#my bitchy little thoughts are my business not theirs

[bogunicorn]

Being shady in public about people's custom characters in games unprovoked is and was Loser Shit. People post about their PCs because they're having fun. It's not, like, systemically harmful or anything to bag on bland or ugly OCs, nobody's identity is being attacked or anything, obviously, but something can be shitty loser behavior without being bigoted, you know? Becky making a white girl elf with pink hair and a weirdly modded face isn't harming anyone or anything, and if Becky is acting shitty and running her mouth about how much better her OC is than someone else's, her OC is not the thing causing that issue, her stinky attitude is.

Like, man, when people make custom characters, they're just vibing. It's not for you, and nobody's OC is "adding representation" or "taking representation away" in fandom. Your social obligations are how you treat other human beings, not in making custom characters for literally anybody's sake but your own. No other person in fandom "benefits" if I as a white person make a non-white OC and post pictures of them or if I romanced a relatively unpopular character, I didn't do anything with that. I also didn't do anything by making white characters or romancing a popular love interest character, either.

I am all here for harmlessly clowning, especially if it's clowning on some nonsense. But I think fandom also needs to examine why they're so overly invested in what kinds of PCs that strangers on the internet make in their video games, and why they feel the need to feed into some narrative about competition over, like, elves and dwarves and shit.

You're not ~sticking it to the man~ when you make a post that's just "if your OC is boring to me then she's ugly and you're delusional for thinking she's cool" unprompted, you're just acting like you're still in high school. Bitch about other people's ugly OCs in your cunty little group chat like a grownup. You never, ever have to like what other people have made, but "this style of OC is fucking hideous and tacky and I hate it" is, like, an Inside Voice kind of sentiment. Saying it in public where you know that the people you're talking about will see it makes you the one making people feel bad for no good reason.

[rebellovesrobots]

catali, yukahn, and larsky you say? did you mean literally my favorite ocs in the history of ever? (what are their personalities like? would they be ok if I hugged them all?)

good morning i am BACK ON MY BULLSHIT

All three of them are very smart and capable of p much anything you ask of them, except most social tasks lol. Regardless they all love each other v much

this got WAY longer than i meant but not enough for a readmore, godspeed, soldiers

Deeply passionate, with a soft voice deep enough that you can feel it, Catali is the biggest sweetheart you’ll meet both figuratively and literally, standing at 7′1′’ (or 8′1′’ as an animatronic lol) Born in a rich family to parents that loved him, and a bitchy older brother, Kaelum, that would never admit to loving anything, and even accepted him as gay when he started “dating” Larsky in kindergarten (most likely hoping he’d grow out of it but whoopsie) As a kid he played doctor with the intent of actually becoming a doctor eventually, and he did (given the opportunity) He’s a pacifist but in no way does that make him a pushover, he is partners with Larsky, the most fighty bitch in the universe, after all. He is also the rock that Larsky and Yukahn depend on, since his emotions are far more stable than theirs. But hes not without his own weaknesses, tending to bottle up all of his own problems even though he’s bfs are more than happy to carry him when he needs. He also can’t stand people touching his hair or even the thought alone of having to cut it. The only people allowed to mess with it are his Grandma, Larsky, and Yukahn.

Yukahn is a bit of a different beast, the middle child of a very rich and powerful family, as part of a long line of very successful and very Italian Business Moguls. His parents are neglectful at best, with his father almost always being away on business trips and his mother just kinda being a huge snob obsessed with having her life be “perfect”. To top all of the pressure put on him to be perfect, hes also an unwanted mistake. In his mother’s perfect little world, she had always had it planned out to have 1 Boy and 1 Girl; what she ended up with was 2 sons, the eldest, Alexander, and the middle child, Yukahn, and then two twin daughters, Calliope and Morganth. Even tho it still “evens out” in the end, Yukahn still gets the brunt of this disappointment. Even worse for little elementary age Yukahn, there’s this shitty poor kid with a nice mom in his *gifted* school and he’s got *more friends* than Yukahn even tho hes *mean* all the time; and why is he jealous of the nice curly haired rich kid always holding the kid’s hand? This is when the rivalry between Yukahn and Larsky begin. Both are stubborn, shy, incredibly smart, and already carry quite a bit of hurt on their shoulders. Yukahn’s internalized elitism and complete lack of understanding positive emotions leads him to lash out at Larsky who returns the favor tenfold. Still, they always hang out together and though neither are willing to admit it until late middle school (given the chance) they’re actually really good for each other. Bringing out some of the best and worst in the other lol

Larsky you’ve already heard quite a bit about but heres some extra™ facts. The collar he wears is not a fashion statement or anything kinky, its a security blanket. Wes did quite a bit of damage on Larsky, both physically and emotionally… The collar makes Larsky feel less exposed and vulnerable, only coming off when he feels completely safe, either alone or with his closest partners, especially Catali and Yukahn. He’s also never considered it strange or taboo that he has multiple partners, its just that he has a lot of love in his heart to give, and always makes sure his partners are completely willing and consenting to that. (he also has more partners than just Catali and Yukahn but they’re the closest™)

[historyrepeatsitself]

modern au headcanons p2

hey guys, so after uhh everything crashed and burned as u can see from this post, i did not follow thru in good time with writing a modern au headcanon post… BUT!!! fortunately, i have returned from my semi hiatus to bring you… inspired by this OG post… httyd modern au headcanons part 2!!!

also sorry for the weird bullet points, i did this in microsoft word so the entire thing wouldnt fucKING DELETE AGAIN

·         so like i said with the last one, cami is obviously internet famous for her ridiculously cool youtube channel

·         shes also quite popular on insta but youtube is more her jam

·         her fame started when a video of her pickpocketing stoick and them him finding out and absolutely Losing It went viral

·         it was a vine

·         you can hear hiccup laughing in the background

·         her videos used to mainly feature pranks she did but since then shes branched out

·         she still does a lot of pranks but now her videos also include: parkour, absolutely HORRIBLE karaoke (ft. hiccup and fishlegs), Q&A, playing with toothless for an hour and thirty minutes (yes, it did get a lot of views ((also toothless is a cat in this au))), roast battle vs snotlout (spoiler: snotlout cries), “a compilation of hiccup doing nerdy shit and me calling him a nerd (8 min, 30 sec)”, “reading yalls fanfiction abt me (fishlegs has an asthma attack)”, videos of her doing sports, & more

·         like in the original hiccup and fishlegs have their own channel

·         its literally shit

·         they update it only on lethal amounts of caffeine

·         its usually VERY active during finals week (hence their not great grades)

·         it puts shane dawson to shame

·         “NOT CLICKBATE: OBAMA IS FROM THE MOON????”

·         “NEIL A IS ALIEN SPELLED BACKWARDS??? DID ARMSTRONG USE THE MOON AS A WAY TO FUEL UP BEFORE JUMPING BACK TO HIS COLONY ON MARS??”

·         “MY CAT IS NOT FROM EARTH (VIDEO INCLUDED!!!!)”

·         “got rejected again…. </3”

·         “video of fishlegs on sugar high after i gave him a bunch of candy bc he wouldn’t stop crying”

·         “kids from our school found us” (during the whole video theyre panicking while wearing wigs and fake mustaches)

·         needless to say its very confusing when someone connects that those guys are also on cami’s channel

·         shes pissed but comes around and they regularly star on her channel while she regularly stars on theirs

·         hiccup also has his own side channel where he explains different animal species (natural history stuff) and also does various language tutorials

·         fishlegs reads poetry and sings on his side channel

·         cami has a video where she reacts to hiccup’s channel, he actually gained a lot of followers from it

·         hiccup and fishlegs go to the same school while cami goes to an all girls school across town

·         she actually doesn’t hate it

·         hiccup and fishlegs are public school kids

·         that public school vibe

·         kids from their school are so confused how they know cami and rly jealous

·         cami once stopped by after school (her school gets out a little earlier) and punched a bully for them

·         it was iconic

·         she smacked him right in the face and hauled hiccup’s ass up and dragged them both in the car

·         cami is pretty popular at her school

·         hiccup and fishlegs are NOT

·         theyre honestly a bit like peter and ned from spiderman

·         gotta love that lego deathstar

·         cami does not like legos

·         both hiccup and fishlegs are smart but don’t put in a lot of effort

·         fishlegs excels at English and hiccup is good at science classes (esp bio) and history

·         fishlegs is ok at history but finds some of it a little boring

·         they HATE gym

·         theyre both shocked to find that cami (a dumbassTM) is actually a straight A student

·         shes super competitive so she actually does super well and gets rly rly good grades and all her teachers love her

·         she didn’t for awhile bc she has ADHD for school was HARD but shes gotten a lot better and got tutors and study methods and also shes just super competitive

·         she was on math team in middle school and hiccup wont SHUt Up about IT

·         “hey theres my favorite student mathlete!!!!!”

·         fishlegs doesn’t even try and help him anymore, he does this to himself

·         fishlegs wins English awards every year

·         he also got a 36 on his English ACT hes just SO GOOD

·         hes also a theatre kid lmao

·         he does shakespearean theatre on top of his school theatre too

·         “to be or not To Be”

·         Hiccups not a huge English fan and he doesn’t rly like Shakespeare but he does rly like Oscar wilde

·         Dorian gray is the Shit

·         Fishlegs was so happy when he read it bc they could finally talk about LiTeRaRy ClAsSiCs!!!

·         the trio met bc hiccup and cami’s parents own rival business companies

·         both stoick and bertha are very Rich and Important

·         hiccup and cami sometimes have to go to business dinners

·         they fuck around

·         that’s how they met

·         hiccup bumped into cami replacing the soap in the hand dispenser in the men’s room with silly string

·         he thought she was the coolest person ever

·         she tried to fight him at first but they quickly united against the Evil Boring Dinners With Stupid Old Men

·         they locked this one old racist dude in a bathroom stall once and sent fishlegs a video

·         truly forces of chaos

·         the forces of chaos were unfortunately grounded for that tho

·         stoick is very busy and valhallarama travels a lot so they hang out at hiccup’s bc its usually empty (cami’s house is also kinda far)

·         cami’s parents are divorced but her dad stops by occasionally

·         fishlegs has a foster family and that’s how he wound up meeting hiccup was when he moved to be with his new family when they were in second grade

·         hes rly grateful that hes been able to stay with them for a long ass time

·         theyre actually pretty nice

·         hiccup gets to come over for dinner

·         snotlout is hiccup’s bitchy cousin whos a grade ahead of hiccup and fishlegs

·         he eventually becomes nicer to them at the beginning of sophomore year

·         some bad stuff happens  (might write an angst fanfic idk lemme know (itll prolly be hiccup centric))

·         basically, snotlout kinda realizes hes been a bitch

·         hes sorry

·         things get better

·         until yknow

·         gotta keep things sad cant get rid of all the emo

·         but anyway snotlout does wind up becoming a good friend to the trio!! <3

·         oh lmao when valhallarama came home for Christmas she thought hiccup was either dating cami or fishlegs and she didn’t know which one bc hiccup was so shy she just figured he was dating one of them and just didn’t tell her (theyre all like super close yknow)

·         after seeing hiccup and cami holding hands (a RARE moment, it was bc they thought it would annoy snotlout bc he hates cami (it did)) she assumed it was cami

·         she brought it up

·         LMFAOOOO hiccup laughed for like 10 minutes

·         She then immediately was like oh ok ur gay and its fishlegs

·         that was even funnier

·         “mom fishlegs is weird lmao” (he and fishlegs probably friendly roast each other a lot tbh. they definitely call each other “weirdo” “freak” “nerd” other possibly explicit words, its chill)

·         Valhallarama is so confused

·         she didn’t say it but “child u literally told me that u thought ur little cat that’s missing teeth is prolly from area 51, ur the weird one son”

·         she asks stoick

·         hes just as confused

·         she drops the whole topic

·         it has yet to occur to bertha

·         fishlegs’ family is good as long as hes good theyre chill like that

·         oh and cami’s school has uniforms

·         yes, she does have to wear a skirt

·         yes, several of them were shredded freshman year

·         bertha is So Tired

[lorianna1001]

I’ll Stand By You- Chapter 11

“Wow. This is a really nice and non-conspicuous restaurant for ‘hanging out’.” Courtney said sarcastically.

Duncan and Courtney were standing inside a fancy Italian restaurant. Something fancy enough to get them out of his family dinner and alone (no matter how good Mama June's cooking was) but not fancy enough to where they had to eat something like snails. When they were dating, eating out usually consisted of going to a sushi place, but apparently you aren't allowed to have raw fish when you're pregnant, and Courtney was about to full out throttle him from the her lack of sushi. But maybe this could make it up to her.

”I just thought you deserved a nice evening out.” He shrugged nonchalantly. He was dressed to the nines in a black button up cuffed at his forearms that showed off a sliver of his tattoos with black dress pants and shoes. Now that she was thinking about it, he kind of looked like an edgy Starbucks employee or like he could work at the restaurant, but he still looked good.

”So, this isn’t a date?” She teased him. Maybe if he had given her the memo that he was going to take her to a nice place, she would have dressed in something better than her leggings and one of her nicer blouses she found while maternity shopping. But Duncan thought she looked as beautiful as ever.

”I never said that.” He smirked while calling over a waiter to get them to their booth.

“Duncan, get the fuck over here!” Courtney yelled at Duncan from her bedroom. She had been complaining (raging) all day of back pain, so she was put to bed rest before she killed someone, much to her annoyance.

”What? What’s happening?” He scrambled from the bathroom over to her. He had been on high alert ever since her belly grow past ‘I had too many tacos for lunch’ to ‘Oh, you’re pregnant! Congrats?’. She wasn't due for another three months but he was still super nervous about premature birth that he had read about. So, much to Court's chagrin, he had been super overprotective. Which is why he forced himself over at her house as much as he could before Court or one of her parents kicked him out.

”The baby’s kicking!” She said between a mouth full of Torta bread (it was her new craving). Just torta bread and mayo, which he could only get from Mexican taco trucks. Thankfully they were always open at 12:00 at night.

”Oh shit!” She immediately put his hand on the area that she was kicking. And when Duncan felt the little kick, his eyes gleamed.

” Damn, she’s strong. Got that from her momma.” He quipped only to be kicked by Court.

“We’re just so excited! I had an absolute blast going shopping and picking out all the stuff.” Nina tries to rationalize her actions as she guided Courtney up to a spare room in their house.  

Upon entering, Courtney was absolutely floored. It was a completely white and light pink nursery. A cute little white wooden crib and light pink bedding with an attached changing table, a comfy looking rocking chair that matched the the crib, and a ridiculous sized white wardrobe for an infant. Everything new except a bunch of slightly worn out stuffed animals. The stuffed animals where a little out of place with the rest of the nursery and Courtney felt herself draw to them.

”That one right there was Duncan’s.” Nina pointed at a little stuffed grey teddy bear that had little black tattoo markings all over it and then picked it up and handed it to Court. The sentiment was nice. If only Court still had one of her childhood stuffies to give; had they not been donated long ago.

What also surprised Courtney was that the room was also covered in pictures of the family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. And a couple of photos of Courtney and Duncan together from when they were together. Tears started to fill her eyes.

”It’s so beautiful.” Courtney said softly astonished.

“This means nothing.” Court argued from underneath Duncan, they’re clothes disregarded somewhere around the room.

He leaned up from where he was sucking on her neck to make sure she could see him rolling his eyes playfully. ”Oh, okay.”

”These baby hormones are just driving me crazy and it’s the least you can do since you’re the one who knocked me up.” She kept up the act of this being strictly business. But Duncan would argue that it wasn’t, and he had the evidence of a hot and heavy impromptu make-out session that had led to the events currently.

”Whatever, Princess.” He went back to ravishing her neck.

“You didn’t have to bring anything!” Argued Nina as Courtney tried to set down a bag at the present table.

It was a baby shower in the park; the only place to fit all of Duncan’s family and family friends. Of course, Bridgette, Geoff, and DJ were also there. They would have forced themselves in; had they not been invited (but they were always welcomed). The men hung out eating barbecue, while the women fretted around and gushed over all the baby items. A scene very reminiscent of Lady and the Tramp. Except for Courtney's parents who were awkwardly situated in the middle of the chaos and exchanged polite small talk with everyone that came up to them. The event was organized by Nina and Jane, it was absolutely adorable.

”It felt weird not to.” Courtney admitted. It was weird being at a baby shower that was for you but not for you. Nina and Jane insisted that Court was the girl of the hour, but she didn’t want to make Nina feel out of place or anything.

”Oh, honey. You’re the one giving me the gift.”

"I wonder who the baby will look like." Bridgette gushed.

"Let's hope it looks more like Mocha." Geoff joked, earning him a smack in the head from Duncan.

"I bet she's gonna look adorable."DJ earnestly said.

The teens where all hanging out at lunch time. For the most part they could usually talk about normal stuff, but every so often the conversation lead them towards the baby, much to Duncan and Court's chagrin. Conversations like these were all fun in games, but they reminded them that the baby wasn't actually theirs. That after all this, they wouldn't have a baby. Not that they wanted one or were ready for one; but you grow attached.

"Thanks." Court finally said with a small sad smile.

“I can’t stand you! Get out of my house!” The prep started to yell at the punk.

”Are you kidding me, Court?” He was completely thrown off. He swears to god, sometimes they can be having a good time, and then she goes bat shit crazy all of a sudden. Sure, she had heightened hormones and all, but this happened even before she was pregnant.

“No, fuck you.” She kept fighting back.

”Why are you so mad at me?” He asked incredulously.

”Because you’re you!” She fired back, but he had had enough.

”Thats not true and you know it. You find reasons to get mad at me and push me away because you’re afraid.” She recoiled as if he had burned her.

”No, I’m not!” She’s relented.

”Yes you are! You push me away all the damn time because you are still insecure from when I cheated on you. And I already told you I’m sorry about that. But you also keep calling me back. And we have been sharing some amazing moments together. Why? Because you still love me. And I still love you.” He was trying to make eye contact with her, but she was refusing. Fine then, he thought.

“Being on that stupid plane made me forget about a lot of things. But this pregnancy deal with you has made me remember it all again. I love you because you are beautiful, and strong, and so god damn amazing. You always manage to make things better, even the stuff I fuck up. Like us.” He hated bring up that damn show, but he had to make a point and address the elephant that she refused to acknowledge.

”And I think you want to let me back in, but then you get all bitchy again and push me away. Stop pushing me away, Court! I’m here. I’ll always be here. I love you and that’s not going to change. And you love me too.” She was finally looking at him, but she had tears in her eyes.

”We were made for each other.” He said in a final breath.

”God, you make me so mad sometimes.” She sniffled and hung her head.

”Love you, too.” He smirked while kissing her forehead and wiping the tears away.

[peaches-of-1]

Inktober Day 13: Guarded Demon

Title: Soul of a Siren

< Day 12 | Inktber18 | Day 14 >

Jin x Hispanic!Reader

Summary: The boys have a photoshoot by the beach and are allowed to freeroam after they’re done. Jin enjoys some time by himself, but soon finds out he’s not alone after all.

The blonde man had gone for a walk early this morning and stopped at the sea. It was as if a voice had called him here. Looking around, he saw ocean blessed hair adorned with a crown of seashells and pearls. She was absolutely beautiful and magical, so much so that Jin had to wipe his eyes to make sure he was really seeing scales. Purple and green scales that made a fishtail where human legs would supposedly be.

“Come to me. Darling come to me. My love come to me. Come to me. Come to me.” She sang and stopped when she saw the human. “Hello there. Did you hear my song, little human?”

He nodded. “Hi?” Jin pointed to her tail. “Is that real?” She laughed, “Of course it’s real, silly. I’m a mermaid.”

“Don’t you have to hide it to humans or whatever? I thought--” “Human movies are based off false history. We can show ourselves to whoever we want. We get to be on land as long as we want if it’s under 24 hours or we die, though. That is unless we fall in love with a human and a human falls in love with us. It doesn’t have to be romantic love either.”

“Oh wow. I never knew that.”

She smiled, “They never do. You’re very handsome by the way.” Jin blushed, “Thank you. I know. My name is Jin by the way. It’s nice to meet you.” “Call me Gia. Do you have time to see my kingdom? I want to show Papa my new song mate.” Jin furrowed his brows, “Song mate?” “We’re connected musically. No one but my song mate can hear my song.” Her eyes reflected the falling moon. “Fate?” “Yes. Come with me.” She held out her hand. Without hesitation, she grabbed Jin’s hand and made him jump into the water with her. His first instinct said he was going to drown since it had all been so sudden and unexpected, but instead his eyes met hers. He was fine. He could breathe. “Don’t let go.” She said.

The two swam to the depths of the sea. After getting through a particularly seedy sand bar, they were there. It was a beautiful underwater kingdom. Everyone’s scales were shining and the greeted the princess with a lowering of their eyes and kind smile. Gia took Jin to a special room and there were bracelets hanging on a candelabra. They were made out of seashells and bound by brown kelp.

“Put this on. You’ll be able to breathe and understand our language.”

He put on the Bracelet of Breath and made a joke about the item, calling it a Breath-let and laughing to himself about it. The Princess Gia laughed too and then told him to follow her to meet her father. He had just finished handling some business with some local children and a couple whose business got attacked during a feeding frenzy. He didn’t seem in the best mood and so Jin suggested that they do it later. Gia wasn’t listening, so she tugged him along.

“Papi, I have good news! This is Jin, he’s my song mate! I found him!”

The king was a very fit man, his abs had abs, his pecs had pecs, and there was a scar on his neck and on his eye, and he was a very scary man. However, when he smiled, it seemed like none of that mattered. He welcomed Jin as graciously as possible.

“Oh, my darling child, I am so glad you were able to find your song mate before your vocal cords gave out.” He held her cheeks and then put a large arm over Jin’s shoulder. “You, my measly land fleshling, are someone my daughter has looked hard and long for. She sang every day for years trying to find you...just like her sister.”

A sadness came over him and Gia rolled her eyes but swam to comfort her father. He thanked her and composed himself, turning his attention back on Jin.

“Just where the fuck have you been?”

It was odd hearing such a rough man say rough words with such a blinding smile. Jin explained that he was a idol, so he didn’t have much time to go to Korean beaches because he was always so busy and in other countries while on tour.

He gave a hearty laugh, “Well, I am grateful you finally decided to show up! Give this man the best room! We’ll host a party for you tomorrow. You’ll find we don’t have many rooms here, only one that you’ll need to heed until further notice.”

“What’s that?” Jin asked.

The king’s face became very dark and grim. An ominous red light seemed to surround him as he got face to face with Jin, “Don’t you dare leave your damn room without a fucking escort.” He smiled and it was all cheery and bright again with his smile. “Ok? Good.”

The Princess and several guards took Jin to his room on the third floor and made sure he had food to eat and a few backup bracelets in case anything were to happen. They didn’t want him dying on accident.

Alas, Jin couldn’t just follow the directions to stay in his room. And he didn’t really want anyone following him since he wanted to explore the castle with no intrusions. So he searched the walls for a secret exit because all castles had that, right? He found one under the coral rug and it was a set of stairs. A voice fit for heavy metal was down there, or maybe a rock ballad if they just calmed down a bit. Being Jin, he was a bit nervous but more curious to see where this path led. Going down the sandy staircase, he decided swimming down would be easier.

Was it that song bringing him here? Maybe, but he still swam. Everything had been going swimmingly, so he decided to take a chance. Once settling on the floor, Jin felt as though he needed to take a left instead of a right and two rights after that. This led him to a girl with freckles and a beautiful face in a eerie glow. He felt safe there, though. It wasn’t until then that he realized he had been so on edge. It was a new world to him after all, so he thought it was normal to feel such a way.

However, looking at this glow, this being that didn’t even seem to know he was there, Kim Seokjin felt protected. Her long dark hair floated in the atmosphere. There were two sleeping guards on either side of entrapment.

“Who are you?” The girl asked, not looking.

“Jin.” He continued to walk towards her and become part of the glow.

“No, stop!” She said right before he reached the cage she was trapped in.

Jin stopped. He could see that she had tan skin that flowed seamlessly into a glittering lavender tail.

She turned around and looked at him, “I’m (Y/N). You’re in danger. We both are, but I know how we can get out of here, song mate.”

He was confused, “I thought I was Gia’s song mate.”

“She uses that excuse all the time. Her voice can call any human she wants. You’re not safe here. Gia hasn’t told you the real reason why you’re down here. She wants you to marry her.”

“She what now? How do you know this?”

“She’s my older sister, and she tries to get cute guys to marry her by saying they are her song mate, that it’s fate. If they say no, she drowns them or locks them up. They die down here, Jin. I try to get them to come to me by using my Heart Song. That usually doesn’t work, so I just use the Come to Me song like Gia does. This is the first time my Heart Song has worked.”

He blinked, “So you’re actually my Song Mate?”

The trapped girl nodded.

The confused idol was now scared, “Ok, I believe you. I don’t wanna get married to anyone but you. I have a life that I quite enjoy on the surface that you’re obviously supposed to be a part of. How come you’re down here in the first place?”

(Y/N) sighed, “My magic is stronger than my sister’s since I’m a Siren and she’s not, so I’ve been locked up here to make sure I can’t do anything to stop her. I’m pretty sure she faked my death in order to get the throne.”

“She did, but Sirens are bad. They’re basically demons.”

She looked away, dark hair twisting and hovering around her head, “Only if their hearts get consumed by darkness.”

“Well, I can already tell you’re not like that. There’s too much light coming from you.“ Jin said, getting her to smile. “Alright, so how do we get you out? How do I stop her?”

“You have to sing. I know it’s dumb, but you have to sing that melody on the wall to help me get out of here. I can take it from there. Once they see I’m still alive, they’ll throw her in here instead and I can fix things.”

Jin scratched his head, “How come no one else has been able to free you?”

“They don’t have the range.” She pouted. “If you can’t do this, at least try to get out on your own.”

The talented idol chuckled and sang the high notes carved into the wall. As soon as he did, they disappeared and the cage went away. (Y/N) was free.

“Let’s get that bitchy fishy, huh?”

Jin laughed, “Nice.”

The two then entered the castle’s main room. They arrived during an argument between the King and Gia. She wanted the throne and was irate that she wasn’t getting it yet. He said that the search for (Y/N) wasn’t over yet, and so she wasn’t getting the crown until her sister’s death had been confirmed.

“You can call off the search, Papi. I never died.”

He started to cry, “(Y/N), is that you? My darling baby girl! Gia said you died!”

“Your daughter has been trapped in a cage that Gia put her in.” Jin stated and folded his arms. He then gave an unforgiving glare to the traitor.  “Also, I’m her Song Mate, not yours!”

“Is this true?”

The innocent Siren nodded, “It is. That puta in a puka necklace trapped me!”

Within seconds, Gia was thrown into the Trench and a celebration was held to welcome the rightful princess back to the people. Jin was having a great time, but he pulled his Song Mate to the side in the middle of it all.

“I have to go back to the surface. I’ll come back when I can so we can plan a wedding--”

She giggled, the pearls in her hair glistening in the light.

“What?”

(Y/N) held his hands, “A Song Mate is something that is so much more than a betrothed. Not everyone can find theirs, so even if I never see you again it’s enough to know that you’re mine and that we have an irreplaceable connection. Also, I thought Land Males hated getting married.”

“I’ve never felt so attached to someone in my life, (Y/N). If I don’t marry you, then I won’t marry anyone.”

“Then the next time you come to the ocean, we shall get wed. Until then, you have a life on land to get back to.”

It wasn’t long until Jin was flying to California for K-con. He had tried to go to the beach more often to see her again, but he never saw her. They were Song Mates, so they would find each other when the time was right. Still, he missed her so much. The day after the convention, the boys had 24 hours to do whatever they wanted. Most of them slept or played games. Jin got a slushie and went for a walk.

That’s when he heard it again. (Y/N). He ran to the closest ocean until she was right there waiting for him.

[5hfanfiction]

Arch Rivals 5

Trigger Warning : Talks of drug related issues and parental abuse.  Please read with caution.

“So how long do you think the three of them‭ ‬have been planning this‭?“ ‬Camila asked as the group of them walked to the ice cream shop.

‭"‬Knowing them.‭ ‬Probably the day you showed up at my school.‭” ‬Lauren laughed.

As Camila watched Lauren actually laughing and joke around enjoying herself,‭ ‬she wondered how she could get Lauren to be like this all the time.‭ ‬Camila didn’t realize she was staring until Lauren grabbed her arm and stopped her.

‭"‬Camila‭! ‬What is wrong with you‭? ‬You almost face planted into the door.‭" ‬Lauren was trying really hard to not laugh in the girls face but she just couldn’t hold it in any more.

‭ ‬Camila stopped dead in her tracks when Lauren actually used her name.‭ ‬Also the sight of this happy go lucky Lauren was literally melting Camila’s heart.‭ ‬Camila knew she must have the dopiest grin in the world on her face but she just didn’t care.‭ ‬If she had to make a fool of herself for the girl to laugh all the time then that‭ ‬is what she was prepared to do.‭ ‬Camila also noticed that Lauren had yet to remove her hand from around her arm.‭ ‬Camila felt a warmth radiating through her skin like Lauren was branding her.‭ ‬Why the hell was this girl having this much of an effect on her‭?‬ How could one little thing make her want to just kiss the girl‭?

“Cabello‭! ‬Seriously what is up with you‭? ‬You look like your in a whole other world.‭ ‬You okay‭?” ‬Lauren asked letting go of her and waving her hands in front of Camila’s face.

‭"‬Oh yeah sure I’m fine,‭ ‬just thinking.‭" ‬Camila surprisingly said without stuttering.‭ “‬Now come on let’s get that ice cream.‭”

Before Lauren could question her anymore Camila had stepped into the shop and was talking with the kids.

‭"‬Alright what do you two want‭? ‬Lauren asked her siblings.

‭"‬I want chocolate chunk with sprinkles‭! ‬Please Lauren‭!“ ‬Taylor said while jumping up and down.‭ ‬Lauren nodded her head and Taylor ran for a booth seat excitedly.

‭"‬Lauren can I have cookie dough in a waffle cone‭? ‬Please,‭ ‬please,‭ ‬please.‭” ‬Chris asked just as excited as Taylor was before.

‭"‬Alright.‭ ‬Now go sit down I’ll be right there.‭"

Lauren placed the order,‭ ‬getting nothing for herself because she was out of money.‭ ‬Lauren didn’t mind though because she knew it would make the two of them really happy.‭ ‬Camila noticed that Lauren hadn’t got anything and could tell the girls mood had shifted some.‭ ‬Camila wondered what exactly caused it.

‭"‬Hey Lo you want something‭?‬" Camila asked when she noticed Lauren hadn’t got anything.

‭"‬No.‭ ‬I’m fine.‭" ‬Lauren took the kids theirs.

Camila ordered Sofi’s and hers,‭ ‬then they both sat down across from the Jauregui’s.‭

“Here Lo.‭ ‬The guy accidentally gave me an extra one and I can’t eat it all.‭ ‬So please take it.‭” ‬Camila said pushing‭ ‬the other one towards Lauren.

Lauren knew that Camila was lying through her teeth,‭ ‬as the guy behind the counter was one of those go by the rules completely types,‭ ‬Lauren didn’t say anything though and just took the ice cream with a small smile. It was nice to know someone wanted to do something for her, even if it was just ice cream.‭ ‬Lauren though was trying to study Camila to see if she had an ulterior motive but all she got was a reddening Camila.‭ ‬Not really wanting to embarrass the‭ ‬girl too much more Lauren stopped staring and ate the ice cream.

After everyone was done Lauren asked,‭ “S‬o who’s ready for the beach‭?”

All three of the kids jumped up and starting yelling‭ “‬I am.‭ ‬I am.‭”

“Alright then let’s go.‭” ‬Lauren gestured towards the door as they all clambered out of the booth and out into the beach.

‭"‬Loloz can we build a castle‭?“ ‬Taylor and Sofi asked.

‭"‬Of course you can‭!” ‬Lauren said as Taylor and Sofi jumped for joy,‭ ‬took the buckets and shovels,‭ ‬and ran further away to start building.‭

As Lauren sat watching her younger siblings stumble around and build the castle she relaxed and just smiled at everything in front of her.‭ ‬Lauren was enjoying the day but could also feel someone boring a hole in the side of her head.‭ ‬Lauren knew that those deep chocolate eyes were trying to get her attention,‭ ‬and it made Lauren smile even more.‭ ‬Finally the brown-eyed girl talked.

‭"‬You’re really great with them.‭ ‬It must be hard.‭"

“Yeah, I do my best.‭ ‬Dinah’s mom is the real hero though,‭ ‬I couldn’t do it without her.‭”

“What about your parents‭?” ‬Camila asked not knowing.

‭"‬We get along okay,‭ ‬don’t need someone when their not there.‭" ‬Lauren blew off the question like always.

Camila knowing the girl didn’t want to talk about it changed the subject or so she thought.‭ “‬How does your back feel today‭?”

“It’s been better.‭ ‬Not going to complain though because that will solve nothing.‭”

“You ready for the tournament this weekend‭?”

“Yep.‭ ‬Always am.‭ ‬You actually get your little menaces to learn the plays and want to be a team‭?” ‬Lauren said with a small attitude.

‭"‬The day coach kicked you out for being pissed off.‭ ‬I told all the girls that we needed to stop the petty bullshit and just play as a team and anyone who didn’t like it could feel free not to show up anymore.‭" ‬Camila said.

‭"‬Yeah that was a bad day.‭ ‬I’m glad that you got through to them too.‭ ‬I was wondering why a few of the girls quit showing up.‭"

“YO‭! ‬CJ‭!!” ‬a girl screamed from on the boardwalk causing Lauren to jerk her head around as Camila had a questioning look on her face at Lauren’s reaction.

‭"‬Cabello.‭ ‬I have to deal with this.‭ ‬Please keep an eye on them.‭ ‬Please just keep them over here.‭" ‬Lauren pretty much begged.

‭"‬Lauren what’s wrong‭? ‬Who is that‭? ‬Why’d they call you CJ‭?“ ‬Camila wanted to know.

‭"‬Camila I promise I will tell you everything when I’m done.‭ ‬Please‭ ‬just watch them for me.‭” ‬Lauren grabbed Camila by the shoulders and looked into her eyes trying to get the urgency across.

Camila sighed,‭ “‬alright but I want an explanation when you’re done.‭”

“I promise.‭” ‬Lauren said pecking the girl on the lips and running off.

Now what the hell was that Camila thought and why the hell did Lauren respond to CJ‭? ‬Could this have something to do with why Lauren was always missing‭? ‬Maybe those girls were why Lauren was always being so secretive and broody.‭ ‬Camila noticed that Lauren went from laid back and relaxed to ridged and bitchy again.‭ ‬Even her eyes seemed to change from an inviting green to a darkening grey,‭ ‬in the blink of an eye.‭ ‬Camila looked back to where Lauren was and tried to figure out if she had seen‭ ‬the girl Lauren was talking to.‭ ‬No such luck.

‭"‬Camila what is Loloz doing with those girls‭? ‬I thought she was going to play with us.‭" ‬Camila was broken out of her thoughts as Chris came to talk to her.

‭"‬Umm,‭ ‬not quite sure myself,‭ ‬but she said she will be right back.‭ ‬So why don’t you go grab some water for your moot buddy.‭" ‬Camila effectively diverted Chris’s attention.

‭"‬So CJ are you going to hook me up tonight or what‭?“ ‬the pretty petite blonde with blue eyes asked.

‭"‬For sure you know I will as‭ ‬long as you got the money,‭ ‬beautiful.‭” ‬Lauren made sure to use her undercover persona and flirted with the girl.‭

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.‭ ‬Money is never a problem for me.‭ ‬How much do you need‭?”

“Depends on what your doing and how much you want.‭ ‬Give me‭ ‬a number sweet cheeks and we’ll work something out.‭ ‬Maybe even give you the sexy girl discount.‭” ‬Lauren said stepping a little closer to the girl, and running her fingertips down the girls cheek.

As the girls cheeks turned a little red she said,‭ “‬Well it’s a rather large party.‭ ‬Over two hundred or more people will be there.‭ ‬So I say bring whatever you want to get rid of.‭ ‬I’m thinking I can at least pull five large.‭ ‬Then my minions can work the party.‭”

Lauren tried to hide her surprise at the number if she took this to Jacks now she could walk away with some good money tonight.

‭"‬Sounds like it is going to be one hell of a party tonight.‭ ‬I wonder how hard it is to get an invite to something like that‭?“ ‬Lauren said as she reached over and‭ ‬brushed a hair out of the girls face.

The girl blushed again,‭ ‬Lauren thinking that it was too easy to keep getting a reaction like that.‭ "‬I think that it’s in the cards for sure tonight.‭ ‬Here’s my number call me later and we can set up the rest of the details.‭ ‬You’ll get paid when we get the stuff.‭”

“Sure thing beautiful.‭ ‬I’ll see you tonight.‭” ‬Lauren turned to walk away when the other girl grabbed her by the arm.

‭"‬Oh and just so you know your girlfriend looks pissed that you were flirting with me.‭ ‬Bring her tonight too.‭ ‬It will make it all the more fun,‭ ‬unless of course your scared.‭" ‬Blondie said with a smile and joined her friends and took off.

Shit‭! Shit! Shit! ‬Was all Lauren could think.‭ ‬Now she had to tell Camila everything and Jacks was going to be pissed.‭ ‬Lauren waited a minute before she made her way back to the group,‭ ‬she needed a minute to get her thoughts together.‭ ‬Lauren was pissed because now she had to drag someone she liked into the not so nice business she was doing,‭ ‬then again she was excited about the fact that she could say Camila was‭ ‬her girlfriend.‭ ‬Even if it was not as she planned from what she knew about the girl Lauren was starting to believe in being happy again.‭ ‬All due to the little brown eyed cuban girl.‭

Camila didn’t know what exactly to think about what she just saw,‭ ‬then again something told her that she might not want to know.‭ ‬All Camila really knew right now was that she almost felt betrayed,‭ ‬even though she had absolutely no hold on Lauren.‭ ‬Still Camila couldn’t help but feel jealous.‭ ‬Camila couldn’t believe that‭ ‬Lauren was just so willing to flirt with the other girl right in front of her,‭ ‬well sort of,‭ ‬then again they hadn’t discussed what they were.‭ ‬Or even it there was an anything to speak about. What if Lauren was just using this as another notch on her belt?

Lauren looked lost in thought when she came back to sit next to‭ ‬Camila.‭ ‬Camila just let the girl sit and think, but for some reason couldn’t take her eyes off the girl.‭ ‬After a good ten minutes Camila knew she would have to be the one to break the silence.

‭"‬Hey Lauren‭? ‬Why did that girl call you CJ‭? ‬What are you thinking about‭?“

Lauren didn’t look to Camila but let out an audible sigh.‭

"Can we not talk about it here‭? ‬I can’t exactly talk about it in the open like this.‭ ‬That would actually be a disaster.‭” Lauren said looking around at all the people on the beach.

“Are you actually going to talk to me or is this just another distraction tactic of yours‭?” ‬Camila sounded a little upset.

‭"‬I promise if just you and I go somewhere I’ll tell you anything you want to know.‭" ‬Lauren said still not looking at the girl.

‭"‬Alright then let’s take them to my house Taylor and Sofi‭ ‬look like their getting along and my mom would love to watch them.‭"

“Are you sure she will watch them I mean Dinah’s mom is more than willing‭?”

“Just trust me.‭” ‬The three words that Lauren has the hardest time with.‭ “‬My mom loves little kids and especially ones that make her daughters smile.‭ ‬So hand over your phone so I can put my address in it.‭”

Lauren finally had looked at the girl and just handed over her phone willing.‭ “‬There must be something wrong with me.‭” ‬Lauren thought as she turned her attention back to her siblings.

‭"‬Why do you say that‭?“ ‬Camila asked throwing Lauren off a bit at the question.

‭"‬What‭?”

“You said there must be something wrong with me.‭ ‬What did you mean‭? ‬What is wrong with you‭?” ‬Camila asked giving Lauren back her phone.

Lauren laughed.‭ “‬I thought I said that in my head.‭ ‬But yeah anyways I never trust anyone.‭ ‬They have to earn my respect first.‭ ‬For some reason with you though,‭ ‬I cave in an instant. Seriously I just handed you my phone like it was nothing. I never do that.‭”

‭“Oh….well thanks for trusting me then.” Camila said not even sure if that was the right thing to say.

“So yeah I’m going to get the kids together.‭” ‬Lauren ran off to‭ ‬get them before Camila could say anything.

Maybe Camila did have a shot with Lauren,‭ ‬but somehow Camila knew that it was not going to be easy.‭ ‬Camila knew that she had probably only made it through one of Lauren’s barriers and she was determined to get through the rest.

‭"‬Alright girls you both go with Camila.‭ ‬Taylor please be good like always.‭"

Taylor nodded her head at Lauren like they had a silent agreement.‭ ‬Camila wondered what that was about,‭ ‬but when she really thought about it Taylor must know something about what is going on.

‭"‬Chris your with me so you can go with the boys to football practice later.‭"

They all picked everything up and were on their ways.‭ ‬Lauren later got to Camila’s house by bike and told her to get on they needed to go somewhere.‭ ‬Lauren went to the one place that she felt most at home,‭ ‬the gymnasium.‭ ‬Seeing as it was Saturday afternoon no one was there so Lauren used her copied keys and made her way inside.

‭"‬So that is how you got in.‭ ‬How did you get keys‭?“

"Coach is always losing those things,‭ ‬he left them one night and I made copies.‭ ‬Pays to know people.‭” ‬Lauren smirked.

‭"‬Okay I’ll take your word for it.‭ ‬Now care to tell me what all that was about on the beach today‭?“ ‬Camila passed the ball to Lauren.

Lauren lined up a shot and swooshed it.‭ "‬Well it was almost exactly what it looked like.‭ ‬What do you think it was I’m curious‭?” Camila grabbed the ball and dribbled it a few times,‭ “‬It look like someone you were scared of.‭ ‬When she first called you CJ the look‭ ‬on your face was like you had seen a ghost.‭ ‬Other than that I am not sure I stopped paying attention when you started flirting with her heavily.‭” ‬Camila passed Lauren the ball a little harder.‭

Lauren caught the ball and smiled knowing Camila was at least a little jealous that was a good thing right.‭ “‬Technically no I am not scared of her,‭ ‬what I am afraid of is that part of my life was never meant to mix with my real life here.‭” ‬Lauren shot again and swooshed it again. “I might have just screwed everything up.”

‭"‬What is mixing with what Lo‭? ‬I mean technically I still don’t know that much about you.‭" ‬Camila said as she dribbled the ball out and made her own shot.

‭"‬Well you are going to find out later tonight anyways.‭ ‬My undercover life was never meant to get anywhere close to the high school one.‭ ‬No one is ever suppose to get anywhere close to being able to figuring me out.‭" ‬Lauren grabbed the ball and dribbled out for a shot and made it.‭ ‬Camila grabbed it and passed it back to Lauren.

‭"‬Wait what are you undercover for‭? ‬Who do you work‭ ‬for‭? ‬What is it that you do‭? ‬Does it have anything to do with who hurts you‭?“ ‬Camila rambled out all the questions that it through Lauren off as she shot and the ball blasted off the front of the rim across the gym.

‭"‬Okay woah.‭ ‬That was a lot of questions at once.‭ ‬Just breathe Camz.‭” ‬Lauren sat down on the three point line where she was and patted the floor next to her.‭ ‬Camila walked over and sat down across from her instead.

‭"‬Now one at a time ask me what you want to know‭?“

Camila took a deep breathe,‭ "‬is it still anything I want to know like you promised at the beach‭?”

Lauren laughed,‭ “‬of course that is the first question and yeah it is anything goes.‭ ‬To a point.‭”

“Why did she call you CJ‭?”

“CJ is my undercover name that I only use with certain subjects to try and bust them.‭ ‬It is actually what you are going to have to call me tonight if we want to pull this off.‭” ‬Lauren answered fiddling with the ring on her thumb.

‭"‬Why exactly do I have to go tonight‭? ‬Am I going to be in danger‭?“‬ Camila looked a little worried.

‭"‬You will be in no more danger than if you were at a normal high school party.‭ ‬That is all this is.‭ ‬It just so happens that we will have the inside scoop on when the police will be there.‭ ‬Now with you being there I will have the perfect excuse of being upstairs‭ ‬when they bust in and get the dealers.‭ ‬You have to go tonight because blondie thinks that we’re dating,‭ ‬and I think she believes it too.‭ ‬Blondie kinda threatened me if I didn’t bring you,‭ ‬but really all you have to do is stay next to me and everything will be fine.‭” ‬Lauren took Camila’s hand.

Camila looked at their hands,‭ “‬you work for the police then‭?” ‬Lauren nodded.

‭"‬Why‭?“ ‬Lauren was actually waiting for that question.

‭"‬I almost got thrown‭ ‬in juvie when I got busted at a party.‭ ‬The detective at‭ ‬the time Jacks wanted to know why all of a sudden I was in the middle trying to be the life of the party but yet when shit hit the fan I helped everyone else get away leaving myself to get in trouble.‭ ‬I had a simple answer,‭ ‬no one else needed to be hurt.‭ ‬ I’ve never told him anything about why I said that.‭”

“Why did you say that‭?” ‬Camila stretched her legs out to one side and leaned back on her forearms.

Lauren mimicked the position,‭ “‬Oh you’re good Camz.‭ ‬I said it because of the other things going on‭ ‬in my life and to be honest it’s the truth.‭ ‬If I am already being hurt why would I want anyone else to go through what I am going through. I might as well take the punishment instead of my friends that were there at the time.‭”

“Will you tell me who is hurting you‭?” ‬Camila spoke it softly.

‭"‬I don’t know if I can I mean I have hid it for so long that I don’t even know if I could say it while thinking about it.‭" ‬Camila gave Lauren a confused look when Lauren started smiling when an idea popped into her head.

‭"‬Have you ever played speed asks‭?“‬

"No.‭” ‬Camila said curiously.

‭"‬Okay so I don’t think I am just going to out right tell anyone about that thing so what you have to do is think of a whole lot of questions.‭ ‬Ask me questions about basketball,‭ ‬my brother or sister,‭ ‬and then throw in the other one and because I am so wrapped up in playing the game I will just blurt it out and then you will know and I hopefully will be able to talk about it.‭" ‬Lauren said as she sat back up ready to play.

Camila sat up as well ready to play.‭ “‬What’s your favorite color‭?”

“Right now red.‭”

“How old are you‭?”

“"Seventeen.‭”

“Are you ready for the tournament next weekend‭?”

“Hell yeah.‭ ‬Ready to beat them all.‭”

“Do you like me‭?”

“Yeah.‭ ‬You’re cute.‭”

“What’s your favorite princess‭?”

“Ariel.‭ ‬Oh and Mulan.‭”

“Where are we going tonight‭?”

“To a party.‭”

“What are we going to do there‭?”

“Bust the drug dealer we’ve been trying to catch for a long time so that he can stop hurting high schoolers like us.‭”

“Who hits you‭?”

“The horrible person that I am suppose to call a dad.‭”

Camila’s jaw would have hit the floor if it wasn’t attached.‭ ‬No way.‭ ‬It couldn’t be right.‭ ‬Lauren did not just say that.‭ ‬How could a parent do that to their child.‭ ‬To someone like Lauren that was giving up stuff for her two siblings just so they were happy.‭ ‬Now Camila got it.‭ ‬Now she knew why Lauren said she had to prove to him that she wasn’t hurt.‭ ‬Lauren’s dad must have showed up at the game,‭ ‬maybe just for appearances.‭ ‬None the less now Camila wanted to love the girl even more,‭ ‬but would Lauren let her now that she knew‭ ‬her deep dark secret.‭ ‬However just like that Camila’s shocked face went to anger.‭ ‬Camila now wanted to confront Lauren’s dad and to find out what could ever possess him to hit the amazing beautiful girl in front of her.‭

Lauren looked down at the floor‭ ‬after what she just said knowing that Camila had to be judging her.‭ ‬There was a reason that she never told anyone.‭ ‬There is no way that Camila still wanted to be friends with her,‭ ‬maybe Lauren should start trying to push her away before it got any messier.‭ ‬The one thing though that she never expected was to look up and see a very attractive,‭ ‬pissed off cuban, and damn if she didn’t look good in raging anger. Then she saw the very person she was so afraid of telling her secret to.

‭"‬Jacks‭?“ ‬Lauren said no longer being able to hold back the tears.

[its-actually-withered]

Another ichiruki fic because I'm literal trash

Title: Roses by another name Fandom: Bleach Rating: T+ Characters: [Ichigo K. Rukia K] Summary: "You're something." A boy, a girl and a stab wound. There are better love stories, but this is theirs. Link

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Roses by another other

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Rukia has no time for normal.

She's inherited a shady family empire upon her graduation from boarding school, and her stoic older brother pulls no punches about the reality of it. It's something she appreciates after so many years of being in the dark about how exactly the Kuchiki name stayed so prominent over the years.

So she studies under a name that isn't Kuchiki and she does everything in her power to lay low – to learn what she can about what she needs to – the dog eat dog world of finance, business and politics; something that surprisingly her fancypants All Girls Boarding School for Scheming Rich Girls did not cover. Until she's ready, until she can be the heir and right hand her brother needs her to be.

She has no time for normal things like making friends or falling in love, but inevitably, both happen.

Rangiku is a pain in the ass, but she's Rukia's pain in the ass. And honestly, the rowdiness of the Rukongai apartment complex just off West campus was a definite culture shock to what she was used to, something her brother showed little sympathy for (the bastard). Yet somehow Rangiku kept a strange, almost refined control of the chaos in the building. As for Ise, she really is the only sane one besides Rukia herself, and what else was Rukia supposed to do when she found out that Ise was in almost all her classes at the university anyway?

As for the love part, that's a bit more complicated because Rukia had relied almost entirely on her lack of sex appeal and her too-good-for-you nose-in-the-air act that her fancypants All Girls Boarding School for Scheming Rich Girls did cover which would usually deter normal guys.

Unfortunately, Kurosaki Ichigo was not a normal guy.

The first time they meet is definitely no fairytale. Not by a longshot. He doesn't pull up in some horse drawn carriage, and she isn't decked out in some enchanted dress.

In fact, he was bleeding on the floor behind the Starbucks a block away from the Rukongai, and she was wearing sweatpants that she wasn't sure were clean, a shirt that had several holes in it around the one armpit, yesterday's makeup, and an Americano she didn't want but needed because mid-terms are coming and Jesus, why does it feel like she didn't know anything after half a year –

And her response to finding him there – looking valiantly like he wasn't in pain and holding his bleeding side with an equally bloody hand, was, "I thought I looked like hell."

She really was charming; she got it from her brother. (Seriously.) But to her credit, Bleeding Guy's reply wasn't any better: "You're fucking loud, you know that?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware indoor voices were required in back alleys," she sarcastically replied.

He snorted, and she backtracked on the bitchiness because dude is bleeding, and asked, "Do you need help?"

Huffing through his nose, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed in suspicion, she can practically hear his refusal ringing around in his head, and she really can't wait for him to land on a figure for the probability of him dying here as opposed to accepting the help of some strange girl he met behind a Starbucks so she stooped down to his level and offered a hand. "No hospitals, I'm guessing?"

His eyes are amber, and they glint like a cat's, and she should be concerned and wary and run away right now because – you shouldn't talk to strangers, least of all strangers you meet bleeding in alleys – but her instincts are top notch, and there'd be no harm in being a good Samaritan. She added, waving her offered hand impatiently, "Hurry up, my coffee's getting cold."

"Why are you helping me; I could be a serial killer for all you know."

She considered him for all of four seconds before she shrugged. "Maybe, but what are the chances we're both serial killers?"

And that's the line that gets him because two minutes later, he has his arm over her shoulders and her arm around his waist supporting him as they hobble towards her apartment.

It being four in the afternoon, the Rukongai was unusually quiet.

Everyone was still nursing hangovers from Rangiku's latest party which coincidentally coincided with Rukia visiting her brother in the city, and the aftereffects just happening to result in a quiet environment for her to study upon her return. (Rukia couldn't help but chuckle at Rangiku's incessant winks and nudges of "Get it?" when she told her of the initial plan, and lamenting how, "You won't be there to see the fun part, but you'll thank me, you'll see.")

The apartment is mercifully clean when they enter, though small and sparse of anything to give Bleeding Guy too much of an idea about who she was, even as she dumps him on the couch and goes to the kitchenette to grab the First Aid kit.

His hair is bright and juvenile, and that's what she focuses on instead of all the blood and – "Don't worry, most of it isn't mine."

Her hands shake a little, but her fancypants All Girls Boarding School for Scheming Rich Girls were filled with people who talked a load of shit just to get a reaction. Maintaining a neutral expression, she asked, "Who the hell did you piss off?"

He bared his teeth, caught between a grimace and a grin. "You should see the other guy."

He looked so weirdly proud that it was her turn to snort. "You're such a cliché."

"And you," he began, gaze only flickering briefly into hers, but making her feel exposed all the same, "are something."

She found out a few hours after he left that Rangiku, half dead herself by her own doing, still knew everything that went on in the building and – "I did not K.O everyone for you to get laid," she scolded. "Not that I wouldn't, but I like to know in advance, you know; full disclosure, total honesty."

"There's nothing to be honest about, I didn't get laid."

"Obviously," the busty woman waved off, "you're way too grouchy and confused. What's going on?"

"Nothing," she lied, and at least that was something she was good at, but Rangiku was annoyingly persistent.

"Then who was that guy?"

Drying the coffee cups that they had used after she had cleaned up the stab wound that had grazed his rib (grazed! he really hadn't been lying that the majority of the blood wasn't his) and putting it back in the cupboard, right next to the First Aid kit she needed to restock. "I assume you know him."

"I do, but I want to hear the words from you."

"I found him in an alley, he was hurt, I thought he could use some help."

Shaking her head with a laugh, Rangiku amended, "So you took him in like a stray kitten?"

"Not exactly."

"Trust me, hun," she said, patting her arm, "He doesn't need the help. I'm sure one of his men would have come and gotten him."

"What?"

Her jaw hung slightly ajar at the admission, and because she had a flare for the dramatics, Rangiku's hands flew up to frame her cheeks. "Oh, so you really don't know him?" At her silence, her companion declared, "You're so dense! Everyone knows him, Kurosaki, ring any bells?" Her blank look answered the question, and with a long-suffering sigh, Rangiku tried again, "How about Shiba?"

Rukia's eyes widened. "Like, the crime family, Shiba?"

"The one and only," she said with some pride. "Word is that Ichigo's extending territory, making the old guys around here antsy, you know how it is."

She did, her family was one of those old guys, and she bit back a curse. That was exactly what she didn't have time for, and she resolved to stick to the plan – stay low and out of the way. Any interaction with Kurosaki Ichigo would just be an inconvenience, something he apparently loved being because three days later, he showed up in her class.

Everyone noticed, of course, because apparently people have been noticing him for ages and she's been laying so low the only thing she'd been seeing were the words in her textbooks.

Ise was filled with warning after, as they sit across from one another in the library, "He's looking at you."

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Rukia demanded; teeth gritted as she repeated the mantra study, study, study even as she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head.

"You've heard about him, then?"

"I have," she eventually replied.

Her brother had agreed that having her own security detail would be counterintuitive in her quest in being invisible but she knew there were at least one of his men watching her, and so she had gotten him to give her intel on one Kurosaki Ichigo.

Renji had delivered. Everything from surveillance of his dodgy dealings, to fights he was involved in, to businesses that went under or rose to prominence under his control as his influence grew, Rukia felt, for an instant, at a loss of how shady her life actually didn't look compared to his.

Renji had side-eyed her hard.

"You need to tell your brother."

"And what will that do? Make him pull me out of uni?"

"No, but he should know. He could do something."

"Like what?"

"…I don't know."

"What are you going to do?" Ise asked for what felt like the third time that morning.

Sighing in frustration, Rukia asked, brow arching sharply, "Can I do something about it?"

Her companion shrugged, adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "If you do, I'd love to know. This is a lot more entertainment than I gave you credit for."

She snorted because she expected to be the most boring person ever, that was the plan, and it's going to stay that way. "Whatever it is that he wants he won't get it from me."

"Is that so?"

Ise coughed.

And, though Rukia felt like she was being drained of all the colour in her face and going blood red at the same time, she remained composed because she's Kuchiki Rukia, damn it. She did not survive heiress etiquette classes and her fancypants All Girls Boarding School for Scheming Rich Girls to be sent off-kilter by some boy.

Tilting her head to take him in, one hand in the pocket of his pants and the other rested on the table right beside the textbook she was trying to absorb through osmosis, he was a combination of suave and dangerous.

To his credit, he didn't look like some gang banger. His bright orange hair was about the only thing that screamed delinquent, but the rest of him was all tanned, toned, lean muscle and chiseled jawline. He didn't walk around in baggy pants accented with chains; he's got suit trousers on, for goodness' sake. He wasn't even covered in tattoos. Well, except for the ones on his chest, the outlines of the black bands she can just make out from the buttoned-up white shirt that stretches across his – her eyes widened – Oh my god, no.

"Kurosaki," she greeted, neutrally, if not hastily.

"Rukia."

I didn't tell him my name. She's too invisible to know off hand; she isn't a Kuchiki here and the university has more than a thousand students in this part of the campus alone, and all she can think is Why do you know my name?

"Is there something you want?"

"Matter of fact, I do," he said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Does it have something to do with you eavesdropping on my conversations, or do you just make it a habit to be nosy?"

"I like to know what goes on in my school."

She snorted quietly. "You think awfully big of yourself."

His shrug was nonchalant. "I know what I am, what I'm capable of, and what I want."

"I'm still waiting on what that has to do with me," she remarked, casting aside her pencil and crossing her arms, head tilted just so in an almost mocking acquiescence of acknowledgment, and that smirk of his got bigger.

"You'll see."

And that's what he left her with, and Ise exhaled deeply, muttering, "Jesus" and Rukia can't disagree because what was that?

She still doesn't tell her brother.

Even when Ichigo sat beside her in class, arm propped up on the back of the bench like that cheesy move guys did when they were at the movies except there's nothing really romantic about it – if the half-lidded gaze he sent the other students says anything at all it's that they shouldn't come near them.

Rukia didn't really mind because that's what lying low meant – no connections, no friends – but she also wanted no attention, and Ichigo's reputation demanded it.

"Can you not?" she hissed.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" Rukia can tell he wanted her to say yes, and give him that validation he wanted that he was the Big Bad Wolf on campus so instead she retorted, "You're more annoying than anything."

He snickered.

At the end of the lecture, he took her books from her and walked her to her next class, and if she wanted to fight about it, she forgets because they end up talking instead:

"The Republic is a load of crap." – He's good at distracting her – She spluttered, "Are you kidding me? It's like the greatest book on leadership ever written, it's still relevant hundreds of years after the fact." – "So is Shakespeare, and the majority of his work consists of dick jokes and sword fights, pun only partially intended." – And she forgets that she has no time for him and the inconvenience he brings because – without fail, she laughs. "Are you actually an idiot or do you have to work at it to convince people you are?" – He rolls his shoulders and smirks again, almost warm, always affectionate. "Depends on the day, depends on the person."

It's a routine she unwittingly gets into, like having coffee with Ise after their study sessions or day drinking wine in her pajamas on her days off with Rangiku as she regales Rukia on her latest escapade. Ichigo with his weird puns and love of Shakespeare and getting so easily ticked off by her to the point where the Big Bad Wolf on campus is pulling his tongue at her and teasing the hell of out her for kicks regardless of whose watching.

He's a friend in a different way that Ise and Rangiku are, Rukia is convinced. And she may not have come here wanting friends, but they're not so bad especially him.

Ichigo with his weirdly gentlemanly like habit of opening doors for her and walking her to class and carrying her books – and so what if he has two noticeably large men following them – him – at a distance or that when their attempts to irritate each other get physical, she never tries to touch him because what if he got in another fight recently and I don't know, and its healing and –

He noticed, of course, he noticed everything.

"Afraid I have cooties or something?"

"I'd be disinfecting myself constantly if that were the case," she retorted before sucking on the straw of her juice box. She'd never had a juice box before she started university, Kuchikis drank out of glasses, and Rukia certainly couldn't picture her older brother drinking out of a box. Ichigo had taken too much pleasure in that fact – that she hadn't tried it before and he was popping her juice box cherry, the nerd.

Swinging her legs from her perch on the railing of the Engineers' Building, the tallest building on campus because – "I like high places." – He huffed. "I hope you aren't thinking of jumping." – She snorted. "If I wanted to kill myself I'd choose something a bit more graceful than ending up like Humpty Dumpty on the sidewalk. Besides, the view's amazing." – "And you wanted to share it with me? I'm honored," he teased, and she almost walked all the way back down just to spite him, but she couldn't because she actually really did want him to see her favorite place.

"Then why is it," he began, suddenly right in front of her, his hands branded on the railing beside her thighs, "you won't touch me?"

Slowly she detached her lips from the straw and flicked his forehead with her index finger. "There. I touched you, satisfied?"

"Not even a little," he murmured, nudging his forehead a little against hers, getting her free hand to grasp at something – least she lose her balance and end up on the pavement– she settled for his hand next to her thigh. "Tell me."

"What's there to tell?" she challenged.

"I'm not the only with secrets."

"You don't have secrets," she retorted, "Everyone knows what you are and what you're capable of."

His agitation beginning to show in the tightening of his jaw as he asked, "So that has something to do with why you won't touch me?"

Rukia hummed, tilting her head so that they were literally nose to nose as she posed, "What if I did touch you…"

"And?"

"And you're hurt," she continued, "like the first day we met. What if I jokingly punch you, and not realize that you broke a rib or something during a fight? What if I touch you, and I hurt you?"

She expected him to snort in amusement as if this little slip of a girl could possibly hurt someone who ran a gang, but he looked to be considering her, eyes intently on hers.

And goddamn it, what was with his eyes? All intense and focused and piercing, and she can feel her blood pressure shoot up, and she demanded against the beating of her heart in her ears, "What?"

"You don't want to hurt me."

"Didn't I just say that?" she asked, rolling her eyes, mentally chanting play it off, play it off, play it off –

"Rukia," he exhaled and her name is like a caress on his tongue, and he was actually smiling as he informed, "you're something."

Snorting unconvincingly, she tried to push him away but did it too quickly that she teetered dangerously on the edge. Fortunately, his reflexes were faster than hers, and he held her to him, arms tight around her body, and her head tucking beneath his chin as she leaned against his chest.

"If it helps," he added, "I don't want to hurt you either."

And yeah, that's the day and the conversation she realized that shit, what have I done?

Friends she can handle; friends, people grow out of all the time, but love? Nonononono –

But whatever it is – was – it ends. Not in the obvious way, he still sits with her, carries her books, teases her relentlessly, but now – now there's a distance. They don't go back to the Engineers' Building.

"Shimizu-san."

Rukia looked up from her lunch, her conversation with Ise about a group project temporarily put on hold at the sound of her fake last name, and the sight of Inoue Orihime.

"Oh, hello Inoue-san," she greeted with a nod. "May I help you?"

The girl is older than Rukia by a year, and they only really have one class together – the one with Ichigo – and they worked together once or twice throughout the year for presentations, but Rukia couldn't claim to know her any more than she would any classmate.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"About what?" Rukia asked, genuinely concerned. They had a presentation in two weeks' time, did Inoue mess up somehow because there was still time to fix it –

"About you and Kurosaki-kun," she said.

She and Ise must have looked pretty comical, blinking in unison as Rukia asked lamely, "I'm sorry?"

Inoue nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry you broke up."

Ise made a sound of disbelief, but Inoue wasn't done, "We dated in high school you know, briefly, and we were just kids then and didn't know what we were doing. And I know it's only been a few days, but I hope you don't mind if we give it another try?"

What. What. What. What?

"Huh?"

She made to bow. "Of course, we don't need your permission, but I thought it would be polite to at least let you know, ne?"

Ise's dying. Rukia can see it, and she can feel her blood pressure spike for an entirely different reason to when she's around that orange haired idiot. Luckily Inoue wasn't waiting for a reply and left immediately after, probably to that same class they both shared with him. Fuck.

"Well."

"Don't say anything," Rukia ordered slowly, rubbing her forehead, her lunch forgotten on her lap. "I'm still trying to process." What was that 'we' Inoue had used? If Ichigo really was getting back together with his ex, why was he still spending so much with her? When did he even have the time to –

"So you and Kurosaki, hm?"

"No!" It doesn't matter, I shouldn't care. "Of course not!"

"Sure."

"Well apparently not," Rukia ranted, "we're hypothetically broken up and his ex-girlfriend is getting in there."

"You want to go claim your man?"

"Shut up."

But yeah, she kind of wanted to because love was an inconvenience that affected proper brain function and – her leg was jigging under the table in impatience because she can feel Inoue looking at them, biding her time for the class to end so she can –god, why is she so pissed it isn't like they're a thing –

Her jigging leg came to stop at the pressure of his hand on her knee. "Stop it."

"I can't," she hissed back.

"Why the hell not?"

"I'm irritated," she blurted instead of the lie she had prepared when she inevitably messed up and let him know that Inoue had bothered her with something so stupid, oh my god, what have I become?

For a few minutes as they paused to listen to what remained of the lecture, he asked above the hum of students getting up to leave around them, "Do you wanna to talk about it?"

She can see Inoue moving in for the kill out of the corner of her eye, and with a strained exhale and a message to whatever gods were listening to make this quick, she replied, "You'll see."

He didn't.

Without even lifting his head to acknowledge Inoue, a message on his phone distracting him, he stood. "I got to go, something came up."

Rukia blinked; the warmth of him by her side and the weight of his hand on her knee gone so fast she was left cold. "What? What's happening?"

He managed to throw her a smirk. "Don't worry, it'll be quick. I'll see you later."

Inoue's sunny smile was considerably dimmed as Rukia too stood to follow him out of the lecture hall, his long strides making her practically run to catch up to him in the hallway. "Wait, what? I'm seeing you later?"

"Yeah, don't worry I'll text you," he said, nodding at the two men that followed him about to go ahead, and there's a frantic voice in the back of Rukia's head telling her that something is going down, something dangerous and Ichigo could –

She didn't realize that he had his lips pressed against her hair until she's engulfed by him, his tall frame acting as a buffer between her and the people around them. He wasn't even touching her, really, but Rukia can feel the heat of him sinking into her pores, and she heard herself sigh as he pulled away.

"I'll be back, I promise."

It was two and the morning and she was still waiting on that promise.

Her phone had been fully charged for two of those hours, and she'd been pacing the length of her small apartment for about the same time. She had studied, revised and covered an entire wall in course material, telling herself that she wasn't waiting, she was studying.

When there was a knock at her door, she ignored it, instead glancing at her phone.

Rangiku had been checking up on her periodically for hours so when the knock on the door became more insistent, she called out, "I'm busy Rangiku."

"But I brought food."

That wasn't Rangiku.

Throwing open the door, Ichigo filled the frame – a box of pizza in hand and a bluish bruise on his jawline. "What the hell happened to you?" she demanded, searching his face.

"The line at Donatello's was brutal."

"Don't talk shit, what happened? It's midnight!"

"It's two, actually, but I'm sure you knew that," he said, sliding the box of pizza onto the center table and sliding onto the couch gingerly. "Were you waiting for me?"

"You said you'd text," she defended, before getting right back on the topic at hand because if he thought for one second she would forget –

"I'm part of a gang, I'm sure you know," Ichigo remarked. "This," he gestured, "tends to happen."

"Oh my god," she exhaled. "Are you hurt anywhere else? Bleeding maybe?"

"Nah, I'm starving though." Popping open the box, he added, "I wasn't in the mood to pick out the pineapples this time, hope you don't mind."

Seriously? Was this her life now?

"You give me anxiety," she declared, sitting beside him and resting her head over the back of the couch.

"Were you worried?"

"Don't be a jerk, of course I was."

The ass looked like he was smiling, and she pointed at him. "You better be happy because that pizza is amazing and not because you're taking pleasure in giving me grey hairs."

He raised his free hand in surrender, adding, "I won though." And she sighed, closing her eyes.

They spent a few minutes in silence, Rukia on the cusp of sleep as she heard Ichigo move about her apartment before she felt a considerable weight on her lap. Peeking out between her lashes, she said, "I swear to god, if you put the head of the person you beat on my lap, I will stab you."

"It's my head."

"Knew it felt pretty empty," she noted to his snicker.

"What happened?" she ventured to ask a beat or two later, and he sighed.

"Work, it rarely happens now that things get physical, but my dad had an old score to settle and I wasn't about to let him go alone."

"If you work, why are you studying?"

"Can't run a business without some know-how," he mused, "You would know, wouldn't you?"

She tensed. "You looked me up, Kurosaki?"

"I wouldn't be very smart if I didn't, Kuchiki." To this she was silent, and he added, "Shimizu fits you, in some respects though – clean, pure – bet you never had to do any of the dirty work yourself."

"No," she allowed, exhaling and feeling the tension ease. "I never even knew, not until my parents died and my brother was in charge."

"Both of them?" he asked.

"Yeah, car accident," she recalled, "allegedly."

"Huh," he mused. "My mom was murdered when I was nine on our way home from karate practice so mine was a bit more jarring..."

"It ain't a competition, Kurosaki," she reminded, pinching his nose in retaliation.

He chuckled. "I know." A second later, "I'm sorry about your parents."

"I'm sorry about your mom," she returned.

In unison, they exhaled, and the air was clear. "What happens now?"

"I spoke to your brother."

That was unexpected. "What?"

He shrugged. "Your family is old and traditional as fuck, I figured if you had to date a gang member, the least I could do was be polite about it."

"Who said I wanted to date you?"

"Fine," he declared, and she can practically feel him roll his eyes. "Court you, then."

Making an exaggerated face of disgust, she added, "Ew."

Next thing she knew, he had tugged her down to press his lips against hers, and apparently that was the deal being sealed.

Between their exchange of breaths, he murmured, "You're something, Kuchiki Rukia" and that was better than any declaration of love she could ask for, and it certainly didn't hurt that a second later, he promised, "I'll give you a city" because she was a graduate of a fancypants All Girls Boarding School for Scheming Rich Girls, and spoilt little rich girls loved grand gestures like that.

A/n: Lols, the trash. I'm terrible and I'm not sorry.

This story is also available on wattpad with the same name, but with original characters because, why not?

Thanks for reading!

[the-late-night-writer]

a long + stupid story/rant

Click to read.

So yesterday was a pretty fun day. My brothers, my cousins, my brother’s girlfriend, and I went to an activities center a few towns away to spend some time with each other, and we all had a pretty good time. Things were going pretty well. We were hanging out, playing games like dodgeball and jumping around on trampolines, crawling through ball pits, you know, having a grand old time.

So the thing about this place is that they offer three different kinds of packages that basically determines what you will and won’t be able to do. The employees can determine what you’ve paid for by the color of your bracelet. My bracelet and the bracelet of everyone else in my group was silver. That meant that there were certain activities there that we wouldn’t be able to do, like bumper cars, ziplining, stuff like that for people who’d paid more.

My group decided we wanted to go on the ropes obstacle, which is basically an obstacle course suspended in the air where they put you in a harness and you have to make your way through. So, we went up these foam stairs to the entrance of the obstacle. The first time it was just me, my younger brother, and one of my cousins. They got through without a problem, harnessed up, went on the obstacle. The employee scheduled at the time approached me and asked if I was going. I answered “yeah” and started to walk over to the harnesses.

But after I spoke, this guy sort of like... not necessarily recoiled, because it was pretty subtle, but there was obviously a difference in his response to me after that. He then told me that I wasn’t allowed on the obstacle course and I was forced to leave.

I was pretty damn confused, because my brother and cousin had gotten through with silver bracelets, and even though our bracelets were identical I’d been turned away. So I went about my business, did some other activities, hung out with my family a little more.

It’s maybe an hour later. My entire group decides to go on the obstacle course again. They go up there and I wait at the bottom of the staircase to see if they get let through. Sure enough, one after the other, out comes my group on this obstacle course. Thinking that maybe there’d been a mistake with me earlier, I went up and headed over to the harnesses. This time there were two employees, different guys, and when they saw me turned and started talking to each other, pointing at me. Again, they told me I wasn’t allowed and instructed me to leave and come back after I’d gone to the front desk and given them more money for a different bracelet.

Now, this is when I got mad. Everyone else in my group had worn short-sleeved shirts with the color of their bracelets clearly in view, and had been allowed on. Fuming, I waited at the bottom of the stairs for my group. When they exited, I held out my wrist and compared my bracelets to theirs. Identical. Same color, same wording, even categorized as “deluxe”.

This is when I decided to do something arguably stupid, but being the person that I am (diagnosed with a disorder that means I feel emotions to extremes), I decided to do it anyway. I told my group I intended to confront the employee and asked if they’d come with me to show that our bracelets were the same color. Not a single one of them agreed to back me up and left to do other things. So there I was, standing at the bottom of this comically dumb foam staircase, abandoned by group and already feeling humiliated and betrayed. But I didn’t want to take that walk of shame back to them, I didn’t want them to look at me with pity after my “empty threat”. So I turned to the staircase and walked up there.

As I was walking up there, I knew. I knew that I was gonna be “that bitch” that this guy would tell his friends and family about at the end of his work day, but at that point I really didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to me was to go up there and confront that son of a bitch, that ghastly looking man who had turned me away again. I was gonna give him a piece of my mind, I was gonna tell him this and that and I was gonna walk away satisfied. As you might be able to tell that is not how this is going to go down, but I figured maybe if I posted about it, it would stop replaying in my head like a broken record, a tape stuck on repeat.

I turned that corner and he saw me, that neon-shirted employee with lifeless eyes, who’d no doubt dealt with his fair share of angry costumers. He recognized me almost immediately and began sputtering his mantra to me again, as if he were a doll and it was one of his six automatic pre-set phrases.

“I’m not here for that,” I interrupted, and at that moment I bet he knew that this was gonna be one of those moments, one of those times which he’d retell to family for years to come, an example of how bitchy and ungrateful costumers could be, a story in which I’d be the one in the wrong, the snake-haired venom-mouthed bitch of a devil-with-no-cause. The bad guy. The one people would shake their heads and scoff at. The kind of person who appears as the antagonist in posts just like this one.

I proceeded to question if he’d been checking everyone’s bracelets. He responded in the positive, yes, he had. The lie fueled the fire inside my chest. I believe I said something along the lines of “I don’t think you have been”, which, I’ll admit, was really quite a bitchy way to put it, but in my state I did not care. I explained that he’d let through my entire group, who had all worn bracelets identical to mine. The employee told me that they’d been here for the slide. The slide. He was going to tell me that they’d been there for a separate attraction while I’d stood on the ground and had a conversation with them as they’d made their way through the ropes, twenty feet in the air.

I told him this. Then, the employee, obviously not wanting to deal with me or my anger, put on a sarcastic tone, pointed to the slide, and said, “There’s the slide. Have a nice day.” Then, directed his attention to a chubby, gold-braceleted child who obviously belonged there, someone worthy of his attention.

If he had thought I would huff, turn away, and angrily use the slide as a form of dramatic exit, he was mistaken. I stood. I waited. A female not in uniform backed him up, told me that yes, he really had been checking all the bracelets, and implied that I was the one in the wrong. When his conversation with the child had finished, I started in again.

I leaned in. Told him that I knew him keeping me away was just his job, but that still left me with the question as to why my entire group had been let through while I had been singled out? Was he picking and choosing whom he was and wasn’t letting in? If he really was checking the bracelets as he said he was, then why were they allowed through and I wasn’t when, if what they claimed was true, none of us were supposed to be there in the first place?

The fact that I recognized he was simply doing his job seemed to get him to listen. He instructed me to go to my party head (I didn’t have one—I wasn’t there for a party) and tell them about the mix up. After this, I left and didn’t return. I rode home angry, fighting back tears, recognizing that it was the stupidest thing in the world and that it shouldn’t have upset me. But it did.

The thing that ate at me was the lie of the employee, the betrayal of my family, the fact that it was something about me non-related to the bracelets that had caused them to keep me away. Was it the way I looked? What kind of person did they think I was? My t-shirt? My 90s jeans? The sound of my voice? My family had left me to face the injustice, however small, alone. I looked and felt like an idiot. Had they simply been there, it would’ve been easier, had they showed their bracelets, shown the employee that they were the same, he would be forced to admit that he hadn’t been checking the bracelets as he’d claimed or that he’d for some reason decided to keep me out. Or at least that he’d made a mistake, admit that they shouldn’t have been let through in the first place, and apologize.

Had we all been turned away, had we all been forced to take the walk of shame down those obscenely colorful stairs, it would be different. We’d have brushed it off together and moved on. I wouldn’t have made a fool of myself. Though instead it was them to bond on the obstacle course and me to watch from the sidelines, left alone. Singled out. Shunned. Blacklisted.

I know this seems small and unimportant. Maybe one day I’ll look back and realize that it is. But having been left out of so many things, throughout my childhood and high school and now in real life, while watching everyone get on and have a good time without me... it hurt. It felt as if someone had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart, the all-too-familiar feeling of loneliness and being unneeded pooling between my ribs.

The final event had soured everyone’s day; that much I could tell on the car ride home. There I was again, singled out, left out of the bond between everyone over something I alone had caused. They would look at me and roll their eyes, the event overshadowing the day’s fun, electing to leave me out of future events. It’s times like these that I wish I didn’t feel so much, that I wish I knew how to get my feelings under control, that I wish that I was wanted or needed at all by those around me.