DECLAN: You know, I don't think you're
that bad, Buckley.

BUCK:  You're not that bad either, Declan.
You're pretty good, actually.

          A HAPPY LIFE, IS A GOOD LIFE. Or was it A GOOD LIFE, IS A HAPPY LIFE? Declan wasn't sure—he actually wasn't sure of most things. Maybe that's what made him such a good surfer because he was able to shut off his brain and not think about anything while he surfed.

He's been doing it since he was a kid—he was born in South Carolina but then moved to Hawai'i when he was five since his dad was newly stationed out there for the NAVY and his mom wanted to follow his dad out there; saying that it was a good experience for Declan. While Declan didn't totally hate the idea because it's Hawai'i, but he didn't get much a say in it. But he was five; who would let a five year old make decisions for them? Not Valerie Katz, that's for sure.

Declan's life in Hawai'i was long lived as he lived there up until he was 23–surfing up the waves with his best friends. But, of course, his mom had to throw a wrench in his plans of living life on the beach. She'd left Hawai'i a long time ago when she figured out that her husband—Dale Katz—was lying about being stationed in Hawai'i—even about being in the NAVY—and was sleeping with another woman. She'd moved to California and found a place of her own in Santa Monica, right next to the pier.

Just days before one of Declan's most important competitions—he had become a professional surfer when he was 18 and he was on the road to become the best in the world—his mom had texted him and said that she was in the hospital. She had stage four breast cancer. That night, Declan took a red eyed flight to California and called the competition and said he wasn't going to be able to make it.

Turns out Valerie had cancer for a while and she never wanted to tell Declan because he had a happy life and she didn't want to ruin it. So, after a week of Declan taking care of his mom in the hospital and with chemo, Valerie Katz died while holding her son's hand.

"A happy life, is a good life."

Declan didn't know if his mom got the saying right or wrong, but the next day he went to a tattoo shop right on the Venice Beach strip and got her words tattooed right on his forearm, right where he could see it. It was the first of many tattoos that Declan got in memory of his mom. They were good conversation starters which usually ended with Declan telling who asked about how amazing his mom was and how shitty his dad was.

One of his tattoos had nothing to do with his mom—it was a shark eating a surf board, which signified all of the times he's gotten hurt while surfing. There's been nothing life threatening, just a couple of bumps and bruises and a sprained ankle. Declan was proud of his streak of never breaking a bone—while on his board—but, like all things, his streak had to end when he surfed during earthquake season.

     And then, seeing as he broke his streak once, it seems as though he needed to keep breaking his '0 INJURIES IN (x amount of) DAYS' counter he had on his fridge door.

     But, Declan learns not to complain about it too much as he knew his mother would tell him to rub some sand on it, but also because there was a cute firefighter who always seemed to be helping him out.

Ross Lynch               𖦹               Declan Katz
He/Him.     Twenty-Four.     Cancer.     Surfer.
❝ What is this, the fifth time you've come to my
rescue, Firefighter Buckley? ❞

I. Mama's Boy. South Carolinian/Sandlapper. Hawaiian. Certified mango lover. Daddy Issuesᵀᴹ. Real Love Baby — Father John Misty.

also starring . . .
I. Auli'i Cravalho . . . Kapua Hale
II. Jonathan Daviss . . . Agro Cruz
III. Harrison Ford . . . Randy Whitney
IV. Jennifer Morrison . . . Valerie Katz †
V.  Charlie Hunnam  . . .  Dale Katz

Good Day ━━ The Terrys, Estoerik, Scraps
Scrawny ━━ Wallows
Cool it down ━━ COTERIE
Listen to D.J.'s ━━ Long Beach Dub Allstars
Grapejuice ━━ Harry Styles
All Summer Long ━━ Kid Rock
Confidence  ━━ Ocean Alley
The Magic Number ━━ De La Soul
On My Own ━━ Ross Lynch
Real Love Baby ━━ Father John Misty
Paint the Silence ━━ South

━━  🌺 ˎˊ-      tyler yaps !

dedications ☺️☺️
oscarsisaac

also, name pronunciations:
declan: deck-lan(d)
(the d is silent ^^)
kapua: kah-poo-uh
agro: awh-grow