i am so glad you are back! i really missed your headcanons. I would like to make a request, do you have any hcs for Nath in UL? ^^
Nathaniel UL Headcanons (Filling the Gap between HSL and UL)
N/A : Hey dear ! Took so long for that request because somehow it showed at the bottom of the request box. Since you've been vague enough, I took the freedom to write about Nathaniel in UL before Candy's return (I feel like this part and his transformation have been really looked over in the game). I am working on prompts (whenever I get time) about the LI in UL so unless the request is about a specific situation, I keep the headcanons for these little one-shots. Hope you like it darling !
Let’s set the bases with where we left off in HSL
• Candy helped him get emancipated, as we know but it’s also the first time he truly takes control of his life. This was like a major milestone in his life.
• Even though he’s free from him, the damage done by his father persists (as we see during graduation day in HSL). Nathaniel still carries the pressure, the expectations, and the anger.
• He moves into his own small apartment and gets Blanche.
• At this point, he still works hard in school, but there’s a weight lifting off his shoulders.
• He graduates with excellent grades, valedictorian, great motivational speech, but he feels strangely empty.
• With no father to fear and no academic chains holding him down, he realises: "I don’t know who I am without all of this." And that’s when he doesn’t apply for business school or anything like that but he applies for something the actually cares about : literature.
• He’s accepted into Anteros Academy, and he tells himself that college will be a fresh start.
• He cuts his hair shorter, trades his button-ups for casual shirts and jackets. He’s a new man really.
• And everyone from high school (Alexy, Rosa, Priya, even Castiel) assumes he’s finally free from his chains. But Nathaniel has never felt more lost.
Year 1 of UL : The Breakup & The Downward Spiral Begins
The Long-Distance relationship (the fail of the year)
• Candy and Nathaniel start university still together.
• He tries so hard to keep things normal, to not worry her, to act like he’s doing fine on his own.
• But he isn’t. He’s struggling, feeling isolated, and the pressure is still crushing him.
• He doesn’t talk about it. He convinces himself: « She has her own life now. She doesn’t need to hear me complain in addition to it. »
• Every phone call becomes shorter, emptier. Messages go unanswered for longer. Nathaniel starts feeling like he’s losing her. But he doesn’t really tries to hold onto her. He starts to feel like it’s pointless.
The Breakup (during pre-exam season because I’m horrible)
• Candy brings up how different things feel between them.
• Nathaniel hates where the conversation is going but doesn’t fight it.
• When she says « Maybe we should take a break » he just accepts it.
• Candy was expecting a reaction—something, anything. But Nathaniel just answers with « If that’s what you want. »
• He doesn’t say he’s hurting. He doesn’t say he’s scared. He just lets her go. But that night, he stares at his phone, reading old messages.
• And he doesn’t text her. He doesn’t call. He tells himself « This is fine. »
• If he doesn’t acknowledge the pain, maybe it won’t exist.
• But the consequences of this breakups are impossible to avoid : it’s really sad but Candy was the only person he ever truly let in (Armin was the second but it’s different). And now? She’s gone.
• After everything that happened with his family, his mind makes the shortcuts on its own : « Being vulnerable means getting hurt. » Or « If I let someone in, they will leave me. »
• So he stops letting people in, period.
He’s so emotionally unavailable at this point, like don’t even try.
• He doesn’t start seeing other people right away but at some point it happens (I mean he’s a brooding handsome blonde, of course he draws attention c’mon) but iIf a girl starts getting attached, he shuts it down.
• The moment a girl says « I like you » or asks him personal questions, he’s done.
• Melody learns this the hard way. She tries to understand him, to fix him (I just know this girl didn’t drop it in college and when she heard he was single again, she gave it another go)
• But he shuts her down so brutally that she never tries again. She’s bitter about it, and they never speak again (fucking finally).
• He starts gaining a reputation as someone who is cold, distant.
Year 2 of UL : The Turning Point (where it goes wrong)
• Nathaniel has been feeling off for months, he just feels numb. Nothing went the way he wanted and his college years were not the new beginning he expected. He almost feels that it’s even worst than high school (because this time, he doesn’t even have a goal and certainly not one as simple as getting good grades and fill up paperwork for Mrs Shermansky)
• Which is why, after months of repressing everything, he snaps.
• He gets into his first fight at a party (Kim invites him to one as it was thrown by the sport club of Anteros, where a friend of hers is a member of) and it isn’t just about the drunk guy who provoked him.
• It’s about his father, his past, and every feeling he buried. Kim has front row seat to his crash out. But so do Alexy, Rosalya and Priya.
• He’s never felt anything like this before. There’s a thrill, the rush of finally fighting back. He feels guilty when he realises it but he wants to feel it again (it is the first time he’s felt something real in months)
• Some people are rebuked by his behaviour, some don’t understand it (like the old crew). Some guys, however, are impressed. And that’s how the mess starts (because I hate how the og script based all of his arc on some bad meeting in an alley, it seems too « easy » idk)
• Word spreads fast. He starts getting invites to more parties, meeting people who aren’t exactly students. The guys he meets are street-smart, reckless, and shady.
• They introduce him to gambling or other stuff, and eventually the world of small-time crime (and easy money).
• He starts running "small favours" for them (carrying things, keeping an eye on situations) He finds control in chaos.
• Unlike his family, unlike Candy, unlike his old friends, these people don’t expect him to be « good » (which he believes he isn't or not enough). They only expect him to be useful. And for the first time, he feels like he belongs somewhere.
• His fights become frequent (sometimes on campus), but strategic. He doesn’t fight just for the thrill anymore. He fights to prove something.
• His grades start slipping, but he doesn’t care.
• Girls start paying more attention to him, and he quickly realises: he can have anyone he wants. Even if it’s just for the night.
• Alexy, Rosalya, and Priya notice the change. He’s quieter, colder, and more distant. That’s when they start distancing themselves from him.
Year 3 of UL : The Repercussions and Playboy Era
• Alexy and Rosalya have officially given up on him. Priya still wants to believe he’ll come back to his senses.
• But he sees the way they avoid him on campus, the way they whisper when he walks by. Even Castiel’s look on him as change : it’s still sheer distaste and condescension but also something that vaguely looks like worry.
• He doesn’t care. (He does, but he pretends not to. He’s burned too many bridges.)
• Nathaniel proves himself to the shady guys he’s running with.
• He’s not just some dumb fighter, he’s smarter than this. He helps them plan better, avoid cops, and move things more discreetly. He likes the power and control he has over people now just as much as he enjoys the adrenaline rushes.
• But at the same time, he knows he’s in too deep and it starts to scare him a bit.
• He argues with his mother over Amber’s health. He tells her she’s failing both her kids. The argument ends badly. His mother stops sending him money.
• Nathaniel officially cuts ties with his family (except for Amber).
• Kim is the only person he has left. She’s the only person he trusts. (And by association, Violette too, but she’s a bit scared of him even though she doesn’t believe he’s a bad person)
• He crashes at her place often, sometimes covered in bruises, sometimes just exhausted. She doesn’t push, doesn’t judge but she also doesn’t pity him.
• She reminds him of who he was before everything went to shit.
• By this point, most girls on campus know what he’s like. But some still try. They think they’ll be the one to fix him.
• They’re wrong (and they ended up heartbroken or ghosted, often both)
Year 4 of UL : Candy’s Return
• His reputation is set in stone now : He’s now known as a troublemaker. Even professors keep an eye on him (even though he hardly ever goes on campus if not for his frequent hookups)
• The thrill of his activities isn’t enough anymore. His job is keeping him busy, but he feels hollow.
• But he keeps going because what else is there to do? What’s the point in doing anything else when everyone already turned their back on him ?
• When he sees Candy is that alley, he doesn’t expect her. He isn’t prepared. And when he sees her, it hits him like a punch to the gut. Especially in such circumstances (being harassed by two guys he knows and works with)
• He plays it cool. He smirks, acts like nothing’s changed (but he feels like he’s about to crash out). A part of him wants to push her away immediately. The other part? Wants her to stay.
• But he knows if she stays, she might see through him. And if she sees through him, she’ll see what he’s become. And he doesn’t want her to look at him like she’s disappointed.
• Alexy and Rosalya warn Candy about Nathaniel. They tell her he’s not the person she knew. Kim doesn’t warn her, but she tells Candy: “If you’re going to talk to him, don’t expect the boy from high school.” And he sure isn’t.
I think that it would have been great to explore more what happened to Nathaniel during that time (especially if he was Candy’s LI). Their breakup wasn’t just an emotional loss but also a trigger (even if she was just a friend too). Nathaniel’s entire spiral clearly comes from a fear of being vulnerable (which lead to being emotionally constipated), a need for control (which leads to fights, crime, and reckless behaviour) and a desire to be needed & respected (which makes him seek validation in all the wrong places). Perhaps seasons this with a bit of fear of abandonment and you got the perfect angsty love story with an emotionally unavailable blonde. Anyway, I hoped you liked this (I literally tried to go psychologist mode on this one, so I hope it's not too biased but yeah, I think it's easy to tell I really liked Nathaniel character and quite thought about it) <3
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