#using a different program on a borrowed computer

[canmom]

computer woes (tl;dr never ever use openrgb with DDR5 RAM, it will kill your RAM)

this is not the biggest nightmare i have had recently (my friend is currently trapped in a psych hospital, that kinda overshadows everything but I can't really talk about it on here) but over the weekend my computer completely broke down, like 'wouldn't even POST' broke down.

the culprit seems to have been an incredibly bad piece of software called OpenRGB, which purports to be a cross-manufacturer system for managing RGB lights that works under Linux, but unfortunately has a horrific habit of writing bad data to the SPD EEPROM on DDR5 RAM, completely corrupting them. you can read more about that here.

if those acronyms (SPD EEPROM) don't mean anything to you, they also didn't to me before this weekend. naively, I simply opened this RGB control program to take a look at its features, didn't so much as change any lighting settings, and the result was that it basically bricked my RAM... and I only found out the next day when I booted the computer.

basically RAM sticks contain an additional bit of persistent memory, which stores information about the module such as timings and the like. if you want to change the LED colours, it seems that you also do so by writing data to this EEPROM. but if you write the data to the wrong place, or the wrong sort of data, it will make it so the motherboard can't even start up the RAM stick, so the computer has no memory and can't start.

to solve this, I borrowed a friend's spare DDR5 stick and put it one of the slots, and one of the corrupted sticks in the other (after verifying that the computer would boot with alternative RAM). it still wouldn't boot until I disabled a BIOS setting which saved the settings resulting from 'RAM training' instead of repeating the training on every boot. of course, I couldn't even get to BIOS without a working RAM stick.

once I had it booting, I could boot up Windows and, since I happened to be using Corsair RAM, use their iCue software to force a firmware update on the RAM stick, which would overwrite whatever garbage had been put in the SPD by OpenRGB. after doing this with both sticks, I took the spare stick out and ensured the PC would boot.

with this done, I booted Linux, switched to a different non-gui virtual terminal instead of logging in normally just in case openrgb was set to open on startup, and uninstalled the offending program. then I could log in to a normal session, reboot a few times to make sure it was in fact definitely working, turn the fast startup option back on in BIOS, and breathed a sigh of relief that everything seemed to be back up to normal functioning...

plan B had been 'buy another identical set of RAM sticks at inflated prices and copy the SPD off them, then try to get them refunded' so I'm really glad that didn't turn out to be necessary.

i doubt this post will reach very many people - after all, I did not have the sense to check around for reported problems before installing and running this very mainstream and legit looking software from my distro's package repo, I doubt one tumblr post will help very much - but hey, a small computer repair achievement, that's something innit

[theebaragi]

Romance 101 | Lesson 16: Don’t be a homewrecker

“Thank you for letting us borrow your editing computer Dr. Min.” Y/n said. “I would’ve done it on mine but the file was too big for my laptop to handle.”

Dr. Min shook his head. “It’s no problem Miss Hong.”  He led Y/n and Sunghoon towards his editing studio. When they reached the computer he gestured for the two of them to sit down. “Y/n I’m sure you’re acquainted with the program?”

Y/n nodded. “Yes.”

“Wonderful.” Dr. Min turned to Sunghoon and handed him a set of keys. “You two can use this studio for the duration of the editing process.” As Sunghoon reached for the keys Dr. Min hesitated, “Don’t make me regret this Mr. Park.”

Sunghoon laughed as he grabbed the keys from Dr. Min. “Won’t let you down sir.”

Dr. Min patted his back. “Then I’ll leave you two to it.” 

Y/n watched as Dr. Min left the room and then turned to Sunghoon. “You two are quite close.” 

“I practically lived in his office during my second year. Every single office hour I was there to ask him about film and scriptwriting.” He let out a laugh. “I guess over the years of him trying to convince me to swap majors we just got close.”

“Me and Professor Jeon were like that too.” She paused. “Well not the switching majors thing but after he complimented a movie critique I wrote for class I was constantly there for his office hours. It was only ever me asking him to read my reviews though, and discussing films we both enjoyed.”

“Right, your film reviews”

“You know about them?”

“I saw some links to them on your Twitter. I checked them out when I followed you.”

Y/n looked at him shocked. “You’ve read them?”

“A few.” He shrugged. “I haven’t watched nearly as much as you have. I really enjoyed them by the way.”

Y/n let out a ‘thank you’ as she started opening up the program. “I did some slight editing but since the file was too big I couldn’t do much.” She grabbed her flash drive from her bag and plugged it into the computer transferring her files over. “I mostly did the intro. What do you think?”

Y/n played the video and Sunghoon leaned closer to watch. “It’s good. I like it.” He looked closer, and pointed at the screen. “What’s this?”

“Just some color grading stuff.” Y/n toggled it back and forth. “See how different the scenes look without it.”

Sunghoon nodded, he moved his finger to point to a different section of the screen. “And this?” 

“Oh it's just the transitions. I don’t use the preset ones much but I think it worked for the end of the funeral.” She moved the cursor to the end of the screen to show him it again. “It just flows nicer this way. Don’t you think so?”

“It does.” 

Y/n noticed the uncertainty on Sunghoon’s face. “I know this is all new to you so I just wanted you to be here during the first edit so when I give you finished cuts you know what to ask me to fix.”

A slight smile made its way onto his face. “Thanks Y/n.”

She hummed. “I have a few more ideas that I’d like to run by you. Uh…” Y/n grabbed certain clips and showed them to Sunghoon. “I think we could play with the aspect ratio here.”

Sunghoon scooted closer to her, “How would we do that?”

“Here.” Y/n moved the mouse pad towards Sunghoon. “Go to the top of the screen. And scroll until you get to aspect ratio” 

Sunghoon carefully followed her instructions. “Then?”

“Then select the first section and click 2.35:1, and then do 1.85:1 for the second.”

Sunghoon added the ratios to the two clips then played the video. Upon watching it, he raised his brow in confusion. “Are you sure I did that right? It just seems so-”

“Sudden?” Y/n finished. “It’s because we have to add a transition. “Click the transition button and have the aspect ratio fade in with the timing slider. I usually go for a 3 second one so it blends nicely.”

Sunghoon attempted to follow her instructions but struggled to set up the slider correctly. He let out a sigh of frustration and ran a hand through his hair, making his neatly brushed locks fall in front of his face.

“Here” Y/n reached over and placed her hand on top of Sunghoon’s, slowly bringing the slider towards the 3. After removing her hand she turned to him. “Okay now play it.”

He pressed the play button and the clip looked much better, while also adding depth to the scene of Yoosung’s piano competition. “Y/n this looks incredible.”

“And imagine how great it’ll look once we fix the color grading and add in the music.” Y/n smiled. The two of them continued to look at each other beaming. And Y/n noticed one of his stray hairs. Unconsciously she reached for it, gently brushing it to the side. When she realized what she had done she looked at Sunghoon in horror. “Sorry it was just-”

“It’s okay,” he said calmly. “I didn’t mind it.”

Despite his reassurance being meant to calm her nerves, Y/n only felt her embarrassment deepen. Her eyes shifted from Sunghoon’s down to her shoes. “Still.”

Sunghoon chuckled. “Really don’t worry about it.” He lowered his head so they could look at each other eye to eye. “It’s fine.”

There’s something dangerous about looking at him. She thought, becoming overwhelmed with the warm heat of blush making its way on her skin. So caught up in hoping he wouldn’t notice, she didn’t seem to realize how close the two of them were, nor how Sunghoon was moving closer, almost desperate to close the space between them.

In this moment, there was no time for guilt to settle, only the ever growing feelings of affection she had developed during their time together. A slight feeling of nervousness and excitement overtook her as her hands gripped the handles of the chair, leaning in slowly. Her eyes fluttering closed. 

However, before anything happened, they heard the opening of the studio door. 

“Yo Hoon!” The voice yelled, and the two of them jumped away from each other.

Sunghoon’s chair did a full swivel before he could look at the person who barged into the room. “Beomgyu?”

Beomgyu looked at the two of them, not seeming to understand what he just walked in on. “Dr. Min told me you were in here.” He held up a flash drive. “I brought the music you asked for.”

“Thank you Beomgyu.” Y/n said, still flustered. “We appreciate it.”

“No problem Y/n. Nice to meet you by the way.” Beomgyu nodded, walking over to the two of them and placing the flashdrive on the desk.

“Likewise.”

He turned to face Sunghoon and smirked. “Also Hoon I’d rather not have to third wheel you and your girlfriend next time.” There was a hint of playfulness in his words, however hearing them made Y/n sick to her stomach.

Sunghoon rolled his eyes before getting up to escort Beomgyu out. “Stop saying that.”

Y/n watched as the two exited the room, and replayed the scene from moments ago. 

Y/n bit her lip, the weight of the situation finally dawning on her. She thought back to Sunoo’s warning before filming, and to all her friends' belief in her to not catch feelings, how she swore she wouldn’t.

As she let out a frustrated sigh, Sunghoon re-entered the room. “Sorry about him. Shall we continue?” 

“Mhm.” Oh how she failed miserably.

Previous • Next>

☕️Summary: Love is brewing on Hybe University's campus and Hong Y/n is just another one of the campus's seasonal love bug victims. Despite her attempts to avoid her feeling she develops a huge crush on the senior she’s working with for the school's film festival. But alas, Park Sunghoon has a girlfriend, it’s just a shame Y/n doesn’t realize that she’s his girlfriend.

Masterlist

💭A/N: So how are we feeling so far?

Taglist (Open): @idknunsadly @tinyteezer @psychotic-girl-666 @taesnumber1 @ilovhoonie @jong-caprio @lovenha7 @atashiboba @laurradoesloveu

[thezombieprostitute]

Tech Tuesday: Curtis Everett | Part 3

Summary: Curtis decides to take the next step and ask if you're willing to meet offline.

A/N: Reader is female. No physical descriptors used.

Warnings: Meeting someone from online, Mentions of past bad experiences. Please let me know if I missed any.

Previous--Next

Series Masterlist; Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

"So, what all has been going on with your computer? Did you bring it with you?" Curtis tries to keep his tone calm. He's been eager to meet you in person for months but has worked hard to make sure you feel safe to do so and that means not pushing you into it. He tries to keep his excited fidgeting to a minimum but he's worried it just makes him look even more suspicious. He's so used to keeping his features schooled into a scowl, but that's the last thing he wants to do to you.

"Basically it'll go for a while but then start freezing, stuttering and I have to force it to shut down before I can do anything else," you answer while sipping your coffee. You can't believe his eyes are as blue as the photo he sent. "I tried to see if it was because I was running some heavy duty games and maybe I was using too much RAM. I cleaned up so many programs, uninstalled a bunch of games I don't play anymore, but it just keeps happening."

Curtis rubs his beard as he thinks. "It might be a hardware issue. It's not my strong suit, but I can still take a look. At the very least I can ask my buddy, Mace, for help. He's a whiz with the hardware and could probably get you a good deal if any upgrades are needed."

"Oh yeah, you've talked about him before," you reassure yourself. Having him mention another stranger worried you but Mace has been brought up several times before, especially when Curtis mentioned getting upgraded tech.

"You definitely don't have to meet him," Curtis affirms. "He can be a real grump. And coming from me, that's saying something." He gives a light chuckle as he sips his coffee.

"Snow, I work at a hospital," you counter. "Ain't no kind of grump I haven't had to deal with before." You give Curtis a look that says 'I'm stronger than you'.

Curtis smiles fully, "absolutely fair, Heart." He struggles a little bit to not turn shy. That look, that strength, that self-assured smile has him weak in the knees. "Still," he coughs, trying to regain control of himself. "Still, uh, when...did you bring the computer with you? Would this be an okay time to take a look at it?"

"Friend of mine at the library is keeping an eye on it for me." Best to let him know you've got allies nearby. He hasn't really given anything to make you worry about, but his reactions to your safety protocols could be telling. Of course, if you were expecting him to look scared or upset at this news, Curtis happily defied those expectations as his eyes lit up.

"Oh, that's really smart! We can borrow one of their laptops to run some tests. That way my laptop's settings won't mess with your computer."

You smile, genuinely, for the first time all day. Curtis is very different and you couldn't be happier about it.

"Don't you need your diagnostic software?"

"If it's called for, sure. The basic versions are free to download and they'll help me pick up if it's actually a software issue. Plus, the libraries regularly wipe downloads after use, right?"

"Okay, everything's plugged in so let's get this running and see what happens."

After looking over the hardware Curtis had found no obvious reasons for the failure so you had gone to your friend and loaned out one of the laptops. Curtis's computer bag had an impressive collection of tools, wires and connectors. You always appreciate when a person is prepared.

He works in relative silence and it gives you the chance to really look at him. He's definitely handsome, as Cassandra pointed out when she loaned you laptop. You weren't normally one for lip piercings but it seemed to work well on him, even though it was partially hidden by his beard.

The quiet between you two isn't so uncomfortable. It's how you spent a lot of time when you started gaming together. Talking over comms almost always resulted in a bunch of idiots either hitting on you, calling you a 'fake gamer,' lobbing insults at you, or all three at the same time. Snowpiercer was one of the few gamers who didn't care that you were a girl gamer. For him it was about how well you worked together. Given that the two of you could get high scores without having to talk over comms, it was no wonder the two of you started playing together more and more.

Even after you'd started voice chatting while playing, there was always a level of respect. Something you hadn't gotten from Chase.

Curtis gets out of the chair and gets a closer look at each of the fans, stopping at the one closest to the heat sink. "There it is," he intones. "This fan is dying. It's easy to miss because, by the time you know something's wrong, the whole computer's shut down and all the fans are stopped."

"Well, at least it's an easy fix," you comment. "Thanks for taking a look at it."

"Not a problem at all," he assures. "I'm happy to help."

You smile, "are you always this nice?"

"No," he shakes his head. "Definitely not. I'm not an ass, but I'm definitely not this nice to everyone."

"I'm honored."

He chuckles at that. "Like I said, I'm happy to help you out. You're the best teammate I've ever had and it just isn't as fun paying without you."

"I appreciate that, Curtis. So, what do I owe you?"

"Nothing."

"Don't do that to me, Snow. You know how I feel about owing people." It was a wound from Chase that had yet to heal. His use of favors as manipulation made you wary of anyone who said you don't owe anything.

Curtis sighs and nods. "Tell you what, there are some pastries at that coffee shop we were at that I avoided because I didn't want you to see me covered in crumbs. Wouldn't make for a good first impression." You smile at the thought. "Just get me a couple of those while I shut everything down here and return the laptop?"

"Deal." You stand to get moving but turn to him before you leave, "and thank you, again. Not just for the computer fix, but for...for respecting the boundaries."

He looks at you with those gorgeous blue eyes, "not a problem."

Previous--Next

Series Masterlist; Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Tagging @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @ellethespaceunicorn; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory;

@late-to-the-party-81; @lokislady82 ; @peyton-warren @ronearoundblindly; @stellar-solar-flare

[jamiebluewind]

The Amazing Digital Circus takes place in the fae realm

1. The humans have given away their names and can't leave

2. Nothing is what it seems

3. Normal rules of physics don't apply

4. Time flows differently (losing track of time also has serious consequences)

5. There's a lot of food imagery (you also aren't supposed to eat fae food)

6. Showing fear attracts negative attention which is why being calm and confident is important

Here are also a few neat pieces of folklore about fairies that I think also fit Caine

1. Is fond of mischief and trickery

2. Can fly using magic (wings was an addition that came later)

4. Doesn't have a good understanding of how humans work so they can inadvertently hurt even if they're trying to help

5. Can use distractions and illusions to lead travelers astray

6. Historically accused of forcing people to dance and have fun every night all night until the people would eventually waste away from being unable to rest

7. Responds well to humans having good manners, but DISLIKE them complaining, being negativite, and boasting (regardless of the circumstances they're in)

8. Have metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural abilities

9. Live in a place inhabited by a wide variety of mundane and magical creatures of various abilities (like goblins, gnomes, ethereal creatures, sprites, and creatures that appear unreal but also things like just a horse).

10. Often have green eyes (Caine has one green and one blue)

11. Historically, those who lived with humans were described as what we now call autistic

I'm sure somebody has laid it out better than I have, but it was a fun late night thought that I wanted to share. Is it a computer program corrupted by the fae realm? A newer land that borrows ideas from humanity that is more recent? A secret third option? Who's to say! But isn't it a fun idea regardless?

[utmv-fg]

UTMV Fighting Game Progress Update #2 - 10.1.25

Hello, everyone.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Someone very nice dropped me an ask (on my other blog? I can't find it now) re: how I was doing, so I felt like making a little update post.

I haven't been able to work on things (especially this game) much at all lately between family and work and other stressors, as I mentioned in that ask if you saw it. The thing I didn't mention that might be apparent is that I've just been depressed. But as my therapist tells me, this is a normal thing that happens sometimes and it is temporary.

For now, I figured if I don't have lots of cool progress to show you, I can at least open up a little about where I stopped in the process (because I think it's interesting).

VVVV

So, picture me. A tiny spider sitting at my computer.

I'm done with the basic tutorials of Game Maker and am trying to tackle actually making a game. The kind of game I want to make is relatively complicated, so I decide to make two smaller prototypes that'll focus on the parts of the big game that I think I'll have the hardest time figuring out.

A game that focuses on branching paths based on simple player choices with a short cutscene between each transition and endings that depend on your cumulative choices. (Temp. title: Hands.)

A game that focuses on the actual needs of a fighting game. Stage parameters, moves, epic finishers, etc. (Temp. title: Super Muybridge Fighter.)

I decide early on that I'm gonna borrow the photographic oeuvre of Eadweard Muybridge so I don't have to draw sprites just for some tests and spend a few days scanning in pages from collections of his work I've had lying around since my dad gave them to me high school.

Then what? How do I actually build this thing?

See, the way Game Maker thinks is by association. Every little action and instance needs to be connected to something else. You can't just tell the game to make a little dude walk. You need to associate his walking sprite with his game object, and give that object commands that interact with gravity and movement/positioning (which you have to define yourself) and the ground he's standing on and what room that ground is in and which room he gets sent to when he walks off the screen and how that transition is supposed to be executed. And then you have to remember to tell him to stop walking.

That all in itself sounds complicated, and it gets worse when you think about how to put together an entire game.

But there are ways to organize this. In fact, there are multiple ways. You can use indexes (basically making lists of things you can point at with numbers and tell the program to use) to keep track of different categories of thing and point at them when you need them. You can set up scripts that contain programming you want to use over and over, so you can just hand each little guy a script on how to walk instead of having to teach them all individually. And then there are tools for grouping scripts and making indexes that contain other indexes (maps, I think), and character parenting and instance execution code manipulation and many many other cool tricks to make connecting all your things easier.

In fact, there are so many fucking things to make it easier that it becomes really really hard to know what would be best for what concept and where the pitfalls are. And I realize a lot of that comes down to trial and error (and asking forums).

But I have two ideas. Mostly on how to tackle the branching path concept in Hands.

~~~~~~~~~~

Think of it like a theme park ride.

You, the player, move from room to room--with different actors and props for each room. When you get to the end of a room, you make a choice, and a door appears. As you step through it, you enter a little dark room where a cutscene plays, and then you go on to the next prop-filled room. If an actor must appear in more than one room, they're cloned to be in both places at once with a different shirt and lines to read. The room paths just split and split and split until there are tons of hallways, each with their own discreet end-room and exit door.

(The player object transitions between separate game rooms, and each room uses discreet instances of reused objects placed in appropriate rooms. Use character parenting and scripts for primary functions, edit secondary programming and execution code for specialized functions.)

Higher volume of pathways and copies of things to manage, but each thing has less-complex stuff to do.

~~~~~~~~~~

+++++++++

2. Think of it like a theatrical stage.

There is only one room. The game engine dresses up the room to look like a different room for each scene. When the player, sitting in the audience, makes a choice at the end of the scene, the curtains go down for a minute as they watch a cutscene, and the actors and props rearrange and redress themselves for the next scene.

(The player object is reset to the same room after room completion and choice made, but indexes/maps swap out background textures, enemy objects, characteristic variables, dialogue, etc. Actor objects contain all possible needed functions and dialogue and execute them during appropriate scenes.)

Lower volume of rooms and objects, but more complex use of the objects in play.

+++++++++

Anyway, as I figure out which will hurt my/your computer less (and my head), feel free to chime in with any advice if you have it.

Things are very very tough out there, but stay warm and keep pushing.

<3 Daisy

[harzilla]

I've been reading a lot of twst fanfics, now I can't stop getting ideas about crossover fics. Seriusly someone needs to do a crossover between twst and :

A school for good and evil ~ book series

This monster wants to eat me ~ manga (and anime soon)

Ancient magus bride ~ manga & anime

The way to protect the female leads older brother ~ manhwa & novel(I keep imagining this in a vampire au)

The secret world of Arrietty / Borrowers Au ~ movie

(anyone who didn't see/read these, highly recommend)

I totally feel you. You enjoy a series and wanna do a crossover? I'm all for it. Some great fanfic ideas start off as crossovers. I admit I haven't read or watched most of these except for Ancient Magus Bride and Arriety/Borrowers. Ancient Magus Bride and twst have a ton of potential if you like exploring the magic side.

Arriety could be fun. Imagine an MC that's a borrower. Borrower!MC living in ramshackle's walls. They could even be a separate person from Yuu all together. They meet up with Yuu and hide in their jacket pocket. Ending up in the place of the dormouse in the teapot during an unbirthday party. Being played with by Leona like the scene with Scar and the mouse. Floyd calling them Shrimpy because they're literally the size of a shrimp! Part 4 they actually escape first and track down the octotrio to help Yuu and Grim. Pretty brave for a tiny shrimp. The world of Twisted Wonderland and the story events from the eyes of somebody who's just a few inches tall. Maybe they even get to try being big one day thanks to some enchanted cookies like Alice.

A school of Good and Evil is one I haven't read but I had another anon ask about that idea too.

I did have a few other crossover ideas. But one of them plays with the self aware concept but Twst crossover with the 90's series ReBoot.

The animation is extremely dated and a product of its time but it gave use Hexadecimal, absolute Queen.

That series takes place inside a computer and the internet. Whenever the user would download the game, if anybody gets trapped inside they're forced to play the game as NPCs and if they lose the area the game was is destroyed and all the people who were trapped become leech like creatures called nulls. One of the characters AndrAIa who was originally a game sprite, even became a sentient being. The premises could easily be switched to a modern smartphone or somebody running a version on a desktop using a program like bluestack and the MC being a guardian like Bob or even a random citizen of the phone/computer. Twst gets downloaded and MC should just be one of the random NPCs you fight in the story but somehow things spiral out of control when the cast all start going off script.

There's one I would like to see explored more is Gargoyles. It could really explore the history of magic and magical beings when crossed over with Twst(Since Gargoyles liked to explore different cultures myths and mythological figures and gods. They had Fae, the Banshee, Anubis, Coyote, and Anansi for example). Imagine if you make the MC a Gargoyle. Them having to explain that their species just turns to stone during the day. Unless they're like the Mayan clan in the series who had Sun amulets that kept them from turning to stone.

I reblogged a while back DC crossover ideas where Yuu is some flavor of DC Superhero. Or even Marvel could be fun. It's easy enough to pick a very human looking characters but people shouldn't sleep on the less human looking characters like TT's Beastboy, F4's Thing, and X-Men's Beast or Colossus for example.

[solarwonux]

Business Proposal || knj (8/?)

pairing: namjoon x f!reader || ex friends to lovers!au friends to lovers!au

Genre: fluff, angst, smut, slow burn, fwb!au, non idol!au, unrequited love

Warnings: slow burn, angst, fluff, flirting, semi-edited

Rating: mature, 18+

w.c: 7.0

Synopsis: Namjoon is living on borrowed time, and it’s time to cash in. His father is months from taking his last breathe and his life long dream is to watch his oldest son say “I do.”

A/n: I hope you enjoy, I will add all the extra links later. Please please please let me know your thoughts you have no idea how much it helps me. Enjoy!

Prev | next

m.list | series m.list | wattpad

10 years ago.

You have circled around Dionysus Lake at least three times, in a failed attempt to calm your nerves. In all honesty you aren’t sure why you’re so nervous, it was a simple tutoring session with your friend's brother. Yet, the hammering in your heart and the pressure around your neck was impossible to ignore.

You know this has nothing to do with you finding him attractive. You can find someone attractive but not be attracted to them. Hence Jungkook. You know it has nothing to do with the fact that his meeting place of choice was the one cafe that was slightly out of the budget you set aside for iced coffees on the weekday.

What you do know is that it has everything to do with the fact that this is something new. A little hiccup in your perfectly curated daily routine. From now on every Tuesday and Thursday you will be meeting up with Kim Namjoon at seven o’clock at Serendipity Cafe. Who by some miracle will hopefully have you understanding the PEMDAS rules that you’re hundred percent sure we’re taught wrong to you. No more will be your days in which you stay at HYBE U’s seven floor library, cranking down on research or polishing essays after math class. No more will be your days that you decide that maybe it was time for some me time, and enjoy a nice long relaxing bath with different bath salts, bath bombs, and candles in an attempt to relax your racing thoughts and aching muscles.

No, now you have to squeeze in a half an hour walk after your algebra class to give yourself a breather. So, you don’t have to face your friend's brother all frazzled and annoyed that you have successfully sat through a math class without understanding a thing. Really, your nerves are really due to the fact that you don’t want to seem incompetent; but is it your fault that you’ve had incompetent math teachers or lack of math teachers throughout your academic year? It’s not your fault they couldn’t explain complex terms in a simple form. Or that they took advantage of the system to get close to younger children. You were cheated out of a decent understanding of math because the academic system simply worked against you.

It’s a thought you have been turning over and over in your head since you woke up this morning. You’ve been trying out every other excuse in the book.

“I’m sorry they had us do flawed computer programs in middle school instead of actually teaching us something.”

“You see I couldn’t really do my math homework growing up because I had ballet class at four until eight.”

“I’m actually really smart I just don’t understand how the fuck I have to apply an exponent when there’s a parenthesis involved.”

All of these excuses were dumb. A mask for the actual truth. Math was uninteresting, impalpable. It stayed constant and lacked excitement because you couldn’t see the puzzles laid out before you. That, and sometimes you sneakily read a book in the back of the class or whispered about the next big boy band with your equally as boy crazed friends Shalimar and Ruth.

Still, after your third wrap around Dionysus lake, you’ve decided that if questioned you’d just come clean.

“I’m stupid and I absolutely have no idea why we have to have letters and numbers mingle with each other.”

Hopefully he'll appreciate your honesty and grow a soft spot for you. At least that’s what you hope for. And you keep hoping for as you steadily approach the large wooden doors of Serendipity. There’s still about ten minutes until seven, but you figured you’d get there a bit early to grab a good seat. One in a section that’s quiet but not too quiet because the last thing you want while you sip on your peppermint tea is to be consumed by your overwhelming thoughts while you wait for your tutor.

You approach the counter, gripping the leather strap of your purse, going over your order in case you stumble upon your words due to pressure.

“Welcome to Serendipity whe—oh hey you’re Kookie’s girl.” The man behind the counter says in awe. While you cringe at the fact that you’re being referred to as Jungkook’s girl. You remember the doe eyed man referring to the man now wearing a button down with what seems to be condoms printed all over it as Hobi. Though his nametag states that his name is Hoseok. You try not to dwell on it for too long because he’s looking at you curiously. Probably wondering why you haven’t greeted him back or placed your order.

You shake your head, circling your moon shaped bag back to the front of your body, attempting to hide your discomfort. “Oh, hi, um, Jungkook’s just a friend.” You swallow, while he smiles in acknowledgement.

“I see, things are complicated. I get that.” He brushes you off before turning to the iPad in front of him. Before you can counteract with a ‘no it’s actually very simple, we share classes and he’s unfortunately picked me to annoy.’ He speaks up and gets right to the point. “What can I get you cutie?” He finishes, looking at you through his bangs.

The heat in your body erupts. No guy has ever been this forward with you but you’re positive this is just part of his customer service training. If he ever had one. Either way he’s talking you up and making you feel seen, which you assume is a specialty of his and probably why the cafe is crowded with many young adults.

With a grin you say. “Just a hot mint chocolate latte.” You nod in assurance before opening up your purse and taking out your wallet. When you fish your card out and go to swipe it across the reader a hand stops you. Startled, you look up to find Hobi or Hoseok smiling wide at you.

“No need, it’s already paid for.” He takes his hand away and gives you a white buzzer instead.

You furrow your brows in confusion. How has your drink already been paid for when you’ve just entered? You aren’t complaining, you did just save some money, but that small amount of happiness doesn’t mean that you aren’t confused.

The cashier seems to read your confusion and he chuckles, running a hand through his hair. “Namjoon paid for you earlier when he ordered his drink.”

“What?” You glance down at your phone to see the time. Did you get it wrong? The two of you agreed on seven, and you even confirmed it this morning through a quick text just to be sure. So, why does the analog clock on your phone read 6:55, and Namjoon has possibly already been waiting for you.

You curse under your breath and quickly put your wallet in your purse before turning around to look at the almost empty cafe. There’s only a couple of people occupying the circular tables. All of them fully immersed in their books or laptop screens. Namjoon is nowhere in sight. You look back at Hoseok—you’ve decided to refer to him as such since it’s what’s on his nametag—and he laughs at your confusion.

He lifts up a finger signaling up, “he’s on the second floor, got here about an hour ago.”

His statement doesn’t do anything but worsen the panic already coursing through your veins. Maybe you did misinterpret the time, still it wouldn’t make sense because wouldn’t he have texted you by now asking where you were?

“Um thank you…”

“Call me Hobi.” He waves a hand in front of your face. “Any friend or special friend of the boys gets the privilege to call me Hobi. Plus Hoseok—” He points to his nametag with a boney finger. “Sounds too serious.” He shrugs.

You nod your head. “Thank you Hobi.” You rush out the acknowledgement and turn around and speed walk to the industrial style spiral staircase.

It’s a dizzying journey up, but once you make it to the final step you spot the man that has your nerves at an all time high. He’s sitting in the far corner next to a floor to ceiling window. His back is hunched as he types away on his laptop. Today he’s ditched the beanie and you can see his dark brown hair. A few strands of his bangs sneak their way behind the thick rims of his black glasses. He’s wearing a simple gray long sleeve, with black sweatpants. He looks relaxed, the opposite of what you’re feeling because the thing you hate most in the world is keeping people waiting.

With quick steps you approach the table, halting when you get to the front of a chair. “I’m sorry, I thought we agreed on seven.” You rush out instead of a proper greeting. In a quick motion he lifts his head and takes off the earbuds inside his ears, and you feel like more of an idiot than before because of course he would be wearing noise canceling earbuds.

“Hey, you’re here. Did you order something? I told Hobi that I would just pay for what you wanted.” He grins and stands up, extending his hand for you in a handshake.

You put your hand in his and feel a shiver run down your spine when his cold one meets your clammy one. “Am I late?” You tilt your head to the side.

Namjoon shakes his head, and lets go of your hand before sitting down again. “No, you’re right on time. I just got here a bit early to get a head start on an essay due by the end of the week.” He reassures you, and finally you can let out the breath you had been holding in.

You feel calmer now. Relieved. You set down your stuff on an empty chair and take the seat directly in front of him. You place your white buzzer in front of you, tracing the circular ridges. Now, that you’re not in such a panicked state you can finally show your gratitude to his selfless actions. “Thank you for the drink, you didn’t have to pay for it.”

The busy man smiles and waves his hand in front of his face to brush you off. “It’s no big deal, Hobi gives me discounts anyway.”

“So, I’ve heard.” You whisper recalling the first night you met him a week ago. Since then, Jungkook snuck his brother’s phone number to you the next day at the library. He didn’t say anything, he just passed by you with a green drink from the only smoothie place on campus and a sticky note saying:

Text Namjoon, he’s forgetful. -JK

It took the whole day to muster up the courage but finally you sent a simple text regarding your name and the fact that his younger brother had been the one to sneak you his number. In case, he assumed you had gone through multiple deep dives on the internet to retrieve it. Thankfully, Namjoon didn’t question it and just replied with a simple greeting. Then the two of you got into a brief conversation that lasted about two days because you’re also forgetful and forgot to reply to his messages. Basically coordinating a plan further than the one you had discussed the first time you met.

It was strictly business. Yet, a part of you felt a little happy that you were meeting and talking to somebody new.

Just as you’re about to take out your small notebook and pen from your purse your buzzer comes to life, filling the spaces of silence in the air surrounding the two of you. Namjoon’s eyes tear away from his computer screen, and you’re about to stand up when he beats you to it. He quickly grabs a hold of the noisy device saying, “Don’t worry I got it,” and he disappears down the stairs.

You’re now sitting by yourself, wallowing in your over consuming thoughts. Most of them involve the story Jungkook told you about his very eventful weekend while the two of you were walking to your math lecture earlier today. Truly, it was so odd knowing that he had run into Taehyung at a club in the rich part of town. The two of them stayed together the entire night and even brought home two girls to Taehyung’s apartment. Thankfully, he didn’t share further than that, but he did share that he was in love. In which you rolled your eyes so hard it gave you vertigo.

In the few months that you have known the man. He has claimed that he has been in love with every single girl he’s slept with. Which surprisingly, given his flirty nature was not a lot. What was surprising to you was Taehyung being at the club. It’s not out of character for him, but Saturday nights were always spent at Jimin’s one bedroom apartment catching up on life, and binge watching One Piece. When his text message came through on Saturday evening saying that he wasn’t feeling very well and skipping out. You couldn’t help but feel a little sad because you hadn’t seen him in a while.

Taehyung was always out and about, chasing every new adventure he could grasp. He called it inspiration for his art, but you always knew there was another underlying reason. One he never cared to explain because in all honesty it only made sense to him. He was a tough book to get through. Sometimes it keeps you questioning why you even have a soft spot for it. Though, you suppose it is the backstory the two of you share. Still, you couldn’t help but feel a little bit hurt knowing he had chosen to not ditch you but Jimin as well.

The night wasn’t a bust and you managed to finally make a significant breakthrough on the anime. Twenty episodes in one night was something that needed to be awarded. It did feel a bit awkward when it was just the two of you. It was as if there was an invisible ceiling slowly crushing you, because on Saturday for the first time ever the two of you found yourself stuck. Nothing to talk about. No updates on life, only the sound of the anime doing its best to fill the void of Taehyung not being there that the both of you unspokenly felt.

It made you question a lot of things. Like was it maybe time to finally part ways? A chilling thought that sent shivers down your spine and one you pushed so far into the back of your head. One you really don’t want to think about now, especially when you’re about to succumb yourself to a full extra hour of torture. Otherwise known as: College Algebra.

“Hobi says that if you take a picture of his latte art to tag him if you post it.” Namjoon voices, placing a small tray in front of your open notebook. A white mug with a beautiful Jack O'Lantern drawn in white foam decorates the top of your warm decaffeinated latte. It’s impressive, surely puts all those swans and hearts to shame.

“He’s a big fan of Halloween, and he always says that fall time means it's Halloween everyday.” Namjoon finishes with a chuckle, as he takes the seat in front of you again.

You laugh a little, fishing out your phone from the pocket of your jean jacket. “I can get behind that.” You say as you click on the camera app and snap a couple of pictures.

Unbeknownst to you, Namjoon is watching as you rearrange the contents on the table. To get the right aesthetic for your perfect picture. He can’t lie, it's a little endearing, seeing somebody so excited over latte art he has grown accustomed to seeing. It’s something he will definitely spill onto Hoseok before he leaves. His friend was crazy talented in many areas and he hates that instead of sharing all his passions out with the world. He’s stuck running Serendipity because his grandfather wanted the neighborhood's hub to stay in the Jung family. When he should be out in the world sharing his clothing designs with anyone who’s willing to listen.

Namjoon’s thoughts are interrupted by your extended hand, holding out your phone for him. “What’s his instagram?” You grin, and his eyes make their way to the small phone screen. A beautifully taken picture, showing off the spooky pumpkin with a caption reading,

Halloween should be all year round @--

Namjoon lets out an ‘ah’ before taking your phone and quickly typing out his friend's handle. He reads the caption again, double checking to see if he made any mistakes, Halloween should be all year round @uramyhope.

He nods in approval and hands you back your phone. Deep down he feels a surge of something foreign. He can’t necessarily put his finger on it but regarding Hoseok’s statement when he first met you last week, when he asked both his brother and him for your number. He feels a little strange, knowing that he’s basically given the two of you a way to start communicating outside of him and Jungkook. Knowing the aspiring designer, he won’t miss a beat, and that makes him feel a bit odd.

He shrugs it off though, pushes away the churning in his stomach, concluding that it was because he chose to consume caffeine so late in the evening. He looks back at his computer screen, while you type away on your phone. He continues to ignore it, saves the document on his computer two times before closing the lid. He pushes it aside, and clears his throat, catching your attention.

Quickly you lock your phone and stuff it into the pocket of your jacket. You look over at Namjoon, his hands clasped in front of him and a scowl prominent on his face. It resembled the same one he transformed into the first night you met him. When he coldly stated he was done with blind dating thanks to his mother and step brother. Though, this time it does feel less intense, probably due to the fact that he knows you’re just here to be his tutee and not his future wife.

Still, it lets you know that time was ticking and it was finally time to get down to business.

“How have you gone on this long without understanding the basic principles of algebra?”

Namjoon is serious. He means business and you’re about to pull out the hair from your scalp.

“Maybe because I never had a permanent math teacher, they’d all leave in the middle of the year.” You pout, crossing your arms in front of you and slumping down in your seat.

He lets out a sigh before sliding your notebook to his side of the table. The metal spiral scratching against the wooden surface, letting out an unpleasant noise making you cringe.

“That’s a good excuse.” He says, grabbing his red pen and making all sorts of marks along the paper. You don’t need to know what steps you got wrong while solving the math problem. You know exactly where you went wrong. It was the second you signed up for the class even if you didn’t have much of a choice.

You groan, throwing your head back. “It’s not an excuse. My eighth grade teacher left in the middle of the year because she got pregnant, my ninth grade teacher unfortunately was diagnosed with cancer. Then my tenth grade teacher was accused of being a pedophile so he was fired an—“

“Okay,” Namjoon cuts you off, setting down his pen on top of your notebook. “I understand, your school was just shitty at keeping teachers around.” He grins, placing the notebook in front of you again. “But did you ever do your math homework?” He tilts his head to the side in curiosity.

Unfortunately you’ve been caught. “No,” you whisper, dragging your fingernail down the spiral.

The sound he lets out tells you enough. He’s proven his point with the sarcastic hum that escapes his mouth. “In my defense I had dance practice everyday after school from two to four and the ballet from five to eight.” You add but it does little to prove your innocence. Instead, it makes you look guiltier or maybe not you but your parents because who would choose an extracurricular activity over academics. Especially when they knew their daughter was absolute shit at math. They did try though, but even the math tutor they hired back in high school could not get through to you.

“I see,” he puts a pensive hand on his chin leaning back. The look he gives you makes you feel small. You can’t tell if he’s judging your upbringing or the you now who can’t seem to understand the simple PEMDAS rules.

“Your problem isn’t even that bad. It’s easy to fix. You know what each operation does. You just get confused with the order along the way.” He leans forward, picking up the pen and pointing to the problem you just finished doing. “You know to do parenthesis first, but then you forget that parenthesis don’t really go away. That’s your first mistake.”

It’s like a lightbulb has suddenly flicked on inside your head as you watch him solve the problem while thoroughly explaining each step. Writing out every single step even if it was unnecessary, but it helps.

“So the answer should be seventeen and not twenty-two.” He finishes, and the puzzle slowly starts to connect itself before your eyes. The steps are laid out perfectly and neatly. The parenthesis stay until the equation is factored to the lowest it can go. And you’re about to jump across the table to give the man before you the biggest hug. He’s the only one who's been able to point out what you’ve done wrong your whole life and then explain it easily.

You lift your head up, wide eyed and say “oh, that makes sense.”

Namjoon laughs, almost as if he’s relieved but also disbelieved. You start to feel bad because for the past hour he’s been trying to explain to you the basic principles in every way possible. And it was only until he explained it to you in baby terms that you finally understood. You’re about to apologize, but instead you’re left stunned by his next words.

“I’m giving you homework for the next time we see each other on Thursday.” He hums, flipping to the next page. Your eye twitches a little at the thought of math homework. If you never did it while you were in school and getting graded for it, why would you do it now?

“Homework?”

He hums, and begins to write down a bunch of different math problems. He can sense that you’re about to fill him with different complaints, so he speaks up. “Do you want to pass math class?

“Yes, but do you really need to give me homework?”

“How many hours were you in dance class growing up?”

“I don’t remember like five hours, but what does that have to do with you giving me math homework.”

“What were you doing for five hours?” He lifts his head, handing you your notebook. You take it looking down at the ten perfectly curated algebra problems.

You want to throw up.

“Practicing.”

“Exactly, and how are you going to pass math?”

You huff, seeing exactly where his question was heading. Proving a point or whatever. Jungkook did mention his brother was a bit of a smart ass. Now you’re unfortunate enough to be at the receiving end.

With a grunt you close your notebook. “Fine, I'll do the homework.”

Namjoon smirks, tapping his ear, leaning in further into the table. “No, I want to hear you say it please.”

You stuff your small spiral notebook into your purse, snatching your special pink mechanical pencil from his side of the table. You spent too much money on it to let—your stupid math tutor who is now giving you homework to make you suffer—steal it.

“I need to practice math.” You mumble, zipping up your bag, and putting it over your shoulder.

Namjoon laughs, letting his red pen fall against the wooden table with a clank. You roll your eyes before standing up. At least your suffering was amusing to someone.

You cross your arms in front you waiting for his laughter to die down. When it does he looks at you, watery eyes from joy and you feel a slight tug in the inside of your chest. You push it to the side, convince yourself that it’s just the irritation bubbling up inside of you.

“Are you done?”

He nods, shuffles around the table to put his stuff away. “How are you getting home?” He questions, standing up and hoisting his vintage messenger bag over his shoulder.

You shrug, “the bus.” You state, pulling up your phone to check the bus schedule. If you can catch the next bus that comes in ten minutes then you’ll still be able to get home with a couple of seconds left of daylight.

“I’ll go with you then.” He states firmly, standing up abruptly and walking past you. It leaves you no room to argue against him.

You’re quickly starting to realize that once he says something firmly enough to be believed as the truth. There is absolutely no room left for a final say.

And they call you stubborn…as if.

The bus arrived a minute late. A minute that felt longer than what it should’ve felt. The two of you were the only ones standing side by side under the dim light of the bus stop.

It’s one thing to be in the same room as your tutor while the only thing the two of you talk about is math. It’s another thing to have him offer to walk you home. There’s no conversation. There’s no way to start a conversation. The only thing you really know about him is that he’s still studying, he is Jungkook’s step brother and he’s a philosophy major. The only philosophers you knew off were the ones from Ancient Greece. All the readings for your Introduction to Modern Rhetorics course that you were assigned to do were somewhere buried in the back of your mind.

You don’t want to start up a conversation in which you know you won’t be able to keep up. You remember very little about the readings and somehow the things you do remember blend into one another. So you can’t differentiate between what one philosopher said and what the other said.

Instead, Namjoon and you walk in silence. At a safe distance but close enough to still feel the presence of the other. Then you stand in the bus stop. Neither of you sit on the cold metal bench because it’s still not cold enough for them to turn on the bench warmers. And when you see that the bus is a minute late, you start to feel the slightly awkward air around the two of you get thicker.

You’re about to bite the bullet, take the embarrassing moment for some sort of small talk when the bright blue bus turns the corner. You watch it approach the stop fast. At least that’s what it feels like and soon enough the driver opens the double doors to welcome the two of you.

Surprisingly it’s not full. There are a few people occupying the seats, but there’s enough room to not feel like you’re being squished upon one another. Namjoon lets you enter first. Once you click your transit card against the reader you scan the rows for an empty seat. And of course, there’s two left in the far back. You walk to it quickly. Pass the exhausted bystanders and take the seat against the window.

After all, you will be here for the next twenty five minutes. Though, it’s not only occurred to you that you don’t know where Namjoon lives, until he takes up the seat next to yours. You want to ask if he’s going out of his way or if his place is along this route. But you don’t want to pry too much. You’ve only just met him officially. You also don’t know what you would do with yourself if it does turn out that his place is out of the way. Probably, apologize profusely for being such an inconvenience.

To save yourself from the discomfort you sights upon the buildings outside the window. Your daydreaming only lasts a few seconds when you feel a light tap against your shoulder. In a quick motion you turn your head to face the man sitting next to you. You tilt your head in question and he opens his mouth to speak.

“What’s the deal with you and Jungkook?”

The question feels like you’ve been hit by whiplash. It’s not the first time you get asked about it. Your longtime friend Jina has brought it up a few times, but you always reply with the same exact answer. “I guess we’re friends.” You shrug.

Namjoon hums in acknowledgment, nodding his head. He looks ahead for a few minutes before looking back at you. “Are you sure?”

Now, this question takes you aback. Nobody’s ever questioned your honesty. At least until now.

You quirk a brow and nod. “Yes, we share a few classes and sometimes we study together. But it always feels like I’m there to study and he’s just there to talk because he never shuts up.” You rant.

“Ah,” he chuckles, moving his head in confirmation. “That sounds like him, when he was younger he never talked, but then he turned fifteen got a little confident because he found out a few people found him cute and he just never stopped talking then.” Namjoon reveals, making you smile. “He also talks in his sleep.” He adds, smiling when he hears you let out a giggle.

Suddenly, it doesn’t feel as awkward as before. It feels a bit simpler. And you find yourself leaning into his aura a little more.

“I think he likes you though.” He adds, making your eyes grow wide in surprise. Maybe you’re dumb or you just don’t understand flirting thanks to the two very unserious relationships you had between the transition of high school and college. But from what you do know is that Jungkook holds no romantic feelings or a liking towards you. That’s something you’re very confident in.

“I don’t think so.” You scoff. “He would be stupid if he did.” You wave him off, and look out the window. You catch his reflection in the glass. He’s looking down at you, smiling in amusement. It somehow makes your cheeks get a bit hot and you divert your gaze down to the metal border of the window.

“He sat me down on our couch last night and laid down some ground rules.” He speaks up, looking ahead again. He lifts his hand and starts, “I’m not allowed to let you out of my sight, I have to be nice to you, and Hobi is not allowed under any circumstances get your number, which somehow I failed at doing.” He shrugs and counts with his fingers as if that proves his statement.

You stare at his hand before looking up at him again, you’re at a loss for words. Your thoughts are all jumbled up. Somehow you know tonight you won’t be able to sleep. You will now be questioning every single interaction you’ve had with Jungkook in the past few months.

Clearing your throat you say, “that doesn’t mean he like…has feelings for me.”

He lifts his hands up in defense. Your tone is harsh and he finds it amusing. He continues, “don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just relaying information on something I’ve observed.”

You finally turn to look at him. Your eyebrows are drawn together in a scowl. “No offense but your observation is stupid.” You cross your arms in a huff, pouting like a child. It makes Namjoon laugh loud enough to turn heads, causing you to look at him alarmed. It only makes him laugh harder and when you’re about to reprimand him, the automatic voice sounds in the speakers of the bus. It announces your stop and you scramble quickly to press the bright red button to stop the bus.

This shuts Namjoon up, he looks around, biting the inside of his cheek before nodding his head in confirmation. “This is your stop,” he voices just as the bus comes to a halt.

You nod, taking out your bus card from your purse and standing up. He copies your movements, makes his way to the card scanner and places his card against it. He doesn’t wait for you to exit he simply does and stands outside on the sidewalk, hands in his pocket. You scan your card and take the leap of faith from the bus stairs to the sidewalk. You land next to him, thanking your lucky stars for catching you and finally you voice out the question that’s been dying in the back of your throat.

“This is not your stop is it?”

“It’s not but, I promised Jungkook you would get home safely.” With that he turns on his heels and escapes the light of the stop, appearing again a few feet ahead underneath the street light. “Are you coming?”

“Do you do everything Jungkook says?” You grumble. The argument in which you state that you’re a big girl who is more than capable of walking home by herself escapes you. Only because when you’re finally standing in front of him. His head towering just a few inches above yours, it finally hits you. The jolt that springs in the pit of your stomach. The tug inside your heart that will have you up all night because it feels like a terrible case of heartburn. And the seed, his soft gaze plants inside of your mind.

It’s a mistake, a big one and you’re now regretting taking up Jungkook’s offer to have his brother tutor you. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen at all. The slow cascade down the wall you’ve built surrounding your emotions. You can feel it crumble already, ready to run down a dead end street, because that’s what it feels like. Whatever you’re feeling inside.

“I don’t.” The soft timbre of his voice brings out, you’re thankful it helps you find your way back down to the ground, but you’re not a fan of the way it paints goosebumps across your arms.

He continues, “I don’t want him to lecture me for not looking out after his friend.” He emphasizes the last part, combining it with a wink. You know what he is implying and you can’t help but feel a bit of the drink you had an hour ago threatening to make its way up your throat.

“You’re not going to give up are you?” You walk past him. It’s best to have him a few feet behind than right next to you. The space gives you time to regain yourself, yet it doesn’t last because in seconds he’s right next to you. His arm is so close. It almost brushes against yours. Thankfully it doesn’t but you can smell his cologne. It’s soft, and warm. Like fresh laundry on a sunday morning. It makes your insides burn and you know that from now on you will be looking for that scent everywhere so you can call it yours.

Namjoon shakes his head. “I’ve never seen him this protective over someone apart from his mom.” He whispers now, and the lower his voice gets the lower it sinks inside of you. “You must be special to him.” He concludes.

“I think I’m just the first girl who's never kissed his toes and finds him annoying.” You halt in front of a street light, and he stops with you. The little man signals red—do not go. You turn your head from side to side questioning your safety. If you run now, you will likely still be alive but most importantly away from the man next to you. Honestly, you’re a bit confused. When he was talking about algebra the only thing you could focus on was how to get from point a to point b while solving the problem.

Now that the moon is dim and the streets are emptying out. The only thing you can think about is how soft and ethereal he looks. Nothing like how when you first met him, but something straight out of a modernized fairy tale. It’s hitting you unexpectedly and you begin to wonder if it’s because your exhaustion is finally settling in, making you delusional.

“That could be true, but I think that you’re here to stay for a long time.” He chuckles. The little man switches to green and he takes the step.

“Why do you say that?” You walk fast to catch up to him. You realize that he is blindly following you and you to him. Sure, you’re almost home, but he’s leading the way as if he knows where he’s going. As if he’s done this before with you and has been doing this with you his entire life. It doesn’t do anything to calm your beating heart.

He stays quiet. He keeps on walking, stealing secret glances your way to see if he’s still at the same pace as you. It stays this way until you stop in front of a cute town house. The door is decorated with an autumn reef. The worlds ‘welcome fall,’ take up the entire circumference. There’s a red bell on the handle, to signal when someone is home since the doorbell has been broken ever since you could remember.

You’re home. But for some reason it had already felt like you were home.

“If it’s not Kook then it’s Hobi. Plus I need to make sure you pass math.” He voices.

You look at him, tilting your head in confusion. Until your mouth widens in a silent ‘oh’ recalling the question he had failed to answer a minute ago.

“I think your brain has been corrupted by reading into things while you do your research.”

He chuckles, “again don’t shoot the messenger, it’s not surprising though.” He shrugs, “My brother never shuts up about you, and Hobi hasn’t stopped asking for your contact information since you first walked into Serendipity a week ago.”

You roll your eyes, turning away from him and pressing your palm against the keypad of your house. It lights up, showing numbers and you quickly enter the code, wait for the little lock to signal it has been unlocked and you turn the knob.

Before you walk in you turn to face him again. “I won’t argue with you against the whole Hobi thing. But I know Jungkook doesn’t have feelings for me. If he did he wouldn’t tell me about all the dates he’s gone on and ask for advice whenever he has relationship or situationship problems. Plus he says he’s in love with someone he met this weekend.” You reason.

Namjoon takes his hands out of his pockets, raising his hands in defeat again. “Fine I’ll drop it, but I do think he finds you special. That’s all.” He states firmly and once again you’re reminded of that tone. He’s gotten the last word and you won’t bring up another one because if not then you’d be walking a tight circle around each other.

“Agree to disagree.” You smile, taking one step inside your house. “I’ll take your word for now. Thank you for walking me home. You didn’t have to even if Jungkook asked you to.”

He buries his hands into his pockets and grins. “I also wanted to.” He takes one step back. “Good night, I’ll see you on Thursday.” And with that he turns around, starts his way down the same path that led the two of you here.

Home.

You’re left astounded. In a rush to feel comfort once again, you hurry through the door, slamming it behind you, pressing your back against it. For a moment you’re scared your parents might find you in this state, wallowing in feelings you can’t begin to understand. Then you remember that they were at dinner with their friends, and you’re thankful that you still have some time to regain yourself.

Namjoon’s words cut deep. Not what he said about Jungkook. You know as well as you know your name that romantic feelings between the two of you are nonexistent. But you also know that he said he wanted to walk you home.

Chivalry might not be dead but the bar is low, because he wanted…he wanted…he wanted to wa—

Beep.

Your phone goes off signaling a message. With all the ditzyness a girl with a school girl crush can have. You fish out your phone with a haste, what if it’s him.

Though, that thought dies as quickly as it was conjured. It’s not him, but it’s a notification that in the same right births a little flame inside of you. Maybe not as bright as the one Namjoon left behind, but it has the potential to grow into something more.

uarmyhope wants to send you a message.

Your smile gets wide when you swipe across the notification. It opens up to your Instagram and it quickly directs you to your DMS.

You open it, and you feel a spark when you read the few choice words that were chosen. They’re simple but they’re enough. And they’re the start of a long night of getting to know someone else.

Your next latte is on me cutie.xx

[lassieposting]

It's been forever since I made a Mass Effect post but today I'm here to talk about

Translator Shenanigans

You cannot tell me that at some point during downtime Shep and Garrus haven't swapped translator chips so they can each hear what the other one hears

So Shep gets to hear herself as a Cipritini(?) turian, and Garrus gets to hear himself the way Shep hears him in-game. And it turns out Garrus's translator actually makes a stab at giving her appropriate subvocals, which, parsing and translating emotion into a form of communication that doesn't actually exist in the original language is quite complicated for a computer program, so when she asks how good it is, Garrus pulls a face and guesses at around 80-90% for other turians with different regional languages, and more like 40-60% for aliens depending on the race - quarians have something similar to subvocals themselves, so Tali is fairly easy to read. Shepard is in the middle - tone is hit or miss, but he can fall back on body language to judge whether the translator is misreading her. Wrex is a struggle.

- That that means the other 60-40% of his ability to read other people relies on his ability to read up on, memorise and then look for behavioural cues in completely alien species. If he's not sure, he'll default to interpreting interactions as Professionally Polite, which. Explains several months of fruitlessly flirting with him, at least .

- And maybe everyone around them sounds different using each other's translators too? Because the translator programs essentially use the voices of voice actors who sound appropriate for each species, and the program picks voices to mimic like, the pitch and quality of the original speaker as closely as possible, but the pool of voice actors is different for each species and in-species language. Wrex is deeper and more growly in Shep's translator than Garrus's.

- (Shep tries out Wrex's translator chip, once. Hearing Garrus with a beefy krogan's voice is An Experience.)

- Shep realising Garrus actually knows quite a bit of English! His mouth isn't made for pronouncing a lot of her language's sounds - case in point, the sh sound in Shepard - but he understands more than he can speak, and when he's borrowing her translator chip, she can watch him recognise words in real time as his head tilts when he tries to figure out a sentence from a few words or when he goes to answer her - and then laughs when he remembers she now can't understand him. He likes listening to humans, he claims. Human speech is musical. Catchy. Lots of funny sounds.

- (She kind of thinks turians sound like velociraptors, a little bit. But that doesn't mean she doesn't like turning off her translator and listening to him hum and trill and chirp technobabble to himself in the battery, sometimes.)