i would be happy to give you an intro to sprinting 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ it’s a timed writing exercise basically!!! there are a few sites you can do it on, mostly free… my friends use discord (there are bots you can add to servers, where you set a timer, add your starting word count, and then put in your ending word count at the end) or ohwrite (a website where you write in a text box and there’s a timer in the corner of the screen). both of these options allow you to write with friends and chat!!! on the other hand, mywriteclub was popular in 2020, but i don’t think it’s used anymore…. the only paid sprinting site that i know of is 4thewords, which is super cute (it has a fantasy theme where you defeat “monsters” by hitting writing goals). i used the free trial of it last winter, but now there’s a free limited feature membership now (not sure how it compares to the full version, but i’ve been meaning to poke around it again bc it was so helpful for writing thom). it can be easy to get sidetracked while sprinting, but other times, the accountability (especially if you have a friend to nag you!) is super helpful ☺️

Aww thank you! This is definitely something I've been thinking about........ so when I first started writing/reading omegaverse, many years ago, it was generally accepted that the population was mostly composed of betas, female omegas, and male alphas. Female alphas and male omegas were a minority, both treasured and heavily discriminated against.... this is something that still comes through in my writing on occasion (even as I write fics where the gender ratios are more equal). Even though (primary) gender isn't as big of a deal in the omegaverse, there are still expectations attached to each identity. For example, female alphas are still considered to be strong and leaderly, but male alphas might say they're too gentle or soft in comparison. Maybe female alphas are considered to be more nurturing around their partners (gathering nesting supplies during heat rather than being overly territorial), but male alphas are stereotyped as aggressive in bed or generally controlling. If we treat traditionally male-dominated fields as alpha-dominated fields, maybe we could break it further into female alpha-dominated fields and male alpha-dominated fields? 😅 maybe you'll see more male alphas in construction (physically powerful) but female alphas in technical jobs (requiring attention to detail or overall more sensitivity).

I also think that since female alpha and male omega bodies are more "complicated" than betas, there's an extra layer of prejudice for people who present in a way that doesn't suit the "norm" (being female beta/omega or male alpha/beta). People will be surprised and have questions about how a woman presents as an alpha, but they just accept it when a man presents as an alpha. If a male alpha and female alpha are in the same place, people would be more likely to defer to the male alpha or assume that the female alpha is actually an omega/beta. In comparison, a female omega would be ignored entirely... but female alphas still have a battle to fight!

Awwww thank you so much! I also really loved writing the scene of them meeting... just two kids finding comfort in each other, even though growing up is hard

I think Soobin started falling in love with Kai long before he or Kai realized it. Their relationship has been ambiguous, crossing the line of a "normal" friendship, for years. Soobin knew that Kai was special before the engagement, but he didn't think too much about what kind of special relationship they had. It probably began to occur to him around the time he left his previous relationship and began relying on Kai even more, although he didn't put a name to it...... Being married to Kai brought more of those feelings out. Thinking about their relationship as a stable marriage made him very, very happy. Like Kai, he wanted love in whatever form it came in. The reason that he didn't confess sooner is the same as Kai—fear of rejection. In Soobin's case, though, his concerns were more focused around the worry that Kai spent too long thinking of him as a friend to ever see him differently. It just wasn't a possibility in his head. He also knows that Kai is a romantic, and thought that Kai would essentially have a mental block on falling in love while in an arranged marriage lmao. He feels silly in hindsight, but the long-term ambiguity of his feelings didn't help! Before their confessions, he was also very content with being Kai's partner, so he didn't feel a huge sense of urgency to define their relationship (until the pregnancy, of course)

I'm so glad you asked about the title! It's one I'm very fond of. I came up with the idea of including flashbacks early on into the outlining process. The extensive history of sookai's relationship (and their long future together) is very important to the ficus themes, and these flashbacks bridge the gap between their beginnings to their current selves for readers. Sookai shaped each other; they wouldn't be who they are as adults if they didn't meet as children. In a way, their childhood selves are "communicating" with their adult selves. So, the title refers to the practice of putting a letter in a sealed bottle and releasing it to the ocean for someone to find. You don't know where that bottle will end up, or who will find it, or when it will be found, but you send it anyway. You could say that sookai took a similar chance on each other in the beginning!

(also I was listening to jungkook's too sad to dance when I was outlining the fic and that lyric stuck in my head LOL)