#2/ setting up the computer i'll work on is done on the other side of the pacific lol so it'll take a bit of time to get to me

[givemethedamnflowers]

Im seeing the light at the end of this long ass tunnel that was getting my master's degree : im getting close to finishing my thesis and i just got my dream internship

I fell apart in 2020, rebuilt myself slowly but surely and now everything is falling in place

[hannyoontify]

my love language is tteokbokki - yoon jeonghan

member | yoon jeonghan x reader

genre | pure fluff, comfort??, established relationship!au, high school!au

word count | 1.9k

synopsis | just like you were there for him, jeonghan is there for you when you need it most–through tteokbokki

warnings | a hefty amount of food mentions (mostly tteokbokki), reader is stressed and overworks and doubts themself??

notes | absolutely completely wholly 100% self indulgent and i am not ashamed. also it's pissing me off that jeonghan's hair color in the photo doesn't match the description in the writing but whatever it's 2:30 am

You rubbed your tired eyes with a stifled yawn. They were sore and probably blood-shot from staring at your computer screen for almost the entire day and on top of that, you could also feel your fingers cramping.

You were going through a few wrist exercises when you heard your room door open.

"Mom, I promise I'll eat dinner after I finish this-" You turned around, expecting the familiar sight of your mother, dressed in an apron and rosy cheeked, telling you to come downstairs for dinner.

But in her place, was your boyfriend. He tilted his head in a childish manner, reminding you of a young pup with a small smile.

"Jeonghan," You said breathlessly.

"Hey cutie. Do I still have to wait until you're done or...?" Jeonghan asked with a boyish grin.

You shook your head violently and patted the bed next to your desk, signaling him to sit down. He set down a plastic package and you could smell tteokbokki wafting out from the bag. You reached inside to see what it was, and as you expected, it was rose tteokbokki with extra cheese. He knew you so well.

You always ate rose tteokbokki whenever you were stressed or overwhelmed with schoolwork. You had an insanely low spice tolerance so even regular tteokbokki had you fighting for your life, let alone buldak ramyeon. So you resorted to rose tteokbokki, which was more friendly for you.

Before Jeonghan could finish situating himself on your bed, you launched yourself into his arms. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him in tightly, your cheek pressed against his.

"Thank you," you mumbled into his neck. The two of you wriggled around in your small bed until you were in a more comfortable position. Jeonghan was lying on his side, propping his head up with one arm and the other splayed across your torso. You were lying on your back, pressed flush against your boyfriend as your hands roamed across his shoulders, face, and hair. He had cut it recently, changing back to shorter, black hair from his previous long, almost bob-cut like black hair. You were a little distressed at first at the change, but you liked him in whatever hairstyle he had. Even when he had shoulder length hair back in freshman year.

"Anything for my darling," Jeonghan pressed a kiss on your forehead and you pretended to frown.

"Cheesy much," you mumbled, finding comfort in his warmth. You nuzzled up closer to him, pressing your nose into his neck and you breathed in his familiar smell.

"Mm.. but you like it."

You didn't bother responding because it was true. The combination of Jeonghan's soothing touches, his warmth, and his sweet smelling cologne slowly lulled you to sleep. Once you realized this, you shook yourself awake and sat up, surprising Jeonghan in the process.

"I need to finish this personal statement," you groaned as you clambered out of bed and sat yourself down at your desk.

"Can't you write it later? I wrote all of my personal statements a week before they were due and I got into a good college,” Jeonghan whined dramatically.

"Sorry pooks but I didn't have a life altering injury like lateral epicondylitis like you did so I don't have much to write about,” you said, almost sarcastically. You only ever called him pooks as a joke, almost like a warning that you were going to get upset soon.

Jeonghan didn't respond and let you work. He knew how stressed you were this semester, with work and school on top of working on college applications, essays, and scholarships. Luckily, he had to do all of this last year, and with your help (and kisses), he was able to graduate high school with his sanity intact.

He thought it was his turn to take care of you, so he sat himself up on your bed and watched you work. You were wearing your blue light glasses and you squinted at your computer screen as your fingers flew across the keyboard. He watched the way you buried your bottom lip under your teeth when you were stuck, and the way you would slowly begin to hunch over more and more before you would correct your posture. He knew your biggest fear was getting scoliosis at the ripe age of 17.

You felt yourself being pulled into a trance when you found a newfound boost of motivation. Your brain was moving too fast for your fingers. Leaving the typos up to grammarly, you continued to type with newfound rigor. When you felt something warm and sweet smelling tap against your lips, you opened your mouth automatically, without breaking concentration.

The rice cake Jeonghan just fed you was still warm. The sauce was soft and creamy, with a tinge of sweetness that balanced out the spiciness. You licked your lips for any remnant sauce and opened your mouth again to Jeonghan's direction, your eyes never leaving the screen and your fingers never stopping.

Jeonghan scoffed at the sight but who was he to say no? With gentle, loving eyes, he fed you another rice cake, this time wrapped in eomuk.

That was how you ate dinner that night. Jeonghan would silently offer tteokbokki and you would accept the food. Not once did you break eye contact with your computer throughout this entire exchange. You didn't speak either, just an occasional 'oh my god this is so good' and 'mmm'. After you were done eating, Jeonghan held a water cup to your lips, letting you have a few sips before taking the cup away again. He knew that the only liquid you had probably consumed that day was caffeine.

Once he was done cleaning up, he shuffled around your bedroom, picking up miscellaneous trash and clothing he found on your floor. Jeonghan tried his best to be quiet so as to not disturb you. He knew how hard you tried to be quiet when he was working on college applications. He also knew how much effort you put into taking care of him when he was applying to colleges.

Trying his best to replicate what you did for him, Jeonghan cleaned up your room, turned on your air humidifier with a few drops of lemon essential oil. He put away all of your older coffee mugs and energy drink cans (and while he was at it, he made sure to comfort your parents, who were a bit concerned for your well-being, something you also did for him a year ago).

Once he cleaned up everything, he re-made your bed, fluffing your pillows and spraying your pillows with a sleep spray he borrowed from Seungkwan so you could sleep peacefully after you were done.

Feeling satisfied with his work, Jeonghan pulled up a spare chair next to you and alternated between watching YouTube videos and watching you work. He took this as a chance to admire your features. The way your nose bridge sloped down and your bright eyes that reflected the light of your computer screen. Your pretty lips that were pushed into a pout as you focused on your writing. He admired the way you mumbled under your breath when you proofread a paragraph and the way you took an occasional break to stretch out your wrist and neck. He made it a point to always press his lips against yours during these breaks, a gentle reminder to you that he was there if you needed anything or just for silent moral support.

Once the clock hit 10 pm, Jeonghan softly nudged your arm. "Angel? It's bedtime."

"One more sentence," you mumbled. Your fingers seemed to move faster than before, if that was even possible, until you dramatically threw yourself back with your arms in the air. "Done!"

Jeonghan chuckled and kissed your forehead. "I'm so proud of you, love. Go wash up, and join me for bed."

Your brain was too tired to even process what he just said, you simply trailed to the bathroom with half-lidded eyes. Jeonghan chuckled and turned off the lights before climbing into your bed and making himself comfortable under your duvet. It felt much more comfortable now that he had re-made the bed.

You returned, dressed in a matching pajama set that Jeonghan also had. It wasn’t meant for couples, but you thought the design was so cute that the two of you needed to get it. You practically jumped into bed and cuddled up against your boyfriend, your nose buried into the crook of his neck and your arms wrapped around his torso.

“Tired?” Jeonghan asked. You could only muster a tired grunt and he smiled. The two of you laid in silence, the only thing that you could hear was the low buzzing of your humidifier and the low thumping of Jeonghan’s heart.

Your eyes soon adjusted to the darkness of your room and you could make out the silhouette of your boyfriend’s beautiful facial features. You stared, your eyes silently tracing the slope of his nose and his pretty lips.

“Hannie,” You called out in a low voice.

“Hm?”

“I’m scared.”

Jeonghan shifted in place to face you. “Why are you scared, angel?”

“What if I’m not good enough? What if I didn’t do enough community service? What if I didn’t do enough extracurriculars? What if my most tragic stories aren't tragic enough and my recoveries aren’t recovery-y enough? God, the college admissions system is so fucked up,” You whispered. “Making us relive our most traumatic moments only to get rejected.”

Jeonghan chuckled and rubbed a soothing hand against your back. “Angel, you are so much more than your extracurriculars or your community service hours or your trauma. You’re right, the college admissions system is fucked up, but if the admissions office can’t see what a great person you are through your essays, then it’s their loss. You’re a great writer who can evoke so many emotions from the reader. Remember your essay on family and its importance in ‘The Odyssey’ in your sophomore year? It made your English teacher cry, remember?”

You smiled at the memory.

You’re not lacking in any way, my angel. You’re doing great and will continue to do great. You’re going to do great things in the future, love. I can see it.”

Jeonghan squeezed your hand tightly. You could almost feel all of his love being poured out through that single action.

And I’ll be here for every single step of the way. Your failures and successes, I’ll be there for it all. I’ll be there to celebrate with you and I’ll be there to cry with you and give you a shoulder to cry on.”

You sniffed and wiped away a stray tear. “Thank you, Hannie.”

Jeonghan looked down at you when he heard you sniffle. “Oh no, angel. Are you crying? I didn’t mean to make you cry, I’m so sorry.”

He pulled you in tightly for a hug and you smiled into the fabric of his hoodie.

“It’s okay. They’re not sad tears.” Despite your words, more tears sprang out of your eyes and soaked Jeonghan’s hoodie. This was long overdue, you thought to yourself. Jeonghan pulled away from the hug and wiped your tears away with his sleeves.

“I’m so proud of you, [Name]. You’re doing so well. You know I’m always here, right?” You nodded, tears still spilling from your eyes. “My sweet, sweet [Name]. How tired you must be right now… It’s okay, let it all out. I’m here.”

Jeonghan continued to rub your back with small soothing noises, alternating with an occasional sweet nothing he whispered into your ear until you fell asleep.

He looked down to see your mouth open slightly ajar and eyes fluttered shut. Jeonghan slowly slipped out of bed, careful not to wake you up. He tucked you into bed, sliding your favorite stuffed animal into your arms in his stead (which he wasn’t happy about but he had to go home). He smoothed your hair out of your forehead and pressed a soft kiss to your skin. “Good night, my love. Sleep well. I love you.”

reblogs and feedback is always appreciated ^-^

[mvpfoolish]

and everything has changed - dreamwastaken

word count: 419 || part 2

You're heart sank as you made your way up the stairs; hearing Dream from your shared bedroom laughing with his friends.

This was a daily occurrence. Who are you kidding, this was your life. At least it has been for the last 6 months. Ever since Dreams face reveal, things between the two of you had changed.

It used to be that the two of you would fall asleep, wrapped in each others arms. But now, you went to sleep by yourself; no longer warm, no matter how many blankets you piled on-top of yourself. Scared some monster would crawl up and scare you while sleeping on your side; no matter how many pillows you piled together, trying to mimic your boyfriends body. Even when he was just 4 feet away from you, busy typing away. Making plans with friends who he could finally meet in person.

You would wake up at 5:45 every morning, while hearing him make his way into the bedroom. "Morning pretty girl/boy," He would speak as he placed a kiss on your cheek, a cup of coffee/tea being set down right on the nightstand next to you. "Have a good day at work." He would then knock out just minutes after hitting the pillow.

But now you'd be awoken by the grunts and slams of an annoyed Dream trying to code a plugin.

"You're still awake?"

"Of course I am, I need to get this done."

"Dream please come to bed." You pleaded wanting attention, wanting to feel loved, wanting to be touched.

"Just go back to sleep y/n, I need to get this finished" He knew you wouldn't.

You sat up rubbing your eyes, trying to get them used to the computer screen blaring into them.

"Clay-" You were cut off.

Dream got up throwing his headphones into his desk, "I said to just go back to sleep y/n, I need to finish this plugin for Sap and your whining and begging isn't going to help."

You looked over at the alarm clock next to you. 5:37 am. No cup of coffee/tea next to it. You knew you wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, even after realizing you had the day off.

You felt small. Your eyes began watering letting your boyfriends words sink in; your whining and begging isn't going to help.

"Sorry, I'll leave you alone." You got up walking out of the room, not a single soul following behind you.

[spoodlebat]

OC-tober day 3/4: Old OC/Redesign

This one took me a few days so I'm combining the two prompts ^^ It would have been the same oc regardless anyway so it makes sense to given the tasks. I very rarely draw mechs so I hope you'll excuse the identical style to Zerrinth's post; symmetry is just so much easier when it comes to designing and basic posing.

His name is Delta, and he's an OC who I've had for a very long time.

Extremely long ramblings, timelapse and original art under the cut

I'll frontload this with the character lore and timelapse; if anyone cares for my breakdown of the oc itself, that'll be the huge ramble at the bottom ^^

D-17, going these days by Delta, is an autonomous multi-function guard unit. Originally from a world shrouded in eternal night, he and his charge Amyss fled its destruction in their ship, the ArchWing, to the planet of Soniterra. Spending their time amongst my other ocs, they now live amongst its denizens in secrecy, studying the world of light and sound through void-borne awe and wonder.

Powered by a zynal core, Delta is mechanically minded and quiet most of the time; tweaks to his functionality by Amyss have given him something of a sassy streak, however, and he's not afraid to giving a gentle ribbing to (or occasionally completely devastate) a poor friend with sharp remarks every once in a while.

Able to rearrange panels and parts of his body, as well as altering the shape and location of the hardlight parts of his form, Delta is capable of minor shapeshifting. He can also very precisicly manipulate tools and objects, capable of working on engineering projects at microscopic levels without any form of magnification or complex set ups with ease. Combining these skills means he is a very capable engineer, and has even rebuilt a living body into a partial cyborg to save someone's life. Though the world he now lives on seems primitive and inefficient by his standards, he does not usually feel arrogant about it; the mechanics of its tech are so different and new to him that he is ever interested in studying it.

A highly capable combatant, D-17's original purpose was to protect the outpost he and Amyss lived within from creatures of void. Energy beams firing from his hands and sharp blades forming from his body kept him and his charges safe, but the planet's end signalled an end to his guarding duties.

Ok, rambling time ;w;

I don't know exactly when I made this guy, but I remember writing about him all the way back in primary school, in blue pen on lined paper that I kept in my little organiser tray. That would be about age 6 or 7, making this guy almost twenty years old in real time ;-;

This OC is old enough to drink and vote in the uk, good fuckin lord

His origins start even earlier, in fact; he's an amalgamation of a couple of simple characters I made as a small child, including one of those 'running along the side of the road' guys you'd imagine on long car trips. Timelines and memories are fuzzy after 2 decades, but I'd imagine those guys are from at least a year or so before I squished all those ideas under one single name. So a solid 19 years, and a potential 20-21 easily :') wow.

Delta is actually old enough that I hadn't done much drawing by this point in my life, and so I mostly wrote things instead. Those old papers are around here somewhere, but design-wise he's never been truly nailed down; just a basic mental image and the odd description or two. The one exception is an old pixel art piece I made of him in mspaint, back on the Family Computer (remember those? ^^). I was a huge fan of pokémon fusions at the time, and I'd spend ages mixing up their sprites to see what I could do. Eventually I moved onto making things from scratch (scratch spriting, what a fun term), and that lead to the one and only time I've ever drawn this guy. It took way too long, it's very clunky, and I no longer have the original file :c Lost long ago in the move between computer to laptop I imagine. Instead, I managed to find it in a gloriously 240p youtube upload set to a Linkin Park song ^^ ah child me, you never left.

All the way from 2010, here's the best surviving version I could find. And yes, the youtube bar at the bottom is in the shot; you want to fight me over it, go find and screenshot it yourself :)

It's weirdly posed, has literally only 1 shade of grey + shading for colour, the design makes very little sense, especially for the chest and torso, and he looks a lot more evil than I intended. Despite a few efforts that went nowhere later in life though, I just never managed to redraw or redesign him in a way I was happy with. So for a long time, this grey pointy spriteart has been all I ever saw of Delta. Figured he was long, long, LONG overdue an update, and so here we are :)

Though he might look very different now and have actual anatomy knowledge informing his structure now, who'd have thunk? I tried very hard to keep intact the core design features that 13 year old me added in. It's the same fella after all! Here's a quick list of basic ones, since most of them are subtle but intentional after all:

-Glass/screen face with digital expression; I think taking the top off frees him up to look cleaner, but underneath was always a smooth screen. This way he can see above himself too ^^ -'Bunny ears'; little antenna/paddles that originate from the endless runner character, who was originally something of a rabbit -Shoulder-mounted boosters. Pretty self explanatory. -Upper arm loops; this one was actually a coincidence! I guess 2010 me and 2023 me both thought the upper arm needed something ^^ -Elbow plates; these were like. A big thing. Originally able to shapeshift into blades and other tools, I had to keep them in. It wouldn't be delta without them. They're just less... accidentally lethal now ^^ old design was POINTY -Split shins; the original shins have a pair of plates on them that form a sort of 'cuff' above the foot. I honoured this by making the feet the same way, the ankle connecting between the two sides. -Spikes! His hips were feeling a little.. empty? So I gave him some electromagnetic spikey blade things he can use as tools, as well as some hardlight claw hands.

[mybrainismelted]

Office AU part 5! previous parts can be found here (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) or read it all on AO3

Mickey went about his morning routine, showering, shaving, breakfast... all the while thinking of all the ways he was gonna get Gallagher back for last night.  He wasn't actually upset about it, but what would be the fun in admitting that?  Deciding that he needed to make sure he got to the office first, he left a bit early, taking an extra bag with him that he had thrown together with some things he might need for his little act.

He managed to get to the office first, and unpacked a few things into his drawers, leaving others in the bag for later.  He was actually managing to get some work done, and almost forgot his plan when a certain tall redhead came quietly through the door and sat down across from him.  Remembering at the last second, Mickey kept his eyes straight ahead, not acknowledging Ian at all.

"Mick?" Ian said quietly.  "Can we please talk? I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am about last night." Mickey continued to ignore him, typing away at what was actually complete gibberish that he wasn't paying one bit of attention to.  "Come on Mickey... you can't just ignore me.  Tell me you hate me, tell me I suck, just say something."

At that, Mickey reached into his drawer and pulled out an obnoxiously large set of headphones, placing them over his ears and clicking around on the computer like he was starting up something to listen to.  Ian looked completely crestfallen where he could see him out of the corner of his eye, sagged forward with his head in his hands.  He shook his head a couple of times and then got up and moved to his own desk.  Mickey had to fight to keep a smirk off his face, pretending with everything he had that he was paying absolutely no attention to the sulking ginger on the other side of the room.

About an hour later, Mickey decided that it was time for phase 2.  So he pulled out his phone and sent off a text to Jess.

Mickey:  Hey, don't ask me why, and PLEASE try to act normal, but I need you to come in here and ask me how my evening was.

Jess: Ok... why are you being weird?

Mickey: Promise I'll explain at lunch.  I just need you to do this for me.

Jess:  Fine, on my way

A minute later, she came strolling into the office, flopped down in his extra chair, and gestured for him to remove the headphones.  When he had taken them off and put them aside on his desk, she started rambling about being bored, nothing to do, and everyone else in the office being booooring.  "Enough about me, though.  How was your evening?  Do anything exciting? Or did you spend the whole night at home with that damn cat like usual?"

Mickey rolled his eyes dramatically, and said "Nothing much happened.  Had dinner, went home, watched a movie, and went to sleep.  Sorry to bore you."  He gestured with his eyes towards Ian, hoping she would take the hint, which she eventually did.  "Ugh, you are a terrible story teller.  Don't know why I put up with your ass.  What about you, Ian?  Do anything interesting last night?"  she smiled, turning to face him.

"Uh.... no, I mean, I guess not.  Kinda had a thing, but it got weird, and I dunno what's going to happen now."  He muttered, not meeting her eyes.

"Ok... well that wasn't ambiguous or anything.  Thanks for the chat."  she huffed, getting up and leaving their office.

Mickey:  That was perfect.  I seriously owe you.  Pizza for lunch?

Jess:  Hell yes, and you are paying because that was hella awkward.

Jess:  And I want an explanation!

Mickey sent her back a thumbs-up, put his headphones back on, and went back to work.

At lunch, he did tell Jess the whole story.  Dramatically, of course. By the end of the story they were both holding their stomachs from laughing, tears rolling down their faces.  "Oh shit Mickey... that poor guy is convinced that you hate him.  How long are you going to let him suffer?" Jess managed to gasp out.

"Not too long, but you know... gonna let him sweat it out for a bit.  Fucker stole my cat AND fell asleep.  Left me with blue balls in my own fucking apartment!"

They managed to calm down on the walk back to the office, as Mickey contemplated which part of his plan he wanted to use next.  When he walked into their shared office, though... his plans went out the window at the sight of Ian, sitting at his desk, eyes forward, but red-rimmed and bloodshot, his nose red, and face blotchy.  Shit.  He was just trying to have some fun with the guy.  Didn't mean to make him cry or whatever.

Ok, plan B.  Move the plans for the day waaay forward.  He quickly walked behind his desk, and pulled a small pillow out of his bag.  Walking towards Ian, who was clearly now trying to ignore HIM.... he whacked him on the head with the pillow, and then dropped it on his lap.  "That's for just in case you feel the need for another little nap.  Get your rest before you come over tonight."  He said with a wink.

Ian looked at the pillow on his lap, looked up at Mickey, and a hesitant smile crossed his face. "Yeah?  Shit Mickey... I thought you were never going to speak to me again.  I was going to get them to move me to a different office.  You aren't mad?  You still wanna do this?"

"'Course I do man.  You're hot as hell, and I kinda like your dorky ass.  You going to get up here and kiss me, or what?" 

Ian practially leaped out of his chair, and tackled Mickey against his desk.  "Fuck yeah" he muttered, before attaching himself to Mickey's lips, sliding his hands under Mickey's thighs and lifting him to sit on the desk.  Mickey couldn't help the moan that escaped him, as he pulled Ian closer, hands roaming over each others bodies as their tongues slid together.  Eventually their panting and soft moans started getting louder, and Ian pulled back.  "Be right back"  he whispered.  "Gonna close the door real quick"

Mickey huffed a laugh and scrubbed a hand over his face in an effort to calm down.  Before he knew it though, Ian was back, pulling him forward some on the desk, and attacking his mouth again.  He wrapped his arms around Ian, deepening the kiss, one hand ending up on the side of his neck, the other coming back around to the front to feel the hard planes of his chest.  Ian's hands were squeezing at his ass, wandering down his thighs, and back up.  After another minute of that, suddenly one of Ian's hands was on his belt, quickly flipping it open, then popping open the button, and sliding his zipper partway down.  Mickey's breath hitched, and he pulled away from the kiss just slightly to watch as Ian's giant hand slid inside his pants, under the band of his underwear, and slowly stroked his already hard and leaking cock.

"Fuck, oh fuck yeah" was all he could manage to get out as Ian's hand moved more firmly, slowly increasing the pace, before capturing Mickey's lips again, muffling his gasps and moans as he slowly but thoroughly jerked him to completion.  "Ian, fuck, I'm gonna...." he gasped out, just before he came, all over Ian's hand, and the inside of his boxers.  "Shit."  he panted once the aftershocks had worn off.  Ian passed him a couple of tissues that he used to clean himself as much as he could in his current position, before looking up and reaching for Ian's belt to return the favour. 

Ian stepped back, shaking his head and said "Nah, I'm good.  You can get me back tonight." With a wink, he stepped forward again, kissed Mickey softly one more time, running his fingers through his hair, and then pulled away, saying "duty calls.... back to work Milkovich"

Mickey was still slightly in a daze, but managed to slide off the desk, doing his pants back up, and opened the office door.  Shaking his head, he wandered off towards the bathroom, the only thought in his mind "holy shit I can't wait for tonight."

[crabcantwrite]

Sleep

Written: 2/15/22

Words: 430

Fandom: Steven Universe

Ships: Kevin/Jamie

Warnings: none

"Hey Kev," said Jamie, turning around from his spot on the window seat, the side of his face illuminated by the glowing computer screen.

"What're you doing up? It's like 1 a.m.," mumbled Kevin, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"I couldn't sleep; thought I'd get some work done." 

"Come back to bed, babe," Kevin whined. "It's hard to sleep without you."

"I know, but I'm in the middle of this." Jamie turned back to his laptop.

"What's so important anyway?" Asked Kevin, looking over his shoulder at the screen.

"I got a great idea for this play I'm writing," Jamie replied.

“Fine, I’m gonna make myself a coffee; you want one?” He asked, walking towards the kitchen. 

“Sure” 

Soon after, Kevin came back with two cups of coffee, handing one to his boyfriend and taking a sip of the other.

"Thanks,” smiled Jamie, setting down his computer and moving to the side while Kevin sat down next to him. Jamie reached for his laptop, but Kevin was faster, grabbing it and putting it on the floor.

"Hey!" Jamie exclaimed, crawling over and grabbing for it, though Kevin held it out of reach.

"Hmph," Jamie grumbled, sitting down between Kevin's legs and resting against his chest. The pair stayed like that for a while. Kevin closed his eyes and rested his head against Jamie's. Until Jamie eventually got his laptop back and started typing again.

"You know I know your typing, right?" Kevin said quietly, nuzzling into Jamie's hair.

"And you know I'm not going anywhere," said Jamie, leaning up to kiss him. Kevin murmured something before wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and closing his eyes. Jamie yawned and moved closer.

"The coffee must be wearing off," Kevin laughed.

"Yeah," Jamie yawned and closed his computer.

"Alright, come on," Kevin said, standing and pulling Jamie up with him.

"Wuh?" asked Jamie dazedly.

"We're going back to bed, babe," Kevin replied, kissing him on the forehead. 

"Can't walk; 'm too tired." Jamie mumbled, leaning against him.

"Then I guess I'll have to carry you," Kevin said, picking him up bridal style. Jamie, who normally would have protested, just moved closer.

"Please don't drop me," he mumbled.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Kevin replied, carrying him into the bedroom and laying him down on their bed, getting in next to him. Jamie pulled him closer and put the blanket across them.

"Night, Kev," he muttered.

"Night, Jay," Kevin replied, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Love you."

"Love you too," Jamie mumbled, cuddling closer. The two of them fell asleep like that.

[roseytoesy]

Bed Time Buddy

@cuddle-2-electric-boogaloo

you know

"Adam..." Rosey said in a firm tone, now literaly hovering in his face. Being stubburnly infront of the man and the game hes was refusing to stop playing. "adam what time is it for you?" She asked arms stiff at her side.

"...its midnight." He mumbled refusing to look at her.

"Adam. Its fricken 3AM for you. Go. To. Bed." She demanded. now getting right in his face. "get off of the computer, and go to sleep." She was now grabbing the sides of his face and making sure he wouldnt be able to avoid looking at her.

"Its the holidays! i dont need to sleep! its fine! i wanna get some stuff done!" He tried to excuse himself a hand coming up to remove his insistant fairy friend.

"adam, my favorite pred, my best freind here. Go to sleep or... or I'll make you!" She kicked his hands away holding onto his face and pointing at the computer. The screen glitched for a moment befor turning to black.

"Hey! I was stil working on stuff!" adam said reachin forward to try and turn the screen back on.

"Relax i saved your stuff and put the computer to sleep. its fine," Rosey waved her hand dismissively. "You on the other hand will not be if you dont, Sleep!"

Adam frowned and opened his mouth to retort, with a bright flash of light and speed Rosey shot right into his mouth. Adam of course made a choking sound, coughing and trying to dislodge his suprisingly persistant friend. After a few coughs adams body quickly reverted to emergency mode and made him swallow hard, dislodging the thing blocking his airways. He gasped and coughed a few more times as she entered his belly.

A soothing green glow started to be noticable and adam could feel his throat's soreness ebb away and his eyelids grow heavy. "th... that's not fair rosey." He mumbled.

"it is if its done with love. Now go sleep. this spells gonna knock you out for a while." she said, he could almost feel the smirk in her words. He wanted to retort but a heavy yawn escaped his lips and he quickly walked over and flopped onto the fluffy couch near his gaming set up.

Rosey let out a squeek as she was squiched under his weight as he flopped onto his belly, for a bit of revenge. "Mmmmph, fine. youre so mean..." he yawned again, adjusting ot be more comfortable and placed both of his hands on his warm slightly rounded belly. "g'night Rosey. ill get you back for this..." He said quietly as he dristed off to dreamland.

"sure you will big guy, sure you will." Rosey sighed as she settled in and prepared for a scolding in the morning.

[arthurhwalker]

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i Review

The hype for this device is warranted. That said, some of the features are incomplete, or "coming soon." There's a lot of really great reviews of the device that talk specifications. In short, the specs are great. This review is going to about how the device fits into my own use case, and the features that mattered to me most.

Yep. I'm going to make it all about me.

Text Entry

Being able to use two screens in landscape, one above the other, or side by side in portrait mode is a show stopper. It's really difficult to have that set up, and have it fit comfortably in your daily carry bag. Being able to set a document window to cascade between both screens in stacked landscape mode is done by tapping five fingers on the screen. It's so good.

Also, it comes with a Mystery Triangle. No idea what it's for, but it is magnetic and has instructions on it for assembly. I found at least one thing it can do, but probably isn't intended for.

Pen holder?

Pictured below: 65w Charger, Lenovo 2-channel quiet Bluetooth mouse, keyboard accessory, stylus, and Mystery Triangle.

The Bluetooth keyboard accessory is excellent. Best of all, the keyboard is included. Literally, the best travel sized/weight Bluetooth Keyboard accessory I've seen is just quietly bundled with the Lenovo 9i.

Key travel, latency (I type very fast if I want to), and feedback are great. I know the device is designed to take pen input, but I love making text with it. They way the keyboard rolls up into the stand to protect the keys from havoc while traveling in my bag is really nice. A lot of thought went into the accessories for the Yoga Book 9i.

The effort paid off.

Pen Entry

You make some sacrifices here, but I'm not convinced it is Lenovo's fault. Being able to draw on the deck display while using the lid display to view your reference material is awesome. Pen input is pretty good, but I'm still wrestling with getting tilt and other functionality to work as I'd prefer. It doesn't seem to matter which application I use, there is a little jitter.

The device will take pen input on both screens simultaneously but that experience is heavily dependent on the applications, and what pen protocol they are using. Overall I'll be doing my finishing work at 300 dpi at home on my Thinkpad with a Wacom Cintiq. Will I do front end digital art, pixel art, and sketching on my Yoga Book 9i?

For sure.

It's an 8.5 stars drawing experience that feels like a 10 because the displays are both OLED, and vary closely matched in both color and brightness. I haven't applied any film to the deck, but the included stylus has pretty good resistance without it. My other favorite stylus works great, too.

User Experience

Microsoft's software products have been in steady decline for over a decade. I didn't think Microsoft had anything left to ruin after Windows 10, but they broke new ground with Windows 11. User experience isn't anywhere on Microsoft's list of priorities these days, and anything Windows 11 does well feels accidental.

Fortunately, Lenovo goes all out to smooth things over wherever they can. They have software running that helps curate the experience for the user. In some cases it does better than put lipstick on the pig that is Windows 11. With screen gestures and touch input particularly, I forget the pig exists.

There are many "coming soon" features that promise to make the experience great, utilizing both displays for function and neat visual aesthetics. If Lenovo does all they've promised with regard to features, the user experience would go from good, to great.

The bad news is that the display scaling is kinda stuck at 200%. You can change it, but you have to change it for each display, every time you log in. When you turn your computer on in the morning to get started working, you'll be changing the scaling, if you don't like it at 200%

For me, the 200% scaling is perfect, and I imagine it will be a for a lot of people. If that is not ideal, it becomes an arduous daily chore to open the display settings, and change the scaling to the desired amount. It is likely that Lenovo will fix this with an update.

If you're having this issue, head to Lenovo's Forums and hit this post. It has some work arounds, but also reply in line. Bump it up. Thanks.

I'll update this review if I find a silver bullet or if Lenovo issues and update that fixes the issue.

Darkness

During the Pandemic my spouse was ill (not with COVID, something else). Being able to sit next to her in the dark, and continue my work without disturbing her was pretty important. At the time I had an Thinkpad X1 Carbon that I had Lenovo's power management settings on it. With the screen brightness bottomed out, and the machine set to run quiet as I could get it, I was able to continue working.

After my spouse's recent surgery, I found myself in a similar situation. She basically needed to sleep for a month to heal, and I needed to be able to watch over her, and continue my work.

Using the Yoga Book 9i in a dark room to make text is great. With the backlighting turned down to nothing, the software keyboard (Lenovo's, not you Microsoft) is perfect. It can be set to give feedback, and a little noise, or nothing at all. The OLED displays turned all the way down are perfect for viewing text, without adding enough illumination to a room to disturb a sleeper.

It's also really cool looking in the dark. Perfect for writing science fiction.

My ears ring constantly after having COVID, and now I'm pretty sensitive to coil whine from devices. The Yoga Book 9i is almost as quiet as a fanless ARM SOC. Almost.

Sound

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i can be really quiet, but it can also be really loud. If you were using it to run Dungeons & Dragons at a venue, and needed something to play music and sound effects, this device has the best sound on a portable device I've heard. I have one other Lenovo Yoga with a sound bar hinge from a couple years back. The sound on it is really good, but nothing like the Yoga Book 9i.

You can take the Bluetooth speaker out your bag if you're carrying one.

That said, make sure you fully update all the sound drivers. My Yoga Book 9i came with a lot of crackle pop out of the box. Once I updated all the drivers, the sound was perfect. I didn't need to touch a thing.

You will absolutely annoy other people at the coffee shop while watching cat videos on YouTube.

Mobile Workspace

I've been carrying a Thinkpad X12 Detachable Tablet, a Thinkvision M14 portable display, Lenovo Pen Stylus, and Lenovo Bluetooth Mouse as my standard portable workspace. It sets up nicely on a coffee shop table, and let me do my things while I'm traveling.

It's a really nice set up, fits well in my bag.

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i does the same thing without all the hunting for accessories. Everything you need comes with it. Also, you aren't stuck with two landscape displays stuck side by side, or with extra stands to make your preferred viewing experience work.

It also takes up less space on the table, and I don't have to bring another keyboard as a sidecar to render digital artwork with the pen.

I haven't run into battery life issues with the Yoga Book 9i. I really expected to find myself searching for an outlet more often, but it hasn't been a thing. I assumed the magnetic stand and keyboard accessories would mess with it my bag, and I'd find the device running fans and being crazy in standby mode. Nope, it's been fine.

If it sounds like my expectations were low in terms of the hardware, it is because they were. I was pretty sure I'd buy one, review it, and return it. I'm keeping mine, and riding out the bumps as Lenovo updates and completes software features. I think it'll be worth the wait.

Accessories

All that's missing is the perfect bag or sleeve for the Yoga Book 9i. I'm using a Waterfield Designs Sutter Tech Sling right now, and it is pretty ideal. I have a number of Lenovo's other two-compartment cases that worth pretty well, but nothing that is "the one."

Other than that, carry an extra big microfiber cloth. With three Thunderbolt 4 ports I haven't found the need for dongles or docks unless I'm at home.

Bundled Software

Lenovo ships this device with a Smart Note and Journal application. You can take a Smart Note on the Lock Screen, save Bookmarks, and there is a Smart Reader app in the works. I usually dismiss bundled software, but Lenovo gave these apps some great features.

I might not use Journal, but I will be using Smart Note.

Branding

I've owned or laid hands on every version of Lenovo's Yoga Book devices over the years. My Yoga Book Gen 1.5 (Ruby Red) and Yoga Book C930 still get used, because they are that good. I've had the Android version of the Gen 1, Windows Version of the Gen 1, and used the LTE (Eurozone) Yoga Book C930.

Is the Yoga Book 9i a "Yoga Book" as Lenovo has defined them? Yes, and no.

The Yoga Book 9i is not a 10" ultraportable that defies the traditional categories of clamshell vs. tablet / detachable device. It is a 13" clamshell laptop that comes with the best wireless keyboard and mouse offerings, and the second best stylus Lenovo offers. The stand accessory that bundles everything up is awesome.

It does not fit in my vertical computer bag designed for 10" - 12" form factor devices. It would be unwieldy to hold like a book, in hand, and read text from the displays.

It does provide a computing experience you can't get anywhere else. Lisa Gade didn't even try to explain this in her review. You'll either look at this device and wonder who it's for, or know instantly that you need one for your use case. Like other Yoga Books of the past, there is nothing to compare the 9i to.

There are other dual-screen devices, but they don't compete with the Yoga Book in my opinion. They are not necessarily better or worse, they just don't provide the same experience.

Have a question?

Find me on most social media platforms, @ArthurHWalker

Pictured Below: One use of the Mystery Triangle?

[thecheesywritingcabin]

A Pre-2024 Update

Hi. Long time no post. How’s everyone doing? Surviving what’s left of 2023? I hope so.

Anyway, before 2024 starts, I thought I’d break down 1) where I’ve been and 2) what I’ve been up to. This update is now 3 months overdue after all.

What’s Been Going On

So, the last time I posted an update was April. I was firmly in “Act 2/3 territory” back then, so where does that leave me? Don’t worry, I won’t drag out the reveal.

As of September 27th, draft 3 of The Case of the Crawling Shadows is done. We all have read over the book, and are at a point where we're ready to share it with people.

I can't overstate how happy I am about it - we've been working at this thing since April 2022, and we're finally here. We can start talking about publishing this thing. I CAN SHOW PEOPLE THE BOOK.

Back in September, I intended to do a post about it. There's a draft announcement saved on my computer somewhere for that purpose.

I remember reaching the end of the book, and then scrolling back to the top as I usually do. I didn't find any outstanding comments, or weird spelling/grammar, or even a sentence I thought looked funky. As I read through, searching for weak points, none materialised. I was happy with the book.

It was the weirdest feeling, almost melancholy. For those of you who don't know, I've never finished a novel before. Starting them isn't a problem, but I tend to keep going and just...abandon them. This was a first. I enjoy writing, and it was a bit sad to not be writing this story that consumed a large portion of my life any more.

So, I told the others I was done with my side of the edit, stepped away for a bit, and then threw myself into some writing exercises to feed the itch. The others finished their edits and read-throughs not long after.

From here, the plan is simple. The three of us are sending it to some beta readers (ie: close friends to double check things) on Tuesday. After that I’d like to send it out for a sensitivity read, do tweaks according to both sets of feedback, then…yeah. We’re good.

The plan at this point is self-publishing so @fioriisketches and @lazyninjartist have the freedom to design the inside and outside of the book. I'm hype to see what we can do with the layout.

What Else Has Been Going On

So, it's been 3 months, and there's been a bit going on between now and September. First and foremost, I started drafting pieces of book 2 (yes, we want to do another book) and doing character studies in November. I'm probably going to pick up a 4thewords subscription next year after how much fun I had during NaNo 2023.

December I took a break from writing a bit to compensate for how much I was doing in November. The plan is to ease back into it Janurary/February - then again, my plans have failed before.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to what 2024 brings - I'll hopefully see you all there. For now, I'm going to leave you with one of my favourite parts of The Case of the Crawling Shadow. @lazyninjartist handled the opening section during draft 1, then @fioriisketches and I came in to embelish and adjust dialogue. It's one of the chapters that's changed the least since we started, I think.

[mydetheturk]

it has been something like. eight or so hours. and i am still trying to figure out how the fuck my eye doctor lost my glasses frames???

like. ive been going to the same eye doctor every year for the last like, six years or something like that. they have never once fucked up this badly.

timeline of events, from my pov under the cut because it got way longer than i thought it would when i first started this.

i go to the eye doctor, having set up an appointment like normal (late because its been a weird summer)

everything goes well until the very end, at which point the computer crashes and loses the data.

annoying, but its fine, i just have to go back in the next day and do it all over again on a saturday while they're busy.

go in again the next day. they're busy as hell, so i am there significantly longer than planned, because i'd set up for a late timeslot on friday for a reason (nobody wants to go to the eye doctor at 6:15 on a friday. trust me. it's great its so dead then.)

go through everything over again, i get a huge discount because i had to go through the inconvenience of coming back to the eye doctor. this is the best news, actually, because i hadn't totally been sold on getting new glasses, but i needed them because my old pair literally make my migraines worse.

the first indication that something was wrong was the fact that they didn't have any trial pairs of the contacts i wear.

This would not cross my mind until i picked up the new contacts a week later when they came in.

I try the contacts. Nothing is properly in focus, and i just think to myself, "oh its just cause i have a new scrip, it's fine, I'll get used to them."

i did not, in fact, get used to them.

About a week later, when my glasses come in, i make a mention to the guy fitting them that the contacts don't seem to be right. he tells me i've got plenty of time to bring them back in, they've got policies for stuff like "wrong prescription"

y'all i went to a friend's house on the other side of town two days later and came home via the bypass in the dark and i couldn't read the highway signs.

that's how badly they fucked this up.

i give it to the end of the week to be sure. End of the first pair of contacts, since i wear biweekly ones.

i go in on friday like "hey. this does not work, when can you get me in?"

and the lady at the front desk was like "well we've got a slot open right now if you've got time"

"nope, i only have until the end of the hour because I'm on lunch from work and i don't have either the contacts or the glasses with me right now. got anything for after (time i got off work that day)?"

"the doctor leaves at (time i got off work), will one of these slots tomorrow work?"

set up the appointment for the next day; i've got my glasses and my contacts and the eye doctor put me through a series of eye tests i'd never actually done before, which was kind of cool.

he was like "if you could shift your bangs back that'd be great, actually, i can't tell if you're squinting or not."

and i was like "well i'm doing my best not to but no problem."

appointment went fantastic, he even had trial contacts for me to put in. i almost cried the difference was so stark between the old scrip and the new one. (turns out the old scrip was just off enough it was giving me low-level headaches constantly. fun! not.)

so i leave the old contacts and the glasses with them to get the lenses replaced and for my new contacts to be ordered. (i looked at the eye chart they sent home with me cause i wanted to see the difference in the prescriptions. there should not be a discrepancy of over a whole number between the two. per eye.)

i picked up the contacts last week.

and now.

today.

this morning, i get two (2) texts saying my orders are in and ready to be picked up. sweet, i think to myself. i'll go pick them up later, get myself a treat while i'm out. grab something for dinner, etc.

i get there and its dead because its been raining all day. fantastic! it shouldn't take long.

i go in.

they're dead.

i let them know i'm here to pick up my order.

here comes today's first confusion: the guy at the desk is having trouble finding my order. which. okay. not a problem (yet).

so i sit and wait and fiddle around on my phone for several minutes while the guy hunts for my glasses.

I am slowly growing more and more confused.

another guy starts helping him out.

the first guy finds a couple of doctor-style ziplock bags and asks me if i have my frames with me.

"Nnnnno. I left them with you guys two weeks ago. I was assuming when I came in, my frames would have new lenses."

I am very confused now.

the gentlemen go on the hunt for my frames.

several more minutes go by, and i am increasingly incredulous and more confused.

i think to myself "did they lose my fucking frames????"

the first guy is sent to the racks of frames to grab a pair of frames that look almost, but not quite, like one of the frames i left with them. blue instead of brown.

the guy goes back in with the frames and i am fully invested.

because.

it sure as hell looks like they lost my fucking frames.

y'all.

they lost my fucking frames.

they got ahold of the lady who's been so helpful basically every time i've seen her and they let me know the situation.

tomorrow, she's going to look into the situation for me. see if she can't find my frames, and if she can't, replace them. gonna call and let me know tomorrow what the deal is.

they offered to give me the blue frames until they could find the frames i'd gotten originally - from THERE, mind you - and i was like

"i don't need the glasses to see. i wear contacts most of the time. my glasses are backups."

so i wasted a solid 45 minutes at the eye doctor today and i'm sure i'll still have to go in tomorrow to talk to someone because they mentioned potentially having to re-order the glasses frames from another store if they couldn't find my glasses.

this was at like. 2:45 this afternoon.

i'm still just like how in the hell did you lose them????

spoke to my roommates earlier about it and they were BOTH like "you are having a shit time with your eyes this year huh?"

and its just like

YEAH. YEAH I AM, ACTUALLY. CAN I GET OFF THIS ROLLERCOASTER NOW

just.

crhist alive

[murumokirby360]

My Yearend Techs & Misc. Items Summary - 2022

Hello! So, 2022 is about to end in a few hours. A few positive moments 🙂⬆️, but some are negative moments in the past 😞⬇️, with my most heart breaking moment was my old hard drive will soon vanish because I can't work it right, and I'm unable to save my precious files. 😭 But, don't worry, I'll be strong when it hits 2023. 💪 As some would say, "Where there's a will, there's a way". 🥲 And, since I can't retrieve my old template, I decided to create my own template from scratch instead of fetching a traceable template from the internet image search. Which is good for me.

Anyway, enough for that, let’s talk about my ‘My Yearend Techs and Misc. Items Summary 2022’! And here are my choices per month so far, both ongoing & done topics:

• JAN - Redragon Rudra (K565R) Full Size Mechanical Keyboard (done): So far, I'm having fun typing & playing with my 1st ever owned mechanical keyboard from the 2021 Christmas gift. However, one con that I've found from experiencing mech keyboard was wearing off the tactical keystrokes after longevity used. I'm still curious to see if this mech keyboard from Redragon is swappable/removable key switches; though it didn't advertise or include this feature. Regardless, it is still worth it to use my daily computer activities.

• FEB - 8bitdo Pro 2 Controller (ongoing): Arguably the most worthy controller in my review, the 8Bitdo's Pro 2 controller is my current go-to 3rd-party controller on multiple gaming devices (Android, iOS, Steam, Switch, and PC/Laptop). Though to be fair, the SN30 Pro+ had a special place in my heart, so much so that I want to buy another one. But, I digress. The Pro 2 controller improves the predecessor by adding back paddle buttons, a profile switch, toggling four platform devices, and connecting the 8bitdo ultimate software app on Android/ Apple iOS on the go without bringing a bulky laptop.

• MAR - Oria 120 in 1 Screwdriver Set (done): As a tech-savvy enthusiast, I decided to buy my own Screwdriver Set, in case that I want something to fix on my daily used devices, namely "Smartphones". Because it's very common now, to this day.

• APR - Fixing my PC - Volume II Story: A sequel to my last year's story, I made another huge mistake after I disassembled & cleaning the entire parts of the PC desktop harmlessly until it went down south. So, my mom provided me to buy a new motherboard & CPU to keep my computer alive. I'm still concerned about my 160 GB HD (that contains my important & precious files), therefore, my puzzle is incomplete, to this day.

• MAY - Adata HD330 External Hard Drive - 2 TB (done): On the bright side, I bought my own brand new 2 TB external hard drive from the folks of Adata. And while I'm filling out some files by drawing digital artwork or recording videos, I always stored my NEW precious files onto my portable memory drive.

• JUN - N-Power LED RGBW Bulb w/ Remote (done): A single-color light bulb is boring to some. But, a light bulb that contains different colors using a remote on our fingertips is far better & entertaining. And I can't do without N-Power. Plus, it's way cheaper than other brands.

• JUL - Unbranded USB AA Rechargeable Batteries (done): This unique cell battery doesn't require a battery cell charger, instead, it uses a USB type A to charge using either from the computer, a power bank or a USB wall charger (or any similar devices that involves USB type A). A fully charged AA battery estimates up to 6 to 7 hours, not 2.5 to 3 hours. Yeah, that's a downside, but you won't regret owning it.

• AUG - Phone Tripod Mouth Adapter (done): I want something that rotates my mouthed smartphone without adjusting from my tripod, and thankfully my wish was granted. To this day, I'm still using it for my recording & snapshot purposes using my current smartphone (Honor 8C).

• SEPT - Keweisi (or KOWSI) USB Multifunctional Tester (done): Honesty, I'm tired of manual time using my phone & opening a stopwatch as my timer. I just can't tell what's the real estimated time during my charging test. Well, not to worry! Because the USB Multifunctional Tester from Keweisi (or KOWSI?) should do the job. The only thing I need to do is to keep an eye on a specific time when charging any device is full.

• OCT - QKZ AK6 Pro IEM Earphones (done): My ZNT R620 earphone [CLICK ME!] might be an ‘A-Okay’ status & using it as my primary earphone. But, all that changed when I switched to QKZ's AK6 Pro as my first ever owned IEM earphone! It's the cheapest IEM earphone (on the market) with the ability to remove IEM cables, and I'm still embracing it. I just love these IEM earphones so much, that I need someone to compete against other brands.

• NOV - Rechargeable Light Tube (done): By far, the most likable & unique item I ever owned, this fluorescent light look-a-like has three available sizes; depending on their amount of watts. And right here is the 40 Watts. Perfect for outside activities, travel, and even camping.

Here is my honorable mention:

• FEB - ZNT R620 Earphones (done): As I said, it's A-Okay. However, their loudness sound didn't match, particularly the right channel. It's a good thing I'm done using it because I've already got the aforementioned QKZ AK6 Pro IEM Earphones.

Alright, back to my topic pick & this is my last!↓

• DEC - Sonicgear Quatro 2 USB Speakers (done): And finally, my last item review is the Sonicgear Quatro 2 USB Speakers. Their design & sound quality are decently average, in my opinion, but their four bass drives could use a little tweak to make it better, or maybe swap it out from other brands & make a custom for your music taste.

Well, that’s the end of my “My Yearend Techs and Misc. Items 2022”. We’ll see you in 2023. 

🥳 Happy new years eve to all, and as always, stay safe!😷

If you want to see my 2020 & 2021 version of that, then I'll provide some links down below.↓

• My Yearend Techs and Misc. Items 2021

• My Yearend Techs and Misc. Items 2020

tagged: @lordromulus90, @bryan360, @carmenramcat, @leapant, @alexander1301, @rafacaz4lisam2k4

[awonderlandsystem]

Sober thinking sucks...

19 days. I looked because I thought maybe it was something I should be prepared for. Which turns out to be a good thing because in my head it was like 26-27 days. 19 is not a lot of days. Especially when there's so much going on inside my head. So maybe if I work out some of it then I'll feel better. Maybe if one day someone else struggling with leaving an abusive spouse sees this and it helps them go work out their own thoughts, or maybe find some help in my ramblings.

1. I need help. We need help. Basic care has been neglected for years with this toxic codependent relationship. Especially mental. Even if he's right and so much of this is my fault and I'm the bad guy, I need help and I'm not getting it here. I'm not able to get it here. I can't take care of myself, the children, and be everything he needs. For all my faults and things we've done wrong, he's not able to take care of the things I'm struggling with either. I can't fix me and him. I can't continue being with someone who justifies every wrong thing he does with it being because I'm not having sex with him. That's not how it works, right?

2. Chances have been given. It's been a year of begging to end things together and go our separate ways with united co-parenting. I know, it's wishful thinking. I don't want to fight, I don't want to drag our kids through petty and hurtful court proceedings. Which legally it's going to be a nightmare sorting this all out. I think we'll have support. I think he's poisoned our thinking and that maybe not everyone hates me like he's made me to believe. I want to hold onto hope that once we're free that some of these relationships will be mended. Mostly my family. I think there might be more support out there than we realize and remember most of the time. But we've been united in telling him how unhappy his treatment makes us, how uncomfortable his entitlement to our body feels. That's not love, or passion, or anything that makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

3. This is NOT a "grass is greener on the other side" instance. He keeps telling me I'm going to leave and find out that I had it so good here. Which on the surface it would seem that way. There's no man I'm looking to shack up with, no rebound set up like he thinks. We really, mostly, want to learn to survive on our two feet. Without a man, or feeling like we owe anyone for simple necessities. I don't want to feel like I'm obligated to have sex with someone because they bought me something. But breaking it down more into his comments. "You have a stable roof over your head." Yes I do. But I have no place in this apartment. I'm only allowed to be upstairs around our stuff sometimes. Which is where all my art supplies are. Most of the time I'm tethered to the kitchen in a fold out chair or cleaning something. When he's asleep I use his computer. But I know better when he's awake. Truthfully when he's awake I try to be as invisible as possible. That's no way to live. I know that now. "I pay for everything." Yes he does. He also spends a substantial amount of what he makes on pot and as many times as I've begged for us to stop, to save, to enjoy life, we're still broke every week. He still points out every single penny spent on us. Literally. "Your sandwich cost..." "I picked you up something, it cost..." And he says it's so I'm aware of the budget and how much is being spent but that does me no good. Eva's told him that if he wants help with the budget and more involvement then we want an itemized list of monthly expenses which he conveniently is "too busy" to ever put together. The way things are in my head, we can't hear things and understand them well. It has to be written down in front of me. That's why there are so many scribbled notes around. I don't understand something until I can see it. "If you want something you just need to ask." Pfft. I've asked for a lot. Mostly I've asked for him to let me go. But for this some other examples: we've asked to visit OUR family over 10 times this year. Each time has been a no and a list of excuses why. Yet we've traveled hours away to see his family several times and at every holiday. Zoe cried at the last one talking about how much she misses home. Six years we've begged to go to the Zoo. Bowling. Roller skating. We've been to the movies once in 10 years. Concerts. Festivals. The beach. The only reason we were able to go to the carnival last year was because TK had OF money rolling in. I don't think this is me leaving because I think the grass is better somewhere else. I think leaving is because the grass here stopped growing and started withering away.

4. Stuff is just stuff and can be replaced. Mostly. I know I shouldn't worry so much about things but I've carried my whole life with me since being tossed out at 18. I have family memories, a lot of pictures. I know I need to save some things. My mom said she'd pay for a small moving truck. God I'm not okay with the idea of driving a truck or leaving my kids in a car with her so hopefully we cement that plan out better. Things can be replaced. Things can be replaced. These years can't. The thing is when you become so lonely and cut off from the world you learn to surround yourself with stuff to fill those lonely holes. I'm not a hoarder, but I need to get rid of some things so I can focus on the important stuff. It feels so wrong upping and leaving him like this without warning but I've tried to work this out with him we all have. I'll probably have no electronics which will be super hard, especially with the kids. I think Hayli has a burner phone. We'll have to wipe this one and give it back. A gift is never just a gift from him. It gets held over and used as blackmail. "I'll take your phone. I paid for it. So it's technically mine. I'll just wipe it if you won't do what I say."

5. Surviving in the real world. This one is the hardest to wrap around. Mentally I don't know if we can handle a job right now. The idea of dealing with people fills me with anxiety. All I know is customer service and that's the last place I think I could function right now. I keep trying to tell myself that maybe it won't be so hard. Maybe being somewhere else will help. Maybe I'm not as broken as I think I am. Or that he's told me I am. That's all I have for now. I've been thinking nonstop today and really need to take a break.

[irradiate-space]

Last Lunesday of the Week

Listening: No organized listening today; was out and about so the jams did not begin playing at the appointed time.

Reading: Started reading Princess of Mandalore, which is a Tanya x Star Wars crossover that starts sometime after Episode I but before the Clone Wars really kicks off. Good plot; intermittent grammar, spotty character differentiation but I'm keeping on because the plot outweighs the grammar issues. Will Tanya get recruited by the Jedi, or the Duke of Serenno? Will she develop feelings for her new adjutant? Will she ever get to fight?

Writing: Started a flowchart of the Iliad with major plot points, using a children's illustrated edition.

Crafting:

Have a more-or-less final version of the cyberdeck palmtop computer case thingy. Revision 29 is mainly about screw hole tolerances for the backplate. Still working on getting a functioning OS. I've been running Phosh on my touchscreen laptop and it's ~fine. I put Ubuntu on this Pi today and then realized I have to set up display drivers for it in order to be able to enter SSH keys. Ugh. If I rebuild this formfactor from scratch, I'm not going to use the Hyperpixel line of square touchscreens; they look cool but they take up GPIO pins needed for other stuff instead of using HDMI plugs. Waveshare has a better package for the same formfactor.

Built the hacked Vindriktning off of the Adafruit tutorial; it does what it says on the box. Still need to calibrate it against the PurpleAir sensor I have, which costs ten times as much.

Need to start Version 2 of the Vakama mask, if I want to print it by Halloween.

Kinda want to make a frogpad-style keyboard with a spare KB2040 microcontroller, a la the Scottopad. But that is a "after Halloween" project.

Also I need to take apart my HTPC projector and put it back together correctly so it doesn't scream.

Aaand I need to put a construction helmet inside a pumpkin. I guess I'll do that offscreen during tomorrow's meetings.

Playing: Got Tears of the Kingdom side quests done except the stable paintings and the last of Misko's set. After that, it's wells and Bubbulfrogs, and I wish there were a way to mute just that one guy's cackles.

Injuries: +1 TDaP booster, +1 knife slip hole in my offhand palm, -$40 to get a new set of fairweather biking gloves after I lost one last weekend biking to get my COVID and flu shots.

With some retroreflective fabric.

[the-firebird69]

She said she's having a problem with Walmart and the prices are too high and we agree so we're meeting with them today and a lot of products we can bring down and there's probably some essentials too wood products for bringing down because we're replanting rapidly and we have tons of seedlings and we have tons of people doing it so she's pretty pleased and happy with that and she's going to town she's getting ready to stock the shelves we told him the time frame that's working out pretty good.

Other shops like grocery stores and department stores are calling now and they want in and we're helping them and it's working we need tons of employees now and we're hiring all over from both sides

We aquired all 400 companies this morning

It's a very huge change and there's tons of smaller companies that we're acquiring huge huge companies no but we're keeping the way they are and they are pleased with it but there's millions and millions and millions of companies that we're acquiring millions okay it's gigantic and we did not acquire the fruit juice that's got the bubbles in it he can buy it himself maybe some money but he loves that one tons of people love that drink it's a really good drink they said anti-inflammatory the fruit juices good and it's kept well and it's fizzy and it's like a soda pop that's healthy it's just an amazing drink izzi. They need to market it better and they need a better supplier they also need to pay our son with the idea so we're going to request it today.

It's an the enormous amount of companies. The conversions are going well the motorcycles to light cycles and in about 2 weeks so I'll be done so it's not necessary to add shops of hours but we want to add a few so we can do them for hours and we're not going to tell you which ones a lot of people are adding shops and we're still talking to Sears it's a huge amount of stores it is a giant distributorship it's bigger than ours and ours is pretty hefty and Walmart would feel it and it would have to compete more then have to actually work so I was sitting down today with them and we have this whole campaign to bring them back to life and part of it is issuing the catalog I was out and rural areas they don't really have access to that many computers and phones it's a hilarious thing but it's not it makes very good sense and there's a lot of new vehicles out by us that can just drive right out there and back and not have any trouble big tires on them yes but boy we prepared for this and serious wants to sit down now cuz they want to see what we're saying about numbers and where and mail order stuff it's just a wonderful thing for them one of the only groups that does that and you say go to a rural area and you put it in the library the library is about as big as our son's apartment room but they go in there and they write a letter and they send in a check and they can get a check right down the street at their post office and stuff comes it's amazing it's a wonderful thing and we can tell them how to do the check that's right for a few sets of snow big deal but this is how it goes these things are happening now and if they're great ideas and we have tons of businesses that we're bringing up we need tons of people and we're telling our people we need you to get going on this we're going to have a wartime economy where we are and our son and daughter have told us how and Frank Castle Hardcastle and Duke Nukem Blockbuster we've done it ourselves plenty of times you know how it works but their suggestions are very good they said you have to hire everybody for planetary defense everybody and then you just transition over so we're hiring everybody now and everyone's shocked to see what's going on and we're telling them if it does explode the fragments can be hit we need that up and running and we need people now and now I'm in a real panic because that's reality

Thor Freya

[sunball]

WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR PERSON'S LIFE RIGHT NOW + A MESSAGE FROM THEM

𖦹 this reading includes what is going on in your person’s life right now, what they (or their higher self) want to say to you at this moment and songs they'd like to give you. this reading is more about your future spouse or your future partner, someone who you may not be in contact with but you're curious about what they're doing.

𖦹 so there will be two paragraphs for each pile (what your person is doing and what they want to say to you). you can choose more than one pile. ex: pile 1 for what your person is doing and pile 2 for the message.

𖦹 how does this work? close your eyes and take deep breaths, pick the pile you are most drawn to. If you aren’t drawn to any pile then that’s okay, these messages aren’t for you.

𖦹 take what resonates.

THE PILES

PILE 01

now playing:

now playing:

pile 01's songs

THEIR LIFE

hello pile 01, welcome to your reading. I'm getting a lot of fire energy here, especially leo. I'm hearing Leo in 1st and 10th house, aries in 8th house, aries mars, mars in 10th house and also Venus in 2nd and 3rd house. I'm also getting gemini and capricorn. capricorn mars, aquarius venus. If these aren't your placements then they're most likely your person's placements. or perhaps, those are their transits. I feel a lot of confident energy from your person, I think they are at a good place right now. Your person has been betrayed and heartbroken quite recently but I feel like they're not trying to let that get to them. they're keeping their head high, focusing on their goals and working really hard. the pain motivated them to work hard, maybe as a way to get revenge? In their head, they may think that if they work hard, they can show off their success to the person that broke them like "hey, look at me now!". for some others, it's possible that they're working really hard because the work distracts them from the pain and the situation. they're acting like the pain isn't affecting them, I'm seeing them just laughing and hanging out with a group of people (their friends?) acting like theyre not dealing with any problems. your person is definitely at a period of time where work is only on their mind, they're hungry for success. success is the only thing your person is heading towards, it's the only direction they see. love isn't on your person's mind at all so I doubt that you've crossed their mind. but little do they know, the direction that they're heading towards will also lead them to you. your person may have travelled somewhere recently or maybe they're thinking of travelling somewhere else. there is change on the horizon for your person, maybe they will be promoted soon or moving countries, going to university, etc. they are so ambitious. I'm seeing piles of paper on desks, papers stuck on walls with dates and notes on them and also quotes. motivational quotes perhaps. your person is also working out, they could be getting up quite early. 6 am? I'm getting mad mars in 6th house vibes from your person. they're feeling burnt out, they have so much on their plate but they're not stopping anytime soon because they like it and also because they have no choice. they're also taking many responsibilities, I'm hearing house chores, work and looking after their parents or siblings. your person could be a student, a business person or they could work in an office. they're organizing their workspace and keeping track of their schedule, getting ready for the next chapter of their life. laziness is not in your person's vocabulary!

THEIR MESSAGE

you know, I am so busy right now. I'm too exhausted to even think about love, to think about you. I don't think about it anymore unlike before. I know at times you feel like we're nowhere close and you doubt my existence because of how distant I feel and I'm sorry. It is partially true, we're nowhere close to eachother and we're both individual human beings. let's live in the present and experience things and meet new people without having to think about eachother. I don't feel right about thinking of the future and just hoping for something to happen, hoping to just end up with someone like you. It doesn't feel right. I need to do something, I need to take action. that's exactly what I'm doing now. It gives me a sense of stability knowing that I'm taking action and there's a high possibility of my dreams coming true. I've promised myself that I won't stop working until I've achieved everything. I can't do all of this by myself, I need your help too. I'm asking you a favour, do your part. I'm doing mine. work hard and don't slack off. I'm sorry again for sounding cold, I'm not like this on a daily basis. I'm just really tired. I need to get my point across. don't slack off. please. I'll keep saying that. oh, that reminds me. at times I will definitely sound like a teacher or a boss, it's just a habit I got from work. It's not my intention to make you feel stupid, I know you're smart. I wanted you to know that because I don't want you to think I'm generally a cold person. I'm not. when tarot readers or psychics or astrologers or whoever says that I'm cold, they only mean when I'm at work or when I'm busy or serious. I would never be like that to someone I love, especially you. truthfully speaking, you don't know much about me at all especially if you think I'm a cold person. that thought you have of me stops now. I'm guessing that you're curious about me now. I like to look neat and clean, I don't like bright colours, they look unprofessional. I hang out with my friends sometimes and we just have lunch at a café or a local restaurant. I'm on my computer a lot so my back always hurts but I'm doing exercises to help me with it. I have too many cookbooks that I don't use because I don’t have much time, I end up freestyling my food and cooking up some eggs. I need to get better at managing time. I don't like people that don't practice what they preach, it irritates me. now for my appearance. this, in no way is useful information that will help us in any way but I suppose I'll just tell you. I have a sharp nose, it's pointy and a little wide. I don't have any piercings. I don't have bangs. as for my eyes, they're brown and deep-set. my lips? they're just lips. you'll love them anyway so it doesn't matter. my hair? neat and brown. you'll love it too. that's enough. you can stop trying to get to know me now, leave that for when we meet. you can know me more yourself when the time comes, I like the process of getting to know someone and the effort someone puts into getting to know me. until then, keep working hard.

PILE 02

now playing:

pile 02's songs

THEIR LIFE

I’m getting cancer energy from the pile, also pisces and gemini and libra. I’m hearing cancer/pisces/ libra venus, venus in 5th/7th/12th house, pisces moon, mercury in 7th house, cancer in 2nd house, gemini rising. if these aren’t your placements then they’re most likely your person’s, if not then these may be their transits. right now I feel like your person is trying something new, especially a hobby. I’m getting ‘painting’ for some of you. for others, your person has started something new like a project or they moved to a new house, something like that. there’s this feeling of ‘newness’ in your person’s life right now. they have so much passion for whatever this ‘newness’ is. they’re excited for this change, they can’t wait to move to the next stage. I’m feeling a positive energy coming from your person. their creativity is flowing through their blood, they feel inspired and joyous. some of you may not like to hear this but your person may have gotten in a relationship with someone or they want to get into a relationship with someone. they have a crush. I feel like there’s still an important choice to be made and your person has waited such a long time for the next stage, the relationship stage. I feel like their crush or their partner isn’t showing them that much attention, it feels quite one sided (your person giving more), they’re doing so much for their crush/partner but I feel like your person isn’t seeing it right, they’re just so blinded. like a little kid when they have a crush. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, don’t worry, they’re your person for a reason. anyways for others of you, I’m seeing your person listening to music while they’re doing their new hobby. painting is coming really strong, I’m seeing an easel. If it’s not a hobby then your person is feeling in love, whether it be a person or something else. their head is in the clouds, they’re listening to love songs, feeling so inspired by everything around them. love and venus themes is really important in your person’s life right now. If you’ve been listening to love songs recently or if you just feel all lovey-dovey, it’s most likely because of your person, you’re connected to your person. or if you feel inspired out of nowhere, it’s probably because of your person too. I just felt like I had to let you know that. sooner or later though, your person will realise that the relationship is one sided and they will give up on it. this will hit your person really hard, it will be a hard lesson for them. perhaps even the last lesson because I feel like your person has always done too much for people that don’t deserve their love. your person has experienced a lot and learnt many lessons except for this, when they learn this though, they will have learnt all the lessons. they can tick this off their box. I’m getting such wise Pisces vibes from them. for lots of you, your person is already in the 'realisation' stage and there's about to be a change in their life.

THEIR MESSAGE

It’s been challenging these days, maybe even these past few weeks and maybe even months too. It’s fine though, I can get through it. you don’t have to worry about me. I have a gut feeling that something is going to happen soon, disappointments? I’m not surprised, I’ve been so stuck in my own head. I don’t know why I keep giving people more. so stupid of me. maybe it’s not my fault? maybe it’s their fault for giving less, who knows. I don’t know how to stop. why do I do this? I keep getting disappointed over and over again, I’m starting to not have hope anymore. despite this, I still think love is beautiful. with the right person. love is not only limited to romantic love though, which is what I’ve learnt recently. I’ve been so fixated on romantic relationships that I’ve forgotten about the beautiful things around me. surprisingly, there’s love everywhere. do you know what I love? I love the stars, I love flat white coffee, I love the smell of fresh grass, I love nature and the sun, I love dogs (especially small dogs) and I love experiences. experiences that shape me into a better person, painful or not, I love those. not to sound masochistic – but I love pain. I learn from pain. love has always been painful for me but I’m still giving people my all, wrong people to be precise. Is that why I keep falling for people that don’t care about me? because I love getting hurt? now that I’ve thought of it, it sounds terrible. I need to fix that. I feel embarrassed now that you know this, please don’t shake your head. I will fix it. I want this cycle to end. don’t be worried about me. you should continue living your life, there’s yet so much you can experience. places to go, new people to meet, new activities to do. so much. I’d love to experience so many things with you. do you like road trips? I’d love to go on a picnic date too, does stargazing sound good? we could travel around the world, that’s on my bucket list. so many ideas but there’s still so much distance and time between us. I feel excited thinking about it, I want to do so much right now and experience so many things. by the time we meet, I might already have a long white beard because I’ll be so wise *laughs*. who knows, white hair does look awesome. I think it might suit me actually. on a serious note, I want you to know that you should not be afraid to try new things. don't be afraid of change. regret is scarier than change, staying in the same place and not growing is scarier than change. you may lose something good but what if you gain something even better? I’ll be there for you every step of the way, I’m always there for you even though I’m not there with you physically. do you feel me? I’m so proud of you. If you see an opportunity, take it or you’ll regret it later. don’t be afraid of saying no or saying yes, you deserve to be heard, assert your dominance *laughs*. I love you, take care of yourself. you can do it. [:

PILE 03

now playing:

pile 03's songs

THEIR LIFE

I'm getting mutable and fixed energy here, especially scorpio, virgo, leo, sagittarius. maybe scorpio rising and sagittarius rising with pluto in 1st house. I'm hearing saturn in 8th house, saturn in 22°, scorpio sun or moon aspecting saturn, pluto and sun or moon sitting in the same house. if these aren't your placements then they're most likely your person's. these could be their transits too. your person is going through a transformation, something had recently happened in their life that has caused this transformation. I'm thinking it's death, a death of a loved one like a family member, a friend or a pet. someone close to them. If it's not a death of a loved one then it's a death of a cycle, a death of a job, a relationship, something like that. something that came to an end. it's affecting your person badly and they feel so much guilt. they're missing and mourning over whatever this is. they're pessimistic, they feel like the whole world is against them and that their would turned upside down. they have no hope anymore, they're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm seeing that image of Yuu Otasaka from the anime Charlotte. I think your person is exactly like that right now. depressed. I see tissues, dark rooms and hoodies and blankets. also gaming for a number of you (interesting how the picture you chose is a picture of keys). they're going through it right now and they need support. your person is not communicating with many people or interacting with anyone at all, they're pushing people away. looking at the picture of the pile you chose, I realised it says "wish you were here". now this could mean that they wish that the person they lost were still with them or they wish that someone could come and support them or comfort them, or for a few amount of you, this could be meaning you. they wish you were there with them. however, I don't think love is a thought that comes in their mind in this period of time. it's more like, they're screaming into a void wishing someone could hear them, not directly meaning you. for others of you, I'm getting a different situation. your person may have gotten fired or they tried something but it didn't work out and they had so much hope for it. they badly wanted it to work out and now your person is feeling disappointed in themselves, like someone just ripped away something really valuable to them. your person doesn't know that the reason this, whatever this is, didn't work out is because it wasn't meant to. It's not part of their divine plan. It honestly saved your person from future problems but they don't know that. It's a blessing in disguise. I'm strongly feeling it's something related to their job or maybe love, 'right place, wrong time' is what I'm hearing. your person is blaming themselves for it all, thinking it was because of time, lack of planning or they didn't try hard enough. It isn't true, they should be easy on themselves.

THEIR MESSAGE

I don't know what to say. I don't feel like saying much. why do you want to know anyway? do you care? am I interesting? I'm not all that special, you know. here I go again, making sh*t sad. I'll try and make this light-hearted as possible because you shouldn't see this side of me, not so soon. not like this. *silence* I'll start off by saying that you can't control whatever life throws at you. but you can control your reactions and how you deal with it. I'm not doing very well, not dealing with it the way I usually do. It hit me hard and I don't like being sad like this and not doing anything, not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to talk to anyone, not finding joy in the things I love doing. I hate this f*cking feeling and the way I'm dealing with it. I heard that you should let yourself feel everything once in a while. I'm f*cking feeling everything alright. why did I not let myself feel before? now it's all consuming me. all of my problems and emotions, this darkness inside of me, erupting. I regret this. I regret acting like I was fine before, finding distractions. now I know that being distracted doesn't necessarily mean that it's gone, the problem is still there. don't do what I did. let yourself feel. or it will all build up and eat you alive. you don't want that. I don't want that. I don't want you to be sad, god no. definitely not like this. but if being sad will help you then that's certainly fine by me, just don't act like you're fine. that will hurt me much more. just do what I say. showing emotions is not a sign of weakness. look at me, I'm so f*cked up because of not thinking that. this feeling will go away, right? right. If you need to let it all out, do it. I can feel your sadness, the nights you cried, I felt them. those tears of yours, I want to wipe them away but I'm not there. it sucks. I need you here. I need a good f*cking hug right now. I want you to be happy but I don't know how. I'd do anything to see that smile of yours. that precious smile that I have yet to see. I know it's precious. listen to me. I need you. I need you to stay strong. you're so strong and much more emotionally intelligent than I am. I am so in awe. your strength gives me energy, you give me energy. you're the light of my life. I hope our kids will be as beautiful and as amazing as you. I'm glad I was given the chance to talk to you like this. I love you, sunshine.

[muselin]

See You Later - Part 1

Who: Beomgyu

Group: TXT

What: Beomgyu/f!reader, collegeAU, slow burn, eventual smut, college student!Gyu, model!Gyu

Word count: 2,238

A/N: this is for @bluekais ❤ Hope you enjoy! Sorry that it's taken so long! There will be a Part 2 coming but I got myself elbows-deep into Kinktober so might take a while as well 🎃

____________________________________

"Tch."

The dissatisfied noise leaving your lips had become habit by now. Just his presence annoyed you, but the fact that he had the nerve to show up late to class almost every time, carrying that stupid skateboard, made your blood boil a little bit. He never studied, never did the assignments, always showed up late and he was still somehow passing this class. This class that you had worked so hard to get into and had to keep working so hard to stay in. It didn't come naturally to you but it did to him and it made you green with envy.

"Ah, Beomgyu-ssi, how kind of you to join us," your professor quipped sarcastically as Beomgyu beamed a smile that was frustratingly charming and headed for the only empty space in the auditorium which, to your displeasure, happened to be next to you.

You didn't acknowledge each other as you continued scribbling furiously into your notebook while Beomgyu sat with his chin leaned on his hand. You noticed that he hadn't taken out anything to write with.

"Now I will hand out your assignments for the next lecture. Remember we have study week, so you will have one week to complete these. Please remain in your seats as you are now."

Your professor proceeded to hand out stacks of papers and you couldn't help noticing that he was handing only one stack for every two students. He was making his way down your row and dropped off an assignment right between you and Beomgyu.

"I can hold it for us," Beomgyu smiled pleasantly as he looked over to you, seemingly unaffected by your sour expression. As the two of you read the instructions for the music production assignment, Beomgyu would stop and mutter to himself every once in a while: "Hmm, I already have a bass guitar for this," "This would be very easy to add a snare to," "I just need vocals and someone to match the drum line to this".

"Alright, everyone ready?" The auditorium hummed with mumbled "yes"es.

"Good," your professor continued, "you will be doing the assignment in pairs, in the order that I've handed the assignments out to you".

You groaned inwardly, noticing yours and Beomgyu's names at the bottom right corner of the cover page.

"Class dismissed!"

You were unsure what to do. You'd have to spend quite a lot of time with Beomgyu to finish this but you didn't have his number and you didn't even know which dorm he was in. Before you could open your mouth to ask Beomgyu when you should meet up, he was getting up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"See you later, Y/N," his voice laced with his regional dialect reached you as an afterthought.

"Tch. Fuck you too, Choi," you muttered.

___________________

It had been four days since you last saw Beomgyu and you were getting nervous. You had started the assignment early and done as much as you could do. You hated to admit it but you really did need him for this. You had worked out a base melody but it was too bare and uninteresting and you knew from hearing him talk to himself that he knew a lot of elements which could add flare and points to the assignment. You hunched over your laptop, browsing the music library. Begrudgingly, at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, you decided to email him through the university central email list.

### 22:01 ###  Hi Beomgyu, it's Y/N, your partner for the music production assignment. I've thrown some things together but we need to meet to do the rest. I realised I didn't have your number or your dorm address, let me know when we can meet up. ###

You waited for a while after pressing send, just in case he was on his emails right now. At midnight you gave up and went to sleep.

### 03:44 ### Hi! Sorry about that! Can you bring what you have over to mine at about noon tomorrow? Here's the postcode ###

You woke up to the reply from Beomgyu and nearly panicked that you would be late. He didn't live close by at all, the post code seemed to be for a swanky area of newly built apartments downtown, miles away from your suburban campus.

You showered and dressed as quickly as possible. You weren't dressing up for anyone. Jeans, sneakers and a flannel shirt was all Beomgyu was getting from you. You grabbed your laptop and equipment and headed out the door.

________________

At 11:55, you knocked on Beomgyu's door. He lived on the 13th floor and on the elevator up to his apartment you hoped to whoever would listen that this wouldn't turn out to be as unlucky as the out-of-order sign on the second elevator.

The front door clicked and opened to reveal a somewhat sleepy Beomgyu, dressed in a tshirt and pyjama bottoms.

"Oh, Y/N, you're early," he said, then looked at his watch. You found this ironic, considering he never showed up to class on time.

"Well, not by much. Can I come in?"

"Sure," he said, opening the front door widely for you to walk in past him. "I'll make coffee," he yawned.

As you walked past him you couldn't help but note in your head that he smelled really good. You weren't sure if it was his cologne or laundry but it was the kind that settled pleasantly in your chest and made you want to breathe in deeper. You stopped that train of thought harshly as soon as you felt your mind drift that way. You were perfectly happy with feeling generally mildly annoyed with Beomgyu. It was your comfort zone, even if having to work with him was pushing it.

"So how come you don't live on camp-- Wow..."

Your jaw dropped as you walked into the apartment. It was nothing like the cramped dorm rooms you and your friends shared on campus. It was bright, spacious and well-decorated, with huge windows and a view that rivaled the best hotels in the business district.

"How the fuck are you affording this," the words tumbled out of you with little grace before you could stop them.

"Well, since you ask, I work a lot of side jobs," Beomgyu said nonchalantly as he poured water into the kettle in the open-plan kitchen.

"Really? What do you do?"

"Uhm...," he scratched his neck sheepishly, "at the moment I model."

"You? You model?"

"Yeah, why," he tilted his head at you, looking at you quizzically.

Those big brown eyes, the soft curves of his lips, his chiseled jawline... And his hair looked really soft too. Suddenly from thinking nothing of him you were imagining him as a model. You wondered what he modeled for. Could it be fashion brands? Lifestyle? Prints? Maybe even swimsuits? He always wore those baggy jeans and t-shirts, but maybe...

"Y/N?"

"Oh," you snapped back to him, realising you hadn't answered him. "Yeah I just... didn't know, that's all."

"Uhm, cool. Why don't you drop your stuff off in the room down the hall, the one on the left?"

You nodded and picked up your laptop bag and equipment, your feet sinking into the plush carpet as you padded down the hall. You nudged open the door to the room he'd pointed you to, jaw dropping again for the second time today as you walked in.

The room was a small makeshift studio, with mics, a sound control board and several guitars. Several notepads were strewn about along with a few used coffee mugs and muffin wrappers. It seemed to be the most lived-in space of Beomgyu's house so far and you were suddenly starting to understand why he never seemed to pay much attention to the classes. You dropped your bags off in the corner and sat down at his computer, looking at the various pieces of equipment connected to it.

"How do you like your coffee?"

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard Beomgyu's pleasant voice reverberate in the room. You hadn't heard him come in after you. Covering up your startled reaction, you mumbled your preference and he returned shortly with two steaming mugs, setting them down on his desk.

"Um, so... For this assignment I've tried layering the melodies but it's very bare. I thought we could use it as a starting point and build on it," you said, trying to sound more businesslike.

"That's good, thanks. I actually don't have a lot of time so a head start would be good. I have an hour now but then I need to head out."

Your brow furrowed. An hour? It had taken you three days to put together what you had so far.

"Let's see what you've got," Beomgyu reached for the USB stick in your hands and plugged it into his computer. He downloaded the files and ran them.

An unobtrusive melody filled the small studio. He listened politely, head tilted to one side until it faded out.

"Um... Yeah, I don't play guitar so I wasn't sure what would sound good with that," you started, hands playing with the edges of your shirt nervously. You hated feeling incompetent, especially in front of Beomgyu.

"Yeah, no offence, but it does need a lot more than that," he said. "Let's see what I can do with that."

You sat in your chair and watched him plug one of his guitars into the amp behind you. He tuned it according to the scales in your melody and started to play along.

"Nana naaa," he hummed along quietly. "I don't know about that bar, what do you think," he asked you.

"It's not bad but I think it can go for longer," you replied. Beomgyu nodded, stopping the recording and starting again.

You watched him get lost in his own world as the notes coming from his guitar breathed life into your melody. You watched his fingers strum and pluck, watched his lips open and close in concentration, occasionally the lower one being worried by his teeth. You watched his long hair fall into his face. You simply watched Beomgyu in his zone, not noticing when he stopped playing.

"Y/N?"

Your eyes focused and met his deep brown ones, your lips tensing as you tried to seem attentive.

"Yeah? Yeah, that was good, let's add that in," you spoke quickly.

"Cool," Beomgyu then stood up and reached behind you to switch off the amp. You couldn't stop yourself from breathing in again when his chest and neck nearly brushed across your face. His warm hand dropped to your shoulder, giving you a casual pat.

"Why don't you sit at the computer and keep replaying the recoding while I write down the chords," he suggested.

"Okay, sure," you stood up in the cramped space and there was barely room for you two to switch places. Beomgyu's hands instinctively came up to your waist to steady you as he brushed past you. Your breath hitched but you said nothing as you sat down at his desk and started the recording.

Your combined melody filled the small room and you found yourself nodding along. You hated to admit it but you liked it much more with Beomgyu's additions. You played it several times while he wrote down the chords.

"Right, awesome," he drawled in his dialect after he was finished. "I have to get dressed and head out now, but if you want we can meet up again later today. I won't be done until quite late but I sleep late anyway."

"How late are we talking," you asked suspiciously.

"I would be done about 11, we could meet back here," Beomgyu offered.

You hesitated for a second. It was a lot later than what you considered acceptable but at the same time you didn't trust Beomgyu. You weren't sure you would get any more time out of him than this.

"Okay, deal. Message me when you're done and I'll head over."

"Cool, here's my number," Beomgyu grabbed your phone to type his own number in and called himself. "You okay to let yourself out?"

He left the studio and went into the room across, which you guessed was probably his bedroom. You copied the new files onto your USB before you packed up your things and left the studio as well. On the way you saw that Beomgyu's bedroom door was ajar. You saw him standing with his back to the door as he was pulling his t-shirt over his head. Your lips tensed into a line as you tried to not to make any noise and not even to breathe.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"See you later, Y/N."

You stood frozen in place as your eyes traced the lines of his back muscles to his pretty shoulders, not missing his toned arms flexing as he reached up to push the t-shirt over his head. Your gaze trailed back down his body to his hips where his bottoms were slung low, exposing the two cute dimples at his lower back. He didn't look like he was wearing anything underneath.

Beomgyu dropped his shirt to the floor and you suddenly darted down the corridor, panicked that he would turn around and see you. His bottoms dropped down just as he heard his front door open and shut.