#this is like the worst of all the times peter has ditched a girl for johnny

[traincat]

Johnny, I am so super not avail rn. Remember? You're my guy tho! Best guy! Literally at a wake. Get over here if it's not urs.

Love Unlimited #69

[mariacallous]

Is liking Ayn Rand a personality defect? Before she was the godmother of American libertarianism, Rand was a writer known for insisting on the virtue and beauty of self-interest. To her admirers, her books, including “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged,” celebrate exceptional men and women who make their own flourishing a moral imperative. To her detractors, Rand’s novels, as Lisa Duggan writes in her 2019 study “Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed,” glamorize rapacity and violence; they grant happy endings to characters who showcase “contempt for lesser beings and a cool indifference to their suffering”; and they “provide a structure of feeling—optimistic cruelty—that . . . underwrites the form of capitalism on steroids that dominates the present.”

Since Rand’s death, in 1982, she has been embraced by tech billionaires (Peter Thiel, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk), free-market politicians (Ronald Reagan, Clarence Thomas, Rand Paul), and their acolytes. Elsewhere, she has become a pop-cultural bogeyman, ridiculous but unkillable. Find her on “The Simpsons” (“Russian weirdo Ayn Rand”), “Parks and Recreation” (“a terrible writer”), “Girls,” “Watchmen,” and “The Mindy Project,” invariably dressed as a menace or a punch line. The presence of “Atlas Shrugged” or “The Fountainhead” on a bedside table or Tinder profile is a waving red flag—reliable shorthand for latent sociopathy. A friend, in order to lend me a copy of “Atlas Shrugged” for this piece, stowed the paperback in a manila folder that she then stapled shut and handed off to my partner at their mutual workplace. He smuggled it down the hall and into his bag. “I didn’t think I’d get fired” if anyone saw the book, he explained, “but it wouldn’t look great.”

In “The Book of Ayn,” a novel by Lexi Freiman, Rand takes on a new role: North Star for the cancelled. Anna, a mid-career writer who comes from money, has just published a “contrarian” novel about the opioid epidemic, a satire of the rural poor full of “bad haircuts,” “misspelled tattoos,” and pants-shitting. “I had honestly believed I was writing a book so good it metabolized its own badness,” Anna explains, somewhat touchingly. Instead of the acclaim she expects, Anna gets dropped by her publisher and ghosted by her friends; even her old prep school rejects a last-ditch job application. On Twitter, she is enjoined to jump off the balcony of her pied-à-terre on Madison Avenue and to use her novel as a parachute.

Worst of all, a review in the New York Times suggests that Anna is that current-day bête noire, a “narcissist.” Devastated, Anna borrows a friend’s book on narcissism and reads that narcissists are “selfish, arrogant, and insecure,” “grandiose and fragile and incapable of handling any threat to their identity,” and that they “saw themselves reflected back everywhere, made grand narratives of their lives, but felt at their core that they were empty.”

To Anna’s horror, the descriptions remind her of herself. She is empty, she realizes. She doesn’t believe in anything; all she can do is make fun of people. Seeking a counternarrative, Anna gloms on to a tour group discussing Ayn Rand in a coffee shop and, soon after, orders a bundle of her works. She’s immediately enthralled. The books argue that “selfishness was a form of care” and that “wealth was a beautiful thing.” They claim that “true freedom lived . . . in the breaking of bonds and severing of ties.” As Anna reads, she feels her weaknesses becoming strengths. Her selfishness, she realizes, is radically ethical. She may not get invited to parties anymore, but she wouldn’t enjoy them anyway—she’s too radiantly liberated.

In “The Culture of Narcissism,” his famous 1979 study, Christopher Lasch writes that the narcissist can only overcome insecurity “by seeing his ‘grandiose self’ reflected in the attentions of others.” Freiman slyly casts Rand as Anna’s “grandiose self,” the mask she pulls on over her pain and vulnerability. Anna, you might say, has suffered a narcissistic injury and is turning to Rand to preserve her positive self-image.

An elderly millennial in the shitposting era, Anna shrouds her new obsession in layers of self-protective irony. Rand’s ideas give her solace, and being a “ ‘Randgirl,’ ” in scare quotes, appeals to her contrarianism, her desire to provoke and outrage the commenters who want her to jump off a balcony. When Rand was in her late thirties, she moved from New York to Hollywood to write for the big screen. Anna decides to follow in her footsteps. She decamps for Los Angeles and reinvents herself as a television writer, pitching a sitcom, inspired by “Bojack Horseman” (although she swears it’s not), about a farm animal named Ayn Ram. Even as Anna hopes to rehabilitate her hero for a contemporary audience, she places some distance between herself and her subject by wrapping Rand in the soft wool of humor—a defense mechanism that Freiman suggests originates in a tragedy in her early life. When Anna was three, her infant brother died “for no reason” in his sleep. Provocation “smoothed the edges,” she says, a fleece that muffled the sharpness of loss.

With its undercurrent of childhood trauma, “The Book of Ayn” evokes Mary Gaitskill’s classic treatment of the Randgirl plot, “Two Girls, Fat and Thin,” from 1991. That book’s narrator, Dorothy, imprints on a Rand-like character named Anna Granite after being abused and molested by her father as a teen-ager. “By the time I was seventeen, I had a very negative view of life, and a horrific view of sex,” Dorothy tells Justine, a journalist writing an article on Granite and her fans. When she discovered Granite’s books, Dorothy says, “suddenly a whole different way of looking at life was presented to me.” Ostracized at school, she draws comfort from Granite’s depictions of “proud outcasts . . . surrounded by the cold glow of their genius and grace.” In bed with her father, she clings to a dream of “strong, contemptuous beauty . . . indifferent to anything but itself and its own growth.” Dorothy comes to believe in a philosophy called Definitism—Gaitskill’s thinly veiled version of Objectivism, the doctrine developed by Rand—and it confers on Dorothy the power and value that she believes herself to lack; Granite herself seems to nurture the girl in loco parentis. As a college student, Dorothy buys an interstate bus ticket to attend one of Granite’s speaking events and imagines her idol, how “she would look at me and know everything I’d endured.” At the lecture, she weeps uncontrollably, convinced at last that she is “damn strong,” that she is “worth something.”

“The Book of Ayn” and “Two Girls, Fat and Thin” plead for sympathy for the Randgirl. Like Freiman’s Anna, Gaitskill’s Dorothy is a case study in vulnerable narcissism and, ultimately, a figure of pity. She retreats from the world and into daydreams about Oz and Never-Never Land, epic tales in which she plays the hero. She hides behind delusions of grandeur, raging when Justine asks her “stupid” questions. These are broken people to be handled with gentleness, the novels seem to argue.

But, in fact, both books have a more subversive intent: to trouble the distinction between Randians and everyone else. In “Two Girls, Fat and Thin,” Justine, the freelance journalist who interviews Dorothy, is disgusted by Granite’s ideas. She’s identified as “neurotic” and Dorothy is not; the contrast between them conjures Freud’s dichotomy between pliable patients who obediently adopt the terminology of their analysts and difficult patients who prove too self-absorbed to undergo transference. But Justine, who, unlike Dorothy, is pretty, thin, and popular, incarnates Rand’s notion of the beautiful brute more than Dorothy does. As a girl, she picked on schoolmates who had fewer friends; at one point, transported by “swelling arrogance” and “boiling greed,” she sexually abused a weaker child with a toothbrush. The more Gaitskill reveals about her characters, the more they blur together, as both selfish and selfless at once.

In her penetrating monograph “The Selfishness of Others: An Essay on the Fear of Narcissism,” Kristin Dombek describes a narcissistic behavior called “splitting,” wherein the narcissist idealizes that which soothes him and discards that which causes him pain. “Splitting” is also the main structural mechanism of the two novels—and a mental trap that both their protagonists and their readers must resist. Like “Two Girls,” “The Book of Ayn” is built on a seemingly clean division: Part 1 tells the story of Anna’s intoxication with Rand; in Part 2, Anna, breaking violently with Objectivism, goes to a meditation camp on the Greek island of Lesbos to try to murder her ego. Freiman’s Los Angeles is a cesspit of superficiality and selfishness, but the “Beloveds,” as the cultists who run the retreat in Greece call themselves, aren’t much better. The group’s master is known for his collection of three hundred and fifty Harley Davidsons and for releasing “a vicious strain of European bee into the hostile neighboring farmland.” Other seekers at the commune steal Anna’s clothes, cheat on their partners, and neglect their children. Anna, unconsciously emulating Rand, begins a love affair with a much younger man, a refugee from an unspecified war-torn country. Life on the commune can’t heal the effects of his “hard-core trauma,” he tells her. Only Hollywood can; he longs to “try the acting.”

So is everyone a delusional, self-serving, trauma-masking Randian narcissist at heart? You could call that the lesson of the Randgirl novels, although you’d be underselling their sweetness. The books mock their characters, but they also argue that egoism can be nourishing and even generative. Gaitskill’s treatment of Anna Granite, for instance, is unexpectedly sympathetic. When Dorothy first meets her idol, the older woman models kindness and empathy. Dorothy panics, unable to speak; Granite, Dorothy says, “stood and gripped my shoulders with both hands . . . her eyes radiated the gentlest strength I had ever experienced, her tough, hot, callusy hands supported me with the full intensity of her life.” Granite tells Dorothy that she can see her suffering but also her resilience and value. She offers her a job. Because Granite has willed herself to believe in her own worth, Gaitskill hints, she is alive to the worth in others. And, in awakening Dorothy to her own inner resources, Granite awakens the young woman’s sense of her fellow-humans as sovereign selves. In the hours before Granite’s lecture, Dorothy is transfixed by passing faces: “the jowls, the eye wrinkles, the bumpy noses, the flower-petal quality of young female skin.” When Dorothy was in college, individuals had streamed together into a monolithic threat. But “as I walked among the citizens of Philadelphia,” she says, “I felt as though I occupied a compartment of personal space that they instinctively respected as I respected theirs.”

Freiman finds less to salvage in Rand’s life or work, but the novel is rightly skeptical of the wellness industry’s promises to subdue the demands of selfhood. After failing to make a TV show and then failing to kill her ego, Anna takes stock. She comes to realize that she can’t write without self-esteem—and that writing, more than being a contrarian or even a good person, is her vocation. “There was only one thing that ever helped me,” she says. “One thing that had always been there, strung up at the threshold of my mind like tiny golden lights, enchanting me into life, dangling its whimsy and warm lozenges of hope.” This thing is writing—“only writing promised me happiness, or at the very least progress”—and the type of writing Anna wants to do, voicey and spiky and singular, requires an “I.”

Unlike the self-aggrandizer, the artist, Freiman implies, uses her “I” as an alloy, creating a material both durable and porous, blending what she has felt to be true with what she imagines might be true for others. The writing that Anna intuits will save her dangles at the “threshold” of her mind because it directs her both in and out. Throughout the novel, as she flails around trying to fill her perceived emptiness, what she fills it with are the words, ideas, and lives of roommates, romantic partners, Internet commenters, friends, influencers, yoga instructors, cult members, Antifa activists, and embarrassing conservative philosophers. She reads their books, goes to their events, and stays in their homes. By the end, her “I” has been vastly expanded: other people live in her head, whether she wants them to or not, shaping the innermost contours of her self. This vision of identity as plural means that self-assertion does not necessarily come at the expense of the rest of the world. It could even be a declaration of life on another’s behalf.

Both Freiman and Gaitskill play up the Möbius-strip aspect to selfishness and selflessness—when I stand up for me, they suggest, I am also standing up for you, because we are intertwined. At their most persuasive, though, the Randgirl novels don’t applaud the morality of self-interest so much as they paint self-absorption as a useful but transient phase. Freud characterized narcissism as a form of arrested development. The narcissist, instead of sprouting healthy attachments to others, remains stranded in the oceanic self-involvement of infancy. Gaitskill and Freiman rescue this creature from a state of frozen pathology, returning her to her rightful place within a developmental stage. Dorothy and Anna, perhaps, are just passing through necessary bouts of self-infatuation on their way to maturity. Late in “Two Girls,” Justine comes to appreciate the role that Granite played for Dorothy, even as she believes that Dorothy has outgrown Granite:

When you read Granite’s work not only did she awaken your sense of beauty and pleasure in life, not only did she illustrate for you a positive use of strength and power, but she provided a springboard for you to create an internal world richer and stronger than the external world which wasn’t giving you any support at all. But she was only the departure point.

Instead of a bogeyman or a red flag, maybe Rand is just a set of training wheels, or a trellis on which characters can temporarily support their unfurling selves. “Everybody had a moment of loving Ayn Rand,” Anna’s mother tells her—it’s a low point for our Randgirl, but a reassurance to readers, who are happy to welcome this lost sheep back into the herd. ♦

[youwontdie]

well first and foremost: 🎀 if you haven't gotten her yet lol

☀️🦷 and 📞as well

i did actually get elizabeth instantly no surprise there ahaha . i DO think about these guys so much though so,

cassidy:

- full name cassandra miller. its funny to me

- ofc u have pronouns. it/its or just none at all really

- this thing is mixed korean :o]

- literally just turned fifteen the day of cassidys death

- GOLDENDUO! bv/joseph is cassidys little brother thing forever.

- has poliosis and vitiligo ....... and the tism......

- cassidy is a weirdo. like in an extremely traumatized way. most of cassidys motivation comes from deeply ingrained religious trauma pertaining to the ideas that forgiveness is worthless and everyone's damned anyway

- does not think its a person. the it/its is derogatory 😔

- very formal and composed, but tries way too hard to seem intimidating. it usually works, but when compared to joseph who is like infinitely scarier when he wants to be its literally nothing lmao

- it and charlie did ucn together . though after a while charlie decided they'd lingered long enough while cassidy wanted to keep taking revenge for literally ever. they kind of hate each other but they're kind of best friends etc etc

- somebody send cassidy to therapy now

jeremy f:

- full name jeremy jesse fitzgerald

- 42 when he died

- okay here's where stuff gets weird. jeremy was not the bite of '87 victim in my au. he got mauled during the night shift and ended up in the hospital for a while

- still died though. became a loose poltergeist and was like YOOOO

- he deliberately breaks ghost rules he hops from foxy variant to foxy variant and he has the time of his life and thats his entire character

- jeremy so just sticks with lolbit though. i dont know why. it was the funniest option imaginable.

phone guy:

- full name scott peter garinger

- about like 22 when he died?

- family with the other phone people. phone dude is his twin brother, tape girl is their niece :o]

- genuinely just ur everyday nerd freak. glasses more duct tape than frame. stupid sweater vest

- he's been with fazent for. a while. he had like a summer job at fredbears, was a manager at fnaf2, that kinda thing. he used to really love the whole concept but the murders and bites and maulings really put a damper on it

- he took the night shift at fnaf1 because he felt Guilty and he didnt want to be in charge anymore. he was going to quit and then he died lawl

- he does stick around as a ghost though. this is where it gets silly

- he just straight up possesses the spare suit with his corpse in it and is like Alright man. I guess. ditches freddys with mike schmidt (they r friends ok.) hides out in an abandoned convenience store literally across the street from it

- and then that's literally it. for like 40 years. he minds his fucking business until Gregory Security Breach decides to squat in the convenience store too and uh

- worst found family ensues. thats why gregory trusts glam freddy so much its silly

- my au is completely founded on what's the funniest thing to make happen while still taking it entirely SERIOUSLY

[vbpotter]

Malfoy (James Potter x reader)

Warnings: Angst 

A/n : I take requests <3

We all love someone . They say, that loving someone is the best feeling. They say that loving someone feels like you are floating in the air, their thoughts clouding your mind. They say that loving someone is peaceful, because you have finally found your home. They say that Loving someone is like having something to heal you, to carry you, to encourage you. They say that loving someone is worth living for. 

But, only a few people know what it is like to not be loved. Only some people know what it feels like. Only some people know how much it hurts. Only some people know how it feels to be ignored, to be the second choice, to not be loved by your family, to not be loved by the person you have handed your heart to. Only some people know how much it hurts to be not loved , to always be the second choice, to always be the least preferred one, to always be not enough, to always be a disappointment, to live with no love. 

Someone who knew exactly how it felt like was Y/n Malfoy. 

Yes..... Y/n Malfoy. 

The Youngest Malfoy of the family. 

Now..... Growing up as the only daughter of the family, and not to mention the youngest child would have been easy, right?�� especially if you are from a rich family who has high standards and is very respectable, having elves to do your work left and right, to be raised like a princess?  

Yes.... She was raised like a princess..... But not a normal princess..... She was raised as Rapunzel. 

Trapped in a tower,  hidden from the outside world , learning everything that the people of the tower taught her, believing that what the people of the tower said was always true ..... Until one day, she decided to know what the outside world was. 

So she ran, escaped from under dozens of gazes, unseen. And..... For the first time in her life, she saw something worth looking at. 

She happily skipped around, looking at the trees filled with flowers, that were so different from the dark trees surrounding her Manor. She saw beautiful birds chirping , multi coloured birds that were so different than the white peacocks that she usually saw at Malfoy Manor. She saw the sky, light blue with different shapes of clouds floating in it,  it was so different than the dark ceiling of the Malfoy Manor. 

She smiled and ran,  admiring the scenery around her. That is when she reached an open area, that she guessed was a playground. She saw a couple with a young boy. That was the time five year old Y/n Malfoy met James Potter for the first time. 

Since that day, Y/n would sneak out from Malfoy Manor every evening for an hour, during the time when her mum was at her daily Tea Party with her friends, her father in his library and her brother playing the piano. 

She and James would play on the swings and chat happily. She even got to know his parents, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter,  who were very happy that James had someone to play with ,since they lived in a large Manor at the edge of a small forest .

Everything went smoothly, until one day, her brother caught her sneaking out. That was probably the worst day of Y/n's life .She still vividly remembered her brother's harsh glare, her parents' disappointed looks and the punishment she received afterwards. That was the first time Y/n had been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, not knowing that she would be receiving more of it in the future. 

The Malfoys were forced to move away , since - the Dark Lord ordered them to .

Malfoy Manor was then established at an even worse place, in the Middle of a Dark Forest , its location unknown to everyone. Even Y/n didn't know in which part of the world they were living in , but, the life of the six year old Y/n was already ruined. 

The next five years of her life were the worse. She felt as if she was trapped even more tightly in the tower, like Rapunzel. 

There were house elves around her room every hour of the day. She was forced to wear long and puffy dresses , which she hated . She was forced to go to fancy Balls and meet new people, mainly boys her age. She hated it, her parents were determined to get her married at a young age to a respectable boy form a  pure blood family, so that they didn't have to deal with her anymore. It was disgusting. They were trying to arrange or even engage a six year old with a boy her age, or even quite older than her. 

She hated their ideas. She would wince, whenever someone talked about Muggles and Muggleborns.....in such a way t-that even the worst person in the world didn't deserve to be t-talked to or about. She had snapped at such people many times, and she had been punished...... The same number of many times. So much, that the cruciatus curse didn't hurt her anymore. 

Her parents couldn't kill her, nor disown her. Because , the dark lord said that young children were valuable and that they would be useful for his army in the future .

Y/n still remembered ,the day when she was united with James Potter. She was on the Hogwarts Express , going to Hogwarts for the first time. Her parents had just lectured her about not to talk to 'filthy people ' and her brother had left her with a harsh glare , running towards the prefects compartment where he was to be sitting. 

Y/n sighed after her brother left her with another of his classic Malfoy glares. She looked around and headed forward, searching for a compartment with the least people or no people at all. She finally found one, only one person was sitting in there. 

" Hey! Can I sit here? " Y/n asked. The person who was staring out of the window looked at her, and Y/n felt her throat dry down when she was met by a familiar pair of Hazel eyes, only this time - they were covered by thick round glasses. 

"J-James ?" Y/n muttered, her voice shaking. 

" Y-Y/n?" The boy asked and Y/n felt a wave of Happiness overcome her. 

And then after years, the two long separated friends embraced each other in a warm hug. But, James didn't know that Y/n was ten times more happier to see him than he was to see her. 

As Y/n, now in her 7th year,  sat in the couch of Gryffindor common room, she felt herself smile as she was reminded of the memory. 

Y/n was sorted into Gryffindor, giving her parents and brother another reason to hate her. 

She and James were quick to become close friends again , and soon, they were joined by Sirius, Remus and Peter - the 5 of them, together being the Marauders. 

Since First year, James was obsessed over Lily , Y/n's fellow roommate. She and Lily weren't friends, per say, but - they didn't hate each other either. The two would always have small conversations and would often discuss their homework notes together. 

Y/n never opposed to the idea of her best friends chasing after Lily . She always encouraged him to go forward , she always encouraged him that he could do it . But , It was in her fourth year did she realize that what she felt towards James wasn't just friendship . She realized that the little weigh she felt on her shoulders after hearing him ramble about Lily  was not tiredness , she realized that the little churning of her stomach around him , the blush she got when he flirted with her without even realizing it .......all of it , was not just platonic ........at least not for her . 

But, she didn't act Bitchy like others would have in this situation. She didn't get angry when James ditched her loads of times just to try to spend time with the red Head. She didn't get annoyed when he treated her like one of the boys.

All she did was smile. She plastered a fake smile on her face and encouraged him to keep going, to try and get the Red Head. 

But, even though she felt the weight of the whole world on her shoulders, even though she felt her heart sink down day by day - she was happy. She was Happy for her best friend.She was happy when she saw him progress on the Red Head he had been chasing after, She felt happy when he was happy. And..... She knew that she shouldn't be Selfish. She had accepted her fate long ago, she had accepted that she and James weren't meant to be together. She had accepted that she had to stay with this weight her entire life. But a little part of her ...........It told her that she could at least hope  ...................But then , another part of her told her that she was useless and worthless, nothing but a waste of space . And Oh-How it crumbled her .

Despite it all, Y/n always stood by him. She stood by him when he cried , she stood by him when he felt like he was not good enough , she stood by him when he needed to hold someone ..........he held onto her and she never complained . 

James didn't know, but, he had landed all the weight of his life and feelings on the girl, and it broke her. But she still stood by him, every time, as a friend,  never asking for anything, never asking for more, never caring about herself, never wanting anything other than helping him,  even though her whole existence was the thing she needed help with.

She didn't only stand up alongside James. She stood up for Peter when he was bullied and body shamed for being fat. She comforted him when he cried. 

She stood by Remus when he felt like he was a monster. She was the one to help him along with the other Marauders during the full moons .She was the one who would heal Remus's wounds in the middle of the night, in the early morning, or whenever Remus felt like he wanted someone to heal is wounds and whisper soothing words in his ear. She was the one who taught Remus that you always have something worth living for, even though she herself didn't know why she was living. 

She stood with Sirius when he was disowned, when His Brother hated him, when Sirius felt like he was a mistake, a disappointment.

Despite, she never had anyone to hold onto . Her parents and brother , who were supposed to be her family, treated her like a piece of trash . She was alone , but she never showed it . Just because she didn't want to be a burden , just because she didn't want to be Selfish .

Sirius and Remus knew about her feelings for James,  the two could look through her smile completely. Peter was an oblivious person and he never knew what was going on, but still, the three of them always were there to cheer her up , but - none of them saw the completely broken her. 

Y/n looked around the Gryffindor common room she was currently sat in. She looked at the time and realized that the boys should have been back from their daily "boys time" by now.

Just as the thought crossed her mind,  The portrait hole of the Common room opened and in came Remus , Sirius and Peter,  laughing loudly. 

" Good evening, gentleman. You are 5 minutes late " Y/n said,  folding her hands over her chest and showing the three her watch. The three gave her guilty smiles and settled themselves on the couches around her . 

" Guys.... Where is James? " Y/n asked looking around. Sirius and Remus exchanged a look and avoided looking at her . Peter was sitting as if he didn't know what was going on , like always.

The next second The Portrait Hole opened and In walked James and Lily, their arms wrapped around each other and their clothes and hair looking disheveled and.... Both of them had the biggest smile on their faces. 

Y/n saw , as James led Lily towards the girls' dorm staircase . Lily whispered something in his year and the both of them giggled . Lily plated a kiss on his cheek , and then giving him a wink-she left , leaving James behind - Who's face was as red as Lily's hair.

He stared at her all the way until she disappeared . Then , he turned around swiftly - Smiling so widely that it looked as if his cheeks would split in half .

"SHE SAID YES! SHE SAID YES , GUYS!!!!!" James Shouted , his voice shaking a bit due to happiness .

In a second , Remus and Sirius's heads snapped towards Y/n - giving her sad looks . But , the reaction from her was not what they expected .

She smiled. And it wasn't a fake one - it was a genuine one . 

Y/n felt her heart clench at James's words . But , she noticed how happy he was , she noticed how happy she made him . And in that moment, she completely accepted the fact that he loved Lily , and that the two belonged together . She accepted that Lily made him happy . She was happy that her friend finally found someone he deserved , finally found someone worthy of Him . Y/n always knew that she didn't deserve him , she didn't deserve to have him in her broken life . Even though she was distraught , her best friend's happiness was all she needed . And she smiled. She smiled because he was happy , she smiled because she finally figured it out , she smiled because she knew that he would be happy . And Y/n would do anything , anything to bring her friends happiness , even if it meant giving up her own . 

" Ooohhh ..............Congrats , Romeo " Y/n said enthusiastically , smiling up at her best friend .

Part 2 coming up..........

[rebeccccccaaa]

𝕲𝖔𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖓

____________________________

𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖌!𝕭𝖚𝖈𝖐𝖞 𝖝 𝕶𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙!𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝕬𝖀

𝕾𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞: When the Queen falls sick and passes away, King Bucky must marry another, preferably the princess of an alliance kingdom nearby, in order to keep peace and order among the lands. However she is the most god awful human being anyone has ever met. Her guard however well she was definitely not what the king expected.

𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘: a little make out? ;) (part three)

𝕬/𝖓: /^-^/

𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙: 1.6k

part one | part two |

___________________________

Bucky watched from his window one morning out to the field behind the castle. Steve, Sam, Natasha, and you were all shooting arrows.

A knock had disrupted Bucky, and when he opened the door it was one of the king’s servants alerting him that Charlotte requested to take a walk in the garden with him. Bucky dressed himself and went to the ground level where Charlotte waited. 

They walked to the garden greeting all the servants in the castle. Well, Bucky did. Charlotte ordered everyone to do something, from doing her laundry, having someone tidy her room. She was very spoiled and quite rude.

She only ever talked about herself but surprisingly she asked him a question for once.

“So how long have you been king?”

“Well, my parents grew sick when I was seventeen years old. I was crowned months later.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Well that didn’t last long.

Silence grew between the two awkwardly, until your laugh not far from the two was heard. You along with Nat, Sam, Steve, and Wanda were messing around showing off each other’s archery and sword skills under a very large tree.

To say you were skilled with a bow and arrow was a total understatement. Every shot you made hit directly in the center of your target, completely blowing him away. He really wanted to ditch Charlotte and just hang out with his friends and you. Learn more things about you.

A woman approached Charlotte to whisper in her ear. From what Bucky could barely hear, there was a letter for Charlotte waiting in her bedroom. Her mood instantly changed and she almost ran away from Bucky.

“Oh I’m so sorry. I need to return to my bedroom as soon as possible. Will you be alright?”

“Yes, go ahead. I see my friends in the field; I’ll go there for now.”

“Ok well, farewell and I’ll see you for supper!” she shouted running away.

Bucky walked down and caught sight of his fellow friends making a ruckus. 

“There’s the bastard king!” Nat said.

“Such a charmer, Nat,” Bucky responded.

“Wanna shoot?” you asked him, handing him your bow and an arrow.

“I’m not very good,” Bucky responded, grabbing your equipment.

Bucky totally lied. He was in fact an excellent archer but he didn’t want you to know that. Maybe you’d offered some help and that would give Bucky more time to get closer to you. Bucky was so infatuated with you and your beauty and grace he was beginning to wonder if maybe it wasn’t a good idea since he was supposed to marry the king’s daughter, not his knight.

Bucky stood horribly and angled his bow awkwardly. Steve, Sam, and Nat all looked at each other very confused. Bucky shot his arrow and it didn’t even reach within 10 feet of the target. It was like a sad wilted plant; shooting practically underneath itself.

“I told you I was bad,” Bucky said, turning to you.

“No, it’s just- uh- well,” you heavily stuttered. That was probably the worst shot you’ve ever seen. Wanda even got closer to the target than he did. Bucky simply grinned waiting to see if you’d been blunt or lie to him. Knowing you for a couple weeks now however he knew you were going to be blunt.

“Yeah, sorry. That was awful,” you said laughing. 

“Maybe you should teach me. You know as a king, who am I to not know the basics of archery.”

That’s when Steve, Sam, and Nat  pieced everything together. Bucky was really pushing this thing to it’s limit. They wondered if it’s gonna backfire or if he'll finally get to live his happily ever after he deserved. That’s if you love him back.

“I just might. It was pretty horrible. Not even Wanda was that bad her first go.”

“You don’t need to rub it in, doll.” Woah. That’s new, you thought.

“Well-” you were cut off by a woman calling for you, the king requesting for your service for a moment.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere!” you said before leaving.

Bucky smiled to himself before looking up to find all his friends staring at him like he was stupid. 

“Maybe you should teach me about archery and I’ll teach you about the male anatomy,” Natasha mocked.

“Nat,” Steve warned.

“It’s not like that,” Bucky defended.

“Now Buck, don’t be a liar,” Steve said to him.

“I’m not lying!”

“Bucky, we can all tell you like the girl but that’s not why you’re here. You should be with Charlotte anyways getting to know her. That would be a more responsible thing to do than joke around with the king’s knight because she’s pretty,” Sam interjected.  

“Charlotte left me to read some letters and I saw you guys which is why I’m here in the first place. Anyways, Charlotte is awful.”

“It’s true,” Nat whispered.

“She only ever talks about herself and when she runs out things to say she just stands there. Like she doesn’t do anything, she’s just there. And I try to talk to her but she shows absolutely no interest in whatever I’m saying. But Y/n. She’s just so… lovely. I wish she was the king’s daughter and not Charlotte.”

“Sorry Buck,” Natasha said, rubbing his back. 

“It’s alright.”

“Well, I am quite hungry so I’m gonna see if the chef has anything we could snack on before supper,” Steve said.

“I’m coming!” Sam said following loosely behind Steve.

“Guess I’m headed off too,” Nat said.

“What about Y/n?”

“Stay here and wait for her. Tell her we went to the kitchen. And maybe, I don’t know,” she wiggled her eyebrows. 

“Nat,” Bucky said sternly.

“Bye!”

Bucky had gathered as many arrows as he could find and laid them next to his feet. He leaned them against the trunk of the tree and took his stance to shoot a couple arrows. He hit the target every time no hesitation. You stood from afar watching quietly smiling to yourself. How could you let him fool you? Of course he knows how to utilize a bow and arrow. He's a king.

“So were you going to tell me or was I just supposed to find out this way?” you questioned him walking up to him. 

“Sorry,” he chuckled, looking down timidly.

“It’s ok. You have a good hand.”

“Thank you. You as well. Probably the best archer I’ve ever seen. We have a young knight,” Bucky started.

“Steve told me,” you told him.

“Yeah, Peter. He would love to learn from you if you are ever willing to visit.”

“I would love to.” 

You stood there looking into each other's eyes for too long. His eyes though were so hypnotizing. Blue as the ocean, sparkling like the stars. You could look into them forever if you had the chance. 

“Should we gather the arrows? Friendly competition?” Bucky spoke up.

“Yes,” you said too loudly, “Sorry, yes.”

You began running to gather the arrows, the sun shining down on you making you look so beautiful to Bucky. You looked like the purest of gold. You were everything Bucky wanted. You were perfect.

You turned to look back at Bucky suddenly stopping you running, making him completely crash into you bringing you both to the ground. You fell underneath Bucky as he crushed you with his body weight. He was much heavier than he looked at first.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have stopped so suddenly. That was stupid of me,” you said frantically.

“It’s ok, darling.”

You felt hot. You felt his entire body pressed against yours; and you liked it. You wish this would happen under different circumstances if you were being truthful. Heat crept up your neck and to your cheeks unsure of what to do.

Bucky moved a strand of hair from your face leaning in ever slowly. He wanted to more  than anything in the whole world to feel your lips against his own. He kept leaning until his lips finally touched yours. You moved gracefully against each other like two perfect pieces of a puzzle. 

Your hands came up to his face holding him delicately. His hands moved to your waist pulling you into his body as much as possible. He felt so happy. For the past couple weeks you and Bucky have been getting somewhat close in a friendly way. Neither of you wanting to admit to the other that you wanted more. 

But this wasn’t ok. He wasn’t yours as much as you wanted him to be. He was Charlotte’s.

“This is wrong,” you whispered, lightly gasping for breath. 

“I know, but it feels so good,” he whispered in your neck.

“We’ll get caught and they’ll punish me. I’ve never been punished,” you were a little scared.

“You won’t. I’m sorry,” Bucky said sitting up. 

“It’s alright.”

You sat in silence before looking at each other too irresistible, crashing your lips to his once more. Bucky pushed you down once again humming in content to your affection you were giving to him.

What you didn’t know and didn’t see was that Charlotte in fact sat from her bedroom window watching everything happen.

======================================

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙:

@velvetcardiganbucky​

@chipilerendi ​

@heavenhatesme

@austynparksandpizza

@ahahafudge ​

@onlyhereforthefandomandgiggles

[burned-lariat]

Are ya ready for another long-winded GH rant?

I, like many other people, have lost heavy interest in the Bailouise storyline. One thing I wish for its end is Maxie getting her baby back and Peter dead in a ditch. Another thing I wish for is ChaLynn because of course I do have you seen my posts.

But the more the story is reaching its climax/ending, the deeper of a sinking feeling I have. Because all of the fallout and backlash from the characters will be squarely on Brook Lynn, and not at least shared between her and Maxie.

I can't fully predict the fallout of the Bailouise plan but I can absolutely imagine what many characters Maxie is close to (Mac/Felicia/Anna/Robert/etc) would say:

"Dear we could've helped you, why didn't you tell us?"

"No we're not mad. It's clear you were scared and hurting and needed to do what was best for Louise."

"You did the right thing for Louise, even if it was a bit messy and misguided. Don't think that you did something wrong here. We understand."

And on the opposite side with Brook Lynn (Ned/Olivia/Michael/Monica/etc):

"How could you take Maxie's baby and pass it off as yours?!"

"How could you lie to us and let us fall for 'Bailey' when she wasn't yours?!"

"What you did was awful and evil and deplorable. We are so ashamed of you."

I absolutely hate how Maxie will be branded as smart and strong for the plan while Brook Lynn is branded as a liar and a bitch for the same thing. When she said to Chase that she hates it when people think the worst of her and it deeply hurts her despite trying to do good (as messy as her executions are), I knew that the conversation wouldn't be the end of it and for me personally, I really empathized with her. It's not easy to be direct and heavy-handed when being yourself or doing right by people because they're going to focus on things like your tone or how "aggressive" you are instead of taking 5 seconds to think about what you were actually doing or trying to do.

Don't get me wrong - I adore Brook but I am not blind to her actual wrongdoings. Her intial behavior towards Austin regarding ELQ and Leo was out of line and she was wrong for that. Is it still the case? No, because the Leo conundrum was resolved and Austin has decided to have a stick up his ass and act high and mighty about ELQ (he still has every right to be mad about the HIPAA claim). She was also wrong to "lie" to Valentin about him being the father when the "father" was Chase but let's not act like Valentin didn't deserve some lick of karma after defrauding Nina in a similar way. Does BLQ have blatant fuckups? Absolutely. Are they always black and white? No, but the shows acts like they are and that's not right.

Absolutely no one (sans Chase & Maxie) will give it a second thought that yes, initially, while BLQ used Louise as a way to scam Valentin, once that ended and eventually fell through, SHE TREATED THE BABY LIKE HER OWN AND IT STOPPED BEING ABOUT THE STUPID SHARES. No one (sans Chase & Maxie) will stop to think that Brook Lynn was doing her damndest to protect Louise as "Bailey" so that Peter August didn't run away with her and ruin her life the same way his was. This story will end with Louise back with Maxie, Maxie being paraded as a heroine for protecting her daughter, and Brook Lynn being punished for protecting said daughter from a literal psychopath. That's my prediction and only time will tell if any of it is true. I hate this storyline, I hate that they might prop Maxie up and support her and I hate hate HATE that Brook Lynn will be fully blamed for something that isn't completely her fault. My girl deserves better. Truly.

[blissfulparker]

7 and 11 from the angst section of prompt list one??? Pretty please??? (if not it’s okay ily!)

Hi love! I did this with peter I hope you don’t mind!

“I love you.” “No you don’t” 

“I loved you.” “Then why did you let (her/him/them) get in between us?”

Ever since you were young, you had known peter parker. The little bit who lived two doors down and went to the same school as you, he watched you grow as you did him. You watched each other grow and slowly grow apart as you both fell in love.

“He-He had these plans for you and it was disgusting and (y/n) you can’t do that to yourself! He was disgusting it took everything in me not to beat him—“ it seemed to be the millionth date peter has ‘saved’ you from. No actual saving was needed but peter had just hated seeing you with other guys.

“Stop it! Just stop it!” You scream finally. He takes off his mask and drops it on the floor of your kitchen. “What do you want? You hate when I have a boyfriend but hate listening to me complain when I don’t have one! What do you want peter? I m so confused and tired I’m sick of it! So tell me peter, why are you acting like this? Why?.” You hated screaming at him but you couldn’t take it anymore.

“B-Because I love you.” He stated at you with soft eyes. Something this time screamed more than a friend, something far more.

“No you dont.” You blinked a few times collecting your stuff. You didn’t even want to be in your own apartment anymore.

“(Y/n), wait, please, I want to talk about this, I need to talk about this—“ he starts and you turn around, angry over what now? You didn’t truly know.

“If you ever truly loved me why did you date Gwen? Why did you date the girl that hated me since the fifth grade? Why did you ditch me at prom and show up late to my graduation party with her by the way. We promised to move in together but Gwen didn’t want it and now I live in this shitty place all alone and now that I’m moving on and I’m dating people you don’t like suddenly I’m the shitty one? If you loved me, ever, then why did you let her get in between us.” You whisper the last part and he doesn’t have an answer.

He never wanted to hurt you, he wanted to numb himself enough to teach himself how to love someone else except he was the worst teacher in the world.

“Right,” you listen to his silence. “Goodbye peter.” You pick up your keys and he watches you walk out. He watches you slam your own apartment door and he has no clue. Your parents? MJ? Betty? Hell even ned would be more comforting than him right now.

All he knew was that the way he held you close fucked him up more than anything. How all he wanted to do was protect you but now he lost you.

[youcantbesirius]

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG | S. B.

Pairing: Sirius Black x reader, platonic Regulus Black x reader

Warnings: swearing, plot changes, character death

Y/h - your house

Sirius watched the y/h halfblood witch sit on the table in the courtyard taking a crispy stick from her Hufflepuff friend putting it in between her lips imitating smoking. And as she let the puff of imaginary smoke go a smile broke on her lips as her shoulders shook likely. Her laugh was one of the most contagious things ever. The way you wheezed in bits of your laughter made even the coldest person crack up.

As your eyes met his, his world seemed to stop. He was loosening his tie seemingly short for breath. You, on the other hand, hopped off graciously and hopped over to the young Gryffindor wrapping your arms around him.

"Sirius! Long time no see" you chuckled as you swayed him from side to side.

"Hi..." he chuckled resting his chin on top of your head.

It was quite funny how the noble heir of the Black family was with the halfblood witch. Yet, it made perfect sense. Your mother was a nanny for the Black brothers. And you were simply there, helping her make some money after she was cast out of the pureblood community for being with a muggle.

Walburga and Orion were hard people. But they paid no attention as long as you were doing what you were told. (Depending on your house) They were, however, very pleased that Slytherin got such a talent. And then your mom found better job at the ministry and your time with the Blacks was over. Regulus and Sirius were your best friends and not being able to see them much was painful.

"I haven't seen you much since the sorting ceremony..." you stated in concern. You knew better than anyone what it must be like for him.

"Yes...I, you know how my parents are" Sirius's hands found yours. Both of you, touch starved kids found solace in your hand holding.

"To the dogs with them as my mum would say" you scoffed looking deep into his eyes "you know I am always there for you, both my mum and I are" and he nodded at your statement smiling softly.

As a friendly, defying in spite attitude, you showed that your attitude was very different than the most. You didn't have to be talented at divination to forsee what type of person would you become.

And the years went by, you were still very much the same, if not even harder. Many things happened, you matured quickly and with it stress came. Sirius and you drifted apart a bit. You were a bad girl of your own and he was a bad boy of his own. The only person who truly knew you inside out other than him was Regulus Black, your guardian angel.

"Lay off the alcohol, y/n/n" Regulus took the bottle from your hands handing it to your Hufflepuff best friend to take.

"I need to let loose, Reg, I need to..." you were leaning your forehead against his chest struggling to stand.

"I know..." he looked around catching the sight of his womanizer brother. Sirius's face, even though tipsy, held so much concern.

In a few quick steps he approached them, ditching his previous conquest. His hand landed on the small of your back as he turned to his brother.

"What's wrong?" Sirius looked down at his friend who was struggling.

"Her mother was hurt, bad this time" Regulus whispered.

"Shit..." Sirius closed his eyes.

"Well, that is the wonder of being an auror, never home, never there but it brings money and might leave your kid an orphan" you spoke bitterly.

And for that reason Sirius decided the Potters were better choice. They had money and he would only burden your mom, not to mention his parents would kill you both if you were to take him in.

"Fucking hell..." Sirius moved the hair away from your face that was still resting on Regulus.

"Let's take her to her dorm" he said to Regulus.

Next morning was probably the worst. Your head seemed like it was about to explode. You shifted on your bed only to meet the eyes of your amused dorm mate.

"I could not believe it when Black brothers brought you up. Like I wasn't so surprised seeing Regulus, but Sirius too. Damn baddie" she chuckled as you silently rubbed your face.

Hogsmeade day, you thought. You cleaned yourself up, ditching your uniform and grabbed your leather jacket. Your rock style was very much refreshing to the school. Tight grey jeans, chain, baggy tucked in t shirt with some random band you loved and of course your black leather jacket. You did your makeup to hide the evidence of last night and decided it was time. So upon arriving you sat on the table in Hogsmeade park, your feet resting on the bench, a cigarette in between your lips to so desperately calm yourself.

Once cheerful, now surrounded by darkness of your aura, still touch starved in desperate need of love. You thought about your life. Of the goals you wanted to reach.

"Pads, I don't think it is a good idea" you could hear panicked Remus.

"Yeah, what if she throws hex at us" the squealing voice didn't help your migraine.

"I know her, Wormtail. She wouldn't" you heard Sirius's annoyed voice.

"Come on guys, what is the worst that could happen" James Potter said.

"Well, I am not sure if this is upgrade from when we were young or a downgrade. Your looks are definitely upgrade" Sirius smiled causing you to raise a brow.

"Are you flirting with me, dear Sirius?" You spoke even though cigarette was still between your lips, shuffling through your pockets to find that bloody lighter.

But Sirius beat you to it, lighting it for you.

"Thanks" you took a puff and looked at the group.

"We need your help" Sirius spoke taking your free hand in his. And just like when you two were young, you felt calmer, but there was something new. Adrenaline rush surged through your body.

"With what?" You took the cigarette out of your mouth looking at the rest of them, your eyes only meeting James's who quickly dropped the eye contact.

It happened with most of the boys. The only two that were able to maintain it, Black brothers.

"W-we heard you are outstanding with nonverbal magic and we need you to help us" Peter, you assumed, spoke but quickly hid behind Sirius as you looked at him.

"Peter, I don't shoot laser nor hexes out of my eyes, I won't hurt you" you stated annoyed.

"I suppose it has something to do with your problem, Rem" you looked at the boy who looked up at you in shock.

"How do you know?" He asked nearing closer to you.

"Animagus, mum thought it would be safer for me. Accidentally saw you guys on my run" you shrugged.

"Did you speak to anyone about it?" James asked.

"Do I look dumb to you? Of course not, your secret is safe with me, Rem" you looked at him and he met your look.

"Thank you so much" he smiled.

"What is your animagus?" Sirius asked "I am hurt you did not tell me"

"You weren't talking that much to me, lover boy. To answer your question it is (your patronus animal or your favorite animal)"

"Nice" James smiled.

As you were about to light another cigarette a hand quickly pulled it out of your mouth and you faced annoyed Regulus.

"No more for today" he scolded earning a laugh from his brother.

"Do we have a deal, (nickname used for your animagus form)?" He asked you as the boys began to leave.

"Mhm, meet me in the library after lunch" you winked at him and for a second you could swear you saw Sirius Black blush.

It was the last year. You and Reg drifted this time, due to his affiliation. Not that you did care about that, bit his excuse was "I am doing this to keep you safe, damn it!"

It was a painful goodbye that still tasted salty. The news of his death brought you more pain that anything ever did. But his heroic act was what brought Voldemort to be defeated and not be a threat ever again. As a part of the Order, your new friends, the Marauders and Lily and well Snape, it was funny how you two became friends. You sat both him and Lily down, locked them in a room, much to James's dismay until they sorted it out. You were in 12 Grimmauld place preparing to leave.

"Stay..." Sirius took your hands "Please..." he looked down at you, at your softly lips.

"Okay..." you whispered looking up at him licking your lips a bit.

"Can I-?" He gulped earning your quick nod.

"Yeah?" And it was the best kiss you ever had in your life, with your childhood friend, crush and the only man besides Reg, that you felt peace.

"Took you two long enough" is all you could hear Kreacher mutter.

Kreacher and you were close. Not only because of Regulus, but you would not let him overdo himself and would send him to rest.

You chuckled at the remark looking up at Sirius.

"Glad to have your blessing, Kreacher" he smiled at the muttering house elf who went to his chamber.

"Now that we are alone..." Sirius smiled leaning back in to give you a long kiss.

"You are insatiable, Sirius" you giggled.

"Don't pretend you don't like it " he cornered you against the table lifting you up on it.

Your love was very affectionate, full of touching, almost like you were attached to a hip. That is why ever since you were younger you were comfort for each other, you were safe haven, you were made for each other.

And after years, there you stood with him watching your children run around with your godson Harry, laughing at James who ran after them trying to get them inside to eat. You looked at Lily who was shaking her head.

"Remus and Severus will be here soon" she notified.

"Good. Haven't seen my touch starved, sarcastic friend in a while" you gave Lily a look making her chuckle.

"Hugs for Severus and chocolate for Remus it is then"

You got old together, had many memories you decided to store. The funniest being you becoming grandparents. Sirius broke into a fit of sobs seeing his first grandchild.

"See dad, now you represent your initals S.O.B." your son Regulus teased.

"Shut up" Sirius hiccup looking at the little princess of the Black family.

"Maybe her dad won't be as protective as her grandfather will be" your daughter Arabella laughed.

"Oh no boys until 20!" Sirius hugged you as you laughed at him.

"Tsk, you are in position to talk you womanizer" you teased.

"See! I AM! Because I know boys are scumbags, I speak from experience!" He said.

"What if she likes girls Sirius?" You teased.

"Same goes, you were a bad girl!" He attacked your cheeks with kisses earning an ew from your children

"WHEN WE WERE YOUNG!" you protested.

[avatarconner]

Happy Spider-Man Day!!

So of course I forget my favorite superhero’s anniversary while I’m writing a RWBY/Spidey fic about him. But I didn’t want to give those who are reading Volume 4 of my fic nothing on this day, so here’s a preview of what I have so far for the next chapter!

Union pt. 3

Peter rubbed the sides of his head over his black suit, “Oooook. This is….this has been one really long and weird day for me.” he said aloud as he sat crouched on a chimney.

“I wasn’t going to say anything but…yeah.” Sandman agreed, standing a few feet away from the wall crawler. To say he was shocked by the web head’s sudden decision to save him from the police was an understatement. “Look uhh…..thanks for….for saving me back there.” he said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Spider-Man raised a hand, “Please just…..let me come to terms with the fact I’ve clearly gone off the deep end.” he asked. “Just……look, start from the beginning. With your daughter I mean.” he said.

Sandman sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest, “Ok back when I was going to Shade I…..there was a girl I was sweet on and….before I left…..look I’m skipping that part. When I found out she was pregnant, I….I didn’t want to just ditch her so I had it arranged for her to move to Vaccuo.” he recollected wistfully. The older man frowning sadly, “When she was born…..there were some issues with her health.” he said, his eyes looking down at the rooftop.

Peter was silent as he let his criminal continue, “She had problems breathing, COPD is what’s it’s called. Her airways change and she needs therapy to breathe properly.” he explained.

“God….I’m sorry.” Spider-Man sympathized, Marko nodding gratefully. “You mentioned the Rose was helping you get treatment for her…what happened?” he asked carefully. The Rose was the prime suspect who employed that Tarantula guy to go after Wilson Fisk, but with him gone it wasn’t like they could confirm or deny it.

Marko folded his hands over his chest, “She’s been going through therapies for years now but she and her mother, Alma, where here during the Fall….she had a panic attack and now she needs oxygen. She hasn’t left the hospital bed in three months. And….” his hands balled into fists against his arms. “…and I can’t do shit……there’s medication she could get that would help her back to normal but Alma can’t afford enough to regulate her for a long enough recovery period. Rose offered me enough cash to pay for it if I help him.” he explained.

Spider-Man hung his head, he remembered when May had her heart attack and how desperate he was to do something, anything to help her. He looked up at the villain, “Look Marko I am sorry about your daughter…..but I mean I can’t just let you steal, it’s against the law.” he said, the Sandman scoffing at his protest, “I know you were training to be a Huntsmen when you were younger, so I know that you know the difference between right and wrong.” he stated.

“Well it’s not like I can get a job!” Marko shouted at him angerly, “I got a record! You know anywhere that would hire me?” he asked sarcastically. Peter deflated and Marko sighed, “Look I don’t even want to work for this Rose guy, if Kingpin finds out? Forget the medication, I’ll be lucky if Keemia….” he trailed off before shaking his head.

Spider-Man knew all too well the lengths that Kingpin would go to just to secure more power, “Alright then, help me bring in Rose.” he proposed.

Mako blinked at him, “You…..your serious??!” he asked.

Spider-Man nodded, “Yeah. Look, Rose has been gunning for Kingpin for a while, he HAS to have something on him that might put him away for a while.” he reasoned, if selling out Fisk could get the Rose out of a harsher sentence then it only made sense that he would at the very least consider the offer. “And worst case, you help me take down Fisk’s biggest thorn in his side and you’re in the clear.” he reasoned.

Marko opened his mouth to argue, but reflecting on the webhead’s plan? It wouldn’t put him or more importantly, Keemia in danger. “I’ll think about it.” he decided.

Spider-Man nodded, “Alright. Look, I’ll swing by here around 9 tonight. If you’re here then we’ll go and do it. If not……” he trailed off as he stood from the chimney. “And Marko…..I really am sorry man.” he said with genuine sympathy for the Sandman. Flint looked down and nodded acceptingly, the webhead shooting out a webline and swinging away, leaving the villain to ponder his choice.

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

“Do you think I did the right thing?” Peter asked MJ as they walked through Queen’s park. After leaving Sandman to consider his offer, he tried to resume his search for any clue of where he was last night and where he had gotten the costume from. But with police swarming the area, he thought it best to be safe and hold off on it. Which led him to call Mary Jane and ask if they could meet up for a walk in the park. Which he also used to tell her of what transpired between him and the Sandman.

MJ’s face showed the conflict she had, “That’s….that’s a though question Pete.” she admitted as they walked hand in hand down the stone path. “I mean, if it were me? If I had a daughter who was in that bad a way?” she began hypothetically, picturing a small child of her’s, or anyone’s who had a hard time breathing being confined to a hospital bed for months? She shuttered at the image in her mind, “I think I’d do just about anything to help her.”

Peter pursed his lips together, “Yeah, I feel the same way but…..there’s a line here right MJ? I mean….when May was in the hospital? I was ready to tear the kingdom apart to find something to help her, but I’d at least try and do it the right way.” he reasoned.

MJ leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder, “I know Tiger, and I love that about you.” she praised with a soft smile. “But….you’re not him, I mean he was part of the Sinister Six for crying out loud.” she reminded him.

He sighed, she wasn’t wrong in the slightest. Walking off the path and towards a tree,, Peter slipped out of her grasp and sat down against it, “Obviously but……MJ I don’t think he’s a bad guy.” he said as he looked up at her, the redhead crossing her arms in front of her, but her features remaining passive. “I mean he’s made mistakes but….look I’m not mister perfect.” he admitted.

He never thought himself to be, hell the reason he was Spider-Man at all was because of his greatest mistake. “If I can help Marko….maybe I can do some actual good and stop him from making the same mistakes?” he posed hopefully. It still didn’t answer what Sandman was concerned about though, he was first and foremost a criminal, and while he couldn’t just start a new life being a fugitive, he couldn’t just wave that away. DeWolf might be able to do something but even then….

MJ knelt down crouching in front of him with a gentle smile, her hand reached out and slid over his own, “Peter, take as someone who got one. Everyone deserves a second chance.” she encouraged.

If she had never left her family…..MJ would at times wonder what her life would be like, probably miserable and unhappy, and she definitely wouldn’t have met a quarter of the good people she did like May, Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Ren, and not to mention Peter himself. Whom smiled back at her gratefully before gently pulling her forward, his arm pulling her to the side so her back was turned to him as she fell against him.

“You know MJ, I forget how wise you can be.” he said as he laid his head down over her shoulder.

“There’s a reason those wisdom and intelligence are different stats.” she replied. Peter suddenly pulled back and gave her the most bizarre look he could muster. Upon seeing it she rolled her eyes, “Pyrrha wanted help making a character for some game that RWBY and Jaune played.” she explained.

“MJ….that’s hot I’m not gonna lie.” Peter replied playfully.

The redhead snorted as her head fell into her hands, “Oh my brothers.”

Peter reached out and wrapped his arms around her, trapping her, “Quick! Tell me how many dice sets you own!” he asked jokingly as Mary Jane cackled.

Yeah. How could I imagine having a life without this dork in it? MJ asked herself happily.

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

There is an special kind of character that I don’t particularly dislike, but find annoying how their own media (and sometimes, the fans) interpret and stan them and attack like rabbid dogs anyone who disagrees.

These characters are normal, they have their strengths, and they have their flaws… but the narrative and other characters only see their strengths and outright refuse to see their flaws, more often than not blaming other characters for their shortcomings, or outright making them be right all the time.

I refuse to tag this as salt, but if you like or “stan” any of these characters, be warned: Mabel Pines (From Gravity Falls), Taranee Cook (From W.i.t.c.h.), Adrien Agreste (From Miraculous Ladybug), Alya Cesaire (Also from Miraculous) and special mentions of Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Also Miraculous) and Tony Stark.

Mabel Pines is incredibly self-centered, to the point that even Bill Cypher, the big bad of the show points it out several times and weaponizes it, almost creating an Apocalypse. No, I’m not going to blame Mabel for it, but the show goes out of its way to make Mabel blameless.

She is always mocking Dipper for anything and everything, she manipulates him and abuses his good will, not to mention she invades his privacy and boundaries every time she can, not to mention she also somehow holds him to much higher standards to what she does herself. (We are told Dipper mocks her as much, but we never actually see this)

She tries to force him to confess to Wendy

She snoops into his stuff, and steals the Diary at least once (One of the times Bill pointed out her being a jerkass)

When Candy develops a crush on Dipper, she calls him out for flirting with other girls… but she has been flirting with a lot of boys all summer, and Dipper wasn’t in any kind of relationship with Candy.

She basically drugs Robbie and Tambry into loving each other, stealing from a god in the process, and in the end decides to keep them drugged.

She guiltrips Dipper into not accepting an internship with their uncle

The last Mabelcorn kind of addresses this… but since Celestabellebethabelle turned out to be a jerkass herself, the whole point is soon forgotten. She is never called out again for any of these, and is outright treated like the most moral character of the show

 Taranee Cook… is, admittedly, a result of bad writing and the writers just outright not knowing what to do with her character. She starts as the “Smart Girl” of the group, with an interest in photography and African culture… but that is forgotten after the first saga. She “rediscovers” a passion for dancing and emotionally cheats on her boyfriend before breaking up with him, and from that point out, she has a new love interest every other issue. They are always treated like the love of her life. And just to point out more of the “the writers don’t know what to do with her” in an issue where they see their futures, she ends up being an Olympic runner. Despite having zero interest on it… But anyway, that’s not that this rant is about.

One issue has a B plot of the girls and their boys (some boyfriends, some friends of them) going to the beach to enjoy a meteor shower (I think that’s what is called? I read the issue in Spanish) and the boys, Hay Lin and Irma go overboad, buying a LOT of unnecessary things, while Taranee protests (mind you, the boys were paying the most of the things. Will and Cornelia were not involved in the buying). With Taranee, being the smart girl and the most level headed of the girls, one would think that she would convince the others to just get the completely necessary and not waste money with some rousing speech… but no, she gets her way by melting the tires of her brother’s car into the asphalt, making them unable to carry their stuff, and forcing them to just go with the most essential stuff. You would think the girls would be furious with her, or that someone would point out that the tires and the asphalt would be pretty pricey… but no, they thank her for the vandalism and say she was right all along.

Another issue has a new boy moving to the house next door to Taranee, who ends up being the son of a teacher who they later think is suspicious (which is kind of fair. They face shit like aliens and monsters posing as normal people fairly regularly). Taranee, again, treats him as his one true love and offers to befriend him to spy on them.  The previous day, she thought that they were soulmates because she saw him practicing violin, reading a book and eating ethnic food… through the closed windows. She stalked him. And then, after “befriending” him, she realizes the “violin” was actually a weird contraption to work out (To be fair, it does have the silhouette of a violin, but how she didn’t notice the lack of sound is not addressed), the book was the menu of a restaurant and the “ethnic food” was actually a hot dog. And then she proceeds to insult him to his back calling him a bonehead. Again, she wanted to bone him because she was stalking him and got the wrong idea. The guy is portrayed as very friendly, and attaches quickly to the girls, who find him annoying… y’know, I was expecting them to introduce them to their male friends, but no, the issue with him is unresolved, they explain why his dad was acting suspicious, and they never ever appear again, and Taranee get a new love interest. No one ever calls her out for her stalking.

Adrien Agreste and Alya… well, I have talk about them a lot in here, but their major sins:

Adrien:

Lies about his relationship with Ladybug, which gets a guy akumatized. Lies to Ladybug and blames her for the akumatization. Ladybug apologizes.

Throws a temper tantrum while Paris is getting flooded by an akuma. People are actively drowning and all he essentially blackmails his kwami into giving him information. No one calls him out on this, and he gets what he wants (To meet the guardian)

Throws another temper tantrum when Ladybug says she has plans with friends and will not be able to attend his dinner. Note that they share the same friends and he ditched them for this date.

Constantly forgives Chloe and Lila of every they do to everyone else, but the moment he is affect by his cousin, he calls him a friendless jerk.

This is unclear, but the implication is that he never liked Kagami as a love interest, but let himself be her boyfriend. The moment they break up he tricks Ladybug into watching a romantic movie.

Despite using the Ladybug Miraculous and learning that the holder of that Miraculous holds a greater responsibility that the holder of the Black Cat, and can’t allow themselves to fail, he constantly goofs off while fighting, and tries to flirts with Ladybug, which only distract her. And that’s without mentioning all the times he sacrifices himself, which sometimes leaves Ladybug to do all the job on her own, and sometimes makes him an enemy.

Alya is not that bad, but again, she’s never called out when she screws up. Chameleon is infamous for that. Reflekdoll has her ditching Juleka and making Marinette the model, yet Marinette is the one blamed for that. She reveals that Marinette like Adrien, despite Marinette asking her not to. She equally mocks and support Marinette crush on Adrien. She has pushed Marinette to confess to Adrien, despite her telling her several times she was not ready (And in the NY special that she was trying to get over him)

 Marinette and Tony Stark are special mentions because while some of their flaws are pointed out, others are overlooked or even praised.

Marinette stalks Adrien like a crazy fan, but to be fair, is very inconsistent and the product of bad writing. She has stolen his phone, following him when he’s with another girl, tried to kiss what she thought was his wax statue (and stole a lock of hair), has his schedule written down (It is implied it’s the schedules of everyone in class, but still…), smells his pillow, crashes a party dressed as a guy, and outright follows him to another country. The series somehow blames her for a lot of things that other characters do or say, but somehow overlooks this stalking, and oftentimes plays it for laughs (To humiliate her, but still)

Tony has a lot of issues, and sometimes they are the center of the conflicts (Iron Man 2 and 3 play with this) but sometimes overlook his treatment of other characters. He treats Wanda like a weapon and abuses Peter like there’s no tomorrow, and yet, people, and Peter himself act as if he was a great mentor. The fact that he is directly to blame for the Vulture and Mysteryo is never addressed either.

 And the opposite is also true. Sometimes, we get a villain that actually doesn’t do anything wrong, yet the narrative and the other characters treat them as the worst.

Trixie from My Little Pony fits that bill. Her debut episode has her putting a show in ponyville (Mind you, this is a universe were everyone can do magic. Being a stage magician is hard). Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity proceed to heckle her and calling her out on her boasting. She humiliates them after they try to humiliate her at her own show. Two kids end up provoking a Ursa Minor (A giant ass bear made of stars) because she boasted about defeating one. End result? She ends up losing her cart, which means she lost her home and employment in one night, not to mention she basically was ran out of the town. She is treated like a villain and it takes several seasons for the show to rectify this.  

[bridgemeadhq]

THE FOOL

full name: Dakota ‘Kody’ Pierce

faceclaim: Austin Abrams

age: 18

birthday: December 13th

gender: Cis man

pronouns: He/him

four traits: Compassionate, goofy, loud & occasionally annoying

worst fear: Disneyworld getting nuked / accidentally killing somebody

favourite horror movie: Scooby Doo 2002 / Coraline

hometown: Orlando, Florida

living situation: living with his adorable parents who love him so so so much 💖💖💖

major: Sad high school student lmao

BIOGRAPHY

When Dakota was a little boy, there was nothing that he enjoyed more than sitting down in front of his parents enormous, outdated, television set and watching the same three Disney movies over and over: Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. The third one was his favorite by far; the idea of never having to grow old, to just be a kid, running around and playing with his best friends forever was extremely appealing to him. This fantasy was only encouraged by the fact that his family lived in Orlando, twenty minutes away from Disney World, and frequently would visit the parks on weekends to amuse their darling son and his vivid imagination. And once Dakota got over his fear of rollercoasters, theme parks became his newest obsession. No longer did he love lounging around in a bean bag chair, sipping on a juice-box watching old animated films – he wanted to live it. Luckily for him, he was an only child with parents who lived to spoil him and shower him with attention, so when the general admission prices seemed to sky-rocket as the years went on, annual passes became a household necessity.

It wasn’t just the wonderful world of Disney that Dakota enjoyed – from a very young age he was exposed to the likes of Scooby Doo, The Clone Wars, and Harry Potter, and all things sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural were easily his favorite things to read about, watch on tv, or experience at a theme park. He’ll never forget attending the opening day of Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, and not even being upset about having to wait in line for five hours to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  It was after that first ride when Dakota made a decision about what his future career would be: he would be a rollercoaster designer – and not just any, the best. The goal was to become an Imagineer, but if that wasn’t possible, he’d take designing incredible coasters all over the world.

Eventually the desire to remain a happy, go-lucky child, playing games with his friends and riding rollercoasters every weekend forever became less appealing, because once Dakota entered middle school, he quickly realized that being the kid obsessed with Disney was very uncool. Talking to girls was cool, and playing Minecraft with his friends online was cool, not his collection of rare Winnie the Pooh mugs that he at one point thought was the coolest thing he could ever own. The love for theme parks and all things Disney still remained, it just became a lot more lowkey as he attempted to pursue an aura of coolness. It was then that Dakota decided to pickup a nickname, and to the dismay of his parents who named him after the great state where they fell in love, North Dakota, he started going by Kody. The obsession with being like Peter Pan still tickled the back of his mind occasionally – he often felt nostalgic for not having to worry that much about his grades, or for the days he could chatter on about his latest trip to the EPCOT Center without having other kids call him a baby – but once he kissed a girl at the eighth grade dance, that urge to be a kid forever was out the window. After that, all Kody wanted to do was grow up!

It was at the beginning of his Sophomore year in high school that his entire world was shaken up, when his parents revealed to him that they would be leaving their perfect suburb and moving up north. This was possibly the worst thing that had happened to him thus far in his life, leaving behind the friends he’d made, the girl he’d formed feelings for, and most importantly: the theme parks he loved. He threw fit after fit, slammed every damn door in the house, announced he would emancipate himself if he had to – he would not leave behind his precious Disney World. Obviously, being a fifteen year old without much say in the matter, within a couple of months their home was packed into moving trucks, and the family of three spent their last day in Orlando exactly where Dakota wanted to be: at the Magic Kingdom.

Starting at a new school was difficult, especially when the town his parents had forced him to move seemed to be the most boring place on earth. At a glance, it seems small, gloomy and uninteresting, and for the first months living there, Kody would spend most of his time holed up in his room, friendless, messing around on his computer and learning the ins and outs of coding. His parents encouraged him to get out, meet new people and make some friends, but it was just difficult – he didn’t want to. He wanted his old life, he wanted Disney World, as pathetic as he knew it sounded. The local Massachusetts theme parks just didn’t scratch the same itch, as much as his parents attempted to bring back the spark they used to see in him. It wasn’t until one late afternoon in his high schools library when he discovered there was a lot more to Bridgemead that meets the eye. It was there he came across three teenagers, AJ, Arabella, and Dylan, none of whom he recognized to be in any of his classes, who appeared to be searching for something. His curiosity got the better of him, and he ditched the calculus homework he’d been scribbling on to follow after them. This became a quite regular occurrence; Kody would find one of them after school, wait until the three united, and then linger behind them at a distance, eavesdropping to figure out what exactly they were up to. Suddenly, Kody had his newest obsession: getting to the bottom of…. whatever they were getting to the bottom of.

It didn’t take him long to realize what their game was, they don’t exactly whisper when they think no on else is around, and as surprising as it was to hear it, the revelation of the supernatural being real was brought to his attention, and he quickly realized exactly what the three he followed around were: they were Bridgemead’s version of the Scooby Gang!… sans a couple of members, sure – but he hoped that maybe, if he played his cards right, he could become one of them. It happened one day when he wasn’t being as sneaky as he usually would, and though they were skeptical about him following them around at first, if there’s one thing about Kody: it’s that he appears rather harmless, and to match that look, he’s adorably pure at heart. They quickly realized that he was simply a lonely new kid with bright eyes and a bubbly personality who was eager to help them on their quest to uncover the truths that hide within their town.

The subsequent year, following them around was an absolute blast. To his parents delight, he began bringing them around his home, and the basement became their unofficial HQ. While they never actually solved any of the mysteries the three seemed to have discover on their own, he was still having way more fun than he ever thought he could when he moved here. Somehow, investigating with the three of them was just as thrilling, if not more sometimes, than riding his favorite rollercoaster. Eventually his friends graduated, but that didn’t seem to split up their little team – everyone remained in town after graduation, attending the local college. In fact, them leaving high school actually resulted in Kody getting more friends, as they added Blair to their group. Once there were five of them, he really felt like they were the Scooby Doo Crew, and if he were to assign himself to a particular character: it would probably be Scoob. The fun didn’t exactly come to an end – just took a dramatic, unprecedented pause one night during winter break during Kody’s senior year on his walk home, after a scarfing down a larger-than-your-head neapolitan sundae at the Karma Cafe.

As much as Dakota likes to think he can’t remember what happened – he does. Vividly. He represses as much as he can, just likes to think he was simply attacked, and woke up in searing pain… but it’s much more to that. When he did awaken, it was like a part of his subconscious had been silenced, the good, sweet parts of him had vanished, if only for a moment to enact absolute terror on a random civilian. After spending about fiveish minutes sucking the blood out of their neck, he snapped back to reality, and realized the mess he had become. He couldn’t deal with the knowledge of whether or not he’d killed them, so he disappeared without bothering to check for a pulse, and returned home to clean up, cry madly, and go to sleep in the hopes that he’d wake up and all of this would’ve been some sort of dream. Unfortunately, Kody did not sleep, nor has he slept since that night ten months ago. When the sun rose that morning, he realized that it’s rays, even glistening through small slats in his blinds seemed to give him a headache, and when he attempted to pull them back and force himself to accept the day, he discovered that it’s heat was enough to set him on fire. The next several days were spent in absolute darkness, convincing his mother that he was sick with the flu and that she shouldn’t even dare to enter the room. At night, he would sneak out, part of his brain shut off again as he’d lurk through the town and find something he could feed on. After that first victim, Kody managed to learn to control himself, it was like the thing that he had become somehow understood how much was too much, and he would leave his victims gasping for breath and screaming as he’d vanish in the distance, unseen and further undetected. Each time he would hate himself afterwards, return back to his bedroom and cry, cry, cry until he didn’t feel much of anything anymore.

It was about a week after the attack when he discovered a mysterious package with his name on it on the dining room table. Inside was a letter with handwriting so fancy that Kody didn’t even bother to attempt to decipher it, a bulky silver ring with Latin inscribed, and two bags of blood. Without really thinking about it, he devoured both bags, and then kicked himself in the ass for it later when he realized how he could’ve rationed it. It was however, what gave him the idea to stop unnecessarily hurting people, and start stealing blood bags from wherever he could get: the hospital, local blood drives, and the occasional trip outside of town to scour nearby hospitals became his weekly spots to raid. The ring was the greatest part of the package, because when he wore it and stood in front of the blinds hanging from his window, the headache he’d feel all day every day was no longer there. He even dared to pull back the blinds and stand in full view of the sun, only to find that he wasn’t turning into a ball of flames – he was perfectly fine.

Once he’d acquired the ring, he was able to return to school, but this came with its own set of complications. The scent of blood was everywhere, all the time, calling to him to come have a delicious sip from any classmate who dared to offer him a smile that day. He managed to keep his composure when he was there, but this did result in him having to miss countless school days to prevent himself from hurting another student or a faculty member. There were dozens of days he can recall stepping onto campus, only to smell that someone had just accidentally cut their hand, or bruised their knee, or the worst: someone had just gotten their period, and he would have to leave as quickly as possible to curve his cravings. These repeated absences resulted in something detrimental to Kody: he was going to be held back.

All he wanted was for someone to be there for him, but he couldn’t tell his friends. As accepting as he knew they would be, considering how they had all reacted upon Dylan’s admission, he just couldn’t. It’s one thing to have an uncontrollable change once a month, it’s another to crave blood on a five-minute basis. That summer, their unofficial HQ found a more permanent location in the form of the basement underneath the Bridgemead College’s library, and this relocation resulted in Kody receiving another slew of new friends: Finley, and as time went on, Kendall both is he a little wary about, considering what he is. As their group seemed to grow, he spent three long, sleepless nights developing the perfect tool for them to use: a website equipped with an anonymous tip system, a message board, and catchy headlines to grab the attention of the average Bridgemead citizen. Once it looked absolutely perfect, complete with a header tilted BRIDGEMEAD’S SCOOBY GANG, he decided it was time to unveil it to everyone. The website came with mixed reviews from the group, but ultimately it was decided that they would be using it, though AJ did have to remind him a few times that Scooby Gang was definitely a working title. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he actually had… real friends, ones he didn’t have to put on some kind of cool front for, like he used to. This time, the facade he had to put up was that he was absolutely normal. Just an awkward, goofy kid who claims he faints at the sight of blood and can’t stand the scent of lemon verbena, and not the truth of what kind of monster he’s become. His only explanations of what was going on with him lied within vague Google searches which returned ambiguous answers, stating that what he was going through was a phenomenon limited only to the fictional world. If only they really knew.

So his childhood dream had come true: Kody would get to be a kid forever, just like Peter Pan.

[kurt-nightcrawler]

Princess

Scott Summers x Female Reader

Summary: Could two months make you change your mind on Xavier’s royal pain in the ass—Scott Summers?

Warnings: swearing, misogyny (very little), a little angst, language, and mention of sex

Word Count: 4.4k

“You shouldn’t sit on the countertop,” Scott scolded. 

“I’m not going to break it,” You defended.

“Yeah, but if a younger student sees you—” 

“There’s no harm in me sitting on the counter,” You argued.

“Well, it’s against the rules.” 

“Is not. I’ve never heard Xavier once say we can’t sit on the countertops in the kitchen.”

  Scott sighed. “Fine, then it’s at least common courtesy.” 

“You know what’s common courtesy?” You asked.

“What?”

“You shutting the fuck up.” 

Before Scott could respond you hopped off the counter and went on with your day.

-

Your relationship with Scott was… complicated. 

Scott “Stick up his ass” Summers, was kind of the worst in your opinion. He was like teen royalty at Xavier’s, mostly because of his older brother being an original X-Man, plus he was also a kiss-up. 

He was prissy, spent too much time on his hair, and never-ever had fun. 

“Does he even know what fun is?” You asked Warren. 

“Dunno. I mean he can let loose with the guys sometimes, so he’s not a total stick in the mud…” 

“Easy for you to say. He gets on my nerves. ‘Stop doodling in class’ or ‘Don’t sit on the counter’ or ‘You shouldn’t say that in front of Kurt.’ Ugh-” You rolled your eyes, “-He’s like a princess. So demanding!”

“Don’t let him get to you. Sooner or later, he’ll stop pestering. He did so with me.”

“Ren, you are so far up Alex’s asshole, Scott wouldn’t do anything to you if I gave him a million dollars.” Warren laughed, there was a hint of truth in your statement. Scott really idolized Alex, and Alex and Warren were good friends.

-

“Hey, Princess, some of us were heading to the mall. Did you wanna join?” 

Scott muffled his brows. “Did you just call me princess?” 

“Uh-huh, now are you coming or not? I don’t wanna get left behind.” 

He sighed, unsure of how to react to his new nickname. Either way, it was still better than ‘Stick up his ass.’

You were sipping on a coffee in the food court, listening to your friends' conversations.  

“I know how to have fun, Pete.” 

“Mmm… I dunno, Scotty,” Peter shrugged. “You follow the rules pretty much to a tee.”

“Rules were meant to be—”

“Broken. Rules were meant to be broken, Princess.”

Peter gasped before erupting into laughter, “She calls you princess? Oh— Oh my god! That’s hilarious!”

Scott glared at the silver man before speaking to you. “Could you stop calling me that?”

“Hmm…” You took a long sip of your coffee before speaking. 

“No.”

“No!? What? Why?”

“Because it’s fitting. You’re prissy and you annoy me.” 

Scott scoffed, “I’m not prissy! One day, your good looks and punk attitude won’t be able to save you, and you’ll actually have to be nice for once.” 

“Wait,” You uncrossed your legs, “You think I’m hot?” 

“That’s not what I said.” Scott failed in defending himself, for a blush was prominent on his cheeks.

“You kinda did say it though.” Peter chimed in.

“Shut up!” Scott scolded.

“So you’d go out with (Y/N) given the chance?” Peter teased. 

“No. She’s mean.”

You narrowed your eyes, “I’m right here you know.” 

“You couldn’t be nice to me if you tried.” 

Ouch. I can be nice, you know. You didn’t say anything as you drank your coffee. 

“How about a bet?” Peter offered. “If you’re nice to Scott for two months, he has to take you out on a date.” 

A date? Would I even want to go on a date with Princess Scott himself? What would we even do on a date? 

Yet, you found yourself getting involved. “And if I fail?” 

“You have to be nice to Scott for the rest of your life.” 

“I’m down.” Scott immediately said. “You won’t win.” 

“Cockiness doesn’t look good on you, Princess,” You smirked. 

“Scared you’ll lose?”

“Never.”

-

Week 1

It was weird. You weren’t exactly sure what “be nice to Scott” actually meant, and neither did your friends really. They all told you different things, gave different opinions, it was a pain in the ass. 

“Do I like, bake him cookies or something?” 

“Not unless you want to,” Jean said. “In his eyes, you being nice would be following the rules and stop calling him princess.” 

“I can follow rules, I can kiss his feet, but I’m not going to stop calling him princess.” 

“You do you I suppose.” 

-

Week 2

Nothing really changed— except for the fact you declined Peter’s offer to pull a prank on Hank, which lead to you avoiding detention. 

-

Week 3

You offered to do his laundry and you found out Scott had Star Wars themed boxers. He also had a beat-up leather jacket. You’d never seen him wear it before.

“That’s Alex’s. He gave it to me when I turned fourteen.” 

“I’ve never seen you wear it.” 

“Yeah, um, I’m not like, cool— the whole leather jacket and tough attitude thing. I’m not like Warren or—“

“Me. You’re not like me…” You pursed your lips. He nodded awkwardly. 

“Try it on.” 

“The jacket?”

“Yeah, yeah. Go on, I wanna see how you look.”  He slipped the dark jacket on. 

“What do you think? Kinda dumb, right?” He adjusted the collar while you spoke.

“Not half bad.” Never in a million years did you think Scott “Princess” Summers would wear leather, nor look this good. “You kinda look like my type.”

He chuckled. “And what is your type? Warren?”

“I mean, yeah, but we’re just friends. He helps me with guys, I help him with girls. We’re kinda like you and Jean— similar, yet different, some people might think we’re dating, but we’re just friends… You and Jean are just friends, right?” 

He nodded, “Yeah, yeah. We’re just friends… Besides, I’m kinda into someone else…”

Your eyebrows rose, Scott liked someone? “What does she think of our bet?” 

“I don’t know. She probably thinks it’s stupid.” 

“Well, whoever she is, she’d probably go out with you.” 

Scott shook his head, “No, I’m definitely not her type. She doesn’t like nerds.” He took the jacket off and put it back on its hanger.

“You have some... redeeming qualities. If she can’t see that then she’s probably a bitch and you can do better.”

He turned to look at you, “You really think so?” 

Did you think so? Sure, Scott was cute, and obviously had something going for him, even if he was the kind of guy who’d probably fold his clothes before sex so they wouldn’t get wrinkled. 

“Yeah…” 

“You hesitated.”

“So?” 

“Don’t lie to me to spare my feelings.” 

“I’m not— No, I just… it didn’t mean anything. I got lost in thought. That’s all. I’m gonna leave.” You hastily left his room, slamming the door behind you. 

“Okay…” 

-

Week 4

One month passed, and its final week was long. 

You were acting weird around Scott because of the incident in his room. 

He was nice enough to not push you or seek you out. However, people noticed. They noticed you weren’t talking to each other. 

“That was the whole point, be nice to him, don’t ignore him!” 

“Well I’m not his personal maid either, Pete. I don’t need to spend every waking moment with him.” 

Peter squinted his eyes at you, not believing your half-assed excuse. You didn’t care though, because he shut up for a while. 

-

Week 5

You and Scott partnered up for a history project about World War I. You had to discuss a major battle in front of the class, nothing too hard. 

“Are you free this weekend?” 

You looked up from your notes, confused. “Yeah… Why?” 

“Oh, um, a new movie came out. I wanted to get some friends to go see it.” 

“Sure, I’ll go.” 

“You don’t wanna know what movie it is?...” 

You shrugged absentmindedly. “I trust your judgment, Princess.” 

Out of the corner of your eye, you swore Scott’s cheeks matched his glasses. Was he flustered? Why was he flustered? 

Why do I even care? I don’t have feelings for him. It’s just a nickname.

-

Week 5: That weekend

You were going to the movies with Jubilee, Ororo, Kurt, Jean, and Scott. Peter and Warren were going out doing other stuff. You’d much rather be with them, but you did tell Scott you’d go to the movies with him. Plus you had to be nice with the whole bet going on. 

“If you don’t wanna go you don’t have to,” Peter said.

“Yeah, but I already told Scott I’m going. It’d be rude of me to just ditch last minute.” 

“You never cared before,” Warren stated, searching through his record collection for something. 

“Yeah, well, I also never had the bet weighing over me like a dark cloud.” 

Peter scoffed, “Please, spare me your bullshit. Everyone knows you use this bet as an excuse to get close to Scott because you like him.” 

Warren chuckled and rolled his eyes. You, on the other hand, were pissed with his accusation. 

“That’s not true. I don’t have feelings for Scott. He’s not my type.” 

“Type schnype. If you ‘lost the bet’ you’d have to be nice to him forever and there’s no real way to enforce that, so if you lose then you don’t really lose. Also if you win Scott takes you out on a date, which I haven’t seen you protesting.” 

“I’d like to keep my word, plus there’s like three weeks left. And I’m not about to be a total bitch to him. He’s got a crush on some girl and it’s kinda fucking with his confidence because “She doesn’t date nerds” and I’m not about to make him feel worse about himself. Just because he’s got a stick up his ass doesn’t mean he doesn’t cry.” 

Peter and Warren exchanged a glance that went undetected by you. 

“Who’s the girl he’s into?” Warren asked. “What does she think about the bet?” 

“I dunno, he didn’t say. All he said was she doesn’t date nerds and she couldn’t care less about the bet.” 

“Who does that sound like?” 

“I don’t— I don’t know. Ororo? Look, that could be anyone. Casey Miller only dates Jewish guys, Jenny Winfred only likes guys who are at least 6’0 and have blue eyes. Everyone’s got a type, and the girl he’s into could be anyone.”

-

Week 6

Scott walked into the common room where the rest of your group was. 

“Hey man— what are you wearing?” Peter asked. 

“What? I own a leather jacket, not the end of the world.” 

“Yeah, but it’s so… not you, ya feel me?” 

You eavesdropped on their conversation as Jean told you about the latest test Xavier gave. “I think you look good, Princess. Better than Twinkletoes does in his silver getup.” 

Scott smiled, blush creeping on to his cheeks. “Thanks…” 

-

“How does she not see it? It’s obvious you like her!” Peter was exasperated. 

“Scott’s too subtle.” Warren states matter of factly. “She needs bigger hints, maybe even spell it out.” 

“No— This was stupid. Me even telling you guys. (Y/N) doesn’t like me that way, and there’s nothing I can do to change it. After the bet, we will be… friends. That’s good enough.” 

Scott was more trying to convince himself than the boys, but it didn’t matter. They could tell.

“She’s just a girl with an ego bigger than my dad’s. Heartbreak is a part of life—“ 

Warren’s eyes were wide, “Dude! We’re trying to not make him sad!”

“No, no. Peter’s right. Nothing I can do about it.” Warren sighed, giving Scott an unsure look. 

-

“Maybe you should back up from Scott.” 

You looked up at Warren. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t give him the wrong idea… I don’t really know how to say it without saying it, but don’t—“

“Is this about that girl he’s into?”

“Yeah…” 

You groaned. “Shit. Does she think we’re dating or something?”

“No! No, but…”

“But what?”

“She’s kind of unintentionally leading him on in a way. She’s obviously not into him, but she’s nice and unaware of his crush on her. They’ve been spending a lot of time together—“

“Wait.” You held your hand up, stopping Warren from continuing. “What do I have to do with this? Who even is this girl? Scott won’t tell me her name— you won’t tell me either! What do you guys think I’m going to do if I know? Tell her? I’m not that bad.” 

“(Y/N), it’s complicated…” 

“Yeah, everything's complicated with you guys.” You got up and left Warren there. Leaving your words to sting and linger.

-

Week 7 

You were avoiding Scott, to Warren’s request. The bet ended in a week, and you just wanted to get it over with. 

Being nice to Scott was so much effort— not intentionally, but with all this dumb drama about the bitchy girl he liked you just wanted to yell “Who is she?!” Find her, and slap her in the face. Scott had a lot on his plate, and dealing with some girl who didn’t want anything to do with him didn’t add to the load. 

He did a lot for the X-Men— constantly training, going on missions, not to mention trying to live up to Alex’s legacy. Plus he had school work, and friendships to maintain. A lot of younger students looked up to him— you started to understand why he was such a stickler for rules. He had to be— and this girl, whoever she was— was completely off-page for him. 

“She doesn’t like nerds. I’m not her type.” 

Did he want to go off-page for once? Have some good, old-fashioned teenage rebellion? 

Maybe. 

-

You found yourself at his door. You knocked. You heard his footsteps from the other side as he walked up to the door. 

“(Y/N)— hey! I wasn’t expecting you—“ You wrapped your arms around him in a hug. “Oof! Hey…is, is everything okay?” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? You don’t have to spend every second with me— that wasn’t the terms of the bet—“

“No. I’m a bitch. I’m mean, I’ve been mean to you since you came here and that wasn’t fair of me. I’ve called you names and said rude things behind your back, which you already knew— but that’s not the point. You have all this pressure on you, and you need to be a good role model for the younger students. You can’t fuck around and be a normal kid like me, or Warren, or even Jubilee…” 

Scott blinked. He wasn’t expecting anything like this to ever come from your mouth. Sure, you weren’t exactly the nicest in the beginning, but you had changed. Even if it was because of a bet…

“And fuck the stupid bet. I like you either way.”

“R—Really?” 

“... Please don’t make me say something rude. I don’t like holding back.” 

He nodded, “Right, right. No, you’re fine. I’m just a little surprised is all.” Scott’s hand rubbed your back soothingly. 

“Oh…” You released your arms from around him and looked at his chest. “I got your shirt wet.” 

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

“Okay…” 

You sat down on his bed, looking at the wall for a distraction. 

“The bet ends in a week.” 

“I know.”

“You know what happens at the end of the bet, right?”

“Yeah…” We go out on a date, but you’re into someone else.  “We don’t have to go out. I mean, we can, but like, it doesn’t need to be romantic. I don’t wanna give her the wrong idea.”

“What? Who?”

“The girl you like… Warren said things were complicated between you two.“

“What else did Warren say?” Scott’s voice was low and quiet. 

“She was like, unintentionally leading you on… He didn’t really say much else.” Scott squeezed his own hand. God, this was hard for him. “I’m sorry…” 

“Why are you apologizing?” 

“You probably didn’t know…” 

“I did. I knew. The more we hung out, the harder I fell… but, one-sided crushes are normal.” He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, wiping away tears. “After the bet ends I’ll take you out next Friday and we can pretend this never happened.” 

“Oh… okay.” You mumbled. 

-

Week 8

It hit you like a freight train. The girl he liked. 

“She doesn’t date nerds.” 

“She’s unintentionally leading him on.”

It was you— Princess Scott Summers wanted you, a peasant. 

Friday rolled around quickly. You were too nervous to even look at Scott. You felt awful— well, you didn’t know how you felt exactly. You hated the fact you made him cry. You hated the fact he felt like he was unworthy of you when it was the other way around. 

You wanted to hold him close, take some of the weight off his shoulders, and tell him you’d be lucky to date him.

“God. I’m freaking out! Why didn’t I see this sooner? I was so wrapped up in my own fucking ego that I never even bothered to think!” Clothes were spewed all over your room, save for your desk where flowers— yes, flowers, were. You panicked and bought Scott flowers. Definitely a bit much, but you can’t return flowers. 

-

“Is she okay?” Warren asked Jean. 

She shook her head, “She’s stressing. She’s into Scott, even if she still technically hasn’t admitted it, and she knows Scott’s into her.” 

“Oh- Oh!” Warren was taken back. Never in a million years did he think you’d fall for Scott. “Good, good for her. Good for them.” 

Jean rose her eyebrows. “You’re gonna give her shit aren’t you?”

“Oh no, I’m definitely going to tease her about it. That’s what friends do.” 

You walked out of your room, flowers in hand. 

“Have fun!” Jean smiled.

“Be back by eleven and use protection!” Warren yelled in a joking tone as you walked down the hall. 

“Thanks, dad!” You called back.

-

You knocked on Scott’s door. 

“Hi.” 

“Hi… Oh, um, these are for you.” You held out the flowers. “They’re red.” 

“Thank you! You didn’t have to get these for me—“

“Well, I did, so…” Scott chuckled, finding your slightly snappy and awkward comment cute. 

He set the flowers on his desk, planning to put them in water after the date. “Are you ready?”

“I came here. I knocked on your door.”

“Right, right. Um, well, I’m ready so…” 

“Great! Let’s go.” You headed down the halls to the garage. 

-

“I’ve been studying to get my motorcycle license.” 

“Why?” 

“Alex has an old bike and he said I could have it if I got my license by the end of the year.” 

“That’s cool.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m probably gonna take the test on Monday because I’m free in the afternoon.” 

You nodded, “Good for you. You think you’ll pass?”

“Probably. Hopefully.” You chuckled a little at his unsure response. 

You went to the movies and some 24-hour diner afterward. The date didn’t feel any different from when you hung out with other friends, except you were alone. 

“So what’s kept you busy this week? I feel like we’ve hardly seen each other.” 

Your crush on me. “Just homework and stuff. McCoy gave us this huge biology project and it’s worth like 40% of our grade and I’m trying to get an A.” 

“Well,” Scott dipped a fry in ketchup, “What do you currently have?” 

“B-.” 

“That’s really good! Biology is hard.”

“Yeah. I just kinda fucked around in his class a lot, and then I actually started caring about school and had free time and I actually studied. It sucked ass but I had nothing else to do.” 

“See? Following rules actually helps you.” He joked. You frowned in response, pretending to seem annoyed. “Um- uh-“

“I’m messing with you, Princess… but yeah, no, you’re right. Kind of.” 

“I’m proud of you though… for real. You’re smart, you just have to put your mind to it.” 

You bit the inside of your cheek out of nerve. Scott got you a little flustered. No big deal, you’d done the same to him multiple times— the constant blush on his cheeks was a dead giveaway. 

 “Thanks…” 

“Mmhmm.” You took a sip of your drink. “I heard you, Warren, and Ororo saw Scarface. How was it?” 

“It was really good, I enjoyed it. Warren did too, but I think Ororo was a little on the fence.” 

“Yeah, I wanted to see it but I was training when you guys went.” 

“That sucks. How often are you training?” 

“Um, a lot. If you don’t see me then I’m probably either in class or training.” 

“Damn!” Your eyes widened for a second in realization. “With all that working out you’re probably fit as Warren.” 

Scott nervously chuckled, “Not— Not really. He’s also taller than me, also genetic go into factor—“

“Well, Jean said she saw your brother shirtless and he was a looker so… I think your genetics are doing fine.” 

“Oh, uh, um, thanks.” Scott was blushing again. 

“Yeah.” It was silent between you both for a little bit, pretty quiet in the entire dinner until the door opened revealing a small group of guys walking in. They were loud and your gut told you they were going to cause trouble. 

“Wanna get the check and get out?” You asked, trying to avoid accidental eye contact with the guys. 

“Uh sure. Did you wanna go back to the mansion or?...” 

You shook your head, “No, we can decide that later.” You glanced around the restaurant, trying to spot your waitress, but she was nowhere to be found. 

And those guys from earlier were walking towards you both. Shit. 

“Well, what do we have here?” One of them asked. 

“Can you leave us alone?” You asked, with every once of kindness you could muster. 

“Can you leave us alone?” Another mocked. “What’s a girl like you doing with him?” 

“It doesn’t matter to you.” Scott grit his teeth.

“I didn’t fucking ask you, nerd. I asked your bitch.” 

You had been called worse— treated worse before. This didn’t phase you. You were going to respond with something back, just to play along for a moment, get them to leave eventually. But, no, Scott couldn’t have that. He had to prove his “manliness” or whatever. No different than Warren sometimes, but at least he knew you could handle yourself.

Thwack! 

Scott’s fist landed in the guy’s face. You internally groaned. The guy was pissed off and ready to hit back. 

“Hey! Take your shit outside! All of you!” You slapped some cash on the table and dragged Scott out of the restaurant to the car. 

-

You didn’t say anything as you took the keys from his pocket and got in the driver’s seat.

“I’m sorry—“

“How’s your hand? Did you break anything?” 

“Oh. Um…” He looked over his hand sheepishly. “No. A little discolor on my knuckles, but that’s it.”

“What?” Your eyebrows rose as you glanced at his hand. “Oh, it's just bruised. You’ll be fine. We can ice it when we get back.” 

Scott nodded but didn’t say anything.

You sighed. This was not a conversation either of you wanted, but you’d have to have it. 

“You didn’t have to hit him to impress me.” 

“I didn’t.” 

“I could have handled myself.” 

His head was hung down slightly. “Yeah. I know.” He mumbled. 

“I’m not mad. I just think you’re kinda dumb.” 

Nothing from Scott. He just looked like a kicked puppy. 

“I know you like me, Scott.” 

“Who told you?”

You let out an empty laugh. “You did. ‘She doesn’t like nerds. I’m not her type.’ Bullshit like that.”

“Can— Can we just forget it?” 

“No! God, you’re the dumbest person I know at the moment and I still wanna pin you against a wall and make out.” 

He looked at you. “At the moment?”

You had to restrain yourself from letting your head fall against the steering wheel in frustration. “God, you’re so dumb.” 

“I, I don’t understand… Is this because of the bet?”

“What?! No! Forget the stupid bet. I never want to talk about the bet again! We get it, I had my redeeming moment, and I realized that you’re not a teacher’s pet for no reason. What I’m talking about right now is the fact you punched that guy! Why? Why did you hit him?” 

Scott glanced at his hand, at a slight loss for words. 

“I… I just— I was worried. I was angry at him for calling you that. For assuming things about us, I thought maybe he’d figure out we were mutants and do something… I dunno.” 

“I could have handled it.”

“I know…” God, you felt guilty for being mad at him. 

You liked this dumb boy too much.

“Look, it’s fine. Just, don’t do it again.”

You pulled up to the driveway of the mansion. “Your hand okay?”

He nodded, “Yeah, yeah. It’ll be fine.” You nodded, only partially listening as you parked the car in the garage.

“We can ice it. Just say you hit it on a door or something.”

“Sure.” 

-

You handed him a small bag of frozen vegetables. “Couldn’t find an ice pack.”

“There no ice cubes?” 

“They’ll melt. This isn’t as messy.” 

You basked in the silence of the empty kitchen. You thought your friends would be waiting for you, dying for details on the date. Guess not.

Scott huffed quietly, trying to keep it to himself. 

“What?” 

“This really isn’t how I imagined tonight would go.”

“What? You didn’t want to end up in a dark empty kitchen with me?” You joked. 

“My room was preferable…” He mumbled. 

You shook your head. “We don’t all get what we want.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

You walked up to him and took the frozen bag from his hands. “Here,” You adjusted it, placing it more directly on his knuckles. 

“Thanks.”

“What were we gonna do in your room?” You asked.

“What?”

“When you said you’d rather we were in your room than in here…”

“Oh. Nothing really.” 

“Friends don’t lie you know. And if you want a second date, you gotta tell me. What were we going to do in your room?”

He blinked, “I’m sorry what?” 

“If you want to go on another date… You have to tell me.” You teased. 

Even though it was dark, you could see Scott blushed. “Um, just hang out for a little bit? I don’t know really…”  

“You wanted to have sex.” 

“No! Not necessarily. I mean you don’t— we— we’re just friends.” 

“Do friends do this?” 

And without warning, you pressed your lips to his. 

[noonachronicles]

You, Me, and Satan Himself

Lee Jooheon X Reader

Word count: 6.5k

Warnings: mild language. there are a couple of mentions of suicide/attempted suicide, not member or reader related. also mentions of child death, also not member or reader related. ummm I think that’s it. 

Genre: bffs to lovers. idiots to lovers. alludes fwb but not LJH/Reader. It’s got some spooky themes, but ultimately it’s fluff.

A/N: It’s a Halloweeeeeen story! Ghosts and ghouls, firemen and pirates and of course Satan himself. ;D Happy Birthday @nemesyis! This one is for you. It’s not really an attack story, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! 

Wind was howling through the naked branches of the trees that lined the path you were on. The brisk chill of the fall air made you shiver. Much to your chagrin the dress and tights combo of your costume was doing almost nothing to keep the cold from consuming you. Clicking of your black lolita heels against the pavement beneath you echoed down the avenue you were walking down. Luckily it was a full moon, which meant that the path was fully visible despite the lack of lights. It might have been romantic if you weren’t mentally preparing yourself to be spooked. Focusing in on the sound of every branch that cracked, every hoot of an owl, every flicker of movement in your peripherals was being noted and you were thrilled by the way it all made the blood tingle in your veins. The only thing putting you off was the chattering of your teeth. It was hard to focus on getting in the mood when you couldn’t stop thinking about how cold you were.

“I told you to bring a jacket.” Jooheon muttered beside you.

“A jacket doesn’t go with this costume.” you advised him for the hundredth time that night. “And the dress has sleeves...I thought it would be warmer.”

“Yeah well my costume doesn’t require a jacket either, so thanks for that.” he complained.

Stopping, you looked over at your very grumpy best friend. It was cute, his outfit. Plaid button down shirt tucked into brown cargo shorts. Round glasses sat on his nose. Pocket protector, complete with pens, sat against his chest. Tube socks pulled all the way up his calves and dirty sneakers on his feet. Every little detail made you smile, you’d done wonderfully putting it together for him, you knew there was even an inhaler in his pocket. He was the perfect Joel Glicker to your Wednesday Addams.

“Honey…” you said lifting your hand to his cheek as he pouted at you, “you look so cute. Thank you for being the best best friend a girl could ask for. I promise that next year I will have a boyfriend of my own and I’ll make him do couples costumes with me, and then you’ll never have to deal with it again.”

He sighed deeply and then gave a tight smile, you still caught a glimpse of his dimple, “It’s fine.”

Once the two of you got moving again you fell back into a comfortable silence, like the pair of you usually did. Instead of going back to your mood setting thoughts you considered Jooheon. He really was the greatest guy you knew. Growing up neighbors left him destined to be either your best friend or worst enemy and at different points in your life he’d been both.

From toddler to teen you were inseparable. Then at some point you couldn’t remember hormones tore you apart. That was when he met the boys. You could still remember how jealous you’d been that first summer watching them hanging out all the time, wishing it was still you he wanted to spend his time with. You’d tried making new friends but mostly became a recluse, playing video games all the time and reading libraries worth of books. In high school you got your first boyfriend, an athlete in the year ahead of you, and you dated for three years. On the first day of summer before your senior year he ditched you because he wanted to be single for university.

You never knew how he’d heard about the break up, you never asked, but the very next day when you had convinced yourself you were never leaving your blanket burrito ever again Jooheon showed up. The moment he walked into your room, after your mom had let him in the house, it was like there had never even been a second that you were apart. He spent every single day with you that summer. Even if he’d had plans with the boys, he always dragged you along. You barely spent a second alone and by the time senior year started you had practically forgotten you’d ever had a boyfriend in the first place. From then on you were back to inseparable even now as adults.

“I hate this.” he grumbled beside you.

The shrubbery along the path was thickening and it was getting darker the further you moved along. You reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing your fingers around his.

“Don’t worry so much. I’ll protect you, I swear.” you smiled over at him. “We’re almost there.”

There was the sound of another snapping branch from the trees and you could feel his body vibrate in fear, “We’re going to die, I hope you know. This is the worst night of my whole life because I’m going to die...dressed like a nerd.”

“Thank you.” you said again.

“For what? Dying with you on this cold, dark, abandoned path to some haunted house in the middle of nowhere?”

“Kind of,” you laughed quietly, “Thank you for coming with me tonight. I know you would have much preferred to stay at the party picking up chicks. Instead you came with me and that means a lot.”

“Oh,” he seemed to ease at your words and even puffed out his chest slightly, “It’s cool. Honestly, no big deal at all. I didn’t want to be at that party if you weren’t going to be there anyway. And yes, this may be a weird, creepy idea that I hate more than anything, but you know I’d do anything for you.”

You squeezed his hand again and smiled, “I love you, Honey.”

He rolled his eyes but smiled all the same, “I love you too.”

“We’re so close, the house is right up here, just around that curve.” you couldn’t help your excitement and you moved faster down the path.

As you had nearly reached the end of the path, the abandoned house in your sight, you could see a large dark mass speeding towards you, but you didn’t process it fast enough. Not until the cloaked figure was already rawring loudly into your face. Jumping back you clutched your chest, heart racing. Seconds passed and you finally registered Changkyun’s laughter, and your eyes adjusted enough to see his devilish face clearly. Jooheon was long gone, having sprinted back down the path quite a ways, he was still shrieking.

“That’s so fucked, Kyun.” you let out a large breath.

Devil horns atop his head, he held up his finger, an evil grin on his lips, “Just wait, it gets better.”

By then Jooheon’s screams had petered down. When you looked down the path to the silhouette of his figure you could see he was making his way, slowly, back to you. He was still several yards away when you saw the two new dark figures creeping out of the brush behind him. It was very clear he hadn’t noticed their presence yet.

“No, my poor Honey.” you mumbled, “Minhyuk?”

“And Hyungwon.” Changkyun snickered beside you.

After just a moment more of silence you could hear their collective “Boo!” as they lunged towards Jooheon. The sound of his screaming and cursing echoed through the night as he sprinted full speed back to you.

“Assholes!” he shouted, “All my friends are assholes!”

He clung to you as he panted, catching his breath and you gently patted his back, “You’re not wrong about that.”  

“I knew it was going to be good,” Minhyuk said still laughing as he and Hyungwon made it to the group, “but that was so much better than I ever expected.”

After finishing rolling your eyes you saw a flicker of light bouncing its way out of the front of the building.

“Shownu!” you called out cheerfully as you recognized the man behind the flashlight in his fireman costume. He gave a small wave as he made his way over. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Kihyun and Hoseok met some people at the party.” He shrugged as he moved out of the hug he’d given you. “Hoseok said to say sorry. Kihyun said to tell you he was not sorry and that if you couldn’t understand you weren’t really friends.”

You laughed, knowing that it was likely that’s exactly what he said. “Wait so you just went in all by yourself?”

“Yeah, no one was here when I got here so I went in and took a look around. Not very exciting as far as haunted houses go. I didn’t find any workers. There’s no smoke machines or creepy music.” he said sounding very unimpressed.

“Nunu…” you shook your head, “Oh sweet man, it’s not a haunted house, it’s just creepy and abandoned.”

“Ohh.” he nodded in understanding, “That makes more sense.”

Jooheon quickly went from clinging to you to clinging to the pillar of muscle and fearlessness that was Shownu. “Full offense to everyone else here, who sucks, but dibs on Nu as my partner.”

“Dibs on y/n.” Minhyuk said throwing his arm over your shoulder, “Unintentionally wearing couples costumes and everything.”

You looked him up and down in confusion, “Min, you’re a pirate. How are we at all a couples costume?”

“You see, after tonight, when you’re wowed by my courage, strength, and overall ability to protect you, you won’t be able to resist me.” you did your best to hold back a snort, “After that, we will be a couple and then no matter what our outfits are they will always be couples outfits. ...because, you know, we’ll be a couple.”

“I think I got it.” you laughed.

As he’d been talking everyone, with the exception of Minhyuk himself, watched as Hyungwon slipped silently behind the brazen pirate. In a swift motion he reached out, grabbing his hips, with a quick boo! Minhyuk jumped about a foot in the air, his pirate hat was thrown off his head and his shrill shriek pierced the cold air.

“Yeah...good luck in there, y/n.” Hyungwon said shooting you a wink.

“She’s a goner for sure.” Changkyun smirked.

“Alright, alright.” you said anxiously, “Let’s do this. I don’t want to be standing out here until the sun comes up.”

Pushing through the group you made your way to the dark house. The pirate and the devil followed closely behind, the others with slightly less enthusiasm. Once you hit the porch steps of the old colonial house you pulled your flashlight from the pocket of your dress. One of the double doors had been broken or removed and was leaning against the door frame. It wasn’t really breaking and entering, you thought to yourself, just entering really.

You ducked through the open door to avoid the giant cobweb in the corner. Inside the house was covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. Dead leaves scattered across the floor as far as your eyes could see and you wondered just how long the front door had been down. Rebellious teenagers had left graffiti a top the peeling wallpaper. There were giant holes all along the walls and you were sure there wasn’t a foot of copper wiring left in the old bones of the home.

The foyer was huge and as the beam of your flashlight moved over it you could just imagine how beautiful it had been in its youth. There was a staircase to the second floor to the left of the room. Beyond it were two hallways leading off in opposite directions. You looked over at the giant landing at the base of the staircase and nodded to yourself.

“Changkyun,” you said and flashed your light over at the area, “how about here?”

He nodded in agreement, “Perfect.”

He handed you candle after candle from a brown satchel at his side to light and place around the area. When the fireman, Glicker, and Hyungwon as the ghoul all made it inside the whole group of you got comfortable, or as comfortable as you could, on the landing of the staircase. The devil stayed standing, his red cloak swooped around his legs and the light from the candles lit up his face dramatically as he prepared to tell the group about the history of the home. The shadow of his horns illuminated against the wall behind him.

“The year,” Changkyun began, “was eighteen oh six. Doctor Leonardo Fitz had just wed the love of his life, Maria Vanderson. As a grand gesture of his love for her he had this house built just for her and what was meant to be their large, happy family. However, after many years had passed the halls of the home remained without the laughter of children. It seemed that the couple was not fated for the family they had dreamed of. Maria was devastated and heartbroken, believing herself to be at fault for their misfortune. Unable to take the guilt of it all she attempted to drown herself in the couple's claw footed bathtub, that remains upstairs to this very day.”

Jooheon let out a hiss of a breath and burrowed closer to you.

“Maria Vanderson was unsuccessful at her death, found too quickly by the house maid and dragged from the water. Though when she woke her husband feared the damage had already been done. His wife had become delusional. Nightmares haunted her sleep and visions attacked her in the light of day. To anyone who would give her a minute of their time she babbled on about what had happened in her time in the great beyond. She spoke of a man that had come to her just before the light took her for good.

The man with eyes as black as the darkest night sky pressed the palm of his clawed hand against her flat stomach. Locking his dark stare with her fearful one he whispered, ‘my son’. A little over a month after the incident occurred they found out that Maria was pregnant. The doctor, desperate for an excuse for his wives apparent insanity, blamed her delusions on the pregnancy hormones. Nine months to the very day of her attempted suicide, Maria gave birth.”

“Nooooo.” Minhyuk gasped. You bit your lip to keep from laughing at the look of absolute horrified realization on his face.

“What?” Jooheon asked with morbid curiosity, even as he wrapped himself even tighter around you.

Minhyuk looked over at him with raised eyebrows and mouthed, “It’s the devils baby!”

Changkyun sighed in annoyance. “Well if Minhyuk is just going to spoil everything what’s the point of even going on with the story.”

“Oh, Kyunnie, please!” You pouted cutely, “It’s so good and you worked so hard on all that research.”

“I did.” He nodded smugly, “I researched the entire history of this home…  So I will continue, but everyone better keep their theories to themselves.”

“Sorry,” Minhyuk said as he coward at the pointed look from his junior.

“What had been more shocking than the timing of Maria’s labor,” he started once more, “was that she gave birth to twin boys. One with flaxen hair like his father, the others black as a raven’s feather.”

Minhyuk let out another dramatic gasp but quickly slammed his hand over his mouth.

Changkyun continued, “Both boys grew up portraits of health and seemingly as normal as any other child might. The only difference between them besides the color of their hair was that Damian, the raven haired child, had been fussier than his brother Gabriel. He required much more attention but only that from his mother was able to comfort him. As they aged the changes and differences between them became more and more clear. Gabriel was a playful, independant boy that enjoyed spending his time outside in the sun. He liked to run around the giant yard, swinging on the swing set, and climbing trees. He liked to be dirty and to laugh.

Damien did not enjoy those things. He was quiet, an observer of the things around him. Even though he was just a boy he still knew things about the people in the home, their secrets.  He preferred to do whatever his mother was doing, always at her side. She called him her little shadow and adored him with every ounce of her being. The doctor did not feel the same way about the boy. He felt he could see a darkness in the child and was watching it grow every day. It terrified the doctor to see how he manipulated Maria and the others in the house into loving him.

One afternoon Maria had been getting ready for a gala she was to attend with the doctor. She’d been in front of her vanity doing her makeup. The boys had been running up and down the hallway and in the playroom quite loudly. After some time had passed she realized the house had grown silent.”

“I don’t like it,” Jooheon whispered just to you, and pressed his face into your shoulder. You squeezed his hand comfortingly and listened to Changkyun go on.

“When she stepped from the bedroom into the hallway the only thing she could see was Damien at the top of the stairs holding a wooden toy airplane at his side. As she moved closer to her son she could see the mortifying view at the bottom of the stairs. Her fair haired boy laid mangled across the bottom step, blood oozing around him. She wrapped Damien in her arms, pressing his face to her chest to protect him from the sight. The help claimed they could her screams for hours after, just echoing up and down the halls. Maybe we’ll even hear them tonight.”

“Wait...these stairs?!” Hyungwon asked in a panic, shooting up from the bottom step he’d been sitting on. He cleared his throat and said a little more casually, “I mean ...these stairs?”

“One and the same.” Changkyun confirmed.

“What...that’s it?” Shownu asked high key unimpressed. You watched as Hyungwon slowly made his way from the staircase to the opposite side of the circle, otherwise unnoticed.

“Worry not, the story doesn’t end there.”

“Oh god damn it.” Jooheon groaned beside you.

“Alright, everyone, settle down and focus.” Changkyun waited for everyone’s attention before going on with the story. “Doctor Leo knew right away what had happened to his son and was furious. He wanted to get rid of the evil boy. However, Maria loved her son and she refused to believe the ravings of a madman. One day while she’d been out the doctor had even brought a priest into the home to try and exorcise the boy. Maria was enraged when she arrived home. Unable to handle the pained cries of the only child she had left, she tore the restraints from his body and banned the clergy from her home.

A decade had passed and the doctor’s fear and anger had torn him and Maria apart. They stayed on opposite sides of the home. She refused to speak to him because every time she did he would just say some hurtful things to her about Damien. The doctor began to drink heavily, he was falling apart having lost his son and then his wife.

On his fifteenth birthday, what would have been Gabriels as well, Maria took her son into the city for lunch and then to the zoo. When they arrived back home they found the doctor had ended his own life. Unable to handle the evil consuming the home any longer. His limp, lifeless body was found hanging from the railing, just there,” Changkyun pointed up to the railing of the second floor that was broken, leaving dangerous open gaps, “He’d made a noose out of bed sheets.”

“Two down, one to go.” Hyungwon joked, though he eyed the railing warily

“He won’t kill the mom.” Shownu argued. Both Minhyuk and Jooheon shuddered at the thought.

You sighed, “Come on, guys. He’s almost to the best part.”

“Which is?” Shownu asked.

“The end.” Jooheon grumbled.

“The best part is when he finally gets to the reason we’re really here.” you corrected.

“Just get it over with then.” Minhyuk whined, pulling his knees to his chest.

“For three years following the death of the doctor, mother and son lived here quite harmoniously. The only complaints to be had were from the help. Maids and gardeners often complaining about the property being overrun by creatures that always ended up dead. In the home and around it they found rats, cats, birds, foxes, rabbits, and snakes. As if they’d come to the house for the sole purpose of dying.

One afternoon, not long after Damien’s eighteenth birthday, Maria was just coming home from a short trip to the city. Out on the lawn, she found the old gardener facedown on the ground, dead.  When she ran inside the maid and the cook where both here in the foyer. Deep gashes like those from the claws of an animal covered their bodies. Blood was seeping from their wounds. She could see, dug into the wood flooring, were marks left by the cooks nails as she’d been dragged down the hall. Terrified for her son’s life, Maria searched the whole house for Damien. She found the door of the study, the last place she’d checked, slightly ajar. She peered inside and what she saw made her sick with fear.

Her son was standing in the center of the room with his eyes closed and naked as the day he was born. Behind him the fireplace was burning and she watched with wide eyes as a horned beast stepped out from the flames half man, half animal. Ten feet tall it had hoven feet and eyes as black as the darkest night. In his clawed hands he held a gold chalice. He spoke in a language she could not understand and from the chalice poured what seemed like an endless stream of dark red blood on top of her son’s head.

In a voice she’d heard before the beast whispered, my son.

Damien’s eyes opened under the shower of blood, and she gasped when she saw they were as black as his fathers. The door swung open, exposing her. The last thing she saw was the sick twisted smile of her demon son as his father came for her.  

Some people say you can hear the sound of hoven feet against the hardwood floor, the pained screams of Maria, the giggles of young Gabriel, and warnings from the doctor himself, whispered against your ear, begging you to leave this damned home.”

“I’ve seen the fireplace in the study. It’s huge. The devil coming out of it,” Shownu shrugged, “that’s actually pretty believable.”

“The devil!” Jooheon whined, “That’s so much worse than just a regular ghost story! I hate this, I’m gonna be sick.”

“Who is going to explain why we’re here?” Shownu asked, “I thought that would be made clear.”

“We’re here to find the chalice.” Changkyun answered. “Somewhere in this haunted old house is the devil's cup. We will go in our pairs and search until it’s found or the sun has risen.”

“What do we get if we find it?” Hyungwon asked intrigued.

“Pride, honor, a golden chalice to drink all of your future drinks out of.” you said as if the answer were obvious. “Also, the winning team gets breakfast paid for by the losers.”  

“Yeah, we’re winning. Let’s go.” With that Shownu grabbed Jooheon by the wrist and dragged him down the hall to the left.

“Game on.” Changkyun said with a wicked laugh before running upstairs with Hyungwon hot on his devils tail.

~~

The house was much scarier than you expected it to be. It might not have been that bad if it weren’t for the fact that Minhyuk was trembling with fear everywhere the two of you went. You’d searched the kitchen and the dining room together. The pair of you clung desperately to each other with every step you took down in the basement. You were sure if the chalice had been down there you’d missed it. The only thing you were focused on while you were down there was getting back upstairs and Minhyuk had been much worse off than you. He made you search the study by yourself while he stood by the door holding a shaking flashlight in your general direction. The pair of you passed by Shownu and Jooheon on the way to the sitting room and the sun room on the opposite side of the house.

Once you were sure you’d been to every room downstairs you went upstairs. In the children’s room, instead of the chalice you found a dust covered, wooden toy airplane. When you showed it to Minhyuk he screamed and for several minutes you were certain he was going to cry. Then, walking across the hall from one bedroom to another, a toy ball rolled passed your feet and Minhyuk swore he heard a child’s laughter. Though the whole situation made your chest tight with fright, part of you was also sure that Changkyun had something to do with it. Especially since you hadn’t seen him or Hyungwon the entire time you’d been upstairs.  

The two of you were headed to the master bedroom next. Minhyuk was a few feet in front of you. He passed by an open bedroom door without a second thought but a quiet whistling from the room caught your attention. You’d looked everywhere in the small room, and were standing nervously in front of the closet when Minhyuk called your name from down the hall. You turned to call back to him but when you opened your mouth a hand slammed down against your lips. Screaming into the hand, you were dragged backwards into the closet and the door closed in front of you.

“God, Y/n, stop screaming.” Changkyun whispered against your ear and spun you around.

“What the hell, you scared the fuck out of me.” you hissed as your eyes started to adjust to the darkness.

“All of the fuck?” he grinned, “Not even a little fuck left for me?”

“Apologize,” you whispered, sliding your hand from his chest to his hip, “maybe then I can find a fuck for you.”

He leaned in and dragged the tip of his nose from your throat to the base of your ear and whispered back, “I’m sorry I scared you.”

You hummed in pleasure, “Oh, look, I think I found one.”

“Mm, that’s good.” he said before leaving kisses along your neck, pulling the soft skin between his teeth until you were groaning. You squirmed beneath his hands as they pinned your hips against the wall.

“Kiss me for real.” you whined. He lifted his face to yours and let you pull his lips between yours. You kissed him for a full minute before you realized he wasn’t kissing back. “What? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you kissing me?”

He cupped your face in his hands with a smile, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Okay, then kiss me.”

He leaned in again, this time pressing his lips against yours in a true kiss. His tongue slipped between your teeth and you pulled his hips closer, practically slamming them into yours. He kept you pressed against the old, dirty wall of the bedroom closet until your lips were sore and swollen and you weren’t sure which tongue was his and which was yours. When he finally pulled away, he kept his eyes on you for a moment as you caught your breath.  

Then he pressed a sweet kiss against your forehead and smiled, “We had fun right?”

“What? Why did you say it like that? Had?” you asked confused.

“That was our last kiss, kiddo.” he said as if it was just any ordinary conversation.

“What?”

“Jooheon is going to ask you out later.”

“What?”

He chuckled, “You should say yes. He likes you, is in love with you, likes you.”

“What?”

He grabbed your face in his palms, “Please stop saying what.”

“Um,” you looked at him trying to process but not being able to, “What?”

“Jooheon, you remember him?” he asked. You nodded, “He’s in love with you. He’s going to ask you out on a date. A real date, not just you two being besties like you’ve always been. I really think you need to say yes. I think you want to say yes. He really wants to be with you and you deserve that.”

“So...what does that mean, you don’t” you asked feeling a little hurt.

“Oh baby girl, I don’t want to be with anyone. I’m just having fun and we did that, right? You had fun?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

He frowned seeing how upset you were, “You want more than secret rendezvous every once in awhile. I’m not totally clueless. I know you’ve been wanting more from me for awhile now.”

“I guess I was the clueless one.” you sighed.

“No” he said, “what I do just isn’t for everyone. You deserve more. You deserve real dates where you go out to dinner and then get ice cream after. You deserve sleepovers that end in you falling asleep together on the couch while the movie is still running. You deserve someone that’s going to drag you around everywhere and tell anyone who’ll listen that you’re his girl, because nothing makes him more proud than being with you.”

A small smile found its way to your lips, “Honey.”

“Exactly.” Changkyun smiled.

“You really think he loves me? I mean, I know he loves me like a best friend but…”

“He would not be trembling his way through this dark abandoned home on Halloween night, if it wasn’t for you. He would do anything for you and he’d do it because he loves you. Loves you loves you.” He shook his head as if amused, “You love him back, you know. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do for that delicate little man.”

“What if it’s not supposed to be like that. What if it ruins our friendship?” you bit your lip.

“You would never let that happen, either of you.” Changkyun said with certainty, “You’ll never let him out of your life, and he’ll never let you out of his. Even if things go horribly wrong, which I guarantee they won't, you two are going to have each other forever.”

~~~

It wasn’t totally clear how long you’d been in that closet with Changkyun but you knew it had probably been too long. Minhyuk was nowhere to be found upstairs and you immediately felt horrible having left him alone for so long. You had run into Hyungwon who asked if you’d seen Changkyun and you gave a vague response about him maybe being in the master bedroom before heading downstairs again.

Your flashlight had gone dead just before you’d run into Hyungwon, so you were pretty desperate to find your partner. The way down the stairs was slow going as you cautiously felt for each step before moving forward. Midway down the light from a flashlight hit you in the face. You squinted, unable to see who was coming up the stairs.

“Hey!” Jooheon grabbed your arms looking panicked, “Where were you?”

“I was just searching upstairs. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” You asked concerned.

He dropped his hands to his sides with relief, “We ran into Minhyuk, he said he lost you. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I was so worried. Where’s your flashlight?”

“Oh...it died. You were worried about me? You searched a dark abandoned house for me all by yourself?” You grinned.

“Well...yeah. I just, I didn’t want you to be alone or get hurt or something.”

I wasn’t,” you paused, he didn’t need to know you weren’t exactly alone, “I was okay. Thank you for coming to find me though.”

You looked over your shoulder at the sound of footsteps on the stairs and nodded at Changkyun as he passed the two of you, Hyungwon following close behind. You watched him all the way down the stairs and into the dinning room before looking back at Jooheon. He looked from you to where Changkyun has disappeared and then back again.

“You were alone, right?” He asked quietly.

“Mostly…”

He bit his lip nervously as he looked up at you, “Do you want to be with him?”

“Be with who?” You gulped.

“Kyun. Are you into him?”

A small smile spread across your lips, “No, actually I think I might be into someone else.”

“Oh.” His shoulder fell with disappointment. “You never told me about anyone new. Usually you tell me that kind of stuff.”

“He’s not really new. I’ve known him for awhile.”

Jooheon’s face creased in confusion, “Who do you know that I don’t know?”

“I never said you didn’t.” You laughed.

“Someone we both know and it’s not Changkyun?” He asked. You could see the gears turning in his mind. “Oh god. Please tell me it’s not Minhyuk.”

“I found it!” Hyungwon screamed, running into the foyer holding the golden chalice high above his head. “We win!”

“Noooooo!” You could hear Minhyuk whining before you saw him tear into the foyer from the opposite hall. “Where?!”

“Kitchen.” Changkyun was leaning against a post, you hadn’t even seen him stroll in after Hyungwon.

“We looked there!” Minhyuk spun around the room with his flashlight until he spotted you under the beam of light, “Didn’t we look there, y/n?”

You blocked the light from your eyes with your hand, “Yes, Min.”

“Well not good enough. Haaaaah!” Hyungwon laughed as Minhyuk chased after him through the foyer, grabbing for the chalice.

“Hey!” Shownu shouted from the balcony, the light from his phone illuminating his face, “Kihyun and Hoseok are already at the diner for breakfast. They want us to meet them there.”

Finally gathered together once more the whole group took off together, back down the avenue of trees. Dawn was coming and what once was pitch black was now a muted gray. Everything looked a little different in the soft light. You turned around and looked back at the old house, it didn’t look very threatening at all.

Changkyun had thrown his arm over your shoulder, in what you knew was now simply the action of a good friend. Though Jooheon didn’t and he pouted as he walked with Shownu behind the two of you. With a yawn you wondered how Minhyuk had the energy to chase Hyungwon down the sidewalk, still desperate for the golden chalice.

Hoseok and Kihyun met the group outside of the twenty-four hour diner looking a little worse for the wear. Hoseok was half asleep and stumbling drunk as you made your way inside. The group packed into two red vinyl booths.

Jooheon looked up from his plastic covered menu at you in surprise as you slipped into the booth next to him. “Wouldn’t you rather sit with your boyfriend?”

“Who? Changkyun?” You asked, pulling the menu between the two of you so you could read it too. “I thought we cleared that up. I like someone else.”

“Yeah but you never said who. Are you going to tell me?”

You opened your mouth to say something and he watched you wide eyed with anticipation. However the waitress had arrived for drink orders, giving you a second chance to avoid the question. It wasn’t that you weren’t going to tell him, just that you enjoyed the frustrated look on his face, it was too cute to resist.

When the waitress left to get the drinks, instead of telling him what he wanted to know, you engaged with Kihyun who was sitting across from you in a very serious discussion about what to order. You couldn’t decide between dinner and breakfast. In the end you did what you always did. Jooheon would get breakfast and you would get dinner and then you’d split your meals.

“Did you have fun at least?” You asked Jooheon as the waitress came around with your food. “It wasn’t that bad was it?”

“No, not as bad as I expected.” He sighed as he separated his meal into two. “It was fun. I scared Hyungwon once, did I tell you?”

“No! You didn’t!” Laughing at the thought, you put half of your cheeseburger on his plate. “I’m so happy you had fun, Honey.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t win.” He said quietly

You grinned, “Oh it’s okay. Maybe next year.”

“Next year?!” He asked in an instant panic.

“Yeah. It’ll be better. We’ll just make sure we get to be partners next time.”

“You’d want to be partners with me?” He asked genuinely surprised, “I thought you were going to have a boyfriend by next year. Whoever this secret guy is that you like probably likes you back. If you’re dating then he’ll want to be your partner and I’ll get stuck with someone else.”

“Well, do you?” You asked grabbing a piece of bacon from his plate.

“Do I what?”

You looked across the table where Hoseok and Kihyun had passed out on one another, their food left almost completely untouched except for a french fry hanging from Kyihuns mouth.

“Do you like me back?” You asked.

“Yeah of course I like you back I-“ his eyes went wide when he realized that you meant. “Me? I’m the guy you’re into?”

“The one and only.” You were sure you’d never seen his dimple get so deep he was smiling so big.

“I want to kiss you.” He said, eyes sparkling.

“Wait, there’s something I want to tell you first.” You felt nervous, but telling him about Changkyun seemed like the right thing to do. If you were really starting this you wanted to start it the right way. “Kyun and I were…”

“I know.” His smile dropped slightly but he shrugged, “I’ve known for awhile, you guys were pretty obvious.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” You asked grabbing his hand beneath the table subconsciously.

“I wanted you to want to tell me. I wanted you to be happy. It was hard being around you two, poorly hiding flirtatious looks.”

“I’m so dumb. I’m so sorry.” You whispered as you thought back at the last few months realizing Jooheon had almost never spent time with you and Changkyun together.

“Kyun figured it out. He asked me the other night and I told him the truth. That I’m in love with you.”

Your eyebrows shot up but you weren’t sure you were entirely surprised. “Honey…”

“Kyun told me to ask you out, he said you were… that you might… maybe...possibly.”

“I’m in love with you too.” You laughed, ending his small suffering of trying to avoid asking you if you loved him back. “I think I was in some denial but Kyun showed me the light.”

“He did?” Jooheon seemed genuinely shocked when you nodded, “well what do you know, Satan himself thinks we should be together.”

“Who are we to deny him?” With a small smile you leaned over and pressed a kiss against his dimpled cheek.

He covered his face with his hand shyly. “Aish, not in front of everyone!”

You laughed at the cute way he blushed, “You’re the one who wanted to kiss me!”

“Still do...” he grinned and lifted his hand to the back of your neck pulling you in for a sweet first kiss.

[existing-on-cloral]

In case you didn't know this, I'm also on Archiveofourown under the same username! On there, you will find the fanfiction that I will begin posting here today. Therefore, without further ado,

Brooklyn's Night Terrors

A Steve Rogers X Reader fanfiction

The pretty scientist working to eradicate a vigilante villain catches the eye of the former Captain America. He jumps back into the time machine, becoming young again in order to live out a new life with his best friends, and perhaps her.

Paradise has a price, however.

The tracked vigilante kidnaps Sam Wilson and leaves the shield for Steve to take up one last time. Reluctantly, Steve takes on the mantle of Captain America once more as he teams up with his old pal Bucky Barnes and the beautiful and deadly smart scientist.

"Lust can cloud the mind, but love makes it clear as day."

Chapter One: Night Calls

He was tired.

So very tired of having to throw around a stupid Frisbee just to save the world, only for it to be attacked again.

Steve just wanted a little peace and quiet for once in his life.

He didn't regret the choices he made. But now, Bucky could barely look at him. Maybe there was a little regret there, just for his best friend.

Still, the life he had chosen didn't prevent him from wanting to still know what was going on. Sam took him down to a new office a few months after Steve returned to look at what new and interesting villains might be threatening the city.

"Serious Predicaments Evolving Citywide and In All Locations," Sam read, pushing Steve's wheelchair up the accessible ramp. "The officers call it S.P.E.C.I.A.L."

Steve smiled. "At least the world isn't done with insane acronyms."

Sam laughed. "You got that right. Did you hear what happened with that kid Tony brought to the battles?" His tone turned serious, even as they went through the spinning door. Sam loved spinning doors. "Tony left an AI for Peter, E.D.I.T.H. Even Dead I'm The Hero."

"Heard something like that, but I just remember what happened in London." Steve shivered. "Almost makes me want to take the shield back."

"Almost?" Sam teased. "You're not getting this back, man."

Steve chuckled as they headed further inside, towards what Sam described as "smart women central". "A lot of the scientists here are actually women. Turns out they are a bit smarter than us," Sam explained, stopping the wheelchair outside of the lab.

"That they are," Steve said, leaning forward, even though that didn't help his back, and watching the scene inside. All of the people inside except one were staring up at the board, where a woman stood, giving a presentation.

Sam whistled. "That's the top scientist. She's won two Nobel Prizes, one for Physics and one for Peace. Eradicated a lot of threats that could have destroyed a lot more than a couple of cities."

"Oh, so when she does it, she's 'internationally recognized' and 'a hero'," Steve joked. "But when we do it, we're 'dangerous' and 'need to be put in check'."

"The difference," Sam snickered as he headed for the door, "is that she didn't save a city by destroying it."

He opened the door, and the scientist's voice drifted out. "...we believe that this vigilante may have obtained the time machine used to send the Avengers back in time to collect the six Infinity Stones. Our theory is that she will use it to bring back the Winter Soldier and perhaps Agent Romanoff, before Romanoff was taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D."

Graciously, Sam propped the door open so Steve could still listen, then went inside, leaning down to tell a scientist a joke. "Doctor!" he greeted her, taking an empty chair in the second row.

"Thanks for coming, Captain," she returned with a wink. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present Sam Wilson, who, as usual, is fashionably late to the party." She grinned, stepping aside and offering the floor to Sam.

Sam, with his usual theatrics, stood and strutted to the front of the room. "This vigilante is dangerous. We are absolutely sure of that, but we believe that we can and will beat her. The only time machine she has is the van used by Scott Lang, so the Avengers still have their own time machine. What we are hoping for is that we can pinpoint the moment she plans to capture the Winter Soldier and intercept her there. This is, of course, a last-ditch resort in case we don't take her down while we are in this time."

Steve watched, impressed. Sam had always been confident, but he hadn't really spoken in front of people a lot. This was new for Sam, and he was doing an excellent job at it. His eyes flicked to the scientist, who was watching Sam with interest. He smiled to himself, turning his attention back to Sam, who was saying something about how the heroes would win and he was confident in their success.

When they left the building after Sam's pep talk, Steve instructed Sam to take him to the old Avengers facility upstate. "I'd like to see if Bruce can make some adjustments to the time machine. They can be reversed and we'll still have the machine if we need it."

Sam relented after more pleading. Even the grit of Sam Wilson was no match for Old Man Steve's puppy dog eyes.

"You sure this is safe, Bruce?" Bucky asked, keeping an eye on Steve as he hobbled over to the time machine.

"67% sure," Bruce said, fiddling with the controls. "Should be adjusted correctly." He pressed a button and Steve was sucked into the machine.

Bucky rubbed his face. "Bruce, any second now I'd like my best friend back."

Bruce pressed another button and Steve flew back out. He looked young again, but-

Steve began to cough violently, clearly struggling to stay on his feet.

"Send him back in! That's teenage Steve!" Bucky yelled, running over and grabbing Bruce's arm.

"Okay, okay!" Bruce said. He pressed another button and Steve went back in. A few seconds later, Bruce pressed another button and he came back out, this time appearing to be the Steve from seconds before he returned the Infinity Stones.

Steve took off the helmet and shook out his hair. "Am I blond again?" he asked.

Bucky laughed. "Always have been on the inside."

"Was that a dumb blonde joke?" a voice asked from the door. Sharon Carter strode inside, leading the scientist from the presentation with her. "Just wanted to bring up my favorite doctor to see the time machine and what we've got to work with."

Bucky gave the agent a playful smile. "All in good fun, Agent Carter."

"I see our old hero is young again," you said, walking up to Steve. "The world is grateful for everything you've done for it, Captain."

Steve offered you his hand, and you took it. "Thank you for your kind words, but I think I've had enough avenging for one lifetime."

"More than one, from what I gather just took place," you joked.

Bucky cleared his throat. "We've got business to take care of, Doctor. Thanks for stopping by."

You turned away from Steve. "Right. Thank you, Mr. Barnes." You gave him a warm smile and Bucky smiled back.

Steve sighed. It was back to the 40's all over again. Bucky flirted with a girl and Steve had to sit there and watch. Still, he didn't even know your name.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" You spun back to Steve and told him your name, a smile crossing your face at the end of it, as if your own name was the greatest delight in the world. He tested it out, and found that saying your name gave him joy too, but no more joy than when you gave him a wink, a nod, said, "Steve," and then left, dragging Sharon with her.

Bucky strolled over to Steve, giving his friend a smirk. "Someone's got the hots for a scientist," he sang, ruffling Steve's hair.

Steve swatted his hand away.

"Just think!" Bucky joked, "if she'd walked in a few minutes ago, your life could have become Grumpy Old Men!"

"I understood that reference, and I wish I didn't understand that reference," Steve groaned. "Stop, Buck."

Bucky laughed. "Sorry, Steve, I couldn't help myself."

Bruce cleared his throat. "Who wants to help me fix the time machine in case S.P.E.C.I.A.L. needs it?"

Steve sighed and headed over to help Bruce. With Bucky's sense of humor, it was going to be a long day.

Sharon gave you a poke once you two were in the hallway. "You never wear makeup to work."

"I'm not wearing makeup," you shot back.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed your arm, stopping you in your tracks. Before you could react, she had smudged her thumb across your eyelid and it came away brown. "Makeup. You knew Sam was coming in to talk today, didn't you?"

You shook your head and started walking, forcing her to catch up. "I always wear makeup for presentation days. You've seen me at my worst, Sharon."

Sharon smiled. "I have, and need I remind you that I have some pictures from those days?"

This stopped you in your tracks. "You wouldn't dare."

"I have Wilson's contact information. You've gotta ask that boy out, or I'll send him the pictures." She grinned, knowing she had you.

You gritted your teeth. Sharon always knew how to get you to do what she wanted. "Fine. I'll ask him out tomorrow. But not a word of this is spoken outside of our conversations, or I'll send that agent you're talking to the footage from your apartment hallway when you lived across from Steve."

Her eyes widened comically. "You wouldn't dare," she threatened.

"Send the pictures to anyone, and they find out exactly how much Sharon Carter had the hots for Steven Grant Rogers." You scrunched up your nose, giving Sharon the cutest face you could.

"I never told you his full name," Sharon teased.

You blushed. "I do my research like any decent scientist."

The two of you made your way back to headquarters, still poking fun at each other for supposed and not-supposed crushes. Sharon was a good friend of yours, but she could be such a tease, especially when it came to your crush on Sam Wilson. Your resolve was strong, though. Tomorrow, when Sam came to check your progress on the time machine, you'd ask him out for coffee. You'd need a good night's sleep first, though. It was getting pretty late.

[hellzyeahwebwieldingreviews]

Untold Tales of Spider-Man 03: Celebrity – by Christopher Golden and Jose R. Nieto

Well this story sucked.

Peter Parker is hanging out at the Daily Bugle flirting with Betty Brant when J. Jonah Jameson orders him to head to Angelique's, a Fifth Avenue French restaurant where Johnny Storm is escorting starlet Heather Fox "to an early dinner...before her big premiere tonight." The Bugle is doing an article comparing "the heroic Torch to the criminal insect" Spider-Man. Jonah promises Pete two-thirds of his usual rate because "these paparazzi things are a breeze." (An amusing comment considering what's going on in ASM these days.)Peter positions himself on the sidewalk at the restaurant and is nearly trampled by the professional paparazzi when Johnny and Heather show up. He wonders how Johnny ended up so famous while Spider-Man ended up so infamous.Johnny and Heather aren't the only ones dining at Angelique's. William Baker is there with his date Candace. The menu prices are almost more than he can afford but it's worth it to him to impress Candace. He met her when he was casing the jewelry store at which she works but had to wait until he was out on parole to ask her out since he is the Sandman and had been captured by Spider-Man. But Candace doesn't know any of that and, spotting the Torch, she moons and sighs over him so much that William's jealousy gets the better of him. He attacks the Torch, trying to prove to his date who the real man is. Soon, Spider-Man joins the fight. The Sandman thinks this is great. It gives him more opportunity to prove himself to Candace. He doesn't know that she is mortified, that she is experiencing her worst date ever. She ends up side-by-side with Heather who is "looking bored and exasperated." The women talk. Candace fawns over the Torch only to learn that Heather thinks Johnny is a boring kid, that she'd rather go out with a different member of the Fantastic Four ("I mean, a girl has to be curious," she says) and that she thinks the Sandman is a "sandy hunk".In the fight, Spidey lets the comments of the crowd get to him ("Ya can't expect real heroes like the Torch to keep bailing you out!"), which translates into him letting the Sandman wallop Johnny from behind. Sandy realizes he has ruined his date. When he sees the rest of the Fantastic Four arrive, he skips out. Spidey hears the crowd cheer and thinks they are cheering for him until he sees the Fantasticar with Reed, Sue, and Ben in it. The recovering Torch angrily tells Spidey, "You need to relax, buddy." Spidey, unrepentant, tells Johnny to get back to his date. "I'm sure she's really impressed by your feats of derring-do," he says. "Not particularly," says Heather who has approached the two super-heroes. As the paparazzi snap photos of Johnny and Heather, she tells him that she is ditching him to go have café au lait with her new friend Candace. She only joined the heroes because she wanted to ask Spider-Man "if there was any way he could put me in touch with that Sandman guy." Hearing this, Johnny's face turns bright red ("For once, the change in color wasn't brought on by fire.") and, seeing that, Spidey swings away whistling a happy tune.

I really hope we didn’t peak with the second story in this anthology. This story is by far the weakest of the three I’ve looked at thus far and bears more similarities to the first story than the second.

This was another Marvel Team Up issue except one weirdly more focused upon the Sandman than the Human Torch. We get things from Peter’s, Sandman’s and Sandman girlfriend’s point of view in that order.

The majority of the story consists of  a super powered brawl in a fancy restaurant. Were this a comic book it’d be good enough for maybe a backup story or at a push a filler issue. Here it’s downright unacceptable.

Prose is (aside from maybe radio) is the weakest possible medium to do action set pieces in. Whilst the likes of Horowitz or Fleming can pull it off it’s notoriously difficult and especially so when you have characters designed for a visual medium in the first place. Spider-Man action set pieces typically involve a lot of punching, kicking, dodging, etc. in prose that just isn’t that interesting to read about. You just find yourself lamenting that you can’t see what is happening. Although a part from a neat trick where Torch burns Sandman the action we get is bog standard.

Sandman attacks the Torch, the Torch retaliates backed up by Spidey, they go back and forth, Spidey uses the fact that he is made of sand against him, he escapes. That is the sum total of the action here and it constitutes half the goddam story if not more.

Like the first story, this one isn’t much as a Spider-Man tale because it doesn’t really get personal at all and it doesn’t involve the two halves of his life really impacting upon one another. The closest we get is that Peter’s day job positions him to be at the scene of Sandman’s attack. Frustratingly the story doesn’t start like that as we actually visit the Bugle and get what might be our third exposition dump about Peter’s status quo in the whole book. Here at least we see Betty Brant and the story seemed like it was going to touch on her and Peter’s relationship somehow but it’s pure filler.

Spidey is also weirdly out of character here. It’s like if they took the jerkass Spidey from ASM #8’s backup story and used him as the basis for this story. He’s not quite as bad but he kind of enjoys Human Torch’s rejection, is seriously jealous and frustrated by the public’s lack of appreciation. Him being upset that the public hate him is one thing, but here he’s almost back to being AF #15 Spidey.

The story also makes little sense in regards to the Sandman. First of all there is a mind boggling line about how when he isn’t in his sandform he’s literally flesh and blood. Nooooooooooo he really isn’t. As Spider-Man 3 wonderfully demonstrated, he’s always sand 100% of the time. He can make himself look and like a human’s senses, but even if he looks human you can’t knock him out as though he was a normal guy. And Spidey doesn’t even do that when he gets the chance because he alerts him like a moron.

The plot is also dumb because Sandman, a repeat felon who is also now super empowered was released on parole…for good behavior. Not only is it unbelievable for Sandman to act that way at all, but why the fuck would the prison allow him to leave given his record and more importantly his super powers?!

Just about the only good thing about this story was the brief insight into Sandman’s mind where we learn how he’s grown resentful of normal life’s rules given his power and the brief scenes of his and Torch’s dates chatting. But the latter is purely because it was something vaguely different that broke up the dullness of the fight scene.

The experience was made all the more unpleasant by DeSantos ear grating performance for this story. His Sandman isn’t too bad but everyone else sounded subpar at best and unbearable at worst (chiefly the female characters).

All in all this story was rather pathetic and skippable.

P.S. This story’s placement within Spidey canon is vague but it seems to broadly happen towards the end of Peter’s high school career. It is clearly influenced by ASM #21 even if it’s placement in relation to that issue is not clear at all.

[justjimedits]

PRINCE ESCALUS' WORDS I will never understand the minds of Teen Wolf Fandom.

I will never understand how the Teen Wolf fandom will call Gerard Argent punching Stiles in his basement torture but, with the same breath, call Stiles arranging Scott to get beat into the ground by three upperclassmen ‘teaching him control.’

I will never understand how the Teen Wolf fandom will call Scott manipulative for not getting up immediately after he was nearly suffocated to death by Victoria Argent, running to the Argent House, and telling Allison all about how Victoria was trying to kill him and that’s why Derek bit her, which happened, by the way, when Scott was unconscious, and that’s why Victoria killed herself, when he didn’t know about her death until Battlefield.    But Derek was just ‘doing his best’ when he neglected to tell his four bitten betas about the impending arrival of the Alpha Pack.

The Teen Wolf Fandom is more than the fanfics on AO3 you don’t like, more than the few people who don’t like your posts on Tumblr, more than the large Sterek shippers. You’re part of the Teen Wolf Fandom as well, PEW. But since I’m part of the few going against you, let’s focus on the rest. Stiles in the basement with Argent WAS torture because he was kidnapped and held there against his will. Two of his school friends were strung up and electrified as extra incentive and Stiles didn’t have the strength to go against Gerard when he was beaten up. Whereas the situation with Scott was happening outside, Scott wasn’t held down or had friends used against him, he had the freedom to run and he did have the strength to take down the three boys beating him if he wanted to. Scott had consented to it, it wasn’t torture at all. I also don’t think all of us claim Scott should have gotten up immediately after nearly dying to get to Allison and tell her about her mother. However, he had a lot of time to tell her after the funeral and such. Derek even was surprised Scott still hadn’t told Allison when they were at the vault, because Derek was hunted for it by Allison simply because Scott didn’t tell his girlfriend the truth for weeks. He was fine with Derek being blamed and hunted for saving his ass. Weeks, PEW. That’s what we’re upset about, not because he didn’t go to her immediately.  As for the alpha pack, I think Derek underestimated what they wanted of him, figured they’d test him or kill him, not wanting him to join. Nothing indicated that he knew it would turn out as it did, but yes, he did seem to know they were coming. _________________________________________________ I will never understand how the Teen Wolf fandom will believe, without question that Scott ditched Stiles for Allison, when it didn’t happen on the screen, but they could see the implications in other scenes, but they will absolutely swear up and down that Stiles didn’t know about Scott’s plan to switch out Gerard’s pills, because it didn’t happen on the screen, but anyone can see the implication that he knew in other scenes.

I will never understand how the Teen Wolf fandom will believe that Scott violated Derek’s autonomy with a thirty-second neck grab when Jackson’s claws were at Allison’s throat, yet when Derek deceives Scott about the cure, stands there and watches Peter violate Scott, and steps on Scott’s neck at the ice rink, with nary a gun to the head in sight, he did nothing wrong that might require comeuppance.  Derek was just ‘trying to help’ Scott.   __________________________________________________ I don’t feel like going through season 1 and 2 for all the scenes to point out where Scott ditched for Allison because DUDE, there are so many.  - When Derek and Stiles were in the pool, fighting for their lives, Scott hung up without even giving Stiles a chance to say anything and they nearly died because of it. - When Derek was shot, Scott took his sweet time getting the bullet, like hours of sweet time and hung up on Stiles repeatedly when he knew Derek was dying.  Already two scenes ON SCREEN where it happened, it wasn’t implied, PEW, it was shown. It’s actually one of Scott’s traits, the way he falls head over heels for his girlfriends and there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a flaw to ditch your friends over a girl but it happens to a lot of people when they get in a relationship, it’s realistic.  As for the implication that Stiles knew about the pills, there aren’t any. Scott even said that he didn’t tell anybody about his plans after the fact so no, Stiles didn’t know. Only fault of Stiles and ALL that were there when Gerard was bitten, was the fact that nobody told Scott that what he did was so incredibly wrong. But that’s Teen Wolf for you, they glance over Non Con like it’s no big deal. So yes, Scott did violate Derek’s autonomy. Derek was injured/half paralyzed from the kanima, he was down on the ground, clutching at his wounds. He’s unable to stop Scott physically so he begs him not to do it, BEGS when Derek Hale doesn’t beg very often. Scott ignores him and uses his power to keep Derek on his knees and force his mouth open and holds him there so Gerard can shove his arm in his mouth. To Derek, the bite is a gift, he told Scott so, and Scott knowingly forced Derek to do something he didn’t want to do. That’s the definition of non consensual.  Derek didn’t deceive Scott about the cure, Derek told Scott and Stiles that it was just an old legend and that he didn’t know if it was true, they CHOSE to ignore it. And it isn’t a NON CON situation. The ice rink was also not a NON CON situation because they were in a fight, which Scott opted to get involved in because Derek was there for Boyd and Scott wasn’t invited. Not once does Scott beg Derek to stop, he demands Derek to not bite Boyd. They fight, Scott could have left as Derek gave him the choice and he got a werewolf slap on the wrist for his meddling. 

________________________________________________ I will never understand how Scott is the vilest of betrayers and the worst of friends for believing Theo’s story when Stiles has been lying to him for days, had been acting violent and paranoid, and had admitted liking killing and advocating murder for far longer; but Stiles is absolutely justified in attacking a half-dead Scott in the corridor because of something that Theo did and because Stiles didn’t know Scott was half dead. The double standards in their reactions to the show are so Brobdingnagian in their proportions, that I have to nearly swallow my tongue to get out  the words ‘it’s okay not to like Scott,’ but the slightest speculation that they react this way because of racist influences endemic in United States culture, specifically television culture, is met with pitchforks and bonfires.

But it’s not racism.   To them, it can’t be.  It just … kinda … happens.  They don’t like Scott because they don’t like Scott and shut up about examining the reasons behind it. _______________________________________________ Exactly, Stiles didn’t know Scott was injured (he wasn't half dead) when he attacked Scott in a flash of emotion because he thought he was about to lose the one parent he had left. How dare the human attack a werewolf, how dare he, the weak one to hit a wolf who won’t even bruise!  As for the racism, not going to get into that. You’re a white guy going out of his way screaming racism at every corner because you know racism will get you sympathy points, while most of the Tumblr people you go against have an Ethnic background. You know who my favorite character was of the show besides Derek and Stiles? Boyd. So no, I don’t dislike Scott for his ethnicity or skin color, I dislike Scott for being Scott.