#and told the kids that these attitudes probably contributed

[baronfulmen]

Holy shit it just keeps getting worse with every paragraph. I was expecting it to be bad but YIKES.

[timur-pannonicus]

Zuko and Azula had no reference for what a normal or healthy sibling relationship is like

To address the always present argument about whether their relationship was abusive and who abused who. People point out that being mean and competitive, sometimes to the point of being hurtful, is not unusual for siblings.

I agree. But my point here is that Zuko and Azula don't know that.

Neither is either of them in their early to mid adulthood where the majority of people who had siblings they never got along with start understanding and forgiving.

Azula and Zuko most likely think that their rivalry is NOT a common thing. They lack examples from others in their lives.

I know bringing up the comics is justifiably frowned upon but in the Search, Zuko is absolutely bewildered by Sokka's and Katara's behavior towards each other, which was nothing more than fun bickering. But let's look what can be concluded or assumed from the show.

Iroh and Ozai were both well into adulthood when Zuko and Azula were born and they sadly did not reconcile their differences. They most likely behaved very icy to one another but the demands of court probably required them to act in a very civil and respectful seeming way. In Zuko Alone we can conclude Ozai didn't say anything nice, warm or funny about Iroh to Azula as seen by her attitude to her uncle and Iroh likely didn't tell any fun anecdotes either due to either being away at war or because he didn't want to risk a fight with his brother.

Ursa might have had siblings and cousins but nothing in the show confirms that and the comics clearly say she did not.

Mai didn't get a brother until she was 14.

Ty Lee has six sisters but it's quite possible that each of them had a "pair" in their matched set and Ty Lee was the only one left out, made worse by the fact that her parents seemed to barely acknowledge her. It's possible that only her friendship with Azula made her stand out at all, which likely contributed to her desire for uniqueness and independence too. In any case she likely didn't have much interaction with her biological sisters.

There seems to have been no other kids in the palace with whom Azula and Zuko could interact, limiting their scope of experience and insight.

Zuko not realizing that little siblings tend to be annoying and mean and do pranks has been discussed in detail by others and I don't think I have to add anything.

But, AZULA did not realize some things about older siblings either. They can be entitled, patronizing, attention hogging, dismissive, rude and even cold. Countless older siblings have told the younger ones that they were adopted or found in the trash or said and done even worse things.

One way to simplify the rivalry between Zuko and Azula is to say each was jealous of the attention the other was receiving from a parent.

However, sadly for them their parent's relationship was strained either from the start or after a while, to put it lightly.

Add the fact that they were sheltered and secluded royalty and what they learned about what siblings should be like most likely comes from official ceremonies and rituals, state approved stories and plays, idealized versions that don't correspond with reality.

Plus due to the Fire Nation being a blend of East Asian cultures it's likely they have some form of Confucian ethics. According to those the younger sibling owes obedience to the older and the older is bound to protect the younger. I think it's not too much of a stretch to believe both Zuko and Azula felt wronged in that regard by the other but both were too stubborn to give.

I can't blame Zuko too much for not realizing Azula was trying to help him a few times. Boy was brought up to believe that little sisters SHOULD be very kind, nice and demure. Even if he had acknowledged her efforts he'd still be inwardly pushed to believe she was doing it wrong.

So yeah, both could use a very long life changing field trip with Katara and Sokka, who were both allowed to develop their relationship naturally.

I think I've said enough for now. This is how I see things AT THE TIME OF WRITING.

I tried, really tried to be as fair to Zuko as possible and not harp the poor Azula harp. But if anyone wants to scream at me and be rude over my obviously wrong opinion on either fire sibling, don't expect a response from me.

[anonymouschishiyaimaginesandmore]

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya

Minors, do not read! Contains mentions of smutty behavior!

MASTERLIST (up-to-date)

This is Part 1 !!HERE!! is Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Alice in Borderland/Imawa no Kuni no Alice characters or original stories, only the plot of this fanfic. Alice in Borderland/Imawa no Kuni no Alice characters and original storyline belong to Haro Aso, who made the Manga the Series is based on.

Trigger Warning: Explicit Smut, Complicated Consensual/Not-Consensual Behavior Summery: Chishiya x Female Reader

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya who isn’t interested in your mother, sexually, per se. However, she is part of the hospital board he works in and for him, a Med Student, tho the best of his class, even the whole University, it comes in handy to keep someone like her close to him in case he needs her position for his advance. You are an appendage. A bratty 19-year-old parasite that regularly gets in his way.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya doesn’t like you. You run your mouth about him. Constantly. Bad talking him to your Milf of a Mom and side eyeing him whenever he is around. It’s not like he isn’t used to this. His co-workers and colleges all do it behind his back and he catches them mid-sentence most of the time, embarrassing them to the bones. But you. No, you had the guts to do it in his face, feigning big balls with your teenage attitude.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya knows it’s all barking but no biting. You are nothing but a hurt little kid. He has met people like you. All boring. Human beings that are unable to handle their parents’ divorce with dignity. Your parents didn’t fight for you when the time to split things evenly, came. No one did, thought you do seem to love your mother a lot.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya sees you fighting for her attention whenever he is around and since your father practically left you the day the divorce got finalized, the only fatherly thing he still does is paying his fair share of child support, his cougar girlfriend was all you had left. And you are more than ready to fight nail and tooth to keep her, much to your mother’s annoyance.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya was once told by her, that both your parents had wished for a boy when they received you and the fact, your mom didn’t get pregnant another time with an actual boy, was the reason for the divorce.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya believes you know that. None of your parents are the sensitive kind of person, so the chance of them spilling the fact that you are nothing then a burden to them, was so high. It’s practically written in stone. This circumstance could have turned you into someone like him. Someone who doesn’t care about his parents at all. It would have been easier for you if you did.

But fate wasn’t on your side and instead you had to fight with MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya every time he came over for the tiniest bit of attention. He could only imagine how you acted when he wasn’t around. After all, with him, your mother had at least a reason to act like a loving parent. Flaunting around how much she does for you. What a saint, considering how challenging it is to raise a child, especially you, for some reason. What a laugh.

No, you are pretty ordinary, MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya can tell. He is barely older than you, 24 in fact and due to his good observation skill, can say that you are acting accordingly to your age. You just view him as an intruder in what little you still had left, no matter how much he ignores your attempts to throw him off. And there were plenty. Many in fact. You are not the type to give up easily after all.

Your mom, on the other hand, is exactly this type of person. That’s probably why, aside from you, the relationship was so easy for him. The fact that MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya doesn’t have a type when it comes to woman contributes a lot. He prefers them alive, but that was it. Whatever in real life or on a stream on his computer screen, doesn’t matter. They all excite him the same. Barely.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya had to listen to your mother tho, how good looking she is for her age. Asking him again and again, often in front of her friends or strangers, how old he thinks she is.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya knows how old your mom is. It shows. Obviously. But he doesn’t tell her that. Instead, he plays into her hands, complimenting her and playing dump to her question, guessing numbers way below what her wrinkles indicate, while she parades around, showing off her lifted boobs and silicon ass implants. More plastic than flash. A barbie in fact.

You, on the other hand get belittled as less blessed with her kind of features. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya had to listen more than once, how your mother puts down your appearance in front of you. Deeming you not even half as good looking as her, when in fact it couldn’t be more untrue. However. You don’t seem to care about it.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya isn’t blind tho. If life was a fairytale and your mom a stepparent, you could easily come off as snow white. There may have been days, when people could have called your mothers looks attractive, but those days were now long gone and so far away, he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, whenever she compared herself to a literal young woman, blossoming with youth, while she was standing with one foot in her grave.

Maybe that’s why your mother disliked you after everything, MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya thought. Competing with a youngster who held all the attracting characteristics man found beautiful, even charming. After all you aren’t dumb, he must give you that. Making her own daughter her rival was a stupid move tho. There was no chance your mom could seriously win, when it came to looks, character and manners.

If MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya wouldn’t be dating your mom, he probably would have approached you already, considering keeping you for occasional steamy nights with bodily activities. Sex. But he was and you are annoying because of that. Trying fruitless attempts to scare him away.

Good luck with that. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya is a man with patience. A lot. In fact, he almost does nothing else then appease strangers every day at his job. So having you around is still bothersome, but he can handle you just fine.

Recently tho, you have picked up a new habit of going on MotherBoyfriend!Chishiyas nerves. One you haven’t tried so far and by doing it amuse him most of the time, about how desperate you really are. Your attire has changed to more revealing clothes, obviously after his attention, while looking over at his old girlfriend, hoping she catches him starring. She never does.

It wasn’t like she was all in love with him. Wearing pink glasses and being too lovely dovely to see the truth. No, your mother was too occupied with other things to care. Mostly her small ring of openly gossiping woman or another charity event or gala she wants to attend. Another thing MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya was thankful for, is her low sexdrive. It’s practically non-existent.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya serves the purpose of the young boyfriend. There to be shown off to friends and family, bragging between sentences of just how beautiful she is, because she got herself some young meat.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya doesn’t care about it. He views his relationship with his girlfriend as a transactional one. He gives her the attention of strangers, while it was her task to propose him for operations that benefit his career. That was all. The fact he slept with her from time to time was an addition he saw as a necessity, he would gladly renounce, if possible.

After all, MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya could still have secret one-night stands with strangers and the paid attention of camgirls if he truly desired to blow off some steam or just have a good time.

Thought it wasn’t needed lately. Your more than bold attempts to draw MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya eyes towards yourself and even shock him with how openly slutty you dress, boosts his nightly fantasies so much, he needs nothing more to pleasure himself with some good old hand-to-dick combo.

Just like some weeks ago. Short shorts that just covered your butt cheeks, lead MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya eyes towards them. Made chocolate brown orbs linger on the way they slightly jiggled with every step you took. Then your simple loose white tank top, that doesn’t show much cleavage on the front, but therefore more of the sides, revealing every breast’s round shape and almost flashing him completely. The fact that you decided no bra was needed for the day, was telling. In fact, the obvious imprint of your nipples was screaming towards him. No wonder you got send home from campus for distracting other students. Tho this was nothing more than another cry for attention towards your parents. Too bad, it completely went unnoticed. At least by them.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya did notice and he reveled in it. He saw how annoyed it made you to see that all your acting was for nothing, but as stated before, you aren’t the type to give up that easily so day after day went by, with you wearing more and more revealing clothes, until the hooker at the building across from the brothel was wearing more then you.

Did you stop? No. Instead you decided to step up the game and not only dress like a whore but also act like one. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya couldn’t count the times anymore you let something slide on the floor, only to pick it up by bending over with your rear facing him, taking your oh so sweet time. Extra points if you did it just a mater away from him, trying to snatch whatever it was you let slip under the table, or the couch or whatever place he was close to right now, always making sure your mother was either with the two of you or close enough.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya isn’t dumb. He is a genius. The smartest among many so he knows how to maneuver around your actions when his girlfriend IS looking in his direction. Turning subtly away from you and your invitations, ignoring them, no matter how hard you try.

Then there are the times where MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya can see that your mother is fully devoted to the Smartphone she is having. Those are the times he allows himself to openly stare at your actions. Watching with lingering eyes interested at what you came up with this time. He even goes as far as to let you witness it. His starring. Smirking when your eyes meet, letting you know he is fully aware of your actions and that they don’t faze him the way you wish. Sometimes he even goes as far as to cock his head, so he can catch a glimpse of some precious hidden skin you haven’t shown him yet, raising his glass towards you with some lemonade and thanking you quiet for the show you put on, just for him. Cheers!

Today, you have chosen to go even further. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya sits on your couch. Indeed, it’s yours. The whole house is yours. Your father has written it over in your name when he parted from your mother. A silent and last try of being a decent father. The TV is running while your mother undresses in her room. The two of them recently came back from some event you don’t even try to fake interest for, but you believe it must have been something casual, because MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya was dressed rather unfit for a formal one.

You walk into the living room, wearing yet another mini skirt. Hips swinging from left to right at every step, while approaching the slightly older man that MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya is. No use. He doesn’t even look up. You then start talking, greeting him with a sultry low voice meant to arouse, asking how the evening went and if he had fun. The good kind.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya answers you with a simple and uninterested “Hm” again not even glancing at your closer coming form. His eyes seemed to be glued on the screen. No way that shit was more interesting than a young girl in the prime of her life, throwing herself at him. After making a few more tries to engage him in a conversation, you basically puff off steam, frustrated that MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya doesn’t even give you a second’s attention. You think of asking vulgar question to throw him off, finally snapping his attention away, but then a better idea comes to your mind. Besides, the way MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya has acted before, it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. At least it hasn’t until now.

So, you swing your hips again, tapping on bare feet, until you reach the small space between MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya and the coffee table directly in front of the television and sit down on the fur carpet. Leaning forward you make sure to raise your butt high enough to definitely catch his eyes, before placing both elbows on the modern glass table, arching your back and asking with a sweet innocent voice “What are you watching?”

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya didn’t miss your action. He heard you entering the room he occupied, before you stepped in his periphery, begging for his attention. When did it happen, that rather looking for your mothers’ eyes, you are now pleading for his? Was it because, unlike her, he did grand you with them, looking you up and down from time to time, knowing that you registered it. He does it intentionally.

Or is it because after trying so long to make your mom see how MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya treats you, purposely laying a hand softly on your arm when leaning over to grab something, you forgot what your actual goal was. Did he make you forget it with his involuntary acts?

The way his breath brushes your nape, when he approaches you from behind and you had your hair done up in a messy bun in the morning. How MotherBoyfriend!Chishiyas fingers brush your thigh as he walks by, sometimes even when you sit, deliberately going higher and higher and even slipping past fabric sometimes. How your whole body twitches, as he purposely lays a hand softly on your arm, when leaning over to grab something. The look he gives you when checking you out, his eyes roaming slowly your body, undressing further what little you still wear. Subtle glances as you walk by. Low sultry words whispered towards you, apologizing as he squeezes past you. All those little things, adding up to eachother, brought you here, sitting on your knees, with your ass up high. Where did you leave your dignity again?

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiyas could tell you the exact time you lost it and pull you back into reality, but fact is. He doesn’t want to. That boring relationship he has with the woman that gave birth to you, didn’t excite him. Until now. And the reason was you.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiyas would like to know how far he could get you before you realize what your actions turned you into. A puppet for him to play with. Tho he has to stay careful. Whatever he plans to do with you in the future, especially right now, could get him into problems if the wrong people find out. Not legal ones, no. The only damage could take his good reputation, if your mother blurts out his inappropriate behavior.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiyas eyes lower on your bend over form, traveling from your turned away face to your spine, down to those inviting cheeks, right above that empty space he could fill up in one go.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya is aware you are no virgin anymore. You never verbally confirmed or denied it, however your mother told him, at the beginning of them dating, how you had a boyfriend and she seduced him, pretty much bragging at this point, asking that now ex of yours, how her daughter, you, are in bed and if he doesn’t want to try out a real woman who knows how to pleasure a man.

Real woman. Ha! MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya could laugh at this point. A real woman with the slightest bit of dignity, wouldn’t see it fit to sleep with her own child’s significant other, let alone flaunt it around, like it was some kind of achievement. Of course, that woman could have almost every man if she runs around offering herself like some candy. Most man are users, and your mother makes a good mattress for one night, but MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya knows that this woman is not the kind for serious relationships. She is an unpaid whore. A slut with no disguise. No shame at all. Someone to pass around but not to keep. Always looking for distractions in form of a good time. Someone like him. Tho even MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya has at least some morals. Your mother doesn’t.

Those morals of him don’t apply to this situation tho, where you approximately offer yourself for him to enjoy. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya slides deeper into the cushions that pad up his back. His leg does, shifting forward, briefly caressing the sensitive skin on your inner thighs, before he stops, knee leaning against it, softly parting both legs.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya can’t see what your skirt is hiding so perfectly, but to know that you are fully aware of how close he is to your sex, elicits a carnal desire in him that he rarely felt to this day. A simple yet critical game, that could throw both of you out of the kind of social circle you interact with, but the risk makes it oh so worth it, pumping adrenalin thru his veins and warning him, that the path he is about to walk, could very much lead to serious problems, even fetal one.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya doesn’t care. He now wants this even more, seeing the goosebumps forming all over your skin. Scandalous. That’s what people would call his actions. A forbidden fruit leaning back on his leg, until her covered sex reaches the fabric of his cotton pants, putting parts of her body’s weight on him. So obvious. So forbidden. So alluring.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment, though he heard the alarm bells going off in his head. This was new, even for you. Never have you ever gone this far.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya is sure, your nerves ends must be on fire, and he is right. Tho showing him what you got was your intention, teasing him with every bit of your sexuality, this wasn’t part of it.

As MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya begun to move his leg back and forth, pleasantly slow, creating friction directly against your folds. It turned you on, knowing you had him, but also that he had you. Every bit of your skin was on fire, yelling at you to get up and leave, but you wanted to stay and see how far he was willing to go. If you let him.

And so, it shouldn’t surprise you much, tho it did anyway, when you felt a careful touch on your covered butt cheek, gently stroking in circular motions. Your piece of clothing creating a welcomed friction in unity with MotherBoyfriend!Chishiyas palm. The touch made you almost jump, but you were able to suppress and instead felt yourself melting under his hand, leaning into it, perhaps even enjoying it?

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya used his knee to further part your thighs, then rising it high enough for you to understand the silent message, to slide further onto him and with the guidance of his hand on your opposite hip, you did, until MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya pressed his groin against your behind, giving you a growing hint of what he lets your mother enjoy from time to time, yet you, who is way closer to his age, have never gotten a glance of.

You suppress a moan, head lowering down to lie on your hands dorsal side, sighing somehow relieved when MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya leg picks up his agitation. Your mothers high pitched voice could be heard, but it felt so far away, so unimportant, your mind drowned it out. It’s a party pooper, the waves eliciting from your body’s middle let you know, she is there to steal the good feeling MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya was creating together with you.

Listening to this woman would only take it away and as annoying your mother is and as good MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya made you feel, why the hell should you choose her?

No word was said. None were needed. They would only destroy the fantasy in your head, forcing you, painfully, to come back into reality and that was the last thing you wanted right now. Forgotten was your intention to go on MotherBoyfriend!Chishiyas nerves. To irritate him, maybe even anger him. Whatever. Something that made him at least show you some emotions. You learned to deal with anger being directed at you.

Harsh words bouncing off on the shield you oh so neatly carved to protect yourself. But indifference? The sheer apathy MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya has disregarded your feelings towards him, wanting him out of the house and out of your family’s life, was atrocious. It was something that hurt you deeper than your parents ever could. The fact, someone physically close to you, could renounce your existence so barbaric.

You couldn’t deal with that. Maybe that’s what drew you towards that blond bastard after all. The want to proof him wrong. To demand his attention and his acknowledgement of your humanity. Whatever it was, the things MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya lets you feel, made graciously up for the pothole in your ego.

Your mother voice became louder, came closer. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya noticed to, but unlike you he didn’t ignore it, what was the reason you moaned revolting, when his touch left you abruptly. His knee pushing you forward and with that off of him, taking the pleasurable feeling with it and leaving you behind wanting and yearning for him, even audible. Thankfully you were able to shut yourself with a hand to your mouth, right when the least woman you wanted to see right now stepped into the room, walking by the couch and blabbering, ignoring the other two people in her presence.

Her fast feet led her into the open kitchen, placing a leg not very graciously nor hygienic on the counter and beginning to paint her nails, while still going on about some awful lady having the audacity to tell her off after she tried to cut in a line of a fast-food restaurant. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya glances at her, ensuring the female hasn’t made out any of his behavior towards her family.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya lets your mother sink into her conversation, knowing damn well, if it goes on for long enough and intense enough, she is able to drown out everything surrounding her, even the world and with that also MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya and his low intentions aimed at you.

Some moments passed, all while MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya observant gaze, switches from his girlfriend to your apparently heating form, sitting on your legs, rubbing your nape, while hopelessly trying to collect yourself back into a functioning rational thinking human being.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya doesn’t want this to happen, so, after being sure his significant others attention has left this dimension and shifted into another, both of his hands move towards you anew, pulling you back into the position he had you before, with a hushed whispered “Come here, princess.”

This petname. You don’t like it. It isn’t meant to sound sweet, not even nice. Its degrading. When MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya and your mother started dating and you showed the first signs of jealousy, once told you, after you called him a creep for referring towards you as a princess, that he calls everyone a princess that he likes to play with, so there was no harm right? Tho what MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya didn’t mention was that that the play in question was sex. He calls his sexpartners, once he casually hooks up with from time to time, princess. It was easier than to remember all their names.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya was so used to using it. It came over his lips so casually. You complied anyway. The need for his touch was by far bigger than your dislike with this humiliating nickname. This time however, you didn’t let him do all the work. His sudden stop has left you aching and clenching around nothing and the demand for friction was higher than before, so when he started to rub his knee against your clothed pussy, staining his pants with your juices, you moved too, trusting back against him, your head immediately falling on the tables glass, sighing deliciously with a softspoken “Mhmm”

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya smirked amused. His left hand departed from your waist, since guidance wasn’t needed anymore and turned the TV’s volume higher to surpass possible escaping sounds that could rat you both out.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya did however had to come to the realization that the small bliss he got from your cheek nudging against his growing erection wasn’t enough after some time of back and forth. He also wanted more. He lusts after more. More indulgent. Something to ease that want in his lower abdomen that flexed specifically tight when another sultry tone passed your lips for freedom.

MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya felt gluttoned. Ready to eat you up, even with your stupid self-indulged mother close. After more excruciating minutes without some extra friction, enough was enough. He couldn’t take it anymore. MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya pushed you of his leg for a second time, this time harsher, rushed. You yelp, falling forward but stopping yourself with gripping hands from hitting the tables glass just in time. You wanted to bark at this idiot. To curse at him angrily, for almost making you kiss the harsh firmness of a furniture, but MotherBoyfriend!Chishiya gave you no time to be mad at him. His body inched closer to the sofas edge he was sitting on, until his body was on the brink of touching yours. Both palms wrapped around your waist, guiding you to him, while one rushed to your ass, raising your skirt high enough to reveal that clothed cunt of yours.

[sparklinpixiedust]

Bullied

So I've been re thinking the whole " gwen was gonna let Kevin get beat up" post I made from the Kevin 11 episode and I think I realise why she didn't see why Ben saving Kevin was so important.

Now I know she wanted the watch thing to be secret sure that's one reason, but another is well, I don't think she truly understood what was going to happen to Kevin.

See Ben's been bullied for a long time, he knows what being ganged up and being helpless feels like. He had an idea what Kevin was feeling and knew that however that ended , it wouldn't be good for him.

That's literally how the show began, with ben trying to save someone from getting bullied ( unfortunately he got bullied himself)

Him being bullied was a strong driving force for wanting to be a hero and help. Regardless of ben having the watch or not, he still would've jumped in to save Kevin at the time.

Kevin too has a weird desire to be a hero, in his own twisted way.

I made a post a while back on why Kevin never considered himself a true bad guy, and he even made a few references throughout uaf by calling himself " nuanced" ,or " just had a rough childhood" rather than outright evil.

@ossy-serenity even added to that post with some really good points too.

Kevin was never a " bad guy" . He was a hero in his own story, in his own way by fighting against his bullies and enemies.

According to the rooters arc, Kevin was moved to help the rooters because he was told he could be a "hero" , the good guy.

Okay okay, I'm getting a little off track here , but my point is both Ben and Kevin had these strong desires to help, even if it was in different ways. Bullying made ben want to help others and Kevin want to help himself.

Gwen on the other hand never really had these strong feelings of heroism.Like she knew what was good and bad, she knew what was to be done and what side she should be on.

But she's never been shown to have this strong desire to be a hero.

Why? Because she's never been bullied.

I don't think she's ever been put in a situation where she's been ganged up on or felt truly helpless.

So thats why she wasn't too into the idea of helping Kevin. To her it obviously looked bad but since she's never been in that situation it's likely easy to brush it off as " oh a fight, okay then. Just a another day in the hood i guess"

And that's probably why it was easy for her to just leave the team and go off to college. Or even in the future , Ben's still the hero and Kevin is in charge of null void so in a way he is sort of contributing to being a hero by keeping the rooters in check.

Gwen on the other hand is working on a thesis. Which doesn't really sound too heroic to me.

She was never bullied as a kid , I mean with her know it all attitude, tough personality and karate ,its hard to imagine anyone really messing with her and actually getting away.

Sure she had enemies later on like charmcaster and aliens coming after her, but it's like, it was never really personal personal you know?

Being picked on and humiliated and not being able to do anything about it is different than being attacked by an evil alien.

The former is personal. It attacks you as a person, it belittles you. The latter is well , typical hero stuff you know? Like yeah their beating you up and trying to kill you , but it's usually because you're in the way of whatever they want rather than them showing up just to degrade you.

So long story short, Gwen has never been bullied , she doesn't truly understand the depth of being a hero because she's never really been the victim, unlike Ben and Kevin.

[bizkitsnuggets]

KUJO, THE BLUE TANG.

masterlist.

No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening. I take it back. I do care about who my partner is!

Poor [Y/N] internally screamed. This was a nightmare. Maybe not so much for the jealous girls who immediately stared daggers at [Y/N] after hearing the teacher announce that. But for her, it is.

‘Cause that means she has to deal with emo delinquent first hand. She already knew that she was definitely going to fail this class. First of all, [Y/N] and Jotaro had never interacted with each other. Well, other than creepy eye contacts throughout the year.

But that was it! [Y/N] couldn’t be bothered about some jacked up delinquent guy. And Kujo Jotaro couldn’t give a single shit about an ordinary girl at some shitty school he goes to.

And this also means that [Y/N] has to actually communicate with her mouth, not her eyes. Sure, she has experience conversing with customers at the tea shop but those were strangers. And none of them were bad boys who smoke and skip class and have ten belts on their waists.

“Alright, that’s all! Now let me actually talk about the project.” The teacher spoke, gaining everyone’s attention. “You’ll all have to create a cardboard presentation about an animal of your choosing. It must include its origin, habitat, population, and fun facts! You are free to decorate your presentation in any way you want. Just nothing inappropriate, please.” He finished explaining.

[Y/N] rolled her eyes involuntarily, dreading the moment when she has to discuss with Jotaro later. Despite hating the fact that she has to work with Jotaro, she more so hates the fact that she’ll have one missing assignment. What’s worse? Working with tall emo, or not having all your assignments completed?

She let out a sigh of distress, taking out her pencil and notebook from under the desk and strategically planning steps about how to talk to Jotaro. Was it necessary? Yes. Very much so.

“Oh, by the way, this project will contribute 50% to your scores so if you don’t submit it… say goodbye to graduating.”

Oh, suck my ass.

Once the bell rang, indicating the second lunch break, [Y/N] quickly cleaned up her desk and chased after Jotaro who was already out of the classroom. This was basically like an elephant and mouse chase, reversed.

“Kujo!” The girl managed to breathe out once their proximity was close enough. Jotaro stopped in response to hearing his surname being called out. [Y/N] catches up to him and composes herself before speaking to him again. “Hey, uh.”

Shit, nice going [Y/N]

She was now face to face with Kujo Jotaro. His muscular frame looming over her. She didn’t know if it was the atmosphere or the gaze he had, but if anyone was passing by, they’d think [Y/N] and Jotaro were going to have a brawl.

Damn, for someone who smokes ten cigarettes every day, he looks pretty healthy.

“So…” [Y/N] started, looking up at him as she spoke. “When are you free—”

“Shut up”

“Excuse me—”

Jotaro grunted, “shut the fuck up,  you’re noisy”. He gives her the nastiest glare a man could ever have and leaves to probably have a smoke break. “What the actual fuck…” The dumbfounded girl mumbled to herself as she stood there as if Jotaro had just revealed that he was batman. The girl was lost, to say the least.

Well, that was fucking rude. So much for running all the way here.

The girl sulked as she made her way back to her classroom. Passing by a certain someone’s locker and kicking it as hard as she can.

“Ow!”

Maybe Jotaro had a bad day. Maybe, just maybe, he was having a bad day and is in one of his moods right now. This isn’t the end of the world. We can still try this tomorrow. There’s still another chance.

Truth to be told, [Y/N] was one hundred and one percent sure this wasn’t going to work and she’d have to be held back a year because some stupid kid couldn’t cooperate with her.

That man already looks like an asshole, acting like one isn’t helping him or anyone at this matter. Looking like you have an attitude is one thing, but actually having an attitude is another. Damn, did this frustrate the girl.

It definitely agitated her because she was glaring onto the vase of flowers on the teachers desk while squeezing her juice box like a mad man.

Count your days, Kujo.

[29pageshomestuckeveryday]

Homestuck, page 2,629

Terezi: Open memo.

Author commentary:

The R41NBOW RUMPUS P4RTYTOWN is one of the more "Terezi" contributions Terezi has made to the story. Possibly only second to the time she uses her own blood to write instructions that rewrite the whole story to bring Vriska back to life, or when she preemptively convinces herself to dump Karkat before anything even starts. This whole memo is made primarily to troll Karkat, roast him for his own self-important memos, and provide a fun environment everyone likes better—a nice, easy-going space where they can have a good time and do some roleplaying (which is also meant to own Karkat). Also, he's not allowed to post. Of course, if Terezi really knew what was going on, she wouldn't have to work that hard to own him at all about his plan to troll the humans. She could just keep mercilessly pointing out that the only reason he wants to do it at all is because he has a hate-crush on the nerdy human boy.

Even though the trolls are at the end of their adventure, the attitude of everyone under Karkat's leadership is pretty much the same as it was when they began: much skepticism and ridicule surrounding his orders, with no one particularly inclined to take him all that seriously. Maybe it's because they're just used to acting this way by now. But the deeper reason is that all of Karkat's orders, everything he insists on as being "urgent," revolve around some unwitting need to serve his own objectives rather than something that serves everyone's needs in a clear way. At the beginning, he was desperately trying to pull the team together to play Sgrub, but mainly so he could prove himself as a great leader and a ruthless warrior. Here he's trying to get everyone on board with harassing some alien kids they don't know, basically for some combination of satisfying his own petty grievances and wanting an excuse to hate-crush on John some more. So when everyone's response to his "plan" is some variation on "Dude, this makes no sense at all," it's because…it doesn't.

Terezi tells a confused Gamzee from weeks ago to go peruse other memos. Perhaps ones that get started on the meteor in the future? Ones written during more fraught and suspenseful circumstances than this? How much advance reading has Gamzee been doing? How much studying? Planning? Biding his time? Makes you wonder, is all I'm saying. But it doesn't make you wonder too much, because we quickly get distracted by about 500 consecutive lines of Karkat and Terezi banning each other as they fight over the same keyboard. In the last book, I told you we would be reaping great rewards from these memos. I would never lie to you. Not ever, about anything. I would never risk jeopardizing this special bond of trust we have.

They have a point here. While it's funny to see the results of their keyboard mashing and mutual banning warfare in the form of the resulting memo text, we don't really get to see them do all this. We can only imagine what it looks like. So we also have to picture them typing these entire statements to each other on the same keyboard. And there's no way that can possibly work unless they take turns, where one troll waits patiently while the other is composing a testy remark to the other, right in front of them. It's a completely absurd way to have an argument. It probably also qualifies as another log on the Karezi fire, for those keeping score at home. It's important to keep score of all those logs. That way, you'll know the precise quantity of precious shipping lumber that gets erased from history once I retcon-shitcan their entire relationship off the website.

[tenderizedjestersteak]

There was a stretch of a few centuries during which Dai Bendu was considered a lost language. The story was ancient now, relatively closer to the time before the Order than the present, but many remember it well, still. The documentation of the turmoil around that time was thorough (though notably without the Dai Bendu translation to this day) – one would think the world were to end very soon, from the amount of discord the embers of a language left behind – but, being the way they are, Archivists often neglected to mention how Dai Bendu’s death and subsequent revival directly contributed to their voice being respected enough to change things in the aftermath of wars.

It was what Obi-Wan’s leaned on for his autoanthro finals’ paper, after yet another year away from the Temple. It was, all considered, a rather cynical decision: he was catching up on an oversized even for him stack of readings, Kit’s and Nara’s smug attitude while directly contradicting each other’s findings were getting on his nerves, and he had just spent time sitting through three seminars on the Sith-Jedi war. He knew too much about wars at this point, he’d thought; might as well do something with the knowledge.

The first time he went to one of those seminars he wasn’t yet fourteen. It had required permissions from the master leading his Broad History course and his own master. Qui-Gon had grimaced at the question – Obi-Wan had asked him first, because he knew asking Master Rhamal would go smoother armed with Qui-Gon’s words – but his tone was careful when he told Obi-Wan, “You’ve signed up on a lot of extra duties, padawan. They do these every semester, you know.”

“A report on this would fulfill a quarter of my course,” Obi-Wan’s replied. And I could do it, too, was what he thought. I know enough already. I can finish this thing, and then move on, and continue to move on.

“So would doing the usual quarter of your course normally,” Qui-Gon’s countered. “Or a report on mollusc messaging. That’s also a seminar they have every semester.”

It was, in hindsight, a bit funny how Qui-Gon knew barely anything about Obi-Wan, except that he would get passionate about stealth signal relay using shellfish. The thirteen-year-old kid he was back then only felt a muted sense of indignation, overwhelmed by resignation. Not to Qui-Gon’s doubt, but to his own decision. It had all led to here, he thought then. It would all lead beyond.

The kind of villains teenagers build themselves to be…

“You do not care for the thought of war, of course,” was what he’s said to Qui-Gon, then, if he still remembers correctly. Qui-Gon hasn’t sighed – Obi-Wan knows now he probably desperately wanted to – but his shoulders have sagged slightly, softening him. The man was hardly ever threatening, threatening was a weapon he used sparingly and with great caution; One can never go amiss with a bit of surprise, padawan. But his shadow still dropped long and stark.

“It’s the ideal, yes,” was what he’s said. He’s given the permission, despite this answer, and asked about the seminar when Obi-Wan returned after.

The next time Obi-Want went, he was eighteen, and permission was no longer required. Neither was all the asking after. It’s never been, you know, Nhạ Kì’s said, once. The required skill here is to tell when a contract is with yourself instead of the world or the Force.

The decision was cynical, but Obi-Wan can’t deny Dai Bendu’s revival project was fascinating to read about. He’s told Nara and Garen that, and has gotten two swats upside his head for perfectly direct-opposite reasons. Nara has almost reached for her ‘saber when he said the word ‘ethics’.

“It! Is! The! Same!” She’s swung her datapad inbetween each syllable as emphasis. “We are! Direct! Descendants! Close your Force-cursed mouth,” she’s waved the datapad at him next, threateningly, “if what’s coming out of it is ‘conservation’.”

“That was an important part of the opposition,” Obi-Wan’s replied. He was paying back her smugness before tenfold, and he relished in her groan-scream.

He’s come down on her side already, of course; it was a big reason why he committed to the paper. Dai Bendu is theirs, it was taught and given to them to nurture and grow, and the fact that it was conserved, walled up to the point of dying away from their collective mind for a few centuries, was somewhere between a great mistake and a crime. Too, because Dai Bendu was – and is – how one communicates about the Force; it was built for that. It evolved around that. The Order’s paid enough tears and sweats for leaving such a tool dulled and forgotten.

The Dai Bendu revival project spanned eighty-six years, and a dictionary is nowadays revised and updated once every five years. It was one of the things Anakin was a bit apprehensive about, on his arrival, one of the first things Obi-Wan noticed that strayed from what was out-loud called fearlessness his padawan had been keeping up.

“I can do it,” his padawan has said. A nine-year-old, squaring his too-thin shoulders and his too-sharp jaw, facing a language he thought was standing between him and his dream. Anakin hasn’t seen many of what he deemed obstacles by that point; his dream has just been dropped into his lap, months before, and then he has been flying. Soaring.

If Obi-Wan were thirteen then, he would caution Anakin against simply doing, against the notion that strong will alone brings fortune. If he were eighteen then, he would laugh, at how big a language seemed to someone so small.

He was twenty-five. “I have no doubt,” he’s told Anakin. “Grammatically it bears logical relations to Basic, and if you learn enough of it some other languages will come easier as well. It’s very old, and holds many adventures.”

Anakin’s relaxed at his words – it was a victory Obi-Wan would remember for a while – before asking, “How old?”

“With recogniseable writing, around seven millennias.”

His padawan’s eyes have widened at that, and then narrowed. “Does it got a word for ‘tension relieve thruster’?”

Obi-Wan’s smiled. “’Uwoh’ha conwe’. Or ‘conrai’, but ‘rai’ is more a word for the Force than for machines.” At Anakin’s surprise, he added, “Usually, though, we call it ‘arai’ga’”.

Anakin’s crossed his arms. “Doesn’t sound like a, uh. Shortform?”

“You’re astute,” Obi-Wan’s said, and marveled a little bit at the levity of it. His smile’s widened, and he’s let it. “It means ‘nonsense’.”

Anakin’s shoved at him for the offense while he laughed. He’s often used that same word to poke at Obi-Wan since; despite that, Obi-Wan doesn’t regret giving it to him that early. It’s fun to grumble – it’s kept aces and mechanics from frequently slinging around much worse so far – and it’s a good precursor to looking at the Force through Dai Bendu. A lot of first-hand experiences with the Force are often talked about as arai’ga.

They’ve slowly learned, together. Obi-Wan himself hasn’t kept up with newer words too closely; he still calls text comms sho chuwa, to Quinlan and Kit’s great amusement. Anakin, thank the Force, learned from the beginning that it’s called k’oi. They’ve learned, words and structures and specific expressions, and-- limits. What Anakin felt under shields that dulled his Force contact, there wasn’t a Dai Bendu word for. The way he sees the world, with the Force there, ingrained and undeniable and unimaginable to Obi-Wan, daiwan can’t cover. Gak cha chutoh doesn’t ring true to meditation, because toh’s stillness hurts.

They’ve learned. Anakin’s felt the frustration Obi-Wan now knows well, and Obi-Wan’s felt the inadequacy he’s tried to unlearn. They’ve learned, and they learn, still,  and Obi-Wan writes things down, hoping Dai Bendu will learn with them as well.

[zootplayz]

Take it Down a Notch

Here we go again!

Do you think Bob knocked up Natalie while we were gone?

I mean, come on. Was there any doubt? How hysterical is it she's telling him while she's finding out? Typically I don't let Sims check to see if they're pregnant but I was running out of days in my rotation with the family so I had to rush it along. There was no way I was dealing with all these flipping kids another week! I mean just look at at them!

They're a menace!

This kid grew up in the last update but somehow there's a picture of her in this one! There's no escape! *cries hysterically* Deep breaths Zoot, let's keep it together here we have a job to do. I'll be alright... Alright, in the last part, Bridget aged up and I told you she was as active as her older brother. Which is semi-accurate.

Her aspiration is actually social butterfly but the jungle gym was the easiest place to go and make friends. Her best friend is surprisingly her mean bullly older sister Theresa.

Theresa is a menace and is constantly plagued with mood swings.

We took advantage of her miserable attitude to terrorize the neighborhood for her mischief aspiration. Neener, neener, neener.

What are you wearing?! Fix yourself!!

Come at me, bro!

Vincent is am much more pleasant sim and quietly dances his way to aspiration success.

Natalie is slowly expanding. For the fifth flippin' time. She still tries to get a walk in with her pups.

Though the dog's well-being has mainly become the responsibility of the kids.

And Bob on his days off.

Bob has really been a great spouse and despite all his horrible traits attempts to help keep the house clean.

We may need to keep away from the dryer though.

I mean I know not cleaning the lint filter is dangerous but this is excessive.

The mess in the house was probably a contributing factor as well. Thanks for the help kids. Bob had to put himself out. I try not to make sims fight fires on their own and instead choose their own fate. However, Natalie still needs more kids so Zoot intervened. Besides Bob's mishap, with the kids being more self-reliant Nat has actually been able to get some work done and contribute to the families' funds. The future doesn't rest on just your shoulders, Bob.

We shall end yet another update at the hospital.

Here we go again.

Looks like the chief os staff Caleb was killed in for the special occasion.

Because it's another girl and our little Cinderella, Julie is born.

That was a rough three weeks... Part 07 Part 09 Read the full article

[tisthenightofthewitch]

Tobias Forge explains the surprise influence of Eurovision on metal band Ghost

As the mastermind behind the band Ghost, Tobias Forge delivers theatrical imagery, shredding guitars and profane lyrics. But what inspired him?

If you have even a passing awareness of Swedish metal band Ghost – an uproarious bounty of theatrical black mass imagery, shredding guitars and sexy-sacrilegious lyrics – it will come as a surprise that the mastermind behind the skull make-up is actually a fan of Eurovision. But that’s exactly what Tobias Forge told us when we caught up with him ahead of the release of their new album Impera.

Performing as Papa Emeritus, Forge has steered Ghost to become one of the world’s most ambitious and successful hard rock acts. They sell out arenas worldwide for their ecstatic live ‘rituals’, have a Grammy under their cincture, and regularly go viral with strange online videos that offer a peep into the delightfully unhinged Ghostiverse.

The band’s popularity is built on relentless touring – a lesson, Forge says, that came from his youthful studies of hard-rocking, hardworking icons like Metallica and Iron Maiden. For The Music That Made Me, he reveals his rock icons – including support for current Eurovision champions Måneskin.

Four-year-old Tobias dresses up like Kiss

I grew up in a very, very pop-culturally rich home, where music, film, radio, TV was all around, at all times. I think mainly because I had a teenage brother in the house. [Forge’s brother Sebastian was 13 years his senior. He died from a heart disease in 2010, the same day Ghost released their first songs online].

In 1984 my first real favourite things appeared. That was Twisted Sister, Wasp, Mötley Crüe and Kiss. They were my first things that I really identified with.

They absolutely influenced me. I mean, they are not my altar of everything, but if you look at the attitude of all those bands, you can see a clear thread. They all kind of look the same, all dragged up. And there are pictures of me when I was four, dressed up like that. In many ways, there aren’t a whole lot of things that have changed.

The first time when I found something that was specifically mine, was when I started listening to extreme metal. My brother listened to Venom. But that branch out of Venom was where I found my niche – sort of satanic, aggressive, underground metal. I guess that was what I contributed to our home.

If I were to pick one record that encompasses all things that I love about that genre, it would probably be Seven Churches by Possessed just because it has so much of the 80s that I love. They were still in high school when they made that record. I started listening to that when I was about 13, 14. So they found me at an age where I was still younger than they were making the record. That was really inspiring.

If you look at their band photos, you have metal there, you have Venom, you have the 80s, you have Karate Kid. They have a lot of that California tan vibe. But they’re still cool enough to be completely detached from the jocks, and still playing really, really cool death metal.

That record is just pure adolescent aggression, and really good musicianship. It’s a bit raggedy here and there and, you know, not fine-tuned, but you can really hear that they had a tonne of ambition. Triple A for that.

I’ve been mentored by Metallica for most of my life, but from a distance. Now, being mentored with less of a distance is an honour [Ghost have been chosen as a support act by Metallica several times in recent years]. I don’t really have a superlative defining enough to say how gratifying that is.

But when it happens, it’s not like the dudes from the poster on my wall come into the room. It’s other people that look kind of like them. You have to remind yourself midway through a conversation, ‘oh shit, it’s Metallica I’m talking to’.

I think that to fully comprehend what I mean by mentorship, you have to realise that I have always been interested in music business and history. So, for example, I have been a very big fan and very influenced by The Doors, ever since I was a little kid. But I’ve never been very inspired by their business decisions because they were a big fucking mess.

Whereas, ever since I started studying Metallica or Iron Maiden, for example, I was learning about the business side of music. [Iron Maiden’s] Live After Death was a big inspiration for me and I still love that record. But as a kid, I looked through it educationally. I sat there with a big map book and drew out their tour. Because in Live After Death, you have all those tour dates in there. And there’s a list of their gear. There’s like a daily schedule for the band and the crew, and a lot of information about touring in there.

That set a standard for me. Like, this is how you do it. This is an American tour. This is how many dates you should do in Wisconsin, you know, four shows. And like five shows in Florida, and 11 in Texas and shit like that.

Then when Metallica did The Black Album, the tour that they did around that record was also like, ‘That’s the bar that we’re going for. That’s the level of commitment.’ And so when I’m talking about inspiration, it’s also from a decision-making point of view.

As a European, I drift in and out of the schlager world of Eurovision. Because in Sweden, it’s a big thing. It goes on for weeks. But depending on if I’m on tour or not, I have a hard time following it because I’m sometimes overseas.

The standard for Eurovision has always been that winning was one of the last things you do in your career. Celine Dion and Abba are the two exceptions were winning actually was a good thing. Usually, you’re doing Eurovision and then it’s just a downhill thing from there. There is something about the TV format that breaks the [live] illusion, just because you see the same number more than once. And then you’re like, ‘oh, it’s fake’. Of course, intellectually, I know it’s always fake. But when you see the same thing twice, it becomes like, it’s really not happening for you.

Last year, 2021, I was home obviously, as was everyone else, and we saw the big final. One thing popped out as something really, really different. It was this Italian band and they were playing fucking rock. And I was like, that needs to win! That’s the best thing that has happened on this festival for a long time.

When they won, the first thing I was thinking, pessimistically, was: ‘That’s such a drag because now that band is just going to get eaten up by the song and they’re not going to go anywhere. That’s such a waste because they’re so good.’ And then, in the spring and the summer, miraculously, this Italian band – singing in Italian – all of a sudden had a breakthrough in America. So, the Eurovision exceptions are Celine Dion, Abba… and now Måneskin.

I really hope they continue touring and get kids to understand that organic music, being played by drums and guitars and bass and singing – that’s the thing. Stop fucking programming beats. It’s over, goddammit.

Big Issue

[thebluesideofmyworld]

A Good Guy - A Solangelo One-Shot

Summary: Will might be a lot of things. And among those things, Will would dare to say that he’s a good guy. But when it came to Nico di Angelo, would he ever be good enough, though?

Word count: 3900 words || Rating: Teenage and Up Audiences || Read on AO3

Notes:

1. Based on the song "good guys" by LANY 2. My contribution for @after-everything-pjo-zine project. Check out other fics (each fic is accompanied by great fanart so you just HAVE to check it out) in the zine here.

***

Will might be a lot of things. And among those things, Will would dare to say that he’s a good guy. And he would proudly say that it’s because his family raised him to be one. His Mama made sure that he never forgot to say please, sorry and thank you, and his grandma taught him to respect people. Even though Apollo wasn’t around to be an ideal father as Will was growing up in Tennessee, his grandpa showed him how to be a Southern gentleman.

So yeah, he might come across as a young man who with a sassy attitude. But heck, Will knew that he was a good guy. And he’s proud of that.

But here’s the thing. Here’s a thing about being a good guy. Being a good guy might sound like it’s a good thing to do. But being a good guy also sometimes meant that you’re almost as invisible as a wallflower. Because even though you’re good, there were always be better guys. And one thing that Will learned about being a good guy? Good guys never win.

***

“It’s been almost two weeks, you know,” Will said as he kept his eyes at the monthly medical report that he (pretended) to be reading.

“Two weeks since what?” Kayla asked, but didn't bother to pretend that she's actually interested.

“Since Nico went for that quest, remember? Something about Persephone’s parrot or something?” Will said, still trying to keep his eyes at the notes. Because he knew that Kayla might still see the worry in Will’s eyes. (Sometimes it’s almost scary, how his siblings knew him too well).

“Oh? Really? Has it been two weeks yet?”

“Almost,” Will said, decided to leave the detail that it’s actually has been 11 days and since Nico had left the camp early in the morning and now it was almost dinner, it’s been almost twelve freaking days since Nico left the camp for that stupid quest.

“I mean, of course, it might be nothing but well, I thought it was supposed to be a short, simple quest?” Will continued. “Usually if it’s just this small quest, it never took him this long before. Usually it would just be like, three days, five, at the most, and like, a week if he took a detour to impulsively do something unnecessary, but never this long.”

Will lifted his head and turned to look at Kayla, who didn’t seem to share the same worry as Will. Her eyes were still fixed on the glossy pictures of the magazine that she was looking at. A non-committal hum coming from her was the only sign that she was (kind of) listening.

Will tried to focus on the lines of writing in front of him, but the letters were all jumbled and he couldn’t make himself try to read anything. His mind was too busy thinking about different reasons and scenarios of why Nico wasn’t back yet from the quest.

“Do you think I should ask Chiron about it? Probably he’s heard from Nico, y’know. Like, maybe something came up and I don’t know, maybe Chiron knew or maybe even Rachel got a vision or something, or-“

“Or you could have just contacted me, Solace. Pretty sure that it doesn't hurt to try IM me”

Will stood up and spun to face the direction where the voice was coming from. He did it so fast, he got dizzy because of it. It took him two seconds before his eyes could fully focus on Nico di Angelo, who was staring at him. His face looked nonchalant, but his eyes glinted with amusement.

“Uh, hey,” Will greeted, gripping the desk as he suddenly needed to get a hold of himself. “You’re back.”

Nico gave him a single nod, brushing away some strands of hair from covering his eyes. “Yep. I just got back.” He shrugged his shoulders before continuing. “Thought I’d drop by here before I report to Chiron.”

Will tightened his grip on the desk, trying his best to hold himself from closing the distance between him and Nico just to pull Nico into his arms.

“And uh… What brings you here?”

The emotional part of him wished that he was the reason why Nico came straight to the infirmary after the quest. But the rational part of him shushed him. That damned rational part of him told him that hey, it was him who wanted to see Nico, not the other way around.

Nico kept his eyes at Will and there was something in those dark eyes that Will couldn’t really put his fingers on.

“I thought you wanted me to have a check-up every time I got back from a quest?”

Of course.

Will tried to ease the dull pain in his heart by giving Nico a small smile. “Yeah. Of course. Need to make sure that you won’t fade into the shadows again, huh?” Will let out a nervous chuckle. “I mean, I am your doctor, and a doctor only wants the best for his patients.”

This time Nico stayed silent as he nodded. Will gestured to a nearby cot with his chin.

“Now, if you could just sit down over there, please?”

Still saying nothing, Nico strode to the cot and quickly sat there. Will took a deep breath, mentally telling himself to be professional, and let it out in a long exhale. He made his way to where Nico was waiting for him.

The check-up was a regular one. And there was nothing new about how touching Nico made stupid butterflies do some stupid dancing in his stomach. He ached to ask Nico questions about what happened in the quest and why it took so long. He wanted to know whether Nico ever thought of him while he was on the quest the way Will kept on thinking about him while he was away. He wanted to listen to Nico talk to him, with that slight accent that made his voice so melodious, almost like he was singing.

But it would only scare Nico away.

So he kept his eyes at the board where he jotted down the notes about Nico’s vitals.

“So, uhm… This quest was a bit longer than usual, huh?” Will asked, almost proud of himself that his voice sounded normal.

Nico hummed as he put his jacket back on. “Yeah, we had an unexpected encounter with some empousai. Luckily, David is unexpectedly good at fighting.”

At the mention of the name, Will lifted his head up. “David? You mean the new camper? That Athena kid?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah. For someone who never held a sword before, I have to say that I’m impressed.”

A strange, nauseating heat flared inside Will’s stomach. “Really?”

“Yup. In fact, I promised to give him an extra lesson in sword-fighting tomorrow.”

That strange heat swirled even more inside Will. He stretched his lips into a lame attempt to smile at Nico.

“Oh,” Will said. “Nice.”

“In one way, he strangely reminded me of Percy, you know? The way he held his sword.” And Nico continued talking for a while about that stupid new guy. Will listened, humming every now and then just to show Nico that he’s listening.

Half of his mind wished that the harpies would find that David kid to be a nice target for their dinner. The other half of his mind scowled at him for having that kind of evil wish.

“Okay. Everything looks good. Just make sure that you drink enough water,” Will said as he wrote the date and signed his name on the bottom part of the report.

“So I can go now?”

Will nodded. “Yeah, you’re free to go now,” he answered as he walked back to his desk to put the record in the folder.

“And you’re not even offering to walk me back to my Cabin like a good Southern gentleman?”

Will spun on his heel quickly. He stared at Nico with wide eyes, thinking that he might have been hallucinating.

“What?”

Nico snorted and slid down from the cot. “Never mind. I need to report to Chiron first anyway.”

Will blinked, and it took him a full two seconds before he had his voice again.

“Nico-“

But Nico was already one step away from the door. He stopped and looked at Will over his shoulder. The left tip of his lips curled up, just slightly, forming a ghost of a smile. He gave a two-finger salute to Will.

“I’ll see you around, Solace.”

Not waiting for Will to answer him, Nico stepped away. And just like that, he’s out of sight.

Will stared at the open door. There is this hollowness inside his heart that he couldn't explain. Like he just missed a chance.

He always thought that he’s a good guy. Or at least, he’s trying to.

But would he ever be good enough, though?

***

“What are you doing here?”

Lou Ellen’s voice startled Will.

“Me? Uh…” Will scrambled to pick up the book that he just dropped and showed it to Lou, like he was trying to prove something. “I was reading!”

Lou Ellen stared at him with a glint of amusement in her eyes as she gave Will the Look. The ‘don’t-give-me-bullshit’ Look.

“What, am I not allowed to read in peace?” Will said, a bit defensively.

“Hey, it’s cool dude,” Lou said. “In fact, it was nice to see you somewhere else aside from the infirmary,” she added.

Will relaxed a bit, going back to lean his back on the tree.

“I can see why you choose this spot. It’s much quieter than the infirmary on your busy days,” Lou said.

Will hummed.  His eyes flickered to the far left, to the clearing a few yards away, just for a split second before he opened his book.

“And the view from here is also… decent.”

Lou Ellen’s tone made Will quickly look up again at the daughter of Hecate. She’s now grinning at him, like she just figured something out.

“How long have you been spying on those two?” Lou asked, gesturing with her chin to two demigods in the clearing who seemed to just finished sparring.

Will gaped at her. He blinked and quickly shook his head. “What? No! I’ve told you, I was reading here!”

But Lou Ellen didn’t seem to care about Will’s reaction as she waved at the demigods in the clearing.

“Hey, Nico! David!”

Will’s eyes widened in horror this time as he turned his head around, only to see that Nico and the new Athena kid walked towards them.

“Lou!” he hissed in annoyance.

Lou Ellen just gave him a teasing smirk. “What?”

Will groaned and quickly stood up, his book abandoned on the grass as he unconsciously ran a hand over his wild locks.

“Hey,” Nico greeted. “What’s up?”

Nothing’s up aside from his heartbeat, Will would like to answer. But of course, he kept it to himself as he tried his best to school his face into a relaxed, nonchalant, I’m-just-chilling-here expression.

“Nothing much,” Lou Ellen shrugged her shoulders. “You two are sparring together here? Why? Is the arena too mainstream for you?”

The new Athena kid gave a half-smile as he brushed off some hair from covering his eyes. “It was my request, actually,” he said. “I just want to have a...” he waved his right in a vague circular motion, like trying to find the exact word to say. “A more… realistic view when fighting a monster?”

That didn’t really make sense to Will. But it seemed to be an acceptable reason for Lou Ellen as she nodded at him.

“And has Nico been a good teacher for you?” Lou Ellen asked.

Will didn’t miss the way Lou gave him a quick glance.

David’s half-smile turned into a full one. “He is!” He turned his head to Nico and smiled at him, like he was pleased at Nico. “Thanks for teaching me, Nico. You are very good at sword-fighting.”

Nico returned David’s smile with one of his small smiles. A smile that could have filled Will’s chest with warm air. But since he’s not at the receiving end of that smile, it turned Will’s chest into lead instead.

“Anytime. It was a pleasure.”

“You will teach me more, yes? And ah… We also need to talk more. About football.”

This was the first time for Will to really listen to David talking, and he couldn’t help but notice how David’s voice had quite an accent. Especially when he pronounced football, the way he stretched some syllables.

Nico’s face lit up. “Yeah! We should! I know that Cecil played football! Right?” His eyes darted from Will to Lou Ellen, like asking for confirmation.

“Cecil? He does. I can take you to talk to him. Come on,” Lou Ellen quickly pulled the sleeve of David’s shirt and led him away from the other two demigods.

Will watched the backs of Lou Ellen and David who were walking away from them. He could feel nervousness starting to creep in on him as their voices slowly faded away, as he realized that he’s now alone with Nico.

Not that he hated to be with Nico. It’s just… this wasn’t his plan. He wasn’t prepared. And Will hated it when things didn’t go as he planned. He hated it when he was unprepared.

“David played football,” Nico said just when David and Lou Ellen disappeared from their sight.

Will angled his neck to look at Nico. “And when you said football, did you mean soccer?”

“I mean football,” Nico answered, turning on his heels a little so now he was facing Will. “The real football.”

Will snorted and slid down to sit on the grass. “They’re the same,” he said, leaning his back on the tree.

Nico followed Will, sitting on the grass. “It will always be football for me,” he said. There was a melancholic tone lacing his voice. And it made Will wonder, maybe it’s something that Nico used to play. In the streets in Venice, when he was just a kid who had no idea that Greek gods and goddesses were real.

“We, David and I, we were talking about playing here. I mean, it would be great, you know? David said he played midfield. I’m usually,” Nico paused, but quickly continued. “I mean, I used to play as a striker. If we can connect well, that would be really cool.”

Will closed his eyes while his stomach churned with a strange, unpleasant feeling. So, not only was this David kid good in sword-fighting, he’s good in soccer too?

“Do you play too? I mean, you can be the goal keeper. I guess you would be great. I mean, you’re tall and it would be a great asset for a goalkeeper.”

Will huffed. Stuck between the goalposts while watching Nico and David scoring goals? Yeah. No, thank you.

“We’ll see about that,” Will said, still with his eyes closed.

For a while, none of them said anything. Will opened his eyes when he heard Nico sighed. He turned his head, watching Nico stand up. Nico brushed his pants, and gave Will a small smile.

“I’ll see you around, Solace.”

Will wondered why that smile looked a bit strained, but returned it anyway. “Yeah. I’ll see you around.”

He watched as Nico walked away.

Someone would be a good guy for Nico, he thought. And even though Will was a good guy, maybe he just wasn’t good enough. So of course, someone would be a good guy for Nico. Someone else. Not Will.

***

Will didn’t even know why he was here, standing awkwardly near the table where the food and drinks were.

Oh, yes. Because Cecil and Lou Ellen practically dragged him here, to this stupid Halloween party organized by the Aphrodite Cabin.

It’s not that Will disliked Halloween. And it wasn’t like he hated Halloween parties either. What he didn’t like, was seeing Nico talking with David at the other corner of the room. Just looking at the sight made a strange, nauseating fire flame inside of him.

“Pining over di Angelo again?” Lou Ellen nudged him on his shoulder.

“Yeah. How long are you going to act like this Will? Playing it cool while we all know how you wish you’re the one talking to di Angelo instead of David?” Cecil joined Lou Ellen in interrogating Will.

Will only rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about,” he mumbled, and took another sip of Coke from his cup. He tried to watch the campers who were dancing in the middle of the floor. Some kids from the Hermes cabin somehow got a hold of speakers. And of course, with a little help from the Hephaestus kids, the party had a cool sound system that was now playing pop music.

Lou Ellen sighed. Will stole another glance at where Nico was standing. David was leaning a little to whisper something at Nico. The proximity between those two made it a little bit harder for Will to breathe. He wondered what it was that David was telling Nico. But then Nico turned his head to Will. And no matter how cliché it might sound, Will’s heart skipped a beat when their eyes met. Will quickly looked down to the floor.

Next to him, Lou Ellen clicked her tongue.

“You know what? I can’t take this anymore. It’s been MONTHS. This has got to end tonight,” she said. Ignoring Will’s protest, she grabbed Will’s wrist and pulled him along with her, walking towards Nico and David.

A few seconds later, Will was standing with a flustered face in front of Nico and David.

“Hey, Nico, David! You guys enjoying the party?”

David gave that half-smile again. “Ah, yes. The party is nice.” He angled his neck just a bit so now he was looking right at Will. The half-smile subtly transformed into a knowing smirk. “And you? You… You are the healer, yes? Will?”

Will forced himself to smile politely at David. “Yeah. That’s me.”

David gave a single nod. “Nico talked a lot about you. A lot of good things.”

Will blinked. His eyes darted to Nico, but the raven-haired boy looked away from him. Still, his cheeks were a dark shade of red.

“Is that Cecil over there? I think I want to talk to him,” David suddenly said as he pointed at Cecil with his chin. “Lou Ellen? Come with me?”

Lou Ellen grinned as she nodded and made a 90-degree turn on her heels. “Yeah, come on, David. Let's leave these two idiots.”

And just like that, they left Will again, standing awkwardly less than two feet away from Nico.

“Uh… I didn’t expect to see you here,” Will said.

Nico turned his head at Will, an eyebrow slightly raised up. “Oh? I thought you were the one saying that I need to work on my social skill.”

Will gave Nico a small smile. “Yeah. So. Good to see you here, then. I mean, for your social skills and all.”

Nico stared at Will. And there was just something behind those dark eyes. Something that Will couldn’t put into words. Something that made him unable to look away.

“Aren’t you going to ask me to dance, Solace?”

The question got Will off-guard. Of all the questions in the world, it’s probably the most unexpected one.

“Huh?”

Nico held his eyes at Will’s for another second, but then he looked away. “Never mind,” he said, half-mumbling. His cheeks blushed again into dark cherry color.

“But… do you want to, though?”

Nico’s head turned back to Will. “Want to do what?”

“Dance? Do you…want to?”

Nico bit his lower lip and he looked down for a second. When he looked up back at Will, his charcoal eyes were soft.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“On who’s asking me to.”

Will’s heart started to jump around in his chest.

“What if it’s me asking you?”

The eyes that were staring back at him were now smiling.

“Then I guess, it depends on the song, then.”

Will’s heart was probably doing some crazy somersaults right now, but his lips curled up without him even thinking about it.

“Well, it’s my favorite song that they’re playing right now. I hope it suits you?” he asked, carefully offering his hand.

Nico’s smile was as soft as the look in his eyes. And the moment their fingertips touched, Will’s heart soared high and suddenly his chest was filled with warm, light air.

As Will led Nico to the floor, he thought about how long he has been wanting to do this, to hold Nico’s hand in his.

They swayed along with the music. Nico’s left hand felt perfect in his right hand. Will’s left hand rested on Nico’s hip and Will couldn’t care less about the other people dancing around them.

“Your dancing is better than your singing,” Nico said, a playful smile on his lips.

Will chuckled. “My grandma said a real Southern gentleman must know how to dance. And I remember my Mama dancing with me when I was a kid.”

“Your Mam raised you well, I have to say.”

Will hummed. “I’m a good mama’s boy, I can promise you that.”

“I can see that, Will. Everyone can see that.”

“See what?”

“That you’re a good guy.”

This time Will held his eyes at Nico. “I try to be,” he said. “But… Would I ever be good enough for you?”

Nico huffed. “And you said I was the dense one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Nico stopped, but his feet kept on moving. He sighed. “Gods, do I really have to spell it out to you?” He asked, sounding exasperated as he looked away from Will.

Hope bloomed inside of Will and he grinned and oh, how he wanted to shout and laugh. He took his hand off Nico’s hip so he could gently cup Nico’s cheek, guiding him to face him back.

“Do you mean you like me?” Will asked.

“Well, do you like me?”

Will chuckled and he could feel a stupid smile creeping in. “Why do you even have to ask?”

Nico shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Because you’re nice to me but you’re also nice to everyone? Because you don’t seem to care even if I talk about someone else? Because you…” Nico stopped again and shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe because I just…don’t know?”

Will squeezed Nico’s hand just a bit tighter. “I was just… I was just afraid that I’m not good enough for you.”

Nico rolled his eyes. But his lips twitched, like he tried to hold back a smile.

“You’re a good guy, Will. You’re a good guy to everyone. But sometimes I hope that you can be my good guy.”

It’s like a thousand birds were singing inside of Will now as he felt like he was floating in this bubble of happiness.

“Then I’ll be yours, Death Boy.”

Will wrapped his arms around Nico, and pulled him into his embrace.

“I’ll be your good guy, then. I’ll be your everything.”

Nico pulled himself a little away from Will. He looked up at Will and the light in his eyes was like the most beautiful star in a dark night.

“Everything?”

“Everything. Anything you need.”

***

Additional Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :). Reblogs, replies or any other feedbacks are much appreciated. Also please don't forget to check out the zine!!!

[soobmint]

paper hearts | choi soobin [f] ; [c] 80s! au, 9.6k words

s u m m a r y ; if there was one thing you wanted to avoid on valentine’s day, it was running into your ex best friend, choi soobin. but when a series of unfortunate events involving too much purple eyeshadow, drunken punches, and one stolen bicycle leads you right back to his side, you begin to realize that maybe you truly belonged with him all along.

c o n t e n t s ; soobin x fem!reader, 80s! au, valentine’s day, ex best friend! soobin, rich boy! soobin, but he’s a major dweeb and the biggest softie, yeonjun is a major prick (i’m so sorry junnie), reader is a part time worker, soobin is best friends with lee felix of stray kids, some themes of social classes, roughly inspired by the 80s movie “pretty in pink,” mentions drugs, alcohol, and single parent households, mostly just fluff, fluff, and more fluff, with a hint of crack/humor

n o t e ; hello friends! this was a very quickly planned, last minute valentine’s day idea, and it’s actually a collab with one of my dearest friends, @chanluster ! she posted her piece of the collab as well, you can check it out by going to the collab masterlist here! this was so much fun to write and i think that 80s! soobin was just too good of a concept to pass up! anyways, happy valentine’s day, i hope you enjoy this oneshot! do leave a like, reblog, or comment if you could, it really helps so much <3

[back to my masterlist] [oneshot playlist]

IF ONE MORE CUT-OUT, CRAFT-PAPER HEART HIT YOU IN THE FACE, YOU WERE GOING TO QUIT YOUR JOB.

Of course you would never actually quit. With your mother out of the picture and your father working nonstop overtime just to barely have enough cash to put food on the table for the both of you, you had come to rely on your minimum wage part-time hours more than you liked to admit. However, the handmade strings of paper hearts that hung from wall to wall throughout the entirety of the record shop you were employed at was enough to make you consider it; not to mention the Phil Collins record that had been spinning all day, filling your ears with melodies embodying the very air of romance, and the embarrassing pink sweater your boss had forced you to wear. You mumbled curses beneath your breath as you pulled at the collar, itching away at your neck.

When you made a step towards a crate full of records, ready to tidy it up after a customer had rummaged through it leaving it a mess, you were met with another face full of cheap red construction paper. With a large growl of exasperation, you swatted at the hearts and accidentally caused the entire string of them to fall to the ground. You cleared your throat, glad that no customers were present to see your little outburst.

Your boss, Jen, still saw it all.

“That’s not very festive of you, kid,” She said, taking a drag on her cigarette. “It’s Valentine’s Day! Lighten up.”

“Ah, my bad. I forgot that I was supposed to be overjoyed on the day honoring the execution of St. Valentine,” You said as you gave her a sarcastic smile. “I’ll make sure to smile at the next couple that walks in and ask them how they plan to contribute to the commercialization of a martyr’s death.”

“You must be real fun at parties,” Jen mumbled. She shook her cigarette at you from behind the counter. “You’re just bitter because you don’t have a valentine. I can’t blame anyone for giving you the cold shoulder with that attitude of yours.”

You scowled, picking up the string of hearts that you had sent crashing to the floor. “I’m not bitter, and I don’t want a date. Also, I told you to stop smoking inside! It smells awful.”

“Last I checked, this was my shop, not yours.” You rolled your eyes as you approached the counter, handing the discarded string to Jen so she could throw it in the trash. “Now you’re making me do chores for you too? You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that.”

“Jen, please, I’m really not in the mood for this today.”

Jen shrugged, bending towards the trash can to throw away the string of hearts when she paused and pulled something from the bin. You glanced over your shoulder and gasped when you saw what she held in her hand—a small red envelope with your name scrawled across the front and a pink heart-shaped sticker stuck on the back.

“What’s this?” Jen asked, opening the envelope and shaking out the contents. A single slip of paper fell out, landing atop the counter. You rushed to grab it, but Jen snatched it up just before your fingers reached the countertop.

“Give me that,” You insisted, face growing warm. “I threw it away for a reason!”

“It’s an invitation to a party?” She seemed beyond surprised, glancing back and forth between you and the paper several times. “You got invited to a Valentine’s Day party, and instead of going, you asked me to give you extra hours? Why?”

You looked down at your feet, digging the toe of your sneaker into the blue carpet. There were, in fact, many reasons why you did not want to go to that party. They were as follows:

One: Choi Yeonjun was the one who had invited you. After you had rejected his offer when he asked to take you to a basketball game a month before, you could barely make eye contact with him in the school hallway without feeling guilty. That and the fact that he was one of the richest preps in the school, you knew he had just been asking you out for some sort of prank or dare that you preferred to not potentially fall victim to.

Two: you needed to work as much as you could. Money, as always, was tight for you and your father. There was no way you would sacrifice precious hours to go to a party full of rich kids where nothing but humiliation was sure to await you.

Three: your old childhood friend and the one person you couldn’t bear to see was probably going to be there—Choi Soobin.

You had barely spoken to Soobin in the four years you had been in high school. Crossing paths with him in the cafeteria, turning down the same aisle of books as him in the library, all those tiny stolen glances and accidental encounters were the only bits of interaction you had kept throughout all that time. The worst part was, he hadn’t done anything wrong.

It was nothing but your own cowardice that had driven the two of you apart, and you were still too afraid to own up to it.

Instead of explaining all of this to Jen, you simply shrugged and said, “I dunno. It just sounds lame.”

Your boss sighed, holding the invitation out towards you. “Okay, I’m letting you off early. Go to the party.”

With wide eyes, you shook your head immediately. “Absolutely not. Why in the world would I go?”

“Well, first of all, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. Who knows when your next chance to go to a party will be.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at that.

“Second, it’s a holiday! The only reason I even opened today was because you were begging me for hours. I thought it was because you were bummed about having no plans, but clearly it’s because you wanted an excuse to be a recluse.”

“Hey, I’m not a recluse.”

“Clearly.” She shook the invitation at you once more, brows raised. “If you go, I’ll raise your pay by fifty cents for the next month.”

Your ears perked up at that.

“Well?” She asked, well aware that she had hit the jackpot. “What'd ya say?”

Weighing the risks against the benefits, you bit the inside of your cheek.

“Make it a dollar and you’ve got a deal.” 

-

“HAPPY VALENTINE’S, CHOI.”

When Soobin heard the sarcastic remark coming from his best friend, Felix, he had to fight back the urge to burst into tears then and there. He still wasn’t quite sure how Felix had convinced him to come, but he was already regretting it. The last thing he wanted to do to celebrate the day dedicated to love was spend it at a house party—or, as Soobin preferred to call them, any outcast high school kid’s version of hell on earth.

With a quick peek between his fingers, which he had used to cover his eyes immediately upon arriving at the site of the Valentine’s party, Soobin caught another eye-full of couples getting all too familiar with one another out in the open. He gulped, letting his hands grip the handles of the bike as he averted his gaze, choosing to cast his best glare at Felix, who was busy adjusting his ever-present beanie.

“Shut up,” he murmured, slowly sliding off the seat of his bike. He dusted off the worn, tearing cushion, glancing around the area. “Now quick, we gotta put our stuff somewhere safe.”

Felix looked aghast, making no moves to help Soobin in his search for a hiding spot. “What are you doing?”

“Tryna find a safe place for my bike?” He thought the answer to be somewhat obvious, but clearly Felix wasn’t on the same track of thinking. “You don’t know today’s world! Anyone is willing to steal nowadays.”

“Soobin, your bike is coughing up oil from its chains. It should be in its own care home at this rate.”

“I don’t wanna hear your slander, skater boy,” Soobin retorted, eyeing Felix’s ebony skateboard that he refused to be seen without. As if on cue, when he pushed his bike forward, the chains squealed, drawing the attention of a pair of particularly passionate individuals who had been wrapped up with one another moments before. Soobin ignored their annoyed stares, feeling his ears burn from embarrassment. He glanced back to Felix. “Help me find a hiding spot.”

Felix was anything but enthusiastic, but he began to help Soobin search nonetheless.

“Slide it in here, Soobs,” Felix called a few moments later. He was pointed to an empty space between the home’s perfectly trimmed bushes. Soobin pursed his lips together, pushing his large glasses further up the bridge of his nose—a nervous tick of his. Felix groaned, rolling his eyes. “Or you can leave it out in the open so it’ll spit more oil on the passersby? Is that what you want?”

“Fine, fine!” Soobin huffed, wheeling his bike over to the shrubbery, chains squeaking all the way. He carefully laid it beneath the brush and moved a few branches to cover it up nicely. He stood up straight, dusting his hands on the front of his loose blue jeans. “What about your skateboard?”

Felix gave the board a pat, awarding his most prized possession a dazzling smile one would expect to see a proud father giving his beloved son. But in reality, it was the school’s stoner grinning ear to ear at his old, dusty skateboard. “Nightrider stays with me.”

Soobin scrunched his nose, cringing on instinct. He still calls that thing by that stupid name?

Felix clapped him on the shoulder before he could make a remark, catching him off guard when he said, “Right. Let’s go and get your girl.”

There was nothing Soobin could do to stop the flush that rushed to his cheeks right away. Images of you, his ex-best friend and the only reason he had even come to this party in the first place, flashed through his mind. Had he not overheard Yeonjun invite you earlier that morning and then casually mention the encounter to Felix, there was no way he would have even stepped foot out of his house that night. Part of him was peeved, wishing he had never uttered a single word about you to his overbearing friend. Yet, deep down, there was hope within him—the tiniest sliver.

If there was even the slightest chance that he could talk to you that night, he would do anything. Even if it meant dealing with a stupid party, and the never-ceasing teasing he was bound to continue receiving from Felix.

“Don’t even say that,” He said, emphasizing each word as they walked up the front steps. Soobin had to glance down at his much shorter friend to see the devious grin on his freckled face.

“Say what? That she’s your girl, your woman, your one and only?”

The blush must have been creeping to his neck by that point. He could feel it. “I. . .” There were many things Soobin wished to say; angry words that would hopefully shut the blonde skater boy up real quick. But he couldn’t bring himself to say a single harsh word, so he sighed in defeat. “I can’t even say it.”

“That you hate me?” Felix only grinned even bigger, and Soobin couldn’t help the tiny defeated smile that slipped over his features. “Oh, I know. It’s because I’m too good of a best friend.”

They stepped into the house then, instantly being overwhelmed by loud music, boisterous laughter, and drunken yells echoing throughout the halls. Soobin latched onto Felix right away, gripping his friend’s sleeve as someone stumbled into him, a bit of beer spilling from their cup. He pushed his glasses up, only for them to slide right back down as he began to sweat.

“Maybe we should go home, Lix!” Soobin shouted to be heard over the noise as they travelled further into the house. “We can always try next year!”

“Stop being a scaredy-cat!” Felix shouted back, and Soobin thought he might actually begin to cry as they squeezed their way into the living room. Soobin nearly gagged at the strong smell of alcohol as it burned in his nose. The scene was nothing short of a nightmare to Soobin—loud voices, smoke rising in the air, vodka assaulting his nose and sweat beading on the back of his neck. He had never been one to drink, and he didn’t plan on starting that night; but he was beginning to understand what Felix meant when he had once told him it was nearly impossible to get through one of these parties sober.

He was about to make another complaint and beg to leave when someone from the crowd hollered his name, causing him to wince when he recognized that voice as the one that belonged to none other than Choi Yeonjun.

“Soobin! Where you been?”

Soobin smiled nervously at the school’s heartthrob—and textbook snobby rich kid—before he turned back to Felix. He didn’t want to leave his friend, but he knew that he would never hear the end of it if he ignored Yeonjun’s persistent calls. “I’ll be right back,” He promised Felix, still holding onto his sleeve.

“No, no,” Felix assured. “You go. You’ll probably find her around that place anyway.”

Soobin wasn’t so sure of that. You were definitely not of the right social standing to be caught amongst the circle of the school’s rich boys—which was why it had surprised Soobin that Yeonjun had invited you to the party in the first place. Your high school had its own caste system, and you were near the bottom of it.

And, as much as it pained him to admit it, Soobin was stuck at the very top with all the other rich snobs who cared about nothing more than their daily allowances that came straight from their daddy’s bank account.

“What about you, buddy?” He asked Felix, desperate for any excuse to remain by his friend’s side. He would have tried to bring Felix with him, but his friend was in an even worse social standing than you were—he was poor, and he was most known for being the school’s pothead. There was no way Soobin would willingly drag him into a situation where nothing but slander and torment awaited him.

“Me?” Felix shrugged, gripping his board tighter. “I’ll just smoke away the night.”

Soobin pouted, glancing back at the group of preps as they called for him once again. He sighed, clapping Felix on the shoulder. “Just make sure you won’t smell too much of it when I come back.”

Submitting himself to his doom then, he turned on his heel and slowly made his way to where the group of  boys sat near the sofa, giving them a half-hearted wave.

“Why were you hanging around that Felix guy?” Yeonjun asked once Soobin had reached their circle. “Did he blackmail you or something?”

Soobin frowned, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “He’s my friend.”

Yeonjun rolled his eyes, brushing a hand through his perfectly-straightened ebony locks. “Sure he is. Tell me, do you see every kid you find on the streets as some sort of personal charity project? Or is it just Felix and—what was her name—” He snapped his fingers then before he said, “Y/N, right?”

Soobin didn’t respond—well, it was more like he couldn’t respond. By nature he was a very passive being, but nothing drew him closer to bouts of anger than when the people he cared about were being insulted right before him.

Especially when it came to you.

Yet, as much as he wanted to tell Yeonjun off or give him a nice shove into the smoke-stained walls, words failed him. They always did. Perhaps this was why you had abandoned him all those years ago. Nobody knew him better than you did, so of course you were able to see what he truly was beneath all the expensive clothes and nervous laughter—a coward.

He figured that he’d probably have left himself too.

“Drink up, buttercup.” The chipper voice that belonged to the other Choi in the small gathering of socialites, Choi Beomgyu, thrust a plastic red cup towards Soobin’s chest. 

He shook his head, throwing another wavering smile in his direction. “No thanks. I don’t drink.”

Yeonjun rolled his eyes. “Of course you don’t. Why are you even here then?”

Once again, Soobin chose silence as his only response. He swallowed, patting the front pocket of his denim jacket. As the group of boys began conversing once more, he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander around the room, searching every drunken face for the features that belonged to you, trying to hear your name in every conversation, desperate for your voice to break through the blasting music and shouting voices.

“Who ya looking for there, Big Choi?” Soobin grimaced at the nickname. He was skinny, but incredibly tall, and nobody would let him forget that. “Big Choi” was one of his most common nicknames among the elitists. He despised it, but of course, he would never voice that aloud.

He glanced at Beomgyu and smiled nervously again, shaking his head. “Nobody.”

His eyes met Yeonjun’s and he gulped yet again as the latter eyed him with suspicion. It wasn’t as though he had anything to hide, but something about Yeonjun’s calculating gaze made his skin crawl.

He needed to escape. Just for a moment, at least.

“I’ll be right back. Going to find some water.”

He slipped out of the living room then, apologizing profusely to each couple he accidentally bumped into, bowing in remorse to each person’s toes his big feet happened to stumble over. He ached to be by Felix’s side—the stoned skateboarder had become somewhat of a security blanket to the taller of the duo—but his blonde friend was nowhere to be seen.

After snagging a bottle of water from the kitchen, Soobin managed to slip into an empty bathroom. He slammed the door shut and wasted no time in locking it. Letting out the biggest sigh of relief, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door, taking a big gulp of the ice cold water.

He set the bottle on the counter and carefully reached into the front pocket of his jacket, his fingers finding the piece of paper he had been storing there all evening. He pulled it out and let his eyes wander over his middle school creation. It was a big heart, cut out from a scrap piece of red construction paper. Scrawled across it in his eight-grade handwriting were the words, Be mine this Valentine’s! His name was etched at the bottom, and at the very top, delicately printed in hot pink glitter glue, your name was written as well.

He had planned to give this to you four years ago on Valentine’s day. Everything had been planned out perfectly; he was to pick you up on his old, trusty bike. It wasn’t really made for two people, but the two of you had fashioned a makeshift extra seat for you to sit upon whenever you went places together. 

He wanted to take you to the Dairy Shack, which was the local ice cream shop where the two of you spent the most time together. You always got a large chocolate shake to share, playing a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to eat the cherry on top. He was going to order a shake and specially ask for two cherries that time, and planned to give both of them to you before he would bravely present you with the handmade card he had spent all day working on.

However, when he waited for you outside your house that day, the red dusk turned to pitch black night, and you never stepped foot out your door.

He had even gone up to your door a few times and knocked, but there was no answer. Eventually he pedalled off into the night, back to his house. He was disappointed, of course, but more worried than anything else. He had hoped you weren’t sick.

But when he saw you at school the next day, he knew that hadn’t been the case.

And when you ignored him calling your name as you passed by him in the hallways, he knew that something had drastically changed.

For weeks, Soobin was in great turmoil as he replayed your last few encounters together before you had stood him up. Perhaps you were angry that he had won the last few games of rock, paper, scissors? If he had known, he would have given you all the cherries for the rest of time if it meant you would still talk to him. He didn’t care about them—he cared about you.

He missed you.

And as weeks turned to months, and months turned to years, you still barely spoke to him, and he missed you more and more. The best friend he had wanted to take a step closer to had taken a thousand steps back from him, and he still had no idea why.

But that night, he was determined to find out.

Well, if he could muster up the courage to get a single word out, of course.

He folded the heart back up and stuck it back in his pocket, taking a deep breath as he observed himself in the fogged-up mirror. He fixed his bright blue hair that Felix had helped him bleach and dye, making sure the pieces fell over the corners of his eyes just right. He straightened his white turtleneck and cuffed the sleeves of his denim jacket until he was at least somewhat content with his appearance.

“You can do this, Soobs,” He told himself, adjusting his big round glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “That’s what Felix would say.”

“Hey, rich boy!” A loud scream came from outside the bathroom door, accompanied by harsh knocking that sent Soobin stumbling backwards until he fell in the shower, pulling the curtains down with him.

“Hurry up in there! I’m about to piss myself!”

Soobin let out a shaky sigh, scrambling to his feet as he rushed to fix the curtain he had torn down with his clumsiness. “Sorry,” he mumbled, though he doubted the person on the other side of the door could hear him.

He realized then with an ever growing dread that it would be a miracle if he survived the night long enough to even find you, but it would take the work of God himself for him to actually speak to you.

He figured it was time for him to start praying.

- 

YOU KNEW IT WAS A MISTAKE TO LET JEN DO YOUR MAKEUP.

When she had stopped you on your way out the door with a compact of bright purple eyeshadow, you had turned her down right away. No way in all of creation were you walking in a party with such an atrocious color caked up to your brow bone.

“How can you say it’s gonna look bad if you haven’t even let me try?” Jen had asked.

You had given her a once-over, your lips pressed into a thin line. “If it’s gonna look anything like the way you do your own makeup, I’m gonna have to pass.”

After that snide remark, she had threatened to fire you if you didn’t let her apply the makeup. And so you obliged, though you didn’t have much of a choice.

The booming sounds of the party hit your ears before you had even reached the lawn. Screaming teens—well, there were probably some adults thrown in there as well—and the sound of music spilled through the open windows of the home. Couples and singles alike were scattered throughout the perfectly kept lawn that was now littered with empty cups and other assortments of garbage.

You looked down at your patchwork jeans and pink sweater, certain that you would be underdressed compared to the rest of the partygoers. But from the looks of things, as you carefully squeezed your way through the front door and into the home, everyone was probably too wasted to even notice your arrival, let alone care about your looks.

You caught a glimpse of your face in the hallway mirror, cringing at the sight of your eyeshadow. You had tried to wipe some of it away before arriving, but it simply smudged, giving you quite the shocking smoky, purple eye look. For someone who didn’t even know the difference between a paintbrush and a makeup brush, it was a bold look, to say the least.

If Soobin saw you looking like this, he’d probably have a heart attack.

Soobin.

In the midst of all your frantic preparation, you had nearly forgotten about the main reason why you had planned to avoid this party at all costs. With a quick glance around the room, you realized that he was nowhere to be seen. You wouldn’t have been surprised if he hadn’t shown up at all. He was never a fan of parties, anyway.

You crossed your arms over your chest and slowly slipped past the couples crowding the hallway with their limbs intertwined, mouths practically swallowing one another whole, until you reached the living room. Surprisingly, it was less crowded in here than you thought it might be. A few minglers were scattered about the room’s perimeter, but they all kept away from the center of the room, which was occupied by none other than Choi Yeonjun and all his brainless, rich-boy worshippers. You quickly scanned the group, not able to make out Soobin among them. When you realized he wasn’t there, you were partly relieved and partly disappointed. If was to be anywhere at this party, it would probably be with these guys.

With a quick turn on your heel, you planned to make your way out of the living room before Yeonjun could see you. The last thing you wanted was for the boy with a bruised ego to see you, regardless of whether or not he had been the one to invite you.

“Y/N? You came?”

Too late.

Plastering a forced grin to your face, you slowly turned to face Yeonjun, who had just called your name. He was eyeing you with slight surprise, but soon, a smirk slipped across his lips as he motioned for you to come over. You had to hold back your sigh, wishing there was some way for you to get out of this situation. It was all Jen’s fault that you had to show up in the first place. You decided you were going to demand an extra ten cents be added to your raise the next time you saw your pushy boss.

“Hey Yeonjun,” you said once you had walked over to him. “I figured I’d stop by for a minute or two, since you were kind enough to invite me.”

He smirked, glancing at a few of his friends. They shared a knowing laugh with one another, but the meaning of it was lost to you. You wanted nothing more than to get away from them, but that wasn’t an option.

“You’re too busy to go out with me to a basketball game but free enough to come to a party, huh?” He asked.

You blinked, digging your nails into your arms. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s fine, really,” He drawled, swirling his plastic cup of beer in his hand. “You didn’t think I’d be upset or anything did you? I only asked you out because I was dared to shack up with you. But I’m guessing you already knew that, since you’re so smart and all.”

Your eyes went wide, but you managed to control the rest of your expression. It was just like you had guessed—Yeonjun had invited you to the party with the sole purpose of making a scene.

If you survived the night, Jen was never going to hear the end of it.

“You’re not gonna say anything?” He asked, pushing himself to his feet. You could tell by the slight stumble in his step and his hooded eyes that he had quite a bit to drink. He took a step towards you, causing you to back up immediately. Your back hit the wall, and you placed your palms against it as Yeonjun towered over you. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I know why you’re here anyways.” He leaned forward, his lips hovering near your ear. “You’re here to see Soobin, aren’t you? Since he’s the only one here willing to waste his time on filth like you.”

Your blood boiled, and you had to clench your fists at your sides to control your anger.

“Don’t,” You seethed, “Call me that.”

“Call you what? Filth? Or sweetheart? Why, is that something good old Binnie used to call you—”

He never got to finish that sentence, because with one big burst of anger, you stomped on his toe as hard as you could with your worn-out platform sneaker.

“What the hell!” He screeched, drawing the attention of several others in the room. His outburst even caused a few of the couples to pull away from each other’s faces long enough to eavesdrop.

Before you could even say anything back, lukewarm liquid was splashed up in your face, burning your eyes and nose. You gasped, running your hands over your eyes to see Yeonjun with his now empty cup of beer pointed towards you.

“Think twice before you act out against me next time, sweetheart. Never forget your place.”

Tears of anger burned in your eyes, and you scanned the room to see several people exchanging whispers and giggles as they glanced in your direction. You pushed past Yeonjun and quickly made your way out the back door of the house, unable to stand the humiliation for a moment longer.

Soobin arrived in the living room just in time to see you leave.

He wasted no time in rushing towards Yeonjun, grabbing hold of his arm. “Yeonjun, was that Y/N?” He asked, eyes quickly taking in the puddle of alcohol on the floor and the empty cup in Yeonjun’s hand. “What happened?”

“Nothing you need to worry your pretty blue head about, Big Choi. I just put her in her place is all.”

Soobin’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean you ‘put her in her place?’”

Yeonjun laughed, giving Soobin a nonchalant pat on the back. “Just drop it, would you? It has nothing to do with you.”

“What did you say, Yeonjun?”

Yeonjun was growing irritated now. He huffed out a breath, crossing his arms over his chest. “I said it has nothing to do with you, Soobin. I know you like to hang around people like that pothead Felix, but the rest of us live in the real world, where we’d rather not waste our time with those who have no future anyways. I bet he’s the one that got you to dye your hair that god awful blue, isn’t he?”

Soobin bit the inside of his cheek. He so badly wished to rip Yeonjun to shreds then and there. If he had Felix’s courage, the cocky bastard would have been knocked to the ground ages ago. But if there was one thing Soobin was sure he could never be, it was brave. And so, despite his rage, he remained silent, his eyes practically burning a hole through Yeonjun’s chest from how intently he was glaring.

It seemed as though Yeonjun was about to say something, but his eyes landed on the bit of red that peeked through the front pocket of Soobin’s denim jacket. Before Soobin had time to defend himself, Yeonjun had reached forward and snatched it from his pocket, revealing the large paper heart—his valentine for you.

“So this is why you care so much,” Yeonjun said, laughing as his eyes scanned the glittery words that decorated the page. “You want her to be your valentine.”

“Give that back,” Soobin said quietly, his hands beginning to shake.

Yeonjun instead lifted his eyes to Soobin, gave him a sickly sweet grin, and ripped the heart straight down the middle. He let the two pieces fall from his hands to the ground, and with them Soobin’s heart went also.

“You’re really willing to try and go against me, and for what? For the sake of a girl who can’t even afford a new pair of jeans and a boy that smokes his life away in the bathroom stalls?” Yeonjun took a slow step towards Soobin, his eyes glinting with a sinister determination. “You may be rich, Soobin, but if you choose to lower yourself to their standards, you may as well be dirt poor just like they are.”

With his hands clenched into tight fists, his glasses sliding down his nose, and his heart quite literally in two pieces on the floor below him, Soobin decided that he had had enough.

“I’d much rather be associated with people who are kind and have actual depth to their character than be lumped together with a bunch of pricks like you with no real personality—because that’s something you can’t buy with daddy’s paycheck.”

He had to physically restrain himself from slapping his hand across his own mouth in shock. It was as if the spirit of Felix himself had possessed him to say such harsh things. He wondered where Felix was then, wishing more than ever before to have his best friend by his side as he began to tremble from either the rush of adrenaline that coursed through his veins, or from fear. Or perhaps it was both.

He didn’t have time to ponder it any longer before Yeonjun’s fist collided with his nose, resulting in a sickening crack as pain echoed throughout his face in tidal waves.

He stumbled backward as people began to shout, raising his hand to his nose and gasping when he saw that his palm was covered in blood. 

Beomgyu had his arms wrapped around Yeonjun, who was desperately trying to lunge towards Soobin once again.

“Knock it off, Yeonjun!” Beomgyu shouted, pushing the elder back. “His dad is on the school board! Are you trying to get expelled?”

Beomgyu looked over his shoulder at the still stunned Soobin, who was gaping at the blood that now stained his once white turtleneck. 

“Get lost, Soobin,” Beomgyu said, to which Soobin only blinked in reply, his ears ringing.

“Now!”

Head spinning, Soobin picked up the two halves of his paper heart, stuffed them into his jeans, and stumbled out the same door he had seen you go through just minutes before. After checking to make sure his glasses were still intact—they were, thankfully—he shook his head in an effort to clear his mind of the static, eyes scanning the front lawn looking for any trace of you.

It didn’t take long for his eyes to spot you among the now dwindling crowd of partygoers. Your bright pink sweater stood out against the darkness, so he was able to recognize you even with your back towards him. He sniffed, wiping the back of his hand against his dripping nose as he slowly made his way to where you sat on the curb, your feet planted on the asphalt street. He wished that he looked a bit more presentable—when he played this scene out in his head over the years in which he would finally reunite with you, he never imagined himself dazed and covered in blood.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, he supposed.

When he reached you, he simply stood beside you in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say. He could tell that you sensed his presence, but you refused to look up at him as you kept your face buried in your hands. He could have sworn he heard a few muffled sobs slip through your fingers, but of course, he wasn’t going to bring that up.

Eventually he decided to slip his jacket off of his shoulders, leaning down to drape it over you. You still kept your head down as he sat beside you on the curb, but he watched you grip the jacket and pull it tighter around your body. He smiled a bit, holding the collar of his turtleneck against his throbbing nose.

“Thank you,” you muttered, wiping your hand across your eyes. You finally looked over at him, and when you did, you couldn’t hold back your gasp. “My God Soobin, what happened to your face?”

“Oh, well, I might have gotten punched,” He said quickly, trying to wave off your concern. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Punched? By who?”

He looked down at the ground, sniffing as a drop of blood hit the pavement. “Yeonjun,” he muttered under his breath.

“I’m sorry, did you just say Yeonjun? Are you insane? Why on earth would you butt heads with the Choi Yeonjun?”

Soobin didn’t say anything in response, he simply stared at you, eyes wide with beer dripping off the ends of your hair, makeup smeared across your face, your sweater stained down the front. It didn’t seem to take long for you to put the pieces together, as the shock left your face and was replaced with something akin to guilt.

“Oh,” You said, looking back down at your shoes.

“So she knows that I did it all for her,” Soobin thought.

For some reason, the idea of that both terrified and excited him.

A second later, he glanced over to see you ripping one of the hand-sewed patches of fabric off your jeans, leaving a square of your skin exposed to the chilly night air. You leaned towards him, pushing his hand away from his nose so you could use the patch to clean up some of the blood on and around his puffy red nose.

“Y/N, your pants!” He exclaimed, trying to push your hand away. “They’re ruined!”

“I’m not worried about my pants, you idiot,” You said, swatting his hand away as you continued to press the cloth against his skin. “You got punched in the face because of me, this is the least I could do.”

“That was my choice though,” He muttered, although he stopped trying to resist your touch. He ignored the way his heart thrummed harder in his chest, hoping that you couldn’t hear.

“Well, this is my choice too.” Your eyes flicked to his for a brief moment, your bottom lip pulled between your teeth. “Why did you do it, by the way?”

“Do what?”

“Stand up to Yeonjun for me and get a nasty nosebleed as a result.”

“Oh.” He blinked slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on yours. “Just ‘cause.”

“Because . . . ?”

“Because of you.” He blurted, causing your hand to go still against him. He swallowed his fear, braving the best smile that he could. “Just you. That was my only reason.”

You didn’t say anything as your hand fell from his face, the cloth clutched between your fingers. The anxiety he had tried his best to suppress came rushing up all at once, and he was surprised that his ears didn’t begin to squeal like a tea kettle from all the pressure. 

“Y/N,” He said, gently placing his hand over yours despite how his fingers trembled. “Why did you pull away from me?”

“What?”

“Four years ago. Why did you stop talking to me?”

You were quiet for a moment, digging into the ground with the toe of your sneaker. Soobin held his breath until you finally replied with, “I was afraid.”

“Afraid? Of what?”

“We were getting older, Binnie,” You said, and his heart skipped at the use of your old nickname for him. “You and I, we’re from very different walks of life. You get to hang out with people like Yeonjun, whereas I get a cup of beer poured all over my face just for existing, and you get a fist to the nose for trying to stand up for me. We’re from different sides of the track, one might say.”

“So?” Soobin asked, his hand tightening around yours. “Did you really think that would affect us that much, Y/N?”

You frowned, glancing down at his hand over yours.

“I thought you’d be embarrassed of me,” You said, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Embarrassed?” Soobin’s eyes went wide as he gripped your hand tighter still, pulling it into his lap. “Y/N, I would never, ever be embarrassed of you. Besides, have you seen my best friend? He’s on a first name basis with the principal because of how often he gets written up for smoking behind the school. If I’m not embarrassed of him, why would I ever be embarrassed of you?”

You laughed, wiping the back of your hand across your eyes once more. “I guess I was worried about nothing, huh?” You sniffed, giving his hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry, Soobin.”

He shook his head, squeezing your hand right back. “Don’t apologize. You’re here now, that’s what matters. Do think we could—you know—”

“Pick up where we left off?” You smiled, nodding vigorously. “I’d like that very much, Binnie.”

He beamed then, almost pinching himself to be sure that he was not dreaming, but the pain in his nose was real enough to remind him of that on its own. He jumped to his feet, pulling you right up with him.

“In that case, how about we finally go on that Valentine’s date I had planned all the way back then?”

“Date?” You asked, a brow raised. “Is it really considered a date if two friends are just hanging out?”

He didn’t respond as he pulled you along behind him towards the bushes where he and Felix had hidden his bike. He crouched down and moved the branches aside, feeling his heart drop to his stomach when he realized that his bike was, in fact, no longer there.

He shot up, turning to face you with eyes wide. “Felix—that bastard took my bike!”

You were quiet for a moment, but then, you burst into boisterous laughter, leaving Soobin utterly confused.

“It’s not funny, Y/N!” He whined, shoving your shoulder lightly. “I was supposed to take you to the Dairy Shack on my bike!”

“It is funny,” You said between bursts of laughter. “Only you would get such a rusty old piece of metal stolen from you.”

He pushed his lips out in a pout, sliding his glasses up his sore nose. “It’s a good bike, don’t make fun of it.”

You grinned, interlocking his fingers with yours, which was enough to instantly wipe the pout right off his face. 

“Let’s just walk, Binnie. The Dairy Shack isn’t that far anyways.”

You were right; the walk to your favorite milkshake place was very close to the house where the party had occurred. Although Felix stealing his bike had thrown an obvious wrench in his plans, it was a minor hiccup, and one he could most definitely handle. Besides, he wouldn’t have to see Felix until the next day anyways. He could deal with his frustration then.

At least, that’s what he thought anyways, until the two of you spotted Felix at the skatepark on your way to the dairy shack.

Soobin’s eyes took in the deplorable sight before him—from where he stood on the dimly lit sidewalk, he could see Felix and a girl he had never seen before, their faces nearly pressed together, and most importantly, with his bike discarded a few yards away from them.

“Soobin,” You said, tugging on his arm. “They look like they’re busy, let’s just go—”

But Soobin, who had little patience when it came to Felix messing up his plans, didn’t let you finish before he screamed, “Give me back my freaking bike!”

You had to hold back your snort of laughter at his choice of words. Even when he was trying to sound angry, he was undeniably adorable.

Soobin watched as Felix startled, clutching his spliff between his fingers as he glared daggers back at his friend. Soobin gulped, trying not to let his fear show on his face. What did he have to be afraid of, anyways? He was the victim of thievery, and his best friend was the offender.

Felix took a big step towards him, but he paused, his eyes landing on your interlocked hands. Soobin glanced down as well, his face growing furiously warm as he realized the situation he had gotten himself into. 

He decided to divert the subject before it could even be brought up by saying, “I can’t believe you stole my bike! All this time I was trying to hide it from strangers, but you, my best friend! I should’ve been hiding it from you!”

Soobin noticed Felix’s female companion step off the skateboard and walk over in his direction, and for a second he felt bad for possibly ruining her night with his best friend. However, his frustration was more prominent in the moment as he fixed his gaze back on his best friend, who had fixed a mischievous smirk upon his face that made warning sirens blare in Soobin’s head right away.

“Now, now, buddy,” Felix said, his voice calm and carefree as ever. It probably had something to do with what he had just smoked, but Soobin didn’t care all that much. “You’re just gonna have to let me borrow it for a little longer.”

Soobin nearly laughed at the audacity of such a statement. “You are gonna give me the bike, or—”

“How about this, Soobs?” Soobin’s lips clamped shut at his friend’s interruption, as the thief in question gestured with his joint to where Soobin’s fingers were locked with yours. “You let me keep your bike for the night, and I don’t tell your dad about you hanging out with the opposite gender.”

Unable to control yourself, you let out a big laugh. Soobin would have felt betrayed, but he was more terrified than anything else at the idea of his father finding out that he was taking a girl out without his permission. He would be grounded for weeks—no, months.

“You wouldn’t.”

Felix’s lips curled up even more into a twisted grin that Soobin wished he had the guts to slap off his face. “God, just imagine the look on Mr. Choi’s face. Imagine him finding out about your premarital hand holding.”

No. Not the hand holding.

Soobin almost felt faint, but he steeled himself to the best of his abilities as he cleared his throat. “One night, Lix,” he warned. “If I don’t see it on my porch in the morning, you’ll be sorry!”

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Felix teased. His expression changed a moment later though, when he finally noticed Soobin’s swollen nose and blood-stained turtleneck. “Wait, Soobs, the hell happened to you?”

Soobin, however, had already taken his first steps away from the skatepark, pulling you along behind him. “I’ll tell you later, bud. Enjoy your spliff with that kind girl who you probably don’t deserve!”

“Hey!”

Soobin couldn’t help but laugh as he swung your interlocked hands together, grinning as you let out a laugh as well. The anger that had seeped through him seemed to melt away in an instant as the two of you continued your journey to the Dairy Shack.

“Would your dad really be that upset if he found out about this?” You asked.

Soobin grimaced. “We should probably wait til next year to tell him about this outing. Or maybe the year after that.”

When the two of you had finally reached the Dairy Shack, you waited outside for him while he went in to order your drink. A large chocolate milkshake, with two straws, just like you used to get every time before.

When he had the drink in hand, he walked back outside and sat down beside you on the curb, smiling as you wrapped his jacket tighter around your shoulders. You smiled back up at him, your eyes creasing from the expression. Your smile had always struck him right to his core; he had missed seeing it every day.

He hoped he could see it every morning and every night from that day onward. There was no way he would let you go this time.

He just had to muster up the courage to grab hold of you first.

“You know what, Binnie, you turned out to be a lot taller than I thought you ever would be,” you said as you took one of the straws from his hands. “You’re actually enormous. It’s shocking.”

“Should I find that offensive? It sounds kinda like an insult.”

“Take it however you will,” You teased, leaning over as he popped the plastic lid off the milkshake. He grabbed the cherry by the stem and held it towards you.

“What are you doing?” You asked, holding out your fist. “We have to rock, paper, scissors for it. Remember?”

Soobin laughed as he shook his head. “I’m giving it to you this time. It’s what I planned to do all those years ago, when I asked you to hang out on Valentine’s.”

You seemed to be taken aback, but you simply shrugged as you plucked the cherry from his hand and pulled it from the stem with your teeth, glancing back over at him. It was silent for a moment, but then your eyes landed on the pocket of his jeans, where you could see a bit of red paper poking out. You leaned over even further, reaching your hand out to snatch the paper.

“What are you—hey! Give that back!”

Soobin desperately tried to take his Valentine back from you, but it was too late. You held both halves of what used to be a whole in your hands, your eyes scanning the words as you pieced them together.

“Soobin . . .”

He held his breath. Had his act of young love left you completely speechless? Were you so touched that you would burst into tears?

“This looks like a middle schooler made it.”

He let out the breath in the form of a long, long sigh.

“That’s because it was made by a middle schooler,” He said as he set the milkshake down beside him. “I made it back in the eighth grade. I planned to give it to you that Valentine’s.”

“Oh.” You ran your finger along the card’s surface, the smallest smile creeping across your lips. “Well in that case, it’s not half bad. Why’s it ripped though?”

“Ah—well, Yeonjun . . .”

You nodded, taking another glance at his swollen nose. “No need to elaborate. It seems you had a lot planned for our Valentine’s Day back then. Is there anything else you wanted to do?”

His mouth went dry at that, and he wished that you couldn’t see his face because he was sure that his expression was quite comical. All the way back then, four years prior, he had in fact planned the perfect, ideal day in his head. Picking you up on his bike, giving you the cherry from his milkshake, and presenting you with his hand made card.

There was only one thing left on his list.

He didn’t move at first, willing himself to have enough courage to even look back in your direction. But when he finally did allow his eyes to meet yours, he felt his shoulders relax and his heart rate became more manageable.

He took a deep breath, leaned forward, and pressed his lips against your cheek.

He lingered there for only a moment before he pulled back, daring to pry one of his eyes open to take in the look on your face.

The disappointment was palpable—from the way your brows furrowed together and the way you pursed your lips. His stomach dropped, and he scooted the tiniest bit away from you.

“I’m sorry,” He blurt out, his face growing warmer by the second. “I shouldn’t have done that, I just—”

“Is that all?”

Your question stopped him mid-ramble, his eyes growing wide. “Huh?”

“Is that all?” You repeated, closing the distance between you that he had created. “It’s Valentine’s Day, Soobin. I think we can do better than a peck on the cheek.”

The implications of what you were saying didn’t register with him right away, but when it finally did, he could have sworn his heart began to beat loud enough for the entire town to hear. His hand curled into a fist as he gripped the denim of his jeans. He leaned forward, keeping his eyes open just enough to watch you as he brought his lips closer to yours. He could feel your eyes on him all the while, causing his heart to pound fiercer still within him.

When he was just a breath away, he whispered, “Can you close your eyes?”

“Hm?”

He lifted his hand, gently placing it over your eyes. He leaned closer then, filling the space between you both as his lips met yours. You tasted vaguely of cherry and strawberry slice soda, and he found it quite nice the way his lips seemed to fit perfectly against your own. As the seconds drew on, your hands slipped around his neck, pulling him closer. He slowly let his hand fall from your eyes, tracing lines with the tips of his fingers down your cheek before he cradled your jaw, letting his lips part just enough to taste the sweet sugar on your lips once more.

He thought in a haze that it was a good thing he didn’t drink anything at the party, as kissing you was proving to be intoxicating enough on its own.

When you finally pulled away, leaving your forehead resting against his, he let his eyes flutter open enough to see the euphoric smile that adorned your features. He grinned as well, gently running his thumb against your cheek.

“I think that back then, I had planned to ask you this before kissing you,” He whispered, “But Y/N, will you be my Valentine?”

Instead of a spoken answer, you laughed, leaning forward to capture his lips with yours once again, and that was the only answer Choi Soobin would ever need.

-

WHEN SOOBIN ARRIVED HOME THAT NIGHT, HE WENT STRAIGHT FOR THE TELEPHONE.

It was kept upstairs at night right outside his parent’s door, to keep himself and his brother from using it in the late hours. Of course, this never stopped Soobin from sneaking it downstairs to his room in the basement to make late night calls to Felix.

And that particular evening, he really needed to give Felix an update.

He grabbed the phone from the small table in the hallway, carefully tiptoeing towards the basement stairs. Before he had even taken the first step down, the bathroom door creaked open. Soobin whipped his head around to see his brother Kai standing there, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he raised a brow at his older brother.

Soobin froze, blinking slowly as he realized the incriminating situation he found himself in.

“Please don’t tell mom,” He whispered, his eyes pleading with his younger brother.

Kai nodded, although Soobin wasn’t quite convinced that the boy was even coherent enough to understand what was going on. Soobin offered a rushed thank you, and ventured his first step down the stairs.

Well, he tried, anyways, and ended up missing the first step. He tumbled down the rest of the stairs, landing on his butt at the very end.

He winced in pain, glad to see that the phone was still intact in his hands. He glanced over his shoulders to see Kai staring down the stairway with wide eyes, his lips parted in shock. Soobin quickly put a finger to his lips, begging his brother for silence.

Kai simply shook his head and walked away, allowing Soobin the freedom to breathe out a sigh of relief.

He quickly ran to his bedroom and shut the door, collapsing onto his bed with the phone as his breaths came in ragged gasps as an aftereffect from his tumble down the stairs. He figured he should have dialed Felix’s number right away, but he couldn’t help but brush his fingers against his lips, remembering the feeling and taste of having yours pressed against them.

He was so caught up in his daze that he didn’t notice Felix calling until the third ring.

He picked it up, breathing heavily into the speaker as he rubbed a sore spot on his lower back. 

“Please tell me that panting is from running a marathon, and not what I think you’ve successfully tried.”

Soobin nearly gagged, holding the phone away from his face as he coughed, flustered by his friend's crude words. He brought the phone back to his face and said, “No, you sicko, I just fell down the stairs.”

“How the hell did you manage that with those long legs?”

“That’s not important, Lix!” He laid back onto his pillows then, twirling the phone cord in his hands as he stared up at his ceiling, the memories of his adventure with you that night flooding his mind once more. He couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear as he said, “Look, I need to tell you something important.”

If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that he could hear the smile in Felix’s voice too as his friend replied.

“Well buddy, I got something to tell you too.”

[weareallstoriesintheend]

Hiiiii bb can I get me some soft boi Clyde? He throws reader a birthday party and then takes her home for some birthday sex?👀 calls her his birthday princess and maybe fucks her with a crown on? 👀🎉

Hello my love, apologies that this is FAR too late for your birthday. But think of this as a belated, extra gift (hopefully).

Birthday Princess (Reader x Clyde Logan)

Warnings: Smut. Fingering, oral sex, riding, pet names.

Words: 2,641

Apologies if there are some spelling/grammatical mistakes

“Thank you for coming” you beamed, waving to the last of the guests that were filtering out of the bar. You were smothered in hug after kiss after hug as people wished you happy birthday once more on their way home. You’d had the most incredible night for your birthday; you couldn’t remember enjoying a birthday more since you were a kid. Clyde and Jimmy had organised a surprise party at the bar and as you’d walked in all drained from work and just wanting to get Clyde to drive you home you were greeted by a strong chorus of happy birthday from all your nearest and dearest.

However now, several hours later, your feet ached and you were a little… peopled out so to speak.

You glanced over at Clyde, a little desperately, as you were dragged into another tight squeeze. He shrugged at you, chuckled to himself and passed another beer to Jimmy who was sat leaning against the bar.

“Well you were no help” you huffed as you plonked yourself into the bar stool next to Jimmy. Clyde laughed and passed you your own drink, “They were your guests honey…”

“Who you invited!” you giggled, taking a few sips of the much needed icy cold drink. Clyde shrugged once more and you threw one of the loose dish rags from the bar at him. He ducked just in time and wagged a warning finger at you, “Watch the attitude lil’ miss…”

You knew if his brother wasn’t within ear shot that sentence would have finished with something deliciously enticing. Probably something about spanking you thought and you smirked when he took a pause and shot a side eye to his brother.

You held his eye contact suddenly starting feeling a tingle creep up your spine as Clyde stared back at you sternly. Jimmy, as if sensing the switch in tension in the room, coughed awkwardly and groaned getting onto his feet, “I think that’s my cue to leave brother” he noted, dropping some money down on the bar top.

“I told you, you don’t have to pay anything” you protested, trying to hand the money back. He shook your hand away and smiled with a shake of his head.

“Nu-uh this is your birthday surprise, I gots to contribute! Big brother-in-law duties”

Jimmy gathered his jacket and turned to you, planting a firm kiss to the top of your head, knocking the little plastic princess crown that was on your head askew, “Happy birthday again kid”

“Thank you Jimmy” you smiled, waving to him as the door slammed shut behind him.

“All alone” you looked up at Clyde through your eyelashes. He smiled and leant forward, adjusting the crown straight again on your head.

“Ma sweet princess” he hummed affectionately under his breath, voice deep and low in his chest. You shivered as he ran the back of his flesh hand down your cheek and cupped your jaw pulling you forward over the bar.

He brought his lips down close to yours, “How about I finish cleaning up after your rabble and then I get ma birthday princess home? How’s that sound?”

You nodded eagerly, biting your bottom lip watching as he walked away from you to tidy up some glasses and leftover paper plates. You took a moment to admire him; the broad width of his shoulders down to slimmer hips, visible even in the loose shirt his was wearing. The expanse of his back was always attractive to you; even though he was clothed you can imagine trailing your fingers across the constellation of freckles and moles that pepper his pale skin. His overly large hands pick up several glasses at once and your thighs twitch as you remember just how much of your skin they can cover, you can almost feel him gripping and clutching at the curves of your body as you watch him.

Clyde turned a little towards you and caught you staring, a smirk perked up at the corner of his mouth “Oh I definitely need to get ma girl home”

----------------------

The door slammed against the wall as Clyde clattered you both through it, forcing your body back with his as he pulled you into kiss after kiss. The door slammed shut, the noise sounding distant to you as you desperately craved more and more of him.

Using the weight of his body he forced you back into your shared bedroom at the rear of the apartment. He pushed the bedroom door closed behind him and as he turned back to you he grinned. You had already pulled your beautiful dress off over your head and were currently wriggling your underwear down your legs. As you stood you caught his eye, holding his eye contact as you pulled your bra from your body, revealing yourself completely to him.

The sight of you reaching for him, hands outstretched and chest heaving made him throb. He reached down with his flesh hand and rubbed across the bulge in his jeans, your eyes followed his hand and you both simultaneously moaned.

Before he could tell you where he wanted you for the night he saw you take a step forward to him before dropping to your knees. You cutely got yourself situated before reaching for him, tugging a little at his jeans pocket to bring him closer.

You went to reach for the zipper of his jeans and he gripped your wrists, “No darlin’ this is about you”

“That would also be about me” you grinned up at him cheekily, trying to pull your wrists from his grip. When neither hand gave way you shot him a grumpy pout.

He laughed and pulled you to your feet with a solid grasp on your shoulders, “Oh you’ll get into my pants soon birthday girl” he teased. You giggled shyly, biting your bottom lip at his insinuation.

“Now, would you be so kind as to hop up on our bed princess?” he gestured towards the bed with a bow, you bounced up on the bed and shuffled so you were sat back against the pillows, “Good girl”

You wiggled your toes in anticipation and Clyde watched you with an amused expression. He took a second to take in the sight before him; his perfect girl sitting naked on his bed wearing nothing but the sparkly little birthday crown he’d got from the store whilst buying streamers and balloons. You were wiggling your toes and looking up at him with what he could only describe as giddiness.

The way you watched him made his cock ache, this beautiful little princess was all his to take, to please and to show how precious she really was on her special day.

You watched him with an eyebrow quirked, getting a little antsy at how long he was taking. But then your jaw popped open just a little as Clyde slowly started to remove his clothing in front of you. You watched as he unbuttoned his shirt with one hand, slipping it off his shoulders to reveal his wide chest.

Clyde smirked up at you, trying to keep his eyes wide and innocent as you watched him intently. He unzipped his jeans and let them slide down his legs. You clenched your thighs together at the sight of the heavy bulge in his dark grey underwear, a small wet spot had formed were pre-cum had soaked in. You whimpered, licking your lips absentmindedly, as he slipped them down letting his hard red cock bob free from its confines.

Clyde crawled onto the bed and situated himself on his stomach before tugging your legs apart, causing you to gasp. “Easy girl!” he chuckled, “I haven’t even started yet”

You huffed at his teasing and tried to tug your ankles out of his grip but he held on tight. He gave them a pull and dragged you closer to him; your hands went down to grip the bedsheets below you to steady yourself.

The warmth of his breath ghosted over you, making your cunt tingle as the warm air fluttered over your wetness. You could feel yourself dripping down onto the bedsheets, the stickiness on your thighs from where you’d had them previously pressed together was making you throb. And he was right, you were so pent up and he hadn’t even touched you.

But then he did. You felt the pad of his finger run down your slit and you bucked your hips just a little, whining his name. As you moaned and bucked at his teasing touches he placed firm, indulgent kisses and licks across your inner thighs. He delighted in the way you twitched for him, taking in every muscle flex and whimper you gave him. Your head was tipped back against the pillows, your pretty little crown tilted slightly.

“You’ve got me so hard for you already sweetheart” he groaned, as you looked forward you could see him rutting his slightly against the bed before all at once he dove down and licked a hot stripe of his tongue up your cunt. You panted, watching him intently as he gave you another lick, swiping his tongue in long strokes.

Clyde knew that this was your favourite thing; you got to watch him in all his enthusiasm and eagerness for you. He loved how your body shook and quivered under his tongue. He reached up and wrapped his hands around your thighs to pull you even closer, moaning and humming at the taste of you. The suck of his plush lips around your clit making you writhe underneath him.

He pulled you right to the edge, teasing your hole with the pad of his finger, before cruelly he pulled away.

You whined pathetically, propping yourself up on your elbows to frown at him. But before you could even say a word he pressed the head of his cock to your entrance and pushed himself inside. Your arms collapsed underneath you as your body adjusted to the immediate, harsh stretch of your walls around his thick cock.

“Clyde” you whimpered as he caged you down to the bed, leaning over you, “F-feels so full” you rambled, fluttering your eyelashes closed.

“Ma sweet little birthday girl” he growled into your ear, punctuating every word with a hard thrust of his hips. You clutched onto his shoulders as he drove his cock into you and the veins of rubbing along your g-spot made your toes curl against the sheets.

Clyde felt your cunt clench around him as he grunted into the crux of your neck, “So close already darlin’?” he teased.

You nodded your head and whimpered, pouting your lips at him. He laughed and leant forward placing a hot kiss to them, sucking your bottom lip just a little bit.

“I want to see how my little birthday princess looks sitting on her throne” he smirked wrapping his arms underneath you and turning his body to pull you on top of him.

Giggling in delight you clutched onto him, digging your nails into his freckled skin. You wiggled a little as you sat up; trying to get yourself situated straddling Clyde’s wide body. His cock was rubbing against the slit of your cunt as you rutted yourself against him. You sat up a little more, reaching down to take hold of him and moaning quietly at the feeling of his cock throbbing hot and heavy in your hand. You then slowly slid him back inside you, feeling your wetness slide down him, the stretch of your walls once again making you cry out.

“This little princess looks so beautiful bouncing on my cock, don’t you?” he asked, guiding your hips as you bounced gently, feeling his cock reach further and further inside you with every thrust.

You sat down hard against him and you felt him bottom out inside of you, both of you groaning at the sensation. You screwed your eyes shut, focussing on moving your hips against him and the delicious drag of him against your tight walls.

“Answer me” he growled. You nodded frantically and he leant up, wrapping his arms around you tightly to bring you closer; he nuzzled into your breasts, sucking harsh bruises into the soft skin.

You tiled your head back, gasping as your crown fell back a little. Clyde looked up from his daze and laughed as you tried to look around for it. He reached across and picked it up.

Both stopping your movements you took a second to take each other in, Clyde was an erotic sight to behold. His thick hair was damp with sweat, sticking to his flushed face that had a beaming grin plastered across it. He reached up and placed the crown delicately on your head before pecking your lips gently.

Lying down on his back and pulling you down wit him, his arms wrapped around you still, he kept kissing you, licking his tongue slowly into your mouth revelling in the slow groans it pulled from you. When he had you flush against his chest he began to thrust his hips up into you.

Gasping you clutched at his shoulders, trying to steady yourself against his pistoning hips “Fuck… Clyde” you whined under your breath, unable to get anything more out as the wind was knocked out of you with every viciously hard bump of his hips into you.

“I want ya to cum like this pretty girl” he groaned into your ear, teeth clenched against the effort he was exerting. “I wanna feel that tight pussy squeeze around me okay?”

You whined an affirmative noise, nodding your head slightly against his chest. You were rambling praise and begging into his skin as he held you close. His breath was hot against your neck and the constant grunts and growls he let out was making your cunt flutter around him, edging you closer and closer.

“You were already so close weren’t you? That’s it good girl, cum for me” he groaned, biting into your shoulder a little. Like a rush of fire you tingled with heat from your toes all the way up your body, your muscles went rigid and you muffled your cries against his sweat-sheened skin, calling out his name. He held you tightly, cooing and whispering into your ear as he slowed the thrust of his hips to coax you through your orgasm.

“Clyde” you hummed, placing kisses up and down his neck as you opened your eyes and leant up.

Clyde hips sped up just a little, rutting desperately against you, “Yes baby?”

“Please cum for me”

“Anything the birthday girl desires” he let out a strained laugh before burying his face into your neck and thrusting up into you again and again at an impossible speed. Your whole body ached with how tightly he was holding you but you couldn’t think of anywhere else you’d rather be to end such a wonderful day. Wrapped up in the arms of your big bear was the perfect birthday present. You hoped this would be the end to every birthday for many years to come.

Clyde moaned your name, calling your attention out of your daydream, before he groaned loudly and you felt the pulse of his cock emptying inside of you. You coaxed him with kisses to his flushed skin and delicate nibbles to his jaw and earlobe.

You sat up and as you moved you felt his cock slowly pull out of you, you smiled to yourself as a rush of cum trickled down your thigh. Unable to muster the energy to go clean yourself up for the moment you nuzzled yourself into Clyde’s side, placing chaste kisses across his chest.

He wrapped an arm around you and placed a firm kiss to the top of your head, “Happy Birthday Princess”

[flourgirl]

Even If It’s a Lie

Part I to “Even If It’s a Lie”

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Peter drags you to one of his frat parties, and you realize something you should have a long time ago.

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: SO much angst, and lots of pining from Y/N. A couple swear words here and there.

A/N: I liked writing the first one so much that I couldn’t stop when it came to this one! Enjoy :-)

“This is the last time I'm asking you this Put my name at the top of your list This is the last time I'm asking you why You break my heart in the blink of an eye” -The Last Time, Taylor Swift

“Pete, I don’t know about this…” you said, looking yourself up and down in the mirror. You looked like a completely different person in the short burgundy dress that MJ had picked for you. The shiny satin contrasted with your dirty, white sneakers that hadn’t seen the light of day since you played tennis in the 9th grade.

“Trust me,” MJ had said when she was choosing your outfit earlier that day, “You don’t wanna wear any shoes that you actually like to a frat.”

“Why can’t you go with him again?” you whined, wishing Peter had somebody, anybody else, to accompany him to his “induction ceremony” into Sig Ep. 

“I don’t think I’m what any of those frat guys meant when they said ‘Bring a hot girl’. Plus, you were Peter’s first choice,” MJ replied, nonchalantly biting her nails as you held the dress up to yourself. “That’s the one.”

“I’m not hot,” you sighed as you started to hang the many rejected dresses spread across your floor back onto the rack. “I wore a sweater with a cat on it yesterday. That I hand-knitted.”

“Well... you’re cute. And that’s good enough. Plus, you can keep Parker from getting plastered. You know he’s a lightweight,” MJ laughed, reminding you of the many times Peter had called you to pick him up from a late night of partying.

“Yeah, I guess so,” you sighed, still worried about the fact that you did not like parties. Or strangers, or crowds, or really anything that involved socializing with more than four people at a time. Peter had been the same way all throughout high school. That’s what made you guys so close, but... things hadn’t been the same since you started college.

Peter ran from the other room, smoothing the wrinkles out of the gray t-shirt that fit him just right. You saw him grin from behind you in the mirror’s reflection, and he placed his hands on his shoulders, jostling you lightly.

“Y/N! Are you excited! It’s your first college party!” he exclaimed, spinning you around to look him in the eyes. You stared down at your feet, self conscious over how short you felt in your sneakers next to him.

“That’s not true. I’ve been to parties before! Ned’s birthday was just last month,” you reminded him. “Don’t you remember how you watched me bake a cake from scratch and your only ‘contribution’ was eating the buttercream?”

Peter laughed, ruffling your hair like you were his little brother. “No, Y/N, I meant a real party. With booze and music that’s so loud that you can’t hear what someone is saying. That kind of party.” 

Your brows furrowed as you began to fully accept that Peter had changed. So, so much. He wasn’t the dorky kid from Queens that carried your books and watched your favorite animated movies with you just because anymore. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

It didn’t take his spidey-senses for Peter to realize how upset he had made you. “Y/N, I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just want you to experience everything college has to offer.”

“I think you do that enough for both of us,” you muttered, plopping dramatically onto the couch. Peter followed you, running his fingers gently across your arm as you pouted into a throw pillow. “Couldn’t you have asked any other girl to participate in your frat’s misogynistic tradition?”

“I didn’t want to ask anybody else,” Peter replied. You sat up to look at him, fixing your hair and smoothing out your dress. “I promise, Y/N. I miss you. We never hang out like we used to.”

You rolled your eyes. “And whose fault is that? You’re always—”

“—it’s mine. I know that. So, just come with me tonight and let me make it up to you,” he pleaded, pulling out his signature puppy dog eyes that you could never say no to. “Come on. All you have to do is say the word and we can leave, okay?”

“Okay.”

----------------

Your nerves worsened the closer you got to the frat houses, not mentally prepared for how loud the music would be or all of the sweaty bodies that would inevitably be pressed against you on the dance floor.

As you approached Sig Ep, Peter gave your hand a reassuring squeeze. He looked deep into your eyes, “Y/N. I meant what I said. All you have to do is tell me that you’re ready to go and we’ll leave.”

“You promise?” you asked, chewing on your lip.

“Promise,” Peter smiled, holding out his pinky to intertwine with yours.

Some tall, buff guy was standing at the doorway and greeted Peter with a fist bump. “Hey, Parker! Good work with the dime! She got a boyfriend?” You recoiled at his attitude towards you. It was as if you weren’t even there.

“Nah, Ryan. She’s off limits.” Peter replied coolly, pulling you inside.

You heard Ryan wolf-whistle from his post, causing you to roll your eyes. “Hell yeah! Didn’t know little Petey had it in him!”

Peter wrapped his arm around you, partly to make you feel better, but also because there wasn’t much space for you two to squeeze your way into the kitchen. “Just ignore him,” he said, handing you a red plastic cup, a bottle of Sprite, and a shot glass of vodka. 

You peered up at him, unsure. You weren’t much of a drinker, but maybe, just maybe, it would help you ease up on your nerves. Swirling the liquids together into the cup, you downed it before recoiling from the burn. Cheap vodka sucked, you remembered.

“That’s my girl!” you barely heard Peter say from right next to you, feeling him patting your back before he did two shots himself, swallowing them as if they were water. “Come on, I have some people who’ve been dying to meet you.”

The butterflies in your stomach were going crazy. He had called you his girl. You gripped his hand tightly as he led you down the hallway and onto the back patio, where a group of people sat crowded around a bonfire. 

A girl with bleach blonde hair and a dark green dress that hugged her figure came running up to the two of you, practically jumping into Peter’s arms as she greeted him. “Peter! I’ve been waiting for you. Come on, you can sit next to me.” 

She pulled Peter towards the bonfire, patting the empty spot on one of the benches next to her. Peter turned to nod at you, gesturing for you to follow them. Once again, it felt like you were invisible to almost everybody at this party.

The blonde girl leaned close to Peter’s face, giggling with an obvious drunkenness. “So, who’s your little friend?” she asked, waving her fingers towards you like you were some kind of pet.

“This is Y/N, my best friend.” Friend. That’s all you’d ever be to him, especially when there were girls like her around.

“Hi, Y/N! I’m Gwen. Gwen Stacy. Peter and I met in our thermodynamics class last semester,” she smiled, showing off her perfectly white teeth. “You should’ve seen him! He made everything look so easy.” You already knew that. Peter could do anything he set his mind to.

“Yeah...” you mumbled, refusing to make eye contact with her bright, gray eyes, which matched Peter’s shirt. “So, uh, who are you here with?”

“Oh, duh!,” she said before tapping the guy on her left’s shoulder, pulling him out of the conversation he was having with the people next to him. “This is Harry Osborn. We go way back. Harry, this is, uh…”

“Y/N,” you reminded her.

“Right! Y/N. She’s Peter’s friend,” Gwen told him. He nodded his head and offered a small wave before returning to his conversation. Of course, you thought to yourself. Peter had only asked you to come with him tonight because she was unavailable.

You stared back down at your stupid shoes as Peter and Gwen talked about titrations and bond solutions. Things that you knew nothing about. Was this why Peter was always out at parties? To see her? 

You thought about Peter’s promise. Just tell him, you thought. Tell him you want to leave. But you knew that you wouldn’t. You knew that you couldn’t ruin Peter’s fun just because you decided to be a baby and get scared after just thirty minutes into your very first frat party.

Looking back up at Peter and Gwen, who now had her arms draped around his neck, you excused yourself to the restroom, wherever that was. You just needed a break. Peter nodded towards you before turning back to smile at Gwen.

----------------

A banging on the bathroom door startled you. “Hey, uh, could you, like, HURRY UP? I have to take a piss,” a boy yelled from the other side. You got up from the edge of the bathtub that you had been sulking on for the past five minutes to open the door.

“Oh. Sorry, Y/N. Didn’t know it was you.” It was Flash Thompson. Flash, the guy who had made Peter’s life a living hell in high school. “God, you look good. Hey, how’s about you waiting out here for me and we could, you know, catch up?” He winked at you and you wanted to throw up.

Your first instinct was to say no. How could you give Peter’s bully the time of day? But you thought about Peter and Gwen. Gwen. Gorgeous and smart and better than you in every possible way, who was probably sitting in Peter’s lap by now and running her fingers through his hair. Your heartbeat quickened as rage rushed through your body. You wanted to hurt Peter, like he had hurt you. “Yes,” you replied, before he slammed the bathroom door in your face.

One minute later, you were pulling Flash down the stairs and towards the backyard. “You washed your hands, right?” you asked, desperately hoping that the answer would be yes.

“Don’t worry, babe. I just peed. Everyone knows that as long as you don’t get it on your hands you’re all good,” he mused. “You use less water that way, too. Save the planet, am I right?”

You dropped his hand, mentally rolling your eyes, and continued trudging towards the bonfire. You watched as Peter turned to smile at your reappearance, which swiftly dropped once he saw who you were with. It seemed like Gwen had backed off when you were gone too. Was this some kind of weird, territorial act that she was putting on to prove that Peter liked her and not you?

Maybe you were overthinking, but it was too late to backtrack. You sat back down on your place next to Peter, the awkwardness thick in the air. Flash had decided to squeeze himself between the two of you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

Peter leaned forward and shot you a dirty look, which you immediately recognized as his “What the fuck, Y/N?” face. 

A familiar voice boomed from behind, and you turned around to find Ryan had finally tapped out of bouncer duty to join the festivities. “Who’s ready for Truth or Dare!”

Shit. You hated truth or dare. Peter knew that. Ever since you had been dared to kiss Tyler Rosado in the 7th grade and he laughed right in your face before flat out rejecting you, the game had become a sore spot.

But you looked at Peter, who was cheering alongside the rest of the group, excited as ever to participate in the game that you swore you’d never play again. He doesn’t care, you thought to yourself, not like he used to.

You felt a vibration from your pocket and scrambled to pull your phone out of your jacket. Well, Peter’s jacket. The one he had let you wear on the way here because you were cold. It was a text from MJ. 

“How’s everything going?”

“Not good”, you replied, adding multiple sad face emojis at the end of your message.

“What did that idiot do this time?,” she asked. It was like you could hear her “I’m so going to beat Peter up for this” voice through the screen.

“I’ll tell you when I get back,” you sent, before locking your phone and sliding it back into the jacket pocket.

“Alright, alright, alright. So, who’s up first?” You heard Ryan ask, remembering the terrible event that was taking place right before you. “Hey! Gwen, how about you do us the honors?”

“Of course!” she chirped back. “I’m always up for a challenge.”

“I know you are,” Ryan laughed, causing the crowd of people to whoop and holler around you. “So, truth or dare.”

“Definitely dare,” she slurred, taking another sip from her beer.

“Who’s got a dare for pretty, little Gwen here? Anybody?” Ryan asked, looking around the backyard.

Flash raised his hand. Fuck. Why did you think that it would be a good decision in any way, shape, or form to bring him with you? 

“Gwen, I dare you to make out with the hottest guy here!” he giggled, obviously thinking that she’d pick him. What a dumbass.

She smirked, before turning to Peter. “Gladly,” she said as she moved to press her lips against his. You struggled to watch as they made out right next to you, much to both you and Flash’s dismay. It felt like it had been going on for forever when they finally stopped sucking each other’s faces and the crowd’s cheers died down.

That was it. That was the last straw. You got up from where you were sitting and headed back towards the front door, having had enough of frat parties for the rest of your miserable life. Peter probably wouldn’t even notice that you were gone.

You felt hot tears fall down your cheeks as you stumbled out onto the sidewalk, calling MJ as fast as you could. “Could you come get me,” you managed to choke out. “This—this was a mistake. Please, just come get me.”

MJ asked for your address and let you know that she’d be by in a couple of minutes. You plopped onto the front steps, emotionally and physically exhausted from all that Peter had put you through tonight. 

A few minutes later, MJ’s car pulled up in front of Sig Ep, and she ran out to hug you, gently rubbing your back to get you to stop crying. “Where is he?,” she asked angrily, glaring towards the frat house. 

You pulled her back, sniffling at her, “Don’t. I just want to go home.”

“Fine. I’ll deal with him later,” MJ said, before the two of you got into her car and drove back to the apartment that you shared. Upbeat pop music played on the stereo, which you promptly shut off, preferring to mope with your head on the windowsill, staring out at the cloudy night sky.

MJ unlocked the front door, and you were greeted by Ned and Betty sitting on the living room floor around a Monopoly board. Betty was obviously winning, and Ned was almost bankrupt. 

“Y/N!” Betty squealed, getting up off the rug to hug you. “Oh my god, what happened?”

“It was Peter,” MJ muttered, shooting daggers at Ned.

“What!? I can’t control him,” Ned tried to reason. “Y/N, on behalf of my idiot roommate, I’m sorry for whatever he did this time.”

“It’s okay, guys. I just really want to go to bed, okay?” you told them, heading towards your bedroom.

You kicked off your sneakers and threw Peter’s stupid jacket, which smelled just like him, onto the chair in the corner, plunking yourself face first into the mattress. Ned, Betty, and MJ stood in your doorway, watching the entire thing.

“Yeah… I don’t think she’s okay,” Ned whispered, loud enough for you to hear.

Betty hit him on the head. “Ow!,” Ned replied, rubbing his temple from where she had flicked him.

“Will you all just shut up and leave me alone!?,” you screamed, startling your friends.

“Yeah, of course. Just tell us if you need anything, Y/N. We’ll be right outside,” MJ reassured you, before shutting your door behind her.

----------------

You woke up the next morning to the smell of blueberry pancakes and maple syrup wafting throughout the apartment. Dragging yourself to the bathroom, you wiped away the leftover makeup from last night and brushed your teeth, ready to forget about everything that had gone wrong yesterday.

“Good morning, Y/N!” Betty sang from the stove, placing yet another pancake onto the already towering pile before sliding the plate in front of you. “They’re for you. Blueberry, with a little bit of cinnamon, just like how you like ‘em!”

You managed to give her a weak smile, before digging into the breakfast she had so lovingly prepared for you. “Where’s MJ,” you asked, knowing that she would never still be asleep past 7 a.m.

“I’m not supposed to tell you…” Betty answered, obviously trying to deflect from wherever their roommate was. “Apple or orange juice?”

“Apple,” you replied. “No, seriously, Betty. Where is she?”

Betty placed the glass next to your plate of pancakes. A heavy silence hung all throughout the kitchen as you realized the only place that MJ could be right now. She was going to kill Peter.

“Oh my god!” you screamed, scrambling to pull your shoes on and running out the door. Betty mentally cursed herself out for not being able to keep a secret, chasing after you down the stairwell.

“Y/N! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop! Please, MJ is just looking out for you!,” she panted from several stories ahead. Betty had no idea when you had gotten so fast.

“Don’t care! He’s my best friend!” you yelled back, before rushing out onto the sidewalk and running across campus towards Peter and Ned’s dorm room. You hated how much you still cared about Peter after all this time. You hated how much you loved him.

As soon as you reached their door, you frantically knocked on it until Ned opened up. “Oh, Y/N, you’re not supposed to be here. Hey, wait—”

You didn’t let him finish his sentence, squeezing your way past him and into their common room. There, MJ and Peter sat playing a game of chess. Until MJ transferred to your school, nobody had ever been able to beat Peter in chess. You scanned the board as they became aware of your presence, and felt a sense of pride seeing that MJ had his pieces tied up to ensure that she’d have a checkmate in five. He’d either have to resign or let her pick off his queen, two knights, and rook one by one.

“Oh,” you sighed with relief, seeing that Peter was still alive. Everyone in the room was staring at you, waiting to see what you had to say. 

“Well. I’m going to head home. See you later, MJ. Bye!” You turned on your heels and headed towards the door, where Ned was standing with his jaw on the floor.

Peter scrambled to his feet as he caught up with you, grabbing your arm and spinning you around just as he had done yesterday. “Y/N. Let me explain,” he whispered softly, like there was nobody else in the room. Curse those damn puppy dog eyes. You were better than this. You needed to stick up for yourself.

“Goodbye, Peter,” you said, before breaking free of his grasp and walking out the door, doing your best not to cry in front of everybody.

He started to follow you before MJ pulled him back, uttering a simple “Don’t.”

Walking back to your apartment, you realized that you had been right all along. Peter had changed, and nothing was ever going to be the same between the two of you.

[breckstonevailskier]

Daniel LaRusso's experiences with Terry Silver and how they affect him in Cobra Kai

One thing that is often overlooked in Cobra Kai, because the show fixates so much on the events of the first Karate Kid movie, is how much Daniel LaRusso's behavior is influenced by his time with Terry Silver in The Karate Kid Part III.

Season 1:

Daniel's handling of Kyler: Kyler is actually a lot like Terry Silver. He was going out with Sam, putting on the act of a nice guy to get her to go out with him. In reality, Kyler is a bully towards Miguel and his friends, and is only interested in Sam because he wants to get in her pants. Kyler puts on this nice guy act while having dinner with the LaRussos, and manages to fool both Daniel and Amanda. Then he lies about Johnny attacking him in defense of Miguel, prompting Daniel to confront Johnny. Daniel goes to Johnny, finds out the truth, and immediately does a 180 about Sam going out with Kyler.

Considering their history, Daniel has no reason to believe Johnny instead of Kyler. For all someone in Daniel's shoes ought to know, Johnny could be lying through his teeth (as Amanda points out). But because Daniel's been told that this nice guy might be anything but, he now has to question if Kyler really likes Sam or he has ulterior motives...because again, Silver approached Daniel pretending to have good intentions for him. Amanda at one point in episode 3 tries to assure Daniel that Sam will be fine with Kyler at the Halloween dance because Kyler seemed harmless to her. Daniel says, “Yeah, I’ve known plenty of guys who seemed harmless that were real pieces of crap behind the scenes." He's talking about Silver.

That's why Daniel insists on chaperoning at the Halloween dance: it's to keep an eye on Kyler if he does anything sketchy. Sure enough, he sees Kyler take Sam into an empty classroom and try to get her to take off his belt, and this is when Daniel intervenes and pulls Sam out of there. A good thing, because Kyler was going to date rape Sam (this is made clear in their next scene. Before they beat up Miguel, Brucks tells Kyler that "you had [Sam] in the palm of your dick" and talk about how the bracelet trick worked on another girl at a different school, showing Sam is not the first person Kyler has done this to).

Sam's attitudes towards her boyfriends: A related consequence to this is that after Sam finds out that Kyler is a jackass (between seeing him bully Miguel and his friends in the library, and him trying to date rape her), she is much more guarded and reserved when it comes to meeting new people. This is probably a good thing because it prevents her from getting burned like Daniel did by Terry Silver. This is the reason why she's so hesitant to enter a relationship with Miguel, and is quick to dump Miguel when the Cobra Kai teachings get to Miguel's head and he turns into an asshole, then goes back to him once those asshole tendencies disappear. And while never said out loud, this also contributes to her relationship with Robby falling apart, for while Robby treats her well, he withholds from her the fact Miguel returned Miyagi's Medal of Honor so he can keep Sam for himself (because he knows full well Sam would have second thoughts about being in a relationship with him once she had proof that Miguel wasn't a bully like his fellow Cobra Kai peers).

Johnny's speech to appeal Cobra Kai's ban: Daniel has a very bad reaction when Johnny makes his speech to appeal Cobra Kai's ban from the All-Valley, in which Johnny claims Kreese is dead and his Cobra Kai is different, a place for bullied kids to seek refuge. Thing is, Daniel clearly isn't convinced of any of Johnny's words, because these are almost the exact same words that Silver said to Daniel. Silver approached Daniel claiming that Kreese had died, and at the All-Valley gave a speech proclaiming that his chain of Cobra Kais would be a place for kids to practice the values he [Silver] learned, a speech that Silver wasn't sincere about.

Daniel's reaction to learning Robby is Johnny's son: Daniel's reaction to finding out Robby is Johnny's son is an angry, “You lied to me! Was this all just a con? Some kind of sick mind game you tried to pull off on me?!” It's very telling what Daniel's word choice is, because Terry Silver played a long mind game on Daniel, pretending to be his friend while actively sabotaging him so he'd take a humiliating loss to Mike Barnes in the All-Valley tournament. And when coupled with the fact that Daniel was drunk and had just been attacked by Johnny in his own home after just inviting Johnny in for a friendly fight, his anger is more understandable.

People calling Daniel "Danny Boy": Any time someone calls Daniel "Danny Boy," whether that be Kreese or Tom Cole, Daniel's composure briefly falters, because that's what Silver called him. In fact, Kreese has to know this, since he was there for when Silver revealed his true colors to Daniel.

Season 2:

Daniel's reaction to finding out Kreese has returned: Daniel goes to Johnny intending to inform him about Robby's living situation (in light of Shannon leaving for Cabo)...but immediately decides against it when he sees Johnny with Kreese. Johnny claims to Daniel that Kreese is a changed man...and Daniel warns him not to trust Kreese. Kreese was complicit in everything Silver did to Daniel in 1985 to get revenge for him, so Daniel has every reason to believe Kreese is up to his old tricks again so he can worm his way back into Cobra Kai.

Indeed, Daniel is right: Kreese gains Johnny's trust by claiming to be atoning for what happened in 1984 (by fixing Johnny's second place trophy, and lets Johnny see him as down-on-his-luck so Johnny will take pity on him). It's all a calculated act to undermine Johnny's authority in Cobra Kai and steal the dojo away from him.

Daniel even calls out Johnny for not listening to him when they're arguing in 3x08 while waiting for Robby to get out of juvie. He says, "What did you think would happen when you summoned that devil back to Earth?"

Season 3:

Catching Sam and Miguel together: When Daniel catches Miguel and Sam making out at Miyagi-Do, Sam says to him, "I know it's been a lot. But can you please try to remember that I'm still your daughter, and that you can trust me?" and Daniel replies, "It's not you I don't trust, Sam." Having prior experiences with people who claimed to have changed but didn't (Silver and Kreese) is the reason why learning "Miguel's changed. He's a good person. He's not Cobra Kai's number one bully; he's not even in Cobra Kai anymore!" is a pretty hard pill for Daniel to swallow because any impressions Daniel has had of Miguel up to this point are not very good.

Daniel's impressions of Miguel up to this point are as follows: Johnny had Miguel use Daniel's signature Crane Kick to open the tournament as a way of mocking Daniel, then Miguel fought dirty against Robby. This is combined with whatever Sam said to Daniel about her breakup with Miguel, which probably was that he was an asshole. So seeing Miguel's speech at the town hall to save the All-Valley, and finding him making out with Sam, Daniel is on guard because while Sam has had plenty of positive interactions with Miguel since bumping into him at school, Daniel only has the filter of whatever Sam told him about Miguel to go off of.

Seeing Robby being trained by Kreese: Daniel's reaction to seeing Robby training with Kreese seems very telling. If Daniel is Mr. Miyagi, then Robby is 1985 Daniel, and Kreese is 1985 Silver. Daniel realizes Kreese is going to do with Robby exactly what he and Silver failed to do with Daniel 33 years ago. He'll certainly see the cycle repeating even further when he finds Silver has been summoned back to town by Kreese.

And I would bet he'll possibly realize in season 4 that Johnny's neglect of Robby throughout season 3 left Robby open to manipulation from Kreese, much like Mr. Miyagi's neglect of Daniel in 1985 left him open to manipulation from Silver.

[looniecartooni]

Analyzing Alador Blight (Sorry no pictures...)

Warning: This theory may be clunky and contain spoilers for The Owl House. I also do not have a psychology degree so whatever I analyze is mostly off of limited research, analysis, and personal experience. If something is inaccurate or offensive, I apologize deeply- that is not my intention. If you have any words of criticism or agreement, please kindly share them. 

When Alador Blight first appeared onscreen, people were weary and suspicious of him. When he made his official appearance, most people instantly fell in love with his goofy personality and completely opposite nature to his wife Karen Odalia. However, people are still weary of him and not very happy that he helps enforce his wife’s insane treatment towards their daughter Amity. And many people are confused on why he seems so different from his first debut or why he doesn’t divorce Odalia and take the kids with him. But- I think I have the answers to tie up all these loose ends.

Let’s start of with the basic suspicion most people have... Alador Blight is very likely on a neurodivergent spectrum. He has special interests that take most of his attention away from the world around him such making abomitrons and chasing butterflies. While he tends to remain mostly silent and seemingly in his own little world, he does speak to Luz directly when she asks what it is Blight Industries does.

For the sake of this theory, I’m going to go ahead and say that Mr. Blight might be on the Autism Spectrum. It is possible given his attention span that he may have ADHD, but my knowledge on that is limited so I’m going to go off with what I know. Some variation of autism also might be the more likely candidate given that not only does Alador have special interests and deep focus on those interests, he also doesn’t quite react (and I apologize if I offend anyone with this statement) to emotional situations in ways more neurotypical people might. This in Autism can often be interpreted as a lack of empathy.

Alador does have empathy as we’ve seen him looked shocked and sad when a butterfly he chased was crushed by the hand of his wife. He has also shown somewhat a bit of empathy towards Luz at the demonstration where he warns her that Blight Industries focuses mostly on weaponry and that she “might want to duck” from an incoming projectile. And when Luz asked for the demonstration to stop, he was the first one to pipe up and say, “She has a point, Odalia.” That of course did nothing to stop Odalia or the abomitron which raises the question again of why does he put up with Odalia.

In my own personal experience (contributing to the Autistic theory), I was always told people on the Autism Spectrum tend to be “rule oriented”. For the sake of this analysis, let’s assume that statement is somewhat true and apply it to Alador Blight. Why? Because this key to his character...

The times Alador does act serious seemingly without his wife’s manipulation, he always mentions the Blight family as a whole. For example, in Understanding Willow, he says, “Blights only associate with the strongest of witchlings.” When he confronts his wife with her own “A Blight always upholds their end of the deal” he mentions the family name again. This to me suggests these were things his parents or other Blight relatives told him (assuming that Odalia married into the name Blight while Alador always was a Blight). He’s enforcing the rules of his family. If that’s the case, it might also explain why he follows Odalia’s crazy regime of tiger mom Karen. Perhaps he’s used to being told what to do and/or her attitude to how her daughter should behave is similar to the Blight standards he grew up with. In his mind, the standards of being a Blight must not be broken.

Whether or not that “Blight Rule” following is a sign of his own abuse from family or simply being a rule follower shall remain ambiguous for now and whether or not he is on the Autism spectrum and if it contributes to his enforcement will be left up to you or remain obscure until further is revealed. (sorry for that run on sentence) But this “Blight Rule” probably explains why he wasn’t too troubled on getting Gus, Willow, and Luz expelled from Hexside via his wife’s request. Blights only associating with a ”select few” as Amity puts it while clearly Odalia being a female dog and controlling/ manipulating her daughter, he probably thinks he’s contributing to helping his daughter succeed by only associating with the best.

As far as we can tell though, Alador does still exercise his own form of control over his wife’s craziness. During the Blight sale, he did see his daughter stand up to Odalia and his unstoppable creation and seemed quite fond about how strong she has become (which he mentions when confronting Odalia) (he probably also knows about Lumity too and supports it- but that’s for another time). He isn’t afraid to confront Odalia on her own contradicting lies and even somewhat even perhaps has his own way of manipulating his wife as he puts the notion in her head that Amity might become a coven head someday. Given that it appears that the Blights seem to only like being “the best” (or in Amity and possibly Alador’s case feel pressured to be the best) (not sure about Edric and Emira- they seem to like to just have fun), Alador could be speaking the truth. However, given that his eyes were on another flying creature while talking to her and immediately he goes chasing after it, he may have been trying to ham her up so that she kept up her end of the deal and perhaps realize Amity is stronger before going after things that matter to him.

I’m sure Amity does matter to him and is probably one of the main reasons why he goes along with Odalia too. But he does also seem to really like tiny creatures that move too (Edric might be the same way given the bat situation at the Knee). Speaking of Alador and Amity, Amity seems to have picked up the habit of enforcing the “Blight Rule” too often saying “We Blights” when describing her behavior like who she associates with and what she does.

Is Alador a completely evil parent for letting his wife use Amity the way she does? Is Amity a reflection of his own upbringing and values? Does he associate with Odalia because of these values? Will we see him change? Well we’ll have to await for more information in further episodes but hopefully, we will have our answers soon. If you have any questions or theories, please share them or tag me in them. I’d love to hear and discuss. And I apologize again if I got any neurodivergent facts wrong or offended anyone by my observation. Hope I helped you understand Alador and thank you for reading my theory.

[kidhawks]

so you remember how that bald headed wind kid from shiketsu (i think) idolized endeavor but then had a very rough interaction with him and after that resented him ? do you think if a younger hawks met endeavor and had an experience like that, that something similar would happen ? in my mind, hawks’s vision of endeavor comes from himself; the man he idolized was created from his own hopes and strength projected onto his plushie . thats why i wonder if he had met endeavor and his hero was rough and abrasive if it would have any impact on his views of him !

oooh that’s a thought... and you’re right, the interesting thing about hawks’ admiration of endeavor is that it didn’t begin with him actually admiring endeavor the hero. he saw him on tv but i don’t think little keigo cared much about heroes beyond “cool tv show”. it’s the endeavor plushie that keigo uses as a source of strength and comfort. then endeavor happens to arrest takami which is a turning point for keigo, but i’m gonna go out on a limb here and say i don’t think it’s the moment he actually began looking up to endeavor.

this is because we’re told that hawks admired endeavor because he was the only one seriously trying to surpass all might; now, we know that there are other contributing factors but there’s a lot of emphasis on this one in paticular. and to me this shows a lot of perceptiveness for a kid. hawks at first looked up to endeavor because he was his plushie companion, then his saviour, but his investment in endeavor as a hero probably began from hawks’ own observations of him. which leads me to believe that hawks’ rose-tinted view of endeavor as his “shining light” didn’t last long at all. he watched the guy for real and realised “... huh, he’s working really hard and it’s kind of embarrassing but it’s also incredible”, which!!! if he noticed that, i’m positive he’d notice endeavor’s other personality traits too—rough, abrasive, downright dickish

so tbh i don’t think meeting him irl would shatter any delusions for little hawks, because little hawks was already crazy perceptive. if anything, i think hawks would appreciate how “real” enji seems in his emotions (though we readers know he was hiding a lot of shit). to a kid like hawks, all might would feel like some untouchable monolith whose smile brings zero real comfort or relief. endeavor, however, would be irrefutably human to hawks—he gets grumpy and he doesn’t fake smiles and he works hard. that means more to hawks, a kid who started at the bottom, because it shows that you can work your way up instead of being automatically perfect like all might seems.

and now i’m on a tangent but i wonder how much endeavor’s bluntness influenced hawks’ own persona? hawks more often than not comes off as rude and completely uncaring of other people’s feelings... this of course is an act to distract from his motives, but i can see him being inspired by endeavor’s very real rudeness and going “if people use endeavor’s attitude to dismiss him as an idiot, then i can replicate that”

hawks’ relationship with endeavor is so interesting :o