always, there's also little discussion of the clear fact that she obviously doesn't care who she hurts during this process, even if it's the faves of the same fans participating in the hate campaign.

None of this aligns with my moral code. It never will. I think it's disgusting and I think that the people participating in it should be ashamed of themselves, though I know that they never will be.

I've gone into detail on all of this before, however, so I don't see the point in going into it again. I will simply state that yes, I do still believe in second chances and opportunities for redemption for anyone, regardless of what they have done. So I will always say that people should give Build the chance to try and be a better person, and that they shouldn't try to dictate to others whether or not they support him.

However (you knew that was coming, right?) - what's in those messages doesn't align with my moral code either. And yeah, I do feel like I need to say it, partly because I feel like the bubble/byl fandom at large is being a bit too dismissive of it.

I get it. I laid out up above why I think what is being done to Build is wrong. I haven't changed my mind on that. People feel so strongly that what is being done to him is wrong that it makes them extremely defensive of him.

But this situation isn't black and white and never has been, and multiple things can be true.

Example A: Some people who hate Build are guilty of behaving extremely badly and contributing to the harassment and bullying and blackmail.

On the flip side: some people who support him are guilty of hating on the other cast members in spite of the fact that there's no evidence of them doing anything. Some are also guilty of willfully turning a blind eye to the fact that he has admitted the messages are his and has apologized for them - which means that as of today the current evidence we have says that they are his, they're not fake, and he is taking responsibility for them.

Example B: His ex is clearly mentally unwell, a narcissist who is obsessed with revenge and is conducting a hate campaign to turpedo his life and career while benefiting her own.

On the flip side: it seems clear that Build is guilty of awful behaviour, of saying horrible things about people who were seemingly nothing but kind to him, of being homophobic, racist and sexist. (I'm not going to touch on the abuse allegations here because I've discussed those previously.)

Again: yes, I do think he should be given the chance to start over and redeem himself and I like to think he's capable of it, but fans really should be acknowledging what he's redeeming himself FROM.

From what I've witnessed in a lot of spaces - that's not happening. I've seen a lot of denial, I've seen a lot of handwaving and glossing over the situation. I've seen some insane claims, too. Some fans are going so far as to say that they think that his show was never going to happen, that the messages are all doctored and this is all a plot between the company, his ex and his former co-stars. (Which is just - ??? I don't even know where to start.)

Some are simply refusing to read the messages (how can a person defend him if they don't know what they're defending? I don't quite understand) while others simultaneously claim that the translations out there are misleading - but refuse to share 'acceptable' translations because that's privacy invasion. Again - ???

It's insane and downright exhausting and I am just... done. I speak up for what I think is right and call out what I think is wrong, and I while I think the handling of this is horrendous and has been from the start, I also think it's wrong to minimize and downplay what he's done. In his apology he's holding himself accountable for what he did, why won't some of his fandom? How can people argue for him to get a second chance if they won't even admit what he did that he needs a second chance for? Technically this is a third chance, I might add, because some of those messages are from after his scandal last summer.

I want to reiterate here that I don't hate Build. It seems like so often any criticism of his behaviour at all means that suddenly you're an anti or that you hate him or you're against him. I'm not going to suddenly go on diatribes about how he's a horrible person. I think it's likely that there's a lot more going on here than what meets the eye, particularly since there are people who are still well liked by most of the fandom who have stood by him until July (a certain picture that was posted with a filter comes to mind, as does someone who liked every single one of his posts since his return until they were mentioned in one of the leaked messages).

What I mean here is simply this: I don't think Build is a cartoon villain, I think he's a whole person capable of a variety of things, both good and bad.

I also want to make it clear here that I'm not here to hate on people in the fandom. I mean - glass house, stones, all that. But also I think we've had enough of that. This fandom is one of the most polarized I've ever been in and the vitriol is off the charts, I'm not going to contribute to it.

I guess my hope is just that people will think about why and how they're choosing to come to his defense, if for no other reason than the fact that in my opinon and experience, the more extreme fan claims are making it worse for him, not better. I've said this on twitter and I'll say it here - when people are confronted with attempts to downplay things, it makes them more intent on proving the opposite. If you acknowledge them then you change the footing and the conversation can move on to other things.

As I said, this is a complex situation. It's okay to acknowledge that. Things don't have to be black and white. A lot of fans are in echo chambers right now on both sides of the aisle.

Anyway. I truly hope that this will be the last post that I ever have to make on this subject. For now, at least, I've said my piece and addressed what I need to in order to feel comfortable and not just like I'm avoiding talking about the topic.

In the meantime I've turned my attention to Bible and the rest of the cast because I always have and continue to adore them and I feel like I've neglected them over the last six months (as much as a fan can neglect celebrities, of course). For all my issues with the company, I've always loved the cast.

I'm more active on Twitter than here, but I do go back and forth between the two sites.

Take care. 💗

[justalexisfine]

As much as I am not as connected to fruit bats, I still appreciate when mutuals see bats and tag me. It just gets overwhelming when it's spam tagging, my senses get overloaded. /lh, nav

My mind getting stuck on thoughts is painful for me because I can't force myself to think of anything else, I have to wait through it and it hurts to do so. /lh, nav

Today my thoughts aren't much besides loneliness, though.

I'll keep that in mind, then! And that's understandable, really. /gen, lh, pos

Ah, I get that. It usually hurts to try and force our thoughts to get unstuck, so we usually just... wait. /lh, gen

Our thoughts have been faint and fluid recently. They elude us every time we try to catch one. It's a bit of a pain, really. /gen, lh

[sailoryooons]

Im just going to get straight to it. I wanted to express how much I appreciate you adding resources as to why minors exposing themselves to mature content is a bad idea, really give more meaning to the whole minors dni thing. We all know knowledge is power and today you have helped someone become a little bit more empowered. that someone is now armed with tools to question their decisions and the consequences of them. 1)

Hi anon! I pasted your asks in full here so I could answer on one ask and not spam you with my response!

Okay wow I am so glad that you find them helpful and informative. While ensuring that minors aren't interacting with my content can be difficult and at times, seem really pointless, I think it's incredibly important to explain why people have the minors DNI beyond just it being weird to interact with adults on the internet.

Honestly, I used to read smut when I was in high school and it really made me misunderstand so many things about relationships, about sexuality, and about sex in general. I think that a lot of times, people read smut which is 9/10 times an idealized version of a sexual interaction that cuts out a lot of actual risks like STIs, pregnancy, toxic sexual encounters, awkward bodies and overall, kind of puts sex in this category/description that when you experience it in real life... it's not the same. Which is why it can be so harmful to interact with it when you're still developing experiences and opinions.

The truth is, sexual encounters are rarely like we write it here in fanfiction and even LESS real than what is shown in porn, which is why I think it's so so so important as a minor on the internet to steer clear of it.

Keep yourself safe and where you feel comfortable!!

For anyone wondering what resources this ask is referencing to, they are here for why it's harmful for minors to interact with adult content online:

| Resource | | Resource | Resource |

[hazelhavoc]

Fate Series - Roleplay

Hello! My name is Hazel, and I'm looking for someone that is interested in the Fate Series and loves to write a lot, like me! I am 21 and I have 9+ years of roleplay experience.

A bit of information before we proceed.

-If you like the Fate series, roleplay regularly, write literate, and are over 18+ (❗NO MINORS❗) then please message me, or like this post, or reblog so more people can see it!

-I have lots of OC's. Masters and Servants. They are all made up, and have their own lore/history/and the like.

-I would prefer it if you played canon characters, given I know how they act and the like. You can use your own OC's too with the CC's.

-I only roleplay on discord. So we'd make a private server for it.

-NSFW is fine! I just don't want it to be the main focus. Mana Transfer is normal of course. I do love Slow Burn and romance- but the angst is amazing too haha.

-Please, don't spam me if I don't reply right away. Usually I do, but sometimes I might be eating or doing something.

-Please don't contact me just to ghost me. That's happened before. Tell me directly if you aren't interested anymore.

-There will probably be canon divergence from the original plot, but we do need to stay within the plot so we don't go too off track.

-I don't mind AU's. Apocalypse AU's, SCP AU's, ect. I love those the most! I have lots of ideas for different AU's. As well as entirely new Grail war's. :]

~•~

Fate series I know -

Fate/Zero

Fate Stay Night (UBW - Heaven's Feel)

Fate/Extella (Extra and CCC)

Fate/Hollow Ataraxia

Fate/Grand Order (Babylonia/the Movies/also playing the gacha game)

Fate/Strange Fake

Fate/Apocrypha

Today's Menu for the Emiya Family (though this would be a more casual one, I do love action, angst, ect a lot more)

[bisexualhobi]

maybe the wrong blog for this but since you've been spammed by bts relationship dynamics asks who do you think are the closest (not just coworker) pairs in NCT?

also agree on your fatphobia/colourism posts the haechan thing today made me fume my mans is literally my weight and quite a bit taller than me (a fact I shouldn't know but is always readily available and updated for idols) and I fall in the thinner range of the healthy bmi scale. I have never once considered myself fat nor been called fat (which I know means I can't even begin to imagine how bigger bodied fans feel) but like apparently jeno would throw the same fatphobic shit my way? Like I'm thankful I have a healthy body image as I can't imagine how triggered so many young (and not young) fans of all sizes are by that shit... as if most kpop idols aren't already underweight as we sadly know as fact from their constant obsessing and updating publicly on their weights (I mean just look at V, RM and Jin in the last week)

i think the closest bonds in nct are

doyoung/taeyong

ten/yangyang

taeil/haechan

mark/johnny

chenle/jisung

jaemin/jeno

jaehyun/jungwoo

there are probably more but these are the ones i have noticed the most. but overall i think nct are really just a bunch of coworkers idk there's not really a sense of family even among each subunit

[hydrus]

Version 571

windows

zip

exe

macOS

app

linux

tar.zst

I had a simple week working on some quality of life and background stuff. There are special install instructions this week!

full changelog

new build

tl;dr: If you use the Windows or Linux .zip or .tar.zst 'Extract' releases, you have to do a clean install! (https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/getting_started_installing.html#clean_installs). If you are a Windows installer/macOS App/source user, you do not need to do a clean install; just update as normal.

The future build test went well, so I am folding the updates into the main build. The above releases are updated from Python 3.10 to 3.11, and Qt (UI) and OpenCV (image processing) are moved to newer versions. There aren't any super important changes, but a bunch of little things should work better or be a bit faster.

Unfortunately, the new libraries cause a dll conflict with v570 and earlier (basically the executable sees the py310 dlls beside the py311 ones and gets confused), so we need to clear the install directory of the old files. Just do the clean install and you should be fine!

You don't have to do it for the other modes because: the Windows installer basically does a clean install every time; the macOS App is always enclosed in its own thing doesn't have to worry about old files; and running from source doesn't care about dlls in the same way, although you might like to rebuild your venv today, just to catch up your own library versions.

If you do have trouble booting v571, then please revert to your v570 backup and let me know what happened! There were no problems in the test that people tried a couple weeks ago, so I'm not expecting anything much, but I'll jump on any reports. Also, if you have been struggling with some annoying menu or drag and drop bug, let me know if the new version of Qt fixed you.

the rest

The archive/delete filter gets a couple of workflow changes: first, if you finish a filter and there is more than one possible local file service to delete from, those 'commit' buttons are now disabled for 1.2 seconds. This is to catch you from spamming 'enter' through this dialog when it is suddenly different (I've done this myself more than once). Second, if you hate the idea of these buttons being disabled, and you always want to delete from all local file services anyway, please hit the new 'when finishing filtering, always delete from all possible domains' checkbox under options->files and trash, which lets you always have a simple 'commit' dialog that only shows 'delete from all local file services'.

The client now tries to load truncated images by default. The damaged images it now allows might be missing one pixel in the bottom right, or have a few lines of grey at the bottom, or might appear fine but just have some crazy metadata, but they won't, fingers crossed, fail with a 'malformed image' error any more. We had some stability problems with this mode some years ago, so I turned it off and only allowed it on in a debug menu on a per-session basis, but the situation seems to have cleared up, so it is now back on. If you need to turn it off, hit options->media.

Any time you have a normal single column list in the program, e.g. the list of URLs in 'manage urls', you can hit Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Insert and now it'll copy better strings (e.g. without '(1)' decorator cruft), and it'll copy every row you have selected.

I wrote a new emergency help document, 'help my db disappeared.txt', for the install_dir/db folder. If you ever boot up and get the 'this looks like the first time you have run the program' popup, there's now a guide to figure out what the hell happened.

next week

I didn't find the time to get to the 'share' menu rewrite, so I'll try again.