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#the 'what about your family' question and their response lowkey broke me
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thinks very hard about that indigo disk cutscene at crystal pool. how the player character is the catalyst for EVERYTHING in scarlet/violet... both good and bad.
from the discovery of paradox pokemon, the professor's eventual death BC of that discovery, arven losing the only family he has, the ai and paradise protocol continuing to bring in paradox pokemon despite the dangers they present, paldea almost being destroyed by paradox pokemon, everything that happens in kitakami and blueberry academy, finding terapagos and meeting the prof...
like I know it's a kids game and the game is About paradoxes and that professor is theoretically from a different reality, but i feel GUILTY for that alternate reality and all that will come bc I gave the professor the book. so many lives will be shifted and changed bc of that decision. juliana/florian are just KIDS, but god they (and briar, since it her book) just affected the lives of so many people and I just! that's so crazy to me!
I already loved what pokemon has done with multiverses and alternate realities, but scarlet/violet kind of takes it to the next level (at least in terms of fic and art potential - I'm v curious how they incorporate this into the anime and manga)
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shrinkthisviolet · 1 year
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for the ship ask game: maiko!
Ship It!
What made you ship it?
I think it might've been spite at first? It's so clearly canon, but it's surprisingly unpopular in fandom. And it wasn't abusive or toxic or anything (despite what some people say), so I liked the idea of it out of spite to those who didn't.
And then from there, I just...found more things to love about it. Things that fics included, things that I noticed in gifsets and meta posts about them (and even blatantly false/misinterpreted things in posts criticizing them), etc. And now it's snowballed so incredibly...and they're my favorite ship in the show (with Kataang as a very close second, because obviously...it just can't top Maiko for me because Maiko is more personal to me)
What are your favorite things about the ship?
How she's able to make him smile (one of the few people who can!), how she takes no bs from him (when he lashes out in jealousy, she calls him out and doesn't forgive him until he apologizes for it), how their daughter looks so much like her…just AHHHH I love them so much!
(I also have a headcanon that they eloped shortly after reconnecting, because despite changing in the three years apart, they both knew there was no one else for them. And then they got to know each other after that! Which is a bit like how arranged marriages work - you marry someone who you feel you can spend the rest of your life with, someone who you feel you can love, someone who you feel can fit into your family (and whose family can fit int your family) and then you get to know them! That's what I mean when I call Maiko "personal", because even though that headcanon isn't canon, it makes sense to me with where they are in the finale)
Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?
Apparently even shipping it seems to be unpopular 😂 so many people would rather ship the two of them with anyone else, or act like their love wasn't real, or was comphet, or something. But these two were so in love!! Mai fell first, and Zuko fell harder!!
Mai, to Azula, the friend she's lowkey afraid of, who probably knows what Azula does even to her friends when they disobey her: "I love Zuko more than I fear you."
Zuko, to Sokka, about his Mai even after he broke up with her to keep her safe, in response to "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?": Yeah... *dreamy smile*
This is CANON DIALOGUE PEOPLE
Plus the stuff I said in the second question!! All of which (except the ending parantheses) is canon!!
ship ask game!
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alfiely-art · 9 months
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Okay so I think this is how my voting is going to go next Trial? Unless huge stuff is revealed/happens
Haruka - Innocent
Haruka's expressed that he regrets what he did and feels horrible about it- he knows what he did was bad, and he wants to be better. He just needs the proper environment to heal.
Yuno - Innocent
She did nothing wrong. Like unless they suddenly decide she did infanticide instead of abortion, there's absolutely no question about it that she doesn't deserve to be in Milgram?? Sorry Yuno I don't see you as a innocent girl who can't do anything wrong, you just. Did not do anything wrong here.
Fuuta - Innocent
Now that he's realized that, yeah, doxxing people and witch hunting them is wrong and hurts people, I don't think he'd do it again. I mean, in trial 1 I think he was already sorta horrified by what happened, but trying not to claim responsibility- because that's a horrid thing to think about. "My actions killed someone." That's scary. But he's accepted it, and I think he's going to work on himself and be better.
Muu - Innocent
I know she was an asshole and bullied others. However, I'm a firm believer that NOBODY deserves to be bullied. I think everybody in the situation just majory sucked ass. And she's clearly horrified by what she did, she's just putting on different personas to cope with it. Get this girl some therapy.
Shido - Guilty
So, from my understanding, Shido convinced families that their loved ones were beyond saving, and then he killed them and harvested their organs? Very shitty to me. Once the trials are over I really don't think this guy will remain innocent. I know he was very suicidal in the beginning, but it read more to me that he was upset what he was doing didn't work out- that his wife is dead anyways. Idk.
Mahiru - Guilty
100% Guilty. I really can't understand Mahiru Inno Voters- Mahiru is an incredibly selfish and self-centered person, and it killed her lover. In trial 1 she's just singing about her needs in a relationship, about how she knows how to love better than her partner did. In trial 2 there is quite literally a line that goes "my emotions are out of control? I don't care!" Mahiru WILL hurt others and refuse to change herself over and over again. She doesn't even seem remorseful about her dead boyfriend. Like. She lowkey flirts with Es upon meeting them. Mahiru is just looking for someone else to hurt. She doesn't seem to understand that it isn't wrong to want to love and to be loved, but what's wrong is ignoring your partners needs for your own and making every part of the relationship about you. Also, I think she may have forced herself on him based on that scene where she does grabby hands and pounces, making the feathers scatter everywhere (like its what broke her boyfriend).
Kazui - Innocent
Kazui tried, he tried so hard to love his wife the "correct" way. Whether he's gay or alloaro, Kazui DID care about his wife and didn't want to hurt her. He couldn't keep lying to her and himself anymore. But the truth killed her, and Kazui feels so fricken?? Awful over it??? They were work friends before they got together, he clearly liked her. Just not romantically. He's struggling between whether lying eternally is the better choice, or if being truthful to himself and everyone else is the better choice. The truth killed his wife, but the lies were slowly killing him. Idk man, I've been in the same situation (nobody died though) and it's so hard to tell the truth about your identity.
Amane - Guilty(?)
Purge March is gonna help me decide, I think. I don't think Amane should've been voted guilty last trial- it, uh, clearly didn't have the affect we wanted it to have. But also, she's so far gone in her cult's beliefs that... I don't think either vote will shake that. I love Amane, she's a wonderful character, but Milgram won't help her. She would need YEARS of therapy and a safe, stable environment, and patient people, to help her heal. A Guilty vote won't help her. An Innocent vote won't help her. So Purge March is just gonna help me decide what to vote- because I highly doubt we can get EVERYONE in the community to refrain from voting. I'm leaning towards Guilty, though.
Mikoto - Guilty(?)
Okay this depends on who actually committed the crime. I believe that Mikoto himself did it, and his alters are trying to protect him and take the blame for the crime. In that case, my boy is guilty (sorry Mikoto). But if Milgram goes the "killer alter" route, then he's innocent. You can't really control what your alters do, yk? I might vote him innocent depending on the circumstances of his crime, too- it all depends. I'm hoping Double sheds more light on what's going on with my guy. (Btw he's my favorite character I'm so pumped to see what happens)
Kotoko - Guilty
I'm gonna be transparent here, i dont know Kotoko's character very well. So keep that in mind. Anyways. Her first trial song was very cool and its great she stopped a predator. I am not disagreeing with that. I do recognize that she probably felt forced to take on this vigilante role- that the law failed her and many others. However... we don't know who exactly she sees as "guilty". Obviously, she sees the prisoners voted "guilty" as guilty, but what about outside of Milgram? Does she just punish those breaking the law? Those she personally disagrees with? I think it's dangerous for her to do that. I think she's Guilty currently, but I'll have to see how her song goes- it may give me more insight on her thoughts and ideals.
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notoriously yours | jay park
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✰ summary: jay park is a rich kid. it’s safe to say he has everything every broke college student on his campus could dream of and more. but the one thing he doesn’t have, which money definitely can’t buy, is a girlfriend. and his friends won’t see of it. literally.
so what happens when his friends bet him to date someone for more than three months? what happens when jay decides that fake-dating someone would be easier than actual dating (because god forbid Jay–the campus’ notoriously known fuckboy–decides to commit to something once in his life)?
and what happens when that someone is you, his childhood best friend he hasn’t spoken to in years..who has absolutely no interest in being in his life anymore?
✰ pairing: jay park x y/n [ft. members of enha]
✰ genre: fluff, comedy, angst | fakedating!au, college!au, childhoodbestfriends!au, (kinda) e2l!au
✰ warnings: cursing, nothing suggestive but jay's a fuckboy so slightly suggestive themes, mentions of parental neglect/leaving, it's hella long (and i thought my last fic was long)
✰ wc: 14.7k (how did i get it this long oh lord)
✰ author's note: picture creds go to original owners/editors! peep that edit of jay that lowkey inspired this entire fic 👀also this took me so, so long bc i lost motivation half way thru and bc college is a thing,,,so i honestly don't know how to feel abt it so pls bare with me :')))) ALSO the dividers are weird bc idk how to add more than 10 pics for the dividers so pls excuse those ٩(× ×)۶i hope u guys enjoy!! <333
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Jay Park is a rich kid.
Jay Park has enough to buy every textbook he needs for his courses without having to look up the free versions online. Jay Park has enough to bribe his professors to let him pass every class with a perfect 4.0 GPA (but because the boy has morals, he doesn't). Jay Park has enough to afford a car to drive to his furthest class from his dorm building instead of walk or bike like every other college student, meaning he also has enough to afford a parking spot on campus (those things aren't cheap!).
Jay Park walks around your school's campus like he owns the place (and considering the amount of money his family has donated to the school, he practically does), looking like he just walked out of your local coffee shop's newest fashion magazine. His blonde hair is never seen untouched, his attire usually consisting of an undoubtedly high-end all-black fit, accessorized with multiple earrings and rings that probably cost more than all the overpriced textbooks you had to rent out this semester. It's safe to say that everyone knows Jay Park.
Bottom line is, Jay Park has everything.
Well, his friends beg to differ.
In their eyes, Jay Park has everything but a simple factor in the equation of love (or whatever love is to the minds of a couple of 19 year olds): commitment.
So yes, it's safe to say that everyone knows Jay Park. Because everyone knows he's the campus' rich fuckboy. (What's a college fanfic campus without one anyways?)
Jay doesn't go unreminded of this by his friends, to the boy's annoyance.
Jay is aware of this on a Sunday afternoon, in his dorm building's first floor lounge, where he and his said friends are having a study session.
They're doing anything but studying.
In fact, no one has any books out or anything. Not a single laptop in site.
"You don't think it's the slightly bit concerning?" Jake's words are muffled as he continues munching on the fried chicken that he spent majority of this study session debating if he should have it delivered through UberEats or not.
"I really don't, no," Jay shrugs as he continues mindlessly scrolling through his Instagram feed. They're having the same argument conversation that they've revisited multiple times over the course of their friendship, one that Jay has been lectured on too many times for his own good. He thinks his friends could become his new parents if they really tried.
"Look at it this way, okay. You're about to graduate college in a couple of years, into the big world. Like the actual, adult world. And that means you'll have to settle down. Which you can't do when you. have. no. commitment!" Jake punctuates each word with a single clap of his hands, desperate to get his point across.
Jay simply rolls his eyes. He looks over to Sunghoon, who's minding his own business, not bothered by the same topic he's heard over and over again. His eyes tell Jay you're on your own, in response to his blonde-haired friend's look of despair.
Jay thinks that maybe he should get new friends. Yes, that's the only solution here.
"My love life," Jay reaches across the table for a drumstick from the greasy tub seated in Jake's lap until Jake swats his hand away, "is none of your business. Also, ouch."
"Uh, it kinda is. Because of you and your reputation around campus, it kinda affects us, your best friends. How do you think we look, hanging out with the guy who's known to ghost every girl in existence after one night with them? No offense to you," Jake deadpans to him. Jay mentally reconsiders the term best friends.
Tough love. Jay tells himself it's tough love.
"Yes, because every girl totally hates Jake Sim, the teacher assistant of a physics class who volunteers at the pet shelter every Sunday and brings their pet golden retriever to campus every two weeks," Jay rolls his eyes at his Australian friend.
Jake sighs. "Okay, then I'm coming from a place of worry for you."
Jay groans. "Again, none of your business!" This doesn't stop Jake. He comes from good intentions, really, but Jay wants nothing more than to stuff the kid's mouth with some of that chicken to shut him up.
"What are you gonna do if one day you meet someone you like, genuinely like, and you screw yourself over because you've never been in an actual relationship before? A real, committed one. Like one that lasts at least three months."
"You don't think I can last three months in a relationship?" Jay questions the boy currently taunting him.
"Honestly? No. What's the longest relationship you've been in?" Jake cocks an eyebrow at his friend across from him.
One month and two weeks. But Jay's smart enough to not say that out loud.
"I can so last over three months," Jay mutters more to himself than Jake.
Jake laughs at that, pausing to take another bite of the drumstick in his hand. "Jay, I am willing to actually bet you. Bet that you wouldn't be able to." He leans back on the couch, the ball now in Jay's court.
Jay freezes, looking up from his phone, narrowing his eyes at Jake.
"Forget it, Jake. He's not gonna agree even if you offered him money," Sunghoon finally perches from beside him. Well he's not wrong. It's not like Jay is exactly in need of more money, per say.
"What kind of bet are we talking here?"
Sunghoon's right. Jay doesn't need the money, but he does hate being wrong. Even if it's over something as stupid as this matter.
Caught off guard by the blonde's answer, Jake blinks blankly at him and takes a second to think.
"Hmm..what about...what about if you can date someone for at least three months, and I mean an actual, committed relationship, then I'll do all of your physics homework next semester."
Jay's eyes sparkle at that. If there's anything he despises more than commitment, it's physics.
"And if I win, you have to buy all of my textbooks," Jake sits back from the edge of his seat with a smirk lying on his face.
Jay pauses to think about it. I mean, what does he have to lose? A couple hundred dollars over college textbooks? No. Because he just simply won't lose.
And maybe he'll learn what it'll be like to actually be in a committed relationship for once. Maybe he'll finally learn what it's like to actually devote yourself to someone, open up to them. He shivers at the thought. Never mind. He'll warm up to it. Baby steps.
Nonetheless, what could go wrong? Even if he does lose, at least his money would be going somewhere productive––towards his friend's education. Jay was probably gonna use that money on something useless like a blanket that resembles a tortilla (a burrito blanket, he calls it)––something he doesn't necessarily need, but must have, he would argue.
"Fine. Whatever, okay. Deal," he grabs Jake's extended hand in front of him and shakes on it.
Jake's impressively smiling at the boy as Sunghoon lets out a sigh, in disbelief with the two guys he calls his best friends.
Jay concludes that this will be easier than his Introduction to Photography 101 course he took his freshman year. How hard is it to find someone to date the Jay Park? Surely, everyone will be lining up once Jay switches his FaceBook relationship status from "it's complicated" to "single".
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Turns out, it's not as easy as his class where all Jay had to do was take pictures of a pretty sunset, slap a VSCO filter on, and call it a day.
He comes to this realization on a Wednesday evening, as he's seated at one of the many study tables lined in the middle of the campus' library, staring down at his phone's dry iMessage app, with his laptop and blank sheets of scratch paper scrambled across the entire table, as an attempt to look half as studious as the other students studying in the facility.
Turns out, being known as the campus' fuckboy who ghosts every girl on campus isn't a good thing when it comes to wanting to find a real relationship.
He comes to this realization after failing to receive a single text back to the many ones he sent out throughout the first half of his day. The ghoster gets ghosted. Oh how the turn tables.
Jay groans dramatically as he tosses his phone on the hard surface of the table, earning himself a harsh shush from the librarian filing books in the aisle beside him.
He sheepishly smiles back as an apology, directing his attention back to his open laptop screen, where his untouched calculus homework stares back at him––his mind preoccupied with the looming threat of Jake's bet. Not that it was threatening in any way, per say, but Jay just hates losing. And from the looks of things, it's safe to say that Jay won't be celebrating any victories anytime soon.
Jay thinks he should just change his identity and just transfer to some boarding school in Switzerland. Yes, that's a much better solution than admitting defeat to Jake.
Jay sighs as he lies his head on the table, figuring he might as well just write the check for Jake's textbooks now. He wonders how he got here in the first place. Not how he got into the bet, and definitely not how he's sitting in the middle of the library, having yet to start his calculus homework due at 11:59PM tonight (he should really start that).
But no, he wonders how he gained the reputation as the campus' playboy. To be fair, his friends (mainly Jake), are constantly reminding him of his notorious habits. But how did they come a habit in the first place?
The idea of being in a relationship is nice, sure, but the commitment that comes with it? The idea of being dependent on someone? It's scary, vulnerable, and one that Jay can't picture for himself.
Maybe some people just aren't meant to be paired. Maybe some people, like Jay, like being independent and are meant to stay that way.
But Jay also likes affection. He likes the fleeting, warm feeling he gets every time he finds himself under someone's sheets. He likes the short-lived comfort he receives from someone else's touch, even though he knows it's going to cease to exist the second he steps out of those bedroom's doors. He just likes affection, simple as that.
That and he's a 19 year old teenage boy with needs, what did you expect?
And so what if he likes the idea of affection minus commitment? Is that so bad? Apparently it is, to people like his friends and the entirety of his school's campus, at least.
At this rate, he might as well pay someone to date him.
Wait. Jay lifts his head off the table's surface in realization.
He might as well pay someone to date him.
There's no harm in that, is there?
He wouldn't have to endure through an endless amount of dates to find someone he clicks with, then continue going on dates with said clicked person, all while trying to develop an actual, serious relationship.
He'll win the bet, get his physics homework done for an entire semester, and some lucky girl out there will be making profit for the small price of hanging out with Jay Park for three months.
And lucky for him, Jay knows the perfect candidate for this scheme.
Simple as that.
Just as long as said perfect candidate says yes.
And as long as Jake and Sunghoon don't find out. Or else Jay might really have to move to Switzerland after all.
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You love your friends, you do.
Hana and Heeseung have been there for you when others haven't––they were by your side when you knew no one entering high school, and they were still by your side when you were all graduating said high school. Needless to say, you're eternally grateful for friends like them.
But right now, in this moment––with you seated in the middle of the campus' library, trying to write your essay, as your two friends blabber on and on about the most recent gossip across from you––your two friends could be your villain origin story.
But again, you love your friends, you do. So you don't have the heart to tell them to leave. You've managed to naturally tune out most of the conversation, anyways, for this––your friends coming to hang out while you're trying to study––is no rare occurrence by any means.
"Oh yeah, Jay Park texted me last night."
You hate how your brain's filter suddenly turns off at Hana's words.
You hate how your ears catch the sudden mention of Jay Park's name.
You hate how the thought of Jay Park gets to even occupy a single brain cell of yours.
You hate how you even know who Jay Park is. Well, knew.
Past tense. Because up until eighth grade––when Jay decided to just suddenly pretend you didn't exist––he was attached to you like a koala to a eucalyptus tree.
And if you had asked past Y/N, ideally, Jay would've never left your side. Ideally, he would've never left you to fend for yourself when entering high school. Ideally, he would've stayed your best friend through out all four years of high school and ideally, you would've eventually told him how you really felt about him after growing up with him all your life. And maybe it would've lead to a completely different story. But for the sake of this fic, we don't live in an ideal world.
So yes, if it wasn't for his attendance at the very same university as you, you would've forgotten about the boy who brought you the painful memories of your childhood.
And since the universe clearly doesn't work in your favor, avoiding Jay Park's existence like he's the plague would have to suffice. And it works.
For the most part.
Until some people, bring him up uninvited into your conversation. Like now, for example.
"When was the last time you guys talked anyways?" Heeseung mindlessly asks as he reaches across the table to grab one of the many snacks you usually bring to your study sessions.
"Uh..like a few weeks ago. Give or take. Whenever you threw your house party. Can't say there was much talking involved however," she teasingly says with a giggle and wiggle of her brows.
Heeseung's rolling his eyes as you scoff and chuck a nearby crumpled piece of paper that was once one of your many essay drafts at her.
She bats it away right as it's about to hit her face as she laughs. "Doesn't matter anyways. He ghosted me the next morning, as he does with everyone else. Telling you this now," she extends a finger right at you, "stay away from Jay Park. That kid's just bad news."
You nod in response, mentally telling her she has nothing to worry about.
Been there, done that.
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College. Ah yes, the very concept of spending four years of your life imprisoned on a campus where you'll be tearing your hair out from stress and spending all your life's savings just for a laminated sheet of paper with a golden stamp at the end of it all. We live in a society.
Because of said college, and all the weight that comes along with it, you had adapted a strict daily schedule in order to not completely lose your mind. It's a simple schedule really, one of a typical college student who's just trying to get by everyday with as little mental breakdowns as possible.
Wake up, get ready, go to class, go to the library to do your homework, walk all the way across campus to get back to your dorm, shower, then sleep. Oh and eat, of course. And maybe if time permits, be an actual social being and socialize.
It's gotten you this far into the college life without dropping out so, you conclude, you must be doing something right.
Sometimes, if you're feeling nice to yourself, you'll tweak the schedule a bit to fit in some exceptions. Maybe squeeze in a little trip to the bubble tea shop that's on the other side of campus, or maybe get dinner at that one dining hall that you don't usually go to because of the unncessarily long lines (but because they serve ice cream, you go anyways). It doesn't matter what the exception is, you still plan it out to fit into your schedule somehow. Everything is planned out.
Sometimes, however, the universe disagrees with your schedule, to your demise. Such as today, for example.
Because what you didn't expect for today was for a particular blonde-haired boy who you haven't spoken to in almost six years (but who's counting?) to approach your table in the library––a table you were sure no one could find you at, as it was quietly tucked away in the back corner, right next to the Astrophysics shelves. Because who browses the Astrophysics aisle for fun? Actually, maybe Jake Sim would. Anyways.
You definitely didn't anticipate a visit from the boy you've been actively avoiding, so you definitely didn't expect the first words coming out of his mouth when he sees you for the first time in six years to be:
"Fake date me."
You blink up at him.
Yeah, definitely not expected.
But you only let it phase you for a split second, until you feel a slight annoyance beginning to bubble up deep inside of you.
"Wow, hello to you too Jay! It's been what––half a decade? Yeah I've been pretty good, thanks for asking!" The sarcasm is practically dripping off your tongue.
You don't know what runs through Jay's mind, but apparently it isn't common sense––or the ability to read the room. Because next thing you know, he's sliding the chair across from you out from underneath the table and making himself at home.
And he's smiling right at you.
Curse him and his smile.
But no, you're not giving into it.
Not yet, at least.
"What do you want?" You deadpan at him when he makes no sign of making the next move.
"A girlfriend," he deadpans right back at you, as if he was casually telling you what he wanted for dinner. As if you two were close-knit friends that could approach one another without any proper greeting. As if you two had kept your friendship all these years. As if you two even had a role in each other's lives.
"Can't help you there," you scoff, deciding to not even question his lack of manners on top of his uninvited presence.
"Aren't you gonna ask me why?"
"Well gee, seeing that the first few words you decided to say to my face for the first time in forever were a demand, a demand to date you no less, then....no," your monotone voice says as you keep your eyes focused on your laptop screen, not daring to look at the boy across from you.
In the Introduction to Sociology course you took your freshmen year, you had learned of one important term: interactional vandalism. Textbook definition being: "ignoring signals of disinterest in a conversation, leading it to an offense."
Your definition being: "are you oblivious or just plan dumb, read the room!"
This was interactional vandalism, alright. Whether Jay's truly oblivious or just trying to annoy you until your head explodes (it's really the former, but you're convinced it's the latter), he takes your signals of disinterest and tosses it right out of his head to continue the conversation.
"I'm stuck in this stupid bet with Jake--do you remember him? He bet me that I couldn't date someone for more than three months and I figured having someone fake date me would be easier than actually dating someone, right? That's where you come into the equation," he proposes as he leans back in his chair, as if he had just finished a sales pitch to a prospective customer looking to buy a car.
You couldn't believe this. You're 98% sure this has got to be a prank. You're mentally preparing for a camera crew to jump out from in-between the library's aisles any moment now and scream into your ears that you've just been punk'd!
The remaining 2% of you, however, wouldn't put it past the two boys to get themselves in such a situation. The last memory you had of Jay and his friends were pretty much their childish selves back in middle school. And by looking at the current scene unfolding in front of you...it's needless to say they haven't changed much.
"Again, can't help you there. Ask one of the many girlfriends I thought you had." Ouch.
"But Y/N, you've known me all your life--"
"Up until you dropped me a few years ago but sure, let's call it that."
"--and convincing other people is gonna make me look--"
"--desperate? Yeah."
"C'mon, Y/N. What do you have to lose anyways?"
"Uh..my dignity? Pride? Self-respect? Sorry Jay, not happening," you turn your attention back to your unwritten essay in front of you, mentally checking out of this conversation. This would be a good time for that camera crew to jump out now.
"Look, no one else is gonna do it, Y/N." Jay has always been stubborn, you suppose. But so are you.
"Yeah, because you've managed to push every being of the opposite gender away from you. You gave yourself this reputation in the first place," you give it to him straight. It's not like you had a relationship with him to uphold anyways––Jay himself broke that friendship years ago.
Jay hates that you're right.
You're always right. He remembers how he used to always go to you for advice and clarity on the world's biggest problems. Granted, the world's biggest problems to him at the time equated to what he should dress up as for the fifth grade Halloween party, but still. A tough decision, for the mind of a ten-year-old.
You abruptly stop typing and begin putting your laptop and textbooks away as you huff in frustration. There's no point in trying to get your work done now. The longer you stay arguing with Jay, the bigger your headache gets. The longer he continues to occupy any part of your brain, the bigger your headache gets.
Getting up from your seat, packed and ready to slam your head into your pillow, you turn to the blonde one last time.
"Look Jay. We went on our separate ways years ago. If you weren't so notoriously known around campus and my friends would stop talking about you, I would've long forgotten you. I'm sorry you're in this situation, really. If I were you, I'd just tell Jake I can't do it. Or don't, I can't tell you what to do. Just don't get some innocent girl involved in whatever stunt of yours this is."
Jay stares at you, mouth agape, as you find your way out of the library and through the main doors. By the time he comes back to his senses, he realizes how he looks plain stupid––standing in the middle of the library, the look on his face screaming befuddlement, to say the least. Jay quickly makes his way out of the building, in hopes of convincing you one last time.
Jay catches sight of your figure already half-way down the walkway that connects the library to the main quad of your school's campus. Geez, you walk fast.
Not fast enough to outrun Jay's legs, however. If Jay running after you through the middle of campus in order to convince you to fake date him doesn't show how desperate he is to win this bet, I don't know what will.
"Wait, Y/N!"
You groan to yourself before turning to face the boy who can't seem to take a hint and leave you alone. You stare at his out-of-breath state as he heaves up and down from the slight jog he had to endure to get to where you are. If you're humored by him chasing after you, you do a good job of hiding it.
He meets your unimpressed state before stating his final proposition: "I'll pay you. Five hundred dollars."
You nearly stop breathing.
Now this catches your attention––after all, you're but a broke college student who's just trying to survive. And preferably not by feeding yourself instant ramen cups every night.
And so, naturally, you begin rethinking about the opportunity presented in front of you. You narrow your eyes at the boy as you weigh your options.
The first problem being, it's Jay Park––the bane of your very existence. You spent the last few years of your life pretending he didn't exist...for good reason. Not only did he do you dirty when you were merely a couple of 13-year-olds, but you just didn't want to be involved with someone like him. Someone known for his nature, someone who left your own current best friend ghosted. And not that Hana herself would care, for she has called herself the "female Jay Park", but you're sure this would be breaking some rule in the girl code handbook. Plus, if you agree to this, you'd be betraying 13-year-old Y/N, the one who decided to never speak to nor think of Jay Park again––which by now you've failed, but you get the gist.
Second problem being, three months is a long time. Three months is practically the rest of this semester, and did you really want to spend the rest of the semester tied down to the label of being Jay Park's girlfriend? There would have to be some negative connotations that came along with that title, right? No offense to Jay, but being his first girlfriend since, what, high school could make you come off as..naive, for lack of a better term. As if the only person you could settle for was Jay Park. As if you barely had any standards for yourself. Again, no offense to Jay.
Needless to say, if your school's debate club had to argue on why you shouldn't be doing this, you're sure the negating side could win with these two reasons alone.
But before you're rejecting the boy currently standing in front of you one last time, you find yourself mentally listing rebuttals.
First of all, you'd be getting paid. And again, you're merely but a college student living the stereotypical broke college student life––burdened by the costs of tuition, textbooks, and midnight McDonalds runs for when you're out of aforementioned instant ramen cups. Five hundred dollars could provide you with more than enough chicken McNuggets to last you the semester, and maybe some more to treat yourself to an online shopping spree.
Second of all, it's not like you were going to do anything better with your next three months anyways. It's safe to say you were too busy being a diligent student to actually look for anyone to date, per say. And if anything, having a fake boyfriend might actually be helpful in your case. Your mom would be off your ass about how you're still single, for one. And two, your friends (though it's really just Heeseung) would stop trying to hook you up on blind dates with guys that you would choose Jay Park over any day (and that really says something).
Third of all, it's Jay Park. As much as you despise the kid, you still know him. He's not a complete stranger to you, no matter how much you try to deny it. It could be worse, it could be a complete rando asking you to date him. At least you two have some sort of history, which would take care of the typical small talk and getting to know each other bit of this equation. And truth be told, you'd be lying to yourself if you said you weren't a tad bit satisfied by the fact that Jay chose you, of all people, to pull off this stunt with him. You don't know if it's the nostalgia of your childhood memories rushing back to you, but it reminds you of the endless schemes you two used to plan behind your parents' backs all the time. Granted, your childhood schemes––such as the both of you faking sickness so you could skip school together––don't even fall close to being in a fake relationship with one another, but still. It's the thought that counts.
All of those reasons plus, Jay isn't the worst to look at. He may have a spoiled reputation, but at least he has his looks going for him, you'll give him that (you're still secretly wondering when and how did he get his glow up, but don't tell him that).
And so by the guidelines of a college student's logic that states the pros outweigh the cons, you come to the overarching conclusion that maybe, this won't be so awful after all.
"Five hundred?" You ask, just for clarification. Jay's immediately nodding at your words. You continue to ponder on your thoughts as he stares at you hopefully.
The silent atmosphere of your campus heightens the tension so much, you swear you're in one of those overdramatic pausing scenes that occur too many times in k-dramas.
You sigh, then nod.
"Okay," you're internally praying that you won't regret this decision. "I'm in."
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The next time you see Jay is at 12:17PM on a Friday afternoon, as you're exiting the doors of the lecture building that's home to your awfully long Capitalism in the Western World class.
You're going down the steps of the building, mentally deciding where and what you're going to treat yourself to for lunch––as the three hour lecture you had just attended drained all the life and energy out of you––when you hear the slight call of your name.
Turning to the source, you're met with a waving Jay, leaning against the passenger's side of his car, parked in front of the lecture hall building you were currently leaving.
Great.
You walk over to where he's casually waiting––he's unaware of all the stares he's attracted from fellow students leaving the same lecture as you. Can you blame them? It's not everyday you see a sleek, black BMW that probably cost more than your tuition pull up in front of your Friday afternoon lecture. It's not everyday you see Jay Park waiting for anyone outside of his said sleek, black BMW that probably cost more than your tuition.
"Hi," you simply let out as you plant yourself in front of him, not sure whether or not to question him why are you here? Surely, he wasn't waiting for you?
"Hi," he smiles down at you. There's a beat of silence. "I was waiting for you."
Bingo.
"Oh. What are you, my chauffeur?" You raise an eyebrow, unimpressed.
"Maybe. I am your boyfriend, after all," he says into the air, loud and clear, as if he wanted people to hear. Well that is the point, you suppose.
But still, all you want to do is smack the smirk right off his face.
Before you have time to put your next question into words, he answers it for you.
"I'm taking you out for lunch," he declares as if you have nothing else planned for the day. Well, to be fair, you didn't have anything else planned for the day. Except for your usual library run. But you figure the library could wait.
"Oh, like on a date?" You raise your eyebrows teasingly at him as you get into the car, Jay holding the door wide open for you. "Is Jay Park treating me to lunch as a date?"
Jay fights the scowl (or is that a smile?) growing on his face as he bends down to meet your eye level from inside the car. "Don't flatter yourself, princess. We've got fake lives to live."
"Call me princess one more time and you won't have a real life to live," you flash him a sarcastic smile and slam the door in his face.
Jay meets his own shocked reflection on the passenger's side window.
Cute.
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"When you said you were taking me out to lunch, I expected like...I don't know...the diner on campus. Not whatever this is," you mutter to Jay as the two of you are brought to your table by a waitress at an upscale sushi restaurant, one that is undoubtedly out of your usual budget, but for sure an upgrade from your dining hall's pizza you were planning to have. You should've figured as much, the drive here was a little more than out of the way from campus, and who are you kidding, it's Jay Park you're eating with.
You stare down at your current outfit, which consisted of a hoodie you've owned since your junior year of high school and leggings that you threw on without second thought this morning––because you didn't exactly wake up and decide I'm going to go to a fancy sushi bar for lunch today!
"Why are we here anyways?" You ask him when you're both settled in your seats and the waitress walks away after listing the chef's specials for the day.
"Oh, they have killer dragon rolls here, you have to try it," Jay tells you nonchalantly as his eyes rake the menu in front of him, blocking your view of him.
How dense can one be? Your hand snatches his menu as you stare into his unamused eyes.
"No, Jay. I mean, why are we here? It's not like anyone's around to see us put on a show anyways."
"Oh. I figured," Jay's quick to grab the menu back from out of your hands as he continues, "that we should sit down and establish how exactly we're going to deliver this performance. After all, you're stuck with me for the next three months."
Again, smacking the smirk currently resting on his face would satisfy you beyond relief. Just once.
"If I drop out halfway through, do I still get $250?" You tease, leaning back.
"Ha ha. Funny. No," he narrows his eyes at you from across the table. "It's all or nothing."
You dramatically huff to make a show just for his annoyance.
"Worth a try. But sure, let's solidify this. What's the game plan?" You sit up in your seat, leaning over the table as if the two of you were hosting a secret meeting.
"It's simple really," Jay mirrors your actions, face leaning in close to where yours is hovering over the table. "Just pretend to be deeply in love with me for three months, and try not to actually be charmed by my cunning looks."
If someone gave you five dollars for every time you've already rolled your eyes at him today, you wouldn't even need to be in this deal for the five hundred dollars.
"Wow, smooth. Can I just remind you you're the one paying a girl to be in a fake relationship with you because you're just not competent enough to find an actual girlfriend?" You lean back, arms crossing over your figure.
Jay, unfazed, laughs, tongue briefly hitting the inside of his cheek. "Touché."
Your eyes go back to the menu in front of you as a silence falls over the table. Because you're not a loaded trust fund baby who comes to fancy five-star sushi restaurants for lunch on a daily, you don't recognize half of the entree names on the menu. You spot the dragon roll Jay suggested, but seeing that a basic California roll is less expensive, your natural broke-college-student-instincts figure the California roll shall do.
"Okay, in all seriousness," Jay begins as he puts his menu down. "It's simple really. We'll just go on weekly dates and post cute pictures of each other once in a while and a little after three months, I'll just say it didn't work out. I'll give you the five hundo and boom, we move on with our lives."
It's clear Jay's put some thought into this. Safe to say he's put more effort planning this out than the amount of work he's been putting into his classes. Someone's got their priorities straight.
You're impressed to say the least––you figured Jay would just be the kind to go with the flow and wait for the situation to unfold on its own and maybe blow up into flames. But seeing as he was just as serious about winning this bet as you were with making five hundred dollars, your doubts about this entire situation were slowly withering away.
Don't get it wrong, though, you still despise him. To an extent, at least.
"And don't worry about the dates. I'll pay on your behalf, as the loving, doting boyfriend I am," Jay finishes with a wide, cheesy smile you can't help but return a growing smile back at.
"Well then, as the loving, doting girlfriend I am, I shall gift you coffee, breakfast, all that fun couple stuff, whenever you please. Or maybe unannounced, if I'm feeling nice," you figure you should pitch in as much if he's paying for all your dates. And deep down, you find the idea kinda cute. But don't tell anyone that.
"Wow, look at us. We should become Dispatch's couple of the year already!" Jay exclaims, earning himself a small giggle from you, which pleases him to say the least. He thinks that maybe when this is all over, he'll hopefully make a good friend (well, for the second time) out of it.
And you're thinking that maybe the next three months won't be as bad as you initially had thought.
As the two of you delve deep into a debate about who would be the better significant other to each other, the waitress comes over to take your orders.
And because you're laughing and Jay's brightly smiling at you from across the table, you order the dragon roll.
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The second time Jay takes you out––this time he gives you a heads up to get ready––it's at a, once again, high-class steakhouse.
The third time, you insist on the on-campus diner that's popular amongst the student population. Partially because you feel bad for the amount of money he's spent on you (even though he couldn't care less), but mostly because if you have to put on another fancy dress to just eat an overpriced meal that doesn't even fully satisfy your hunger, you might lose your mind.
And by this third time, Jake is aware of this newly blossomed relationship.
"Three dates! I didn't know you had it in you, going on three dates with the same girl!" Jake excitedly exclaims as he jumps into the empty spot on Jay's dorm bed and shoves his phone's screen into Jay's face.
The smaller screen displays Jay's most recent Instagram post: an image of you sitting behind your too-small-to-be-this-expensive-steak and smiling right into Jay's camera––a memory that brings a smile to his face:
~ ~ ~
"C'mon! We said Instagram posts would be a part of the deal! How else can we convince people we're dating?" A pout rests on Jay's face as he stares at you from across the table in the middle of the extravagantly decorated restaurant he picked out for your second date. You remember your eyes bulging out of their own sockets when you saw the "$$$$$" rating Yelp gave the place when you searched it up earlier.
"Okay, okay! One picture," you give in, already slightly annoyed that you were here instead of the comfort of your own bed, where you could be rewatching your favorite Netflix show for the third time. But because you made a deal and because you're desperate for money, you had to follow through––so here you were.
You flash an unconvincing smile to Jay's camera, which doesn't satisfy him, to say the least. "At least pretend you're somewhat enjoying this date," he frowns at you.
You sigh, until a thought crosses your mind and a smile grows on your face. "Only if you get me boba afterwards."
He narrows his eyes at you, but then meets your smile. "Sure, whatever you want. But only because I've been craving some mango milk tea lately."
"You're a fruit milk tea kind of guy? Sorry, but I might have to fake break-up with you," you tease as you take a sip of your overpriced drink to go with your overpriced meal.
Jay scoffs, feigning hurt by placing his hand over his heart. "Ouch. But before you break up with me, let me get this Instagram post in."
"Wow. Your priorities are so straight," you roll your eyes at him, eliciting a cheeky smile from him as he watches you through his held up phone screen.
"3,2,1."
"Hey, I wasn't ready! That was like mid-laugh!" You reach over the table to grab the phone, but not quick enough for him to put his phone back into his pants' pocket.
"Nope, nuh uh," he laughs as you quickly sit back down into your seat, not wanting to cause a scene in an establishment as proper as this one.
"It's fine. It's a good picture, you look cute," he casually lets out, unaware of the blush rising to the surface of your cheeks, thanks to the fact that you were suddenly interested in playing with the left-over food on your plate.
"Jay! Delete it, I'll let you take another one," you whine from your seat, imagining just how bad a candid picture of you could be.
"Ugh, fine. Ever so picky." He playfully rolls his eyes at you as he takes his phone out and opens the camera app as you prepare yourself.
"Okay, how's this?" Jay turns the phone screen to you after he takes a few snaps on his phone.
"I approve," you grin at him as he goes through the pictures himself, unaware of the smile growing on his face.
"Okay now delete the first one," you point your finger at him, narrowing your eyes at him.
"Okay, okay! Bossy," he laughs as he raises in hands in surrender.
When Jay gets home that night, he recovers the image from his Recently Deleted folder, telling himself it's for the sake of the memory.
Obviously.
~ ~ ~
"It's not that big of a deal," Jay mutters from his spot as his eyes go from the Instagram post to his Exile and Belonging in Modern Literature reading that's due tomorrow, bright yellow highlighter in hand. Typically, you'd find the reading buried deep at the bottom of his school backpack. But because Jay ran into you this morning and because he complained to you about the amount of work he's fallen behind on and because you had threatened him to do his work or else you're not going on another date––a fake date that is––with him, he figured he should at least get one reading done and annotated, despite his strong dislike for highlighters (they hurt his eyes, okay?)
What he doesn't know, however, is how your threat was completely full of bluff––but don't tell him that.
"It is so a big deal, for you at least!" Jake hops off the bed and lands on the wooden floors of Jay's dorm room so hard, Jay winces and sends a mental apology to the poor person who lives below him.
Jake suddenly gasps. "I have to meet her, Jay! As your best friend, it's practically mandatory that I meet her."
Jay opens his mouth to protest, but not before Jake interrupts him once again. "Oh! We can bring Sunghoon too, it'll be so fun! The best friends meet the girlfriend."
Jay can't think of anything worst. Jay imagines that bringing you to meet his best friends would just intimidate you out of dating him––fake dating him, that is. Obviously.
He stares at his friend in agony then back at the reading in front of him––the one Jake said he'd come over to help annotate, but the intention completely left Jake's head the second he heard about Jay's recent dating life.
"You don't have to meet her," Jay says pointedly. "Plus, you already know her."
Jake frowns at his friend's excuse. "Yeah, but that was in middle school! This is different."
Jay's hands shuffle through the reading's pages in front of him as he realizes there's no way the two of them are going to finish the assignment at this point. He supposes he'll have to save death by blindness from highlighters for another day and hope you still agree to go out with him.
Jake suddenly gasps in realization.
"Oh my gosh! Childhood best friends turned college sweethearts," Jake says so dreamily, he might as well plaster heart eyes on. Hopeless romantic, this one.
Before Jay can argue, the piercing sound of three loud knocks echo through the small room, followed with a:
"Jay, are you in? It's me!"
Jay stills at the sound of your sweet voice. He whips his head to Jake, who is also frozen in place.
But the widened-eye boy is quick to come to his senses––unfortunately quicker than Jay himself––because the next thing Jay knows, Jake's eyes are lighting up and he's running to the door, ignoring Jay's screaming whispers through this seething teeth that were somewhere along the lines of Jake––stop, I swear to god if you open that door I'm gonna fucking--
"Y/N!" Jake swings the door wide open, revealing an overly excited him and a frozen Jay half-way to the door, as if he was about to grab the very boy welcoming you in. It's as if we're living in a Sims game and the player clicked pause on this very moment.
Jake's eyes are wildly going back and forth between you and your supposed boyfriend, as if he was waiting for Jay to run over and smother you in hugs and kisses...or something couple-y like that. Jay wouldn't know.
"Uh––hi," you're awkwardly standing inside the room now, a relatively large paper brown bag resting in your palms as you look around for a surface to place it on. Jay makes his way to you without a second thought, quickly taking the bag out of your hold.
"You seemed stressed out earlier, so I figured I could bring you some food as a little pick me up. I didn't know what you liked, so I kinda just got a little of everything from the dining hall. Nothing fancy," you're rambling, but smiling so excitedly at him, Jay doesn't know what to say.
Instead, his mouth slightly drops open as he stares at you in awe, mostly because he's not used to being on the receiving end of such spontaneously generous actions––all while Jake's still excitedly looking back and forth between the two of you, as if he was expecting a marriage proposal to come next.
"Oh wow. Thank you. Really," Jay, still touched by your simple act of kindness, softly says as he places the bag on the limited amount of empty space on his desk surface––the rest of it is covered with his untouched textbooks and unfinished assignments. He wonders if you did this out of playing your role or just because you wanted to. He internally hopes it's the latter. "Seriously, you didn't have to do."
"Nah, don't worry. I wanted to," you shrug with such a genuine smile that Jay realizes he actually missed your smile.
Despite having seen you during your brief run-in this morning when you were fetching your morning coffee, Jay realizes he missed you. The two of you haven't been seeing each other recently because of your busy schedule and if Jay didn't realize it before, he's now sure he missed your company and presence around.
Weird.
"Well, you two have fun! Sunghoon needs me for something," Jake suddenly chirps from his place near the front door, halfway through with putting his shoes on already, breaking the comforting silence that fell between the two of you.
Jay frowns. "But you said you were free all da––"
"SUNGHOON IS CALLING BYE!" And before Jay can even register what's happening, Jake's out the door without another word.
"Er..sorry about him, he's...weird," Jay scratches the back of his neck as he returns to his spot on his bed, mentally setting a reminder to yell at Jake later for leaving the two of you alone. Jay doesn't know exactly why, but he's nervous at the fact that you're here in his room. It's not like you two are complete strangers––or whatever you guys were before––anymore. "Good job on your part, though. How'd you know Jake was here?"
"Oh uh, I didn't"," you let out an awkward laugh. "I just felt like doing it."
Heat rushes to Jay's cheeks and he's not sure 1) what this newfound feeling is and 2) how to respond, yet again.
Having expecting you to leave after dropping the food off, Jay's taken by surprise when you take your shoes off and come over to his bed to look at the pile of work he's spread out.
"Is this everything you have to do?" You question the stressed-out boy as you flip through the various assignments, readings, and essays he put off in the past week.
"More or less," he groans. This is no rare occurrence by any means––Jay being behind in his work––but this time, Jay realizes he may actually be in deep shit, considering he has no idea where to begin.
Right as Jay's expecting a scolding from you, he looks up to meet a look of sympathy on your face. "Well, I mean, I'm pretty much done with my day. I can try to help, I recognize some of these readings from last semester."
Jay thinks to himself that the universe has sent him an angel through the form of you.
"Really? Wow, you were't kidding when you said you'd be a good girlfriend," he sends you a surprised look.
"I'm just being nice, Jay. A concept I'm sure you're not familiar with," you remark back at him, causing his forming smile to grow into a laugh.
"I can too be nice! Need I remind you of who's paying you $500, covering all of our dates AND giving you rides to class everyday?" He remarks pointedly at you, a teasing look resting in his eyes as you're reminded of the first of many times he's come to pick you up before class:
~ ~ ~
You're late.
This never happens.
But then again, your life's been a series of unexpected occurrences lately. Such as the fact that you're currently known as Jay Park's girlfriend, for one.
You're scrambling out of bed once you take one look at your phone and realize shit, you're already late for class. Throwing on whatever articles of clothing your eyes land on first, you're already mentally groaning at the fact that you'll have to skip breakfast and run across your campus to get to said class.
Curse your professor for hosting her lecture at the furthest possible building away from your dorm. Curse the architect who decided to make your campus so large.
You're running down the steps outside of your dorm building's doors when you're abruptly stopped by a familiar sounding cough. You look up from trying to gather all your belongings together at once to meet the gaze of the source of the sound––Jay.
"Wow, you're a mess," he smirks as he gets up from the spot on his car he was leaning against to make his way over to you.
"Gee, thanks! Good morning to you too," you flash him a sarcastic smile before your default frown quickly makes it way back onto your face.
"Aren't you gonna ask me why I'm here?" He grins as he grabs hold of your backpack to sling it across his own back as the two of you walk towards his car.
"Why are you here, Jay?" you sigh, your sarcastic tone hard to miss.
"To give you a ride to class, of course!" He's beaming at you, as if he's a pre-pubescent teen who just won their first girlfriend a prize from the arcade's claw machine.
Oh. That explains the car, you figure. Deep down inside, you're relieved that you'll no longer be bursting through the lecture hall's doors as a sweaty mess––a result of having to run across campus to get to class.
Determined to not let your satisfaction completely show, you resort with a little smile directed towards Jay as he opens the passenger door for you.
The second your enter Jay's car, the strong scent of coffee hits you, and your attention is targeted at the two small cups of coffee sitting in the cupholders of the car.
"Breakfast?" Jay asks as he enters through the driver's side and reaches into the backseat to whip out a small pastry bag. A small, deliciously smelling, pastry bag.
Okay, well. You suppose you could drop the annoyed act now.
Your eyes widen with joy as you grab the bag from him and open it to reveal your favorite breakfast sandwich. He's been taking notes, you'll give him that point.
"Okay, you win. Thank you," you grace him with a soft smile before taking a bite into the glorious gift in your hands.
"Of course, I was just feeling nice," he grins at you as he starts his car. "But don't get used to it." His tone is serious, but his smile directed towards you says differently.
And the fact that he still showed up to drive you to class the next morning.
And the next.
~ ~ ~
"And need I remind you who has to date your dumb ass for the $500 in question?" Your eyes narrow at the boy who can't seem to get that damn smile off his face.
Jay sticks his tongue out at you, ending the conversation. Really Jay? What are you, five? Well, mentally––probably.
You're looking around his minuscule dorm room for a place to sit down, and Jay can't help but feel embarrassed now that you're here, in his messy single studio room that pretty much reflects how Jay treats every other responsibility of his oh so hard life: neglected.
"Uh...here, you can sit on my bed," Jay immediately offers as he moves to the side to make room for your presence––and it isn't much, considering the university only provided him a twin XL bed which is definitely not built for two grown college-aged kids.
If you told yourself a few weeks ago that you'd be shoulder to shoulder on a bed belonging to the guy you cringed at the very thought of, you wouldn't have believed yourself. You wouldn't have believed yourself if you said you were actually glad Jay let you stay instead of kicking you out after delivering the food. Huh.
Weird.
"You know, this kinda reminds me of when we were kids. I always carried us through those horrible multiplication tests in the fifth grade," you wink at him as you settle in the spot next to him, hands grabbing hold of the papers in his lap.
Jay let out a laugh, nudging your shoulder with his. "Hey! The twelve times table is hard, okay?"
You roll your eyes at him––a habit of yours he's noticed whenever the two of you are together, but more recently, he thinks it's been more out of fun than annoyance.
He wonders why.
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When Jay had first brought up the idea of bringing you as his date to his father's company dinner, you had expected a fairly fancy five-star restaurant with a formal dress code––for you've become accustomed to Jay's lifestyle. Turns out, your expectations can continue to be exceeded. Because what you had expected to be a simple dinner with a few other business men and women turned out to be an entire party, hosted in a hotel whose interior resembled something close to a castle (Or what you assume a castle looks like, as you've never personally been into a castle yourself, but this hotel is close enough).
Your eyes sparkle at the extravagant columns and diamond chandeliers hanging high above you, and Jay smiles at the expression on your face; like a little girl being brought to the amusement park for the first time ever.
"Wow, this is...wow," you mutter as you drink in the scene in front of you: people dressed in formal attire likewise to yours and Jay's, mingling and drinking what you imagine to be beverages that cost more than your entire life's worth.
Jay laughs from behind you, "Yeah the company goes a little...extra when it comes to these company dinners."
You scoff as you look up at him. "Oh really, you don't say?" You look around and you're suddenly aware of the many people surrounding the two of you and the attention you've acquired ever since entering the building.
"Jay, people are staring." You shuffle closer to him, your voice lowering down to a whisper.
"Well, it's not everyday the son of the company's CEO brings his girlfriend with him, so...looks like we'll be the talk of the party tonight. Smiles on," he winks at you, and you just know he's loving the attention the two of you are receiving right now.
"Jay Park? Is that you?" You hear a warm voice call out from behind the two of you.
The two of you turn around to meet the owner of the voice, a middle-aged woman dressed in an evening gown that matches the pattern of high-end brands you've been recognizing ever since arriving.
"Mrs. Lee! It's so nice seeing you again," Jay cheerily addresses the woman as the two of you bow in greeting.
You internally giggle at the thought of your Jay being so picture-perfect in the eyes of his father's co-workers.
"This is Y/N," he continues, his hand finding its way to your back, protectively resting it there as you go to introduce yourself. "My girlfriend."
You swear you feel goosebumps rise from where he's lightly touching you, and more so when he introduces you as his girlfriend.
You tell yourself it's just your nerves. Yes, that's it, you're just nervous. I mean, you're in a room filled with people who could easily pay off all your college loans with just a snap of their fingers, who wouldn't be nervous? Right? Right.
"Y/N! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you!" Mrs. Lee excitedly exclaims as you turn to Jay with a slightly confused look plastered on your face. He mirrors your expression as he shrugs, moving to stand behind you completely, bringing his hands to rest lowly at your hips.
His hands feel like feathers on the thin fabric of your evening gown, so light, so delicate, as if he's unsure if he's crossing a line. It leaves you wanting more, wanting to naturally lean against him and his warmth. You quick to shake the thought of your head as Mrs. Lee chirps up again.
"Jay's father is always talking about how you've been keeping Jay pleasantly busy nowadays! Good thing too, about time this poor boy settle down for someone as beautiful as you," the woman rambles on as you feel a blush creep up on your cheeks at the thought of Jay talking about you to his dad. If only they knew.
"We should probably go find our seats, I think the dinner is beginning soon," Jay says from behind you, saving the two of you from having to listen to Mrs. Lee's story of how she's known Jay ever since he was five years old and seeing him grow into this mature, loving, young man is so amazing. Oh look! I have baby pictures.
Yeah, he was more so saving himself from embarrassment.
The two of you bid your goodbyes before Jay gently uses the hand on your back to maneuver you through the crowd of socializing business moguls.
"She's not wrong, you know," you feel Jay dip his head so he's speaking near your ear, his warm breath tickling your earlobe, as the two of you make your way through the large foyer room.
"Hm?" You hum in question, turning your head up just enough to be able to make eye contact with him as he responds to your look of confusion.
"You look beautiful tonight," he says, eye contact not breaking once. You freeze in your steps.
You stare back at him in silence. Oh.
Your mind is panicking as it flips through your mental book of responses, unsure of what to say back. But because your mind is cloudy from staring at a put-together Jay in a dark navy suit to match your dress (mixed with the nervous butterflies in your stomach––have they always been there?), the only sound that's able to leave your lips is the small stutter of a:
"Huh?"
Wow Y/N, you had one job. A simple "thank you" could've sufficed! And you went with "Huh"?
You felt like a fifth grader who just learned from a friend of a friend of a friend that their crush likes them back.
"U-um. Mrs. Lee. What she said about you. You look good, really," somehow your nervousness made its way over to Jay now––his eyes flickering from yours to anywhere, anything, else in the room––the awkward tension growing tenfold each second.
Goddamnit Y/N, this is just Jay you're talking to, get a grip.
You're knocked back into reality when he slightly nudges your back to continue making your way to the main ball room, where the dinner is being held.
"Is that a compliment from the Jay Park?" Your smirk can't be seen by Jay, since he's still trailing behind you, but he can definitely hear it through your tone.
"Don't make me take it back," he chuckles, his words felt against your neck, leaving behind a tingly sensation you're not sure why you're feeling. You're glad he's behind you, so he isn't able to see the blush creeping onto your face for the second time tonight.
Jay gives a small nod to the people behind the check-in desk stationed at the entrance as the two of you waltz right into a large ball room lined with countless circular dining tables. So much for a small business dinner.
As the two of you approach one of the tables placed at the front of the room, you notice a familiar figure seated next to the seats reserved for you and Jay.
"Y/N!" Jake exclaims as he gets up from his seat to greet the both of you. "I'm so glad you made it, Jay was so excited to bring you tonight. Deadass would not stop talking about it."
Jay lets out a noise that falls somewhere between a cough and a goose being strangled, his widened eyes warning his talkative friend to just shut up. He's silently cursing the company for always seating his and Jake's family at the same table for these events.
"Aw, is that so? He's lucky he's cute or else I wouldn't have agreed," you grin, winking at your assumed boyfriend sitting next to you.
"Hey, YOU were the one excited to come! I recall a certain someone's face lighting up when I suggested we go shopping for tonight," Jay immediately retorts.
"Only because you were buying," you giggle, causing Jake to laugh as well.
"Damn, Jay. Tough," Jake jokingly adds as you laugh alongside him. The scowl sitting on Jay's face expresses the opposite of what he's feeling right now: warmth filling him up from the sound of your laughter and the image of you getting along so well with his best friend.
"I'm gonna get us some drinks, you two have fun making fun of me," Jay narrows his eyes at the two of you as he gets up from his seat. You bid him off with a smile before turning back to Jake.
"No but really though, this boy would not stop talking about you coming tonight. Then again, he doesn't really ever stop talking about you," Jake nonchalantly says, not knowing how much he was exposing his friend to you right now.
You raise an eyebrow up in response, "Oh really?"
"Seriously! I don't know what you did to him, Y/N, but this Jay I've been seeing recently is new. He complains a lot less about life nowadays, especially on the days he sees you," he leans back in his chair as his comment brings a smile to your face. Little does he know.
You stretch your neck up to find the boy in question and spot him right as he's returning to your shared table, two drinks in hand. You lock eyes with him from across the room and without a second thought, you're giving him a genuine smile that he's immediately returning.
Your heart beats faster at the view.
You wonder why.
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It's 3:07AM when you hear the first ding.
You're not 100% sure as of why you're awake at this hour on a Tuesday night––perhaps a combination of your restless thoughts and feelings not letting you sleep plus the typical stress that comes hand-in-hand with the life of a college student.
It's 3:09AM when you hear the second ding, and you brush it off, assuming it was just Heeseung spamming you with memes again––something he does often when he also can't sleep (you found this out the hard way).
It's still 3:09AM when you hear the third ding, and at 3:10AM , you finally reach over and decide to acknowledge the being who's bothering you at this godforsaken hour.
Jay [3:07AM]: Y/N
Jay [3:09AM]: hi
Jay [3:09AM]: r u awake rn
Y/N [3:10AM]: unfortunately so
Y/N [3:11AM]: why are you up
Jay [3:11AM]: come outside
Y/N [3:13AM: jay it's 3am
Jay [3:13AM]: ye and? don't tell me ur a college student with a curfew
Jay [3:14AM]: plus im alrdy waiting for u outside so u have no choice
Jay [3:15AM]: :)
You groan at your bright phone screen currently illuminating your dark dorm room.
You ponder the consequences you may have to suffer tomorrow if you stay up any later than you already have. But considering the fact that you're probably just going to stay awake lying in bed for god knows how long anyways, why not?
(And you would like to point out that this decision has nothing to do with the fact that you haven't seen Jay in a few days and that maybe a tiny, tiny, tiny, part of you may have missed his presence. Nothing.)
And since that logic is obviously valid (you really gotta work on justifying your life choices), you're suddenly grabbing a hoodie from your closet and hoping it'll be enough to keep you, who's merely in an old band t-shirt from high-school and pajama shorts, warm.
The breeze hits your skin the second you open the doors to your dorm's building, and you're met with the view of Jay's sleek, black BMW that probably costs more than your tuition. He waves at you from the driver's seat, motioning for you to get in.
"To what do I owe you the pleasure at this hour," you deadpan at him with a stone-cold voice as you enter through the passenger's side door, hoping your tone was enough to hide the fact that you're giddy at the fact he invited you out at 3AM in the morning. Like a high-school girl sneaking out of her house to meet up with her bad-boy boyfriend that her parents dislike.
The second you enter his car, you're instantly comforted by the warm air blasting through his vents and his playlist softly playing in the background. Jay's pajama pants and messy hair give you more than enough information to know that he probably just rolled out of his own bed as well. You don't know why, but your view: Jay in his oversized hoodie with his unkept hair in front of your dorm building at 3AM on a Tuesday night, gives you comfort in weird ways you can't explain even if you tried.
But it's obviously just your cloudy, 3AM mind not thinking straight. Obviously.
"When I can't sleep, I go on drives around campus. It helps clear my mind," he says, looking over at you to give you a quick smile before starting his car. "Plus, SnapMap said you were still awake, so...figured you'd wanna join."
"Oh so what, you're my stalker now? You're not driving to the woods to kill me now, are you?" You tease, an eyebrow brought up. Jay lets out a laugh from beside you as he begins to drive further into your campus.
"Guess you'll just have to wait and see," he throws you a wink before reverting his gaze back to the road, mindlessly driving to wherever the road decides to take him.
A comfortable silence falls in between the two of you as Jay continues to drive endless routes around your campus. You look over to the boy driving next to you and take in his features––you don't know what changed, but you no longer feel the same anger or annoyance bubbling within you when you're around him. You're not sure when this changed, but you figure it's just the effect of desensitization. After all, you've been spending so much time with him, you're bound to get used to it. Right?
"Why were you up?" Jay finally asks after a few minutes of just the two of you silently basking in each other's presences.
"Ah, you know. The usual. Endless thoughts running through my mind, stress from school, nothing new," you sign, giving him a soft smile followed with a shrug.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
You answer him with silence as you search your head for the answer.
"I don't know. This is kinda weird, isn't it?" You don't know why you get a sudden surge of confidence, but before you can stop yourself, you find yourself rambling on. "If you had told me a month ago that I'd be here driving around with you when it's nearly 4AM, I would've laughed in your face."
Jay doesn't know whether to laugh or scoff. "Is the idea of hanging out with me that unappealing to you?"
You give him a serious look back. "I mean, up until a month ago when you needed me for whatever this game is, you literally pretended I didn't exist."
Oh. Awkward.
You freeze at your own words, mentally screaming at yourself for letting the words leave your mouth. Why, why, why.
"Y/N..." Jay says after clearing his throat after a few seconds of silence.
"No it's fine, it was a joke," you awkwardly cough and direct your attention to anything else around you right now. The view of your campus' buildings zooming by. The clicking of Jay's blinker when he switches lanes. The quiet roaring of his car's engine. The nervous tapping of his fingers against the steering wheel.
The rest of the ride is excruciatingly silent as he exits the main road and into an empty parking lot of some administration building made out of glass that has too many floors for you to count.
You don't know why you feel your heart beating in your throat as Jay puts the car into park––why you feel uneasy. You slightly turn towards him in your seat, hoping to pick up any sign of well...anything from him.
You don't know why you feel a twinge of guilt––it's not like what you said was necessarily wrong. If you were being honest, you were slightly bothered by how the two of you seemed to silently agree not to mention your past all this time. You were always one to seek answers, to seek closure. You couldn't help but bring it up––Jay was your best friend during those years. For him to just wake up one day and pretend you were nothing to him hurt you, and you couldn't help but still wonder what in the world you did to initiate his actions.
"I'm sor–" You're interrupted with his timid voice, as if he was almost afraid to speak.
"I'm not good with people." He's nibbling on his bottom lip, fingers nervously picking at a spot on the steering wheel.
You're opening and closing your mouth, unsure how to respond. You're 100% positive you look like a fish right now. Good for you.
"I don't know why. Jake calls it commitment issues but in order to have commitment, people have to stay in my life. And people just...don't. They're all bound to leave at some point. So what's the point of putting in effort into relationships if they're just going to leave you at the end?"
You're stunned by his sudden confession, not having been prepared for such a heavy topic to arise between the two of you. Up until tonight, your interactions had always been light-hearted and easy––you guys got along well. You didn't know this is how he felt all along.
But you knew where he was coming from.
You knew what Jay had gone through as a child––his mother having left him and his dad when he was young. You remember when your parents had told you the news at the young age of 13, and you remember the pain and sorrow you felt for your then friend. All you wanted to do was go to him and comfort him, but he had already cut you out from his life by then.
"Or maybe I'm the problem. My dad barely acknowledges my existence because he thinks giving me an allowance is all the parenting I need, my friends probably only stick around because they feel bad for me, you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the bet, and, fuck, I'm literally known as the campus' fuckboy," Jay continues, falling deeper and deeper into the hole he dug himself.
He hates this, he hates opening up and feeling vulnerable, so he doesn't know why he's doing it now. He doesn't know why he feels comfortable voicing out his fears and worries when he's around you. But he does know it's a new feeling––one he doesn't know how to deal with.
"Jay," you lace your voice with as much comfort as you can provide. None of this is his fault, you want to tell him. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything," he says with a hint of bitterness and you can't tell if it's directed towards you or the topic at hand.
You're completely turned in your seat now to face him––despite the fact that he refuses to meet your gaze, afraid that looking at you is gonna bring out the most vulnerable in him. "You can talk to me. Talking about it makes it a lot easier. I'll always be here for you, as a friend."
Jay doesn't know what it is or why, but something in him snaps at the sound of a certain word falling out of your lips. Friend. Friend.
Friends don't make his heart beat nervously whenever he's around them. Friends don't keep him up at 3AM in the morning, pondering about his feelings for them. Friends don't provide him with this new, warm comfort he's become accustomed to whenever he's around you.
Deep down, Jay knows you didn't mean to add fuel to the fire. But because he's strong-headed, stubborn, and hates how vulnerable he feels next to you, he unleashes his emotions without thinking about the destruction coming along.
"It's none of your business, Y/N. Forget I said anything. You're just a toy for this stupid game and when it's all over we can go back to our own lives and forget this ever happened."
His sudden words cut deep, but they hurt him more than you. The second the words tumble out of his mouth, he's hit with the feeling of instant regret washing over him, and the lump forming in his throat restricts him from finding the right words to take them back.
The silence that falls between the two of you this time is different. It's a cold silence. A loud silence.
Jay feels his walls coming back up around him––the ones you managed to get through––and all he wants to do is apologize but he's terrified. Terrified of seeing your reaction, terrified of losing you again. For the second time.
You tell yourself he doesn't mean it. You tell yourself that he's just enduring more pain that one should ever receive.
But you also tell yourself that this wouldn't be the first time Jay leaves you in the dust.
You tell yourself that you're foolish for ever believing a friendship, or more, could come out of this act at the end. That you're so naive for feeling those stupid, stupid butterflies you've started to notice in your stomach whenever you see, or even think of, him.
"Okay," you begin with a firm tone. You're hurt, but you refuse to show it. You won't let him hurt you for a second time. Not again.
"Just...find me when you need me. As your fake girlfriend or just...me. I'm still here for you," is the last thing you say before un-clicking your seatbelt and leaving his car, beginning your walk back to your dorm hall.
Jay is unsure about many things in life. He's unsure about what he wants to do in the future, he's unsure of where he's going to settle in life, heck, he's unsure about what to have for lunch tomorrow. But he's sure about one thing.
That he's wearing his heart on his sleeve right now, and it's all because of you.
That you've become this new lifeline and he has to choose between holding onto you or drowning.
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When Jay wakes up the next morning, his first gut instinct is to get ready to pick you up for class. But today's different. Jay doesn't know where the two of you stand now, especially after last night.
Jay doesn't know how to deal with this combination of unknown emotions he's been feeling lately. They didn't come out of no where, by any means, he realizes. They've been slowly growing over the past month of seeing you so often––like a plant he's been watering overtime, not expecting it to bloom into a flower so suddenly––but he figured it was nothing more than just enjoying the company of a friend.
Until he realizes that the term friend just doesn't suite you anymore––not to him, at least. And that scares him. It scares him that you've made him genuinely smile more in this past month than he ever has in his 19 years of living. It scares him that when he's around you he can't comprehend his own thoughts, his feelings. It scares him that you make him vulnerable, that you've changed him. That you've managed to make the walls that he's spent so long building and polishing to crumble with a simple tap of your finger.
In a perfect world, Jay would have already told you all this––he would be unafraid of how you would react, unafraid of your rejection, unafraid of losing this growing relationship with you. But alas, we don't live in a perfect world. And so when Jay drives to class that day, he drives right past your dorm building.
"Where's Y/N?" is the first thing Jake questions when he enters Jay's car that morning, confused by your absence, having been used to you being in the front seat every morning when Jay goes to give Jake rides to class as well.
"I don't know," Jay mutters, unemotional eyes focused on the road in front of him, not interested in continuing a conversation that involves thinking about you.
Jake hesitates as curiosity gets the best of him. "Did you guys get into a fight or something?"
Jay's hands tighten around the steering wheel of his car. "Or something. Let's just leave it at that."
There are a few beats of silence before Jake speaks up again.
"Well, I guess this works out because I wanted to talk to you about something."
Jay continues to stare straight ahead of him, focusing on just trying to get by without mentally beating himself up at the simple thought of you.
The simple thought of you and your smile. Your witty remarks. Your stupid eye rolls. Your laughter. Your kindness. So much for not thinking about you.
"I'm calling it off," Jake's words catch Jay off guard.
"Huh? Calling what off?"
"The bet. I'm calling it off. I don't care about the textbook fees I'll have to pay next semester. Look, fight or not, you and Y/N are good for each other, everyone can see it. And I really don't want this to end up being one of those messed up teen TV shows where the girlfriend finds out the entire relationship was based off of a stupid game and then they break up and the boyfriend falls into eternal sadness and regret. And I don't wanna see you sad, dude. So yeah! Congrats," although he's admitting defeat, Jake's beaming widely, just content with the fact that his best friend has finally found happiness through the form of you. "You win."
But Jay feels like the opposite of a winner. Because even though his only intention coming into this was simply winning the bet, his life isn't as simple as it was a month ago. Because he discovered something much more valuable than some stupid textbook fees or five hundred dollars or getting his physics homework done for an entire semester.
Something he's scared he's already lost.
You.
⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺
The next time you see Jay is at the same time and place as when he first ever appeared to pick you up––at 12:17PM on a Friday afternoon, as you're exiting the doors of the lecture building home to your awfully long Capitalism in World History class. This time, however it's different.
Because this time, it's one month later, and Jay Park is no longer a forgotten side character in the story of your life. This time, you're frustrated because it's been three days since you've last heard from Jay. And because it's been three days since you've last heard from him, you can't focus on anything else, and because you can't focus on anything else, you're falling behind on every other aspect in your life. Jay's somehow managed to become the center of your life without even having to be present.
Well, up until now. Up until you go down the steps of your lecture hall's entrance and look up to be met with a figure leaning on a car you're far too familiar with. You freeze in your steps as you make eye contact with the boy you've been thinking about non-stop for the past month three days.
Your mind tells you to walk away, to just follow your flight instinct instead of fight, to just go back to your normal life. But here's the thing. Ever since Jay's made his way back to your life, it's been far from normal.
And if you're being honest, you had no interest in going back to your normal life. Normal's overrated anyways. You find your legs bringing yourself over to him, your heart leading the way.
"Hi," you simply say, planting yourself right in front of him.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?" You already know the answer, but you want to hear him say it.
"Waiting for you," Jay doesn't hesitate in answering you. This time will be different, he tells himself.
"I can walk myself home, thanks," you state, but your actions tell differently, as you make no sign of moving from your spot in front of him.
Jay's mind contemplates telling you everything. About how he regrets that friendship-breaking decision he made that one fateful day in the eighth grade, about his true feelings, about how he first suspected these feelings when he was 11 years old and saw you in your fancy get-up for the sixth grade dance but put it off as a little crush, and about how the same feelings grew into something so, so much more in the present. But seeing that putting all these thoughts into words would involve more than one functioning brain cell (which is all he's convinced he has in the moment, for the view of you staring up at him, looking like that, has his brain short-circuiting), he settles with:
"He called it off. It's over. The bet."
"Oh."
Silence.
Okay, Jay. This is your chance. Say it.
"Is that it?" You lift an eyebrow, awaiting for more explanation. When it doesn't come, you slightly nod and start backing away. "I'll see you around then."
Is that it? Do the two of you just go back to your respective lives now? How can Jay do that, when he doesn't even recall what his life was like before you entered it––and especially when he has absolutely no interest in going back to that life?
Fuck it.
"Y/N!" He stands up straight, a newfound confidence taking over. This time will be different, he tells himself. Because now, he knows what he wants. For sure.
You turn towards him, to see him already making his way towards you, stopping in his steps when he finds himself close enough to you that he can't concentrate anymore.
"I'm sorry for ditching you in the eighth grade. I'm sorry for ignoring you since then. I'm sorry for dragging you into this stupid mess and for pushing you away and I'm sorry for calling you a toy. Because it's far from truth. I like you. A lot. And––and I'm scared. I'm scared of what this means for us, because I just keep messing things up and all I know is that I don't wanna wake up tomorrow and realize you're not in my life anymore and––"
"Woah, woah, Jay. Slow down," you look up at him, the corners of your lips threatening to curve up into a smile. "You're an idiot, you know."
Jay's never really confessed his feelings to anyone before, per say, so he doesn't really know what to expect. But he's watched enough Netflix rom-coms in this lifetime (which is still not that many) to know that hearing the words "you're an idiot" isn't what you're supposed to hear after pouring your heart and soul out. Surely not, right?
"I––I'm not sure how to respond to that," he quietly says, searching your eyes for a sign, for anything. You giggle at his sudden shyness as you grab both his arms and look at him right in the eyes.
"It's okay. I get it, if anything, I'm also scared. But you somehow got me wrapped around your stupid finger, and I hate it," you smirk at him, your hands slowly making their way up his arms to circle around his neck.
Jay's hands naturally fall at your waist as he lets out a breathe he didn't even know he was holding as he returns your smirk. "Well, I could say the same about you. And I also hate it, for your information."
"Hmm, is that so? I guess it cancels out then, right?" You smile at him as he's pulling you in so close, your head turns cloudy.
Jay grins at you, his eyes holding so much joy and endearment as they quickly flicker down to your lips before returning to your own eyes. "I guess this only means one thing then."
"Mm, and what's that?"
And before Jay can answer––and because your life's been anything but normal lately––you make the first move this time, moving your head up to close the small gap between the two of you.
His arms instinctively tighten around you as you capture his lips with your very own, and Jay swears he's about to lift off into space right now. He's on cloud nine, and he makes no plans to touch the ground ever again.
The kiss quickly becomes fervent, all the pent-up tension that the two of you had for one another finally finding its way out, all the words that were previously left unsaid finally expressing themselves. You don't even care if you're being judged by the conservative faculty members of your school right now, or by the looks of fellow students walking past the two of you.
You try your best to keep yourself from smiling as he continues to press his lips against yours, his hand moving to hold your chin, guiding your mouth with his.
Before you find yourself getting carried away, you step back to take a breath, resting your forehead against his chest as his hands rest against your back. He smiles at the sound of you giggling against him.
Jay takes a step back to take one look at you and realizes, in this moment, that change can be good. And he's willing to undergo this change. As long as it's with you.
⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺
The next morning, you bounce down the steps of your dorm building's entrance to meet the wide, bright smile of your ex-childhood-bestfriend-turned-fake-boyfriend-turned-real-boyfriend waiting for you in front of his car, small pastry bag in hand. You smile back at him.
Jay drives you to class that day.
And everyday after that.
. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ :
✰ let me know what you think! if u made it til the end, mwah :') <3
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atlabeth · 2 years
Text
here for you - pope heyward
summary: you and pope come from two completely different worlds, both with preconceived views of the other in mind. one night is all it takes for that to change.
a/n: I BROKE MY WRITING SLUMP W THIS!!!! oh my god it feels so good to finally write and post something. i was looking at prompts for inspo and this just came to me. and this blurb is based off of “I know we’re not... friends or anything, but... I'm here for you, if you need someone to talk to.”
i missed writing for u guys and i love pope so i hope u like this
wc: 2.2k
warning(s): reader's lowkey having a breakdown, unsupportive and pushy parents, stress, insecurity, just a lot of feels on reader's part. but this is hurt/comfort so it ends in fluff
(credit to @sunnymaybank for the divider inspo pls go follow her she's amazingly talented in everything she does)
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Pope Heyward has no idea what he’s doing.
You’re a kook. People call you a kook princess, actually, but popular, rich, party girl, and devastatingly beautiful are also things you go by. He’s pretty sure every guy on Kildare’s had the hots for you at some point or another, even some of the girls that go both ways. Pope’s certainly no stranger to that attraction.
Your family is one of the most well known on the island, flaunting old money that’s responsible for wings at private schools, funded island projects, hefty donations to struggling businesses, even eponymous scholarships at family alma maters. You’re the youngest of three in a line of Ivy Leaguers, and if gossip he’s heard while delivering groceries is anything to go off of, you’re expected to keep up the tradition.
And he’s Pope Heyward. Kildare born, Kildare bred, and in a couple decades, probably Kildare dead. His parents have high hopes for him, ambitions for college acceptances and scholarships that’ll get him out of the OBX and into making a name for himself. Pope wants it too, but as senior year drags on he’s forced himself to resign to the far more likely truth of a devastatingly normal existence.
He’s Pope Heyward. You’re you.
Yet here you are, crying alone at the beach in the middle of the night. And Pope has no idea what to do.
The only reason he’s even here right now is because JJ forgot to bring a cooler back from when they were surfing earlier in the day, and Pope drew the shortest straw. (They literally drew straws, and Pope’s pretty sure JJ cheated somehow.)
He thought he heard somebody as he was walking down to the beach, looking around the spot they’d been hanging out to make sure no one had stolen it. Sure enough it was still there, but as he started on his path he saw something else.
Someone else — you. Your quiet sobs are carried through the night breeze, and Pope feels his brows furrowing in concern. He recognizes you right away, the lemon-print camisole top something he’s seen you in around the island a thousand times. It’s in no way suitable for a December night, and he has no idea why you’re here. At 11:37 pm.
Against his better judgment, he speaks up.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
Your head immediately whips around, a hand already raised to try and rid yourself of the evidence of emotion. “I didn’t know anyone else was here.” Your voice is just on the edge of watery, anything further held back by purposeful attempts.
“I, um— I just got here,” Pope explains, continuing forward until he comes to a stop beside you. “I was… it doesn’t matter. The question is, what are you doing out here?”
“What does it look like?” you ask dryly. “Just having a fun little breakdown. No worries.” You see that his eyes are filled with actual concern, and you sigh as you try to ease it a bit. “I’m fine. Just personal kook stuff that you wouldn’t care about.”
Pope sits down in the sand next to you, one leg pulled up so his knee is close to his chest and the other laying flat. “Try me.”
“You’re Pope, right?” you ask, and he nods in confirmation. “I think this is the first time we’ve actually had a conversation. Talk about good impressions.”
“You’re dodging the question,” he says upfront, and you sigh again.
“It’s college,” you admit, not completely sure why you’re spilling this to him. “My, um— Princeton REA came out today, and I was rejected. Straight up, not even deferred. My parents flipped out on me, I locked myself in my room, they literally took the door off the hinges, flipped out on me some more, and now I’m here. It’s been a really fun night, actually.”
He frowns. That's a lot to take in, so he just focuses on what he knows. “But you’re like, top of your class! And you’re legacy, right? And I mean, super rich, so—”
“Pope,” you interrupt, laughing a bit, “I did it on purpose.”
Now he’s really confused, his expression conveying it all. “You what?”
“I flubbed my application on purpose,” you repeat. “I spent months working with the college coach they hired on my essays, even longer going over them with my parents, and literally everything I’ve done in school has been to try and get into Princeton. That nonprofit I started sophomore year to help with hurricane relief, every AP I’ve taken, god, even running track — it’s all been for college. But when it was time to submit Princeton, I changed all my essays last minute to shitty papers I wrote in thirty minutes and deleted all my extracurriculars.”
His eyes go completely wide, his brows shooting to his hairline. “Are you insane?”
“No,” you say. “Just tired of the bullshit that goes on in my family.”
Pope’s obviously still in shock at what seems like blatant disregard for your future, so you go on. “I don’t need an Ivy to do what I want to do. I don’t want to be surrounded by people like my parents anymore — I think I’ll actually go insane in the life they want me to live. Just— just a housewife on Figure Eight with some guy that couldn’t care less about me, having kids that they’ll want me to set down the same path.” You stare at the ground, hands clenching into fists in your lap. “And I’ll die before I let them do that to me.”
“Well… where do you want to go?” Pope asks.
You huff a laugh. “Somewhere far away from here. I think UC Irvine is calling my name.”
“Irvine’s a great school. Think your parents would be happy with that?”
“My brother went to Harvard, my other brother went to Yale, both my parents are former Tigers — it’s where they met, actually. It’s just always been expected that I would end up at an Ivy. Everytime I told them I didn’t want to, they just brushed it off. Said I would be thankful when my future’s set for me.” You purse your lips. “So to answer your question, no. They would not be happy.”
“God,” Pope mutters. “Your family collects Ivies like Pokemon cards.”
He realizes a bit too late that maybe he shouldn’t be making references like that in front of the girl he’s subconsciously trying to impress, but that anxiety fades away when you laugh. “Yeah. It’s kind of ridiculous.”
“But…” Pope shakes his head, still dumbfounded at the decision. “Why would you do that? Why would you actively ruin a chance people would kill for?”
“My family sucks,” you say bluntly. “I mean, my brothers are fine, but my parents are some of the most superficial people you’ll ever meet. They cover it up with smiles and fancy parties and tax-deductible donations, but all they care about is status. They’re more worried about losing their millions than losing their children — we’re like pawns to them, little chess pieces they move to try and secure their future.” You look Pope right in the eye, and shrug. “And I’m not going to be a part of that. I’m going to pave my own way without them — I don’t care if they cut me off. As soon as I get my diploma, I’m leaving. Far, far away from this island.”
Pope’s oddly stricken by your story, but he finds shining admiration poking through that sea of emotions. Most kooks, at least the ones he’s met, are more than willing to coast by in the life that’s been handed to them without a second thought. But you’re different, and he finds himself relating to you in this moment more than he thought he ever would. When he speaks after a long pause, he knows that he means every word.
“I know we’re not... friends or anything, but... I'm here for you, if you need someone to talk to.” He gestures with his hand. “About this mess you’re in.”
“Why?” you ask, frowning. “You barely even know me. Besides my entire college life story, I guess.”
Pope shrugs with a slight smile. “Kook or not, you seem like a good person. Besides,” he falters a bit, but continues anyway, “I’ve been through it too. But you don’t really look like you have a great support system going on.”
That gets a laugh out of you, though mostly mirthless. “How could you tell?”
“I think it’s the way you did your hair today,” he says, and him playing it completely straight is what worms a smile, a genuine one, out.
“Thank you, Pope.” Your words are surprisingly earnest, the fragility you bore when he first showed up shedding like a chrysalis. “For letting me talk. It really helped.”
“Any time,” he says, and he shocks himself because once again, he means it completely. “I have a feeling this will all work out for you, though. Just… keep going.”
You nod. “I’ll try.”
Pope stands up and offers a hand out to you, along with a small smile. “I can drive you home if you want. Your parents are probably worried about you.”
“I doubt that,” you say dryly, but you take his help anyway. He pulls you up and the two of you start walking, your hands still intertwined. You don’t even realize until you feel him pull away, his movements becoming slightly more stiff. Your hand feels cold without his in it, and you have to fight the urge to reach for him again. You don’t realize how starved you’ve been for warmth until you get a taste of it
You look at Pope with an odd expression, a mix of admiration, gratitude, and longing (for what, you’re not so sure). He meets your eyes with another smile, and you conclude that Pope Heyward is a special kind of sun.
Pope gets in the driver’s side and you the passenger’s when you reach his car, and he waits until you buckle your seatbelt before he starts the car and backs out of the spot.
The ride consists of surprisingly comfortable silence as Pope navigates the way to Figure Eight, the quiet only broken by the occasional directions you give him. He stops the car a few houses — mansions, honestly — from yours, figuring that you would just get into more trouble if your parents saw who you were with.
“Thanks for the ride,” you say as you unbuckle your seatbelt and get out of the car. “And the talk. You’re… you’re a pretty great guy, Pope.”
“You’re a pretty great girl yourself,” he says back. You smile at him and you’re about to close the door when something hits him.
“Wait!” he exclaims, and you pause with your hand on the door. “Um— do you wanna hang out with us sometime? The pogues— my friends, they’re really cool. Way cooler than anyone on Figure Eight. Well, besides you, but—”
Your smile grows a bit and you tilt your head to the side slightly. “You think they would even want me there? Kook princess and all?”
He nods vigorously. (Pope’s not exactly sure, but he wants to spend time with you more than anything. He can deal with anything his friends have to say afterwards.) “Yeah. They’d really like you.”
Your gaze lingers on him for a moment longer than it should before you nod. “I’d like that.”
Pope breaks out in a grin as he feels his face heat up. “Cool.”
“I’ll see you around, Pope,” you say, brushing a loose strand of hair behind your hair. “Have a good night. Thanks again.”
“Any time. You too.”
You close the door and he waits until you’re out of his sight, then drives a little down the street just to catch you walking inside your house. Satisfied that you’re home safe, he turns the car around and starts the drive back to the Cut.
By the time Pope gets back to the Chateau it’s almost been an hour, and all his friends look up from the table when he walks in. The three of them are in the middle of an UNO game, and though Pope’s a little offended they started without him, he figures he deserves it for taking so long.
“Dude, where were you?” JJ asks, only allowing a glance away from his cards as he plays one of them. “It doesn’t take that long to get a cooler.”
Pope hesitates for a moment as he tries to think of what to say. His friends all know about you — everyone does — but that doesn’t mean they like you. They only really see you as a kook, a symbol of everything that’s against them. They don’t know the real you, never lucky enough to witness the inner crystals of the geode you resemble.
“Just ended up helping a friend,” he decides on as he grabs a water bottle from the fridge. “Ended up taking a little longer than I thought.”
Kiara frowns as she looks at him, doing a double take at his empty hands. “Pope, where is the cooler?”
“Oh my god,” he mutters, hand freezing in the middle of unscrewing the bottle cap. “I—”
“You forgot it!” John B laughs, and Pope just shakes his head in disbelief. “You had one job, man!”
“I knew I should’ve rigged it for Kie instead,” JJ mutters, and Kiara shoots him a dirty look. Pope stifles a laugh as he walks over to them and flops down onto the couch next to John B.
“Sorry. I’ll go back tomorrow morning.”
Pope doesn’t really care that he forgot. He picked up something a lot more valuable.
-
perm tags: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77 @simonsbluee @kwyloz
obx: @pogueslandia @lilgoddesshines
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testingcheats0n · 3 years
Text
Massive Dream SMP Fic Rec!!
Hey- Hi, I just feel like there are a ton of fanfiction that's really underrated in this fandom- so I'm going to dump it on your dash!!! Most of it is going to be Tommy-centric or SBI-centric, but they are very good!
Source: Me
Finished Fanfics:
Multi-chaptered Fanfics:
that's, like, a hundred miles by No_one_you_know
Dream would kill him. Dream was going to kill him- he was going to- no, he wouldn’t. Dream was his friend- friends don’t hit each other- Dream was supposed to take care of him- Dream /was/ taking care of him.
It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. He couldn’t clear his thoughts as he stumbled to the family computer, pulling up a tab on google and frantically typing the name into the search bar.
The words Technoblade Watson stared back at him, the little black bar at the end of the letters blinking slowly, mocking him.
Why, of all people, did it have to be Technoblade?
in short: the one where dream sucks as a parental figure, tommy runs away, and visits his least favorite family member technoblade
Hard-hitting, but has a happy ending, though I recommend reading the prequel (in the same series) first, otherwise, it's lowkey depressing.
MORE RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW THE CUT!!
you’ll rise above (crowned by an overture bold and beyond) by azvremoon
Tommy is not sixteen. He has faced too many open wounds, dripping ichor onto blood-stained warzones, to be just a child. He is Blood and War and needless Death, an all-in-one special of everything that can ruin reality.
(Tommy is the blood god. No one should know, but this server can't stop pushing him over the edge.)
+2 more Works that were Inspired by this one
Tommy is a BAMF and Dream, Technblade, and Phil get fucked it is what it is.
Responsible Forever by SilverWing15
“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” /////
“So,” Techoblade says, slow and deliberate, his face shows clearly just how unbelievable he finds all of this, “you saw a boy last night, in the middle of the night, living with raccoons and eating our garbage?”
“I know how insane it sounds,” Phil says, “but I know what I saw. We need to help him, who knows how long he’s been out here?”
“Okay,” Wilbur interrupts, “let’s say that raccoon-boy is real. What is it you want us to do? We can’t go searching the woods for specific bunch of raccoons, I don’t know if you’ve noticed Phil but there are a lot of them out there.”
“Going out and hunting him isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Techno says, “we have to let the raccoon-boy come to us. He’s already come once, you know how tenacious raccoons are. If they came to the garbage pit once, they’ll come again. We just have to set a trap.”
“Those raccoons aren’t gonna know what fucking hit them,” Wilbur mutters.
Or: RaccoonInnit taken well beyond its logical conclusion
Tommyinnit is a Raccoon boi that lives with other Raccoons
Protecting the Traumatised Youth by spookyserpent
Sam blinks. “What?”
Even behind the mask, Sam has the distinct impression that Dream is grinning at him. “A week and he was begging for my attention, even after I stole and burnt his armour, even after the beatings. He couldn’t stand me leaving him because I was the only one to show up, to pay him attention. It was hilarious.”
Sam is going to be sick.
Or, Sam decides to ask Dream about his intentions and ends up becoming a big brother to Tommy and Tubbo. All the while, Dream and George fight, Niki and Jack plan child murder and Ranboo is slowly getting adopted into the SBI.
Awesamdad written back when it was possible... ahhh
Chaos In a Bottle by Lovetribable
After a realization, Tommy leaves the pillar, but instead of going to Techno. He just disappears, leaving everyone to think he's gone.
It takes a war to bring him back.
+2 Sequels and an Alternative Ending
Dadinnit!! + A Sympathetic Dream
Absolutely Anything For Them by Numanum
“There’s a lot you don’t understand, Tubbo,” Dream sighs, meeting his eyes cooly. Tubbo, back against a tree, shudders at his tone, at the look on his face.
The sword at his neck skims across his skin as Dream shifts his grip on it, and he flinches back into the rough bark behind him. Dream smiles at his reaction, seeming pleased- like the cat that’s been toying with a mouse that always tries to run no matter how many times it’s caught. And, despite this being his first encounter alone with the man, he thinks that the comparison is fairly accurate; Tubbo has never felt smaller than he does now. There’s supposed to be a buddy system to prevent things like this- he shouldn’t be alone here, stuck in this situation.
Or: Tubbo becomes a traitor to save everyone and has to struggle with his choices
Traitor Tubbo, but it has the happiest ending possible since it follows the rest of the story.
Where Did You Come From, Kit? by KadeAK (zacixn)
Hybrids are an ancient species of humans crossed with animals, blessed with the favour of nature. They used to live in peace on the SMP’s land, but ever since the dawn of humanity’s modern culture, they have become ostracised and hunted by their once-brethren. Now, the once-thriving subspecies of hybrids have been reduced to ashes, the majority of their peoples struggling to survive in a city capital that can't stand their presence.
To the members of L’Manburg, General Wilbur Soot is just another mildly prejudiced human being, stuck with a hybrid fox kit for an adopted child. However, that assumption could not be farther from the truth. As it turns out, there's a reason why he is the man he is today.
This fic is entirely pre-L’Manburg.
Part of a series, very good.
Take It Easy by sweet_magnolias
Five times Techno scared Michael, one time Michael scared him, and the resolution of those fears.
AKA - Techno learns how to be an uncle.
Technoblade's POV, so expect some Tubbo bashing on the margins of all that Michael fluff.
I suppose it’s never my time to die, is it? by Birb_Whale
The first time it happens, he barely remembers. The second time is when he realized. The third... Twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern
“It’s not your time to die yet, Tommy”
Messed up, but not unrealistic. Purely for the Hurt/Comfort lovers.
This Wasn't Planned, But It'll Work Out by Anonymous
Dream isn't sure what to think when he finds a kid on his doorstep, but he can't just leave him there, now can he?
(He doesn't know what he's getting into, or what he's gotten the kid into, either)
Long, and angsty, with a bittersweet ending Imo.
let's play a game by Aria_Cinabun
Tommy was once a slave. That's gone now - shoved in his past with the memories of blood and gore and death. He wants to forget who he was; what he has to do to survive. Of course, the Elementalists will always come back to haunt him. They aren't the ones who killed his mother, but they're close enough. And now he and his brother have been dragged into the mess, as Elementalists with their own, separate covens, to find the Pit - the place where he'd lived and killed and hurt for the first twelve years of his life. His coven can't know. Can't know who he really is, what he can really do. Can't know anything about his past. He doesn't want a coven full of Elementalists who don't trust him; one of whom he's pretty sure despises him. He doesn't want that life. He wants the life of a pickpocket, on the streets, because nobody questions street kids, and nobody comes asking about his past and pushes him to tell his secrets that he holds closest inside. Tubbo tries to tell him to trust people. But trust is how you die.
Good fantasy AU, has SBI, and is thus fluffy.
Turn of the Tide by SilverWing15
Tommy’s fins twitch at the mention of Dream’s ancestors. Dream talks about them a lot, how they made their fortune hunting down mer pods, how they were cruel and greedy. Nothing like Dream is. They’ve both overcome their roots he says.
Tommy is nothing like the wild mer out in the ocean, who spend their lives scraping by just to survive, who kicked him out of the pod when he was a baby because he was too small. He’s also better than the pit mer, who can’t overcome their wild instincts and know nothing but fighting.
He’s different from them, he’s better than them. He’s Dream’s. //// OR: Change is like the tide, when it comes, you can only sink or swim. You would think that a mer would be better at keeping afloat.
Mermaid AU Pooog. Part of a series.
One-Shots:
Snapped by AmberRunnel
“You don’t know what I went through in that prison cell.”
Jack burst out laughing, blinded with rage and the overwhelming urge to hurt Tommy, to give him everything he deserved. “Oh, is the poor child traumatized? You want pity now?” He twisted his blade, and Tommy’s axe was sent clattering to the ground.
“If the prison was so awful, why don’t I send you back there?”
-|-
Jack doesn't handle Tommy's revival well. There's a simple solution, though. Kill Tommy, and Dream revives him right back into that cell. Problem solved, kid dealt with.
It takes a few confrontations for Jack to realize he's an asshole.
It's fucked up, but god does it hurt in a good way.
the sky is coming down blue by salinesolution
An imagining of New Milo's perspective throughout the Skyblock Randomizer adventure. What did he think of the world he found himself in, and how did Wilbur's feelings and actions change things for him? Here's my way of answering those questions.
He made the fish think, funniest shit I've seen.
You told me to be a hero (so let me die like one) by spiromachia
"You told me to die like a hero," the blond interrupted, spinning on his heel to face the others, holding his arms wide open, "So why not fulfil the ending that was always meant to be."
Across the battle field, through the chaos and destruction, a tree burned.
Even the sound of explosions and cries and bloodshed felt distant enough for the world to become silent for a few moments, each individual slowly coming to the same conclusion, each of their bodies tensing.
Tommy's face broke out into a grin as he lowered his head, glowering at the people around him, and Philza's face flashed with recognition.
"Kill me."
Or... In the middle of Doomsday, Tommy decides to ask Technoblade to be the Lycomedes to his Theseus.
Heavy and dark, but at least Dream gets it.
tomorrow night by meridies
Tommy is desperately searching for his missing brother. Techno is the reluctant psychic who unfortunately got dragged along.
or, two people, more alike than different, learn what it is to have a family at their side.
It's cute what can I say :]
maple syrup by itisjosh
"We could run," Tubbo stares at the sun. "We've got everything we've ever wanted right here. We could run."
"Yeah," Tommy agrees, feeling his head swim. "We could."
(or, tommy and tubbo run away together)
Children get away from toxic adults :)
Why’d it have to be so sunny? (The sun shouldn’t shine without you.) by AToZRainToBe
‘A realisation hits Phil in the face like a truck. “Wi- Ghostbur,” Phil says, turning to his grey-scale, translucent, actually-dead son. “You definitely told Tubbo that Tommy’s alive, right?”’
To get away from Dream, Tommy agrees to fake his death, going with the cover story that he jumped from the pillar in Logstedshire. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Tubbo.
Misunderstandings are one of my favorite tropes.
sugar and ice by princedemeter for Aenqa
“He is my son,” Philza says. “Mortal or not, I would see him grow strong.”
Technoblade looks down on earth, at the tiny, angry bundle of cloth and pinking, wrinkled skin. This mortal child, he thinks, lungs filled with breath from the king of gods himself, will not grow strong.
It's mostly centered around Technoblade and Wilbur with Phil being a shitty dad. Pog Gods AU.
a matter of time by meridies
Tommy is twelve years old when his wings first appear, and he is twelve years old when Phil tells him, "All it takes is time and patience, Tommy, and soon you'll be flying even better than me."
or, Tommy grows up feeling like a failure, and it takes him a while to figure out where he's happiest.
Tommy is just finding his place in the world. Powers AU.
That Time a Baby Decided to Raise a Baby by Scitrust
Tubbo wasn't good at making excuses, so when Schlatt asked him why he was leaving in the night, he made something up on the spot. That had been months ago.
At least he sort of had an alibi for that, now.
Or, in which Tubbo finds a baby in the woods on his way to see Tommy, and promptly adopts it.
Part of a collection!! Read it all.
spider lily by blue000jay
Wilbur has a body.
The freckle on the base of his left pinky finger (shared with Techno). The scar on his chin from when he was twelve and over ambitious, diving into too-shallow water. The scar on his throat from the final control room, and the puckered skin on his shoulder from the poisoned arrow that killed him next. Various other nicks and things that litter his skin from years of rebellion and living wild, a kid thrown into a vicious world with too little self-preservation.
(Resurrection AU, for when/if Wilbur comes back.)
The author knows how it's like to live with chronic pain, and it shows :(
Hands tied loose by rabiddog
"Let's run away, Tubbo." Tommy breathed; a wide grin split across his face as his hope grew. "Let's get out of here – far away. We can go anywhere, can't we? Let's just go, you and me right here, right now."
-
Tommy needs to leave. He has to get out of L'Manburg, he has to leave the Dream SMP for his own sanity, and he wants Tubbo to come with him.
But Tubbo has a family now, a better life - something that he can't give up... not even for his best friend.
Unhappy ending :(
The serpent underneath by rabiddog
Tommy and Techno sit at the memory-filled bench and talk. Technoblade reminisces, he talks, he admits his pent-up feelings, he cries. And Tommy? Tommy listens. (That's all he can do.)
-
“I’m sorry for everything, you know? For all of it. I’m so sorry about... about the first war, about the withers and the fighting, about...” Technoblade's fingers began to curl around Tommy’s blonde locks. “About Wilbur and everything after. I'm so, so sorry.”
:((((((((
Damning choices by rabiddog
Ranboo would have never expected to find himself in a horrifying situation such as that one - quite literally sandwiched between a rock and a hard place, with three lives dangling over his head and the answer on the tip of his tongue.
Tubbo, Michael, Tommy.
It's his choice. He chooses who lives, and who dies. His new family, or his first friend. But Ranboo... Ranboo already knows.
-
"Ranboo," He hissed out, voice cracking and somewhat staticky, "It's not your fault. It's not. You had no other choice; I know that, okay? I- I know that- I know- I know..."
:(((((((((((((((((((((((((((
Jealousy is a disease by rabiddog
Tommyinnit isn't new to the idea of jealousy. He understands it completely. He understands the way it runs rampage through his body each time he catches even a glimpse of Tubbo and Ranboo's new relationship, he understands that the emotion makes his heart clench uncomfortably from time to time. He sees it, feels it, and yet he doesn't care.
He doesn't care at all.
-
"You took Tubbo away from me. You took him away. You took my best friend, and now he's- now he's not my best friend anymore, and I-!"
:)
Word of Honour by rabiddog
Tommy could only stand and stare as Technoblade agreed to hand him over to Dream - as his brother traded him off like he was nothing. Like Tommy wasn't important.
-
Technoblade was a man of honour. He was a man of pride and sticking to his word. He knew that he owed Dream a favour, and no matter what that favour might be, he'd be compliant with it. Nothing would change his mind. (Not even Tommy.)
Almost canon. F.
Sweet Repentance by rabiddog
Perhaps Tommy should have told Phil about his arguably life-threatening injury the minute his father had opened the door. But of course, Tommy being Tommy, did not.
Dying seemed like a nice enough option as long as he was with his family.
-
Tommy just wanted acceptance, forgiveness, and peace. He wanted to close his eyes for the last time and finally be able to let go.
Tommy dies painfully.
A White Tulip by astervoid
He picked the white tulip from the bottom of the stem, standing up carefully as he held it pinched between his fingers. It would die now, inevitably, but Tommy relented and held the flower to his chest. What a silly, stupid thing to ground him. He almost hated that it made his breaths come easier and his steps feel lighter. Almost.
Tommy & Ranbooo chill on the bench.
lying to the authorities (again) by touchgrass
"Please tell me that my right-hand-man, my soon-to-be vice president, one of the people I trust the most on this godforsaken server, did not lie straight to my face and tell me he was twenty-fucking-years-old.”
Tommy opened his mouth to protest, but then closes it shut at the furious look on Wilbur's face. Oops.
~
It is the day of the elections and Wilbur Soot could not have chosen a worser time to realize that half his staff is underage.
The ONLY fic with this premise I've seen on Ao3.
Dear Theseus by rabiddog
Tommy had thought that they'd won - thought that they'd finally beaten Dream, and that everything would be okay. As it turns out, however, apparently Dream had called in that favour from Technoblade after all.
-
“Please,” Tommy whispered after a beat, quivering hands edged upwards to hesitantly press against the tip of the sword striking through his chest. Why, why, why? Why him? Why now?
Tommy almost wins.
A Shifting World by AplusIsRoman
How was Wilbur supposed to know it would end like this?
The smoke hung in the air and soot clung to his skin. His brother - adopted, but older by two minutes - stood back-to-back with him. The chilling cries of people and the calls of the withers rang through the air above the chasm that was once his home.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
How could he have known this would happen?
-
Sequel to A Child's World
Age-swap AU. Has a prequel.
heart of the sea by RyDyKG
Here is the secret that he barely thinks about, a secret that he shoves deep and far down in himself:
Wilbur Soot is a siren, and he’s not exactly proud of that fact.
Wilbur-centric. Urban Fantasy AU.
He knows, ok? by Ralli
By some means, Techno has given his raccoon younger brother some cotton candy. It doesn’t end as well as either of them would like.
Very, very cute :)
that's it, it's split (it won't recover) by Jk_Kat
Tommy has always been the fighter.
He has never been the fought for, and he knows it, with every whisper Tubbo directs at Ranboo, with every glance thrown his way- Tommy knows, the way he wishes he didn't, that they think he's dead.
If they're so convinced he's still dead, maybe the one good thing left he can do for them is die.
---
Or, Tommy gets addicted to being dead and thinks that nobody cares about him. The people who very much do try to pull him back from the brink before Dream can't resurrect him anymore.
Messed up, but with a happy ending.
Hugs 'n PTSD by rabiddog
Ranboo knew from the start that the recovery process would be hard - that moving on from quite literally being beat to death would be something hugely difficult to step away from, and that's if Tommy could even manage it at all.
He knew that it would be stressful and arduous, demanding and tough... he just hadn't expected to be holding Tommy through a PTSD-induced panic attack only days after his release from Pandora's Vault.
-
Ranboo isn't typically an overbearingly protective person. But for Tommy? He just might be.
I love this author if you can't tell.
Big Men don't cry by Shiny22Snivy
The room is small and warm, almost stifling compared to the cool openness of the ravine. It’s cosy and candlelit, and a chest sits open in the corner, full of what looks to be burnt rags of a former smart suit. And sitting in rumpled blankets on a bed, cradling a mug of something steaming, sits Tubbo.
At first, Tommy forgets all about Niki’s vague warning. He’s just so happy to see his best friend again, alive and well and all in one piece. Tubbo’s okay. Tubbo’s okay, and in front of him, and suddenly everything bad in the world is gone, if only for just a moment.
“Tommy?”
And then Tubbo turns to look at him.
Clingyduo fluff.
sins of the father (i broke all my bones that day i found you) by ryter
The thing that hurt Wilbur most was when he saw Fundy tear down the walls of L'Manburg. After all, those walls had gone up to protect his son. But in this world, Fundy trusts his father just a little bit more, and it ruins him.
Or: there's only one way Wilbur never becomes the villain. It's unclear whether this was the better path.
SOME VIOLENCE WARNINGS/BLOOD MENTION. CHARACTER DEATH. SO MUCH ANGST.
Sad, but cathartic.
REVIVED TOMMY HEADCANNONS AHAHAHAHA by racooninnit
i’m dropping ALL the fucking revived tommy headcannons on you guys today get ready for some ANGST
this is different from what i usually post but it was fun
i don’t think there’s a lot i need to put warnings for, obviously there are mentions of the way tommy died and the aftermath of that (i.e. injuries and trauma), but if there’s anything that needs a warning please tell me!
What it says on the tin- not really a fic.
Unfinished Stories:
Ongoing (Less than a month since the last update):
Over the River Styx by CorpseArt
I feel like we should name him.
There’s a scuffle at the back of his mind as he rolls up, curling tight with a shiver despite the heat of the flames licking up his back.
I mean, he’s like – us, but like a worse version clearly because oh man, this is just weirdness. There’s a flare of a tangle of emotions, complicated and fearful, resentful and livid with anger. I can’t believe this is what I’ve been reduced to, stuck in the mind of this- this child.
He’s like your age, Tommy. Are you calling yourself a child?
I mean, I am one so fucking duh. Child murderer.
-
Or: trauma bonding in the most unconventional of senses.
Just- Read it. Show the writer your support, it's unique, it's amazing and there needs to be more of it.
If history is dead and gone by iregretallmydecisions
“Don’t come any fucking closer,” Tommy shouted, startling Phil into stepping back. Tommy was still looking around wildly, like a trapped animal “Don’t fucking do it.” ---- In which Tommy finds himself faced with his splintered family, while it was still mostly whole. The past is not an easy place to be when the future was not kind. His family is forced to deal with the fall out.
It's better than Rewind, but you didn't hear that from me.
Wilbur Soot's Redemption (OR Ghostbur's Retry) by luckykitty0523
Wilbur had many regrets in his life, being lost in his madness and the urge for revenge drowned leaving a shell of who he once was. It was only in his dying moments that he regained himself but it was already too late for him leaving him drowning in wishes and regrets. However waking up in another different universe where wilbur was never born and family soulmates exist, so when wilbur said he wanted to fix the mistakes he never expected this turn of events.
OR
In one world wilbur dies and he would return as a ghost missing his memory and trying to fix what he did in life but in this one wilbur dies and wakes up in another world where soulmates exist and the wilbur of that world was never born so wilbur/ghostbur takes his place and tries to make up his mistakes to the other version of his friends.
Wilbur adopts SBI + Fundy + Dream.
A Talk Long Overdue by penink
Tommy has his first therapy session with Puffy.
Tommy gets therapy.
Into the Night by Interjection
“Don’t touch me,” Tommy hisses, leaning against the railing. “I will - I will-”
They’re a hundred stories up. Wind lashes against Phil’s face. Next to him, Sam makes choked noise.
“But why?”
Tommy looks up to meet Phil’s eyes, terror struck so deep in those pale blue irises Phil thinks they must hold all the world’s fears within them.
“You’ll die,” he whispers. “And then I’ll die. But I’ll come back.”
“And I don’t want to come back.”
Others have the freedom to live. Tommy doesn’t even have the freedom to die.
But maybe they can teach him that living doesn’t have to be so bad.
---
(Superpowers AU where whenever someone touches Tommy, they both die. But Tommy will always come back to life eventually. He just wants it to end - but instead, he’s on the run, terrified of how his power will be exploited if he’s caught.
A few people reluctantly team up to save him.)
Funky SBI dynamics + a Sam that cares. Also a lot of angst.
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narrators-journal · 3 years
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Help from the help
Narrator, do you have a thing for these sorts of power dynamics mayhaps? Do you maybe want to get railed by Illumi while you’re his maid? Yes. Yes I do.
cw: I dunno, maids? Illumi being awkward maybe?
In total, you'd seen Illumi Zoldyck maybe five times during your time as a temporary maid for his family. Three times when you'd cleared dinner dishes, once when it had been your turn to clean his wing, so you'd been making his bed and he'd come in and ordered you to not forget to clean his bathroom too, and once when you had been putting a load of laundry into the washer and turned around to find the tall, dark-eyed assassin so close you actually ran into him a bit, he'd apparently come in to try and find out if a piece of clothing had been washed. Aside from those times, you'd hardly seen him. Despite these sparse encounters, you were rather smitten with him almost from the first time. It wasn't like he was insanely better looking than any other Zoldyck, Kikyo was very pretty, Silva was nowhere near the worst to look at, even Milluki had his charms and wasn't hard on the eyes, but something about the doll-like assassin drew you in more than the rest. Probably the unattainable aspect you mused to yourself one day as you made your way upstairs with a laundry basket full of cleaning supplies, heading to clean said son's wing of the home today. Or maybe I just have a thing for men with long hair, you continued as you went, finding the upstairs cleaning closet and fetching the vacuum as you lost yourself in your thoughts. You were spacing out pretty hard, just mulling over all of what you found attractive about Illumi, entertaining yourself with ranking which Zoldyck you'd date before the rest, stuff like that while you worked, so you didn't notice until you'd turned the corner at the end of the hall leading into Illumi's wing that you had that static-y, fuzzy feeling his aura left you with creeping up your spine. Confused, you looked around, giving a small yelp when you realized Illumi was damn near leaning over you from behind,           "Uh, s-sir??" you squeaked with wide (e/c) eyes before quickly clearing your throat and speaking again in a more composed voice "is there something I can help you with...master Illumi?" He simply stared at you, straightening at least when he had gotten your attention,             "I was wanting to ask something." He finally explained, walking around you to be in front, which helped you relax a tad bit, as at least now you weren't relying on somewhat intimate senses to gauge where he was,            "Well sir, if this is about some cleaning issue, I wasn't the one to clean your wing yesterday, that was a different maid," you chirped, using your happy demeanor to hopefully hide the filthy places your brain had shot to after his words.            "I know, I ran into the maid yesterday. I'd rather ask this of a woman closer to my age." he said flatly, and if he noticed any giveaways for your lascivious thoughts he didn't acknowledge them as he went on, "you see, father has told me I lack experience with women, and if I'm to find a wife I need to learn. So, would you help me?" he asked, making you blink, your brain temporarily screeching to a halt.         "Uh, I don't see how I could help with that, master Illumi." you pointed out, laughing awkwardly while he looked at you coldly, and you knew you might've offended him,         "(Y/n), I know very well that you are attracted to me, you more than any other maid should realize I have no trouble attracting women." and just like that, the color drained from your face. Your heart felt like someone was trying to squeeze the blood from it while you scrambled to reassure him, the task not made easier under his calculating, unreadable gaze. Finally, after a moment of floundering, you gave up and just went quiet, resigning yourself to the embarrassment of so brutally having your crush called out,           "A-alright, so...what did you need help with?" you asked, your voice somewhat quiet, which seemed to amuse or please the long haired billionaire in front of you,           "I need practice with seducing a woman, and if I am to try, I'd prefer to seduce someone I find attractive. So, I chose you." The words made your breath catch in your throat, but before you could put together the words to ask your next question, or even the power of thought required to register that last part, he spoke again, "No, I am not a virgin, I just don't have a plethora of experience, and my father says that I need more if I'm to get a wife." he explained, and you decided not to push it further or ask about why his father was concerned with the issue,           "Alright, so what do you want me to do to help?" you asked instead,           "I would like for you to let me try to seduce you. You have my permission to tell me if my attempts are off in any way," You nodded, agreeing to help the struggling assassin. After that was settled, he left you alone to continue cleaning. What followed was possibly the most awkward period in your life. True to his word, Illumi did try his best to try and seduce you over the next two weeks, and true to his word, he did need work at it. Part of you was somewhat charmed at how awkward this intimidating murderer was when it came to trying to flirt, but the rest of you lowkey wanted to be one of his hits rather than hit on for that same reason.
At first, his lines were rather cheesy, stuff that you guessed he heard his parents use or from movies, but as time went it became pretty obvious that the lines weren't exactly the issue, his delivery was.          "y'know, this might work better if you were more...expressive," you advised one day after he'd tried another miss of a pick-up line, and all you really got in response was a slow, owlish blink,          "Expressive? I'm expressive," he argued, but you shook your head,                  "You have a tendency to sound bored or uninterested when you speak, and it's currently what's making you sound so awkward...sir." you explained, and for a moment he looked a tad lost, but than hummed,          "What should I sound like then?" he finally asked, "Hisoka?" Your stomach dropped at the thought of Illumi trying to imitate Hisoka's way of flirting. You'd run into the brightly colored magician a few times, mostly whenever he'd stop by to be tortured for interfering with jobs, and you'd been hit on each time by the man. You didn't know if you could survive Illumi being as brash, forward, and creepy as that.          "I wouldn't suggest following his lead, but m-maybe finding a middle ground? L-like, sound more...coy? Flirtatious? But don't sound quite as...aroused, as master Hisoka does." you advised, and Illumi seemed to understand better.           "so, what if I did this," he than walked towards you, backing you to the wall of room you'd been cleaning in his wing and than caging you between his arms before leaning down so your faces were closer together before he spoke in a much more playful, husky voice, "Would you let me bed you now, (y/n)?" and you couldn't even respond. It was like he'd knocked the wind from your lungs in one try, leaving you feeling as if you were going to melt down the wall. Thankfully, Illumi inferred your answer from there and smirked a bit while his hands slid down and than around you, pulling you closer to him so you didn't have the option of sliding downwards anymore.         "I didn't expect it to be so easy to win you over, (y/n). I've only changed one thing and you're already putty." he purred, and all you could muster up was a pretty brainless reply,          "It's a pretty big...change." even in your derpy, hormone-addled state that sounded kinda dumb, but it got you a small laugh from Illumi. After that, the assassin took you by surprise and actually went in for a kiss, though he pulled away when you squeaked,          "What?"         "ah, n-nothing, just didn't expect you to...do that." you squeaked out, your body now fully aware of just how close his was, and of a small spot of pressure.        "I did say I would try to seduce you, that includes getting you to have sex with me." he pointed out, and his return to a disinterested, aloof voice did nothing to stop his words from being gasoline on a bonfire to you. So, when you couldn't form any other arguments, he kissed you again, and this time you were swift to return it. You wouldn't admit it, but you were a little surprised at just how good of a kisser Illumi was. Yes, he'd said he wasn't a virgin, but after some asking around you'd learned that he at most has has sex 4 times, all for jobs, so you were not expecting his kiss to knock you on your proverbial ass like it did. Though, you were glad to be in one of his side rooms when it did, because the way he dominated your tongue with his, and slid his hand down your back, over your ass and down your thigh to pick up your knee may have gotten a pretty inappropriate noise out of you. So, when he finally broke the kiss to step away in order to strip, you were already panting while following his lead and losing your own clothing. Once fully disrobed, he wasted no time in scooping you up and pressing you back into the wall with another kiss, letting you wrap your arms around his neck and your legs around his hips for support. Then, he set to work on getting more moans out of you. He started with pressing his body to yours, and you rewarded him with a mewl and a hip wiggle when you felt his swiftly stiffening member against your stomach, you also gasped and moaned when his lips moved from yours and down your throat, zeroing in on your sweet spot within seconds and nipping and sucking at it until you were sure to bruise. After that, you were already soaked enough for him, but he kept going, keeping you up with one hand on your ass, using the other to rub your clit and send shockwaves of pleasure through you so powerful you curse and arched your back.            "it's been a while since you've gotten off, hasn't it?" He asked, using that playful purr you'd later curse yourself for teaching him to use, but for now you just nodded. It really had been a long while since you'd had sex, if at all, but either way the way he played your body like an instrument had all other times currently beaten. That decision was set in stone when you felt him leave your clit for a moment to slip a finger inside of your already soaked cunt, giving a few testing thrusts just to make you moan again, then he pulled his hand away and instead grabbed onto your hips to lift you up more, which earned a squeal when your hips pressed more against his member on the way up. He quieted you down briefly with another kiss while your veins coursed with lightning and he lined himself up with your entrance. He pulled away just as he pushed into you, wanting to hear you whine his name as he filled you up. Once you were full, he began to move, briefly setting a slow pace, but once you were moaning more he was quick to get rougher. Pretty soon you were a mess of moans and curses, clawing into his shoulders a bit, which got you pretty mercilessly rammed into as punishment, but the pain only seemed to further feed your lust at this point, along with Illumi sprinkling in hungry kisses while he slammed his dick into you repeatedly. Though, he made sure to use one hand to hold your hips in place while the other was in your (h/l), (h/c) hair to keep you from moving up the wall or turning your head to avoid his demands for kisses. In a short time you could feel a knot in your stomach tighten, your orgasm quickly approaching. So, with one final cry of his name, you let yourself fall over the edge, Illumi soon following after. Though, part of you was a bit sad that he pulled out to spill his seed onto your stomach and not fill you up with the warm fluid, but you kept your complaints to a small whine, which earned you a look that you gauged as intrigued.          "Did you want me to come inside?" he asked, and while his voice was back to being flat, and notedly not changed by the activity he just partook in or the fact that he was holding you up, you could hear the hint of maybe surprise in it.          "A little..." you admitted with an embarrassed, breathy laugh before trying to unwrap your legs from around him so you could get dressed, but he moved his hand from your hair to your thigh, keeping it in place,          "Well than, I'll have to fix my error."
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sunlightwoo · 3 years
Text
Five Day Confessions
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pairing: baseball player!eric x g.n reader
genre: college au, best friends to lovers trope with like some slow burn?? in a way??? but also they’re like lowkey pining over each other cause why not with your usual fluff, humor and angst
wc: 4.7k
plot: you think that it’s amusing to see the star baseball player of your school pining over your heart, seeing as though your winter break was coming around the corner. maybe it was the holiday season that was coming, or the unspoken feelings that you might’ve had for your flirtatious best friend that was clueless about your own thoughts to him. let’s hope that maybe these five days that you both confess to each other indirectly finally go unnoticed.
a/n: this lowkey ended up being the longest oneshot that i have written on this blog, and i’m really shocked HOUEHGOEA of course it’d be eric sohn.. bUT ANYWAYSS :)) i hope you enjoy this piece that i’ve been working on these days for @timextoxhajima​‘s collab cause the pain i felt while writing this... yeah hehe anyways happy new yearrr
COLLAB MASTERLIST | MY TBZ MASTERLIST
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Day One
It was five days before you were finally let out onto the winter break that you had been longing for since Thanksgiving weekend. An entire semester that was filled with endless assignments, stress and exams that definitely would’ve been the end of your existence, had it not been spent with your best friend along the way.
You were surprised that the star baseball player that was too close to your heart for your liking was passing, considering you never saw him come back to your shared apartment until the late hours of eight at night. Whether it was during the spring, or like now in the winter where he was conditioning for months before the season could even start, he was always focused on excelling in both baseball, but also securing a career in entrepreneurship if baseball happened to be a setback.
You argued the latter, that he was far too good to not be let into the major leagues, but he always found a way to downplay it and rather change the subject.
That was how Eric Sohn was, you concluded as you lived everyday being best friends with him.
The afternoon sun was already beaming down on you through the window as you sat at the seat closest to it in your last class of the day. Words that would’ve left your professor’s mouth sounded like complete gibberish as you were struggling to concentrate on whatever lesson he was trying to teach until you locked eyes with the said best friend, his eyes already scheming with mischief in them.
A smile crosses his lips as you watch him mouth something incoherent to you, making you distracted momentarily as you giggled to yourself quietly and shook your head. Turning away from the latter, the bell rings just in time for you to finally leave from your class as you hear the yells that were slowly growing louder come closer to your own ears.
“We’re free for the rest of the week!” He cheers as he tosses both yours and his bags over his shoulders, a habit that he picked up over the past few years even after you argued with him numerous times to not do so because of how bad you felt from the heaviness of your own bag combined with his sports gear.
That never seemed to stop him, however, since it was an everyday thing that he seemed to pick up to this day.
“Sounds like fun. Any plans for today?” You ask him curiously, walking out of the room together with him as the two of you were already heading out of the building to head back to your shared apartment, ready to start feeling the stress-free vacation that you needed for a while and for Christmas to arrive.
There was a beat of silence as you could tell that he was thinking about what to do for today, making you look at him momentarily and take in the tiny details that painted his face carefully. You knew that your best friend was handsome, there was no argument against that.
“Quit staring at me, I know you’re in love with me,” He chuckles slightly and you blink back to reality to see that he was already staring back at you, making heat rush up to your cheeks as you pulled away from his gaze to stare at the clear sky above you.
“There was just something on your face, that’s all stupid.” You retort, hoping that maybe he would’ve bought the excuse and it seems as though that he did as he lets another beat of silence pass by.
What was he thinking about?
“Hey, do you want to get some ramen?” He nudged you gently, making you look up at him with widened eyes as he broke you from your thoughts when you smiled in response, nodding as the two of you began to head towards the convenience store that was just down the street.
“Last one to get there has to pay.” You grin, already breaking out for a sprint as the latter decides that maybe giving you a five second head start wasn’t too bad, hiding the amused smile on his face from the fact that you were too cute when you were excited about the thought of ramen.
Up until he feels the emptiness of his back pocket, making him realize that you had stolen his wallet to buy your own stuff before he could even notice it.
“Oh shit wait- they have my wallet. Y/N, you can't just call that and then take my wallet!”
Luckily for you, he wanted to pay for your meal anyways just to keep the smile on your face aligned with the stars that always seemed to twinkle in your eyes.
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Day Two
“Hey, are you busy?”
You turn your head to see Eric standing at your door frame, seeing that he seemed to be in distress as you paused the drama that was on your television for a moment. Patting the empty beside you on the bed, he immediately rushes over to where you sat in which he steals the opportunity to cuddle you in his arms as he wraps them around your waist tightly while laying on top of you.
A breath escapes your lips from his sudden weight and you shifted over so that you were no longer on one end of the bed but rather the middle, so that neither of you would fall off of the mattress as a result of his antics. This particular position was one that you were all too familiar with considering these cuddle sessions would only happen when one of you had problems to spill to the other, and you could only assume that in this situation, it was Eric that had something to say.
However, the only thing you were confused about was the reason as to why he was like this when there wasn’t anything that he has told you about these days, whether it was about relationships, baseball or even himself.
“Everything okay, bubs?” You mumbled quietly, staring at the blonde in question as his nickname that you gave him easily slipped past your lips when he let out a soft hum in response.
It wasn’t unusual for him to come into your room to talk about whatever was on his mind in which he found it comforting that he was able to confide in you for such things. He knew that if he told any of his friends, they might not be able to emphasize his emotions with him, which was why he was grateful that you were both best friends but also comfortable enough with one another where anything that was said would only be kept between the two of you and only you two.
A special thing that you two had.
“I think I’m overthinking things again.” He bluntly whispers and moves his head so that he is now looking out the window as your hands found their way to gently play with the soft strands that were tickling your stomach slightly.
It was silent as you continued to play with his hair as you listened to him talk about whatever was randomly on his mind, in which he talked about how he missed visiting his family since they weren’t around this time of year because they went on vacation assuming Eric was conditioning again this year not knowing he took time off to spend time with them.
It made you think about how you must’ve been the only other person that he could spend the upcoming holidays with, since you knew that your close mutual friends were also heading home as well to spend time with their families. However, your plan was to stay at the apartment alone since you didn’t have anything to look forward to until now.
“”I’ll make sure that you have the best Christmas ever, Eric, I swear,” You softly smiled, holding out your pinky down towards his face and you felt him hook his pinky around yours, sending the familiar sensations of warmth down your spine at your wordless promise, “That’s all that was on your mind?”
You wonder if this was what it must’ve been like to fall in love with someone, seeing as though your heart was still pounding in your chest at how close he was to you. His soft breathing on top of yours was making you feel warmer in your heart, and you could only hope that he didn’t feel how fast your heart was beating underneath his ear.
“I think I like someone too, but I don’t know what it’s like to fall in love with someone.” He says and you look at him in confusion just as he looks back at you in pure curiosity.
You didn’t think that he actually liked someone at the moment, considering he wasn’t really good at keeping secrets from you regardless of how hard that he tries. However, you could feel the slight sting of jealousy in your heart, paining you at the fact that he was indeed too out of your league, and also your best friend.
It was too risky, you knew, to even date your best friend and also the star baseball player of your university as everybody loved Eric. No matter how flirtatious or friendly he was towards everyone, it was all strictly platonic on your end.
“Falling in love with someone can be the most beautiful, but also the most painful feeling in the world, bubs. Have you ever felt like that with someone these days?” You reply and suddenly feel him get up from where he was lying on you, the emptiness from his warmth leaving your own making you frown invisibly, but you knew that there was something going on in his head.
He really did like someone else.
“I think so… Don’t worry about it, sweetheart, I’m not that serious about it, okay?” He chuckles while ruffling your hair slightly as you could feel the loud shatters in your heart resonate in your chest, and you could only smile as you hope that he never catches onto the feelings you buried in your heart.
“Have you ever felt like that though, Y/N? It’s like you’re the one who has been in a long relationship like that, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about one since freshman year?” Eric mumbles, slightly facing you as you let out a quietly chuckle, sitting up against your bed frame to stare between him and the golden sun that is slowly setting outside your window.
It’s a painful feeling because it’s you, You think to yourself as the thoughts of possibly confessing to him would be minimal because you knew that he was only being friendly as your best friend, and nothing more than that.
“Not everyone is worthy of my time and kindness, like you sometimes are buddy.” You smiled, feeling the bitter feeling of guilt crawl up the back of your throat as you swallowed the lump once again, hoping that these feelings for your best friend would possibly leave you alone.
Hopefully.
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Day Three
You envied all the couples that were able to show off their relationships that they were in as you were at the mall with your close friends, Kevin and Hyunjae. The three of you were out buying Christmas gifts for your loved ones and friends and you were in distress considering you haven’t bought anything for Eric yet that would count as both a birthday and a Christmas gift.
It would’ve been harder if he had tagged along like he originally planned on doing so, until he got a text from his coach for conditioning this afternoon after school. You were grateful for the fact that you didn’t really have to worry about hiding what his gift was in plain sight, however you decided that maybe you should catch up with some mutual friends rather than going to the mall alone, hence the reason for Kevin and Hyunjae tagging along with you.
The three of you walked around the mall and goofed around, as if you didn’t have a care in the world since they seemed to have noticed your sour mood from looking at the couples in the mall. However, it wasn’t until you had pointed out that you needed to buy a gift for Eric that they finally pulled themselves together to help you come up with something to give to your best friend.
Eric was simple.
He wasn't exactly all that big on expressing what he wanted as he was happy with whatever was given to him, which was why it was almost a challenge for you every year to be attentive of his words and things that he’s had eyes on for a while. Because of this, you made it your goal every Christmas that was spent together to be sure that it was a gift that he would’ve mentioned unintentionally but would’ve hinted that he wanted it.
You suddenly end up at a shelter that was right beside the mall and look at the little animals that were looking for new homes to belong to, remembering all the times that you and Eric had visited a dog cafe this year. For all the times that he mentioned about wanting a dog to keep in your apartment to keep one another company when the other wasn’t there, you had the idea to adopt a golden retriever that had eyes that reminded you of his bright ones.
After signing the adoption papers and looking over papers for immunizations, you agreed to come back tomorrow to pick up your new furry friend as you decided to finally go for a quick coffee break at a nearby cafe. The three of you sat by the window in peace, feeling as though today had already gone by so quick when the events of yesterday in your bedroom started to cloud your thoughts.
It wasn’t likely for him to hide something from you when it came to relationships, and you wondered why he didn’t come to you sooner about it. You also then felt selfish as you didn’t like the idea of him liking someone else because of your own mixed emotions towards him and his flirtatious actions.
There was never any established words between the two of you whenever you exchanged cheesy lines or words of endearment that wouldn’t be seen as normal between best friends, but you wanted to believe that you two were more than that because you shared an apartment together. However, you began to ponder on the idea longer than you had wanted to, because now you were wondering who he might’ve been talking about the other day in your bedroom as you were pitying yourself over the unrequited feelings that you held for your best friend.
“Hey, do you know if Eric has told you guys who he likes?” You ask the two boys that were now looking at you in confusion, giving each other looks before turning to you with their drinks back onto the table.
“I thought that you guys were dating? Are you guys not?” Hyunjae mumbles and his words sent heat up to your cheeks as you were the one that was now flustered at the very thought of your friends assuming that you both had been going out.
Did that go for the rest of them?
Shaking your head slowly in response, you watch as their eyes widen into saucers and it seemed as though lightbulbs had been going off in their heads once you clarified the situation between both you and Eric, making the atmosphere quieter than it already was. Luckily it didn’t last long considering Kevin was the one that broke the silence that was filling up and invading your thoughts of why nobody asked about it.
“It makes sense now, for all the times that he talks about you and Hayoung from calculus.” Kevin says answering your thoughts and you feel your heart sink into your chest at his words, realizing that it was true that he liked someone else.
Maybe it was too selfish of you to bribe for his love with a dog, you think to yourself as a frown was now drawn at the corner of your lips at the thought of the dreadful rejection that you would inevitably face. You wondered how badly you’d be heartbroken after his rejection for your feelings, in which you thought that maybe this was a bad timing to tell him and not go home for the holidays.
It’d be better to ignore him than to face him at all.
“So he likes Hayoung?” You speak up quietly, looking at them while trying to not let your emotions falter the atmosphere, however you could tell that from the looks that they were giving you, one that you knew too well as empathy and pity, that you were in too deep into your own heart.
“I wouldn’t blame him anyways. Good for him.” You whisper and take a sip of the drink that was now bitter on your taste buds, trying to bite back the tears that were threatening to spill from your own eyes at your own selfishness.
“Y/N-”
“It’s fine, guys. I’ll be okay.” You reply and give them a weak smile that doesn’t meet your eyes, because you know that eventually you should tell him the thoughts that cloud your mind more than it should’ve.
You were in love with your best friend, and you hated yourself for never telling him in the first place.
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Day Four
“Thank you, I hope that you have a good rest of your afternoon!” You grinned and waved to the shelter owner before taking your new golden retriever friend into your arms to bring into your car.
It was the afternoon before Eric’s birthday that you were finally bringing your gift for him back to your apartment as you were giggling at the excited pup that was trying to give you kisses on your cheek. You let her down onto snow and watched as she took some time exploring the cold snow that was beneath her paws before happily skipping back to where you stood as you crouched down to scratch behind her ears.
“Today is going to be fun huh, Byeol?” You whisper, looking at the way that her golden fur resonated the bright stars that you were so used to seeing at night whenever you couldn’t sleep.
Your plan for today was ideally to surprise him with Byeol, hoping that maybe he would love her as much as you already did in the short span she got familiarized with you. The only change in your plan was that you had forgotten he was conditioning today at the batting place, making you want to give Byeol to him earlier than you had planned.
Maybe this time you’d be able to find the guts to tell him with Byeol there with you.
Already driving to where you knew that he would be conditioning near your campus, you hummed to yourself while pretending to make a conversation with Byeol, hoping that the golden retriever’s presence could ease your nerves at the moment. There were a million scenarios that were already playing out in your head as you were scared for what was yet to come when you would by then arrive. However, all you were scared of was his reaction for when you would tell him, since he was your best friend overall before anything else.
You make it to the nearby gymnasium with Byeol in your arms, shushing her quietly as you wanted for her to be a surprise for when you had found Eric by the batting cages, but for some reason you felt a bit breathless.
He was easily recognizable as you could tell who your best friend was immediately by his amazing skills considering he was the ace, but there was something that felt off. You were most definitely feeling the familiar butterflies that fluttered in your stomach, but there was someone that approached him first when he went on a short breather before you could even make yourself visible.
“Youngjae! You did really great!” A girl squeals and based on her tone and appearance from where you stood, you knew that it was Hayoung.
Oh.
“What are you doing here, Hayoung? I didn’t expect for you to be here, since I thought you did student council?” He had asked her with his hands on his hips when she gave him a small shrug before moving closer to him so that they were now only inches apart.
You felt like someone had stuck something into your heart and twisted it tight enough for the dulling ache to appear in it. Of course Hayoung would be here, you think to yourself, as you think that he must’ve invited her to watch him practice and condition to win her over that way, making you feel even more hurt from the thoughts that were now reentering your mind.
“I have heard from the grapevine that you had liked me, and I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go on a date since I liked you too?” You hear Hayoung ask him slowly and watch as she walks up to him with a smile on her face as she looks at him with a soft smile on her face, making your heart strings pull at the sight of it in agony.
Deciding to head back to your apartment, you left the scene as Byeol continues to walk with you back home in the chilly air. You think to yourself in that moment that you were right about your thoughts, about how you never would have stood a chance considering he had only seen you as a best friend and nothing more.
And it hurt knowing that there was nothing you could do to possibly change his mind.
Eric, on the other hand, was looking at Hayoung in confusion as she was still looking at him with a smile, when he had suddenly let out a quiet no. Her face scrunched up at the response as she was confused as to why he would say it, but there was something in him that knew it didn’t feel right, even if he had told his friends that he liked Hayoung.
The only reason why he had told them that he liked her in the first place was to lie about his feelings towards you, knowing that they wouldn’t be reciprocated with the miscommunication you both had about unrequited love.
“Hayoung, I don’t like you in the way that you think I do,” He says slowly and watches as her face then contorts to one of sadness until she gives him a weak smile as he thinks that maybe she knew why.
“You’re in love with Y/N, aren’t you?” She whispers in a quiet tone, making Eric feel guilty about the way that he was rejecting her when he was admitting in that moment that he actually did fall in love with you more than he should’ve been.
It was as though a flip as switched as he suddenly had the urge to go find you and leave the indoor batting range, wanting to talk to you instead before it was too late to even say it.
“Yes, yes I do love Y/N.”
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Day Five
Eric is sprinting his way past the cold December night back to your apartment as he was tightly clutching onto his baseball gear from conditioning. He knows that although it was less than forty degrees outside while it was beginning to sprinkle light specks of snow, he shouldn’t be running this late in this weather.
However, the events of earlier had finally clicked as he was still running to your shared place with his heart beating loudly in his chest.
The apple watch that he adorned on his wrist had shown that it was already five minutes before midnight, making him think that you could possibly still be awake doing something if you were watching a drama like you usually would on a Friday night. He began to wish that maybe it wasn’t too late for him to tell you everything that was going on in his mind while his thoughts were running at half a million miles per hour.
It doesn’t take him much longer to finally arrive at your apartment complex as he had darted up the stairs to rush and find you as quickly as he can. Although he might’ve been slightly shivering, he couldn’t help but continue to think about what you could say when he tells you that he had loved you.
Would you hate him for it, or would you actually reciprocate those same emotions?
When he unlocks the door to a dark apartment, he notices the dimly lit kitchen where there was a small cake waiting for him, a candle that was unlit as a note was visibly seen beside all of it. He checks the clock in your living room to realize that it was a little past midnight, the date underneath it illuminating that it was now the twenty second of December.
“Happy birthday, Sohn.”
He turns around almost immediately, nearly giving himself a whiplash because of it, to face you who was holding Byeol in your arms. There was a long beat of silence that passed by between you both, him being in shock that you had a new puppy in your arms and you noticing how he looked tired even in the darkness as the two of you continued to look at one another. It wasn’t until you noticed that he was slightly shivering where he had stood that made you snap out of it and blink back to reality.
“Eric, did you actually just run when it started snowing? You’re going to get sick, you idiot.” You say, almost bursting into shouts and put Byeol back onto the floor to grab him some warm blankets when you suddenly feel him grab your wrist gently.
Without another word, he goes in for a soft kiss on your lips and you hesitate for a moment as you realize what was going on. It didn’t take long for you to pull him back in for another kiss when you felt him slightly pull away, wanting to let him know with the kiss that your thoughts were exactly in line with his.
Even if these past five days of indirectly confessing to him were painful.
When you both finally pull away to collect your thoughts and breaths, he holds you close as his forehead rests on yours as you look up at him in curiosity, wondering where the sudden boldness of his actions had blossomed from. However, it was the sounds of Byeol barking that made you look down and giggle at the small golden retriever before picking her up into your arms again.
“I don’t think I’ll get sick, if I have you with me,” He whispers quietly, a small smile painting his lips as he looks into your eyes before looking down at Byeol, “Is this little puppy ours to keep?”
“She’s technically your birthday and Christmas gift, so yes,” You grinned as he carefully takes her away from your arms to hold into his, cooing softly at the beautiful fur coat when you realized what had just happened in the past few minutes, “Hey, why did you kiss me? What if I get sick too?”
“Then I guess we’ll both spend our Christmas sick, but with cuddles, kisses and our new baby as a couple. How does that sound sweetheart?” He muses, making heat rush up to your cheeks as his lips were now somewhat hovering right over yours when you quickly pecked his lips cheekily before grinning to yourself while crossing your arms in front of your chest.
“I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad idea, since my best friend will finally be my boyfriend this year.”
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yikestripes · 4 years
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Across the Bar
a/n: this is lowkey ass but here’s another request filled !!! if i don’t fill your request i am so sorry my inbox is VERY full and some of them get lost in the sauce!! 
word count: 2k
warnings: hints at smut but none actually, fluff as always
“Are you sure we can’t cancel?” Spencer whined, letting his hands come to rest on your hips. You had gone to the break room for a last minute pick-me-up before heading out to the bar with the team, not knowing that Spencer had followed you. It had been a long day with the completion of a case early in the afternoon, and the jet ride was only an hour and a half back to Quantico. You knew Spencer wasn’t fond of the bar scene on a good day, let alone after a long winded case.
“Spence, it’s okay, you don’t have to go if you really don’t want to.” You said leaning into him as you made your coffee. Spencer frowned and shook his head.
“No, I’ll go.” You handed Spencer the extra coffee you had made for him and he gulped it down gratefully, pausing to rub his eyes. You grinned and placed a kiss on his cheek before returning to your desk to grab a pair of new clothes. You went to the bathroom to change, and found Emily and JJ already in there, getting ready.
“Hey there!” Emily said, applying a fresh coat of lipstick.
“Did you convince Spence to join us?” JJ asked.
“Somehow yes. It took a lot of coaxing and a few promises of different things for when we get home tonight.” You giggled. Emily’s jaw dropped and JJ raised her eyebrows, sharing a look with Emily.
“Ooooh, dirty things?”
“I don’t kiss and tell!” You replied, fixing your makeup in the mirror. Emily and JJ shared your laughter and you went into the stall to get changed. You emerged in a red, off the shoulder top and a pair of red black skinny jeans with some calf-high heeled boots. You looked in the mirror and grinned at yourself. You looked like a badass. JJ and Emily had already finished and returned to the bullpen by the time you got changed, with Morgan and Spencer. Morgan whistled as you approached and Spencer stopped mid-conversation with JJ to drop his jaw. You knew that red was Spencer’s favorite color, so wearing it in this capacity was a huge thing for him. You grinned as he approached, resting his hands on your waist.
“You look absolutely gorgeous, my love.” He said quietly, placing a quick peck on your lips. Morgan whistled again, and you gave him the finger. He held his hands up in surrender and walked towards the doors, the rest of your team and you following him into the elevator, where Spencer grabbed your hand. Generally Spencer wasn’t a huge fan of PDA, however, he knew that it was your “love language” of sorts, so he would often compromise with small but sweet gestures; such as allowing his hands to rest on your hips or waist, holding your hand, or the occasional peck on the cheek or lips. It was small enough that Spencer was still comfortable, but it made you ridiculously happy.
You split up among yourselves in the parking lot, meeting up at the bar. Hotch promised Emily that he would take his own car there, to which Emily made a face. He gave a look with her that conveyed he had to do something he didn’t want to, such as having a conversation with the witch herself, Erin Strauss. Prentiss broke into a sympathetic smile as she climbed into the car and rocketed out of the parking lot. You plugged your phone into Spencer’s aux to try and get him a bit more perked up, so you put on one of your playlists that he hated the least; and actually had come to enjoy. He hummed along quietly, absentmindedly stroking his thumb across the top of your hand. You stared out the window and just appreciated the quiet time you got with your love. You arrived shortly later, and the drinking had commenced as soon as you and Spence walked in. Garcia shoved a Bay Breeze into your hand and forced you to chug it for being late.
You complied, shotgunned the drink, and slammed it back down on the bar with a cheer. Garcia seemed satisfied and you felt a hand on the small of your back; it was Spencer. He had a weird look on his face, following his gaze you quickly realized why- some guy at the bar was staring at your ass. His look quickly changed to a scowl as he pulled you in and placed a passionate kiss on your lips, to show the entire place you were entirely his. He pulled away and you quickly pecked his lips and smiled.
“I love you.” You said.
“I love you too.” Spence grinned and took a sip of his beer, grimacing at the taste. It was one of the alcoholic drinks he despised the least, but that was not to say that he was particularly fond of it. He couldn’t understand how Morgan was such a fan of the drink, but learned quickly not to ask questions. To each his own.
Spencer lost track of you rather quickly as you were a little ways away, at the other end of the bar, doing shots. Suddenly Spencer felt a presence behind him, and looked back to see Morgan.
“What’s up, Boy Wonder? You look a little lost.” Spencer frowned and shrugged.
“I just don’t like the party bar sort of scene, but I wanted to make (Y/N) happy.” Morgan chuckled and took a sip of his beer.
“Pretty boy, you are both very very sweet, and frankly quite whipped.” Spencer furrowed his eyebrows and looked at his friend, who was being beckoned by Garcia. Spencer followed behind and when you saw him, you lit up.
“Hey you,” You said, reaching out your hand. Spencer took it gratefully, and pulled you into a hug. You melted into him.
“You guys wanna grab a seat at the bar, get some apps and a few more drinks?” Morgan offered, taking Garica’s hand. You all agreed and Prentiss walked away to call Hotch, to see if he was on his way and if he wanted anything for when he got there.
Your time at the bar was relatively short lived before moving to a table to accommodate the group better. Morgan sat back with his arm slung around Garcia’s shoulders, who was getting closer to tipsy with every sip of her margarita. You were talking about first kisses, to which you felt Spencer tense up slightly beside you, like he so often did during these sorts of conversations.
“I mean, I kissed my childhood best friend on the playground, but I doubt that really counts.” You paused.
“Not really. It counts for something, but it’s not your real like, first kiss. Spill it, girl.” Morgan said, smirking.
“Alright, alright. I was a sophomore in high school; my best friend had this family friend who had a son a year younger than us, who went to high school with us. He was really sweet, but also very VERY quiet. We were sort of friends, in a sense. Like, we knew each other and would text back and forth sometimes, mostly about a bio class we had together, but regardless. I really liked him and he never expressed any real interest in me, other than just like smiling at me and getting close to me, which didn’t mean much. Anyway, my best friend and I went to a New Year’s Eve party at his house and we were mostly hanging out in the basement or floating around with the various kids we went to high school with, just hanging out and other teenager stuff. Lo and behold, it’s the countdown to midnight and he appeared at my side. It became midnight and he grabbed my hand so I would look at him, he took my head in his hands and just kissed me.” You smiled at the memory of the sweet boy who only lasted in your life for about a month.
Derek laughed, Garcia and Prentiss awed, and Spencer didn’t really express anything. He just took a quiet sip of his beer.
“Alright, I said. It’s your turn, Prentiss!” Her eyes widened as she shook her head.
“I don’t kiss and tell,” She smirked, echoing your words from earlier today. You rolled your eyes as Hotch approached the table.
“Saved by the bell.” You muttered as Emily stood, giving Hotch a quick peck on the lips. He smiled and sat beside her.
“Another round?” You offered, standing up with your now empty glass. You crossed the room and took a seat at the bar, waiting for the bartender to notice you. You saw someone sit beside you out of your peripheral and realized it was Garcia, who was grinning wickedly.
“Hi, Sweets.��� She said, sounding entirely too innocent. You narrowed your eyes.
“What did you do?” You asked.
“Nothing!”
“Pen.”
“I didn’t do anything. I have an idea,” She smirked.
“Oh God, what?”
“I saw this hilarious thing on Twitter last night where you text your significant other something SUUUPER nasty when you’re in a public setting together to see how they react.” You considered it for a minute, when the bartender approached. You listed off the group’s order and he disappeared.
“You’ve caught my attention, Pen. Have you tried it with Derek?” She raised her eyebrow.
“Have I tried it. Please, honey. I’ve done it 4 times tonight alone, have you noticed him even FLINCH?” You glanced back at Morgan, who was clapping Hotch on the back. Your eyes wandered to Spencer, who was finally smiling, and looked like he was actually having a good time. Perfect opportunity.
“You’re on, Garcia. $20 says Spencer blushes, shifts in his seat, and looks down at the table.”
“Alright, I say he smirks, rests his head on his hand, and gives you that look he does right before you leave the BAU.” A flush filled your face as you realized that your allegedly “discreet” look was apparently not so discreet.
The bartender returned with the drinks seconds later, and you only had about a minute to come up with something GOOD. With the help of Garcia, you got to work crafting the dirtiest text you could think of that would earn you the response you were looking for from your boyfriend.
Spencer felt his phone vibrating in his pocket which immediately alarmed him, considering the few people that would actually text him were all sitting with him. Besides you, who had gone to the bar, but you wouldn’t have just disappeared and only sent a text. He furrowed his eyebrows as he read the text he received from you, immediately reacting the way you thought he would.
He quickly locked his phone and put it face down on the table, running a hand through his hair in discomfort. He felt the blood rushing to his cheeks, among other places, as he began shifting in his seat to try and discreetly make himself a bit more comfortable. He stared at the table, hard, as if he was going to burn a hole through it with his eyes. Meanwhile, you were collecting $20 from Garcia across the room, in tears from laughing so hard. With Penelope’s help you escorted the drinks back to the table, earning a few cheers from your friends. You sat beside Spencer and placed a casual hand on his thigh, making him squirm even more.
“Why did you do that?!” He whispered in your ear.
You simply smirked in response and took a sip of your drink.
“Let’s just say i’m now $20 richer.” Spencer narrowed his eyes at you before looking around the table, his eyes landing very quickly on Garcia. She was being uncharacteristically quiet and still leaning on Derek, but avoiding eye contact with Spencer. He scowled and she ignored it, trying to suppress her laughter.
You placed a chaste kiss on Spencer’s cheek and he shifted again, but grabbed your hand anyway. For what it was worth, Spencer was definitely very good at putting up with your mischievous ways.
You unlocked your phone to send someone a text, when you saw your own to Spencer. You grinned in spite of yourself.
I can’t think about anything besides you throwing me on the bar and ravaging me in every way you please. You know, kinda like last night…. I’ve never heard you say my name so loud.
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omigiry · 4 years
Text
𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒛𝒆 🍃
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synopsis: Osamu and reader have been friends for a long time now, and they always hang out together, what would be the difference now? (pure fluff)
POV: Third Person (she/her)
ry’s notes: I don’t know how to introduce this, I just miss those days when I can enjoy summer break. 
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The summer heat was the thing (y/n) hated the most. She wished that she could turn up the air conditioner but paying up electricity bills would be expensive for the summer, and for sure she would get scolded by her mother when it goes up alarmingly. (y/n) was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, her fan in front of her as she eats an ice cream while watching a series. The day has only started but she was already bored, she hasn’t been out since the beginning of summer break.
Osamu: Wanna go out?
The notification she received made her pause the series and immediately replied. 
(y/n): of course!
Osamu: Let’s go to your favorite boba place then, after grabbing lunch together.
(y/n): Y E S !!!! Will you treat me boba?
Osamu: No, you’ll pay this time
(y/n): Such a nice friend you are
Osamu: Everything’s not free 
Osamu: Shall I pick you up?
(y/n): No it’s okay, I’ll meet you there.
Osamu: Okay, be safe
(y/n) got up and got dressed. She much prefers to go out when the sun starts to set, but this was okay too. Being friends with Osamu has been a pleasant journey, both of them would always try out new places to eat and consider cooking together to hang out. Ordinary days seem a little bit special when they are together. (y/n) was also close with his twin brother, but they were closer.
She also missed him during the days that passed, this was also the first time seeing him this summer break. They would talk over the phone everyday because Osamu wasn’t keen on going out on a hot summer day as well, it was a surprise that he took the initiative and asked to go out. They’ve been friends for so long, and (y/n) have developed feelings towards him. It was natural for them to hang out platonically, but she still wished it’s a date.
She was waiting at their usual meet up at the train station, a few minutes later she saw him walking towards her direction. She met him halfway and linked her arms with his. Skinship was also a normal thing for them, (y/n) would hook her arm with his and Osamu would lean on her when they were sitting together and resting. 
“Let’s go?” She said, Osamu nodded and they reloaded their transportation cards.
They were having lunch at their favorite local family owned eatery.  They come here often to eat after school to the extent where  the owner knows them. 
The owner greeted them and took them to their usual table.
“How’s summer going for both of you?” The owner asked.
“Not much has happened, mostly staying at home and helping with the chores.” (y/n) answered as Osamu picked out their food. 
“Well, it’s only a week into summer break. I’m sure you’ll plan to go to the beach or something at some point.”
“Yeah. Are you whipping another special menu in the kitchen for the summer?” 
“That’s a secret.” The owner said and winked at them.
“When can we try it, aunty?” Osamu joined in the conversation. 
“Probably next week or so.” She informed them and they promised that they would be back by then to be one of the first people to try it out. Once they’ve placed the orders
“So, what made you want to go out at this hour of the day?” (y/n) asked Osamu.
“Can’t I want to go see you?” 
(y/n) mockingly cooed at his response. “You missed me that much, it made you go out of your house.”
“I could say the same for you.” He retorted. 
Their orders arrived after a few minutes and ate, they planned out what they wanted to do for the summer, knowing that half of it wouldn’t even end up happening. Summer break only lasts for a month before a new semester starts. 
Just as planned, they ordered boba and roamed around and did some window shopping, basically (y/n) dragging Osamu to the stores that she likes. They’d stay longer at a craft store rather than a clothing store, Osamu has to stop her from buying more stationary saying that she only just bought things on their last week of school. 
“But the notebook is really pretty and the paper is smooth.” (y/n) protested. 
“You just bought two new notebooks two weeks ago, and you got around five more notebooks you haven’t used yet.” Osamu wasn’t against her buying it, but he knew that she was saving up for something she wanted to buy for a long time, so he stopped her. 
“Fine, but could I atleast buy this metallic ballpen and a pin?” She asked.
“Alright, that would be it, no more.”
After another hour they decided to go home, (y/n) invited Osamu back in her house to rest for a while as she makes raspberry lemonade to cool off from the heat, they went outside the small backyard of their home and sat down on the patio. 
Osamu prepared two small basins for the both of them to dip their feet in when (y/n) was preparing for the drinks. The hose was near them so that they could change the water when it got warm because of the sun.
In the middle of their conversation Osamu teased (y/n) that it ended up with him being splashed by the water from the hose.
“That was uncalled for.” Osamu said as he wiped down the water from his face.
(y/n) laughed at him as she shrieked in surprise when Osamu tried to grab the hose from her. She quickly stood up with hose still in her hands and aimed it at him. Osamu, being wet already, wasn't afraid anymore of being hit by water again. He charged at her and successfully stole the hose from her and got his revenge. They were chasing each other like cat and mouse with her begging him to stop but Osamu ignored her pleas, eventually (y/n) got a hold of Osamu’s shirt from the back and she tried to maneuver him in order to avoid getting more wet. As a result both of them were soaking wet. They laughed at their current state and a gust of wind blew on them. (y/n) shivered a little as from the unexpected cold breeze of the wind. 
“You should go and change.” Osamu said.
“What about you?”
“Eh, it will dry off.” He shrugged. 
(y/n) went to her room to get change and took an extra towel for Osamu to use. When she got back Osamu’s hair was already dry and it was blowing along with the wind, his back against her. Like the pleasant breeze that blows, she could also feel her heart goes hoo ~.
She shook her head to avoid staring at him. She handed him the towel. As Osamu was drying himself he decided to make fun of her even more, he was nearly dry so she wouldn’t get wet if he hugged her. 
“Osamu!” She screamed when he enveloped her in a hug. She tried to push him off but the warmth he was exuding was relaxing, after a tiring day hanging out with him the hug makes her feel sleepy. It was warm and nice.
“Hey (y/n).” Osamu started, still hugging her. 
“What is it ‘samu?” 
“It’s nice to hug like this, right?” (y/n) hummed in response. “The thing is, I don’t want to ever let go, and I want to hug you like this more than once and longer. But it’s weird to hug like this if we’re friends.”
She looked up at him in confusion and asked, “What are you talking about?”
“Can I take you out? Like you know, more than friends?” She just stared at him, not really processing what he said. Was it only a dream? Or was the heat making her hallucinate? “Don’t leave me hanging here.” Osamu spoke and it broke her trance.
“Wait. Are you really serious?”
“Of course, I am.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? What do you mean by oh? A good oh or a bad oh?”
“Chill for a bit. Let me process everything.” She still couldn’t believe what was happening so she decided to pinch herself and when she felt pain, it really wasn’t a dream. Osamu looked at her disbelievingly, he couldn’t imagine that she thought this wasn’t real. 
“That’s lowkey offensive, you know.” 
“I’m sorry.” (y/n) said sheepishly. “I just couldn’t believe that the guy I like actually likes me back as well. In a more than friends way.” Hearing her statement he couldn’t help but be shocked at her sudden confession. 
“You like me?” He asked, wanting to make sure he heard right.
“Yes, I do. And as much as I would like to stay like this, it’s getting warm now, I don’t wanna get sweaty when I just change my clothes.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.” He said, only tightening his hug on her. He won’t let go of her unless he gets an answer.
“Wasn’t my confession enough?” 
“I wanna directly hear it.”
She rolled her eyes at him and said. “Yes, I would like to go out with you in a more than friends way.” 
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Text
Shoto NSFW Headcannons
I got some fun and naughty headcannons here for our boy, Icy Hot!
I dont even know if anyone was looking for these but Horikoshi made Todoroki such a character.
Is he being a little shit, or is his head empty? Is it both?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Beats me but makes for some fun ideas. I’m half tempted to make a kinkier version of this if anyone is interested. :)
Click read more, only if you’re 18 years or older.
First thing, first, we’re talking about a 20+ year old Shoto here. He’s older now. He knows about sex and, while he isn’t a player, he isn’t exactly shy about it.
He’s actually pretty indifferent about it. At least, when he’s not interested in someone.
But when he’s into you, his thoughts on sex change a bit.
He likes the physical contact of it - of being close to someone he cares about. Of being close to someone who cares about him.
Boy’s more than a tad bit touch starved growing up in the household that he did.
So once Shoto started to touch you a little at the beginning of your relationship, it snowballed into a whole lot. Arms wrapping around your shoulders or your waist, leaning up against you while you’re busy with a task, hand holding, his hand resting on your knee or your thigh when you sit together, resting his head on your lap, the whole deal. And then, of course, sex.
Sex for the first time with you was a lot about Shoto finding your limits and boundaries. He’s seen the aftermath of being shitty to your significant other and he refuses to create a situation like that. He’s always careful with you, and sex is no exception.
Honestly, sex at first is a little too slow. Not boring by any means but, damn, Shoto, could you speed it up a little?
“You can go a little faster.” Your voice was verging on a pathetic whine as Shoto held your legs up in the air, driving each inch of his cock into you - inch by single fucking inch. Feeling that slow stretch in you was absolutely delightful, sure, but those slow ins and outs could only create so much of a build up. After each painfully slow thrust, you started to adapt. You couldn’t be satisfied by this teasing, mot when your body was clamping down and trying to suck him in deeper and deeper. You needed more and you needed it now. And if the way Shoto was throbbing inside of you was any indicator, he did too.
Your words had him pausing, halfway speared into that sopping hole of yours, and eyes of ocean and shadow were locked onto you with a heat so real you almost thought he was using his quirk.
You thought he was going to tip. You were prepared for him to pound into you any second now but he just stayed still, hands sliding over the curve of your bare thighs as he pondered over your words. Did he somehow forget what you were in the middle of? Why was he taking so long?
“Shoto?”
“How fast?” His voice finally broke out in a low octave that had your body automatically clenching. Oh, but that tone of his would be oh-so-better if he was drilling into you already.
“What? Just… faster than what you’re doing,” you assured him, your hips trying to buck back onto him but unable to push past the steel grip he suddenly had on your legs compared to the gentle caressing. And before you could pester further, a tiny cry of a sound escaped you because Shoto had answered your request and was slamming into you with enough force to crash the headboard against the wall. Over and over the sound echoed in the room around you as your body got the onslaught it was craving.  
Your eyes were starting to roll back into your head when you heard him grunting out his next words - “-like this?” One more sharp thrust that drilled right into your center and he paused, letting his head stretch that part deep inside of you with the way he stilled. Your whimper escaped you just as he settled on a new pace that was, once again, much too slow for your needy body. “Or like this?”
“Shoto- just fuck me, already-”
“Be specific, baby.”
The rest of the session went like this too. Best believe he asks a lot of questions, especially in the beginning.
“Want me to go harder, baby? Deeper?"
"Where does it feel good?”
“Want to cum again?”
Hopefully you don’t get shy easy because he’s looking for specifics. He wants to know your boundaries, your limits and how to make you feel so, so good.
He’s going to learn you inside out. What makes you tick. What makes his baby feel better than anything. What makes them crawling back for more.
He’ll make you answer every single one of his questions with your body and your words and you better believe he’ll be fishing for the most erotic answers he can get out of you.
Oh, and if you do get embarrassed from his onslaught of naughty questions?
Good.
You’d never be able to tell from his usual poker face but he absolutely loves getting you flustered.
At some point, he’ll know exactly what your body needs to get off without asking questions. But if he knows if gets you all shy for him, he’ll ask anyway and play dumb.
Ever notice how Shoto lowkey says and does things to get under peoples’ skin? (i.e. almost every interaction he has with Bakugo)
Best believe he’s going to be doing stuff to tease you on the down low all the time.
And the worst part is, you probably won’t even know if he’s teasing you or not.
The whole Todoroki family has a similar theme of making you wonder “are they sarcastic? Or are they clueless?”
Shoto is no exception to this rule and his poker face is spot on.
He’ll tease you in public all the time too.
Wait until after a session of sex when you’re walking around in public a little funny.
“… Are you alright? You’re walking different.”
You won’t know if he’s being serious or if he seriously does not realize the effects of blowing someone’s back out.
He’ll be amused no matter how you react, but don’t worry, he’ll help you wobble yourself to the nearest bench like he’s your hero and not the reason you gait is off.
The bedroom isn’t off limits for his poker face but it’s a little more merciless.
Two digits dance on your tongue as Shoto looks down at you, letting his fingers tease your mouth while his other hand has his length pressing against your opening. “Come on. Tell me where you want this cock. I want to hear it from you.”
You could of glared at him, the way his tip poked against you without ever actually entering. He knew damn well where you wanted it, but he never once seemed any less serious as he repeated his question. The first time he had asked, you declared he knew what you were after and that response had these fingers curled into your mouth as a punishment. And now, even as he continued to prod against you, when you tried to actually answer his question, that’s when his fingers would dip down just enough to get you to muffle your words. Your answer was lost to his touch and an almost sympathetic look was tossed your way as Shoto quirked a brow.
“That’s not an answer.” This time he moved just enough to get his head dipped inside of you and just as quick, he was pulling right back out, leaving you to try and get out more protest through your makeshift voice muffler. That’s when you saw just the tiniest bit of a smile move onto the lips of your lover as he leaned down, lips grazing your ear. “Try saying it again for me?”
Speaking of teasing, Shoto is a brat
I’ll write anyone as a switch, but Shoto is a particularly good bratty dom
Meaning, he’s a dom who will purposely say or do something to get you into a spot that he can take advantage of. (With consent, of course).
He acts up a little to get you to act up.
He’ll let you steal his food but then kiss you because he decided he “changed his mind” and actually, “he’s hungry”
He’s also the type to hide your clothes for a bit and when you end up putting on any of his stuff, he’ll declare he needs it back right that second and he’ll help you get out of it.
All with a completely straight face.
“Shoto, are you serious right now?’
"Why wouldn’t I be? I need that shirt for today. Come here.”
One time, you two had a disagreement and you decided to give him a blow job as an “apology” and he has not let it go.
Obviously, he’d never force you to do something you didn’t want to but now when you say sorry, he’ll jokingly bring it up.
Is he really joking with that poker face though?
“I’m sorry, Shoto.”
“Yeah? Show me then.” *proceeds to motion to crotch*
Don’t worry. He won’t actually make you and he’ll forgive you regardless.
However, if you wanted too, then~
Hes not going to say no.
He likes it when sex is a bit heated and emotion fueled too.
He’s poker faced but very emotional (remember the time when Shoto got upset with his dad then proceeded to freeze half of a stadium?) and whiles he’s gotten better at handling his emotions now that he’s an adult, he still got lots of them, baby!
Is he feeling particularly loving? Then, if you end up having sex that day, expect some real passionate and sweet love making.
Is he irritated? Hard, fast and maybe a little bit rougher than he should be - he tried so hard to keep himself under control but he just got a bit too aggressive.
Feeling competitive? Oh, maybe you used that pretty little “make me” taunt and he is going to do just that. He takes it as a challenge and he has not lost his competitive spirit!
Along with him being competitive, keep in mind that if you give him oral, he’s going to return the favor as best he can and he’s going to try to make you cum more than he did, if possible.
He does have that pro-hero stamina though, so usually? It’s very possible.
Expect jealous sex too!
Shoto honestly didn’t even think he could get jealous but turns out when guys flirt with you, he absolutely does.
He trusts you completely and isn’t ever going to act out against you for it. He knows even if a guy does flirt with you, it’s one sided and you aren’t about to leave him. He won’t do much more in public than maybe wrap his arm around you, call you baby more, try and lowkey get the attention back on him. Nothing too insane.
It’s when you guys get home (or in private in general) when he decided to show up for you - let you know that he knows you better than anyone. He can make you feel better than anyone.
You were all of two whole steps into the door way when Shoto had his hands on your waist and was yanking you into your home, kicking the door behind you and then pinning you against it. Lips crashed down onto yours before you could get in a word and his hands were already trailing up your shirt, grazing over and up your sides. He was kissing you like a man straved and you were the first meal he had seen in weeks.
You tried to squeak out his name, hands tugging at the fabric of his shirt and causing his grip on you to tighten, squeezing at your body once he slipped his hands back doen to the swell of your hips. He was going to leave some finger tip bruises on you if he wasn’t careful, but you had an inkling that making marks was exactly what he was going for. Finally his lips were tugging off yours, but only to venture down your jaw and the column of your throat. “Shoto, whats gotten into you?” You finally manage as heat seeps it way to your skin and you tip your head back against the door.
He was a hero but the way his kisses and nips felt over you was criminal.
“He wanted you, you know.” Shoto spoke out in low vibrations against your skin, referencing the guy who had been flirting with you while you were out earlier. It wasn’t an accusatory tone, but it was spoken more like a simple fact before he tugged away and let his gaze connect with yours.
For a moment, as his eyes searched yours, you were reminded of a small animal that was craving attention; it was like he was asking for it when he looked at you like that. There was an urge to reach out and pet him, to coo sweet nothings and assurance into his ear and you would have, if he wasn’t already sinking down to his knees and you felt heat spike up into your core. “But I don’t want him. I only want you.”
“I know that.” Those puppy dog eyes were gone in the moment as he was knelt in front of you and already undoing the pants you wore with quick finesse. You swallowed slowly, feeling adrenaline kick up in your veins as he tugged them, and you underwear, down and away, his focus unwavering from the goregous sight before him - you. “That just happened to remind me how lucky I am,” his hand slipped over you rear until it tucked just under your thigh and he popped you up onto one leg as he got this one around his shoulder. Your back hit up against the door and you were reaching to grab at his free shoulder to try and gain your balance as best you could. His tongue dragging across you had a shiver ripple through your spine and you swear you could feel a smirk curving onto his lips as he buried his face between your legs.
You definitely heard that deep chuckle he gave, warm breath fanning against your skin. He loved how your body reacted, already trained to his touch, to his tongue. Your mind drifted to that starving kiss he had given you upon entering the door, and you couldn’t help but wonder if you were about to get the same treatment where he was at now. The gleam in his eyes as they darted up to you made you think yes. “Decided I had to show my appreciation.”
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drowninghell · 4 years
Note
Hello!! I read your wedding show game scenario for Kuroo, Ushjima, & Bukuto and i love it!! Plus it was funny and cute at the dame time! I was wondering if you write an oikawa, kenma, akaashi, and tsukishima verison? If you do thank you so much and if not then it's fine but you are a really great author!!
Oh wow , I fell off the face of the earth for a while, again I really appreciate all your support and patience and Aghhhh thankyou for 120 followers, I love all of you <3333333
 Thankyou for the request!!! OMGomgOMG I didn’t know people would like this scenario that much, I thought the shoe game was just an Irish thing, thank you for requesting this! I had fun writing it and again, I apologise for taking so long to write it! I apologise for excluding kenma, I love him but I really struggle to play him correctly :/
 Tsukishima
“Yamaguchi, it’s dumb, I’m not doing it”
“tsukiiii~ it’s your wedding day , stop it”
Your husband grumbled, teeth grit together and brows furrowed as his best man shoved him towards the small gathering of people. Across the room he could see your bridal party had snagged you as well. Pushing you in the same direction. When the crowd parted to let you both through, you spotted two chairs, all laid out with the backs to each other.
After being pushed into your respective seats your husband looked over his shoulder, staring down at you quizzically. “you did this, didn’t you?” there was a snide little smirk on his face which in turn caused you to simply role you eyes.
“I have no idea what you are talking about. “You may or may not have thrown the idea out there to your bridal party.
After you both possessed one of each other’s shoes, the game commenced.
However when I say game? I really mean a ‘let’s roast y/n session.’ Bless, your husband didn’t hold back! He made sure to expose all your little secrets, leaving you a stuttering, stammering mess 99% of the time.
“Who spends the most money?” you looked between the shoes, debating between Kei and yourself, the audience already laughing due to the fact your husband was rather swift to answer. Giving into your conscience, you truthfully held your own shoe up.
At least YOU had the courage to be honest, At least YOU weren’t outing your husband. Quite frankly, you felt attacked and he could see that. Of course that only amplified his absolute need to completely annoy you.
“Who is more responsible?” the look of sheer shock on your face when he hap-hazardly waved your shoe in the air, after sneaking a peak over your shoulder to get an insight of his answer.
“ Kei , come on, that is not true”
He waved a hand and mustered the most sarcastic expression “I never lie” was his quick witted retort; you could already imagine the sly smirk on his face!
“You are lying right to my face, you really are!”
“Well if we are getting technical here I’m actually lying to your back”
When the game actually took affect you both got into your groove, answering truthfully. Awk, bless even Kei attempted to reign in his digs, only shooting some loaded remark every now and then. He even looked to be enjoying himself; he enjoyed seeing your reactions really. How you’d feign shock when the questions exposed a bad habit of your’s or how you’d laugh and jeer at him the minute he was caught out of a lie and had to expose himself.
“Who is the grumpiest in the morning?”
You were quick to throw your husband’s shoe into the air before the question had even finished, following that up with “ more like all day!” the audience found it funny, especially when Tsukishima spun around in his chair, brows furrowed but a sly grin on his features, you could simply imagine the irk mark on his forehead. He slowly held up his own shoe and the look of pure defeat alone on his face had you splitting your sides from laughing.
“Who is the most jealous in a relationship?”
Again, yet ANOTHER chance to get back at him.
You held his shoe up and were actually surprised to see he had already beaten you to it, answering before you. You looked and seen that he held his own shoe up. When you looked up to meet his eyes you seen he was already staring down at you. Amber eyes softening slightly.
“How could I not get jealous though... Look at you.” He murmured it, quietly enough that only you could hear. When the audience made a resounding ‘ awe’ sound. He broke the eye contact and continued with the game; however it took you a little while to get back into the swing of things. Even after all these years, he still has the same effect on you as he did when you first met.
 Oikawa
Your husband was more excited than any child when you asked about the ‘wedding shoe game’ and if you could both do it, he practically squealed in agreement. Even after he married you, he was still questioning about the game. When you were getting your photographs, when the bridal party did your speeches. When you were both waiting for the food to be served. He was worse than a child!
So after you both had your first dance and everyone else had hit the dance floor, he was pestering you again. “Come on, come on y/nnnn~ we can do it now right?” of course this time you gave in and began setting it up. The condition was that Oikawa’s best man, Iwaizumi had to be the person reading out the questions. Aside from you, he’s the only person who can keep your mischievous husband in line.
Before you had even sat down in that chair, Tooru was already sitting, his shoe in his hand ready to give to you, his free hand held out to you.
“hurry up and gimme’ your shoe.”
“ Tooru, I would if you would just let me sit down first.”
“Then sit down.”
The idea to throw your shoe at him then was ever so tempting.
When the game got into full swing, you found yourself enjoying it lot more than you thought you would have.  Of course your husband was loving it but you didn’t expect the game to make you feel all warm and fuzzy, bless oikawa was an absolute gem. The questions were cute too though, so that helped. However, it all turned for the worst when oikawa got offended.
“Who is the hardest to look after when they are sick?”
You answered truthfully, holding his shoe into the air, and that is when all hell broke loose. A gasp broke loose and you spun around in your chair to see your tipsy husband, mouth agape and brows furrowed. “Are you calling me high maintenance?”
This caused you to spin around in your chair, brows furrowed. “No, I just answered truthfully, it’s not my fault you take 3-5 working days to heal; from the flu”
The crowd cooed and giggled, oikawa’s expression just further descended into complete and utter shock. “No, y/n, listen, that was MANFLU it’s different.”
“No it isn’t”
“It is, Google it.”
When a member of the audience did and proved your husband wrong, he took full fledged offence and was adamant that the person in the crowd was ‘just taking your side to be nice.’
The rest of the game your slightly drunk boyfriend kept referencing everything the fact that ‘you thought he was high maintenance.’ He was 100% on the huff. Turning his face away from you every time you tried to look at him, or making that huff noise out his nose when you didn’t acknowledge the fact that ‘he was on the huff’.
“awk, Tooru ,you know that’s not what I meant ?”
Like a child, he spun his head away and moved his shoulder away from your touch. Iwaizumi went ahead with the game, hoping it would stop Oikawa’s little tantrum.
“Who is punching above their own weight?”
Straight away, you put your hand in the air with Oikawa’s shoe in hand. When a chorus of “ awwww” sounded, you looked around and seen Oikawa held your shoe into the air as well. You both busted out laughing and he found himself coming out of his small lived sulk.
 Akaashi
Now, this boy is too lowkey and chill to be worrying about any game, especially on his wedding day. He’ll be too focused on you. He’ll most likely only agree to the little game if he knew you would enjoy it. you were both back to back, he found himself glancing over his shoulder, just to look at you. God you were just so stunning and yet, you were all his.
He blinked and soon realised he had been spacing out, now you sat there with your hand out reached, in your other hand you held out your own shoe. “ kejii- can I have your shoe? Please? “
 When the game got into full swing he actually enjoyed the game, he played along and watched as you got all excited when you both answered the question in sync. How your expression would light up and fall. He was a little bit like a pacifist during the game?
You had a little to drink and anytime a question exposed you, he made sure to explain it in a positive way. To gloss it over and keep you calm, it was like a little talent of his, he could defuse any situation.  He had that easy going, charismatic personality that eased any tension.
Which came in handy. Especially now that he was married to you.
“ listen , kejii, I’m not actually the most dramatic, right?”
“ no listen, you aren’t dramatic at all.”
He really enjoyed the game, most defiantly. However, cool calm Akaashi was indeed flustered.
“ who is the best in bed?”
He was shocked that such a private question was asked in such a public place, in front of his family!  Immediately, his pretty boy face heated up. Pinning around to look at you, only to see you had your hand in the air, holding his shoe.
“y/n, p-put your hand down! Don’t answer that”
“why? Kejii- is your face red?”
“no.”
He spun around in his seat and rubbed at his face, groaning, causing you to spin around in your seat. Slide your arms across his shoulders and down his torso , your chin resting on his collar bone then leaning in to  kiss his cheek.
“ awe, darling, don’t be embarrassed.”
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lizzybeth1986 · 4 years
Text
Quick Thoughts on The White People Waambulance, Chapters 18 and 19
• Sorry this QT is coming out so late, guys. I regret to say my heart wasn't really in this one...and it hasn't been with regards to my QTs for a while. This one might be my last, unless we count me finishing them off for the (not rewritten) Book 1. It's been two years since I began, and the last two books made the process honestly really exhausting.
• I clubbed the two finale chapters together because I really couldn't be bothered to do separate ones for both.
• In fact...I won't be doing any of what I have been doing for my QTs so far. I'll be honest to you: I usually do multiple replays, the last few in tandem with the other routes on YouTube. I go through the scenes one by one. I keep note of differences and variations and carefully choose screenshots that will reflect the gist of the scenes.
But I couldn't be bothered to do any of that this time. I pressed the "continue" and then the "end book" buttons as soon as I finished my first run of those chapters. I'm drained, guys. And I don't think I'll be coming back to the TRH series at least, not even for Liam or Hana or Kiara. Maybe my mind will change by the time the second book comes out (update from present-day Lizzy: no it didn't) but I'm not counting on it. And you'll probably know why by the time this QT ends.
• TW: Discussions on racism, both fandom racism and from within the narrative. The last section of this QT is going to be...pretty heavy, guys.
There's also going to be a lot of anti-Drake, anti-Olivia, anti-Madeleine and anti-Penelope content here, so if you like any of those characters...well, you've been warned.
The ensuing post is going to be LONG, and I know a lot of you have good reasons not to deal with long posts, so here's a tldr:
1. The TRR writing team stick to their weird obsession for jobless whiny white men.
2. Read this book once and you'll feel like you're drowning in an ocean of white tears.
3. WOC continue to get scraps from the writing team, even as they boast of being diverse and inclusive. In fact, they're regularly treated as mere tokens, exotic eye-candy or non-entities, while their behaviour is measured on standards that are very different from their white counterparts (this happens in other books as well).
...okay I wasn't expecting for the tldr to be long too 😅
• Me @ my QTs then:
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Me @ my QTs now:
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• I'll probably be finishing off my TRR Book 1 QT series when I'm a little less burnt out, but for now this is where it ends, I guess.
• So...here is to summarize the last two chapters: Accident happens. LIs mad. Paparazzi sad (but largely get away scot-free). MC and baby safe. At the Council meeting Kiara slam dunks the murderer of Liam's mother with the style and elegance this fandom still refuses to acknowledge her for. The MC is nice to her for like half a second. Last Apple Ball. New clothes for everyone as if they had a Diwali bumper sale the week before or something. Godfrey is somehow responsible for the security (who thought this was a good idea) and seeing the Auvernese Royal Guard outside our doors is SO not-creepy.
We get to see if we impressed our Auvernese and Monterriso allies enough. Bradshaw compliments Kiara for like half a second. Olivia sees the dude from the Q&A session (Jin) at the Ball and (if you pay) you get to see her catch, interrogate and lowkey flirt with him.
Leona and Bianca make it to the ball (where is Bartie Sr. Where are Xinghai and Lorelei. Where is Regina) and this time the narrative makes sure to shoehorn a plot element into their presence here: Leona is there so we can do something about the reveal that she constantly ratted us out to the press for money. ("oh look! Walker Ranch was plot related after all! We have a reason (albeit a flimsy, paper-thin one) to set 9 whole chapters in Texas. Even though we had to literally come up with this bit in the last minute, because really - all we wanted to do as a writing team was nut collectively over Drake Walker")
(I also can't believe that between the time I wrote this line and the time this QT finally came out - they literally found a way to re-fucking-write Book 1 so they could nut collectively over Drake Walker earlier)
• Why were we required to dress down in Texas for these assholes when they couldn't even bother to dig up their Sunday best for this ball??? Oh right, they're Walkers. Hypocrisy runs in the family.
• Good thing is you can choose to banish Leona if you want. She's angry about it for a second then accepts it and leaves. But like what is the point of banishing her when she hardly even bothers to come there in the first place? She's not going to be bawling her eyeballs out saying "boohoo, they threw me out of this country that I spent like five minutes in and never even wanted to visit in the first place".
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• Bianca is present at the end of Chapter 18 mainly to deliver to us a plot point at the very last minute: a clue about where we could find proof about Queen Eleanor's murder. Bianca mentions conversations Jackson had with her, and a secret room somewhere. Her leaving the palace and abandoning her children is addressed, and the MC gets to berate her. It's...short.
• Why this important piece of information was given to Bianca when idk LEO could have pitched in and spoken about it, no one knows. Oh wait. I keep forgetting. Bianca is Drake's mother. That's why.
• Okay so Amalas valiantly found out about Leona's involvement in this and gave us tangible proof via photographs. But we're kiiiinda forgetting that the scrutiny and privacy invasions were happening even before we hauled ass to Walker Ranch? Who was responsible for those? Who was the "source" that the Chapter 17 paparazzo was referring to, the one that mentioned they would triple the price for more photos of the Queen/Mother of the Heir (Coz like why would she do that. She's already broke)? How did Amalas come by this information so easily and why was she really that invested? Why is no one asking these questions? Why isn't the group asking these questions? Why are they stupid. Jesus, they're all so stupid. HOW ARE YOU SO STUPID, SQUAD.
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• Shortly after they get rid of Leona and Bianca, the rest of the group give the happy couple a choice of toys for the nursery - and that's our final nursery purchase. You can either go for the corgi - which is on brand for the series by now I think - or the lion, which is seen as very Cordonian.
• More party shenanigans. We're nice to Kiara for another half-second. Kiara arranges a photoshoot for us. The team can't pretend to give a fuck anymore about its fans so they will ask us to pay for an edit that I've seen millions of edit-creators in the fandom do wayyyy better. Like let's be honest - compare the engagement shoot pics (messy as they were) to the shoots we eventually got this book. You can see the difference. You can tell which one required more work.
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• Anyway, if you choose this scene you wind up going back to the ballroom, dance with your spouse, aaaaand it's time for another diamond option. This time your spouse gives you something you've been craving (mousse parfait for the Liam MC, chocolate chip cookies for the Hana MC, handmade chocolates for the Maxwell MC and a choice between bacon and a veg version of it for the Drake MC. Damn, team TRR. Your favouritism is showing). The couple also writes a letter to the baby that the child can read growing up, in a bit of a parallel to Eleanor's letter to Liam that we see at the end of the chapter.
• After this, Liam reveals he has been pondering over what Bianca said, and wants to find out where they could find that secret room. Cue Liam's own flashback scene for free. Godfrey bringing to Queen the same goblet that the RoE MC found in a flea market in Book 2 for Regina (or perhaps just a similarish one). Liam and Eleanor reciting a rhyme that turns out to have clues for the secret room.
• To give the team credit, they seem to have (finally) put some thought into this. Like this actually feels like Liam's scene. Not one that delivers information about his family but is really about another character. They seem to incorporate all the things Eleanor seemed to be known for - things that were hardly addressed in the books when it came to talk of her. She is shown with a love for books given that books and poetry form an important part of the clues she leaves for Liam. One of the books is about foraging, which is unsurprising considering her love for gardens that was established in Book 1 of TRR.
• So...like...nice job but why was practically everything about Eleanor (including the way she'd stand up to Constantine, her displeasure at the sound of Godfrey and Bartie's names, her nature that Liam not only inherited but also learned) left only for your finale? Why no buildup? Why was I seeing you lot constantly pandering to Drake's family the entire time? Why do I know way, way more about Jackson than I do about Eleanor whose story this WAS? Why is she and her son suddenly getting this burst of attention at the tail end??
• They still manage to push young!Drake into a scene focusing on Liam and Eleanor, so we can see how Eleanor's teaching of how to be a responsible royal began to make inroads into Liam's way of thinking. It's the ultimate irony, that Liam took his mother's advice so much to heart that he lets Drake stay in his home, eat his food, and complain about those dastardly nobles to his heart's content for free.
Poor Eleanor in her grave is like
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• Very fitting, how Constantine's proposal to Eleanor happens in the hedge maze, very much like Liam's first declaration of love in Book 1.
• If you're married to Liam, you get an extra letter that's addressed to Liam's future wife. She clearly knew her days were to be numbered by the time she gave birth to that second child at least.
• Lmao @ how the team somehow managed to remember that Eleanor would have been Leo's stepmother too. He's mentioned a couple of times. They didn't have enough time to develop a sprite for young!Leo but somehow had all the time and resources to make one for young!Savannah who had literally no purpose in Drake's flashback scene? Hmm. Hmm.
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• They somehow manage to find the twin to the RoE MC's gifted goblet that Godfrey gave Eleanor the night she died, and Liam reveals that he's been obsessed with poisons enough to know that it wasn't the drink that was poisoned, it was the cup itself. Everyone is shook.
• Love that extra little detail about Liam's obsession with learning about poisons and how it's a sign of how deeply Eleanor's death affected him. But tell me honestly if you remember this plot point coming up even once before in any significant way. Even during the one time a person is poisoned in the previous book (by the laws of karma, the victim in this instance is Godfrey's only daughter) Liam shows very few signs of this "obsession". At a time when he has also lost a father. Convenient how something that could have added more depth to Liam is kept aside until there's a scene where his knowledge is required. Convenient indeed.
• I kind of understand why Liam acts on impulse, okay. The man just discovered who murdered his mum, at least some amount of irrationality is allowed (esp considering he hardly got to express ANYTHING when his goddamn father died). But you'd think Liam's friends would hold him back and help him think this through? Convince him that there are more effective ways to confront and get a confession out of Godfrey who after is in charge of security at the moment? You seriously think charging into the ballroom and suddenly stripping this man of his titles is going to actually work??? You couldn't figure out how to make him vulnerable instead so that he wouldn't be able to escape???
• I mean like, sure, one could always rationalize it all as "well see Lizzy, they needed a dramatic end to this story and they needed to wrap this mystery up quick". But there were other ways they could have spread it out than make it all sound so...so random. And you bet we all know why the narrative had to scramble around last minute to solve this. It's because we spend half the damn book in a dilapidated ranch with a shit family!
• Anyway, Godfrey escapes...and the MC tells her spouse that she's going into labour after...two contractions? Um. Okay.
• So. That ends Book 1 of this new series. And with it my QTs, for this series at least. My QTs for Book 1 (the OG, not the rewrite) might continue, but I'd need to repeat my failplay again because I lost most of those screenshots 😭
General Thoughts on the Book:
• So far, this is what I can see as happening in the next book:
- The birth, obviously
- Any extra perks from our purchases (ie. the nursery and the garden)
- Subplots involving the LIs' conflicts regarding parenthood and their own childhoods
- The mystery behind Eleanor's death isn't quite over yet, nor is the truth behind the constant paparazzi presence in TRH. Leona was the scapegoat this time around, but how did Amalas get all this information so quickly?
- Where is Eleanor's other child? Olivia's investigations may or may not lead to that answer. I'm pretty sure Jin might be involved as well.
- Another possibility is that Madeleine may give us important information since she was potentially aware that Eleanor was pregnant at the time.
- The mystery behind Jackson's death and what he knew regarding Eleanor's condition.
- What part did Bartie Sr have to play in all this? How involved was Constantine in the murder (if in fact he was)? What more dark secrets will we learn about Constantine, Godfrey and Bartie Sr during this time? What ultimately caused the breakdown in Constantine and Jackson's relationship, since Drake mentions Jackson being around when Regina was Queen as well?
- Speaking of Regina, how involved was she in any of this? We know she was Godfrey's cousin-in-law and Bartie Sr made a comment on her during the announcement about the heir, and that she married Constantine a couple years after Eleanor's death, but was she aware of any of this or was she largely out of the major plot and brought in later to cement Godfrey's position and power?
- I'd mention the possibility that Lorelai could know something, but they didn't really give anyone connected to Hana any time at all, so I have my doubts.
- Operation Swan, and possibly a visit to Monterisso. Liam's younger sibling must be in one of these places but my guess is on Monterisso.
- I'm guessing the team will write a nice wedding for Penelope and Ezekiel next book, while Kiara continues to get scraps from the same team.
- Drake and Olivia will continue to eat into the plot. Madeleine will join this unholy trinity as well because they've set the stage for her to have plenty of angst.
With that over, these were my thoughts once this book was finished:
WHERE ARE THE DUCHESSES?
Remember how, back in Book 3, we all marvelled at the number of women in this country who were in positions of power? Adeleide and Emmeline were powerful duchesses while their husbands were secondary figures, and Joelle though married into a noble family is an influential artist and - according to Liam - the embodiment of King Fabian's values. It seemed like, despite the underlying sexism and racism in the story, women were at least at the forefront of Cordonian politics.
This is virtually gone in TRH1. Godfrey (who wasn't even interested in Krona in the first place, much less Cordonia) and Landon (whose only concern seemed to be Penelope, leaving Emmeline to manage the duchy) have a seat in the Council. In fact we never even see either of these woman in the book. I can maybe understand the logic behind not appointing Adeleide, but the fact that Emmeline is passed over for her far-less -qualified husband is a mystery to me!
Also, has anyone noticed how white-male-centered the whole Eleanor story is? Notice how we never see Eleanor's friends, besides Jackson? We never see any of the courtly ladies of that era? She's the Queen. She'd have her own court. I find it impossible that Eleanor would have no interactions of importance among her own goddamned court, that Joelle, Emmeline or Adeleide wouldn't even be mentioned in her story thus far. It's fascinating that forget being part of her story - these women are largely forgotten in the book itself.
(Note: It's also important to add that none of Kiara's family - besides Zeke - makes an appearance this book. At all. One member of Penelope's family and one member of Madeleine's family is in the council, but we never really see or hear anything from Kiara's, even though Hakim was Constantine's old friend and Joelle could have easily been connected to Eleanor, given that Eleanor was exactly the kind of ruler Joelle would have loved and respected.
While we're on that subject, Lorelai could have been connected to Eleanor as well - considering that we know next to nothing about her years in Shanghai. There were ways Hana's story could have been tied into the overall plot as well that were largely ignored. The fact that both the main and secondary WOCs presented opportunities for better plot and story, and despite that they were largely ignored in the books...I think that says a lot. But I will get into more of that in detail in a different section).
LI SPACE AND STORY
• Now...as we all know, The TRR/TRH series is primarily a romance-focused book first, with an underlying plot about royalty and politics. So it makes sense to evaluate the book based on what it gives its love interests. That includes the number of scenes they get, and the kind of focus their story is given. So...here's the rundown of how that goes in TRH Book 1:
Liam: Overall, not too bad. He gets one individual scene, a free and paywalled childhood scene (though the free one is essential for the group's realization of who killed Eleanor). The letter his mother writes to Liam includes an extra section towards the end, meant for the MC who marries him. However, we must note that a lot of this "attention" was thrust into the very final chapter of this book, and 99% of the same book didn't exactly make an attempt to explore his inner thoughts on anything - his mother's death, the dealings with the foreign countries, his political activities. Eleanor being pregnant came from a scene that made Olivia the center of attention, the MC had the opportunity to ask him how he was feeling only once or twice, and most of the time the narrative relegated it all to "the matter is still being investigated". It's a slight improvement from the absolute lack of concern the MC and the narrative showed about Liam's emotional state post his father's death in Book 3, but not much.
Variations wise, the team did step up on the basic ones for most of the LIs, so clearly we've moved past the days of seeing cut-paste scenes and the likes of Liam and Hana saying "I'm so dumb in love with you". However, in playthroughs where the MC is Liam's wife and Queen of Cordonia, her lack of genuine concern for her country and lack of curiosity about the place she's ruling, sticks out like a sore thumb. The fandom loves to highlight how the plot is "written for Liam" or is "easier in Liam's playthrough", but besides his own child being the heir, nothing else from Book 3 onwards seems like it was particularly written with him in mind.
Drake: Hoo boy. So 2019 was clearly the year that many people didn't believe me about Drake eating up space, and the year they had to eat their words because in TRH it was too obvious to be ignored. On an overall scale you cannot avoid the extra perks even his LI scenes got - his Valtoria scene in Chapter 4 was longer, set in a different place and he was allowed to expand on his decision to say yes to Liam's request in a way Hana and Maxwell never were. We learned way more about his familial relationships and dynamics than all the LIs combined. His childhood scene was the first to be given variants depending on whether the MC was his wife or not. His sister's wedding takes up almost half the book, leaving little to no space for either the intrigue, or even the pregnancy that was supposed to be THE most important part of the book.
An insane amount of retconning was done to emphasize strongly on the "marshmallow" part of his personality, having him state time and again that for the MC he can even "sport a tutu if you said you had a thing for the Sugar Fairy". Part of these changes could be attributed to the backlash the team got for having him call a pink cake "girly".
There is a strong possibility that Jackson might be explored further in the second book, and it's no surprise considering that he's the one parent that is most talked about in the series. The book looks like it was truly written with Drake in mind, with a heavy dose of Olivia, and everyone else was added as a bit of an afterthought.
Maxwell: Pretty awful treatment for a character that the head writer of the team claims to like. He has no individual character scenes, and one childhood scene where his older brother Bertrand is given more focus. Ironically, Maxwell was more wary of Bartie Sr in TRR Book 2 than Bertrand was, but somehow they changed this little detail so that Maxwell could be written out of his own story.
His LI scenes were also not given much effort - some were badly written, and some scenes (like the free ones) showed little to no variations between the friendly and romantic playthroughs. One that comes to mind is the baby announcement photoshoot, which was so poorly done it added nothing of value to the character or the relationship.
Like the last book, Maxwell isn't allowed much development in TRH1, and he's still forced into a largely "court jester" role in the story. This reflects very poorly on him in certain situations, such as the chapter where we finally get glimpses of his book. The aim was to be humourous and light about the events of the series, but he comes out of it sounding thoroughly insensitive towards his friends, none of whose consent he took to write this self-centered pile of garbage.
However, there is hope that they might do things a bit better for him next book, if the rewrite of him in TRR 2.0 was anything to go by. However, it would be awful if they tried to do a better job of him and then left out Hana. Speaking of which...
Hana: I'm going to begin this section with a comparison to another character, someone who should have been treated as a secondary character - Olivia.
Olivia in this book has 2 character scenes (they're very plot driven, but they also explore her outside of her friendship with the MC and dynamic with the group). The spy scene with Auvernese royalty, and the scene with Jin, the Auvernese spy. An entire chapter is spent in her duchy (by now we've seen Lythikos four times and I'm now sick of the place), and she winds up taking over Maxwell's Q&A scene as well.
So that's technically 2.5 scenes AND a childhood scene that revolves around her even though it's about Liam's mother. In addition to this, Olivia also gets her own mini-book, The Royal Holiday, that revolves (again) around her duchy and has the group clamouring to give her attention when no one else wants to.
Here are the stats for Hana, who by virtue of being an LI, is also a potential co-protagonist in the series:
Nothing.
Zilch. Zip. Zero. Nada. Nothing.
She has one childhood scene that is part of the group's scenes - a beautiful, heartbreaking one that serves as a slap in the face to anyone who'd dared to be dismissive of what she went through earlier - but none after that, and no individual scenes either. The team - in one of their most offensive choices this book - force a storyline where she has fertility issues just so the MC can be the one carrying the child, and the same MC can opt(!!) to ask about her well-being after two days. The same MC has the chance to whine about not getting pregnant soon enough in front of Hana.
There have been a few efforts made to make the MC appear more caring towards Hana: she can angrily defend Hana against Isabella's jibes, and she can make Hana relax for once during the baby shower (unlike the wedding reception where the same MC treated her like a bridesmaid). The MC even gets to tell her wife that she should never consider herself secondary or unimportant.
All of these are nice, but at the end of the day they're all scraps. I'd equate it to how we're allowed to give Kiara compliments on the final two chapters, but the white women around her still get a far bigger chunk of space, story and attention dedicated to them. The team have a pattern of adding these tiny tidbits that will temporarily satisfy stans while still maintaining the status quo, and that's precisely what's happening here. Its important for us to understand this. Underneath all this surface concern and all these scraps, Hana is still getting dust in place of actual story and characterization. And given that they made ZERO major changes to Hana's scenes in TRR 2.0, I'm not expecting that to change.
As for the book in general...I don't have to go into why this book is a mess, do I? We all know. We've all witnessed how disproportionate the writing has been and while I'm glad more and more people recognize what I've been seeing since Book 3, it's sad that it took 9 whole chapters in Walker Ranch for so many to understand exactly how much space Drake has been eating up for no good reason.
BLACK HOLES AND WHITE TEARS
I'll begin this section by talking about Drake Walker. He's the most prominent sign of the larger problem.
Drake Walker is what I call a Black Hole LI. And yes I mean black hole as in the one that exists in space (Beckett from TE also fits into this category). He is the kind of LI that sucks up everything. Love. Light. Joy. Common sense. Other characters' spaces.
He is the kind of love interest that will have Liam's traumatic experience centered around him. The kind of love interest for whose problems - largely created by his mammoth ego - we have to resolve in Shanghai, the home of the lone female LI. While that same female LI gets nothing, and then disappears in a subsequent chapter. The kind of love interest whose love confession can take precedence even over the MC's own issues (remember the Beaumont House chapter in Book 1? The one that took place the day after Tariq nonconsensually kissed the MC? 98% of the dialogue revolved around Drake's feelings. Not about the faulty lock, not the possibility that the MC's security had been tampered with - Drake's feelings). The kind of love interest that was given an entire extra wedding and artwork for his mother in Book 3 itself - none of which were given to any other LI.
A Black Hole LI is totally the kind of LI that would get 9 whole chapters in their home while we have never even visited the homes of the others since the early books of the previous series.
This wasn't something that began just this book. It's been a constant since Book 2, and you can even see signs of his story gaining way more importance in Book 1. It's also not something we can - in all honesty - blame simply on finances and fan popularity: the writers confirmed Drake to be one of their favourites, and attempts to give his scenes additional perks (eg plot elements pushed into both the Whiskey scene and the Beaumont Office scene) happened long before they could make any conclusions about his popularity. I bought the Beaumont Office scene to find out more about that family. I bought the Marshmallow scene so I could find out more about Liam and Hana's conversation post Coronation (remember - Hana was never even allowed to speak about her return to Cordonia because that scene was given to Drake). I bought the Italian Restaurant scene to learn more about Liam's assassination. The funny thing about all these three is that these were their stories to tell, yet Drake is the focus. Quite a few of Drake's initial scenes sold because the team consistently made the effort, consistently ensured that the information from his scenes would benefit us in the long run. The narrative allowed for Drake to have his own story, and additionally let aspects of his story overshadow that of the other LIs' (see the examples I've given above). Even though he has very little of value to contribute to the larger story (no job, his friendships are shallower than a wash-basin, and no genuine communication with any commoner in the story - only endless whining).
The treatment Drake gets that no other LI does, is a problem in itself, but it also is a small part of an even bigger issue. He isn't the only white character who gets this sort of attention and detail to his story.
Take Olivia, for example. Started out as a rival to the MC, before her sad sad childhood and her genuine love for Liam was revealed in the Book 1 finale. Over the course of the story, her role changed from petty rival to Warrior Duchess to reluctant bff. Over the course of the original series, Olivia became one of the most prominent characters in the story, on par with the male LIs. I'm not sure how many people realize that Lythikos is the ONLY duchy in the kingdom we've seen thrice (four times if you count Holiday). To give you an idea of how big a deal that is, here's how many times we've visited other duchies besides the capital and Applewood:
Fydelia - 2
Portavira - 1
Castelserraillian - 1
Ramsford (the home of our sponsors!) - 1
Hana's mother's home - Never.
Lythikos has a detailed familial and cultural history, and I wouldn't be lying if I said we know more about this one region than we know about the entire country of Cordonia. And honestly for me, the obsession with this one duchy has reached saturation point. Lythikos is not Cordonia. Lythikos is not all there is to Cordonia or even the only place that should matter. Yet it seems the team is more than eager to flog that horse until there's nothing of interest left.
Olivia is the only character who gets an entire mini book that revolves around comforting her and making her feel better about her background and origins. I don't think we've ever given Hana this much attention when she left her home for us. Or when she was being bullied by Madeleine. Or when she was the other bride in that grand wedding. Or when we received the news that carrying a child to term would be dangerous for her body. Or --
We were given an entire mini-book to comfort Olivia - the woman who continued to call Hana "damaged goods" and " a failure" for not marrying a man, while Hana's friend/wife stood by and watched. The woman who didn't have to think twice before making snide remarks about an equally skilled courtier who never did her any harm, only because she could get away with it. Istg when I heard that most of the court snubbed her during that first event in Holiday, this was my reaction:
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Like girl I feel bad for you but at least now you know how it feels to be held responsible for shit beyond your control!
Hana, in the meantime, is forced time and again into situations that would break most people - but with very little payoff. Her arc with her parents was given a resolution that confirmed that Hana could only be considered worthy if she was useful. She was made to interact time and again with the woman who harmed her with such glee in Book 2. The MC - as a friend or as a wife - is at best neglectful of her issues and at worst someone who uses and discards Hana as she sees fit. And now...in her romantic playthrough she's given a storyline that doesn't allow her to bear children easily, and the MC spends less than two minutes to actually check on her. Hana is one of the co-protagonists, yet a side character given the treatment she should be getting. One could technically blame finances for the way she's being treated too, but keep in mind that the bad treatment goes as far back as the Applewood chapters in Book 1. Technically a time when she was bringing in money.
I get it. Olivia is a fan favourite. Many in the fandom wanted her to be an LI, the writers didn't, so they carved out this middle path where she'd have a major portion of the story anyway. But keep in mind that a lot of this attention came - and is still coming - at the cost of Hana. The team pretty much gave Olivia what they'd been refusing to give Hana all along.
On a smaller scale, you see similar patterns with the secondary characters - especially the women of the court. Madeleine and Penelope had elaborate backstories designed to make people forgive and sympathize with them, and Kiara - even though her backstory in Book 1 was inherently tragic and deserved to be handled sensitively - was given validation with great reluctance from the team, and with no consequences if we treated her cruelly. Even now, the team has only tossed Kiara a couple of scraps in the final chapter, while already setting the stage for Madeleine to get her own tragic "patriotism" arc for TRH Book 2, and a possible wedding for Penelope in the near future.
The difference here doesn't just lie in who gets attention and who doesn't. It lies in how the MC is supposed to view these women as well. A lot more sympathy and understanding is automatically extended to the white women, and the MC faces consequences if she fails to acknowledge their pain. Far less sympathy is offered by default to the black and the Asian woman - the MC may be friends with Hana but a huge chunk of their relationship is mostly about the MC benefiting from Hana's skills without giving much in return.
Even though their misdeeds are acknowledged and spoken about, both Madeleine and Penelope are written in such a way that the problems they're currently facing matter more than anything they've ever done in the past. Hana is made to sweet-talk Madeleine despite being bullied by her in a previous book. The MC herself never gets ANY opportunity to directly address what Penelope put her through in Portavira, because what the MC went through matters less than Penelope's condition.
Compare this to the relatively small scale of Kiara's "misdeed" (being honest about not continuing with an alliance - I'm surprised people think this is an actual thing to be offended about!), and the way the MC is allowed to mistreat her sans consequences afterwards. We're even allowed to call Kiara a snob in the books - which isn't at all true if you look at any of her scenes in canon - and constantly make fun of her desire to learn (in fact, if anyone in the series could be called a snob, it would be Olivia). If I were to sum up how a woman of colour is spoken about in the books, vs a white woman - this screenshot would do the trick:
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(Notice how none of the options to speak about Penelope allow us to speak rudely of her, yet in Kiara's case we're allowed to make judgements on her as a person. In Hana's case, while we don't exactly drag her the way we can drag Kiara - we get precious few opportunities to actually defend or support her when others talk rubbish about her).
When you explore the series overall, it's impossible to ignore the casual racism that makes disrespecting people of a certain race/colour easier than on another. It's impossible not to see where the narrative chooses to give consequences to an MC who treats a white woman badly, and where it allows the very same MC to suspect, and then (optionally) gaslight, a woman of colour a couple chapters later. It's impossible not to see which people are meant to be respected despite their bad behaviour, and which people can still be treated badly despite their better behaviour. It's impossible not to see a pattern emerging.
This is not even a problem that plagues only the TRR series. From TCaTF to ACOR to Platinum to even MoTY, there is an ongoing pattern of discrepancies between the way white people and people of colour - particularly women - are treated. Many POC characters are placed in situations where it's easier for them to suffer/die/be shown disrespect, than it is to show them kindness or mercy. MOC are regularly either exoticized (Prince Hamid is the most glaring example of this) or placed in very traumatic situations for which the payoff isn't always going to be that great (I know this happens to Dallas, but I don't know about the payoff for Syphax).
WOC particularly suffer quite a bit in a lot of PB novels, in comparison to their white counterparts. Rowan Thorne of TCaTF, as a character, didn't deserve for her death to be made easier than her survival (in contrast to Diavolos, who was given far more opportunities AND will live simply by virtue of allying with Kenna), any more than Kiara deserved to be interrogated by the people who should have been concerned for her safety or Xanthe deserved to be shipped to slavery. All this, while a Vanessa (who is in a position of power and who plays an active role in rendering the MOTY MC financially helpless) gets a diamond scene where she "explains" her situation and a Madeleine doesn't even have to hear about her bullying from her victims.
The fandom, too, has contributed to this on a number of occasions. Speaking specifically of TRR, how many times have we seen Hana being dragged on Olivia posts? (also, if we were really measuring Olivia by the impossible standards that we held for Hana's characterization, Olivia would appear pretty damn one-note too: after all, 80% of her characterization consists of knife jokes). How many times was Hana being looked at with disdain for either her niceness or the poor writing for her, while the same fandom would regularly coo over a nice-presenting Penelope (whose characterization is one of the most inconsistent in the series)? How many times have we seen Kiara being called a creep/obsessed for merely looking at a man, while almost no one judges Olivia for kissing a man without his consent? How many times have people forgiven a traitorous Penelope and hated on a far more innocent Kiara in the same breath? How often did the fandom hate on Liam for accepting the MC's advances after she rejected him, yet not say a word when Drake did the same thing? How many times has Maxwell been loved for his humour and childlike nature while people of colour with a similar personality (Lily from Bloodbound, for example) were hated on instantly? Clearly, there have been more instances of people in the fandom sympathizing automatically with the white character, than with characters of colour. Time and again, brown and black characters - particularly women - have been required to match up to impossible standards (if they're nice they're boring. If they don't like the MC they're <insert every gendered sexist insult you can think of here>). The standards are far more relaxed for white characters, and they're often given more breathing room and to most of what they want without the constant judgement that black and brown women get. The standards set up for both are grossly different.
Racism is a beast that assumes many forms - and not all forms of racism will appear obvious to some, especially when such stereotypes are so normalized in media and popular fiction that we almost accept it at first. Almost. To get to the root of why there's such an imbalance in this series - among others - we need to first acknowledge the sexism and racism that are such a vital part of its narrative, and that its fandom regularly buys into and (sometimes unwittingly) promotes.
At this point, it's important to understand that having queer characters or characters of colour simply exist in the books isn't enough. Token rep can be found in PB's books by the dozens, but at the end of the day it means nothing if there is a constant reluctance, over and over and over, to treat those characters with the same care and sensitivity that they treat their white ones (or their "exoticized brown" ones).
• Like I mentioned earlier, I won't be playing TRH from this point forward, but I do hope to finish my TRR QTs soon. I have a LOT of thoughts! If you'd like to be tagged on those, do tell me!
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fictionaldemon · 4 years
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Into the Unknown
So I know previously I made a little Bakugou x OC short. Now I’m going to write her into the story of My Hero Academia. 
OC: Koiki Inagaki but likes to be called Koi Hair Color: Dark Navy Blue Eye Color: Orange  Quirk: Darkness Solidification and Umbrageous  (Not different than what i originally wrote but now I have actual names for them) Episode 1
When Koi was 5 years old she moved across the country to live with her grandparents. Her parents were villains and when they had gotten into deep trouble she left the comfort of what she knew to live in a tiny apartment with adults she barely knows. This adjustment wasn’t the easiest especially when her quirk was slowly becoming more apparent.
Over time she became accustomed to her grandparents. Her grandmother’s kindness and patience when Koi would be in a mood to her grandfather’s ability to make her laugh with his silly antics even though his face was always stoic. For the first time in her short life spam of existing she had a real family that put her needs first and cared. 
Around the time when they felt that she would be ready to go to school she was introduced to Izuku Midoriya, the shy boy that lived across the hall with his mother. She had seen him a few times around their apartment but never attempted to interact with him. Her grandmother invited their neighbors over for tea in hopes that Koi would have at least one friend when she went off to school. 
Needless to say there was nothing to worry about. They became fast friends and attached to the hip. Koi learned that the boy didn’t have a quirk of his own. She confessed she wished she didn’t have her quirk as her parents weren’t very nice people. From that day on they promised to help each other be the best heroes that they could be when they were older. 
When they went to school the next day, Koi was nervous to say the least but all worries washed away when her new friend reassured her that school will be great and that she will meet his close friend, Katsuki. 
When she first met this close friend, she wasn’t sure how to feel about him. He bragged about his quirk all the time and Izuku just hyped him up even more. When recess was happening she went to go play catch with her new friend but the spiky blond was not about it. 
“Sorry, you can’t play.” He stopped her on her tracks. 
“Well why not? I want to play with my friend Izuku.”
“Well Deku is playing with us, and we don’t play with girls, They’re lame.” He stated simply. 
“Kacchan, she’s really nice and can play with us.” Izuku defended at the same time as Koi muttered “Your quirk is lame.” 
Katsuki just stared at disbelief that this girl just insulted his amazing quirk. “My quirk is the best of the best!” Koi shrugged at his comment not really meeting his eyes. “I’ve seen better.” Izuku was lowkey having a panic attack as his current and new friend were fighting and he was unsure what to do. 
“That’s it, you’re going to play with us so you can see how strong and amazing I am!” He barked out angrily as he tossed the ball to Koi. She caught the ball surprised but then smiled at her tiny victory and tossed the ball to Izuku. 
Since that day, Koi and Katsuki would tolerate each other for Izuku’s sake until they actually got over their childish antics and actually became friends. 
----Years Later---
Koi sat day dreaming out the window as her teacher was making his final remarks about our time at Aldera Junior High. She gazed over when everyone got rowdy with excitement over becoming future heroes. She gazed over to her best friend Izuku who sadly raised his hand about the hero track. She knew it was difficult for him having big ambitions even though he was quirkless. 
“Hey teach! Don’t let me in with this buncha losers. I’m the real deal,, but these guys’ll be lucky to end up as sidekicks to some busted D-Lister.” Katsuki confidently stated which caused the class to break into angry chaos telling him off. 
Izuku and I just looked at each other and playfully rolled our eyes knowing how overly cocky our friend can be at times. Didn’t help either that the teacher was boosting his ego more over his amazing test results. “That’s exactly why it’s the only place worthy of me, I aced all the mock tests. I’m the only one at this school who stands a chance at getting in, besides my best girl of course as a close second.” He jumps up on the desk ranting on how great he will become. I used my power to smack a square of shadow over his mouth as duck tape annoyed and the force pushed him on his ass back into his seat. “I’m so glad your big ego even considered me as an after thought.” I grumbled out. He glared over at me once the shadow disappeared off him and Izuku was sweating that we might break out into a fight in the middle of the classroom. 
“Oh yeah, Midoriya, don’t you wanna to to UA too?” the teacher questioned. Katsuki was stunned into another dimension as the class broke out into laughter tormenting my poor friend into defending his dreams from being crushed.
Of course that just boosted Katsuki to jump into action and taunting him even more against the wall. “You’re even worse than these damn rejects, you quirkless wannabe. You really think they would let you in when they could have me?” alright enough was enough. I jumped in the middle of the two boys and created a shield between me and the hot head.”That’s enough!” I yelled while Izuku was rambling to defend himself. “You’d never be able to hang with the best of the best. You’d die in the exams! You even need my girlfriend to defend you right here!” “We all have the right to try at the entrance exams and do our best. Worry about yourself Katsuki and move on!” I barked out and glared at him as my eyes glowed completely orange as my emotions were flaring. The bell finally rang for class dismissal. Katsuki scoffed and grabbed his stuff before walking angrily out with the rest of the class. 
I finally calmed down and sighed. “What am I going to do with that kid? Hey, are you ok?” I asked as i offered a hand for Izuku to stand up. “You didn’t have to jump in like that... I don’t want you to have problems later.” He said sadly as he went to his desk to collect his things. “That idiot needed to be dropped down a peg or two. He’ll get over himself. Besides i meant what I said, you have every right to take the exam like everyone.” I smiled confidently his way as I slipped my backpack on. He smiled back. “Thanks.” As we walked out to the entrance of our school I could see Katsuki leaning against a tree waiting for me. I said my goodbyes to Izuku sharing i’d see him later at our apartment complex and walked over to the tree. 
“Are you ok?” Katsuki asked not really looking at me. “Besides that my boyfriend was making a scene in the classroom and being embarrassing, not too bad.” I smirked crossing my arms. “Have you calmed down now?”
 He sighed looking at me. “Not sure why you’re giving him false hope. You know he won’t make it.” 
“I have every faith that he can do anything that he puts his mind too. Besides we made a promise to be the best heroes we can possibly be.”
“What about me?”
“What about you? I don’t worry about you.” I commented. He frowned a bit at that. I quickly gave him a peck on the cheek. “You are already so great and perfect, I have no doubt in my mind that you will succeed. So don’t you worry your pretty head about it.” I grinned. 
He playfully smirked, happy with my response. “So lucky to have the best girl around that supports me.” He grabbed my hand and lead us off the school premises. “I’ll buy you some ice cream before i drop you off at your house, as an apology for being a jerk.” “Hell yes!”
Word Count:1,336
Hope you all enjoyed my first chapter. Next chapter will more than likely skip into the entrance exams, unless you want Koi to learn how Izuku got his powers? Let me know your thoughts. If you’re also a writer and have any advise, I am all ears to suggestions! Thanks! <3 
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minty-minmin · 5 years
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"-and yeah..thats all i wanted to tell you... i'm so sorryy,i just..i don't wanna hurt you anymore"
you mumbled, slightly intoxicated as you kept looking down at your hands while biting the inside of your cheek.
Yoongi was sitting infront of you with a concerned look on his face, he placed his hand right on top of yours trying to calm you down while listening to what you had to say.
"hey...don't worry...i'm fine"
the young man finally spoke up and put two fingers underneath your chin to make look up.
"Y/n look at me...i will always love you..no matter how your desicion is okay?"
your expression saddened the more you let his words sink in, tears already forming as you nodded slowly in response.
"You want to stay friends? thats fine"  he shrugged with a light smile
"...i'm really sorry Yn...i never wanted to pressure nor confuse you, i was just hoping that i could maybe change your mind and make you fall in love with me, but i realized that it was kind of selfish-...
i had put you in a lot of pressure..and thats the last thing i wanted, so i made the decision to let go and hopefully stay your best friend..if you let me"
He was hurt no doubt, you could see it in his eyes; but he still kept his soft smile, trying to assure you that everything is going to be fine; before pulling you into a tight hug.
"can we please stay best friends? i promise I won't make it awkward..i really don't want to lose you" you heard him mumble into your hair which made you burst into more tears, dropping down on Yoongis leather jacket.
You eventually answered your friend with a small "of course" in between your sobbing.
Both of you stayed like this for quite some time before you heard a familiar voice calling your name.
Yoongi broke the hug and gave you one last smile before standing up from his seat
"Your ride is here" he said, looking behind you.
You furrowed your brows and turned around only to see Hoseok standing right in front of you
"Hoseok? wait what are you doi-?" 
"I..i need to talk to you, Yoongi told me you guys would be here"
You looked over to Yoongi with a questioning look on your face but he just nodded in Hoseoks direction.
"well i guess my work here is done" 
your friend added, patting your head lightly before exiting the bar.
"so uh..what exactly do you want to talk about?"
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[Metanoia]
Part 23-bootylicious
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Hoseok x reader
[social media au]
[Summery: Jung Hoseok has been a single dad for about 3 years now, his life as a part time dance teacher and full time dad took most of his private life and with that also his faith of falling in love ever again. Y/n on the other hand has other problems; she's a struggling Photographer/Barista and has always been the black sheep of her family due to her mothers high expectations regarding her love life and the strong comparison to her (already married) siblings. So to sum it all up- life isn't going the way any of these two wanted it to be...however there's always a possibility that turns something bad, into something wonderful right?]
a/n: I'm so sorry this took so long/sucks lmao😅i didnt have much time for the writing part 😪 but i still hope you lowkey(?) enjoyed it idek🙂
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beybladeimagines · 4 years
Note
I loved your recent headcanon of the team in their early 20s, thank you so much for that! I have a question Regarding hiwatari corp, I'm currently reading the manga beyblade rising, I'm confused, Kai's parents have been around all along? Voltaire isn't as evil as we thought? Maybe I'm being dim, but are you able to explain what hiwatari corp actually seems to do? And info regarding Kai's parents? I always thought voltaire was evil, so I'm confused why Kai would work for him. It's been years!
Mod Note: Yeah, when the manga revealed that Kai actually has a pretty decent connection with his family, I disassociated for like five minutes, because that lowkey makes no sense and contradicts so much of what we’ve seen. Let’s try to make some sense out of the chaos, shall we?
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Let’s start with Hiwatari Enterprise. For the longest time, it’s remained a mystery. I’ve had to do some digging around to figure out what exactly it is. From what I’ve seen based on popular discussion, it’s apparently assumed to be a Japanese military company. But, if you ask me where in the manga it states that… I have absolutely no idea. Even “military company” is rather vague, because that could mean anything. Do they make steel, weapons, chemicals, electronics, etc.? I’m just going to weave together my thoughts.
So, let’s entertain the idea that it is a military company. I would argue that makes a lot of sense, because it explains the whole dynamic between Voltaire and Boris, Boris’ quest for domination, the entire existence of the Abbey, and the militarization and resocialization of young boys to become soldiers. Voltaire may not be serving in the military, but because he often engages with military officials through meetings and deals, he’s already familiar with the process of establishing order, of breaking people down, and of calling the shots from behind the scenes. As for what Voltaire’s company actually makes, I would like to venture a guess that it deals in electronics / devices. This would explain the massive amount of training resources that were found at the Abbey and that many of the boys were subjected to. Hell, I’d even argue that some of those boys were testing out Hiwatari Enterprise’s devices before they were deemed safe for use or even safe for the public. They were actual guinea pigs in a multitude of ways.
Fast forward to when Voltaire gets arrested and Boris manages to escape punishment. Even though Voltaire wasn’t really…doing anything, because of his connections with the military, I imagine his detainment was prioritized. Many would probably argue that Boris was simply “following orders” but in reality, law enforcement would most likely prioritize the man who is literally responsible for making devices for the military (due to that insane amount of prestige) instead of the man who did the physical, mental, and emotional abuse all at once. Gotta love the law’s priorities. 
Now, let’s talk about Kai. Why would he work for him? In a world where Voltaire apparently isn’t arressted, why would Kai go back to his abuser? We’ve got a couple different routes we can go here. Let’s say we’re following the anime’s canon. Here, Kai isn’t working for his grandfather; rather, he full on replaces him. The reason I argue that Kai would return to the company is because he knows that that’s where all of his trauma started. Kai is interested in dismantling the very thing that broke him in the first place. It’s as if he’s stepping back in time and getting a chance to start all over again. He gets to be the one in a position of power and he gets to put things back on track without involving blading. He feels as if he’s righting all of the wrongs he was exposed to. It’s not like Kai really even cares about the business aspect of things, but I do believe he wants to be seen as a real leader by others.
Now, let’s conceptualize the mess that is the manga’s canon. If Voltaire is still around and Kai decides to work for him, I imagine it’s because he wants to distance himself from the Bladebreakers. Kai had essentially embarrassed himself a multitude of times through his acts of betrayal. If we’re conceptualizing things with a dark twist, I’d say this act serves as the last chance for him to regain control or dominance, or to finally be seen as the best. I imagine that the longer someone is around a being as manipulative as Voltaire, they start to embrace the same problematic qualities and justify their desire for destruction. In Kai’s case, maybe he wasn’t so willing? Maybe it’s a case of manipulation. Or, maybe he’s just trying to keep the family together and stable (financially, maybe?) so he decides to do something he wouldn’t normally agree to. 
In this case, I’m going to let ya’ll decide what you want to believe, because it really does depend on the canon you choose to follow and how much you want to focus on the grim reality that is Kai’s life. 
Yo, but let’s talk about Kai’s parents, because they’re confusing too. I wrote headcanons before about Kai’s mom. Essentially, when Kai decided to be as hateful as Voltaire it tore her apart, and yet, we don’t see her standing up to Voltaire when he was telling Kai about how his dad chose blading over him. But, I imagine that moment was confusing and hard for anyone. Her husband just stood up to his father, but his father has made their life pretty stable, but his father is also imposing a problematic rhetoric onto her son, but also…you have no idea where the hell your own husband is even going and what he plans on doing. I imagine she regrets that day and it’s the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up every morning. 
As for Kai’s dad, well… Kai has a hard time swallowing his pride and I believe he gets that from his dad. I think his dad knew he contributed to fucking up his own son’s life by not making many attempts to clear the air. But because so much time has passed, he has no idea if he should even bring the trauma up or act like everything is fine. I imagine he tries to act like everything’s fine and tries his best to win Kai’s affections. He pops back into Kai’s life rather unexpectedly, but Kai is ready to forgive him. He got the truth and although Kai struggles to understand and truly come terms with said truth, I think he just wants his family back, because lord knows his friendships aren’t stable. It takes a while for Kai’s father to actually address their past, but I think everyone in that household is just ready to be a family again. They have missed so many years together. Kai is so fucking tired of being bitter. This doesn’t even involve blading or being the best. This involves having someone to come home to, this involves unconditional love, this involves receiving a form of support that is absent of jealousy. He needs family now more than ever and I think everyone is determined to rebuild as well.
As for Voltaire being portrayed as the strict grandpa that’s suddenly welcomed back into the family, I-… I don’t get it. It’s completely out of character. I mean, my goodness. This entire time we thought Kai didn’t have a family or if we thought that he did, we assumed they were abusive or something… Now that we found out they actually love one another, I can explain that - easy peasy. But Voltaire being reintegrated into the family picture? And not arrested? You got me fucked up. I can’t even conceptualize a rational justification for that nonsense other than they rewrote the canon and in that canon, apparently Voltaire did nothing wrong. I might need some time to think that part through, anon. But I hope everything else made a hell of a lot more sense!
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