#mumu: hysteria

[dalecooperwrites]

‘ i bet you thought your life would change . ’ miriam x noah || @bondgirl

It’s complex to say the least. Noah did believe his life would change when he found God. He assumed becoming a preacher would make it easier for him to make good choices because he had God and his congregation watching him. However, things were just as difficult as they were when he hadn’t found or believed much in God. He still wanted to drink, he still felt his fingers twitch or his stomach tighten when someone mentioned drugs when speaking to him about things they wanted his opinion on. He also still wanted to fool around with beautiful women and handsome men, and get involved in a brawl or two. But he couldn’t, he was now a man of God. And he hoped no one would notice his trouble in keeping away from his vices.

Of course Miriam had to be the person to confront him about the issue. She’d always seemed to do that - even when they were kids - and it’d always bothered him. He wished it didn’t because he prided himself on being better for the church, but of course, he had to accept that, ever since old friends have come into town, that he’s just in a rougher patch than usual. And though, Miriam is wearing an outfit that is beyond acceptable for church, and he’s trying not to look at her when she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, he keeps his gaze locked onto her eyes and he shrugs his shoulders as he sits down beside her on the church bench.

“I did, yeah - but I’ve got a handle on it, Miri. You have to understand that it’s not like before. I actually can control myself,” he admits to her, nodding his head firmly to show he was being honest. “Sure things are difficult, but I’m fine. I don’t know why you’d think I wouldn’t be. You should have more faith in me.” Noah pats her shoulder and looks away for her, instead looking at God on the cross right in front of him. As much as he wants his words to be true - since he did say them in front of the man upstairs - they’re simply not. Things are rough, and they’ll probably only get worse.

[battinsonrobert-archivess]

“slurred words” robin about lancelot

The small suburban town, with its eerily perfect exterior and gaggle of go-getting citizens, has got ghosts and monuments that she’d like to forget. Ghosts and monuments that were the reason why she’d left it far behind and had run away across the country to meet new people and study new, and less frightening things. Some people have assumed she’d run away because Lancelot had gotten married, and though that was half-true at the time, it wasn’t the whole truth.

Before leaving, while by the lake, Robin had finally witnessed the cursed appearance of one of the missing ghost children that her friends were always whispering about, and had claimed to see. And though, originally, Robin was too cool to believe in ghosts, she believed in them now, and terrified of ever running across one of the ghosts, again, because, when she’d seen the little boy she’d witnessed, he’d threatened to take her down with him – way, way, down into the bottom of their beautiful waterfall. Which, had given her the chills, and was enough to get her to get the fuck out of dodge.

But now, Robin was back in Hysteria, and Lanelot was divorced with a kid of her own, and Robin felt the need - deep down within her - to protect both the kid and Lancelot, once Lancelot’s kid told her how he’d seen a little girl by the waterfall, and how he’d ran just in time to not become like the others.

“Just a creative story, you know kids. You know how Ricardo and Cloud were when they were younger, with their stories. And you know how Vilda, Alex, and January were. You can’t seriously think the missing children in town come out of the water and drown people,” Lancelot had told Robin after Robin had told her what her son had told her.

Robin had sighed, because - again - she’d witnessed the terror first-hand and knew what it felt like to have hairs on the back of her neck stand up once a ghostly hand touched her shoulder and pushed her over. She knew the terror of kicking and screaming, when that same ghostly hand grabbed her foot and dragged her almost like she were nothing. She knew.

So, hearing Lancelot be in such denial about their suburban town’s secret, was so bizarre to her. And in a way, she wondered if she was the only one in their friend group who was lucky enough to avoid a fear that powerful.

And though she knew it was probably stupid to talk to Lancelot’s kid about it, when Lancelot disappeared, Robin was a little tipsy and had sat down with Lancelot’s son, and said, with a soft smile, that was the opposite of her the neutral cool-girl expression she typically wore.

“I believe you, if you were wondering?" A hiccup from her. "I was almost dragged into the water, too. It was terrifying." Her expression soured. "But you’ll be fine as long as you avoid the waterfall,” Robin expressed, nodding her head. “It might be beautiful, but it’s the spot of curse. Witches were killed there. My friends found this out when we were younger. Your mom passed out when we discovered this, so like, yeah….Don’t uhm, feel like she doesn’t believe you, she’s just never witnessed it like we have.”

Lancelot’s son, nodded his head. “You’re all going to die though. That’s what the little girl told me. Even my mom,” the little boy said all too calm, biting his cereal.

A chill ran through Robin’s spine. Had she not had so much wine she'd have been sick. “What?” she repeated.

He said nothing, just shrugged. “Nothing….” and continued to eat, before Lancelot came back into the room with flowers and a smile on her face.

@bondgirl

[lovefromnoah-archive]

❛ i’m pretty sure i didn’t meet you for nothing. ❜ mika & claudia

There’s an abundance of emotion in the way he speaks. How he says he didn’t meet her for nothing, as though there was a reason behind it. She’s pretty sure there is a reason behind it, too, but she’s not ready to admit that to him when she’s so damn frightened of admitting it out of fear that this may be goodbye. She has the gift of intuition, and he has the gift of empathy which makes them quite the team, but it makes everything difficult since that means he can feel how she feels most of the time when he’s really making the effort to look. As much as she wishes he wasn’t looking now, because her emotions are so private, and because she knows he’s so damn polite usually, she knows he’s looking now. Which sucks, but that’s just how things are going right now.

“I know you didn’t. I think you saved me. I think I would’ve been in Cherry’s place had I not met you,” she admitted to him, quietly, almost ashamed that her best friend died because she had no one to guide her in the way that she did. It’s cruel that Cherry had to die that one night. Crueler that several members of their town die or disappear. But that’s just how things are in their town. And how things will always be. Even if they were to break the curse things will likely continue to be eat or be eaten. Claudia hates it. Wants it to end. But there’s no hope for them. "Thank you."

@blackburnannie

[themarcspector-archive]

“  what happened to you?  ” january x cloud

Cloud’s drenched from head to toe, her dark hair dripping on his carpet as she took a step and entered his home when he opened the door for her to come in. She’d almost been drowned and it was a fucking terrifying experience. Because, not only had she almost been drowned, she’d nearly been drowned by the ghost of her brother. She wasn’t sure if she’d hallucinated it all, due to her lack of sleep for the past three days, but she was pretty sure now that she’d seen him and he’d almost drowned her with his little hands, because she knew, even if she hadn’t had sleep, that she would never ever go near the waterfall in the forest. It was a place she avoided since childhood, and would be a place she continued to avoid way into her adulthood. So, her ending up there, and nearly drowned, had to be the work of supernatural forces and not the work of her mind playing tricks on her.

As she glanced around the room, shivering from the cold of his air conditioner and the water gliding down her skin, she hoped that January would let her go on with her night without asking her why she looked the way she looked. But then, annoyingly enough, he asked, in a sincere tone, “What happened to you?” before he walked quickly to his bathroom to retrieve a towel and pass it to her.

She wrapped it around her body, and though her hair was still dripping wet, it was fine for now, and really, it was the thought that counted. “I saw a g-ghost,” she said, teeth chattering, as she looked at him, knowing he’d probably change the sincere tone from earlier to one of disbelief.

However, his eyes widened, and he looked at her, and in a very low, and monotone voice he said, “Me, too. I saw my sister.” Which caused Claudia to shake even more. Because, though she prided herself on her bravery, the idea of ghosts existing - despite the fact that she’d been through a door - terrified her and brought her stomach down, and made her bend over throw up.

@bondgirl

[agent-dalecooper-archive]

MY HYSTERIA HEIGHTS PINBOARD IS SO MUCH FUN!!!

[artificialqueens]

Magnetic Moon (Jankie) - Mumu

A/N: My poetry roots showed in this one. It’s inspired by Magnetic Moon - TIffany Young. Read it on AO3 here.

Summary: Some nights are hard for Jackie, but Jan makes it better. (or: Jackie stops fighting the moon’s pull.)

The first time Jackie stays over it’s because she’s lonely. Her roommates have both gone back home for Christmas break, so it’s just her and her blankets and an empty apartment and the cold air that comes through the gap in the window.

Jackie doesn’t know why but the tears find their way down her cheeks, cold and salty, and there’s a metallic taste in her mouth. She can feel the unease brewing in her gut, her breaths getting shorter and her vision going staticky, so she does the only thing she can think of: she goes over to Jan’s.

The blonde girl doesn’t ask questions when she opens the door to find Jackie there. She just takes one look at Jackie’s shivering frame and ushers her in, wrapping her in a thick coat and bringing Jackie her signature “magic hot chocolate.” The name makes Jackie smile softly through the fog in her head.

Jan stays with her through the night, arms wrapped protectively around her, the tv playing at a low volume so that it’s not totally quiet. Jan knows Jackie doesn’t like it when it’s quiet. Her thoughts get too loud.

When Jackie wakes up in the morning, her mug of hot chocolate is sitting at her feet, cold, and the marshmallows are melting.

The sunlight makes everything too real. She splashes her face with cold water in Jan’s bathroom and slips out, mind already working double time at the mere thought of how much study time she missed. When Jan catches her eye in Psych 101 the next day, she pretends not to notice.

Jackie’s fine. She always is.

The second time it’s because Jackie stays too late at the library by accident and misses curfew. She’s still carrying her textbook and notebook when she knocks on Jan’s dorm door, praying that Jan’s roommate is out.

Jan lets her in. She holds Jackie’s hair back when she throws up into her trash can, covers Jackie’s shaking hands with her own and sings Ariana Grande lyrics to her softly. They might have some kind of meaning, but Jackie’s too drained to understand.

She still doesn’t ask questions, and Jackie’s grateful for that. Nighttime is always hard for her. Something about the crisp air and moonlight always seems to make her feel so insignificant, like everything she’s done isn’t worth anything at all.

Jackie doesn’t sleep that night, but Jan stays up with her anyways, braiding her hair and then unbraiding it again for hours. They don’t speak, the atmosphere too sacred, both of them too worried about spooking each other. Jackie swallows over the fuzzy feeling in her mouth and the half-formed words in her throat.

In the morning she swishes coffee to get rid of the remnants of those unripe confessions, relishing in the way the ice clinks against her teeth and goosebumps rise on her skin. There are three unread texts from a number Jackie doesn’t have saved in her phone, but one that she’s memorized. It’s Jan, and Jackie presses delete without reading them.

She skips her classes, cramming for her next exam in her apartment on her own instead. She doesn’t eat, basking in the lightheaded feeling for the rest of the day. When she feels sleepy, Jackie presses tea bags to the purple skies under her eyes and rubs lemon balm on both her wrists to get rid of the peach smell of Jan’s perfume.

She tells herself she can’t afford to go back to Jan’s again, not when it’s getting harder and harder to leave.

Jackie ends up at Jan’s two weeks later anyway. It’s raining outside, and she doesn’t have an excuse. Does it even matter why she’s here anymore?

Jan pulls her into her lap and lets her cry, lets Jackie be childish and make grabby hands at her every time she shifts positions, scared that Jan will leave.

Jan’s skin is warm against hers and Jackie likes it, likes how she feels safe in the familiar cloud of Jan’s scent, likes the smoothness of Jan under her fingertips. Jackie wants her over her skin.

“Jan,” Jackie whispers. Her voice comes out hoarse, and she regrets speaking as soon as the other girl’s name passes her lips.

Jan’s fingers still. There are a few moments of silence, and Jackie feels cement start to set in her veins.

Jackie turns her head to face Jan, and their lips collide softly. She lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in a rush. Jan sweeps a hand over to the back of her neck, fingertips sliding against Jackie’s hair.

Jackie’s convinced her skin has gone translucent where Jan’s touched her, that all the colour has been leached from the section and if she were to hold a mirror up that spot you would be able to see a spider web of veins, all the purple and blue and red in all its glory: the inner workings of herself laid bare for Jan to see.

Jan’s free hand falls from her hair and the feeling makes Jackie panic, makes her come back down to earth and slide off of Jan’s lap.

She feels the soreness build at the back of her throat, the familiar shaking of her hands when she goes to gather her stuff. Jan’s saying something, voice soft and gentle like she’s speaking to a toddler, and Jackie can’t make out any of the words.

She’s out of the apartment as quickly as she got there, barefoot on the dirt lawn. She can’t suppress the shudder that racks her whole body when the wind envelopes her. Jackie’s cold without Jan’s skin over hers, and the thought makes her hurl Jan’s hot chocolate up into the bushes.

The streetlights are reflected in the puddles on the ground, and Jackie catches her reflection in them too. She’s not sure whether to laugh or sob at the sight.

Her hair is wet, her clothes completely soaked. The sky hasn’t fallen, and the world is still turning, and the revelation makes her even more horrified.

Jan’s chased her outside, trying to get close to her. Jan’s hands go to hold her, to lead her back inside, and Jackie flinches away, rambling something about I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

At some point, Jan gives up and just stands there. The moonlight accents her cheekbones, backlights her until she looks some sort of angel. Jackie can’t meet her eyes.

“Stay,” Jan says.

Jackie shakes her head, feels her whole body tremble with a sob. She bites it back, choking on the pain when her teeth sink into her left cheek.

“Stay,” Jan says again.

The rain pours down on them. The two feet between the two girls feels so far now, like the ground’s opening between them, cracking and heaving until they are continents away from each other. Jackie’s bangs are stuck to her forehead, dribbling a thin stream of water into her eyes. The feeling of Jan’s hand in hers has begun to fade, and the smell of mud overpowers the peach that usually trails Jackie after each visit.

Jan goes back inside.

It doesn’t hurt like Jackie’s expecting it to, not when the rain is heavy enough that she can convince herself it’s washed everything away, even the last wisps of whatever they were.

A month passes.

Jackie goes to the grocery store and buys a bottle of wine. She doesn’t mean to drink it all, but there’s no one to share it with. She falls asleep with stained lips, tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth like the tension might keep the tears at bay, body curled into an absent form. Her pillow’s too cold, and her blanket too warm.

She’s been skipping her lectures, grades only kept afloat by her previous scores. She trails the campus like a ghost, afraid that touching anything will make it all too real.

Another month.

It’s been a year since that first visit. Jackie feels hysteria bubbling against her teeth every time she sees a flash of blonde hair. Sometimes she dreams of Jan’s voice, softly singing, and afterwards, she wakes up with sticky cheeks.

Maybe they’re just out of time. And words.

Jackie doesn’t know how she ends up at Jan’s that night. They click into place, and nothing shatters.

Jan’s hand snakes to her waist, her body on top of Jackie’s. They’re on the rooftop, under the night sky. The air is sharp, and Jackie’s delirious off of their gentle sin.

Look, she wants to call out to the universe, I’m still here. Why haven’t you struck me down yet?

She couldn’t leave right now if she tried.

“Stay,” Jan says, when they’re done. (Or undone, Jackie supposes.)

It’s not a question this time. The moon is softer tonight, and something pepperminty and midnight blue is blooming under Jackie’s fingernails. Jan runs a fingertip over her bottom lip. Two bass notes sound in Jackie’s head, and then static.

When the morning comes, Jackie’s still pressed against Jan’s chest.

[battinsonrobert-archivess]

‘ you’re not the same as them . ’ lucky x alexander

What does that even mean? As much as he'd like to take that as a compliment, Alex took her words more as an insult than anything else. Both Noah and Ulysses are his brothers and he loves them very much, despite their flaws as human beings. He thinks, honestly. that their flaws are what makes them human, and is certain he's similar to them in positive ways, just as he's similar to them in the sense that he's flawed, too. Which lead him to wonder if Lucky saw him through rose-tinted lenses or if she really sees him and he just isn't seeing himself, despite how clearly he can see others. Whatever it is, Alex actually decided to break the awkward silence has a chokehold on the air around them for a good five minutes after she's told him he's not like his brothers.

"They're not as bad as they seem. You should know that by now. You've known them for decades, Luck," he said this sympathetically, his brothers' faces popping into his head like those cartoons where a little imaginary cloud pops up and the faces of those you love are inside, and it managed to make him smile softly despite being a little upset by her words that he'd taken as an insult. "We're more similar than you think, too. Honestly, even you're flawed like them..."

There's nothing from him after that. Pointing out that Lucky has flaws was probably not his best choice in words, but it was the truth. She and he and just as flawed as his brothers. @bondgirl

[lovefromnoah-archive]

[ 📞 ] ‘ you have to promise. ’ mika & claudia

Promises aren’t something Claudia typically makes. She regularly breaks the rules and fucks up gigantically often, despite her perfect cookie cutter, summer daydream, once won prom queen, life. Mika has a gigantic belief in her, even when she explained that to him though, and she doesn’t quite understand why he expects her to make him a promise that she’ll stay out of trouble, when she knows that if she does the trouble will end up following her, instead. She’s heard the doors calling out to her on more than several occasions now, and has had dreams about what could become of her if she walked through one. So she knows what to expect. What she doesn’t know though, is, whether or not it’s smart to go on living her life like nothing is happening, when there is so much shit going on. It drives her nuts to have to be blind. There’s a reason she studied journalism in school.

There’s a whole thing for her about having to get answers. And right now, she wants to know why people can’t leave. The thing is, she knows that if she lies to Mika she’ll feel bad about it and not want to go searching for answers. Which leads her to do the only logical thing she can think of, “I can’t make promises. This town literally wants to eat me alive. I don’t think I can hide from it for long. I wish I could promise you I’d stay out of it, and away, but it’s not like I can leave. I’m stuck here until it comes for me.” She swallows after she speaks into the phone. “I’m so sorry, Mika.” @blackburnannie

[lovefromnoah-archive]

❛  why  do  you  hate  me ?  ❜ blaire & claudia

blood tw & horror movie violence.

❛ why do you hate me ? ❜ Blaire says.

It’s a question that surprises Claudia. She doesn’t hate Blaire, and will never hate Blaire. She’s her daughter and she will love her, even when she does things she doesn’t agree with. However, Claudia is terrified of Blaire and assumes that one day she might kill her. It’s something she feels deep down whenever her daughter gives her a certain look, or when she feels her daughter enter the room. She hates that it’s that way with Blaire, when it isn’t that way with Ethan, but she sees more of the Other in Blaire than she does in Ethan.

Opening her arms, she walks closer to her daughter and wraps her arms around her, a hum leaving her lips as her daughter hugs her back. They stay that way for a few seconds, and then Claudia feels pressure and a searing pain that causes her to scream out.

“I wish you’d hate me,” Blaire states as she takes a step back, a knife in hand. Claudia holds onto her bleeding back with one hand, and then reaches out to her daughter with the other, dragging herself on the floor. “I’m always going to love you, Blaire…Always.”

And as Blaire turns away from her, hair whipping as she turns, Claudia gasps awake, her daughter Blaire laying down in bed beside her and Ethan when she looks to her side.

Blaire may be more like the Other, but there has to be some Mika in her...somewhere, right?

Mike is also Mika, right?

Except he's not...he's Other. And even when Claudia knew he wasn't Mika, because he actually told her prior to them sleeping together, she slept with him because she'd been tired of Mika's rule following ways and wanted to make waves.

It was a mistake, but at the same time, it wasn't. She just wishes she knew What Mike was before she made the choice. She wishes she knew he was evil personified, because then she wouldn't be scared of her children becoming the same way.

[lovefromnoah-archive]

❝ let’s go get a pumpkin frappucino! ❞ celeste & alexander

Alexander was a fan of all caffeinated drinks. He enjoyed them quite a lot, when they were made correctly, and they always managed to taste amazing when he drank them with Celeste. Actually, everything was better with Celeste. Even the worst that this town had to offer managed to not feel as awful to withstand with her around.

While he wasn’t sure if it was wise to fall in love with her, because he would eventually leave town, he had already fallen hard for her and loved her more than he could have ever thought to love anyone in his life. Truthfully, the guy didn’t even love his ex-wife as much as he loved Celeste. It was strange, but a wonderful type of strange, this love he felt for her.

Reaching out to grab her hand, Alexander smiled at her, and then said, “I’d love to. Though I doubt they come nearly as close to tasting as good as your diner’s coffee.” He winked at her playfully and then grinned at her, his heart squeezing lightly in his chest.

@blackburnannie

[lovefromnoah-archive]

[ 📞 ] ‘ you’re lying. ’ laurel & regina

Liar liar, pants on fire. Regina Jones is a fucking liar. It’s the cold, hard truth. The harshest of truths. No one’s been able to figure it out. She’s the one controlling everyone’s game moves and making sure everyone stays on board - new and old. She’s the one who negotiates with those behind the doors to see who’s the weakest link that needs to be sent away. It’s her, Sheriff Jones, and she’s not sorry about it. Harming one person is better than harming the whole town, and she’s making the effort to keep the town intact while she can. People - newcomers - like Laurel are a threat to that, and had Regina not cared for her romantically, she might have gotten rid of her. But since she cares, she plays oblivious. Pretends so that they can continue playing happy families together.

“I’m not lying. I know no one can leave the Heights, but I don’t know who’s in control of who stays and who goes. If I did, do you think I’d still be here?” Regina counters, even though ‘yes’ she would still live in Hysteria Heights had the town stopped keeping it’s townspeople from leaving. She loves the Heights too much, and how everything about it reminds her of home. She could never leave. It’s in her blood. In her bones.