#mississippi mom reads

[podcastconnectthedots]

I had a blast meeting book lovers, booksellers, authors, and my favorite authors.

[drdemonprince]

hi! I JUST started reading your book Unmasking Autism, and I wanted to ask you about something that’s been on my mind for a long time now. if I’m asking something that comes up later in your book I apologize (slow reader bc chronic pain). I’m in my 30s, I self-DX’d at a young age and was professionally DX’d later.

I was raised in Mississippi and grew up with a country accent. my mom “trained” it out of me when I was young bc “people will think you’re stupid”. then when I went to college, I made a big effort to not sound southern. and now I’ve been on T for a few years and my voice changed again. I’ve struggled with sort of finding my voice on T, bc I’ve realized I feel like I’m like an amalgamation of impersonations and it’s like I don’t know what my voice actually is. sometimes I kinda feel like a parrot; my voice doesn’t come from where I’m from, it comes from mimicry.

here’s my question - I’m sure unmasking can involve certain voice related changes, but I guess I’m wondering about accents specifically. have you heard others describe anything similar to what I describe? being southern is a big part of my identity, but I had to move away bc trans. I miss that connection to the south and I wonder if unmasking will involve finding that voice I grew up with. but I also wonder about people around me being confused if I seemingly randomly start sounding different.

if you decide to read and/or reply to this, I appreciate it! thanks! if you don’t, I appreciate all the articles you write! <3

Anon your question is fantastic and such a rich vein worthy of discussing at length, and so tomorrow on Time Theft Today @testdevice and I are going to talk ALL about voices & accents and masking and passing (as one's gender, as another class, as having a particular SES background, as a form of assimilation to a culture, and so on).

We'll also be taking some fun regional accent quizzes and the like.

Twitch.tv/drdevonprice at 1pm cst 2 est.

If you have your own story to share about modifying your vocal presentation as a trans person, an immigrant, an Autistic, etc please drop it in my ask box!

[ceedak]

can we get a ceedak timeline 🤔 i feel like there’s a lot idk abt them fr 😭😭

yes u absolutely can i could talk about them forever and ever 🥳🥳

disclaimer: i do wanna say this is just from what i’ve gathered because i didn’t become super fixated on nfl rpf until last year </3 one day i’ll do a legit deep dive like an insane person and update with all my findings…

second disclaimer: im delusional yes and a part of me straight up thinks that they’ve had to have hooked up at least once bc i love to psychoanalyze people i'll never meet but i’ll make sure to say when i’m being fully delusional KSDJFHSKDS

putting it under a read more because i’m sure it’ll be much longer than necessary

also i will reblog this and add links to some videos!!

SO before i get into like when ceedee was drafted and such i wanna talk about how invisible string coded they are because i love shit like this sm

both were born in louisiana only about an hour and a half apart from each other until ceedee moved to texas as a child after hurricane katrina hit (he’s said he’s moved around a couple of times as kid in interviews before)

dak went to mississippi st. in college and ceedee’s dream school was LSU (rival colleges… 🚬) but he had committed to oklahoma (also they wouldn’t have met or anything in college anyway because dak was drafted in 2016 and ceedee started playing in college in 2017 but i digress it makes my brain light up anyway lol)

when dak was drafted he was projected to go like late second round/early third round of the draft but 🗿 he got into some trouble beforehand (driving under the influence) and ended up falling to the 4th round (after the front office kept trying to trade up to get a different backup QB)

dak also had to compete for his spot as a backup and was named starter after romo was injured in 2016. this was dak’s rookie year and he led them to the playoffs - almost to the nfc championship game. after this he basically took the job from romo

okay so FAST FORWARD to the 2020 draft. ceedee was projected to go top 10 and he fell all the way to SEVENTEEN so the cowboys were able to grab him then (drafted bpa instead of for need)

idk all of this is just very <333 to me that so many things managed to fall into place just right and they managed to find each other on the same team out of THIRTY TWO teams it makes me weeeep 🤧 also just something else that i think is very cute because i truly am a little insane: ceedee was born april 8th and dak’s jersey number is 4 and ceedee’s is 88 so 4/8 ALL THE DOTS CONNECT SOMEHOW…

so we’ll go through a teensy bit about dak i suppose and then ceedee this won’t be too long

dak: baby of his family and has two brothers. his parents divorced when he was little and he was very close with his mom before she passed away in 2013 (he’s started a foundation since then for cancer research and suicide prevention/mental health). went to mississippi st, cowboys starter his rookie year, etc etc. he also lost his brother to suicide in 2020 and he’s said before he feels a responsibility to live on and carry his and his mom’s legacy throughout his life. he’s like suuuuuper underrated in the league i feel and a lot of cowboys fans are complete assholes to him all the time it makes me so mad cos they could literally never ever make me hate him - he makes me so weepy 😭😭😭 umm but yeah he’s donated a ton to children cancer funds too and donated during BLM protests and things like that - he won the walter payton man of the year award. he just had a baby and got engaged in october (remember for the yaoi LOL) ok im gonna stop here cause i don’t wanna rant too much lol

btw i know what you are dak prescott:

ceedee: MY BELOVED… my favorite my absolute favorite. he has two brothers and two little sisters. idk if he’s the eldest or not tbh i see different things all the time that he’s the second eldest whatever not that important i guess. so blah blah college blah blah - he wears 88 on the team because that’s considered really special to the cowboys franchise and is reserved for elite receivers. idk he’s the most beautiful man ever and he does a lot of donating too - i know he participates in a lot of football youth camps a lot to help kids out and he likes to provide meals to families around thanksgiving and christmas time. a loooot of cowboys fans have criticized him for not being that much of a leader and pouting a lot on the sidelines (which he does sometimes… my mimir) but i think this last season he’s reaaaaallyyy taken a step into more of a leader type position especially with dak being out and he’s proven himself more than enough. he LOOOVES spending money on clothes it’s so cute… gonna be a sad day when the class war happens and i’m faced with cedarian lamb. ummm i also legit think he’s gay and closet is made of glass but whatever

see this is the problem i never stfu but okay CEEDAK what you actually asked about ksjdksjdks

PRE-2020 SEASON: this was before ceedee was drafted (some stuff i found last night) and this is what i mean when i say i haven’t done like a deep dive into these things bc i’m sure there’s soo much more but this kinda gives the general vibes

“I was like a little kid at the playground,” CeeDee tells us. (on the first time Dak texted him to invite him over to his house, says it was surreal.) august 21, 2020

and i actually hunted the exact clip down where he says this: (will reblog with link - skip to 4:25 he talks for like a minute or so - sorry the audio’s funky it’s because of covid so all the reporters weren’t in the room i’m pretty sure) DELUSIONS: you can’t tell me ceedee wasn’t nursing a crush here idgaf

2020 SEASON:

ceedee’s rookie year

personal stuff happened with dak before the season started - this is when he lost his brother to suicide and he’s been really outspoken about mental health since then. on top of that he broke his ankle during week 5 of the season (and tried to snap it back into place by himself on the field). dak was performing on like a sort of insane level before the injury happened so </3 what could’ve been and all that… the what-ifs of it all… so that year they weren’t able to play together as much

Oct 11, 2020: “CeeDee Lamb said he texted Dak as soon as he got out of the shower. Thanked him for everything he’s done for him and they were gonna hold it down for him until they see him on the field again.” (after the game dak got hurt in)

POST 2020 SEASON:

"He came back from his second surgery about two months ago so he’s walking around, rehabbing, doing everything right," Lamb said Wednesday. "It’s great to see, especially when you seen him go down. You saw the look in his eyes and you saw how sad he was and how much this game meant to him. Just to see him smiling again, happy again, being with his guys is a great deal."

"First day he kind of caught me by surprise with his arm strength," Lamb said. "He knows the little nuances of the game to be better. He makes it easy to follow him, if you will."

2021 SEASON

ceedee’s second year, he was in a WR room with amari cooper (currently on the bills) and michael gallup (now retired) blah blah season happened whateverrrr but AFTER this season the front office (i’ll always be mad about this lol) traded amari to the browns for a 5th round pick 💀 hence THIS!!! which i consider the #Real beginning of ceedak:

“Dak Prescott asked for CeeDee Lamb’s locker to be moved next to his: ‘My two other locker mates left, so I was a little lonely. With him being young, hopefully he’s my WR until I’m done playing. Just bring him closer, more conversations, he’s right there to talk and communicate.’”

said he had no doubt ceedee could become his "main guy"

here’s some fun stuff i found from 2021 too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3hCmIZN-YI&ab_channel=DallasCowboys (7 min mark this was after a game winning td in overtime against new england)

“CeeDee Lamb on game-winning 35-yard TD: ‘It was the best feeling ever, honestly.’”

2022 SEASON:

https://youtu.be/T73xGDsFiVo?si=Qn_dwK1yfnHPiMya talks about dak here at 7:50 “all i need is him” 🤧

he’s actually said this a couple times lol he says shit like “we’re all we got” about each other - he’s said it this most recent season too so <3

dak injured his thumb this season though so he was out for like 7 weeks i think i can’t remember off the top of my head lol but again another season where they didn’t get to play much together

fun 2022 stuff:

“Last year, Cowboys caked Dak in the face on the field for his 28th birthday. On his 29th today, CeeDee told us they planned to do the same in the locker room. Hoped Dak would think he was safe after no cake on the field, and then locker room ambush.”

“Scene here: Dak was talking to us at his locker. CeeDee walks past wearing metallic red lens sunglasses indoors and eating chicken. Says the key to following up ass-kicking is ‘keep kicking ass.’”

“Dak on CeeDee’s vibe: Yeah, cool as hell - says ‘keep kicking ass’ while he’s eating.”

“Dak Prescott walked by during our interview with CeeDee Lamb - QB1: CeeDee’s that dude! / WR1: Happy birthday, Dak!”

link posted in reblog: skip to 2:30 he almost says he loves dak lol also very

2023: THE SEASON OF CEEDAK!!!

https://youtu.be/7_WRIzb5fPA?si=R0TETc2qtW0IOP5P the infamous "was gonna take him out for dinner tonight" clip is from this aka what got me hooked on ceedak lol (this interview is just so good in general i love ceedee sm - def recommend watching! such a nice look at his personality)

this is where my delusions take over i deadass think they hooked up at LEAST once around this time lol maybe end of 2022 season maybe early 2023 season IDK but anyway during this year the offense was soo wack for a couple of weeks until the bye week and then ceedee made some noise about it bc he felt like he wasn't being as utilized (which is true i'm so serious mccarthy was SUCH an annoying coach lol) but quotes:

“Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb said Dak Prescott approached him and said: ‘If you have a problem with anything, just come up to me and we’ll talk about it.’ Lamb said he and Dak worked on getting on the same page their first day back in the building after the 49ers loss.”

Dak: ‘I mean, a frustrated player that feels like we all could’ve done better and feels like he can change the game, I understand it. I really do. So it’s in the sense of just communicating with him… CeeDee is a guy that I’ll never lose confidence in and trust who he is and understand why he’s frustrated. But at the end of the day, he’s a leader. It’s about him leading other guys and picking other guys up and him just trying to make sure we’re all pushing our best. That’s where the frustration is, we have to remove that. And he will. He’s a young player that’s growing by the day and he’ll only get better. He’ll be better because of that.’

but after they switched the offense around dak and ceedee went craaaazyyy - ceedee was named all pro, dak was in mvp talks (should have won it to be honest i'm sorry lamar i still love you <3) but 2023 cowboys will seriously haunt me forever lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sudQu72KDXs&ab_channel=NFLonFOX

DELUSIONS: dak announced he was having a baby like two weeks after this game SO let’s just say…. maybe…. perhaps… they were hooking up… ceedee probably knew before the public did - not saying that’s why he seems a little upset at the beginning of this clip cause who knows 🤷‍♀️ like i said DELUSIONS but… i can’t help it when the timeline timelines don’t shoot the messenger

also i do wanna mention that dak’s fiance follows a loooot of cowboys players on ig but she does not follow ceedee and he doesn’t follow her AGAIN just delusions…. but… iykyk 👀

sooo they were poppin off in 2023, ceedee was breaking records and shit, won nfc east, went to the playoffs and then i DON'T wanna talk about it i have my theories about wtf happened during that playoffs packers game but 💀💀 anyway the offseason before the 2024 season was genuinely the worst of my life because BOTH ceedee and dak had to get extended and jerry jones (who is the worst) waited until after training camp to get them both signed lol so ceedee wasn't participating in training camp at all which affected them in the beginning of the 2024 season which was a complete mess A MESS but here's some fun stuff after ceedee signed his extension/during that offseason

“Remarkable. That’s who CeeDee Lamb is. … He’s special. He’s just getting going and as long as I’m here, he’s gonna keep stacking these records year after year.”

“CeeDee Lamb strongly defended Dak: No one deserves the criticism that he gets. The way he gets talked about is crazy.”

2023-2024 OFFSEASON:

worst months of my life lol ceedee was holding out for his new contract and didn’t get it signed until like… august i think? anddd dak was signed fucking three hours before kickoff the first week of the season lol i HATE this front office

but here’s some fun quotes after ceedee was signed:

CeeDee Lamb: “We were texting quite a bit. Obviously I missed being out there, competing with him… for is being so in tune together and all it takes is one text message or one conversation, one phone call… for us both… having the same passion for the game, same love for the game. I want what’s best for Dak and vice versa. Shout out to him too for getting that bag, too. We’ll be together for the next five years.”

Dak Prescott on CeeDee Lamb’s added muscle weight: “He’s wearing a lot more sleeveless shirts. As long as the speed is there, and it looks like it is (in practice), I’m fine with however big he is.” LMAO??

Dak Prescott: “I peeped the biceps. He’s wearing more sleeveless shirts now.”

Dak Prescott recently on CeeDee Lamb: “He’s talented. He works hard. He’s special. He’s the best receiver in the league for a reason. And I’ve seen Instagram videos. I know you’ve seen him. He’s working. And he works hard. So I have no angst, no worries about when he gets here that we’re not going to pick up where we left off. And when you're a stud like that and you’re smart like he is and you’re good at communicating, that makes that process that much easier. So it’s not like we’ve got to build something. We’ve got that. We just got to reignite it when he gets here.”

on how much ceedee worked with dak at the field at dak’s house even though he was staying away from the team: “Often. I would say quite often. Anytime that I’m back in town, and he’s obviously back here, I hit him and then… it’s very… good having a rich quarterback.”

Dak Prescott’s thoughts on the tandem of him and CeeDee Lamb being compared to legendary duos like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice: “I think that says a lot just cause we’ve only done it for four years and you just named some of those duos that did it for their whole careers. But then again, I feel like we can be better than all of them… so love the comparisons, they sound good and all, but hopefully one day people are saying these next duos and next tandems can be like me and CeeDee.” (i will kms over this quote one day)

i’m sure there’s things i’m missing but this is already sooooo long lol so

2024 SEASON:

WORST SEASON OF MY LIFEEEEEE / ceedak angst era

the front office set this team up to fail and let like a ton of players walk in the offseason, didn’t use free agency, injury riddled team, had a bunch of rookies starting but anyway just gonna go game by game really quick because this is when i was locked tf in and it’s more recent so ?? more detail seems alright when it's necessary also i wrote so many half-finished post-game fics this season to cope with how terrible it was i’m cryingggg it was insane

cowboys vs browns: i was at this game :) good game they won

cowboys vs saints: blocked this game out actually!!!

cowboys vs ravens: fake ass comeback also the game ceedee CRASHED OUT on the field lskdjslkdjsskjdsk which is so funny bc i literally love lamar sm and was so excited to watch but… my players wanted to make me MISERABLE

this was said a day or two after the game by ceedee (bc he fumbled during it and then wasn't there for post game media people andddd was yelling at dak on the sideline 🗿)

“Our relationship has, if anything, gotten stronger. Don’t let what, what’s out there fool you. We’re brothers to the end. We know that we all we got, and I tip my hat off to him. I got the utmost respect for him.”

“So with that being said, everything is gonna come out - the energy, the passion, the love, the fight - and then we’ll make up in the end. So no, no craziness now. Don’t.”

dak also said something about his rhythm with ceedee being a “rare feeling” which… okay internalized homophobia but i CANNOT for the life of me find the actual quote i’ve searched through my gallery but it’s not there </3 if i find i’ll add later (i’m pretty sure it was after the baltimore game but i can’t remember)

cowboys vs giants: this is a tremicah game no need to mention ceedak idt - nasty ugly win but whatever

cowboys vs steelers: dak prescott giving me a heart attack 12 fucking times during this game

cowboys vs lions: don’t wanna talk about it! i’m a hater! always will be sorry!!! ben johnson statpadding on my sorry ass terrible team i was SICKKKKK

BYE WEEK: my trials and tribulations…. my nfl rpf…

CeeDee Lamb on getting in some extra work with Dak Prescott during their bye week: “We love our bye weeks. We took advantage of it. We got right. We used every opportunity to get better and I feel like it’s going to show. We got on some routes, and obviously the timing is everything. We needed that.”

now ummm this is the week dak got engaged so. which is really funny because after the announcement post on ig ceedee went GHOST on instagramksjdjks like i went back to check because i’m crazy (these are delusions btw) and he had been posting like once a week… maybe once every two weeks PRETTY consistently like for at least a couple of months but after the engagement happened there was pretty much nothing for like… almost two months?? ummm which AGAIN i’m not saying anything i’m not insinuating anything buuuuut…… buuuuut….. also it’s really fucking funny because in this same interview ceedee dropped that he left the country during the bye week but didn’t post it on socials at all so i’m like ohhhh… you’re coping w the engagement… i see LMAO anyway

cowboys vs 49ers: sigghhhh….. lets get into it

SO this was a loss but two ceedee touchdowns.. i’m leaving with something!!!

“Yeah, I found CeeDee,” Prescott said when reflecting back on Lamb’s breakout in the Bay Area. “He did a good job of getting open, running all of his routes hard no matter where he was, if he was the one or if he was backside on a concept. Loved his intentionality in the game. He kind of said something like that to me during the game, midway through the game, like ‘Yeah, we’re back.’ And that was before, I think, his two touchdown drives. So just him even playing with that confidence, communicating that, it gives me a lot of confidence.”

super hopeful right maybe they'll really connect again and things'll be fine LOL

cowboys vs falcons: worst game ever dak tore his hamstring off the bone like a fucking idiot and ceedee sprained his AC joint and would not stop going back out into the game i was ready to kms

cowboys vs eagles: not talking about it idc

cowboys vs texans: loss because ofc but whatever ceedak hugged before the game tho so i didn’t gaf about the loss - i can’t find the clip rn but if i do i’ll post it

cowboys vs commanders: this is when i accepted they were tanking and then they decided to just be elite for whatever reason lol made me so happy though ceedee was so happy <33

cowboys vs giants: whatever

cowboys vs bengals: worst fucking game of my life nothing to do with ceedak but one of my other fave player’s (i also ship him w ceedee idgaf) knee EXPLODED so that was so much fun to deal with

cowboys vs panthers: i still can’t believe bryce young decided to forget how to play football in this game im crying

cowboys vs tampa: again they just wanted to be elite for whatever reason

cowboys vs: eagles: don’t wanna talk about it idc

cowboys vs commanders: WHATEVER thanks for the 12th draft pick ashton jeanty you will be a cowboy

SO. that’s basically where everything's at lmfao worst season EVERRRRR with ceedak ANGST um but yeah hopefully 2025 will be better... i’m cautiously optimistic because their old coach is finally FINALLY gone because he was really limiting them and their ability you know? 2023 season was amazing and then 2024 started and it was like… mccarthy just reverted back to his old scheme that wasn’t working. it was really annoyingksdkskds. but the new coach (despite it seeming like a silly hire) had a decent press conference (that ceedee didn’t attend bc he was playing around in paris LOL) andddd he seems to be setting up a nice staff around him so hopefully hopefully hopefully 2025 is a lot better and ceedak will save me again… can’t wait for training camp omg

anyway if u read all this i’m SO sorry i hope it’s… expansive enough?? i wanted to include kind of how it’s been through the years and i had a lot more to add for 2023/2024 because that’s when my adhd was just like Yea let’s hyperfixate on this so. been stuck here for awhile and i’ll probably be stuck here for years and years and years <3

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

Steddie Upside-Down AU Part 83

Part 1 Part 82

“He doesn’t want me to see,” Steve says. Will’s getting tired all the answers Steve gives that are really just questions. “There’s a spot that I can’t see.”

He’s staring at Dr Owens, has only looked at the man since he’d walked into Steve’s hospital room, and corralled them all out like ducks in a line into an unfamiliar conference room to discuss how a seventeen-year-old boy could possibly know how to stop a monster from a different dimension. 

Chief Hopper had trailed in after them, still attached to an oxygen machine pumping up into his nose by little wires Will remembers the feel of from his own stint in the hospital. He looks tired, but upright and alive. He’d patted Will and Eddie’s backs on his way past – a hard smack that made Will cough out a little laugh, relieved to see him strong and broad backed and alive. 

Steve doesn’t look his way at all. He’s too busy staring at Dr. Owens, blinking that same metronome blink. Will wishes he had a watch so he could confirm that it’s every ten seconds. He’d tried to count in his head, but it’s hard to say it at the right tempo, even with the mississippi’s.

“See what, buddy?” Dr. Owens asks. Buddy now instead of friend. Still, no Harrington, or Steve. Will wonders if there’s something he knows that Will doesn’t. If they’d taken a DNA test with all those scans and found there was nothing of Steve left at all.

Steve blinks, pauses, blinks. He’s one of those dolls like Holly has, where you lean them back and they blink in a pantomime of life that never quite reaches anywhere else. Blink if you’re alive. Blink Blink. Blink.

“I don’t know,” he says, finally. Dispassionately. “But it must be important. Right?”

Uncle Wayne and Mom trade looks Will can’t read. Dr. Owens just keeps smiling. “Of course, young man.” Smile. Blink. Smile. Prove you're alive. “Can you point to the spot on the map?” Like he’s a general in a war movie, Dr. Owens gestures to the map spread across the entirety of the wide-conference table magnanimously. 

Steve blinks down at the map as everyone looks at him with bated breath and bitten off words. He looks and looks, eyes roving, before he raises his hand and points, finger raised and straight. It’s not at the map, but toward the corner of the room. As one, everyone turns to look that way.

Like everywhere else in the lab, the walls are white plaster. The tile of the floor is white and clean. There’s nothing there; no shadows or smoke, or hidden clues. There’s not even a cobweb or a smudge of dirt. 

“Kid,” Chief Hopper sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. It pinches into the wires trailing into his nostrils, and the machine makes a whirring complaint until he drops the hand.

“It’s that way,” Steve says. “The spot I can’t see.”

The scientists are all clamoring, room crescendoing into pandemonium except for Dr. Owens who is still smiling, and Steve who is still blinking. Will reaches out to latch his hand onto Eddie’s wrist. In turn, Eddie takes a step closer to him. Will shivers as the body heat hits him.

The lab’s always so cold.

���How do you know?” He says it in his usual even tone, but Dr. Owens' question cuts through the clamor like a sword through its gut. 

“It’s that way,” Steve repeats. “I can feel it, like with…” he gestures to Chief Hopper, eyes blank as he finally turns away from Dr. Owens to look at the Chief’s face, squinting like he’s trying to pull the name from his mind. 

Dr. Owens is still smiling when he kicks Eddie, Will, and Steve out of the room to wait in the hallway like recalcitrant students outside the principal’s office. Steve went without complaint, but Eddie had started to kick up a fuss. But Wayne had muttered out a tired, “boy,” just threatening enough to make Eddie stop his griping and meet his eyes. Something had passed between them, and then Eddie had huffed out of the room, pulling Will along by the grip he’d yet to drop from Eddie’s wrist.

Now, they stand, shoulder to shoulder to shoulder, facing the closed door, listening to the raised voices drifting from the room. They come in and out of legibility, little snippets of a conversation about them that they’re no longer allowed to be a part of. 

“–not going!” his Mom’s voice cuts through, before petering back out. “–my son!” Will wonders if they’re arguing about him or Steve. With his Mom, it could go either way. 

Dr. Owens’ response can’t be heard at all, but Wayne’s cuts through, gruff and commanding and loud. “–go with them.” His voice raises slightly on the end, cutting off the clamor of unnamed scientists trying to cut him off. Will jumps at the unexpected volume. He’s never even heard Wayne raise his voice. It's a shock to the system. “They’re my boys.”

Eddie laughs, and when Will turns to look up at him, his eyes are twinkling, even here, at the end of things.” Old man’s always been a secret softie.”

Something warm and filling sinks into Will’s stomach, like the chicken noodle soup his Mom always makes when he’s sick. Like family. Will smiles. 

It’s too quiet in the room to hear much more than the gentle murmur of voices intermingling. Will isn’t concerned; whatever happens, Uncle Wayne will be there. It’ll be okay. 

The grim faces when the door opens, and everyone comes pouring out shakes that resolve. His Mom crouches down in front of him, taking his shoulders, and looking up into his face.

“You don’t have to go,” she says quietly, talking louder when the closest scientist scoffs. “No matter what anyone says!” She pauses to glare at the man until he huffily looks away.

“Go where?” Will asks when she meets his eyes again.

She’s biting her lip the way she always does when she’s trying to find the best words to use, but Uncle Wayne cuts in before she finds them.

“Going to where he wants us to,” he says, tipping his head toward where Steve’s still standing by Eddie’s side. “You’re going to get the lay o’ the land if he gets sucked back inta his noggin again.”

“If you want to!” his Mom bites out, eyes wide, hands squeezing.

Will looks past both adults to Eddie. He’s looking down at Will with the same resolve Will can feel burning in his own eyes. They’d both follow Steve everywhere. They always have.

“I’m going,” Will says, turning back to catch the way his Mom closes her eyes, pained. Resigned. “He needs me, Mom.”

She grimaces, but still says, “I know, sweetie,” and stands up to join the procession making their way down the hall.

They’re corralled by soldiers, armed and armored in a way no one bothers with any of the civilians in the group. Steve’s still in his basketball shorts. Will and Eddie are in jeans, with his Mom in her house sweatpants. The contrast would be comical if it didn’t leave him itching with vulnerability.

The vans they slide into don’t help matters. They’re reminiscent of the types of vans he’s seen on TV shows, where the army is bunkered in and off to war. Will’s not sure the metaphor holds true, though because the enemy is inside the van with them, looking out the windshield with that same blank expression.

And the enemy has his friend’s eyes, and face, and voice, and hair. It has all of him.

They’re going to get him back.

Even if the driver is currently following Steve’s pointing finger down the road. Toward certain doom.

It makes for a bumpy ride, when the finger turns on a dime, no words used to prompt a left or a right, only to end up right back where they started.

The grass is still flattened on the ground where Steve had writhed. The holes still dug and abandoned.

“Is this some sort of joke?” one of the soldier’s demands, spinning on Steve with his gun half-raised from its former parade rest.

Wayne shoves the gun down, hard until it’s pointing at the floor of the van. It’s this moment that Will notices that Chief Hopper didn’t come with them. There’s no man with a badge and a gun to buffer the situation. No strong and solid back to stand in front.

Steve just keeps pointing until Eddie asks, “we need to go in there?”

He nods, getting up and leading the way. Everyone follows him down into the earth.

Sound moves weirdly underground. Will hadn’t known that before, but he does now because the quiet voices pad against the dirt, get diluted like they’re getting sucked up and out. Their shuffling footsteps are similarly muffled, barely audible as the dirt sucks them dry.

Steve’s voice is loud and clear when he finally speaks. “Straight ahead.” He’s still pointing like he’s forgotten how to stop. The soldiers shuffle past him, guns out, firepower ready.

But Steve’s just stopped, stalled out there in the dirt, bringing all the other members of the party into a standstill with him.

“Stevie?” Eddie asks. The men with their guns continue on, uncaring of the small dramas they leave behind. Will’s glad to watch them go. “Are we not going?”

He lowers his finger, jerky like he’s straining against something Will can’t see. Still, he just looks straight ahead, voice echoing into the caverns of the underground as he says, “I’m sorry.” Will stares at the back of Steve’s head, hair somehow still perfectly coiffed after his time on the ground, in the hospital, outside of himself. “He made me do it.”

Ice sinks into him. It sinks and sinks until it feels like Will’s floating, barely there as his Mom asks, “what, sweetie?”

She doesn’t get it, somehow. Even as Wayne says, “you didn’t,” voice ragged. Even as Eddie sobs, looking past Steve and toward the distant sounds of boots stomping, the even more distant sound of dissonant growls.

“I told you, they upset him,” Steve says. Still quiet. Still echoing.

“Steve, no,” Eddie says, voice breaking as he reaches out, fingers brushing a line of heat against Steve’s forearm.

That gets him to turn around. Eyes dull, gaze distant. Blink. Blink. Blink. “It’s too late. We have to go.”

He starts walking away as the growls grow louder. Eddie stands, staring at the empty mouth of the cave, clutching his hair hard enough to rip a clump out as he pulls. “What did you do?” he whispers. “Shit, shit!”

But he turns and runs, Wayne and his Mom, and Will catching up to Steve, then overpassing him, all heading up and out.

Will trips when Eddie stops, turns. He looks back. Like Orpheus looking for Eurydice, Eddie was always going to look back. Will turns with him.

Steve’s just standing, staring out at them, something almost alive within him. Almost.

“You should go.” He’s scratching at his arms, like he’ll be able to peel away all the bits that aren’t him and reemerge, just Steve. But even as he tries to get them to go, to leave him to die, his eyes are vacant and blinking. Blink. Blink. Blink. Prove you’re alive in there, Steve.

“They’re almost here.”

The growls are reverberating off the dirt walls now, made strange and echoing under all that grave dirt. He wants to run until his legs give out, leave this place behind for good. But Eddie’s still down there. And Steve’s not coming.

Steve. What would Steve do? He’d make the sacrifice play. He’d stand firm and tall in front of any monster and the ones he loved. He always had. But Steve’s slipping away. 

So, he’ll have to do it. He can learn to make his shoulders broad and strong, be the action hero, make the sacrifice play. 

Will takes a step forward, ready to be sword and shield. For Steve. 

Eddie’s begging, pleas for Steve to come, for Steve to stay with them, on ears that can no longer hear him. “Angel, please,” he begs, reaching out to cup Steve’s cheek, even as it reddens and blisters.

Steve doesn’t answer. Death’s knocking at the door in the sounds of bullets plowing into bodies and a mud. Of growls and snarling unlike anything Will’s ever heard before.

It’s not a Demogorgon coming for them, but it sounds just as wrong, and just as hungry.

Mom and Uncle Wayne come back because of course they do. Mom looks frantic, hands flickering with the need to help. Wayne looks steady. Resolved.

“We don’t got time for this,” he says. The betrayal hits quick and hard as Will realizes they’re going to leave Steve down there. Wayne’s going to restrain Eddie, and his Mom’s going to scoop Will up, and they’re going to leave Steve to the wolves.

It's cut short when Wayne scoops Steve up like a stack of potatoes. He struggles, kicking and scratching and screaming until Wayne holds his legs down to stop the kicking.

“Get with it, Eddie,” Wayne growls, pushing his face down into Steve’s hip to hide it from his seeking claws.

Eddie, still weeping, steps up to clutch his wrists together, hard enough that it’d hurt if Steve could feel anything at all.

They hobble up and out, a make-shift rag-tag group of adventurers, not okay, but alive. Will hangs onto that conviction even as the screams kick up a pitch. Even as Wayne and his Mom hogtie Steve with all the seatbelts that can reach, ignoring the red the blisters everywhere they touch. Ignoring their wailing requests to make him stay.

Eddie sobs, loud and openly from the front seat, twisting wires together until they spark, and the engine ignites. Eddie peels out of the parking lot with a whistle that almost drowns out the last dying screams of the soldier’s the thing inside Steve had led to their doom.

They’ll all make it out of this. They have to.

Part 84

Taglist: @deany-baby @estrellami-1 @altocumulustranslucidus @evillittleguy @carlprocastinator1000 @1-8oo-wtfbro @hallucinatedjosten @goodolefashionedloverboi @newtstabber @lunabyrd @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @manda-panda-monium @disrespectedgoatman @finntheehumaneater @ive-been-bamboozled @harringrieve @grimmfitzz @is-emily-real @dontstealmycake @angeldreamsoffanfic @a-couchpotato @5ammi90 @mac-attack19 @genderless-spoon @kas-eddie-munson @louismeds @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @pansexuality-activated @ellietheasexylibrarian @nebulainajar @mightbeasleep @neonfruitbowl @beth--b @silenzioperso @best-selling-show @v3lv3tf0x @bookworm0690 @paintsplatteredandimperfect @wonderland-girl143-blog @nerdsconquerall @sharingisntkaren @canmargesimpson @bananahoneycomb

[xn3city]

And finally: the one I've been waiting for, the young man whose face leapt into my mind's eye when I read @romanceyourdemons's wonderful idea about SVSSS as an American nineties TV series and led me to draw all this, your blorbo and mine: Winter Mississippi, and the useless fake silver crucifix his adoptive mother gave him.

And yes, his cutie mark is an inverted cross. He's a demon!

Notes on the supporting cast:

Pablo Escobar was still kicking around in the early nineties, and I knew I wanted the Heavenly Demons to be narcos, in conflict with the USA armed force cultivators. Huan Hua Palace's shady vibe works especially well with the CIA.

"Old Palace Master" is actually a great spy handler codename, but I was not about to give a black character a boss called "Master." I mean, you could do it in a fic. I can think of three authors just off the top of my head who I would trust to sensitively explore the hideous resonance that would give to the way Su Xiyan was abused and exploited by the OPM. But I'm not a good writer with a lot of prose to work with, I'm just a mid artist with one panel and most of it is taken up by a horny joke. I just said no.

My favorite joke in this whole thing is that the Heavenly Demons are named Jesus and Lover-of-God.

Tried to capture that devoted gege-spitting wet cat dynamic between YQY and the Original Goods.

Shen Yuan pre-novel is such a cipher. I understand that the general consensus is that he died at about around 20, but…that's not the impression I got when I read SVSSS, actually. I get it now, but when he says something about not having gotten laid for twenty years: to be honest, I read that, and assumed he was, you know, 35 minimum, and having the mother of all dry spells.

And I think it makes the story better. A twenty year old wasting his time in his mom's basement reading crap webnovels and yelling on the forums: that's just a kid having a less than maximally productive gap year! He might well have had a stellar career of his own in real life eventually! It's not super surprising that he blossomed on Qing Jing Peak! But a thirty-five year old incel NEET angrily posting in that basement….that's a man who has had something go wrong in his life. I'm not saying you can't turn it around at thirty-five, you absolutely can, but I tell you: it's harder. Something is wrong, mentally or physically or both, and in a way that leaves a mark. Fifteen years are gone. Opportunites have passed that will not return. For that guy to be handed the responsibility of Shen Qingqiu's life, and do such a goddamn virtuoso job of turning it around: that is some bestselling-loveseat-level portrayal of how a different context could pull radically different capabilities out of a person. That makes SVSSS just as much about how the PIDW!world transformed Shen Yuan, and for the better, as it is about how Shen Yuan transformed Luo Binghe and his world. And that's a better story.

It does make the relationship age gap more disturbing - but if you weren't here for disturbing relationships, what are you doing reading SVSSS?

The cell phones are of course terribly anachronistic, but here's the thing - there is no equivalent, and there's no story without it. There is no Peerless Cucumber yelling at the frustrated PIDW author for hacking out the 6000th boring papapa scene, without creators being financially dependent on direct contact and support from their fans in a way that just didn't exist in the nineties. I remember how novel and exciting it was that J. Michael Straczynski hung out on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5; he absolutely did not have to. Eventually I decided that The Demon Heart of Winter Mississippi was, somehow, a nineties TV show about the 2010s, and everyone could have their phones. You know Minnie Liu is writing RPF on hers.

In case any of these weren't clear:

Demon Heart = Xin Mo Winter Mississippi = Luo Binghe (from @romanceyourdemons) "Don" Teófilo Lanza = Tianlang-Jun Chucho Lanza = Zhuzhi-Lang Sue Sheehan = Su Xiyan Codename: OPM = Old Palace Master Saul Czerniak = Shang Qinghua Wally Shen = Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu Julius Shen = Shen Jiu/Shen Qingqiu Adam Montague = Yue Qingyuan Helmut von Nordwüste = Mobei-Jun (from @romanceyourdemons) Shelley Howe = Sha Hualing Minnie Liu = Liu Mingyan Max Liu = Liu Qingge Néné Young = Ning Yingying Michael Ventola = Ming Fan

Fun game: guess whose likenesses I used for reference for all these characters!

[simonnebethel]

Writeblr Introduction

Just learned what a writeblr intro is so I'm gonna make one before I go to bed lol

I've already done something like this a few days ago but that was when I had no clue what I was doing lmao, so might as well make a more in depth one

About me:

20, she/her, bi

American

I write mostly fantasy and urban fantasy, and honestly i dont think i've ever written a story that was non-fantasy lol

Started writing when I was 10, but it was mostly Warrior Cats fanfiction on Wattpad lol. I went through a writing slump for most of highschool but last year I decided to get back into it since I'm not doing anything else lol

I like to read fantasy and classic lit, also anything with vampires. I also have a soft spot for slowburn romances where the main characters dont kiss until, like, the 4th book heehee

In love with anything gothic, vampire, and wlw 👩‍❤‍💋‍👩

I think one of my more niche interests is any early 2000s fantasy/sci-fi movie with a nu-metal/rock/alternative soundtrack like Queen of the Damned and The Crow. They are just...*chefs kiss*

My current stories:

A Chant for Blood (Formerly known as Account of Calamity)

Account of Calamity is a gothic victorian fantasy about a Grand Marshal, Karliah Helisende, and a blood-drinking fiend, Yorick Gwynplaine, who work together to investigate the mysterious portals that spawn dangerous creatures into the city of Isarnan, all the while Karliah is being haunted by the mysterious ancient temple that watches over her every move.

I'm currently working on the second draft, and I may start looking for beta readers once I'm finished, although I know I'm not far from finished with this novel. I also plan to make it a 4 or 5 book series, and slowly add a slowburn romance.

12/30/24 - Second draft has been finished!!

Looking for beta readers! Look here!

Our Demonic Hearts - The Craven Pact Series #1

Our Demonic Hearts is a urban fantasy about a cambion woman, Ana Kravens, haunted by her past. Taking place in a small Mississippi town, a man she went through a traumatic incident with, Beau Motloe, shows up on her doorstep one day with a deal; help him find his missing mother, and he'll give back the memories she lost during the traumatic incident. Her father, a demonic creature of unknown origin, wants nothing more than the Motloes dead, claiming that they were the very reason his daughter was almost killed 6 years ago. Ana goes against her father's wishes and accepts Beau's deal, suspecting that her father isn't telling the whole truth about that fatal night.

It is completed and available on Wattpad and Royal Road!! It was just a small project I had done for Nanowrimo, and has been edited at least once before being published. However, I plan to make it a trilogy and maybe have some spin-offs. This story is fairly new, but most of the characters are at least 5 years old and I love them very much <3

My Plans for 2025:

Finish my fantasy romance novel, To Hear a Lovebird by February 28(currently sitting at 48k out of an estimated 60k!)...and give it a new name 😅

Start the first draft of The Craven Pact #2, which is called Our Sacred Memories!

Down the road, I may start another short story...I am not sure.

Create a Instagram account for writing...I'm not sure. We will see.

Begin the next editing phase for my Victorian fantasy novel, A Chant for Blood! I am itching to get back to working on it. I have many plans for it.

What I planned for 2024:

Finish the second draft of A Chant for Blood and look for beta readers(In the beta reader phase!) ✅

Start the second novel of The Craven Pact Series(Outline complete)

Write a short story/novella or two taking place within the A Chant for Blood universe. My brain is currently exploding with ideas rn ✅

Write a short story about Ana Kraven's mom and how she met Marchosias, Ana's father. ❌

Plan something for Nano?? Idk where I'll be in November lol (Finish a project I started in february, which is To Hear a Lovebird!)(14/22 chapters done!)

I'm interested in following other writers and reading everybody's stories! I would also be interested in a beta read/beta swap ^^

Other sites I'm on:

Wattpad: LillithOfBees

Royal Road: SimonneBethel

Bluesky: Simonne-Bethel

18+ Writing discord!!!

[anonymitywriterprescott]

The ding of the door opening gets my attention, so I walk, minding the gap, onto the train. Looking around for a seat, I notice the empty train car and choose to sit close to the door.

I scroll on my phone as the train starts moving again. 6:09 pm. A call notification appears on screen as the ringtone echoes through the car, making it sound bigger and emptier than it is. "Babe <3" is calling. "Hello love, what's up?" "Sooo I may have promised a lovely homemade lasagna but we will probably be having your choice of fast food tonight instead." They say, sounding sorry as ever and a bit annoyed. "Oh noo, What happened? You ok?" "Yeah, no bruises, burns, or blood, but the oven shit the bed again, and I already called the office to see if and when it could get replaced this time instead of just a duct tape fix, but they said it would be at least 3 weeks." "3 fucking weeks? They expect us to not cook for 3 fucking weeks, really?" My voice is barely below yelling. "Hey, it'll be ok; I already texted my mom, I can go over tomorrow and premake some stuff, aaaand she's giving us her microwave because she never uses it, so we can reheat it all." Their voice sounds desperate to calm me, knowing how much I hate that stupid, old-ass, fucking oven. "I guess I'll need to sneak a $50 in her pocket because I doubt she'll let us pay for it." "You would be right. So, do you wanna pick up dinner on your way, or should I order delivery?" "Delivery," I glance at the time on my phone. 6:27 pm. "feels like the train is taking forever, and I don't wanna carry the food up the stairs." "Alright baby, text me what you want, Love you." "Love you, bye." I tap the end call button and go to our texts, filling out where to order from and what I want. The text continuously attempts to send but fails. I have no signal, of course.

The clock reads 6:30 pm. This route is usually like 10 minutes, and we haven't stopped moving, so why is it taking so long? The windows show only darkness and an occasional flash from the tunnel lights. I walk to one of the doors connecting the cars and press the button to open it, but nothing happens. Same with the second door. A bright white light floods the car, but it's gone before my eyes adjust. The text continues failing to send. No signal means I can't call anyone or look up anything about train delays. The clock reads 6:30 pm. Still? I look at the walls to see if there is an emergency or call button or something that says a phone number to call if I get signal. Nothing. The clock reads 6:30 pm. I stare at my phone. 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi… …59 Mississippi, 60 Mississippi. The clock reads 6:30 pm. Maybe I was a bit off on my timing, I tell myself, waiting for the minute to pass. It doesn't. The clock reads 6:30 pm. Finally, soft light seeps through the windows. Outside, a dim forest, trees with twisted limbs, and long-hanging vines whizz by. Every so often, I think I see a creature, but it looks… wrong. One of them was a deer, but the antlers looked like its legs? So time is… frozen, I can't get off the train, I am alone, and I'm seeing things?

"You're not seeing things, darling." A voice comes from the other side of the car. Startled, I quickly turned to see it. A tall, rectangular figure, wearing a red hat whose top scrapes the car's roof, whose brim covers its face, and a matching red suit that looks like it's made of silk. I stare wide-eyed, not knowing what it is or its intentions. Or why it can hear my thoughts. But I keep calm, "What am I seeing then?" "Not the thing you think." It says, speaking "That's upsettingly vague." "It's more literal than you realize." It cocks its head as if it's examining me.

Its face.

It feels like it's… out of focus? No matter how hard I try, I just can't quite… see it? "Don't hurt yourself." It says, looking me up and down. "Look at the wall if it helps." It sounds annoyed at my existence. Like my inability to see its features is an inconvenience of the highest accord. "May I have your name?" It reaches out its hand as if it expects me to give it something. Its hand has long, thin fingers that come to a point, like a pale grey claw, which turns pitch black towards the fingertips. "Only if I can have yours," I reply, using the same reply my mother always gave when people asked for her name. "Not worth the trade… no offense." It sneers at the end. "But your mother taught you well. Did you come here intentionally?" "Well I got on the train intentionally, but where ever we are now was not where I wanted to go." "And where do you wish to go?"

"Home." "Home it is."

My eyes close, and I feel a rush of air circle me. As the air dissipates, my eyes open, and I am in front of my apartment door, plastic white bags containing our dinner at my feet. The door swings open, and I see my partner's face and baggy pajamas. "Hey baby, good timing!" Silence fills the air, I try to speak, but my voice feels stuck in my throat. I can't wrap my head around this. "…baby? You ok?" Their hand strokes my shoulder, a slight touch, yet it feels like it drags my soul back into my body. I gasp, startling my partner. "I… don't know how… I got here…" I stumble out. "Well, you got here, and you seem unharmed. Come inside, love." They guide my arm, pulling me inside. As I walk into the apartment, I look for my phone, finding it in my pocket with a small, folded piece of paper that reads, "Safe travels, darling. Your mother says hello." The clock reads 6:30pm.

[yelenabelovasbxtch]

Crush On An Archer PT.1

a/n: Hey! Omg long time no see! I kinda maybe lost interest in writing for a bit there but tbh I think I'm back. No promises because I don't want to promise and then break your hearts but also I realllyyyy enjoyed writing this and I hope you all enjoy reading it! Will def be making a part two in coming days so stay tuned. LMK if you want to be added to the taglist, I am going to put some tags of past taglists below just in case they are interested in reading :) ALSO! Special shout out to @scmg11 because their writing is honestly what made me wanna get back into it. So,,I hope you enjoy!

Kate X Fem!Reader

Concept: Reader has a crush on Kate (school/Uni setting) and she doesn't know how to tell her.

Warning: Cussing, mentions of smut, IM TRYING TO WRITE SLOW BURN BUT BEAR WITH ME ITS NEW!

Word Count: 2.7k

You’re a month into your summer vacation and things couldn’t be more…boring. You love and appreciate your parents dearly for putting out the money so that you could attend a prestigious school in New York with a kick ass archery team but does it ever suck to be this far from all your friends for four months. To make the situation work, your dad had to transfer jobs to another state that pulls in a little more money annually with slightly more affordable housing but that means you aren’t even near the people you grew up around. Rural Mississippi is a fairly big step from living in Boston. Boston at least had people, out here it’s like you’re lucky if you get to meet a neighbour because the land has us all so far apart. In all honesty, although it’s boring, you really have one specific reason for being so bummed out. Towards the end of your last semester, you got started getting closer with one of the girls a year younger on your team, Kate. Typically the older girls competed and practised together and the younger girls did the same. Although you two were only a year apart it’s just how things worked out, so you didn’t cross paths very often. However, one day you were walking home from class, stopped to get coffee and basically bumped into her. The meeting was really brief but it was enough to make you catch feelings almost instantly. 

Your interest in her grew as you followed her on Instagram and she followed back. Obviously you took a peak at her page and scrolled to the bottom laughing at the really cringey posts from 2015 she had still up. All you wanted to do was talk to her again but you didn’t know how, although she was a year younger than you she intimidated you so much. Her deep blue eyes were honestly enough to make you stutter whenever you had the chance to talk to her. A month had gone by already and you could not wait to get back to school so you could see her again. Luckily, coach has yearly “team-building” days before the season starts and they’re about half way through the summer so hopefully you can talk to her before then and maybe convince her to hang out when you come back to school. 

Over the next week or so you liked a few story posts that she’d upload every now and again but the day finally came where you felt like you could swipe up and respond to it…y’know…maybe spark a little conversation. 

“Damn Bishop, is this a new bow?” In response to a story post of her showing off some of her off season training. 

“Haha yeah it is, flips out and everything…it's really freakin’ cool.” She replied almost instantly and that made a giant warm smile come across your face. 

Shit– what do you say back? Your main goal was honestly to keep the convo going so you could subtly mention down the line hanging out with her. 

“Yeah that’s sick, wow I’d kill to try something like that out.”

“Well next time I see you, please by all means give it a shot” She replies back.

“Might just have to take you up on that. How’s your summer going anyways?”

“It’s alright, kind of boring though. All my friends from school move back home and I am working for my mom’s company over the summer so it all is just kind of dull. I miss going out and having fun. Wbu?”

“Yeah, I hear that. I am SO bored here. I would kill to fast forward to the fall, I miss being at school honestly. There’s only so much I can do by myself here during the summer.”

“Ugh right! I want it to be school again too but don’t get me wrong, I love the summer, the weather is great here recently and the nightlife is amazing too. I just have nobody to go with, you know.”

“Yeah I get it. Trust me, if I could be there to go out with you I would, there is definitely no nightlife here haha.”

Shit. That wasn’t too forward was it? She is taking a while to respond to you. She hasn’t even opened the message yet. 

*4 minutes later*

“Well, you’re going to be around for that team-building thing coach has us doing in a couple of weeks right?”

“Yeah, I should be.”

“Well, we can go out then if you want? Me and a few friends had plans but they’re all on the team and I’m sure they’d love to have you there too.”

“Yeah, that sounds great I’d love to!”

The conversation pretty much ended there and your contact with her was fairly limited, just a small comment here or there until you finally got to fly back to school for summer training. You settle back into the apartment you left a couple months ago, everything is still a mess where you left it but the kitchen and living room are even filthier since you are not around to clean up much after your roommates. You decided to wait until your team practice to talk to Kate about hanging out again. You didn’t want to come on too strong but also a small part of you feels like she forgot what she said months ago and you won’t end up seeing her, not outside of team stuff at least. 

You grabbed your gear and headed to the field where practice was being held. You saw some of your friends from last year and decided to catch up with them before coach pulled you all in to start practice. You were trying your best not to make it obvious but your eyes were tracking all around you looking for Kate but she was nowhere to be seen. 

*Whistle* “Okay team! Let’s bring it in. First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for making the effort to come back to campus for this, meeting I–”

“SORRY SORRY SORRY!” You hear the coach interrupted as footsteps are fast approaching the circle of archers. 

“Hi Kate.” Says coach.

“I am SO sorry. My driver was running late and then there was traffic because of a giant accident, I think there was some battle in the streets again, I don’t know, either way, my bad coach, won’t happen again…I promise.” She says with the most adorable grin that is absolutely saying she will be late again. 

“It’s alright Kate, it happens, I was just telling the team how thankful I am that everyone could make the trip back to campus for this.” Coach went on to talk about the drills you were doing for the day and man was it hard to not be in awe watching her. You tried your best not to stare all day because the last thing you wanted to do was make it obvious but fuck it felt impossible. The day came to an end and you packed up your gear, Kate was talking with the other seniors on the team as they were gathering their things and started to head out. You could feel your window closing to talk to her but interrupting her conversation with her friends and “inviting” yourself out with them just felt too weird and uncomfortable. If it wasn’t meant to be then it wasn’t meant to be but you would kill to be able to just spend an hour with her. 

You watched as she started to walk away towards the parking lot with her friends when all of a sudden she motioned for them to hold on a minute and she turned around and jogged over to you. 

“Hey y/n! Sorry we didn’t get to catch up much during practice, I saw your shooting though it’s looking good.” 

Yeah…your face is bright red. Control your shit. 

“Anyways, me and a couple friends are going out later tonight to a party that one of their friends is hosting. It’s like a Hawaiian beach summer nights themed type of party so if you have something like that to wear, that would be great.”

“Yeah, I might have something, I’ll take a look when I get home.” 

“Cool! I’ll text you the address once I get it off my friend and I’ll see you there?”

“Yeah, sounds good!” 

“Here, why don’t you put your number into my phone, I don’t like using DM’s that much.”

You take Kate’s phone out of her hand and fill out a contact for yourself, praying that she can’t hear your heart beating out of your chest. 

“Cool, thanks, I’ll send you a text in a bit.” She says with a smile and then runs off to re-join her friends. 

It seems silly sitting by your phone and literally watching the minutes tick by waiting for her to text you but that’s all  you could do. The anticipation felt like it was killing you. 

Your phone finally buzzed with a mystery number attached, “Hey y/n! It’s Kate. So…slight change of plans.”

Fuck. Is she bailing? Your eyes were glued on the three dots as she typed and you watched as they disappeared and reappeared. 

“Turns out the party is actually around the corner from my place so if you wanted to just come here first, we could pre-game and shit and then walk over together? My friends said they were going out to get their hair done so they’ll be running late.”

“Hey Kate, yeah no problem that works for me just send me your address and lmk what time you want me there.”

Kate dropped a pin of her location to you with the text attached telling you to come over at 7pm. 

7pm rolled around and you were already there outside but you kind of felt like you should wait another minute or two so you weren’t RIGHT on time. Or is it weird to be a minute late? But wouldn’t being on time be weirder? Whatever, you decided to just wait a minute and then knock on her door. 

Knocking on her door was the most nerve wracking thing you ever did, you were genuinely shitting bricks. 

“HEY! Come in come in!” Kate eagerly yells at you as she swings the door open. She’s wearing shorts with a bright purple bikini top and a button down Hawaiian shirt over top that doesn’t have a single button done up. Are you starring? Yes. Probably? Absolutely you are. 

“Make yourself at home, feel free to grab a drink from the fridge, my roommates are out of town and left all their alcohol so help yourself.” She said with a laugh. 

You heard that right? Her roommates are out of town. Just the two of you…you never know. 

You grabbed a drink from the fridge and took a seat on the couch next to her and yeah…the drink started going down faster than usual because of all the nerves in your stomach. The two of you made small talk for awhile but the conversation started flowing a little more naturally about 2 drinks in. Were you still kind of awkward as hell? Yeah…a little. But at least you warmed up to her a bit and weren’t acting so weird. About an hour later, her friends showed up and grabbed you guys to head over to the party. Honestly, things were going so well with just the two of you that you didn’t even want to go to this party but if it meant you got to spend more time with her then there you were. You got to the party and you honestly knew practically nobody. You weren’t exactly a social butterfly but Kate clearly was. She was talking to EVERYBODY. The boys at the party especially loved her. There was lots of laughing and flirting going on, you could feel the jealousy building but acting out was definitely not an option. You ended up socialising with a few of the other people at the party but for most of the night you stuck by Kate’s side, the two of you got pretty drunk together, pouring shots for one another and dancing in the pit of people to extremely loud music. There was a point where it felt like it was just you and her and nobody else was there while the music was blasting into your ears and the two of you were jumping together to the beat and singing out the lyrics to whatever song was on at the time. Kate got really close to you until some guy would come and pull her away in an attempt to make a move on her. Although, it never actually happened. Kate always ended up finding her way back to you. At one point she grabbed your hand and pulled you into the middle of the crowd as the two of you sang (screamed) the lyrics to “love story” into each other's faces. The party, as all do, started to simmer down. You guys actually ended up being some of the last people at the party, you stuck around to the point where the music was gone and most people were just sitting around chatting halfway sober. 

“Hey, I think I’m going to go home, I am super tired right now.” Kate says to you. 

“Okay, I’ll walk with you, I left my bag at your place anyways so I have to grab it.” 

“Right, sounds good.” 

Although the two of you had been singing and dancing for hours, she looked just as perfect as when you left and you were trying your hardest not to stare at her while the two of you were walking side-by-side. 

The walk back to her place was pretty quick, when the two of you got inside you went to grab your bag and get your things together. You were desperately trying to figure out what to say to her while you were organising your stuff. You didn’t want to come on too strong but you also want to make sure that she knows you had a good time…I guess just tell her exactly that?

“I had a really good time tonight, thanks again for inviting me.” You say as you’re leaning against the wall in her hallway. 

“Of course, anytime. And I did too. We should really hang out more when we come back to school.” She replies. 

Kate walks towards you and stops about a foot away leaning up against the doorframe to her bedroom. The hallway is super narrow and all you can think about is pinning her against the wall while you kiss down her neck and pull her tight by her waist. 

“Yeah I think so too. I guess I should probably head out.” You say as she looks at you with the softest eyes that you swore said “please stay”. You lingered for a second longer as the two of you were looking at each other, tired, kind of tipsy and on the verge of ripping each other's clothing off. All you wanted was for her to actually ask you to stay a little longer but before she had the chance you were already walking towards the door. 

“Have a good night y/n.” She says. “Text me when you get home safe.”

“I will. Sleep well Kate.” You reply as you turn to look at her with a smile and step out the front door. 

That goodbye felt different. It felt like there were still feelings in the air and lots that wanted to be said that wasn't. It felt like the perfect opportunity with nobody around after an amazing night together has passed but you regret none of it. Although you weren’t able to get a confirmation on whether or not Kate even likes women like you do, you knew there was definitely a type of tension between the two of you that she definitely noticed.

-- END OF PT 1 --

Taglist: @yelenaslyubov @youreatotalposer @jeyramarie @flosbelova @bridgecitybrad @justthis-stuff @chloe7076 @ailenepuff @ravenclawbitch426 @mellowladyangel @amcg0605-blog @kassies-take @yelenaswife1996 @wandanatchick @lilroachsworld @inluvwithfictionalwomen @x666hours @natashaswife4125 @onetruwhore @karmasgxrl @hopelesslyfallenninlove @setsuna1415 @swiftdazer @imobsessedwithmilfss @madamevirgo @louisprettybab @splatalia-jumpanova @jediluka @t00manyfand0ms

[valle-de-sombra-de-muerte]

Homestuck Reread: Act 4, Part 2/4 (p. 1523-1668)

Read the previous post here.

Time to finish the first half of Act 4. I can't believe how long this is compared to the previous ones, and the upcoming Acts will only get more expansive from here on.

Rose has to be doing this on purpose. Using big words she knows John won't understand. She's stroking her own ego by acting intellectually superior to someone who might genuinely be mentally impaired.

Rose is still seething about Dave. John clearly has no idea what's going on between them and thinks she's perturbed by Dave being able to watch her constantly. But yeah nah, she's still bitter about how she barely survived entering the game (and jealous that Dave is schmoozing with Jade).

In Terezi's first appearance, she has nothing but animosity toward the humans. She even goes as far to say that she'll be pissed at them even when the rest of the trolls warm up to them. Uh huh. Strange how that part of her personality gets quickly swept off to the side.

Terezi used to be such a nasty, annoying edgelord and I kind of miss that about her. Her character progression is honestly all over the place, which I'll get into deeper as we move along.

Rose drinking the martini is framed as her making an "important decision [...] without supervision." There's something to be said about how one of the first things she decides to do as an independent person is try to emulate her mother. As the only adult presence in her life, Mom is her only frame of reference for how adults behave.

PM's brief encounter with Jack is fun. Jack is no-nonsense and knows his job inside and out. He's also determined to pursue every opportunity to avoid actually doing said job.

So much suspense is being built around this package. It's so important that PM is willing to betray her own kingdom for it. Of course, this all amounts to probably one of the worst reveals in the whole comic. There's no satisfaction upon learning what's in the box and as soon as the reveal happens, it's swiftly forgotten about. Yet there's so much narrative weight being assigned to it that I cannot even begin to fathom what Hussie's thought process was when writing this.

Dave and Jade spend several pages combining the alchemiter with the other Sburb devices. This is to condense everything into one space so the characters don't have to scurry from the different devices to craft items. But we haven't been seeing much scurrying lately since Hussie has been skipping over the crafting process anyway, probably because it's lengthy and repetitive. It may be convenient "in-universe" but I don't see what use this has from a storytelling perspective.

There's a reason "John do what I say" is a bit of a meme. Because he will follow commands no matter who's issuing them. Even if it's someone as unpleasant as Terezi.

Terezi is transparent in her motives. She is uninterested with what the rest of the trolls are doing and just wants to spread chaos in the kids' session, basically fucking around and finding out. John still decides to follow her directions because ????????

I might as well screencap the entire conversation between Dave and Rose here because it's great stuff. Rose puts on a sanctimonious act about killing the ogre she had just mercilessly thrashed, all to annoy Dave. This is the kind of back and forth I love to read.

Also note the metaphors Dave uses at the beginning. "whipping that ogre like a rented mule"? "sailing that ogre down the mississippi with a runaway slave"? Again, not to bring race discourse here, but I don't think he'd say that kind of stuff to Rose if she was black. If anything, he'd probably be more tasteless about the metaphors he's using. You know how teenagers can be.

Did he just call himself Rose's pimp? 😳

Hmm I wonder what might motivate Dave to give Kanaya bogus advice about winning over Rose. Between this and his earlier log where he turns the tables on Tavros, I do think it's interesting how Dave is shown to consistently out-troll the trolls. The key must be to not give a shit.

Dave calls Kanaya "bro" twice in this log and seems to mistake her as a man here. John will repeat this mistake later on. Kinda odd that the troll the fandom depicts as sultry and feminine is actually super stoic and awkward to the point where multiple characters think she is male.

I love how Rose is making passive-aggressive remarks about Dave to a total stranger. And calling him "that guy" as if he isn't living rent-free in her head.

Rose is getting a lot of joy out of using Tavros as a proxy to annoy Dave. She even offers to help him out in writing disses (because of course she'll jump at any opportunity to write).

I really love the ending of this log too.

Kanaya is a total dork in case it isn't clear already.

Tavros puts so much effort in his diss rhyme against Dave, but Dave's completely ignoring him to draw more SBaHJ. Tavros never attempts to troll Dave after this which, again, is a fucking disgrace.

Where is the version of Homestuck where Tavros is Dave's bumbling pupil in the slam poetry arts, constantly brushed off until Dave eventually (and reluctantly) decides to take him under his wing, if only to stop him from embarrassing himself? It would be a good role-reversal where Dave inherits Bro's position of the master instead of the student, and maybe get some perspective for why Bro was so dismissive and distant from him all the time.

I guess this kind of obvious character growth is too much of an advanced writing technique for Hussie to implement, so he didn't.

I like how Karkat starts off being a jerk but stops in his tracks because he too is a fan of cheesy movies. Also, I liked Serendipity. It's not great, but it might as well be a masterpiece compared to a lot of the garbage John likes.

Terezi's reaction makes it seem like she really wants to see Karkat's "bone lump." I can't imagine Karkat being outwardly flirty at all, so the idea that he may have expressed any kind of fondness for her must be something she has to read herself.

As a sprite, Jaspers' personality is like a cat voicing thoughts relating to his natural instincts. He focuses mostly on food and expressing affection toward Rose. Anything else he says, like information about the game, is stuff he says without any comprehension of what it means. It's like the game placed that knowledge in his mind and he just thoughtlessly repeats it. I do like that.

The closure Rose expected from Jaspers is about what one would expect (or at least, until her dream self awakens). I wonder what she really expected from asking a cat what it meant by meowing at her.

It only took over 1300 pages, but John has finally responded to one of Dave's messages. He does this in a very detached, oblivious manner, not mentioning the previous messages Dave sent him that he missed. He wants to skip all that time when Dave was in distress and ask only about the recent happenings upon his entry.

I feel bad for Dave, considering his "best friend" is pretty much a plank of wood. And not the fun kind of plank like in Ed, Edd n Eddy.

In what might be the most poignant page of the comic in my honest opinion, Dave and Rose have been trapped in this doomed timeline for four months. Dave is keen to stop wasting any further time and to go back to the past to reverse the actions that led to John's death, but Rose seems very reluctant to let him go. Her words are chosen to imply Dave might be too hasty and to suggest that he should stick around a little while longer "to gather information."

But that isn't the real aim of why Rose wants Dave to stay. She knows that as soon as he leaves, she will die. Trapped in a universe where she's the sole surviving human, it's a cold and lonely death she'll experience. Dave seems to know this too, but tries to assuage her worries by telling her not to think about her impending doom. Perhaps he also doesn't want to think about it, and that's why he wants to leave quickly so as not to dwell on how he's essentially condemning her to death.

But really, four months alone together as the last two humans in existence? That's a lot of off-screen time we aren't shown. And yet it's treated as this brief afterthought, a scene only used as a means to bring Davesprite into existence. I wish we could've seen more of this doomed timeline, more of Dave and Rose realizing their hopeless situation and the harrowing choice they ultimately need to make to set things right.

Yes, it's only a brief page that never gets brought up again, but it's one that sticks in my mind and refuses to leave.

John is being unreasonably (and uncharacteristically) obstinate here. Normally he has no problem following orders unless they place him in direct harm. Why does he trust Terezi so much over his supposed best friend? He ends the log suggesting that he'll listen to Dave, but the next page shows him blasting off anyway. What a prick.

People want to portray Terezi as some master strategist, but she really isn't. She's very single-minded and only ever considers outside information if it aligns with her set goal.

Remember when Terezi said she intended to stay pissed at all the kids forever? That didn't last long. And now through the power of memes, Davesprite has turned Terezi into a good guy now.

Considering how weak most of Homestuck's villains are, it's a real shame we lost out on one who was genuinely effective, engaging, and menacing so soon.

Oh, so I guess the Frog Temple really was "planted" when the meteor first hit Earth ages ago. I'm not sure how satisfied I am with this explanation.

[S] Jack: Ascend not only serves as a big flash to mark the midpoint for Act 4, but it also celebrates the fact that Homestuck turned one year old at this point.

Anyway, Jack's "Joker moment" is when the Queen force-femmed him. Just thought everyone should know that.

So if John's big "awakening" moment was about learning that his dad isn't really a clown, Rose's moment was triggered by being left all alone in a dead timeline and just waiting for the universe to extinguish her life. These are very comparable events! The fact that Rose's future dream self is shown to merge with her present self means that she likely remembers the events of the doomed timeline as well. What a nice load of trauma to be shouldered with!

Here we get the only time the box's contents have any real use: when it turns the Black Queen into soot and blood. Good to know that this MacGuffin only ever serves the villain in a meaningful capacity.

This part of the comic had some good moments, but I'm conflicted. When I revisit these "high points" in the story, I'm reminded of how Hussie never expands upon them and how they just end up as wasted potential. I fear this will set the mood for the remainder of this reread, which kinda sucks honestly. I'd much rather talk about more positive stuff and things I like, but they're few and far between with all the negativity surrounding them.

Read the next post here.

[exilynn]

title: 𝕰𝖈𝖍𝖔𝖊𝖘 𝕹𝖔𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖘( Eddie Munson X OC)

synopsis:

"They say that the legend of Nocteris echoes only in the hearts destined to meet. But what if this echo is so strong that it transcends time and memory?"

Love never made sense to Eddie Munson.

With a cynical view and a shielded heart, he believed that fate was always against him. Until a girl came into his life, and everything changed.

He rolled a 2 and saw her for the first time, laughing with her friends while he played with his band.

He rolled a 5 and, that night without rules, she gave him a glimpse of something deeper in the night.

He rolled a 7 and showered her with compliments at graduation, and for the first time, he saw her beyond the idealized girl – she had something much deeper.

He rolled a 10 and, while she was going through her own inner struggles, he found himself wanting to protect her, but not knowing how.

He rolled a 12 and, after a night full of laughter and confessions, he realized that she was changing his view of love.

He rolled a 15 and, even when everything seemed confused, their hearts were more connected by the echo of feelings.

And when he rolled a 20, he knew that love was never a game, and that he had won the lottery of love, but had no idea, until it happened. The bat of Love bit your soul, and nothing would be the same again.

♥ format: longfic; canon divergence, headcanon's

Characters:

♥ pairing: modern eddie munson x fem oc( self insertion)

♥ warning:

Eddie Munson/Original Female Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Slow Burn, Sexual Tension, Drug Use, Childhood Trauma, Hurt/Comfort, Sadness/Grief, Childhood Friends, Original Character(s), Bullying, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Protective Eddie Munson, Background Hellfire Club (Stranger Things), Basketball Eddie Munson, Explicit Sexual Content, Eddie Munson has a Crush on Quinn Josephine, So many references 80's time, Eddie Munson Has a Sister, Eddie Munson moms Headcanon, Past Jason Carver/Eddie Munson, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Antonella Munson, Corroded Coffin Concert (Stranger Things), Minor Eddie Munson/Original Character(s), Adopted Sibling Relationship, Quinn Josephine has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Loss of Virginity, Good Friend Dustin Henderson, A rewrite of Stranger Things for Eddie Non-canon Love Circle, Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Protective Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Denial of Feelings, Good Friend Eddie Munson, Character Death, Smoking, Eddie Munson Lives, Blow Jobs, Eddie Munson is an ABBA Fan, Eddie Munson is Whipped, Eddie is a simp but just for Quinn, Eddie Munson has Golden Retriever Energy, Eddie Munson Has a Praise Kink, Eddie Munson Has a Daddy Kink, Eddie Munson Has a Breeding Kink, Degradation Kink, Sexual Overstimulation, Eddie Munson is an Rob Zombie Fan

Good reading! 🫦♥️

5. Amnesia

Eddie Munson

I pause the conversation and look around. It’s boring seeing zombies follow the same path every day. Life, sometimes, feels like a rollercoaster of boredom.

But I’m distracted, caught up in the energy of the redhead, involved in the chord she sang for me— a sound that, somehow, heals wounds that have burned for years.

Being with Lily is like putting menthol on an open wound—it stings, but it helps it heal.

I’ve never been a fan of signs, but what if she feels the same? If her heart races and her voice falters like a scratched record, why not let this hellish fire burn?

The eyes don’t lie. Friends can be masters of the art of lying, but the gaze and the heart don’t fall for that temptation when faced with the face of love.

And what if this thing between us has a ‘fingerprint’ from past lives?

Is Hansol the answer to everything that’s happening to me?

Like a good dungeon master, I know life is a game—you roll a twenty-sided die and hope for a high number.

What if it’s time to give in? May Gandalf send me a sign with his wise wizard magic.

I thought I’d never find answers, but Lily, with her lovely view of life, tears down the walls of my dogmas.

She commands the beats of my heart. She controls me like a puppet master.

How does she manage to see the worst in me and still stay?

I don’t know if I know what love is, but maybe it’s like walking into a pet shop and petting the dogs while they lick your face, wagging their tails, happy.

I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something between me and Linda. — something that’s growing, taking shape, like souls surrendering to each other.

Even when words lie, the eyes speak the most genuine truth.

And every time hers meet mine, those of a mammal of the Chiroptera order, my heart beats faster than it should.

Hilarious... I never thought I’d be good at opening up to emotions.

But here I am, lost in the valley of emotion, contemplating giving love a chance since this Galadriel showed up.

She has no idea what she’s doing to my soul. Or maybe she does, but pretends not to.

I hate school romance and prom dances, but there are things I’ve given up on postponing. If I don’t act, a raven will steal her—Jason or Steve...

Letting Carver or Harrington win? Not a chance.

It’s not about possession. Linda isn’t mine. When I call her that in my thoughts, it’s not in that sense. Though I wish she liked me, I would curse myself if I hurt her honor or her heart.

Besides, I don’t even know if I’m worthy of someone loving the darkness in me...

Something changed since that afternoon in the clearing. Considering Linda and I have a bond strong enough to seem like fate, like Arwen and Aragorn...

There’s no logical or spiritual explanation for what she did to me. She came in and adorably messed up my dark paths.

I still want to tell her, if I get the chance: “You came that shitty afternoon and returned my soul, which was sold to the darkness.”

I’ve accepted bargaining for love my whole life.

Maybe Linda is also fighting her own fears. I know well what it’s like to face fierce dragons.

My father’s notorious family sees me as a soul-less delinquent, heartless, with no future in music. If nothing works out, I’ll try out for porn.

The Munson side I bought has falseness in its veins, but they say if I follow my dreams in rock, I’ll fail and end up a drug addict.

But what if it’s possible to build a solid career? Even if they underestimate me?

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that it’s not worth wishing to die prematurely like Kayne... or Kurt Cobain.

I learned to play guitar and drums when I was a kid, using Uncle Wayne’s jars as musical arsenal.

The dream of being a rock star seems as distant as a lone star in the sky.

My first musical experience was listening to "Strange World" by Iron Maiden on a Sunday morning, on Wayne’s transistor radio.

Since then, Maiden became a titanic influence. I know everything about rock and metal bands, but my heart belongs to heavy metal.

Speaking of approaches worse than a Lich, there was someone who came to take advantage. She made me believe I had found the love of my life...

Lana Wink.

She didn’t have a simple disorder. It was a trace of psychopathy.

Her mother sent me emails and messages, warning me to leave Howling, because she knew what her daughter would do “for love.”

Lana was possessive, compulsive.

What did I hate most? She despised my style. When I bought band t-shirts, she’d throw them away or lie to the delivery man that the order had been canceled.

That wasn’t love. Love isn’t in the eyes of the beholder, but in the heart of the one who feels.

With Lily, even though our relationship is just friendship, she always knows what to say. And that comforts me while I deal with my complicated way of being.

But Linda... Linda is a mystery I still need to unravel. And it doesn’t matter if her secrets are dark. — after all, we all carry our own darkness.

Life is like a D&D battle, made of internal struggles. In the end, only those who survive understand the value of victory.

---

My father was a vandal, paid his debt by spending years in a penitentiary east of Howling.

Life gives you a damn deadline, at the mercy of your own fetish for sinning.

Later, Ale enrolled in Stanford, where he met my mother, Elisabeth Jane Le'Blanc.

A brunette passionate about metal, but whose heart beat faster for rock and guitarists like Jimmy Page, Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour...

Their romance began in an unusual way. Eli and Alanfiero were rivals before becoming passionate allies.

Outside the Hellfire Club, I’m just someone who hides in the shadows of the chains that bind him.

Expressing what I feel? Complicated.

Opening up to strangers? It’s like shooting myself in the foot. Giving people access to your fears, courage, and secrets? One day, all that weakness will come back to destroy you.

Does the girl like me for who I am and not the stories they make up? Is this really happening? What did Lily see in me?

I break the walls of silence.

— Your intelligence blows me away. Can’t you lend me a little of that intellect, Hansol?

It’s canonical. A thousand times I’d rather fall for the substance of intellect than focus on outer beauty.

— I’ve seen our talks are crazy, but I confess, I love how we talk. And you’re not so different from my essence...

The confession makes me smile with my eyes.

— I’m not a maniac who would break into a women’s bathroom and... — At that moment, I hand my head on a platter.

— GOTCHA, EDDIE! WERE YOU THE MANIAC WHO INVADED THE WOMEN’S BATHROOM?!

Even being a master of stalling, I can’t lie for long. Not with Lily’s fawn-like eyes judging me.

— In self-defense! I needed to empty the damn bladder before it exploded like a missile!

She makes a face, genuinely disgusted.

— I’m not mad because you explained some anomaly of your urinary tract! — She raises her hands in defense.

— Tell me, redhead, do you see me as an amoeba or something?

— No, the amoebas would be offended. — She laughs. — You’re the only person who annoys me to the extreme, but I confess... I enjoy being annoyed by a Munson.

— If you want to know more about what this freak from Howling hides, welcome to the club.

— No, you’re not what the town says. You’re smart, you’re tough. I wish I could be like you.

— Now you crossed the line, huh? What’s next, are you going to start talking about astrophysics? Is that how you say it?

— The most I learned in school was the French Revolution and some geography stuff!

She says it, and I want to kiss her. Simply because she’s the nerd I’d marry and plan an elvish wedding with.

And if she gave me a chance?

If Lily wanted to be with me, I’d be shouting through the streets of Howling, climbing billboards guided by the voice of happiness.

But something tells me this girl hides what she’s afraid to reveal. Maybe something as strong as the thunder of this freak.

— Would you be with a rocker? Like... me? Like, grr... — I make an animalistic noise and immediately regret it.

She lets out a laugh, adjusting a strand of hair that falls over her honey-colored eyes.

— GR! — Lily imitates the sound, laughing.

What kind of neural connection is this?

Minutes pass, and she’s on the verge of an attack—fortunately, one of laughter.

— What games do you like, Hansol? — Curiosity pokes me.

— Some you don’t even know exist.

— Is it worth trying my luck? I know... RPG with battles?

— Worse than that. I’d rather leave you curious until your mind rots.

— Do you lie about knowing nerdy things? — My tone is indignant. — Lily, what else is on your hate list?

— Never said I hated high fantasy. If you want to know, I hate things you would be capable of not judging...

— If you hate the people who started the Vietnam War and Nazis equally, that’s fine. But not liking high fantasy? That’s crazy, Hansol!

— Who said I don’t like RPG? And what do I hate? Strong smells, Nazis, and... peas. And if you judge me for the vegetable, I’ll ditch you!

I sigh, laughing, and can’t help but notice her licking her lips.

— I don’t like peas either. What worries me is enduring my curiosity about you...

— Sometimes you say random stuff, but I love it. It’s sexy...

— It’s kind of hard not to think dirty with you... — I can barely articulate the words, feeling her thigh brush against mine.

She smiles.

The redhead reminds me of cool mornings, the smell of wet earth, rainy days perfect for sleeping until the world ends.

— Did you know Wayne had a bunch of adult films he kept hidden? The old man wanted to preserve my innocence.

— That explains the fire in the ass for nerd girls!

Little does she know, something terrible happened when I watched those films.

Wayne took me to the doctor and discovered penile atrophy. I don’t blame the old man, necessary discoveries.

What was it? Teenagers need to satisfy themselves frequently.

The conversation after the appointment involved laughs, me with my hand in the middle of my legs, reflecting on the diagnosis. Normal.

It wasn’t pleasant when Wayne forbade me from getting Playboy magazines or porn cassettes.

But that story is for another time.

---

— Today, I don't see any problem with maturing down there earlier... it's a rite of passage for every boy.

— Crazy to know I'm older than you...

How so? She's so small.

— How old are you?

She’s trying to catch me off guard, I know it.

— Sixteen... eighty-six? — I guess just to see where this goes.

— Older than my grandma? — She raises an eyebrow. — Aren’t you twenty?

— Before I get screwed over, call me old... I’m nineteen, Lily!

— Cool, I’m a spring older than you. But don’t tell anyone, okay?

— Twenty? Wait, how many times have you repeated a grade?

— Confidential information. — The redhead looks around before facing me again.

— Does asking offend you? — I press my lips together, trying to hold back the laugh.

— No. You could even ask the color of my panties, and I’d tell you.

My head spins.

— I’ve already said I have a lot of panties at home... — I blurt out without thinking.

— Admit it, Eddie... Are they from girls who slept with you and forgot them there?

— I don’t have that kind of reputation, Hansol.

— Then why would you have panties and bras? Do you wear them?

I let out a laugh.

— Is that what you imagined? Well, if Ozzy wore lingerie, why wouldn’t I?

Her eyes widen.

— He did that?

— I don’t wear panties, but if you want, buy me an edible one. — I wink, smiling.

— Oh, they exist. But it must be pretty anticlimactic...

The redhead tries to grab my hand, but a waiter appears with drinks. She grabs his pants without hesitation.

The guy is startled and tilts the tray our way.

— What’s the flavor, sir?

— This blue one? Tutti-frutti cocktail... Tastes like childhood. — He smiles.

— Strangely, the smell reminds me of someone... and her birthday night.

— Do you still keep that person in your heart? — Her voice sounds softer now.

— We create memories to write in a diary...

— What’s your philosophy on life, Eddie? — Her question catches me off guard, changing direction suddenly.

I think for a bit.

— Life is full of holes, but you can either jump over the stones in the way or risk getting to the other side of the mountain.

— And what do you know about love, Eddie Munson?

— That fate is a damn Lich.

She furrows her brow, intrigued.

— Great point, but what if life is more than creatures lurking?

— It is... But if you focus on the idea that you’ll wither tomorrow, what lives in today? — I throw the reflection on the table.

— Nietzsche said in Human, All Too Human: "The Stoics claim that if you suffer, it’s your own fault; I say that if you suffer, it’s their fault."

— In my ignorant opinion, no one suffers because they want to. Look at it however you want, but betrayals of all kinds exist.

Lily gets thoughtful.

— Some people leave when they see their darkness, when you strip your soul to them...

— Poetic... — I reflect, distant.

— Life has its sad poetry.

— But some see their dragons and stay. Never thought about that?

She sighs.

— Maybe, but no one loves you if you're not beautiful. Whether in soul or face. I’m a little afraid of aging...

If allowed, I’d love Lily from the pinky to when the wrinkles show up.

— Love isn’t just about what you think is best in someone. It’s about how they laugh at jokes, how they inspire a song...

— Ah, so love, to you, is a composition?

— Love is what keeps you steady, what stops you from falling apart. It’s not religion, nor a closed concept. Everyone sees it based on what they learned from a young age. Get it?

— I get it... Even if I’ve never talked to that feeling before, or had coffee with it. But... what’s worse, falling for a human or a dwarf?

— Isn’t a dwarf a human with powers?

She’s not as slow as she says.

— I’m terrible with complex explanations. It gives me a headache.

— Eddie, you don’t need to be a genius in cosmology. Just be the Eddie I met in school.

Her request ignites something in me.

— You don’t belong in a world so hypocritical and full of rules. You’re beautiful like a Maiden song...

— Big compliment, huh? — A smile spreads across her cheeks. — I feel like something changed since I saw you, Eddie...

Is this a confession?!

— What? — My heart races.

She looks into my eyes, then lowers her gaze to my hands.

— Do my rings hypnotize you?

— No, I just think they’re pretty. Do people buy them for meaning or just for elegance?

— In my case, I buy them at thrift stores because they’re cheap and always have some cool ones.

— You said a lot but explained little.

— There’s no right way to wear them. You just buy them and wear them.

I move my fingers, showing the mood ring.

— These rings remind me of a movie... How do they work?

I love her curious side.

— Blue, creative. Green, happy. Pink, adorable. Purple, very happy. Light blue, relaxed. Blue-green, confused. Orange, nervous. White, cozy. Red, stressed.

— Ah, like when rings turn black on your finger because the person is nervous?

— Not exactly. Some people buy them as a lucky charm, not just for style.

---

The silence between us stretches until Lily breaks it. She brings the cocktail glass to her lips and nearly empties it in one go, which worries me.

— Eddie, is there any magic that banishes evil people? — The question sounds innocent but carries a latent resentment.

— If you were a tiefling, you could cast an arcane spell and make everyone on the planet disappear.

She laughs lightly and taps my arm.

— You love everything you imagine... It’s an adored adoration!

— "Adored adoration"? That sounds quite poetic for a master of imagination. Can I borrow it? — My tone slips into a subtle flirt.

— Yes... But in the end, there’s always a wall between imagining and achieving. Even hearts can get trapped behind emotional walls...

I hope the only place Lily leads me to is the walls of her elven heart.

— I was thinking... Are you a poet, Eddie? — She looks at me with a gaze that warms me.

— Call it a less fancy version of a poet, elf.

— And... are you happy? — She rests her chin in her hands, curious.

— I live what life gives me. If it gives me oranges, I’ll squeeze them until they turn into lemonade...

— So you hate this thing about conformism and know-it-alls?

She gets me. Here’s the question: the woman of my life or for my life?

In my imagination, it seems adorable... Her in armor and wielding a magic sword, kicking the butt of a Lich or Tiamat.

— We’re alike in this — I say, amused. — But what about indirect flirting? Does it bother you?

I made sure to ask. There’s nothing more annoying than a guy forcing it when the girl isn’t interested.

— If we don’t accept flirting, we end up like cavemen with no emotional life. Let’s kill romanticism!

She makes a point. And that grabs my attention in a different way. It’s not just desire.

— You have an interesting view, redhead... You almost sound like a female Gandalf.

I expect an “oh, thank you,” but she raises an eyebrow.

— Do I look like the gray wizard?

My brow furrows. Does she also like The Lord of the Rings?

— I like his executioner side...

— What I like most about that character is how he protected the dwarves from the trolls.

— Leader’s blood, huh? — When I ask, I get lost in her eyes.

A waiter approaches, interrupting our conversation. Lily smiles when she sees him.

— Hey...

— Is she drunk? — The waiter asks, alarmed.

— It depends on the point of view. Lily was born drunk. — I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Suddenly, the redhead pulls the guy’s pants, which fall down to his knees.

— SIR, SORRY! — She panics, wanting to disappear under the table.

The waiter throws the tray of drinks at us and runs to the bathroom, red as a tomato.

— HANSOL!

I look in disbelief at the most absurd and hilarious scene I’ve ever seen in the VIP area.

— Eddie, if you laugh, I’ll cut off the production of your future hairy babies.

— I wasn’t going to laugh, Hansol... But that guy is definitely going to quit after being stripped by you!

The laugh escapes before I can hold it back. Lily looks away toward the drinks, and I cut off the fun before she has any ideas.

— Don’t even think about it. You want to fall into an alcoholic coma?

— Don’t scold me. You’re not even mine!

— Not a dad, not a brother. Just someone who cares about you, redhead.

— Why? — She makes a face. — Are you going to kidnap me and sell my organs?

— I don’t deal with that kind of illegal thing... — I pause, realizing. — Okay, selling drugs maybe, but organs, no!

— You saying that doesn’t prove anything.

— You know me better than anyone, Lily.

She huffs, crossing her arms, maybe remembering her father’s stories about the dangers of the night.

— Sorry if I was annoying. You have a kind heart, and I’m acting like a rebellious teenager...

— I’m your friend, Lily. I’d jump off a bridge to save you.

— You already said something like that when you took care of my knee.

— Was I going to let you bleed out? I take care of my sheep.

The silence settles until she murmurs, almost without thinking:

— How cute, Chewbby.

My fingers stop tapping on the table.

For a second, it’s like Quinn is right there, calling me the way she did when we were kids.

“Chewbby! What are we going to play today?”

— What? — My voice comes out quieter than it should.

Her gaze lights up in regret.

— You look like Chewbacca. And... I like nicknames.

She closes her eyes, realizing the connection she triggered, while a strange weight settles in my chest.

— Don’t apologize. — I try to ease the tension, even though I’m not sure why.

— Eddie... do you still like that friend?

My head screams that it’s impossible. But something inside me hesitates to answer.

— How could I not? I’m no longer a virgin mouth thanks to her...

She watches me, intrigued.

— I’d love to hear the details of that childhood kiss.

— Wow, you’re curious, huh?

— It’s an evil that came with me. People’s stories always inspire me.

---

Lily listened to my confession about Quinn attentively, her eyes shining with curiosity. She seemed intrigued by the story, especially when I described the kiss—starting sweet and ending soft like cotton candy.

— The only certainty I have is that Quinn will always be the music that makes my heart beat faster...

I change the subject.

— The kiss is something private. I won’t tell you any more. But... do you want a drink?

I point to the bar near the ice rink, but she laughs and corrects me:

— Soda?

I nod, and she keeps laughing.

— Not the sodapop! — She references something only she understands. — What will you have, rocker?

— You’re clumsy, but cute. I have no idea what to drink...

— Oh, really, Munson? Clumsy is your mom! — She protests, pouting cutely before sashaying to the bar.

She returns balancing the sodas in one hand, the redhead almost tripping along the way.

— Your soda. I got juice because my stomach’s not doing too well...

— Get well soon. Hm, Hansol, is this poison? — I shake the package, teasing.

She looks at me perplexed.

— Did you know you’re unbearable, annoying rocker?!

— Ouch. You’ve already fallen out of love with me?

I watch her lips, the gloss making the tempting red even more noticeable. But I quickly look away to check my phone, refreshing the notifications every five minutes.

— What’s so interesting, Eddie? Girlfriend? — She teases.

— Seems more interesting than this prom. My sister brought me, I just want to know if she’s okay...

— She brought you? — She sucks the straw, staring at me.

— We came in her old car. That clunker. And she still has the audacity to say my van is a wreck.

Lily falls silent.

— But, hey, this isn’t poison, right? — I pout.

Lily grabs my soda and drinks it without hesitation. She lets out a satisfied sound.

— I drank the poison. Anything else, Mr. Munson?

— You weren’t supposed to drink my soda, girl! — I protest, holding back a laugh.

She admits it was impulsive, but then suddenly pales. And before I can react, she collapses.

I wish I didn’t have to piece this puzzle together, but Carver appears behind her, laughing as if he were watching the best disaster.

I lift Lily off the ground, holding her firmly in my arms. Carefully, I take off my Kas cloak and place it over her shoulders so she doesn’t get sick. Colds are hellish.

I call a waiter and ask for water and something rich in protein. The guy stumbles back with a fruit juice and some random plate.

— Lily? — I call, trying to make her react.

— What? — She wakes up, her eyes wide.

She struggles and sits on a bench.

— Hm... I took care of you when you were drunk... — I sit next to her.

— What? Why?

She notices my fingers touching her hair and pulls away in a startled reflex.

— You don’t remember falling, damn it? — I stare into her honey-colored eyes.

She blinks, trying to regain her senses.

— Oh... sorry, I don’t remember...

— Okay. I asked for water, but all they had was fruit juice. And it’s good to eat something to cut the alcohol’s effect...

I hand her the juice and a plate with chicken.

— Can you make this weird mix? — she asks, suspicious.

— I don’t know. If you want to respect the meal interval, go ahead.

She doesn’t argue, drinks the juice, and eats a piece of the lean meat. Then she looks at me, as if seeking answers for everything that happened that night.

— Eddie... how did I pass out?

— Don’t remember anything?

— If I’m asking, it’s because I have no idea, Eddie!

— I think you were used as bait. Someone wants to ruin my night with you...

— Who? What?

She looks at me, demanding an answer.

I think before speaking. I know about her feelings for Jason, that "popped condom" of a guy. I could lie, accuse anyone, but I prefer to be honest.

— Can you be honest with me, Eddie? — she asks, nervous.

— I will. — I huff. — I’ve had an enemy since childhood. Jason Carver.

— You and Jason? But what if you tried to be friends again?

— Not at all. The idiot burned down the old Hellfire Club location.

— Maybe one day you’ll resolve that rivalry.

— I don’t like anything about him, and he can’t stand that I’m sarcastic. So, we’re even.

Lily reflects.

— If Jason drugged me to ruin the prom night, don’t worry. The damage always returns to the one who throws it.

Damn. That Carver is interested in my girl...

— That idiot never knows when to stop... but he’ll get what he deserves... — I pretend I’m not jealous.

---

The DJ announces that the band scheduled to play at the prom canceled at the last minute and they’re looking for someone to play a rock or metal hit.

Linda, of course, pushes me toward the stage.

— EDDIE, DO YOU PLAY GUITAR? — she shouts excitedly, her voice cutting through the chatter of the crowd.

— Hey, but... — I try to protest, but she doesn’t let me finish.

She shoves me away from the chair, pushing my back.

— GET UP THERE AND SING SOMETHING!

— No way, I prefer social distancing!

She ignores me. Grabbing my collar, she stares at me with that look that’s impossible to argue with.

— FORGET ABOUT THE OTHERS, SAVE OUR GRAD NIGHT!

I take a deep breath and kiss my "lucky charm" — my pick. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea. After all, the last time I played guitar, Corroded Coffin took second place in the Howling battle of the bands.

— This is crazy... — My gaze meets Lily’s honey-colored eyes.

— Are you going to chicken out? Where’s the rockstar in you, Munson?

Damn. Linda’s never been more right.

— They said it would be rock, not metal!

— So what? Can’t you play either one? Or both?

I step on my fear like it’s a bug — aka Jason.

— I never get nervous. Okay, I have, but not like this...

— What can I do to help? — she asks, looking into my eyes.

Before I can answer, she solves it her way. She grabs me and kisses me. Just like that. No warning. But before I can react, Lily pulls away and taps my head.

— Go on, outlaw. Show Carver who’s in charge.

I get on stage as the lights intensify and the voices in the crowd turn into a distant murmur.

The DJ greets me.

— What are you playing, rocker boy?

I scratch my neck, a little shy.

— Still Life, by Iron Maiden? I want to dedicate this song to a girl in the audience...

But then I change my mind.

— No, wait. I feel like playing Mississippi Queen.

— GO FOR IT, BOY! — the sound technician cheers.

I grab the mic.

— Guys, I want to hear some noise!

— THAT’S IT, MUNSON! YOU’RE ROCK N' ROLL! — someone yells.

I take a deep breath, grip the guitar, and stare at the audience. My eyes meet Carver’s, who’s probably mentally assassinating me. But I also see something else...

Steve Harrington.

Near Lily.

My jaw locks.

From the stage, I can hear their conversation.

— Lily, are you dating Munson? — Steve asks, curious.

— No. Eddie and I are like oil and water. But I bet he’s going to rock that guitar.

He tries to touch her arm.

— You look beautiful. What did you dress up as?

— Lily, from the Monsters series...

— The show? And why did you pull away from me? Don’t you like the popular kids anymore?

— Of course not. They’re horrible to others. And you pulled away when you started playing basketball.

— Me? You disappeared when I asked you out.

— Oh, Steve. It was weird. It’s the same with Eddie and me... Can you imagine if we were dating?

She laughs. He smiles sideways.

— I’ll forgive you if you promise to go out with me. No date, just something casual between friends.

— I’ll think about it. But I can’t promise I’ll accept.

My blood boils. Before he can try anything else, I grab the mic and announce:

— Hey, redhead. This one’s for you!

Lily looks at me surprised. Steve steps back as a brunette approaches him.

I hold the guitar. It’s time to play. And make it clear who’s in charge.

Under the fading twilight, amid the faded colors of the night sky, I face the school, my fingers sliding across the guitar strings.

With a powerful yet delicate chord, I start playing Mississippi Queen, the 1970 classic from Mountain — the kind of song parents show their kids, saying it was part of their majestic youth.

The first notes echo down the hallway, bouncing off the walls. The initial apprehension fades, replaced by a growing confidence with each chord. I let myself sink into the rhythm, my fingers flowing across the frets. The crowd falls silent, captivated by the performance.

My eyes find Lily’s, and her smile lights up my American rockstar dream.

The melody takes on a life of its own. The song builds, reaches its climax, and I lose myself in the performance. Lily enjoys herself, immersed in each note, her hands forming a cloud of imaginary smoke. The redhead gives me the energy to keep going, casting silent looks that almost scream:

"You should kiss me after this show!"

Each note now exudes the essence of rock 'n' roll passion. The melody fills the air, uniting everyone in the hall. When the final notes float away, a round of applause slices through my insecurity.

I step off the stage to applause. Lily sees me, pulls me into a tight embrace. Our mouths almost touch.

I release her hand, and we head to the table. The redhead insists:

— That was awesome! Did you learn to play? Your voice and guitar give me butterflies in my stomach!

She looks at me with a sparkle in her eyes, unsure whether to stare at my face or my fingers. It’s amazing to see her seduced by the music.

— It’s all about practice, baby. I studied the masters and perfected my own style.

— How did we not cross paths before at Howling High?

— As far as I know, rabbits cross paths... And they’re champions at procreating...

Lily raises an eyebrow.

— Reproduction?

— Yeah... I’m sure you’re boiling after that insane performance. Aren’t you?

— I traveled through dimensions I never imagined reaching...

— You trusted I’d crush it on stage? — I graze my fingers on her arm.

— My only fear was Jason ruining everything with some sleazy joke.

— Carver? It was Harrington who couldn’t stop staring at you. Didn’t you see?

— Oh, are you like a bat that picks up high-frequency sounds?

— I’m not a bat, Lily. But the way Steve looked at you wasn’t how a friend looks at a friend.

— Relax. From me, he’ll only get sisterly love... You’re my guy. The one Howling will be a fan of one day!

— Okay, stop sweet-talking me, but my talent needs recognition from someone who works with music.

— No dream is impossible when you’re dedicated. You have to fly toward what makes you dream. Screw the others!

— Lily, you don’t have to try to fit in. Trust me, you have an effect on people. Now, you’re making me dream...

She stays silent, absorbing my words.

— I cause an effect like... drugs?

— Mango Haze.

She looks at me, lost.

I gather the information from her eyes and invite her to dance. No romantic ball, something more visceral, like old rock 'n' roll.

— Maybe in the future, Eddie, you’ll tell me you sent a demo to a label? You never get anywhere without taking risks!

— I’m good... — I decline, smiling. — Now, shall we dance?

— Alright, rocker! — She rolls her eyes but grabs my fingers, pulling me to the dance floor.

The hall pulses with an energy tied to romance. Our gazes meet, and when Lily looks away, I hold her chin, bringing her back to me.

— Damn... You’re as beautiful as a song that sticks in your mind...

She doesn’t respond, but her smile already says “thank you.”

— I see a thousand suns in you. The energy of the sun... and I’m the moon.

For the first time, I don’t pull away when someone mentions astrology.

— Here you go with that sign stuff... But you know what? I liked the way you said it.

I lean in, pressing my mouth to her ear in a whisper. Lily shivers at the base. We dance to Rob Zombie’s "Foxy Foxy." A different moment with her, the world disappears. With her head resting on my shoulder, I long for her lips.

As we move, we are one. The sun and the moon. Immersed in the madness of the music and the love that surrounds our prom night.

But why, out of all the girls at Howling High—only one crossed my path and didn’t run away from Eddie, the freak?

---

Dancing with Lily creates an intimate energy that scares me. For the first time, I let go on the dance floor, forgetting the fear of judgment. But when the DJ changes the song, we decide to leave.

Before I can react, Lily trips, almost falling. I catch her in my arms, our breaths colliding.

— Are you okay? — I ask, overwhelmed by a strange desire to hold her forever.

Our eyes meet in a personal and intense moment.

— Chewbby... — she murmurs, deliberately throwing herself against me.

A strange force stirs here, awakening memories I’d rather forget. Something inside me recoils.

— Linda, let me go! — I shout, pushing her harder than I should.

The anger disappears the next moment, leaving only guilt.

— Get out of the way, idiot! — she snaps, pulling away, hurt.

Even trembling, she tries to understand my reaction. I stand still, confused, but my heart screams louder than reason. I run after her.

I catch up to her in the middle of the hall and, breathless, beg:

— Hey... I’m not normally like this. But when you call me like that... Damn. It’s not your fault. It’s just... — I swallow hard. — It’s an internal wound.

She looks down, shaking her head.

— I should’ve known you’re just like the other guys, Eddie.

— I’m not like them! — I point to Jason and his group. — I know I’m arrogant and annoying, but... are we still friends?

Her gaze carries an understanding I don’t deserve.

This is strange for me, the rocker dedicated to guitars and deafening metal. But does she accept me, even with my darkest flaws?

My heart beats hard, like the roar of an out-of-control engine.

Deep down, I know there’s something special between us. Something that banishes any animosity.

And if she wants to be by my side on this melodic journey... this is where I want to stay.

[kalegrinch]

Can I have a headcanons request Rocky from Lackadaisy having a mom type of friend from a coven?

✨Lackadaisy’s Witch✨

Rocky Rickaby/Reader

1k~ words

OH MY GODS it took me SO LONG to write this fic bc I felt burnt out after my last one lmao. While this fic can be read as romantic if you really want it’s meant to be platonic. I’m not really used to writing (or even reading) platonic fanfiction if I’m being honest, and this turned out to be longer than I’d anticipated and isn’t my best work but I hope y’all like it.

SUMMARY: Your first rum-running gig with Lackadaisy and Rocky as a Healing Witch

WARNINGS: Little bit of blood and violence w/ guns but nothing too bad

=========

Rocky is always getting himself into trouble

Everyone knows that

But something everyone does not know, however, is that you are one of the most powerful healing witches in the entirety of St. Louis

AKA the one force keeping Rocky from his succumbing to his death

And no one cares more for his safety than you do

Your expert healing skills always aid him after a long time out completing odd-jobs for lackadaisy

And you've found you’ve needed to heal him more often day by day

Sometimes its internal bleeding, this one time it was pneumonia

(And there was also that ear he never let you touch with your magic)

But most commonly its bullet holes

You still remember the first time you healed him

And you still bring it up wherever he does or suggests doing something stupid by himself

Shortly after you applied to join him on his quests for The Lackadaisy he took you with him to a random abandoned house in the middle of the night

It was a mansion built in the early 1800’s that could have once been a beautiful, eloquent structure, but was now no more than an old, creaking pile of wood

It stood tall in the night sky, a silhouette in front of the pale moon

The mansion casted long shadows that stretched across the barren farm fields it resided, shadows you and Rocky currently stood in

The objective of your first mission with Rocky was to retrieve an old case of whisky that hid deep in the cellars of the manson for the Speakeasy

A rather unnerving mission for an already eerie night

Being the motherly figure you were, you had tried your absolute best to hurry the expedition up

You knew when you signed up to work with Rocky that there would be trouble everywhere

But because of the fact that you obviously could not ever get him to stop working for Mitsi you decided patrolling the missions Rocky went on was good enough

Your so called “Patrolling” seemed to come up short because right after clawing your way into the house a suspicious figure seemed to move ever so slightly in the opposite side of the house, shaded in darkness

That figure held a gun

A bullet flew straight into Rocky's chest

With no time to heal or fight, you decided fleeing was your best option for survival

Taking Rocky's falling body into your arms and heaving him onto your back, you ran through the dark night

Gunshots sang behind you, some whizzing past too close for comfort

But all you could do was run as fast as your legs allowed you with Rocky’s dead weight on your back

And no, he wasn't very heavy (Which was something that concerned you from time time)

Your legs continued to pump into the earth until you reached your car and haul Rocky into the passenger seat

Turning the engine on and stepping on the gas, you made your way past the barren farmlands of the Manson as fast as you could and into an overgrown forest

Trees and leaves and bushes and shrubs were all a mixture of brown and red and yellow bathed in nightlight as you sped past them

You hadn't realized how much time had passed until your came to a screeching halt the top of a falling cliffside at the edge of the forest

The cliff overlooked the Mississippi River, which eventually gave way to the twinkling night lights and tall gray buildings of St. Louis you had come to love

You let out a long sigh as soon as you saw the site, realizing you’d been holding a long breath since your escape from the manson

Unlike the Mississippi River and golden lights of St. Louis, you did not like the sight right beside you

The one you had forgotten since leaving the manson in your previous terror and panic

He was breathing so heavily, on the verge of unconsciousness

A paw pressed against the bullet hole, a futile attempt to stop the blood from seeping out

The red, red blood now a shade of mahogany in moonlight

Fear rushed through you

Rocky had been so nice to you

He didn't mind your witchery in a place where your people were discriminated against

He had shown you a job in a place where money was scarce and people slept hungry

He had made you laugh more times than you believe you ever did in your childhood, more times than you ever imagined you could when you first moved here and were one of those people sleeping hungry in the streets of St. Louis

Even though you were the person who took care of others, the “mother” of the Lackadaisy Speakeasy, Rocky had taken you under his wing

Holding a hand out in front of the hole, you set to work with determination

Light radiated from you, washing the car in the color of your magic

The light cascaded out of the car and into the forest

Even though you couldn't see yourself, you knew your pupils had turned your color, too

Internally you chanted your mantra as you focused all of your energy into healing Rocky, binding and knitting his skin and flesh back together at an achingly slow pace

Luckily the bullet had not hit any vital organs, straying to the left of his body

If it had, though…

You shivered

A couple of minutes later you felt that familiar satisfying feeling of healing course through you and you knew the job was done and his skin was okay again

The night had turned to dawn before you realized it, and all that was left to do was to wake Rocky and return home, tired and beaten

You took some time breathing in and out after the nights events, recollecting your thoughts and turning back to the wheel to start the car up

Rocky eventually opened his eyes as you passed over the bridge that brought you closer to home

You noticed he was awake when he shot up and grimaced, shutting his eyes and hissing as he settled back down

Even still Rocky managed a sleepy smile in your direction as he croaked a low “Get me some pancakes later, will you?” before falling into a more peaceful sleep than earlier

You finally felt relieved as you drove back to The Lackadaisy, making a mental note to scold Rocky later

Even long after the whole ordeal of your first mission with Rocky everyone in the speakeasy made remarks on your relationship with him, commenting on how you baby him around as if he was no intellectually smarter than an infant

Not that those comments offended Rocky or you

For everyone also knows Rocky’s a 22 year old going on 12

[kaccvcate]

second autobiographical essay below

The first sixteen years of my life I spent with my mom, and they were honestly the motherfucking worst.

My mom met my step dad larping when I was about 2, he was 16, and she was 26. She got pregnant, they got married, and he started sexually abusing me right away. When my brother was born, I couldn't stand him and was a complete cunt to him (sorry dude, I was a kid and I didn't know better.)

When I started school, I struggled to focus and did very poorly, and my mom and step dad would beat me and take all my things out of my room except for furniture, and lock me in there except to use the bathroom, for months on end, until they thought my grades were good enough. My step dad would come into my room at night and touch me. He would also jump out at me around corners and "wrestle" with me (pretending to wrestle for fun so he could squeeze my tits.) I would struggle and yell, and bite him as hard as I could, and my mom would punish me for hurting him. Sometimes he would do it in front of her, and when I complained to her, she would call me a liar. (His name again: Rigel Cameron Freeman.)

We moved pretty much every year because my parents struggled to maintain jobs. Mainly we lived in different parts of Gainesville, Florida, but we also briefly lived in Raleigh, North Carolina. At school I was usually the only non Christian kid, and I was a complete asshole because my family life was so horrible, so no one liked me and I was bullied constantly. I spent a lot of time in class, and all my time at recess, drawing and making up imaginary friends, or reading books about talking cats (I was very misanthropic, something I still struggle with.) When I was in late elementary to middle school, I made a few friends I still talk to. That was also the same time as my first suicide attempt (5th grade), and when I started self harming.

When I was 12 I dyed my hair red, and my friend's dad named me Red (their family were Irish and Cherokee.) I had been called lots of other names before that, basically something different by each relative, and the only thing everyone could agree on was that none of them suited me (and no one ever called me my government name.) After I was named Red, I dyed my hair every other color you can think of, but my name has stayed the same.

The same year, I moved to Miami, and that began a new isolated phase in my life that led to me becoming interested in magick. My mom had never lived in a major city before, and we ended up moving to a pretty sketchy neighborhood (gunshots almost every night, drive bys, etc.) In our home country (Mississippi) kids are simply expected to fend for themselves outdoors until supper. Now that I was trapped inside with my incredibly abusive family, I had nothing to turn to but the internet (something I'm sure many of us here can relate to.)

I became interested in magic through mythology. I had always found other pre-Christian cultures fascinating, since I wasn't allowed to learn anything about my own, and I discovered through Wikipedia and Google searches that people still practiced the pagan European religions of my ancestors. Through neopaganism, I began to learn about ceremonial magic extremely quickly, feeling as though it was the one piece of my life I'd been missing, finding that I had an innate understanding of something other than visual art for the first time. It wasn't long before I was ready to try my first invocation. I had always wondered if I had a "spirit animal," or a guide, which I knew must be part of my subconscious, and recognizing immediately that I could use ritual meditation to access this, I crafted my first ritual based on some uninitiated wiccan articles I had been reading, and what implements I had laying around. I set out a circle of stones, invoked the four quadrants with a candle at each cardinal direction, laid out offerings of oil, salt, and water, lit an incense cone, and two additional candles for the Mother and Father. My practice is very different now, but my results at the time were extraordinarily intense. When I closed my eyes, this is what I saw:

Dense forest, high on the mountain. It's foggy and overcast, but it's summertime. The rocks are covered with moss, thick and green. I look down at my sandy brown forepaws and know that I am a panther. I begin to stroll, and I can feel the power in my muscles. I'm strong and free.

I opened my eyes, and was back in my bedroom, surrounded by rocks and candles. Shortly afterward, my mom mentioned Scott Panther to me for the first time (I didn't remember meeting him as a baby.) I'm sure it will confuse some that my first experience with a native archetype, my family animal, was through a European style ritual. Hey, think how I feel! I should have been able to take peyote and meet a mountain lion face to face to earn my name, like any decent person. Unfortunately, since I was so isolated, I didn't have the privilage. My connection to the panther is extremely deep - some of my first dreams were of being a cat, and the first time I prayed (age 8) it was to "StarClan," which, for the uninitiated, is the clan of dead cats who live in the sky in the children's book series Warrior Cats (I still like to think my cat ancestors are up there watching.) I've always studied cat behavior and embodied cat energy, even before I had any vision, but in my life that was treated as something annoying and strange by the people around me, rather than the sacred mystical practice it was. When I had cats in my life, I prioritized them, often over my own health and safety. Even though I only have a dog now, I still consider cats to be my teachers. I can't say whether my conceptualization of reality and my experiences is native, or European, but I would guess it's a mix of both, like me.

I started high school at MAST Academy in Miami, a school for "future scientists." My family always discouraged me from drawing or playing music, often my instruments would be taken away or sold, or I would have nothing but lined notebook paper to draw on (I would only get things I needed for school.) Since all I had to decide a "career" on was my passion for non-human animals, I thought I might be a zoologist. It was a lot less horrible than most other high schools in a lot of ways, and a few of the teachers even treated me like a person (cheers.) I started visiting my dad a little during this period, he began teaching me about Jewish mysticism and Kaballah, what little I could understand, and I began to read from his collection of books on magick and the occult.

During my second year of high school, my mom and step dad moved to the Netherlands, and brought me with them. I was too young and shy (scared) to have any fun, and I just thought about suicide constantly. My mom would never stop yelling at me about everything, telling me how l worthless I am. I caught my step dad taking pictures of me as I got out of the shower, and my little brother told me he caught him watching me sleep through the window over my bedroom door (you could stand at the top of the stairs and look right through it.) I became paranoid he was going to start raping me again, like he did when I was younger, and slept with a knife beside me, when I could sleep. (Again, his name is Rigel Cameron Freeman, and he is a computer programmer who works in the video game industry.)

The only positive part of my life during this period was an online death cult I joined, called Les Fleurs de la Mort. I can't talk about our practices in detail, but it lead me to get really into gardening, which was probably the healthiest possible pastime for me. I don't think I've spoken to any of my fellow Fleurists in years, but if any y'all are reading this, meow.

After I turned 16, I got the chance to visit my dad back in Miami (court ordered), and I refused to return to my mom. I haven't heard from my mom or step dad since then, except for a handful of extremely rude emails from my mom before covid, and I hope that's the end of it.

Rigel Cameron Freeman, the pedophile who made my life hell and molested me constantly throughout my childhood, currently has sole custody of my youngest sibling, who's 9. (He was born after I left, and we've never met.)

[hooked-on-elvis]

"ELVIS: SUMMER '56"

— FULL DOCUMENTARY (2011)

This is probably my favorite Elvis documentary coming from his acquaintances with their very special accounts of the times shared with EP. It has to do with June Juanico's book being my favorite of all times (written by one of his women), so I highly recommend you reading the book so you can better appreciate this doc.

"Elvis: In The Twilight of Memory" (1997) by June Juanico.

One of the things I love the most about June's book are her tender words about Elvis' mom, Gladys Presley. Gladys and Vernon were with June and El during a part of his Biloxi, Mississippi vacation time in 1956. I will never, ever get over the fact that June dedicated the book to Gladys. This was so thoughtful of her. It really touched my heart and I know Elvis also would have appreciated this too. I believe this is the best book to understand how loving and caring Mrs. Presley was to her son and also with his fans, when it comes to intimate moments of hers and Elvis' life. Besides, June's book is drama free, very minimal sad parts, much because June and Elvis dated in 1956, a period in his life when pretty much everything happening was exciting and fun. Anyway, if you feel like watching the doc first and then going to the book, it's okay but you'll understand it better once you have more details on those footage and pictures the doc will share. I promise you won't regret a bit in taking some time to read June's book. It's dreamy, really. I felt like I was right there watching all happening, the whole time. June's an excellent writer. ♥

"Elvis: In The Twilight of Memory" (first published in 1997) by June Juanico. Introduction by Peter Guralnick.

Elvis in Biloxi, Mississippi. 1956.

[beardedmrbean]

Chilling video shows a Mississippi teenager calmly walking through her home to gun down her mom — then sending loving texts to lure her stepdad there, and shooting him, too, according to prosecutors.

Carly Gregg, 15, is currently on trial for allegedly killing her high school teacher mom, Ashley Smylie, and then shooting her stepdad, Heath Smylie, in their Brandon, Miss., home back in March after they learned of her “secret life” with drugs.

Alarming surveillance video shown to the court on Tuesday showed the baby-faced teen awkwardly shuffling around the home — allegedly clutching a gun behind her back shortly before she opened fire.

Gregg, wearing a Nirvana band shirt, was filmed disappearing off camera into her mother’s bedroom just seconds before three shots rang out – followed by Smylie’s piercing screams, according to the clip obtained by Law & Crime.

The teen then returned to the kitchen roughly 10 seconds later, still allegedly clutching the weapon behind her back.

Prosecutors said Gregg faced the camera the whole time in a bid to hide the weapon, which was later identified as a .357 Magnum handgun.

Once she was back in view of the camera, Gregg could be seen grabbing her mom’s phone off the kitchen counter and calmly taking a seat on a stool as her two dogs stood beside her.  

Prosecutors allege Gregg then casually fired off several texts – including one to her stepdad to lure him to the home.  

“When will you be home honey?” the text sent to Heath allegedly read.

When Heath returned to the home a short time later, Gregg allegedly shot him in the shoulder before he was able to wrestle the gun away from her, the court heard.

Prosecutors said the teen had also allegedly texted a friend asking her to come over because there was an “emergency.”

“Have you ever seen a dead body? My mom is in there,” the friend claimed Gregg asked her when she arrived at the home.

Gregg allegedly carried out the shootings just hours after a friend had apparently tipped off her mom – who worked as a math teacher at her daughter’s Northwest Rankin High School — about the teen’s marijuana use. 

When the pair returned home from school that day, the mom started searching Gregg’s room and discovered a stash of vape pens, the court heard.   

“From the testimony of a friend, he was so worried about Carly’s use of smoking marijuana, so worried about her being high, and so worried about her having these burner phones, that [Carly’s] mom didn’t know about, that he felt compelled to tell Miss Ashley Smylie that day,” Rankin County Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Newman said earlier in the trial.

Psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Clark testified that the teen was facing a mental health crisis the day off the shooting.

He said the teen was having significant mood swings, hearing voices and having dissociative problems, which were made worse by her medications.

“And then, her mother finds out she’s smoking marijuana,” Clark told the court. “For Carly, in particular, she so cared about her mother’s approval, so for her, this was a crisis.”

Meanwhile, Gregg’s stepfather testified Tuesday that the teen – who he described as a “sweet little girl” — had no recollection of the shooting.

“I never seen anybody like that, even in movies, she was not herself and I do not believe she even recognized me,” Heath said, adding that he and Gregg still talk daily and their relationship is “good.”

Gregg has been charged with murder, attempted murder and tampering with evidence.

She turned down a plea deal and is pursuing an insanity defense.

The teen faces up to life in prison for the murder charge, plus 30 years to life for the other charges if convicted.

[braveclementine]

Volterra and Volturi

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Twilight characters or locations. I do own Davina Mikelson and Marcel. I also own the backstory for my OC. I do not condone any copying of this.

Davina P.O.V.

As Alice drove, she chatted about what the rest of the family had been doing. I found that they had moved to New York. Carlisle was teaching at Cornell part time which was, you know, just fantastic. So glad he was enjoying himself.

Emse was doing some historical reconstruction of some seventeenth century building. Emmett and Rosalie had gone to Europe for a honeymoon. Jasper was learning philosophy at Cornell. Alice meanwhile, had been doing some digging about her own past.

"My name was Mary Alice Brandon. I had a little sister named Cynthia. Her daughter- my niece- is still alive in Biloxi."

Mississippi.

"Did you find out why they put you in. . . that place? What would drive parents to that extreme? Even if their daughter saw visions of the future. . ." Bella asked.

"I couldn't find much about them. I went through all the old newspapers on microfiche. My family wasn't mentioned often; they weren't part of the social circle that made the papers. My parents' engagement was there, and Cynthia's. My birth was announced. . . and my death. I found my grave. I also filched my admissions sheet from the old asylum archives. The date on the admission and the date on my tombstones are the same."

The Cullens had been completely together- Edward was not with them- and they had been spending Spring Break in Denali with Tanya's family.

'Maybe Carlisle and Tanya are together' I thought blandly and was glad that I hadn't dragged Sam up there when I'd wanted to. That would've meant running into Carlisle and Sam probably would've tried killing him.

I sighed, peering out the window.

Once we got to the airport, I quickly made sure that my wig was in place before getting out of the car. Alice quickly bought three tickets to Italy. We would have to make a stop in New York and then board another plane through a connection to Italy.

There were no problems in the airport. People barely looked at me, which was such a relief I could laugh. My passport wasn't even looked at twice. Soon, we were on the plane. Bella's leg was bouncing up and down and Alice muttered, "It's faster than running."

Bella simply nodded.

I pulled out the book I'd brought with me. Yes, I know, I brought a book to save Edward from his demise. But really, if we were going to die, then I wanted to be enjoying a book.

I was reading The Necromancer: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It was the fourth book in a series of six. It truly was a shame that I might not have the chance to finish the series off.

Alice lifted the phone off the back of the seat as the plane rose into the sky while Bella eyed the stewardress. I listened in to see who Alice was talking to. ". . . changing his mind. . . a killing spree through the city, attacking the guard, lifting a car over his head in the main square. . . mostly things that would expose them- he knows that's the fastest way to force a reaction. . . No, you can't! Tell Emmett no. . . Well, go after Emmett and Rosalie and bring them back. . . Think about it, Jasper. If he sees any of us, what do you think he will do?"

Pause.

She nodded, "Exactly. I think Bella and mom are the only chance- if there is a chance. . . I'll do everything that can be done, but prepare Carlisle-" His name sent shocks through my heart, "- the odds aren't good."

She laughed with a catch in her throat, "I've thought of that. . . Yes, I promise. Don't follow me. I promise, Jasper. One way or another, I'll get out. . .And I love you."

My heart caught in my throat. I felt so bad for her.

She hung up and closed her eyes, leaning back in her seat, "I hate lying to him."

I nodded. I hated lying to Sam. There was definitely a chance none of us were getting out of this.

Not that it mattered to me. My parents- dead. My brother Kol- dead. There was Sam and my werewolf sons. . . but they could get along without me. They'd be okay without me. They could survive. Sam had Emily. They had each other.

I rubbed the tattoo on my wrist. I loved them. I truly loved them. They were my family now. I wish I didn't have to leave them.

"Tell me everything, Alice. I don't understand. Why did you tell Jasper to stop Emmett, why can't they come help us?" Bella asked.

"Two reasons. The first I told him. We could try to stop Edward ourselves- if Emmett could get his hands on him, we might be able to stop him long enough to convince him, you're alive. But we can't sneak up on Edward. And if he sees us coming for him, he'll just act that much faster. He'll throw a Buick through a wall or something, and the Volturi will take him down."

She paused, thinking deeply and then added, "That's the second reason of course, the reason I couldn't say to Jasper. Because if they're there and the Volturi kill Edward, they'll fight them. Bella. If there was any chance we could win. . . if there was a way that the four of us could save my brother by fighting for him, maybe it would be different. But we can't, and, Bella, I can't lose Jasper like that."

Especially since he'd spent so much of his life fighting.

"Couldn't Edward hear you, though? Wouldn't he know, as soon as he heard your thoughts, that I was alive, that there was no point to this?" Bella asked in confusion.

"You can lie with your thoughts." I answered quietly.

"Exactly." Alice said sadly. "If you had died, I would still try to stop him. And I would be thinking 'she's alive, she's alive' as hard as I could. He knows that."

Bella gritted her teeth in frustration. I could only imagine her anger. If Carlisle had tried pulling this crap I would be angry too. After all, they didn't want us anymore. They had casted us aside like an unwanted dog that bit to much. Carlisle hadn't even bothered to say good-bye to me.

"If there was any way to do this without you, Bella, mom, I wouldn't be endangering you two like this. It's very wrong of me."

"Don't be stupid. I'm the last thing you should be worrying about. Tell me what you meant, about hating to lie to Jasper." Bella said, shaking her head.

She smiled grimly. "I promised him I would get out before they killed me, too. It's not something I can guarantee- not by a long shot."

"Who are these Volturi?" Bella asked. "What makes them so much more dangerous than Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, and you?"

I mostly stopped listening at this point. I knew they were dangerous. Aro could hear every thought in your head with one touch of your body. Marcus could test familial bonds, test and see where they were weak, gauge how strong they are.

There was Jane who could cause pain by looking at you. And then her opposite twin Alec who would cause no feelings at all. Then there was Demetri who could track you down knowing nothing but your name. Felix was as strong as Emmett, maybe stronger. Chelsea keeps the guard together with bonds and can also break bonds. Renata was Aro's shield. Santiago who also possessed great strength. Heidi was a bit of a fisher, able to lure the humans into Volterra for the others to eat.

I shivered, pulling out my earbuds. I drowned myself in babymetal so that I couldn't hear anything else.

I let the heavy metal with cute Japanese little girl voices sing in my head until I felt a jarring motion and realized we had landed in New York. Huh, it had felt rather short.

I pulled out my earbuds as Bella made Alice get up. We ran to get to our connection, but it was worth it as the plane took off almost immediately. I immediately set myself back into Baby metal, trying to fall asleep.

A few minutes- hours really- Alice motioned to both Bella and I excitedly. I groggily extracted my earbuds from my ears, wondering what she was so excited about. Night had fallen outside the windows.

"What's wrong?" Bella muttered.

"It's not wrong. It's right. They're deliberating, but they've decided to tell him no." Alice said with a smile.

That was good?

"The Volturi?" Bella muttered again.

"Of course, Bella, keep up. I can see what they're going to say."

"Tell me."

"Can I get you ladies a pillow?" A male flight attendant asked. I knew my wig was slightly loose so I didn't dare look at him.

"No, thank you." Alice said.

"Tell me." Bella said again.

"They're interested in him- they think his talent could be useful. They're going to offer him a place with them."

"What will he say?" Bella asked curiously while I gingerly fixed the hairline on the red wig. The bun was starting to give me a headache. I would be able to take it off once we were in Italy.

"I can't see that yet, but I'll be it's colourful. This is the first good news- the first break. They're intrigued; they truly don't want to destroy him- 'wasteful,' that's the word Aro will use- and that may be enough to force him to get creative. The longer he spends on his plans, the better for us."

Okay so it was good news. Good.

"Alice?"

"What?"

"I'm confused. How are you seeing this so clearly? And then other times, you see things far away- things that don't happen?" Bella asked curiously.

"It's clear because it's immediate and close, and I'm really concentrating. The faraway things that come on their own- those are just glimpses, faint maybes. Plus, I see my kind more easily than yours. Edward is even easier because I'm so attuned to him."

"You see me sometimes." Bella added.

"Not as clearly." Alice said.

"Clear enough you saw her cliff diving." I grunted.

Bella sighed, "I really wish you could have been right about me. In the beginning, when you first saw things about me, before we even met. . ."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked curiously.

"You saw me become one of you." Bella muttered so quietly I almost missed it. I almost sighed aloud.

Alice did sigh. "It was a possibility at the time."

"At the time." Bella repeated dully.

"Actually, Bella. . . Honestly, I think it's all gotten beyond ridiculous. I'm debating whether to just change you myself." Alice finally said.

I froze and so did Bella.

"Did I scare you? I thought that's what you wanted." Alice asked, confused, staring between the two of us.

"I do! Oh, Alice, do it now! I could help you so much- and I wouldn't slow you down. Bite me!"

"Jesus Bella." I hissed. "Shut up."

"Try to be reasonable." Alice said. "We don't have enough time. We have to get into Volterra tomorrow. You'd be writhing in pain for days. And I don't think the other passengers would react well."

"If you don't do it now, you'll change your mind."

"No. I don't think I will. He'll be furious, but what will he be able to do about it?"

"Nothing at all."

She laughed quietly and then added as an afterthought, "You have to much faith in me, Bella. I'm not sure that I can. I'll probably just end up killing you."

"I'll take my chances." Bella said stupidly.

"You are so bizarre, even for a human." Alice pointed out.

"Thanks." Bella said.

"Oh well, this is purely hypothetical at this point, anyway. First we have to live through tomorrow."

"Good point." Bella sounded excited. She looked sideways at me, "Will you be a vampire?"

I shook my head, "There's no point. Instead of a life time of sickness and suffering, it would just be endless forever suffering. No thanks."

"When you're a vampire, you might capture Carlisle's attention." Bella pointed out. "He wouldn't need distractions."

I scoffed, "Why would I chase a man who doesn't want me? If he doesn't love me as a human then he's not going to love me as a vampire. I shouldn't have to change myself to permanently to get his attention. Besides, Vampires aren't allowed on the Quileute rez so I'd much rather stay human thank you very much."

Bella was silent for a moment, probably lost in her own world again.

I fell back asleep and didn't wake again until the sky was turning pink and orange. I noticed Alice's late night enthusiasm was gone as we started to touch down in Florence, Italy. She was already talking to Bella and I listened in as I stretched, getting ready to exit the plane.

". . .got very close. He changed his mind at the last minute."

"He wouldn't want to disappoint Carlisle. Not at the end." Bella murmured.

"Probably."

"Will there be enough time?" Bella questioned.

"I'm hoping so- if he sticks to his latest decision, maybe." Alice said, but she didn't sound particularly hopeful.

"What is that?" Bella and I asked together.

"He's going to keep it simple. He's just going to walk out into the sun."

I didn't know if it would be enough. There were a lot of things that could be say. Reflective surfaces taped to his skin, glitter, sparkles, diamonds imbedded in his skin- hey rappers did weird things like that all the time- etc. There could be a very good reason for why his skin was sparkling. Grand effects for whatever.

". . . wants the biggest audience possible, so he'll choose the main plaza, under the clock tower. The walls are high there. He'll wait till the sun is exactly overhead."

"So we have till noon?" Bella asked.

"If we're lucky. If he sticks with this decision."

"How far is it from Florence to Volterra?"

"That depends on how fast you drive. . . Bella? Davina?"

"Yes?" We asked together, looking at her. I pulled on my leather jacket, fixing my wig slightly when no one was looking.

"How strongly are you opposed to grand theft auto?"

I grinned.

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

We careened down the road in a bright yellow Porsche. Honestly, I was having the time of my life, beaming, the wind down just slightly to feel the heavy breeze rolling through.

"There's Volterra." Alice announced after about fifteen or so minutes of driving. We'd been weaving in and out of traffic which had been terrifying at first, but I knew Alice wouldn't crash. I wasn't even wearing my seat belt.

I looked over to the see the city that looked like it was built on a mountain. It was all the same tan colour and it looked like a maze of walls and roads and buildings. The main plaza was probably smack dab in the middle, making it a literal maze. The surrounding area was forest of green trees and luscious fields.

We were so totally dead.

Alice drove through the roads, showing me that there were indeed layers to the city. She beeped as she tried not running people over. Everyone jumped out of the way, everyone was also wearing red which was really, really weird.

"Why are they all in red?" Bella asked as Alice moved through a large crowd of people.

"Saint Marcos Day festival." Alice replied with complete indifference, "They're commemorating the expulsion of vampires from the city. It's the perfect setting."

I snorted from the irony.

"The Volturi will never let him reveal himself."

"We have five minutes." Bella was practically crying in the front seat. I could feel my heart beating faster as my stomach churned at the deadline.

"Bella, just breathe." Alice said.

Police officers stopped us at the next check point. "Let's go." I muttered to Bella, throwing my door open. Bella threw her door open as well and we started to run.

"Where are we going?" Bella shouted after me.

"The clocktower of course." I shouted behind me.

Bella and I ran, pushing past people in red as much as we could. We ran up stairs, down alleyways as we searched for the clocktower.

The sun was beating down on us and I stripped off the leather jacket, wishing I'd brought something different so I could just tie it around my waist. Instead, I just held it under my arm as I sprinted, pushing past more people.

Me and Bella came to a stop as we reached a wall of people that were watching a parade go by.

"Come on." I muttered, starting to push through people. If I had to cross the parade to get to my son, I would.

Me and Bella dashed through an opening in the parade, continuing to cut through people. I could see the clock tower in front of us.

Pushing through the crowd of people, we suddenly found ourselves in front of a fountain. 'Well damn' I thought.

The clock hit twelve.

"Fuck." I cursed aloud, jumping up on the fountain, running along the edge of it like a balance beam, except it was wider than a beam.

I could see Edward walking out of the door and I could hear Bella screaming Edward's name behind me.

"Damn you Eddie." I muttered, sprinting towards him. I could hear splashing in the fountain and I knew that Bella was running across the fountain. I leapt off the stone fountain edge as he finished unbuttoning his shirt. Bella suddenly tore past me, water flying off her shoes as he stepped out into the light, tackling him backwards into the church.

Bella and I shoved him together into the clock tower, the doors slamming behind me. "Bella? Mom?"

I huffed, furious now that Edward was alive and in my sights, "You complete arsehole Edward Cullen!"

Edward looked slightly abashed, but he couldn't keep his attention on me for long, turning to Bella instead. I rolled my eyes, leaning against the stone wall. We'd probably have to stay here until night set. I hoped Alice could find us.

Was Bella really going to forgive Edward so quickly? Oh yep, they were kissing. Well damn.

I really hoped we took planes straight back to Forks and then they could go to Alaska to see the others. The last thing I wanted to do was see Carlisle again. The others- fine. My kids- fantastic, Esme- wonderful. Carlisle- fuck me.

Wrong choice of words.

Screw him.

No, wait.

Shit.

Suddenly, there was a noise like an elevator and I looked over to see two pale, male figures making their way over to us.

One was slightly smaller with blond hair while the other was bigger, hulk like, with dark hair.

"I won't be needing your services after all, gentlemen." Edward said, holding Bella close.

"Aro wants to speak with you again." The bigger folk said.

"No rules were broken." Edward protested.

"Nonetheless, we should take this conversation to a more appropriate venue." The smaller man said, looking at me and winking. I raised an eyebrow. Now that he was closer, I saw the blond was more of a dirty brown blond.

"Fine." Edward said. "Bella, Davina, why don't you two go and enjoy the rest of the festival?"

"The girls come with us." The bigger man said.

"Ooh lovely." I snarked under my breath.

"No. You can go to hell." Edward said.

"Eddie." I said sharply, raising an eyebrow.

Alice stepped in at that second, lowering the head scarf she had been wearing. "Come on guys. It's a festival. You wouldn't want to make a scene."

"We wouldn't." The dark haired man said when a third figure appeared. She was mostly definitely blond with large red eyes.

"Enough." She announced, tossing her hood back.

"Jane." Edward whispered.

"Aro sent me to see what was taking so long." Jane said, looking up at the darker haired man, then the lighter, looking at the other three, then me, before turning and going back the way she came. There was a no nonsense air about her and it made Edward follow after, Bella's hand tightly in his own. Alice followed after and I went with them.

The other two vampires waited till I passed by to bring up the rear.

The bigger man held out a red robe for Edward to put on, which he did.

"Go ahead." Jane said as she reached the part where the stairs turned downwards. We walked past and now the three of them were bringing up the rear.

Now that Edward was safe, I truly wasn't scared. We would meet Aro. We would either live or die. Personally, I preferred life, but it truly wasn't the biggest worry if I died. Although, admittedly, I hadn't redeemed myself yet and would probably be going to hell.

Eternal hell.

Lovely.

We finally filed into an elevator. While the others stood upright and stiff, I leaned against the wall. The better looking man, the small one who had winked, was staring at me. I looked back.

"Don't touch. I bite." I said, raising my eyebrows.

He grinned, "Oh, I like you."

I titled my head a little in acknowledgement. Jane snorted up front. The elevator music was horrible.

"Opera. Terrible." I muttered as the doors opened. The man snorted in laughter. The bigger man rolled his eyes.

We stepped into a lobby of sorts, a human woman behind the desk. I was surprised, but perhaps I shouldn't have been.

"Is she human?" Bella asked up front. I was walking between the man that seemed to like me- or at least I amused him- and Alice.

"Yes." Edward said.

"Does she know?" Bella asked after a few seconds.

"Yes." Edward was being quiet, like he didn't want anyone else to hear, which was ridiculous because I could hear which meant the vampires around us certainly could.

"Then why would. . .She wants to be." Bella answered her own question.

"And so she will be." The man next to me said.

"Or dessert." Jane said calmly ahead of us.

I rolled my eyes.

Jane opened up two double doors in front of us and revealed a large room that looked like a dome. In fact, it probably was. There were quite a few windows, but not enough for the light to fully reach the ground and make the vampires around us sparkle.

There weren't many vampires at all, two guards near the door, a young man in the middle of the floor, and three sitting upon thrones up on an altar.

"Sister, they send you out to get one and you come back with two." The vampire who must be Alec said. "And two halves making three. Such a clever girl."

I bit my tongue to keep from making a sarcastic remark.

The vampire sitting upon the middle throne- most likely Aro- stood, throwing his arms out wide. What a happy surprise! Bella is alive after all!" He stepped down the steps as we stopped.

He clapped his hands together, walking with normal speed towards us. Honestly, he wasn't that bad looking. His long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and despite his three thousand year old age, he didn't look a day over thirty. His eyes of course, were red and I liked to image what they would look like if they were golden.

"Isn't that wonderful!" He finished. He reached out for Edwards' hand, "I love a happy ending. They are so rare."

I agreed. They were pretty much nonexistent.

He said something in Italian that I didn't bother understand because- I didn't know Italian. But whatever it was made Aro turn to look at Bella and he said, "Her blood appeals to you so much. . . it makes me thirsty."

I nearly snorted, but kept my attitude. Pretty sure a royal vampire king wasn't the kind of vampire I wanted to piss off.

"How can you stand to be so close to her?"

"It's not without difficulty." Edward responded.

"Yes, I can see that." Aro laughed, still holding Edward's hand. I had thought he only needed to briefly touch it, not hold it for extended periods of time.

I shifted my attention to the two vampires on the other thrones. Caius was even more handsome than in the painting. Not as good as Lucius Malfoy, of course, but still, rather decent. Marcus on the other hand looked like he had never gotten over the English days of King George.

I had clearly missed conversation as Aro turned his eyes to Bella and said, "Fascinating. I would love to see if. . ." He finally dropped Edward's hand, stepping back, "you are an exception to my gifts, as well." He held out his hand. Bella, after some hesitation, stepped forward and gave Aro her hand. "Would you do me the honor?"

I let my gaze wander until it landed on the other vampire again who winked. I smirked and then turned my attention back to Aro who was looking rather perturbed.

"Interesting. I see nothing. I wonder. . ." He turned his back, walking slightly back to his throne, "Let us see if she is immune to all our powers. Shall we, Jane?"

I hesitated for a fraction of an inch. Jane, of course, created pain with her mind. I did not want that to be used on Bella, but at the same time. . . I did not think that it would.

"No!" Edward protested, going to move in front of Bella when I stepped in front of Edward.

"Don't." I warned him. "Edward, stay calm and stay here."

Edward hesitated under my stern gaze and I raised an eyebrow. Jane turned her attention on Bella. Edward went to move and I put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't."

We waited, watching as Jane continued to gaze at Bella. Bella gazed back and nothing happened.

Aro started to laugh. I took it back. It was terribly creepy and I was really starting to dislike him. I let go of Edward's shoulder, moving back into the background.

"Remarkable." Aro said, clapping his hands together. Jane stared at him. "She confounds us all."

Aro turned to me, "And who are you?"

"Davina Michaelson." I replied.

"Ah yes, the Cullen mother." Aro said softly. "Carlisle's mate."

I rolled my eyes. "Not really, but sure."

"And does Edward have difficulty reading your mind?" Aro asked.

"No." I replied.

"Might I?" Aro asked, holding out his hand.

"I quite like my privacy, thank you."

"Mom." Edward hissed under his breath.

I wavered, glancing at him and then at Aro who looked intrigued.

If I was going to tell someone all of my deepest, darkest secrets, this vampire was the last person I wanted to know. Not to mention, Edward would be able to see everything as it flashed through Aro's mind.

It was uncomfortable feeling. Aro would know every moment of my life from the moment I was born to now. He would know about my relationship with Carlisle, what happened with my parents, and how I had nearly killed three different vampires using wooden stakes and a lighter.

"Edward, stay out of his head and mine." I said, holding out my hand.

Aro ignored it, stepping forward, his hands on either side of my face, pressing his lips to mine. I was shocked and froze. Memories flooded my mind. My first step, my fourth birthday party, playing in the ocean with Sam, my Uncle Josh greeting us at Fort Knox, Azim, my first kiss, the bombs, the death, the screaming, and everything else up until this moment.

Aro didn't let go of my hand for a very long time. It was cold, like all vampires hands, and there was a smoothness to it that suggested age. Almost soft.

We stared into each others' eyes before he finally let go. "You have one of the most traumatic lives I have ever seen." Aro whispered. "How do you handle it at such a young age?"

"I'm Davina Michaelson. I survive." I stated flatly.

"Strange, and your blood does not appeal to me, nor anyone else in this room." Aro murmured, almost to himself.

"Pretty sure that's a good thing." I said and I saw the man smile out of the corner of my eye. Felix on the other hand rolled his eyes.

"Indeed, although you were Carlisle's blood singer. . ." Aro said slowly.

"He has a theory that I'm one side of the spectrum for every vampire. Either the side that does crave my blood period or the side where I'm the blood singer. It's just lovely." I said sarcastically.

Aro smiled, bemused, "So what are we going to do with you now?"

"You already know what you are going to do, Aro." Marcus said from his throne, slouching like he didn't know what good posture was.

"They know to much. They are a liability." Caius said.

Well, so much for thinking he was good looking. I'd stick with the guy who seemed to like me.

"That's true." Aro said.

"Okay so, we're liabilities now." I stated, "But when we become vampires, that makes us not liabilities, right?"

Aro looked at me, "I did not realize you planned on becoming a vampire."

"Alice promised Bella to change her after we saved Edward from trying to die." I replied.

Edward shot me a look.

"And yourself?" Aro asked, raising an eyebrow.

I titled my head, thinking. "I told Carlisle to give me a few years. I wanted to be at least twenty five or older."

"And you're twenty now?"

"Almost twenty-one." I responded. "Coming April."

Aro tilted his head to the side, judging me. I looked at Alice, "You could show him."

Alice nodded, taking off her glove, extending her hand to Aro who took it in almost delight. I watched as Aro and Alice stared at each other. "Mesmerizing." Aro responded in an almost breathless whisper, "To see what you have seen. . . before it has happened." Aro moved in front of Bella, "Your gifts will make for an intriguing immortal." He caressed her cheek. I pursed my lips. I wondered what her gift was going to be.

"Go now." Aro said, backing away from us. "Make your preparations."

"Let us be done with this." Marcus said from his throne. "Heidi will arrive any moment." He stood up.

"Right, time to go." I said, hooking my arm through Alice's.

"Thank you for your visit." Marcus said to us.

Right, well at least he was polite.

"We will return the favor. I would advise that you follow through on your promise soon." Caius said, not rising from his throne. "We do not offer second chances."

Wow, just a ray of sunshine.

"Goodbye, my young friends." Aro said in delight to our backs as we exited the room.

"Nice fishing Heidi." The young man said as we passed by a tall vampire wearing a red dress and black gloves with heels. I felt sick, watching the people file past, especially when I saw that there were two children in the group.

"You have children in the group!" I protested as Edward and Alice led me and Bella faster and farther from the group.

The man looked at me, at first amused, and then almost apologetic. "It happens."

I swallowed hard as I heard the screams. Edward and Alice pushed us through the doors, blocking out the screams.

We went up the elevator.

"Which one are you?" I asked the man. "Santiago or Demetri?"

He looked just the faintest surprised that I knew the names and he said, "Demetri."

"Ah, the tracker." I said with a nod.

He smirked. "Indeed I am. And I think you would make a lovely vampire."

"I'm sure." I smirked.

He brushed my cheek lightly as the doors opened.

"Careful," I warned lightly. "I still bite."

He laughed lightly as I exited the elevator.

"Mom, you shouldn't flirt with him." Edward muttered.

"Yes, well as I am single and not seeing anyone, I have every right to flirt with whoever I feel like." I muttered.

Technically, the Volturi weren't bad people. I supposed if I did become a vampire, I could always come back here. I could see a life as part of the guard, specifically alongside Demetri. But then again, I don't think that would help with my attempts at redemption.

I knew all three of them would be curious about what Aro had meant about my life, but it wasn't any of their business. Edward was safe. Him and Alice would go back to Denali with their family, leaving us alone again.

I wondered if the wolves had caught Victoria yet, or if when we disappeared, she went too.

We caught another plane out of Florence- I had redone my red wig as I had taken it off once we'd landed in Florence the first time.

We landed in Rome and I called Sam.

Emily was the one who picked up, "Davina? Are you alright? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. I'm on my way home. I need Sam to pick me up at the airport. Or any of the boys for that matter. We land early in the morning, I have no idea what time it is there right now. I just thought you should know."

"Okay, I'll pass along the message." Emily said, sounding exhausted.

"Thanks Em."

I hung up, leaving the bathroom and rejoining Edward, Alice, and Bella as we got ready to board the long flight from Rome to Atlanta.

I fell asleep during the flight as I was exhausted, dreaming about bombs, running, screaming, and vampires.

I woke up with a headache, feeling sicker than I had in days. I drank a sprite to keep it down. Once we landed in Atlanta, I hurried to the bathroom to throw up and once the plane from Atlanta to Seattle was ready to leave, I felt better.

I fell asleep on this flight as well, feeling well rested when I woke up as the flight landed.

Edward, Alice, and Bella were the first off the flight and then Jasper was there, standing in front of Alice.

Aw shit, the family was here.

I looked around quickly, ignoring the blond and red head in the corner. I couldn't deal with Carlisle right now.

"Davina!" I heard a familiar young voice call.

I broke out in a grin, seeing Seth, Jared, and Sam there. I ran over to them, hugging them all fiercely. "Hey guys."

"Why are you wearing a red wig?" Seth asked in confusion. I took it off, stuffing it in my bag along with my fake passport.

"No reason." I lied. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Sure." Sam said, glaring over my shoulder.

"Sam, ignore them." I muttered.

"Are you alright?" Jared asked in concern.

"Yep, just flirted with a few vampires, saved Edward's life, no big deal."

"Alright, well come on mom." Jared said.

"Wait," I paused, really taking in the fact that Seth was here with Sam. I looked from Seth to Sam and then poked Seth's right arm. "Do you have a tattoo there?"

"Oh yeah." Seth grinned, "It's honestly so awesome."

"What colour wolf are you?" I asked.

"Grey." Seth said excitedly. "Leah's one too."

"What!" I exclaimed.

Sam slung an arm around my shoulder, "You smell terrible."

"Thank you ugly." I muttered. "Come on, let's go."

Carlisle P.O.V.

My anxiety swelled as Davina stepped off the plane, looking more beautiful than ever. I felt better than I had in months and I took a moment to see just how sick she was. She was thin, the unhealthy kind of thin, and she didn't give us the time of day, heading straight for the wolves when she landed.

Alice and Edward hesitated, noting my reaction.

"She thinks you hate her." Alice said, sounding apologetic, glancing between Edward and myself. "I think. . . I think you have some things you need to tell both of them Edward."

Edward looked completely ashamed of himself, but was more focused on Bella than anything else, "Yeah, I will."

That wasn't comforting at all.

[writesaboutdragons]

365 Proverbs for Daily Living

Day 36 – Don't Plan Evil

Don't plot harm against your neighbor, for those who live nearby trust you. (Pro 3:29 NLT)

Read: 2 Samuel 14:28-33

When you throw a small rock in a pond, it makes a small splash, and disappears. The rock is no longer seen, and it quickly settles on the bottom. It made a hole in the water no bigger than the size of the rock, and that hole disappears before the rock is halfway to the bottom. But after the rock is gone, ripples run out in rings from there to the far edges of the pond.

On the far side of the pond, you may see small waves slapping at the shore, and wonder idly why they exist, and where they come from. You cannot associate them with the rock, the rock is gone, out of sight, and out of mind.

My wife had a pretty turbulent childhood, and I’ve quietly listened to stories from her family, trying to follow ripples back to where the rock entered the water. The story today always reminds me of one of the biggest rocks to hit the pond. You see, my wife’s mom grew up in Corinth MS, home to Buford Pusser. Words got exchanged somewhere, and families got angry with one another. One of their neighbors got angry at them, and set fire to their fields.

Now, those fields were their livelihood. They were farmers, and whether it was cotton or produce, they scratched a living from that hard Mississippi dirt. And fire could easily ruin them. So they rushed out to stop the blaze with whatever means they had at their disposal, trying to dredge a fire break, carrying buckets of water. The heat from the summer and the burning field disguised the fact that their daddy had a fever. The fever was merely a symptom to go along with the piercing agony in his lower abdomen. Daddy Coke had acute appendicitis, and needed to go to the hospital. And partway through the blaze, he became well-aware of that fact. But he was too busy trying to save the farm, and decided he’d go, MAYBE, after the fire was out.

He didn’t last that long. They laid him in the bed of a truck, where, in agony, he croaked out directions to the rest of the family, until they finally hauled him to the hospital, his appendix already ruptured. He died from that, and the family struggled even harder just to make ends meet. Without their dad it was almost impossible to maintain the field. The resulting poor life was very hard on the rest of the family. They did what they could to survive, and the kids grew and moved out. I see some of the ripples in how my mother-in-law developed a burning passion to work hard, and elevate her position. While in college she married and had one daughter. Her husband was a dreamer, and retreated into those dreams, unable to cope with a family. My wife’s mom raised her daughter alone, a testimony to what grit and determination can accomplish. None of it was easy. She married again, inheriting two more daughters, and trying to raise them with a husband who was always at work. She managed to get a PhD and a respected career, finally retiring late and coming to live with us, vicariously driving our kids and now grandkids to succeed at what they do, and helping the rest of us accomplish our goals, encouraging in us a lot of that grit and determination she required to survive.

Our story today of the fire Absalom set to Joab’s fields is simply a ripple, and the ripples go all the way back to a bad decision King David made, when he looked out over his domain at a time when he should have been at war protecting that kingdom, and he saw another man’s wife bathing. The act in itself of looking out over the balcony at your kingdom was not a sin. Bathing on a roof was not uncommon, actually, in that day, because it was supposedly a private place, a place unobserved. It wasn’t even a sin that David saw her, but it was that he continued to look. And then to desire. And then to take what wasn’t his. And then to cover it up, and then to murder.

David’s sin wasn’t like a pebble, but more like a boulder thrown with force into the pond of Israel. The ripple effects were declared plainly by Nathan the prophet to him, and nearly destroyed the entire line of kings. The fire Absalom set was merely a ripple. Something to get Joab’s attention, and get him brought before the king and restored. But Joab was a neighbor, and it’s not neighborly to start a fire in their crops.

Today’s proverb admonishes us to remember that our neighbors trust us. When stuff is delivered to your door, it’s expected that it will still be on your porch when you get home from work. It’s reasonable to expect that the neighbors living near you look out for you. If they see somebody robbing your house, they usually call the police. If they see your house on fire, they call the fire department. A good neighbor knows those who live nearby, as we discussed yesterday, and notices when they are sick, and need help cutting their lawn, or getting groceries. Taking them to a cancer treatment.

God tells us to love our neighbors like ourselves. That means to care for them. Pray for them. Serve and protect and support them. Actually take an interest in them, and be there for them in their hour of need.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to be a neighbor I’d like to have, today. Amen