#TW drunk driving

[thefandomfires]

I usually try and keep hockey off this account but I am begging you all to never drink and drive.

It’s not just yourself and those in the car you are putting at risk. It’s the people in the cars around you, the people biking near you, the people walking on the sidewalk, the people waiting for the bus.

Don’t drink and drive. Have someone come pick you up or call an Uber.

The risk is not worth it.

My heart goes out to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau’s family and friends.

Edit: I said this on Twitter earlier but I think it should also be said here.

As someone who has spent the large majority of their career working at trauma hospitals, I’ve seen the devastation it can cause and the people who reap the consequences from drunk driving are almost never those who made the decision to get behind the wheel drunk.

Please think of those around you before you drink and drive.

Also this from a reblog:

[draw-the-squad-like-this]

Draw your character like this

[3dogbones]

I actually worked hard on this and it came out okayish IM PROUD ACTUALLY AHHAHAHA MY VISION HAS BEEN REALIZED 🤩🤩🤩

How the flip so people actually do long colored animations though… already felt like dying while making this my respect for animators is actually so high PROPS TO YOU GUYS

[wow-its-four]

I ran over multiple people while drunk driving in roblox

[dikdikpronouncedxylophone]

Logan: You can't drink when you drive. Janus: Yes, you spill your beer.

[ladyeyrewrites]

Feelings Hurled Like Hand Grenades

Read from Chapter One

Rated M

4420 words

TW: alcoholism, vomit, drunk driving, blood, semi-graphic injury description

Chapter Thirteen: We've Got You

The last thing Mikey expected when he picked up a call from Auntie Gina was to be invited to an impromptu party.

“What’s the occasion?” Mikey asked.

“That’s a surprise,” Gina practically giggled, leaving Mikey feeling even more confused.

Aunt Gina was not the giggling kind.

She smiled politely, no teeth displayed. Maybe she’d throw in a chuckle if something was truly amusing. She didn’t giggle. And she certainly didn’t hold with spontaneity. If she threw a party, it was planned weeks in advance and for a very particular purpose.

Mikey wasn’t sure what it meant that his staid and sober aunt, the last remaining force of stability in his life, was suddenly giggling and throwing strange, last-minute parties.

Maybe this was the first sign of the apocalypse.

#

Mikey donned a suit – the one he’d bought specifically for the meet up with Tommy in LA. Without any inkling as to the party’s purpose, he wasn’t sure what dress code to adhere to and he wouldn’t look too shabby if it was a black-tie affair, and Mikey had never been one to shy away from being overdressed. He’d much rather be overdressed than underdressed. Overdressed could be a statement. Underdressed inevitably reeked of being unprepared and if there was one thing that triggered Mikey’s urge to drink it was the feeling of being unprepared and out of control.

His throat felt dry as he pulled up to Gina’s house a couple nights later. Tony’s truck was already there, and he recognised Tabitha’s Prius. There was also an SUV that had the look of a rental car that Mikey guessed belonged to Buck and Tommy. Unless Aunt Gina had gained a newfound extraversion along with her giggly-ness and spontaneity, Mikey was pretty sure that meant he was the last to arrive.

He swallowed and checked the knot of his tie in his rearview mirror before grabbing a bouquet of white roses – Gina’s favourite – from the passenger seat and exiting the vehicle.

Usually, Mikey would just let himself into to his aunt’s house using his key, but he felt off balance enough that he decided to ring the doorbell.

He rubbed his free palm down his trouser leg in a nervous movement as he waited for someone to answer the door.

The door swung open on Buck’s smiling face. He was wearing a short sleeved button down and dark wash jeans. Overdressed it was then.

“Mikey!” his future brother-in-law seemed genuinely glad to see Mikey which, far from making Mikey feel welcome, unsettled him even further. People weren’t generally glad to see Mikey. The only people he sometimes elicited this much excitement from were his daughters and that could be hit or miss depending on how many good dad points he’d stockpiled recently.

“Hey, Buck.” Mikey managed to muster a smile. “Any idea what this party’s about?”

“It’s a surprise,” said Buck with that wide grin of his. Clearly, he knew what was going on but wasn’t telling. “Come on in, Gina’s waiting for you.”

Read more on Ao3 or below the cut

Mikey didn’t know if that meant his aunt was looking forward to seeing him or if she was getting impatient.

Mikey thought he’d been a bit better with his self-esteem lately, but clearly, he had some things to talk through with his therapist next session. Mikey sighed as he followed Buck through to the kitchen where Aunt Gina was chatting with Tabitha and pouring out a glass of wine. Gina smiled as she caught sight of him. “Michael, don’t you look dashing. Unfortunately, Miss Donato flew back to LA otherwise I might have invited her. I bet she’d have loved to see you in that suit.”

Mikey blushed. He absolutely had not dressed up in the hopes of seeing Lucy again. “Hi Auntie, brought you flowers.”

“Oh, what a sweetheart.” Gina accepted the flowers as Mikey leaned down to let her plant a kiss on each cheek. “Now, get yourself something to toast with – there’s some non-alcoholic beer in the fridge. I have an announcement to make.”

Aunt Gina hurried out of the kitchen before Mikey could question her further as to the purpose of the party and the nature of the announcement. As much as Mikey loved seeing how free and happy his aunt seemed at the moment, it was hard to reconcile this version of his aunt with the person he’d always known.

As a child, he’d always equated his aunt with the nuns at the catholic school his dad threatened to send him to if he didn’t behave: a little strict and severe, a little disapproving, but undeniably kind. Her disappointment was devastating, her approval hard-won and her smiles rare. In fact, for the longest time, Mikey had thought Aunt Gina was a nun. And then he’d asked her if she was married to God and she’d laughed at him gently and told him that no, she wasn’t married to anybody, and she was never going to get married. Even then, her amusement had been measured, tainted by the sadness that always hung around her, unshakeably in its hold.

So, what had happened to bring about such a drastic change in his aunt since he’d last seen her a few days ago at the hospital?

Mikey couldn’t wait to find out.

He fetched a coke from the fridge – the zero-alcohol beer was a nice gesture, but Mikey found that the taste of it just made him crave the real thing more and he was already too on edge to risk setting off a deeper craving. Coke in hand, he meandered back to the living room, where everyone had gathered to await whatever announcement Aunt Gina had to make.

He took a sip of coke, swirling the cold, fizzing liquid around with his tongue, savouring the bubbles.

“We’re all here?” Aunt Gina scanned the room and, finding that no one was missing, continued. “Some of you are aware of this already. Tabitha’s known for years, but I wanted to bring together my nearest and dearest to officially inform you that I’m a lesbian.”

Mikey spluttered, coke spilling from his mouth and nose in a burning spurt. He fell into a fit of coughing. “Sorry,” he gasped once he managed to stop coughing. He glanced around the room and saw that everyone had varying degrees of amusement sketched across their faces. And God, this was Gina’s big moment, and he was ruining it. How could he call himself a good ally if he couldn’t act like it was completely normal for his fifty-two-year-old aunt to come out as a lesbian. “That’s – uh, thanks for telling us, that’s really brave.” That was the right thing to say, right? Several months of PFLAG meetings, of listening to the parents and siblings and friends of queer people talk about their experiences of their loved ones coming out should have prepared him for this, but he had no idea how he was supposed to react and everyone else seemed to be taking this in stride, even Tony, who was grinning ear-to-ear in an uncharacteristically open expression.

Mikey frowned. He scanned the room. No one seemed particularly shocked or surprised by Aunt Gina’s announcement. So, they all either knew already, or had suspected that Aunt Gina wasn’t straight. And Mikey felt so stupid. He needed a moment. “I’ll, uh, go grab some paper towels.” He hurried out of the living room and into his aunt’s tiny kitchen.

He grabbed a wad of paper towels and started daubing at his shirt and tie to try to get the coke out before it stained.

God, Auntie, must be so disappointed in him.

He’d fucked up.

She’d told everyone else her secret, but she hadn’t trusted him with it.

And why should she have?

Mikey was a fuck up.

An alcoholic screw up who’d failed to keep his marriage together. Who could barely keep a secret to save his life. The only thing he hadn’t failed at was his career and if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure even liked that anymore, but now wasn’t the time for an early mid-life crisis. Now was the time to berate himself for being so monumentally untrustworthy that he’d been the last to find out Gina’s secret. Of course, Gina hadn’t told him.

Mikey wouldn’t have told himself.

“Whatever spiral you’re chasing right now, stop,” said Tony, appearing beside Mikey.

“Jesus, I need to put a bell on you!” Mikey took a steadying breath, heart racing from the scare his brother had given him.

“You’re upset Auntie didn’t tell you,” said Tony.

Mikey shook his head. “I shouldn’t be, though,” he said. “Her coming out isn’t about me. I should be happy that she feels comfortable enough to tell us all the truth.”

“You’ll get there,” said Tony. “But it’s okay to need time to process something like this.”

Mikey sighed. “When did she tell you?” he asked.

Tony hesitated.

“Come on, T, I’m not a complete idiot,” said Mikey. “I know I’m the only person here who didn’t already know.”

“When we got back from LA,” said Tony. “But only because I came out to her first.” Tony bit his lip, fear slipping into his expression.

And didn’t that just kill Mikey a little bit: the idea that his little brother would be afraid to come out to him. “You don’t have to tell me, if you’re not ready,” he said, because that’s what he’d learned was a good thing to say.

Tony let out a shuddering breath. “I don’t know why it’s so hard,” he said. “Like, I’m comfortable with who I am. I’ve accepted myself, but the thought of you not getting it, that scares me.”

“Hey.” Mikey put his hands on Tony’s shoulders and met his brother’s eyes trying to project trustworthiness. “I’ve read every page of the PFLAG website. I might surprise you.”

“Okay,” said Tony. He took a deep breath. “Here goes. I’m Asexual.”

Mikey smiled. “Okay. I know what that means,” he said. “That actually makes a lot of sense. You always seemed really uncomfortable talking about girls you thought were hot. Though, you’re not aromantic are you? Or are you and you just felt societal pressure to present as heterosexual and alloromantic?”

Tony grinned, shoulders sagging in relief. “No,” he said. “I’m not aromantic. Every relationship, I’ve been in because I genuinely liked the other person, regardless of gender – yes, I have dated guys. And nonbinary people.” Tony raised an eyebrow. “You cool with that?”

Mikey nodded. “I understand the general idea,” said Mikey. “And that asexuality is a spectrum. I can’t say I fully understand it, but hey, you probably don’t understand what it’s like to look at a person and want to have sex with them.

Tony laughed. “That’s true, I don’t.”

Mikey smiled, feeling like he was somewhat on solid ground. “I, uh, thanks for telling me. And uh, I’m glad I at least didn’t fuck up being an ally for you.”

“Oh, there’s still plenty of time for that, big bro.” Tony pulled him into a hug. “But you did great. It doesn’t have to be a whole song and dance you know.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard,” said Mikey. “I guess we should get back out there and let Aunt Gina finish her announcement, huh.”

“Probably.” Tony grabbed a roll of paper towels.

“Think she’s mad I fucked up her coming out?” Mikey asked, suddenly frightened to face his aunt’s disappointment, because surely, she was disappointed in him.

“Nah,” said Tony. “And even if she is, she’ll forgive you. You are her favourite nephew after all.”

And with that, Tony left the kitchen. Mikey scrambled to catch up. Was that true? Was he Auntie’s favourite? That didn’t seem right. Auntie had better taste than that, right?

And yet, when he stepped back in the living room, Gina smiled at him so radiantly that Mikey almost believed it was true. “Better?” she asked.

Mikey nodded. He bent and wrapped his arms around her waist and even though he knew she hated being picked up, if ever an occasion called for it, it was her coming out party. He lifted his tiny aunt and spun her around and said, “I love you, Auntie.”

“I know,” she said. “Now put me down before I get motion sickness.”

He laughed and did as he was told.

Things went more smoothly from there, with Gina explaining to those who didn’t already know (otherwise known as Mikey), that her “roommate” Siobhan had been her lover for over ten years. Mikey sobbed as she recounted the events surrounding Siobhan’s death, pulling his aunt into another hug that couldn’t possibly make up for twenty years of loneliness, but he hoped it was a start.

And then Buck took over, telling them about how a cop friend of his – Bobby’s wife apparently – had helped Gina finally track down Siobhan’s grave and they’d visited it.

“You finally got closure,” Tabitha said, beaming at Gina with tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Yes, yes,” said Gina, sounding like she was struggling against tears herself. “It certainly helped. And,” she reached a hand out for Tabitha to take, “I’m going to take your advice and try to start dating again.”

“It truly is a miracle.” Tabitha beamed.

And Mikey realised that this was why his aunt had seemed so much lighter, so much freer. She’d taken a major step towards letting go of the past. She’d freed herself of a burden he hadn’t even realised she’d been carrying by herself for all these years. That could only be a good thing. Sure, it would take some getting used to on Mikey’s part, but he was an adult, he could handle having a happy aunt for a change.

“Evan’s agreed to help me set up my dating profile,” said Gina.

“Oh, you might want to have someone look that over before you take it live,” said Tommy, looking equal parts amused and concerned.

“Hey,” Buck protested playfully.

“I love you, Evan,” said Tommy. “But I don’t think my aunt needs to attend the Firehose school of hook-ups.”

Mikey had no idea what that meant, but from the smirk that crossed Buck’s face, he suspected he didn’t want to know.

Aunt Gina flat out guffawed. “Thomas, dear, I’ve been celibate for twenty years, maybe the ‘Firehose school of hook-ups,’ as you so eloquently put it, is exactly what I need.”

“Oh, god, Auntie, not the image I need in my head,” Tony groaned, and the entire room burst into laughter.

Later, after they’d eaten a meal prepared by Buck and Tommy, Gina cornered Mikey in the kitchen. “I hope you’re not too upset I kept this from you,” she said.

Mikey soaped up a baking sheet and shook his head. “I guess I’m just a little mad at myself for not being trustworthy enough,” he admitted.

“It wasn’t that,” said Gina. “Before Thomas came back into my life, I’d never intended to tell anyone else. My mother knew and Tabitha knew, and I thought that was enough for me. I never saw the point in telling one else because I’d planned to live out the rest of my days as your spinster aunt.” She shook her head ruefully. “But recent events have taught me that maybe I don’t have to be alone. That it’s not too late for me to start again.” She frowned. “Meeting Athena and Bobby helped with that. Athena didn’t tell me everything, but they’ve both lost love, and they both found love again.”

“That’s really beautiful,” said Mikey.

Gina gave him a look he couldn’t quite interpret, all fondness and hope and sadness balled up in one. “It’s not too late for you either, Michael,” said Gina. “I sincerely hope you have obtained Lucy Donato’s phone number. It’s not every day that a woman of that calibre flirts with you of her own accord.”

Mikey felt a blush creeping across his cheeks and down his neck. He hunched his shoulders, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn grease spot. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that sort of thing, Auntie,” said Mikey. “Besides, I’m a divorced dad of two. She can do better.”

“That’s her choice to make,” said Gina. She patted his cheek. “You’re allowed to stop punishing yourself for the past, Michael. You can move on. No one will blame you for wanting to have someone new.”

“My girls might,” said Mikey, remembering the night of the Fourth of July cookout when he’d asked him if they’d be okay with him dating. God, had that only been a couple weeks ago? It felt like a lifetime with all that had happened since.

“Think about it,” said Gina.

Mikey nodded. “Okay,” he said. But Aunt Gina didn’t know the full extent of what Mikey had to make up for no one did, except Maggie, the police, and the judge who’d accepted his guilty plea.

2024

Mikey startled awake.

He didn’t remember falling asleep.

This wasn’t his bed.

It wasn’t a bed at all.

He was sitting, head pillowed on an air bag.

Fuck.

He was in his car.

Mikey frowned. Had he fallen asleep and crashed the car?

Bile rose in his throat and Mikey retched, spewing the liquid contents of his stomach into the passenger seat.

He caught sight of the empty booster seats in the back row of his sedan.

Fuck.

He was supposed to pick the girls up from school. Maggie had called him to tell him she was running late at work and that he needed to get them, but he’d already been at the bar and half a bottle of whiskey into a bender.

He should have said no.

He should have called a cab.

But he hadn’t wanted to disappoint Maggie. Again.

He’d spent so much of their marriage disappointing her. He hadn’t thought he was that drunk. He’d thought he had it under control.

Mikey stumbled out of the car.

He’d rammed it into a tree outside the elementary school.

There were kids everywhere, waiting for their parents to pick them up.

Screaming.

Crying.

Pointing at his totalled car.

Had he hit someone?

Mikey fell to his knees, scrambling to look under and around his car, praying he wouldn’t find little legs sticking out from under his bumper.

There was only the tree.

Mikey sighed in relief.

He’d been lucky. But what if he hadn’t been? What if, instead of a tree, he’d hit a kid?

Mikey crawled over to the sidewalk and wept.

He didn’t protest when the police arrived and took him away.

He agreed to go to rehab.

He wept when Maggie brought him the divorce papers, but he didn’t protest. He just signed.

He deserved worse.

2025

But Mikey had never told his aunt exactly why he’d gone to rehab. Oh, she knew about the DUI and the arrest. She knew it was court mandated. But she didn’t know how close he’d come to killing someone. To killing a kid.

How could that ever be forgiven?

How could he ever tell Gina? Or Tony? Or anyone for that matter? Lucy?

He couldn’t. But he could put on a smiling face and pretend to think about calling the hot firefighter pilot who evidently thought he was worth flirting with. Lucy deserved better than him. But he could at least appease his aunt with a promise to think about pursuing something.

“Good,” Gina beamed up at him and now that he understood where her newfound happiness was coming from, Mikey thought it suited her. “When you’re done with those dishes, you’re going to help me find my first date.”

“Sure thing, Auntie,” he said.

#

After the cleanup, the party reconvened in the living room. Mikey cast Aunt Gina’s phone onto the TV screen so they could look through her options as a group.

They were reviewing the fifteenth or so profile when someone started banging loudly on the door.

For the second or possibly third time that night, Mikey felt like he was having a heart attack.

Gina startled almost spilling her wine on her beloved sofa.

Tommy, Buck, and Tony all got to their feet, postures suddenly shifted from calm and relaxed to looking like they were ready for a fight. It was exactly the way Dad would bang on a door. But why would Dad come here?

Turned out, it wasn’t Dad.

Tony opened the door, and it was Noah, breathless and wide eyed, face bloodied.

Mikey couldn’t see the extent of his brother’s injuries from where he sat next to their aunt on the sofa, but it looked bad, like maybe concussion levels of bad.

“Who did this to you?” Tony’s old rage – which had gotten him into so much trouble in the past and which Mikey had thought long gone with maturity – growled through his voice as he brushed Noah’s hair aside and examined his wounds.

“I’ll go get a first aid kit.” Buck ran towards the back of the house where the guest room was.

“We should document the injuries, just in case,” said Tabitha. “I don’t know if you want to go to the police, but we should have pictures just in case you decide to.”

Noah flinched at the word “police,” and Mikey did not anticipate that their younger brother would be looking to file charges against whoever had done this.

All Mikey could do was stand and stare at his baby brother as the others pulled him inside the house and guided him to the dining table, turning on the light so they could see better.

Noah said nothing as Tommy gently pulled back his hair and Tabitha photographed his bruised eyes and broken nose, the split in his lip and a cut at his hairline. He lifted his shirt wordlessly when Tommy asked if he could feel Noah’s ribs for bruising or breaks.

Mikey winced at the black blotches blossoming over Noah’s pale sides. They looked almost like ink. God he wished that those dark blots were tattoos rather than the impressions of boot caps. Someone had beaten Noah and then kicked him once he was down.

Tabitha took pictures.

Gina paced, muttering about how she was going to kill her brother. And Mikey knew better than to doubt that their dad was capable of this. Mikey had suffered enough beatings to know exactly what Jonathan Kinard could do when angry enough or drunk enough, but not even Mikey had suffered this level of beating.

Tony was disturbingly quiet, clenching and unclenching his fists at his side as though itching to punch something as much as Mikey was itching to drink something stronger than soda, if only to blur the lines of what he was seeing.

Once every bruise and cut had been catalogued, Tabitha stepped aside and Buck and Tommy got to work patching Noah up, applying butterfly bandages to the cut at his hairline and arnica to the bruises on his ribs. One of his fingers was broken and Buck splinted it, using medical tape to stick it to its neighbour to keep it stabilised. “You should probably go to the hospital to get your nose checked out,” said Buck.

Noah shook his head.

“You want me to try to do it?” Tommy asked. “I think they usual give a local anaesthetic for this.”

Noah nodded. “Do it.”

Mikey had to look away while Tommy gripped Noah’s nose and move it. He felt his dinner think about reintroducing itself to the world at the hitch in Noah’s breath as he bit back a groan of pain.

Tears streamed down Noah’s face and God, Mikey felt so helpless. So useless. Like there was no point to him if he couldn’t do something to make things better for Noah. “Should I get some ice?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah, that’ll help keep the swelling down,” said Buck. “Also, gonna want something for the pain. He’s in shock right now, but as soon as he’s not, he’s gonna start to feel it.”

“I’ll get the ibuprofen,” said Tony.

Aunt Gina had proper ice packs in her freezer, not just frozen vegetables. She also had one of those freezable eye masks for migraines. Mikey grabbed it along with the ice packs, looked more comfortable to put on Noah’s black eyes.

Tony returned from fetching the ibuprofen at the same time that Mikey brought the ice packs. Noah took the painkillers and accepted the frozen eye mask, pulling it down so it covered his eyes and the bridge of his nose. Tommy and Buck pressed the other ice packs against Noah’s ribs.

“Will you tell us what happened?” Gina asked.

Noah nodded. “Dad,” he wheezed.

Tony growled. Mikey couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him this angry. Not that Mikey could blame Tony for his anger, he felt a similar rage brewing inside himself and from the storm clouds that had descended over Tommy’s face, their older brother was also itching for a fight.

The way things were going, Dad might not survive the night. Not if he was the one who’d done this to Noah.

“What did your father do?” Gina asked, how she managed to keep her voice so calm and gentle, Mikey had no idea.

“He found my estrogen,” said Noah. “He kicked me out.”

Where Mikey’s brain had short-circuited for Gina’s coming out, now it was crystal clear. “Like hormone therapy,” he said.

Noah nodded. His – her – body shook as though with sheer terror. “I’m,” Noah voice was just as shaky. “I’ve always been a girl.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

Mikey thought he’d be more surprised, but he found that he wasn’t. It made sense in a way he couldn’t quite articulate, like a piece of Noah’s puzzle has slotted into place, displaying a more complete picture.

“Oh sweetheart.” Gina was the first to move. She knelt and gently pulled Noah’s head against her bosom. “It’s okay. We’re all here for you. You’re safe now.”

Mikey knelt beside his aunt and rubbed a hand along Noah’s shoulder, grateful that he’d found PFLAG and had a bit of a playbook for what to do next. “Is there another name you want us to call you, sis?” he asked.

Noah’s lips quirked in a smile. “Naomi,” she whispered. “My name’s Naomi.”

“That’s a pretty name,” said Tommy.

Tony stayed quiet, but he took Naomi’s hand in his and squeezed it.

“You’re gonna be alright,” said Mikey. “We’ve got you.”

[ask-pomni-things]

Mod: what injury from her pre-circus times caused her the most trauma?

Pomni: Did you ever get to eat that burger you were trying to eat a while back?

No...

((She was in a car accident as a kid that was caused from her mom being under the influence. Almost died, life long trauma!))

[morbidwlws]

oh my god so i had my first ever reading today and it was for my creative nonfiction class and i read an excerpt from my essay about the drunk driving accident and i was so anxious about it but everyone really liked it and at the end of class i had one woman stop me in the hall and tell me that she cried while i was reading and how much it meant to hear and i literally almost asked her for a hug it was the kindest thing that’s ever happened to me it meant so much to me to know that the weeks of emotional labor that’d gone into this paper touched somebody that way like honestly as a writer that’s all i want is for my words to mean something to people and to move them to some kind of emotion

[serial-designation-dz]

The best LGBT+ duo! Sadly they are both ded. Good news, that means they're on the solver express with the rest of the gang!

More info under the cut! (tw: drunk driving, I feel child death is a given warning for this au)

Thad's spirit flower is the African Violet, which is said to bring good luck and positive vibes when burned as incense.

Lizzy's spirit flower is the Pink Carnation, which can symbolize femininity and grace. It also represents motherly love, ironic considering she died on mother's day.

If you couldn't tell by them both being foxes, these two are siblings.

Thad met Uzi after Nate introduced the two, and they hit it off. Lizzy and Uzi? Not so much. Lizzy tolerates the emo bat because of Doll though.

Doll and Lizzy were besties in life, so they're besties in death too.

Like everyone else on the solver, their stories are not happy ones...

(here's where the tw is) Lizzy was calling her mom on the way home from school to wish her a happy mother's day. Unfortunately for her, she was hit by a drunk driver, her mother hearing her screams as she passed. Her mother, as a result, blamed herself for her daughter's death, thinking she distracted her daughter, which left her vulnerable to the driver. She would later die from this grief. Lizzy and Thad's father disappeared soon after, leaving Thad to fend for himself. Unable to make ends meet, he died on the streets a few months later.

Lizzy, Thad, and their mother were reunited in death, so silver lining.

Thad still wants to punch the driver though, which is understandable.

[theobaudelaire]

Theo was already in bed when he was suddenly woken up by his phone ringing in the middle of the night. He answered quickly since he knew his sister was asleep in the other room and didn't want to wake her up. He didn't look at who was calling, his eyes were still half-closed, but he was immediately concerned when he recognized Charlie's voice. Despite their amicable relationship at work, Theo knew that a call from a cop at this hour meant trouble.

His stomach twisted into knots as Charlie delivered the news about his father being arrested for driving while being drunk. Panic seized Theo as he hastily ended the call, his mind racing with a flurry of questions and worries. He leaped out of bed, his movements frantic as he scrambled to dress and locate his keys. There was no time to dwell on the details; all that mattered was getting to his father as quickly as possible.

As he sped through the deserted streets, Theo's thoughts spiraled into a whirlwind of anxiety. This was uncharted territory for him. Usually, it was his older brother who dealt with their father's issues, shielding Theo from the harsh realities of their family's struggles. He couldn't shake the disbelief that his father had relapsed so suddenly (or so he thought), especially after he had recently praised him for his sobriety!

Arriving at the address Charlie had provided, Theo's heart hammered in his chest as he rushed to his father's side. "Are you okay?" he blurted out, his voice laced with genuine concern. The fear of the unknown gnawed at him, rendering him unable to mask his emotions.

He talked with Charlie to the side, he probably wasn't supposed to be doing this, but Theo ended up getting his dad's keys, hiding them in his back pocket as he went back to him while Charlie walked back to his car. ''Get in the car before he changes his mind.''

He drove them away from Roman's car, only so they could be trusted to not use it again until the next day. He was driving in silence, he couldn't even look at his dad now that he knew he was fine. Usually Theo was always talking and never stopped smiling, but right now, he wasn't amused at all.

@werewolfroman

[bonemaggotsludge]

I'm just some guy, man...

Plus @kingassblast sent me a meme to draw over with myself which is an excuse for me to post my other booz'n'cruise memes

[spiffy-sea-dragon]

HELLO MY FELLOW NEURODIVERGENTS

I would like to share with you some information that I unfortunately figured out way too late.

In schools, they always teach you not to drink drive. You always think that you’d never get in the car with a drunk driver.

This is how I have unintentionally been driven by a drunk driver on 2 occasions.

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Them: We should get McDonalds.

Me: But neither of us can drive because we’ve been drinking.

Them: It’s alright, I’ve only had one (the legal limit).

Me: You’ve had three.

Them: No, I’ve only had one.

Me: Oh, okay. I thought you’d had more.

Them: Nope, just one.

Me: *gets in the car with a drunk driver*

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Variations of this are people telling you, “Oh I’ve already sobered up,” or if you’re with someone and they’ve been drinking before meeting up with you and seem like they’re tipsy, but they lie and say they haven’t had any yet.

NOW PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME THAT I WAS SO DUMB FOR THIS. But you know what? I’m not dumb. I’m autistic (and was also drunk myself at the time). I don’t lie, and I take others at face value. This means I am very easily gaslit.

I often doubt myself and grew up my whole life being told my perspective was “wrong”. So that makes me vulnerable to a whole heap of scenarios.

This is one of them. Learn from my mistakes:

Trust yourself. If someone says they drank less than what you’ve witnessed, don’t second guess yourself. Even if you are wrong, it’s okay to be wrong. Better to be wrong and not get in the car than be right and get in.

Apply the law to your scenario. It doesn’t matter if someone says they’ve already sobered up. If they’ve had 3-4 drinks and it’s only been an hour, they will have a BAC higher than the legal limit. Learn your local laws and about how much time alcohol takes to leave your system.

Offer to get an Uber/Taxi. If someone is being really pushy about wanting to go somewhere and you feel in a situation where you’re stuck, just order an uber. Don’t even ask. Tell them you’ve ordered an uber. And yes, it might be expensive, but I promise it is more important to be safe.

If in doubt, just don’t go with them. Don’t let them convince you. Circling back to point 1. It’s okay if you’re wrong about them being drunk, it’s better than being right.

Set boundaries. Now you can apply some discretion here. A friend who’s had a couple drinks and thinks they’re okay to drive and then respects when you decline, is compleeeetely different to someone who is pressuring and gaslighting you. Now sometimes good people do bad things. Sometimes people suffering from addiction make poor choices. But it is absolutely okay to distance yourself or call someone out from someone putting yourself and others in danger.

This has been a PSA. This is the kind of education I needed growing up that I did not receive. I hope maybe sharing can help even 1 person.

[thingsmk1120sayz]

[upthewitchypunx]

On Saturday I was supposed to be part of a creative, kind of silly, but meaningful ritual, but we cancelled it due to temperature and freakish snow. honesty, the whole day had a weird vibe.

I'm going to put a cut here because what comes next is traumatic and involves a drunk driver:

I went to hang out with my sibling and some other folks at their house. We were standing around outside about to go get some food and while my sibling was locking the door a speeding drunk driver blew a stop sign and ran straight into their yard somehow missing 4 of the 5 people standing. My brother-in-law was hit. He jumped but the car destroyed his foot and threw him into a brick wall. The car stopped two feet away from me.

This was hand down the most terrifying experience of my life. The screaming, the chaos and unknown and how each second seems like 5 minutes. The inability to do anything for my little sister in the thought of her terror of losing her partner in her arms.

In that moment you don't know and that is terrifying. We know now that there are dislocations and broken bones, there is a questionable outcome of a foot, but he had very minor head trauma and no internal organ damage. I just keep thinking "it could have been much worse", but it will also never be the same.

The car stopped 2 feet from me.There was plastic, metal, wood, and glass shrapnel from the car, yard decorations, and the beautiful native plants of my sister's garden. Somehow I don't even have a scrape on me. All I remember was turning to see the air bags go off in the car.

Right now my job is do what my sister needs like gatekeep repetitive questions, field the endless offfers of food and rides by people who love and support them, look up reviews of nursing facilities, pick up packages from her porch, clean up the yard, etc. My brother in law is a positive person, very strong, very fit, and very determined. I know he will make the best of his new normal and I want to help make that happen.

Tell the people you care about that you love them.

Don't let drunk people drive.

Drive annoyingly slow in residential neighborhoods because actually people live there and a speed limit is just that, a limit.

[astarborn]

i think i've mentioned this previously in passing, but do not, under any circumstance, stay out all night without letting ally know where you are and/or occasionally checking in with her regarding the fact that they're going to be home later than expected. ally still has trauma around her mothers death where she expected her to come home before bedtime and then found out she passed away in the middle of the night by a drunk driver, so her mind automatically assumes the worst has happened when someone goes missing in action when they're supposed to be somewhere else. some examples of this include when one of her ex-boyfriends stayed out with his buddies all night, getting drunk, when he told her he'd be back by 10pm. she stayed up all night texting him with no answer and when he came home, well... she was hysterical. just tell her you'll be late & you'll be fine.