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andvys · 3 years

Text

Longing (part 19)

Warnings: angst

Pairing: Ellie Williams x reader

You didn't know if letting Abby live was the right thing to do, it was the last thing you wanted and if it wasn't for Lev she would be dead right now but you couldn't do this not when he saved your life even though you were no one to him.

It almost broke your heart seeing a child like this, crying and begging to not kill someone who seems to be important to them. You were in this position before so if you knew what it was like to feel like this, how could make someone else go through it?

You thought about the way you grew up, you saw your father kill people, like it was the easiest thing in the world, like it was the most normal thing in the world. You were forced to kill too and it was anything but easy and it shouldn't be normal either but in this world it was, it became normal to you and it made you feel sick.

Children grow up in this cruel world, full of hope and innocence that gets taken away from them as soon as they are put in situations they shouldn't be in. You thought about Dina’s and Jesse’s unborn child, it would grow up in this horrible world too and who know’s how long Dina and Jesse would be alive. Parents always die in this world and their children are left behind.

It was a scary thought but anyone could die out there any day. Jesse almost died already. Tommy almost died. Ellie almost died.

Ellie..

If Ellie died, Abby would be dead too, no exceptions.

You would kill her without hesitation. If you would have lost Ellie, you would have lost the last part of yourself anyways so killing Abby wouldn't do you any harm anymore. You'd be dead inside anyways, Ellie was what was keeping you still alive.

But Ellie was still alive and you knew that if you would have killed Abby, Lev would have probably killed you and you weren't ready to die yet, you still wanted to spend the rest of your time here with Ellie.

You just didn't know if she wanted the same thing.

Things have been tense on the way back home, after they all recovered from their injuries, you found a car that would bring you back home. You got into a fight with Ellie and Tommy about keeping Abby alive but Tommy agreed in the end and decided that the council in Jackson would decide what to do with her.

Ellie ignored you all the way back home to Jackson. It hurt but you didn't expect anything else from her. You wanted Abby dead just as much as she did but Tommy was right when he said that letting Abby live with the guilt of knowing that her friends were dead because of her was punishment enough, especially when she was locked away in a cell and only had that to think about for the rest of her life.

Once you got back to Jackson, Ellie immediately rushed past you once a group of people guided Abby and Lev away. You stood there watching her walk away from you. Was that it?

It seemed like your little romance was short lived, you didn't think that she would ever forgive you.

A hand patted your shoulder, looking up you found Jesse giving you a sad smile “she’ll come around.” he said.

Shaking your head, “no she won't.” you said, looking down in pain.

“oh my god, Jesse!” you heard Dina yell in relief, she came running towards him, hugging him tightly.

“Dina.” He immediately hugged her back.

You decided to step back and let them have their moment, you grabbed your backpack and your weapons and turned around to leave only to be stopped by Dina.

“Hey where do you think you're going?” you heard Dina ask, turning around she had a hand on her hip, looking at you with a stern expression on her face.

Chuckling at her, you put your stuff down, she looked at you in concern. Eying all the cuts and bruises that were still visible on your skin, your left arm was hanging limply by your side. Ever since Abby pulled that arrow out, you could barely move it. You were sure that she damaged a nerve.

You tried to give her a genuine smile but you knew you couldn't bullshit Dina into thinking that you were okay, she always knew when something was wrong and she could tell right away that you went through hell out there.

You walked towards her and she immediately put her arms around you, pulling you in. You immediately hugged her back, you missed her.

You felt a wave of sadness crashing down on you, tears welled up in your eyes and you couldn't hold them back any longer, you started crying silently.

“It's okay (y/n), I got you.” she whispered, rubbing your back gently.

Jesse stood back and watched the scene with a painful expression on his face. He knew how much you struggled back there and having Ellie treat you like you were nothing to her, just made your situation even worse.

“Come on, let’s get you into the infirmary.” Dina said

You nodded your head and pulled away from the hug, looking down at the floor you picked your things up and looked up at her and Jesse, nodding your head at them.

“Alright, the bruises are almost healed and some of these cuts will leave scars, nothing major however I'm afraid, you won't be able to use your arm properly anymore. The arrow damaged a nerve.” the doctor explained.

You nodded your head, you guessed it already on the way back home, you weren't able to move it around like before and you knew something was wrong, it was horrible. What was even more horrible was the pitiful stares you've gotten from the others. Even Ellie, she was ignoring you but you could feel her eyes on you all the damn time and it drove you crazy. They also didn't even let you kill one infected on the way back home and you were sure you could say goodbye to your swords.

“I’m not saying it won't recover, there might be a slight chance that it could heal but just don't rely on it too much.” he said, giving you pitiful look.

“For now I want you to rest, no going on patrols or anything like that alright?”

“Yeah, thanks doc.” you said, nodding your head at him you got up and walked out of the infirmary where Dina and Jesse were waiting for you.

“I told you guys, you can go home.” you said, they should spend their time together now and not with you.

Dina rolled her eyes at you while Jesse ignored what you said “what did the doc say?” he asked.

“He said what I already thought happened, nerve damage. I won't be able to move my arm properly and I shouldn't have too much hope for a recovery.” you said, shrugging acting like it didn't affect you.

Dina inhaled sharply, looking at you in worry, living in this world was difficult enough already and not being able to use your arm properly anymore meant that you couldn't fight anymore or at least not like before.

“Fuck.. I’m sorry (y/n)..” Jesse said, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s fine.. you guys should go home.”

Dina wanted to say something but you interrupted her “no seriously, go home, I kinda want to be alone right now and I’m tired and I just want to take a shower and sleep for the rest of the week.” you said, giving them a small smile.

They both looked at you sadly. Before they could say anything, you hugged them and told them good night.

You walked past Joel’s house, stopping for a second. The lights were off and it just looked empty, well it was empty. He should've been there, sitting on his porch, playing guitar.

Shaking your head, you continued walking, wanting to just get home and go sleep and forget about everything.

Opening the door to your small house, you turned on the lights, finding everything still the way it was before.

You went into your bedroom and put your stuff down, taking off your jacket you threw it on the floor and grabbed some fresh clothes before you went into the bathroom to take a shower.

You turned the water on, waiting for it to get a little warmer. You took your clothes off as best as you could with using just one arm. You looked into the mirror, your reflection stared back at you, you couldn't even recognize yourself anymore. You looked empty and broken. Blinking your tears away you turned around and got into the shower, sighing at the feeling of warm water against your skin, you let your mind relax for a while before it drifted off to things you didn't wanted to think about again.

You were tired. Tired of fighting and killing, you didn't want to do this anymore. You didn't even remember how many people you killed and it left you with a sickening feeling. You have taken so many life’s as if it was okay. You let your tears fall freely now. It was too much, everything was just too much for you. The pain you were in was unbearable and not having Ellie with you now made it even worse.

The thought that she might hate you now put you into an even more miserable state. Not being able to hold your cries in anymore, you started sobbing. You went through this before, a few weeks ago or was it months already? you had no clue, so much time has past already. Your fight back then almost seemed childish to you now, compared to the pain you both were in now.

After you managed to calm down, you got out of the shower. It was a struggle to put your clothes on but you managed. You didn't realize what shirt you put on until you looked down realizing it was the shirt that Ellie gave you when you slept over at her house for the first time, it was the shirt that Joel gave her.

It still smelt like her, you'd have to give it back but you'd keep it for yourself for now, at least as long as it still smelt like her. Ellie might never forgive you and she might never be in your arms again but you needed her and it was the only thing that came closest to her right now.

You sat down on your bed, staring at the wall you thought about her, you wondered what she was doing right now or what she was feeling, if she was thinking about you.

You snapped out of your thoughts when you heard knocking on your door. Furrowing your brows, you had no clue who that could be, you got up and walked towards your door, opening it you found Maria standing there with a small box in her hand.

“Hey.” you said, looking at her in confusion.

“Hello (y/n), can I come inside?” she asked, smiling slightly.

You immediately stepped aside, “yes of course.”

You closed your door after she walked in, “I made you something to eat, I figured you'd be hungry.” she said, putting the box on your table.

“Thanks Maria, I appreciate that.” you said, smiling at her, you sat down on your sofa, gesturing for her to take a seat.

She sat down next to you, you knew she wasn't just here to bring you something to eat, she wanted to talk about something.

“Doc told me about your arm, I’m sorry about that (y/n).” she said, giving you a pitiful smile.

“It’s fine, I’m sure it will recover.” you lied, you didn’t believe in a recovery but you didn’t need people to see you lose hope.

“I hope so but till then no patrols for you.” she said, with a stern voice.

Nodding your head, “I figured..” you trailed off “so what brings you here?” you asked.

“I just wanted to check up on you and tell you, what you did, letting her live I mean, not everyone could have done that.” she said “It requires a lot of strength to let someone you want dead so bad live and I respect that.” she said “especially because this situation was so personal to you.”

You were surprised to hear that, Ellie and Tommy definitely did not respect your decision. While Tommy did agree on taking Abby back as a prisoner he was sure that Maria and the council would choose to execute her. All the way back to Jackson both Ellie and Tommy treated you poorly. Jesse was nice as always but you weren't sure what he thought about you letting Abby live.

“You're gonna make a great Leader one day (y/n).” Maria stated.

Your eyes widened at her, shocked about her words “L-Leader?” you stuttered.

“Yeah, I gotta step back one day and you are the only person here that I could imagine seeing as the new Leader of Jackson.” she told you, surprising you further.

“Me?” you couldn't believe that she would consider letting you become the Leader. You didn't even think you were a good fighter and here she was basically promising you such a high position.

Nodding her head “Yes you, don't be so surprised. You have to stop underestimating yourself.” she said “You got all the qualities a great leader needs. You are strong, you know how to fight, you can make tough decisions even when everyone else is against them and you still kept your humanity all along.” she added.

You didn't know what to say, you felt so overwhelmed hearing this, her words meant a lot to you. You always looked up to Maria and hearing her say this made you feel a lot better.

“Thank you Maria, this means a lot to me.” you said, giving her a grateful smile.

“I’m proud of the woman you've become, Joel would've been proud of you too.” she said, giving you a smile.

You weren't sure if he would be proud of you but you nodded your head not wanting to disagree with her, you smiled at her before looking down at your hands when you felt tears well up in your eyes. You didn't wanted her to see you cry.

“Alright, we’ll talk about the other things tomorrow, I should go and you should eat something and get some sleep.” she said, getting up.

She meant Abby and Lev when she said other things.

“I will. thank you, for every for everything.” you told her.

“Of course.” she replied, smiling at you before she left, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

You weren't sure if you could sleep alone, you spend all your nights with Ellie on the way to Seattle when she catched up to you and even on the way back home she stayed near you, even if she didn't touch you, you knew she was there and you felt safe sleeping knowing that she was somewhat close to you but now you were alone in this empty home.

Home, that's not what it was, it was just a house, an empty house with an empty person.

You laid down on your bed and stared up at the ceiling. “what now?” you asked yourself, where would you go from here?

Joel was gone and so was a part of you. you lost a part of yourself the day he died and you lost a part of yourself in Seattle and now with Ellie gone you felt like you were losing the last part of yourself.

Closing your eyes, you tried to think of something else, you just wanted to fall asleep and forget about everything for a while.

#ellie williams x reader #ellie williams imagine #ellie williams #tlou ellie #tlou imagines

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darklightmiwxo · 3 years

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MIW history

Hello I want to make a history and facts post of MIW. I been a fan for a few months so I may miss some stuff out. New fans can check this out to understand more of the band.

Motionless in white members:

[IMG=OAA]

Name: Chris motionless (cerulli)

Full name: Christopher Cerulli)

Age: 34

Birthday: October 17 1986

Zodiac: Libra

Birth place: Scranton Pennsylvania

Height: 6'1

Role: main singer

Relationship Status: single

Chris says he doesn't want to get married.

Fear: heights and flying

Personality: a really kind person who cares for his fans he's funny and has a dad humor. Everyone just see him as a dad to them.

Interest: Chris really loves dogs. He plays video games halo and call of duty he plays it all the time. His fave bands is slipknot,marlin manson,korn,HIM,and more rock bands.

[IMG=EOZ]

Name: Ricky Olson (horror)

Full name: Richard Alison Olson the third

Nick name: Rick

Age: 32

Birthday: September 1st 1988

Birth place: Seattle WA

Lives: Scranton Pennsylvania

Zodiac: Virgo

Height: 5'6

Uni: he studied film production in college but dropped out for the band.

Role: rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist

Relationship status: taken by Jamie L

Fear: dying alone,being hated,failing

Personality: he's a calm sweet person he's very smart and also really kind. He's a good caring friend. However he can be a troll sometimes and mess around with everyone because he loves doing it. He loves his fans so much. He's a shy boy.

Interest: he loves to write,draw,edit,take photos, record videos,run his YouTube channel,create a mini sketch video to post on his channel, being a director,he loves cats and reading books.

Ricky fave bands is: muse,HIM,afi,slipknot,BMTH,Ariana grande,Ellie goulding.

[IMG=NEP]

Name: Vinny Mauro

Full name: Vinchenzo Mauro

Nick name: vin,chenzo,sachetti

Nationality: Italian American

Age: 27

Birthday: Nov 22 1993

Birth place: jersey shore Pennsylvania

Zodiac: Sagittarius

(he's also a Sagittarius Scorpio cusp)

Height: 5'6

Uni: vinny study computer programming but he dropped out of college to join the band in 2014

Role: drummer

Bands: MIW,suffer club,trap demon

Relationship Status: single

Fear: being hated by people

Personality: in most of Ricky vlogs vinny seem extroverted he is loud around friends and has lots of fun being silly. But in reality there is a side to him that isn't easy to see you can see it in his twitch stream. He's actually really introverted he said this himself. He's calming and sweet he interact with fans a lot and making sure fans respect each other. He loves to be alone in his room for many days avoiding human contact. Vinny mention being too shy to go up to new people but he is fine if people go up to him. He doesn't feel comfortable talking to new people. He likes being alone.

Interest: creating rap beats,playing video games,making music,dogs and cats,playing drums.

Vinny fave artist are: Fall out boy,paramore,korn,panic! At the disco,HIM,my chemical romance,arch enemy,maroon 5,emeiem,Ariana grande,dua lipa,Mack millo,doji cat,bring me the horizon,pierce the veil,sleeping with sirens,all time low,black veil brides,Rihanna,linkin park,green day,evanescences.

[IMG=XHH]

Name: Ryan Sitkowski

Age: 30

Birthday: Jan 8,1991

Zodiac: Capricorn

Birth place: Pennsylvania

Height: 5'11?

Uni: he dropped out of college to join MIW

Role: lead guitarist

Relationship Status: taken

Fear: spiders

Personality: Ryan is a chill person he's shy and caring to fans. He's also a troll he loves to mess around with his friends.

Interest: guitar,video games,trading card games.

Bands: the same as the rest of miw probably.

[IMG=QFE]

Name: Justin morrow

Age: 32?

Birthday: May 11th

Birth place: Caledonia, New York

Zodiac: Taurus

Height: 6'1

Role: bassist

Relationship Status: married

Fear: ?

Personality: Justin is a kind chill person who cares for his fans and his friends. He left ice nine kills to right away help MIW on tour. Justin is also a troll he loves trolling his friends.

Interest: videos games but not a nerd like the others,bass,cosplaying,putting makeup on.

Bands: the same as MIW

Motionless in white history:

The band started in high school of 2005

Chris,Angelo,Frank p,Kyle white being the first members of the band. Later after college and the bands demo releases Josh joined the band. Frank moved to bass. Micheal and TJ join as guitarist. Later on micheal left the band and Chris met Ryan. Ryan then joined as guitarist of the band. Chris met Ricky in 2009. Frank left the band and Ricky was the new bassist for MIW.

MIW got more popular in 2009 when they tour around the state's in a van. Tj left the band a year later to join escape the fate (Ronnie radke of falling in reverse old band and bless the fall singer Craig band) Ricky then became the new rythmn guitarist of the band. Ghost (Devin) join as the bass player of the band. During the infamous album creation Angelo was feeling ill he couldn't play drums well anymore he gets tired easily and his drum skills wasn't good at all he was eating bad that it make him weak. He couldn't drum anymore so he left the band. The band had other drummers help record their albums. Brandon was the touring drummer for the band till the end of the reincarnated album. The band met vinny and he became the new drummer he was in the reincarnated music video playing drums but you can't see him much in the music video. Vinny then became a member of MIW not a tour drummer anymore but a actually member of MIW. Josh left the band around this time. In the graveyard shift era after the making of the album the whole band kicked ghost out of the band because the fans told the band what ghost did to fans which was very gross. The band kicked him out and Justin from ice nine kills join the band as bassist then he quit ice nine kills to be working full time for MIW. Disguise is the first album where the whole current members of the band created songs without other people doing it for them.

Chris history from high school to now:

Chris grew up in Pennsylvania. He met his friends who end up being the band members of the band he wanted to create he wasn't expecting to be the main singer. At a young age Chris started getting tattoos everywhere.

Chris cared about the band and just went for it.

Demos of the band was created. Chris is a perfectionist he wants the album to be perfect so he was judging everything in order to make a album he liked. Band members left but he didn't quit the band he try to find new band members and try to meet new bands. He worked hard for the band he carry the whole band and make sure the band was doing well. Chris thanks Ryan and Ricky for being the most loyal band members staying with him all these years and not leaving him. Chris had the fear of failing the band breaking up and Chris dreams crushing down but Chris didn't let that happen at all. And here we are today.

Ryan Sitkowski college to now:

Ryan dropped out of college to join MIW at age 17. He was new to the band and Josh didn't like him at all. Ryan was at a young age traveling all over the state with the band. Ryan haven't shared much of his life on the internet he kept it more private. Ryan got a girlfriend and then when the lockdown happen he started streaming on twitch to interact with fans and made a discord too.

Ricky Olson high school to now:

Ricky is the oldest of his siblings. When Ricky was young he was playing with his friends sports and something hit his tooth so half of Ricky teeth is fake. He mention he cry to his mom on the phone because of it. Ricky in middle school wanted to be in a band because his friends played instruments and he wanted to join them. Ricky in high school was a shy boy who had a few friends but they were mostly fake friends. Ricky Olson begin to play guitar and write stories because of the inspiration of Ville Valo from HIM. He became obsessed with HIM. Ricky was in a band in high school as the lead singer but was kicked out for sounding like Ville valo. One of Ricky dreams was to be in a band and also a film maker. In college he study film production. While also working in band merch booth selling band merch to people. But since Ricky was too shy he got yelled at for not speaking up and selling more. Ricky was in a bad time around 2008 and 2009. He share this in a blog years ago about this. He was in a lost place had a bad past and he was thinking of the past all the time and future worrying about failing the future he wanted to be in a band but he was so lost he had no idea what to do in his life. He would day dream about being in a band and then cry to sleep every night about his life. He had depression and gave up with everything in his life. He drank achoul every day. One day on his sister 16 birthday Ricky was drunk coming home from work to go to his parents house his sister was sleeping in her bed.

Tw// self harm and suicide attempt:

Ricky was laying in his sister's bed he cut his arm with a knife it was a lot Ricky was sobbing while watching the blood going down his arm to the floor his dad saw what happen and ask Ricky what happen. Ricky was sobbing and yelling he wanted to die many times. He passed out and went to the hospital he lost a lot of blood and the achoul level was really high he drank way too much. He almost died. He end up getting better and went to see a therapist. He went to see MIW with a friend. Ricky met Chris and the band thought Ricky was cool so he invited them to stay at his house. Chris text Ricky being like should join our band. Ricky would often say idk if I should he didn't know if he would be good enough for the band.

He later on join and quit college but Ricky mention still feeling depressed while in the band. Josh ballaz disliked Ricky when he joined too. 2 years later Ricky moved to rythmn guitarist but he wasn't used to playing guitar since he mostly did bass so he often made mistakes on guitar. He was still learning to play guitar. Things got better for Ricky. But his dream job was always filming he does some film stuff on tour and at home. Though he knew he probably won't be a film maker for movies like he dream of doing he makes whatever he can make. Ricky has stomach problems he often went to the doctor because of it.

Vinny Mauro childhood to now:

Vinny is one of the youngest children of his family. He has many siblings. Vinny mention on stream that he had a bad past. He mention that his dad would take achoul all the time and not give a fuck about vinny. Vinny mom would always go after Vinny. Vinny as a kid was a trouble maker he would disobey his parents and think it was funny. His mom would throw stuff at him and threaten him. His dad gave him a drum set so vinny end up learning to play drums he self taught himself to play drums. He listen to music and got into new types of music he likes all types of music. In middle school a girl that he liked asked him if he can play paramore on drums and vinny played it for her.

In high school vinny was a outcast and loner he made friends in his neighborhood but at school he had no friend. He didn't fit in with anyone. He mention in Ricky Olson podcast his high school life. Ricky ask him how he didn't find friends in high school. Vinny mention saying he didn't fit in with anyone he is also a shy person so he doesn't go up to new people. He was more a loner and was fine with it. Vinny went to uni to study computer programming but he didn't like it at all he was often bored he posted videos of him drumming on his YouTube channel. He knew a guy who knew MIW. MIW was looking for a drummer and they asked vinny to try out for drums in another country which was Australia. Vinny dropped out of college and told his parents what he was doing they weren't happy about that but he end up going over there trying out drums but he was very nervous. He met the band and then went to start drumming. Chris and Ricky were in the same room as vinny they were watching him play drums. Chris being very judgemental. He often scares Ricky when he's on guitar and Ricky fear to make a single mistake in front of Chris and vinny felt that fear. He even said I think I mess up a few times on drums. After he finish drumming. Ricky and Chris went to talk said not a single word and vinny was sweating so much thinking he made a mistake and he won't be part of the band. Later on Chris made vinny part of the band. Vinny became the tour member of the band then he became a member of MIW.

Years later vinny decided to interact more with fans since he had time to so he livestreams on twitch and has discord to interact with fans.

The lock down happen and vinny spend time interacting with fans. He lives with his friend in a house together. But something about vinny these few years mostly months to now that was starting to show. Vinny was suddenly showing signs of depression he often tweet depressing stuff but each year got worst for him. 2020 was the start of vinny's down fall. He had so much self hate he hated his hair,his body,his looks everything about himself he hate. He even tweeted saying I'm sad so I'm going to make a song. He release alone. Even he tweeted about something sad saying 2020 was a bad start for him and Ricky ask if he was ok and hoping vinny was just joking around. During December vinny had back pains because of a sneeze that hurt his nerves so vinny was in so much pain and he didn't see a doctor he thought he could fight it himself just taking pain meds to him. In Jan of 2021 the start of vinny down hill. He was in so much pain he couldn't leave his room or chair he couldn't even drum. He was very depressed. He hated life so much. A month later he got better and went back to streaming but still he was struggling there was some bad stuff happening anyway with him. The covid shot made him sick Saying he didnt eat anything for 4 days he felt like throwing up he even woke up in the middle of the night thinking he was going to do it and other stuff that made him depressed. Around April of this year small amount of fans notice something was going on with vinny he mention so much self hate about himself. In May he mention he was fine but a week later he said he was depressed and talking about what happen months ago and years ago. Sharing something about his family past and he stopped himself saying he doesn't want to get too into it. Vinny mention that he was eating food once a day because he felt like he is fat for over eating food all the time so he end up just eating dinner only everyday. He done it since the beginning of March and still is doing it. He wanted to loss weight. So he doesn't want breakfast and lunch but he eats dinner.

Around may vinny was in rock bottom he talk to no one at all even Ryan was 30 mins away from vinny and he ask him why he didn't go to see him and vinny said he didn't know why. Vinny mention saying he talked to no one for a week straight he also mention he isn't the kind of person to go up to people he said he's very introverted. he stopped streaming for weeks because he was doing bad. He said he felt burnt out and tired.

He took his break off social media for many weeks. Around this time many fans notice vinny was really not doing well.

Then he return to streaming around the 18th of June. Just to say hi he said he miss his fans but he plans to stream again a few weeks later. He mention that he have been avoiding all human contact and was staying in his room playing video games and drums all day still with the once a meal thing he does. Vinny said he's not depressed but people ask him about his depressing tweets and he said is it really depressing. Someone ask him why he is listening to sad music and he said am I not allowed to enjoy music. Now more fans are worried about him. Many more fans noticing that vinny isn't ok and he's hiding it.

That's basically all of MIW history I could give.

I will update and add more to the list later when something new happens. The vinny stuff is true I been watching his streams a lot and he mention those stuff so I just wanted to share what he said. I been a MIW fan for 8 months so I may not know Ryan and Justin as much as the others. Since they don't share much about themselves.

Hoping you enjoy this. Free feel to comment somethings I forgot to add.

Please don't argue about ghost ok. Ty

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thewalkingdead-imagines · 3 years

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My Take on TLOU 2

Warning: Major spoilers for tlou part 1 and 2 below!

Before I start: None of my criticism is meant as hate against anyone who loved the game. This is just my personal opinion, if you liked it or feel differently than me, that’s completely fine, to each their own! Also, this is solely about the plot, not the gameplay, the scenery, the graphics etc. because those were unarguably breathtaking and incredibly well done. Either way, here we go:

• Starting off with the elephant in the room: I absolutely hated that they killed Joel. I hated this so so much.

1. The fact that they killed him at all Killing off a main Character is rarely the right call and it most definitely wasn't the right one for tlou in my opinion. Joel and Ellie’s father-daughter relationship and its growth was what made the first game so special and by killing Joel, they killed a whole lot of the game’s essence already. Plus, and this is a personal thing, I (and I am 100% sure lots of others) loved Joel as character, which makes killing him off even worse. ...which lets me come to my second point

2. How they killed him First, the fact that they did it so very early on in the game. I spoiled myself on accident and knew he was going to die way before I even started the initial game but I can say that I was entirely shocked that it happened at the start. I thought it might be done towards the middle, which would have at least given us some time with him and a possibility to say “goodbye” in a way but instead you get very few moments with him at the start and then his death. That’s it. That alone is a punch in the face for anyone who loved this character and the first game. Then, they make him save Abby only for her to lead them into an ambush. I was also very confused that they made Joel follow her without questioning it, sure this one is debatable, but after years and years of being a hardened survivor, do you really think he would just trust a random stranger? He grew softer, sure, and he also grew to trust people more, but not enough to just follow a random stranger who said they had a whole ass group without questioning it at least for a moment. He didn’t even seem to be just slightly wary and to be honest, that just seemed unnatural to me. The brutality of his death is another punch in the face. Abby tortured him, for god knows how long. She first shot his kneecap off and then tortured him until he laid paralyzed on the ground, blood overflown and barely conscious. They did that to a character the whole first game lead you to love. Then they make Ellie come in to watch Abby give him the rest with a fucking golf curb while she pleads for his life. Sorry but what the fuck? We’ve seen Joel survive so fucking much, he’s survived being impaled by an iron rod for fuck’s sake and took out whatever people threw at him and he dies like that? Without even giving him the possibility to fight back? There’s so much going on in my head when I think about that moment that I honestly can’t even put all of this into words.

• I get that this all was done to set up the remaining plot and honestly, that was the next problem in my eyes. This whole story revolved around a revenge plot and how much you have to stop this circle of revenge. To me, that’s more of a predicable and overused plot but that might be a personal thing. My problem is even more that they made the whole story about this and that it felt like a severely forced teaching moment / moral of the story type of thing that lasted for 25(?) hours. I’m not against teaching moments per se, that’s not the thing, and I wanna be clear about that but I hate it when its a. forced b. way too obvious and feels unnatural, and to me that was the case in the second part.

• Now about 1/3 through the game, I didn’t want to completely give up on it yet. I thought/hoped there might be a chance for me to even somehow like it in the end. So I wanted to stay open and for a little I could still see that there was a bit of the essence of the first game left. I loved the cut scenes of Joel and Ellie so so much. I can’t emphasize how much I adore them. They did a great job with them, really. The scenes at the museum are pure perfection and they honestly made me despise the fact that they decided to kill him even more. I will never get over Ellie putting the hats on the dinosaurs and Joel, and I will surely not get over his gift to her. This guy went out and searched his ass off to find her a cassette with the first moon-landing, just to be sure that he has the perfect gift for her. This is beyond adorable. I’ve rewatched these scenes so often already and they honestly get me emotional each time. These scenes felt like the first game again, they gave you that cozy, warm feeling when you got to watch their relationship grow. I also loved the guitar shop (or their way towards it) cut scene, it kind of conveyed what I would’ve wished for for the entire game. A good bunch of action and horror when they have to make their way through but it still has the essence of their relationship and their story when they discuss the teenager’s deaths.

• In short, I really really wanted to see more of these cut scenes and kept on hoping for more until they switched everything up and a cut scene for Abby started.

• I already expected them to try and make Abby look better or made the thing she did to Joel kind of “understandable”, especially because I’ve seen that there were people who really started to love her character. So I kind of expected something big to happen. To me, it didn’t. So her father was the surgeon that Joel killed. Sure she hated Joel (fair enough, he killed her parent) but is that enough for me to understand, excuse etc. what she did in Jackson? Fuck no and that has several reasons. → Joel didn’t kill (nor fucking tortured!!) her father because of something small, like a few supplies etc. he killed him because he literally was about to kill his adopted daughter for a vaccine that might have not even worked out. He killed him to protect someone. Also: → Her father moreover visibly seemed to doubt that he would do this procedure if Abby was the immune girl, which is pretty much hypocritical bullshit. → Abby’s father didn’t give a shit about Ellie too, he could have let her wake up and make a conscious decision whether she wanted to do this, he didn’t. He just approved of killing her → He threatened Joel with a surgical knife → He would have stayed alive if he would have let Joel just go with Ellie / refrained from killing her So this honestly didn’t make me feel for her, this only made my rage for her grow. She had to know that Joel killed her father (and prevented the vaccine) because he didn’t want this little girl to die for something that might have not even worked. Then, he saves her ass from a sure death and she still decides to torture him to death? There was not one moment of doubt in Abby, not one and what makes it worse is that she doesn’t show any remorse about what she did at any time during the game

• I really hoped that they would stop after this but they really made you play all 3 days as Abby, the same time as Ellie. They really force you to play as character who has killed and brought so much pain over the characters you grew to love (probably as an attempt to force you to like her after seeing her side). So instead of using these hours to give you time to play with these beloved characters, they give it to her. Sorry but that’s bullshit.

• Besides this, it also absolutely threw off the pace of the plot. You just wanted to know what happens to Ellie now that Abby on top of it all also killed Jesse (!!!) and instead you get thrown back to square one. • I’m not interested in her weird love triangle with Owen and Mel, I don’t care how she got from Salt lake city to Seattle and I don’t care about her work out program. All these plots just frustrated me more tbh.

• Now, I wanna add that I tried to ask myself if I would’ve liked her if she hadn’t killed Joel and honestly, I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t. I just really don’t like her personality. All this time she just seemed bitter and boring, moreover she repeatedly said that she helped those others for herself and to top it off, she also fucked a guy with a pregnant girlfriend (fuck Owen too btw). So again, how do you expect me to like her?

• I did like Lev and Yara. Honestly, if naughtydog wanted to do something so very new, they could’ve just made a whole story about Lev’s struggles within this post apocalyptic community. That would have at least been interesting and wouldn’t have fucked your favorite characters over, just saying.

• Now flash-forward to the scene back at the theater. Abby’s just killed Jesse, she’s got Tommy hurt on the floor and then you’re forced to play as her and hurt Ellie? Fuck that (Also, the way they had Ellie walk around in that scene? C’mon that’s not how she’d walk around a room while she’s searching for her enemy)

• This thing kind of leads to one thing that wraps up a lot of the end well, Ellie was panicked and broke down when she realized that Mel was pregnant, Abby said “good” when Ellie plead for Dina’s life and said that she was pregnant. I’m not saying that there’s a general difference between Ellie killing people and Abby killing people, it’s obviously shit either way but there’s a clear difference in how they handle it. Ellie is clearly distraught while Abby stays cold, and after everything (also everything else I’ve mentioned) they still wanna make you sympathize with Abby and be angry with Ellie for doing all this. A lot of the game is set up to this (at least that’s what i felt like). Just one example: Abby plays fetch with dog, Ellie is forced to kill dog (also, weird how you’re just forced to kill dogs when you play as Ellie and not Abby, huh?)

• While naughtydog tried to make YOU (as well as Ellie, honestly) see all the different points of views they make Abby entirely ignorant to it, without any remorse and still try to make you have sympathy for her. She does not try to be insightful regarding what she’s done to Joel and see Ellie/Joel’s side just once. She actually mentions that Joel deserved much worse and suggests she did everything right in Jackson. This ignorance and complete lack of remorse...I think this is one of by biggest problems with this plot. Also, that very last attempt to make you feel for Abby when she’s lost her bulk and stand at those pillars? Really? Kinda cheap

• Again, I get where they wanted to go with the story. I get that they wanted to show that you lose everything when you just seek for revenge and that the circle needs to be broken, but it was so one-sided in the end. Both, Abby and Ellie lost a lot, but Ellie loses absolutely everyone and Abby still has Lev. Ellie loses even two fingers, which doesn’t even allow her to play guitar, which is another fucking punch in the face. It was more about letting Ellie face the consequences instead of Abby and to me, that’s just the wrong call to make after the entire first game lead you to love her and Joel. So, it felt dissatisfying to let Abby go in the end. I get why they did that but it felt like this whole journey was for absolutely nothing. Especially after they ripped her from a life with Dina and JJ to go back to hunting Abby down. She lost everything and didn’t even get to end it.

• Generally, what this game did...I don’t think that this is something you do with beloved characters. You just don’t do them completely dirty and they did so with Ellie and Joel. People loved this game majorly because of Joel and Ellie’s story and relationship and were excited to see more of it in the next part and they screwed those people, their viewers and players, completely over. You don’t have to be a complete viewer pleaser, don’t get me wrong, but you also don’t need to completely shit all over them. After all, these are the people who buy and support your game, it’s just not fair to them.

• This might be a personal thing but I’ve seen so many creators ruin good stories just because they wanted to do something super creative, edgy and entirely new with it. 99% of the time that goes horribly wrong. Don’t get me wrong, you have to do new things to keep it fresh but at the same time you cannot lose what made a story special in the first place. You have to make sure to keep the essence of the story alive and at the same time do something new with it. Unfortunately, i feel like the creators of this game didn’t even want to keep this essence alive, they just wanted to do something entirely new and they belong to the 99% who managed to ruin it.

• You know what I would have loved as plot for the second game? If they would have let Ellie explore that her life can mean something and matter even without a vaccine. The first game even perfectly set the second one up for this. Resolving Joel and Ellie’s conflict + making Ellie realize that she’s more than just her immunity + a new adventure...that would have perfectly continued the story. It would have kept the essence of the game going and mixed it with something new. Now, they pretty much ignored how Ellie felt about this part (except for two cut scenes and a tiny bit here and there) which was pretty much her main issue since she got bit. The last cut scene with Joel and her outside...it just made we wish so much that they got the chance to properly talk everything out. And by now, I kinda just pretend that everything after this night didn’t happen.

• So honestly, I’m just very disappointed and upset. It felt like they were mostly just trying to prove that they had the balls to pull a plot like this off, to show that they had the balls to kill a beloved main character and have you play with their killer. Sure, that might be ballsy and bold, but to me, that’s not what good story telling is about. Good story telling is not a game of “my dick is bigger than yours”. But maybe that’s just my opinion.

And there’s one more thing: Happy endings aren’t always bad, lazy and unrealistic And depressing endings aren’t automatically creative, deep and good I feel like that’s something a lot of creators don’t realize

#tlou #tlou2 #tlou spoilers #joel miller #ellie williams #the last of us #the last of us 2 #tlou 2 #tlou part 2 #tlou joel

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jdmorganz · 4 years

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TLOU 2 Rant

Alright, so I’m going to vent/share my opinion about the game/fans so if you haven’t finished the game I suggest you not to read this because it will contain spoilers.

I’m one of those people that hated the game. There were parts of it I like, such as the Joel/Ellie flashbacks and I appreciate that Ellie had a good partner in Dina, but I personally despised the game for the most part. Thing is, while I hate it, I can respect someone liking it and understand that they aren’t the same. I’m seeing so many posts from people that liked the game, claiming people suck if they hated it and vice versa. How hard is it to still respect someone if they have a different opinion than you? If you want to have a civil discussion with someone, I say go for it. I’ve done that many times. I’ve tried talking things out and my emotions with many people, but once you go to slamming people for disagreeing with you, then what sense does that make?

I’m someone that is quite angry with the way that Naughty Dog handled the game. I’m mad at the company, but I have the right to be. Just as someone has the right to love the game.

For me...the problem is that I feel like the second game took away what made the first game special for me. I was kind of a crazy fanatic about the first game. I’ve probably played the game close to a hundred times and I’m sure people might think that it’s bullshit, but it’s not. I loved the story. I loved the bond between Joel and Ellie. I loved that Joel wasn’t the ‘best’ guy, but he changed to protect this young girl that essentially became his adopted daughter. The thing that made me love this game was the bond that grew between Joel and Ellie. I liked their relationship and to me the first game was about their growing bond between each other. When they announced that this game was coming out, I was ECSTATIC. But at the same time, I knew they were going to kill Joel. People would tease me and ask which death would bother me more Logan or Joel’s because the announcement of the release of these things were at the same time. Truth is Joel was my favorite character of all time. I’ve been saying this since 2013.

The problem I have with TLOU 2, I feel like they made Joel completely out of character for his death scene. This was a character that was completely cautious of everything. He trusted no one. There was no way that the Joel from the first game would have been caught in the situation that the Joel in the second game would have. Also, in the first game Joel got impaled. Joel was bleeding out and he still put up a fight. Joel in this game, kind of just let everything happen. I’ve seen people say things like “Well he changed after getting complacent in Jackson” ...no. Come on. Joel was around people for over 20 years, he knew what they were like. Joel would have never gotten himself in that situation. Ever. I’m also one of those people that believes Joel wasn’t wrong for what he did in the first game. The fireflies were attempting to create a cure for the virus. They didn’t know if cutting open Ellie would actually fix that, they were just hoping that it would. So this group was willing to kill a little girl, for something that potentially wouldn’t work anyways, just to try and have a vaccine. A lot of people that would be put in the situation that Joel was in would likely do the same thing. Especially if it was a parent. The world was already fucked, they going on a whim from something that ‘might’ happen. So I don’t think Joel was wrong.

My major problem with the game is that we are forced to play as Abby. The person that brutalizes and slaughters my favorite character of all time. Someone I have absolutely no empathy for, at all. While I understand that she was hurt that Joel killed her father, she only cared about her revenge. About what would make her feel better. What she never cared to think about was who she would be hurting in order to get her revenge. When Joel and Ellie kill people, they never take pleasure in killing. They are never this brutal, emotionless person and that’s what Abby was. She had no remorse for the things that she did and for that, I couldn’t empathize with the character. I would have rather thrown her off a mountain than have to be forced to try and ‘connect’ with this character.

I knew that Joel was going to die, that was never a doubt in my mind, but I’m disgusted with the way they decided to do it. I wish they would have kept him in the game longer than they did and have more interaction with Ellie. That’s what made the first game special to me. Instead he’s in the game...2 hours? It wasn’t satisfactory for someone who did love the first game so much and their favorite character was Joel. I feel like Joel deserved more of a hero's death or one where he went out fighting. Not where he went out totally out of character. Even if he had died in the first game when he was impaled, it would have made more sense to me.

Even with Ellie, I get it shows that she has growth at the end by ‘not’ killing Abby, but at the same time...she just killed so many people to get to Abby. People that essentially had nothing to do with it. It just felt like an empty ending. Especially after all the things that Abby did to her. Abby was very cruel and in my opinion was an awful person. Even having her be alone at the end felt so...blah. I know people will say they found beauty in it, I didn’t.

Another big problem I had with the game and essentially this is me coming from The Walking Dead (tv series) fandom...this game was a bit of a rip off of the Negan storyline. Joel’s head was bashed in with a golf club, much as Negan had done to Glenn and Abraham. Rick is out for revenge. Carl dies and right when Rick has the chance to kill Negan he has a flashback of Carl and decides not to kill Negan. It just felt like a bad rewrite of The Walking Dead. See, a lot of people compare Abby to Negan, but at least Negan began to feel bad for some of the things that he had done. Abby never seemed to get to that place. I viewed Negan more like Joel. Someone who wasn’t a great guy, did really awful things, but then was changed when a little girl came into his life. It was just different story telling.

I just...I feel like in a way Neil Druckmann gave a big middle finger to those that loved Joel. By having a self insert made and then having that self insert spit on Joel’s dead body kind of showed me how he felt about things. I feel like Joel deserved better. Ellie deserved better and so did the fans, but see all of this is merely my opinion.

No one has to attack each other for having a different opinion. I happily accept mature, conversations...but people that are calling others names for being upset about something that makes them happy or unhappy...that’s just ridiculous.

The first game was so important to me that I had thought of getting Endure & Survive tattooed on my body. I have a heart condition and I thought it would be a good reminder that I have endured this before and I will continue to survive while also serving as a reminder to the game that I loved so much. Along with the characters that meant so much to me. Now, I’m thankful I haven’t done it yet. It would have felt like an empty reminder of what they did to fuck my favorite character over. The second game focuses on “it can’t be for nothing” ... and the whole game did feel like it was for nothing. And that essentially is just my opinion, but that’s how I feel about the game.

#The last of us #The Last of Us Part 2 #Joel Miller #Ellie Williams #tlou 2 spoilers #rant #The Walking Dead #personal

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itsbuckysworld · 4 years

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What’s on your back?

Pairing: BUCKY x Single Parent Reader AU

Prompt: Anon asked: #84 Drabble request please. (really old ask from when I did Short Bucky Drabbles - pick a number from this list )

This is also my entry for @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan: Star’s multi fandom writing challenge. My prompt is Single Parent AU

(first of all, wow this is from SO FUCKING LONG AGO I haven’t been writing but I felt like writing again today, picked a random forgotten ask from my inbox and am currently praying and doing every ritual in the history of the world so that this writing impulse continues.)

Also this is just short and sweet and fluff and badly written because I’m off my game 100%, like how does one even write prose? I've been only writing scripts for a month, idk how to do this anymore

Bucky’s footsteps have always been very silent. Call it a curse – or a blessing – result of having night shifts most of his life and just being a rebellious teenager, getting in at late hours of the night, tip-toeing so as to not wake his mother or roommates.

Him sneaking up on you with great ease has been a staple since you first met him and it’s almost impossible to get him back. “I’m like a spy babe” he’d say “you can’t out-spy me” and it was true. No matter how hard you tried, he always knew.

That added to his prankster self equalled many and many little jump scares. And he’d time them perfectly too. For a while you expected them and then when the anticipation died down, he’d strike again. Coming up from behind you and tickling you into his arms.

He would do it to your daughter Ellie as well, but she loved it, so much so that now she was becoming a little prankster herself, trying to spook you left and right – although to be completely honest, 90% of the time you and Bucky both acted surprised just to see her giggle at your exaggerated scared faces.

It always warmed your heart seeing Bucky play with her, even when the game was scheming how to scare momma. The two of them had all of your heart.

Finding Bucky had been your second biggest blessing, right after Ellie, and seeing them get along as well as they did? Well, that was everything to you.

It was a warm summer evening when it happened. You had spent the day finding ways to keep your daughter entertained as the last few days of summer vacation rolled around. Summer camp was over, it was just you and her – and almost always Bucky – and toys and movies.

Bucky had taken her upstairs for a much needed bath and then she was tasked with picking up her toys for the day, while you cleaned around the mess that was a day of drawing and cooking.

The kitchen smelled like freshly baked cookies and you scooped crayons and markers from the counter and into a bag filled with tons and tons of colored pencils. Thankfully no walls had been colored in the activity this time around. You admire your little girl’s pieces of art. Cats with wings, happy trees, polka-dotted flowers outside a rainbow colored house, and one drawing of a happy family of three that made you stop in your tracks.

Ellie’s representation of herself stood in a red dress and highlighter yellow shoes, holding hands between two drawings of a man and a woman, clearly marked Mom and Daddy Bucky.

“What’s that?” Bucky’s voice startled you, making your heart race even faster than it already was. Damn him and his silent feet. You turned around in a hop, hiding the drawing behind your back, and seeing his smug smile paint his features.

“Hm?” you tried to act nonchalant, step around him and leave the room, but he wouldn't allow it, instead your actions making him even more curious.

“Babe? what's on your back?”

“Nothing!”

“What are you hiding?” his tone was playful as the two of you danced around the kitchen counter, him trying to get the mysterious paper from your hands. He was into the game while your mind was busy overthinking the drawing.

It wasn’t that it was wrong of Ellie to be thinking of Bucky as her dad – for fuck’s sake it gave you chills to think about it, the good kind. But it was something that you and Bucky hadn’t really talked about. In fact, Ellie has probably only called Bucky dad by mistake a total of 2 times in the years he’s been in your life, and he had never heard it. It’s just...

What if Bucky didn’t want that?

He wasn’t only light on his feet, he was also quick, and before you knew it he had tricked you into a corner and reached over to grab the paper. He kept it out of your reach, laughing as he unfolded the corners and took a look.

His eyes lingered as the laughter died down and your teeth found comfort in bitting down on your lip. Shit shit shit.

Bucky gave you a long look, mouth hanging open in disbelief, and then his eyes danced back and forth between you and the small drawing.

“Wha- I” he stuttered. The silence felt heavy, almost deafening. Your chest felt a sledgehammer trying to tear down a wall of bricks – thump, thump, bang, bang – and the room grew smaller and smaller. The happy chills that ran down your whole body mere seconds before, were now little bumps of dread covering you from head to toe.

And then Bucky’s lips turned into a small smile. Painting shaking lightly in his hold.

Bucky looked at himself in it, a bubbly teary laugh escaping his lips, as he took in his doodle figure dressed in very tall boots and a bright pink tie, and the whole look was tied together with scattered brown dots that made up his beard and spikey black hair.

“Buck?” your voice was small barely above a whisper. Bucky’s sniffles echoed around the room. “are you mad?” his head shot up to look at you. Before you could process what was happening, he had you pressed to the fridge and between his arms, kissing you madly.

“Mad? How- Fuck, this- I’m the happiest man alive, doll” His words slurred, out of breath from kissing you.

His forehead was pressed to yours, the tip of his cold nose caressing the tip of yours, and he didn’t dare open his eyes as tears slid down his cheeks. And he laughed, oh how he laughed, so full of joy and whole.

“I-” he stuttered, pressing kisses to your lips before he took in a long deep breath. The breath before he bared himself to you, fingertips caressing your jaw. “Y/N, I’ve had a ring in the inner pocket of my suit jacket since you told me you loved me too last spring. You and Ellie - you’re my girls, I- Gosh I can’t imagine being without you two. You girls are my family, you’re it for me”

Under the blinking cold light of your kitchen you had never felt warmer, not from the summer heat that clothed your house, but from love for the man that stood before you.

“You’re it for us too” you answered in a truthful sigh, melting into his figure.

The piece of paper that crumpled between your two bodies in your embrace was just the first of the collection of family portraits that would litter your house in the days and years to come, but definitely Bucky’s favorite, for it was the fire that ignited him to ask you to marry the fool that he was. A fool who adored you and your daughter madly.

Thanks for reading!

I haven't written anything for this blog in ages. I’m very out of the loop. I’m sorry. I hope you enjoyed this either way.

Love, L

#star’s multi fandom follower celebration #Bucky Barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes au #Bucky Barnes fluff #fanfiction #my writing #bucky barnes #single parent AU #AU #mcu

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whump-tr0pes · 4 years

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Honor Bound 2 - 13

Honor Bound 2 - 13 (will not be a victim) @badthingshappenbingo (requested by the one and only @sableflynn)

Red X is for posted, white X is for requested.

This is a series. Start here, continued from here.

This is a sequel series to Honor Bound.

AO3

Cw: threats of death

Isaac paused in absolute shock, his mouth hanging open at Sam. They reached out with both hands and rested them against his shoulders, placing a gentle pressure, pushing Isaac oh-so-slightly back.

“Please don’t do this,” they repeated.

He blinked. “How can you…defend him…after what he did to you…” His vision blurred with furious tears.

“I’m not defending him,” they whispered. “I’m defending you.”

He shook his head slowly. “I…don’t…”

“I don’t care if he deserves it or not.” Their voice was gaining in strength. “I don’t care if he deserves to be tortured. Maybe he does. I don’t care. But don’t…” They bit their lip, staring beseechingly up at him. “Don’t be the one to do it. Don’t be like him.”

“Sam…”

“Please.” Tears started in their eyes. “Please. I know you’re not like him.”

The fight rushed out of Isaac and he slumped to his knees. Suddenly Sam was catching him, wrapping their arms around him, falling to their knees with him. They buried their face in his neck, stifling a sob as it worked its way out.

“Don’t sacrifice your soul, Isaac,” they whispered. “Please. You can’t be like him.”

“I liked it,” Isaac sobbed.

“But you stopped.” They squeezed him tighter. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

After a moment, Sam wiped their face on their sleeve and drew in a slow, deep breath. They turned to face Gavin. He had scrambled up on his knees again, staring at Isaac with terrified eyes. They stopped in front of him. He couldn’t seem to look at them, his eyes fixed on their shirt as they stood before him. Their hand went out and touched his chin, guiding his face up until he was forced to look at them. Their lips trembled and it took them a moment to speak.

“I am not your victim anymore.”

They let his face drop and took a faltering step back. Isaac caught them as they dissolved into sobs, great heaving breaths seizing in their chest one right after the other. They threw their arms around him, muffling their cries against his shirt. He guided them away from Gavin to stand behind the others, holding each other as they both wept.

“Tell us about this tracker,” Gray said smoothly.

Gavin tore his eyes from Isaac and Sam in the corner to look up at Gray, the seething hatred in their eyes making him shudder. “Um…”

“Now.” They took a small step forward.

“No no no wait… Ok, ok, Jesus…” Gavin swallowed hard. “We apparently have, like, spies or something in Beringer that found your car while you were…um…” His eyes flicked over the spot on Gray’s chest where there was still a healing gunshot wound. He bit his lip. “Um…” His voice grew quiet. “Recovering.” Gray raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue. “And…um…a few families decided that it would be better to track you north and round up the whole…uh…operation…” His voice was heavy with implication.

“And that’s how you knew where to find us.”

“Um. Yeah.” He stared at the floor. His knees were starting to ache.

“And tell me, once again, why you’re here?” Gray’s voice was dripping with contempt.

Gavin trembled. “Um…” He shrunk lower against the ground. “Could I…maybe…get out of this?”

“No,” everyone replied in unison.

His head drooped. “Ok. I…um…” Tears began to burn in his eyes and he squeezed them shut. “My mom…wanted to do her own thing…she wanted you all to come to her so her plan was to…use me as bait…”

“And you had a problem with this…why?”

“Because…you’d probably fucking kill me…”

Gray snorted. “And you thought somehow that seeking us out would be a better alternative? Alone? Without backup?”

“Well, yeah, I…” His eyes flicked up. “If I could…explain myself first…” He turned his eyes back to the ground.”

Gray waved their hand as if presenting the opportunity on a platter. “Well. Now’s the time.”

“Um…” He looked shyly up at Vera. “When you…um…killed -”

“When I slaughtered your father like the animal that he is?” Her nostrils flared.

Gavin winced. “Um…when you killed him…and shot me…” He took a breath against the pain that flared as he mentioned it. “It…messed me up. Like…really messed me up. The smell of blood now, it…and the feeling I used to get…from…” He licked his lips and looked down.

“Speak, Gavin.” Gray’s voice was growing thin with impatience.

“Sorry, I…” He shuddered. “I can’t…I can’t…hurt…people. Anymore.”

A bitter laugh echoed through the basement as Isaac took a step forward, leaving Sam looking after him with wide eyes. “That’s fucking great. Fucking spectacular. You’ve been torturing and killing people your whole goddamn life. You nearly killed Sam, you shot Gray and nearly killed them too, you tortured Tori, you broke Finn’s hands, you fucked with Ellis’s head…” His voice was rising to a shout. “You brought back the man who tortured Vera for months…” He pushed past Gray as they took a step in front of him. “You broke me…” He shoved down a sob and threw off Gray’s hands as they closed around his arm. “And now, out of fucking nowhere you decide that’s not your thing anymore?” He grabbed the front of Gavin’s shirt and jerked him upright. His knees left the ground and he gave a cry of distress. “Just like that, you’re…fucking cured?” He dropped Gavin roughly to the ground as Gray pushed him back, grunting with the pain as they did. Isaac stood behind Gray, chest heaving, his eyes fixed on Gavin with withering hatred.

Gavin’s lips trembled, tears springing to his eyes. “I never…” His voice wavered. “I never broke you.”

Isaac threw himself at Gavin, bowling him over onto the ancient carpet. “Yes you DID!” he screamed. He grabbed Gavin roughly and shoved him onto his back. Gavin wailed in terror. “You broke me! You beat me and cut me open and made me beg, you made think I was going to die alone…” Sobs were breaking up his words. “You took S-Sam away from me…you made me hurt for, for weeks after we got away…”

“Isaac, no!” Sam was watching in horror. Vera was standing closest to them and they latched on to her. “Please…”

Vera bit her lip as they looked down at Sam. She crossed the room and she and Gray dragged Isaac off of Gavin. Gray cried out as their wound complained. “I still have nightmares every night because of you, I hurt Sam because of one of my nightmares…” His face was contorted with rage, tears streaming. “I still hurt and I still scream at night and I still feel broken because you…you just wanted to hurt me!”

“I’m sorry,” Gavin whispered.

“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOU’RE SORRY!” Isaac bellowed. “I don’t want to hear you’re sorry, I don’t want to hear it.”

“What do you want me to say?” Gavin cried from where he was slumped on his side on the floor.

Isaac was fighting Vera and Gray’s hold on him, eyes fixed on Gavin. “I want you to…” He sobbed brokenly. “I want you to…” He collapsed to the floor. Sam darted to his side and threw their arms around him. He wailed into their shoulder, arms locking around their waist like they were an anchor in a storm. Sam’s tears fell into his hair as they pressed their lips against his forehead. He trembled in their arms.

Gavin was watching them with wide eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispered again, almost too faintly to hear.

“How could you expect me to forgive you?” Isaac whimpered, his face still buried in Sam’s shoulder. “How could you come here and think we wouldn’t kill you?”

Gavin shuddered against the carpet. “You…you’re going to kill me?”

“Yes,” Isaac sobbed.

“No,” Gray said firmly.

Isaac quailed. “You can’t fix this,” he whispered. “I don’t care if you came to help. You can’t ever fix this.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “You tortured me for days…you tortured all of us…because it was fun…” He spat out the word. “You can’t fix…me…”

“I…I did come to help…” Gavin’s voice was small and timid.

“What, you all of a sudden decide you’re on our side now?” Isaac snapped bitterly.

“My parents fucking betrayed me!” Gavin cried. He bit his lip against the tears that had started again. He looked warily around the room as everyone’s eyes fixed on him. He swallowed hard and kept going. “My dad strung me up as bait to get…” He could barely look at Vera. “To get you…” He whimpered like a child. “He was willing to risk my life to bring you back…and my mom…my mom blames me for that…” He pressed the side of his face against the filthy carpet. “Maybe that’s why she was willing to risk me to catch you…maybe…if I died, then at least she wouldn’t have to…have to look at me every day and think I killed my dad…” He was weeping loudly now. “And she fucking cut me off because I couldn’t…I couldn’t torture someone…she gave me someone and I couldn’t…do it…she cut me off because I didn’t want to see you again…”

“You what?” Gray was staring at Gavin with distrust written all over their face.

“I…I didn’t want to do it…she said she’d use me as bait so she could catch you all and so…so I could torture you all again…and I didn’t want to…”

“And just like that we’re supposed to believe you?” Vera snapped. “We just have to take you word on it that you couldn’t torture some poor idiot and now we’re all good?”

“You don’t get it,” he whimpered against the floor.

“No,” she seethed. “I don’t get it. “I’ve never felt sad because I couldn’t torture people anymore. You’re right.”

“It scares me now,” he whispered. “When I think about it, about cutting someone, about making them hurt…” He shuddered. “It just makes me feel scared. It makes me think of…of…” He closed his eyes and swallowed a sob.

She took a step closer. “Makes you think of me ripping out your father’s throat?” Her lips pulled back over her teeth.

“Yes.” The word was barely a breath.

“Good.” Gavin’s eyes flew open and he focused on her as she took another step towards him. “I want you to remember that forever. I want you to remember that that is what happens to people who fuck with me. Who fuck with us.” She reached behind her to reach for Tori’s hand for a moment. “And I want you to remember that that is what’s going to happen to you if you betray us.” She stood over him, hands clenched as her body trembled, ready to fight. She quickly crouched before him and he flinched back, bleating in terror. Her hands shot out and made fists in his shirt, dragging him forward until their noses were almost touching. “Do you understand, bitch boy? Do you understand what’s going to happen to you if you ever even think about hurting me or my family again?”

He nodded, his entire body bouncing against her grip with the force of the movement. “Yes,” he said breathlessly. “I swear to god. I swear I will never, never even think about it again. Please…” His voice broke as tears rose in his eyes again. “Please…”

She dropped him unceremoniously to the floor. “Good.” She stood and looked to the others, ignoring his mewl of pain as his chest wound complained against the rough treatment. “I’d say it’s time to move.”

Finn and Ellis both heaved out a breath, clutching each other like they would both keel over. “Yeah,” Finn breathed. “Let’s move.”

“You’re taking me with you…?” Gavin looked frantically between them both. “I’m not…I’m not gonna fucking last out there.”

“Oh, perfect.” Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Now he wants our protection.” His lip curled in a sneer.

“Please,” Gavin begged. He pulled against the rope around his wrists. “Please.”

Gray turned and fixed Gavin with a withering glare. “You’re coming with us, alright,” they said, their voice low and dangerous. “You’re going to tell us all the tricks, all the checkpoints we don’t know about. You’re going to tell us all the places with your spies. You’re going to tell us everything we need to know to reach the north safely.”

“I don’t really know that much about our operat-” He cut himself off in a startled yelp as they took a furious step towards him. “No no no wait wait! I really don’t know! I swear! I’m not really in charge of much…you…” His voice grew petulant. “You fucking blew up everything I did…I haven’t exactly had time to build up operations again…”

“You figured your first priority after I wrecked your face was to go after us again?” Isaac snarled.

“Not…not all of you.” Gavin shrunk away from him on the carpet. “Just…just you. And V-Vera.”

“How’d that work out for you?” she snapped.

“Um…” Gavin looked away, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment as he pulled again at the rope, lying awkwardly on his side.

They all turned away from him. Finn and Ellis crept down the stairs until they were in the circle, too. Edrissa remained frozen at the top of the steps, staring at Gavin with terror in her eyes.

“What, are we just gonna…” Finn ducked their head. “Take him with us?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna take this fucking nightmare factory with us north? What if he’s hurt people up there? What if they think we’re with the syndicates when we get there?”

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that,” Tori mumbled. “I know a few people up there that will be able to vouch for me.”

“They won’t vouch for him.” Gray shot a glance at Gavin. He flinched away.

“So they don’t have to.” Vera’s voice was poisonous. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind getting their hands on a syndicate member up there.”

“What?” Gavin squeaked.

Isaac threw a hateful glance his way. “Shut up.”

“But, but you can’t just…” Gavin was writhing against his bonds, gasping in panic. “You can’t just…give me to them…”

“Why not? Is that less than you deserve?” Isaac snapped.

“No,” Gavin breathed. “Please, please don’t…” Helpless tears started down his cheeks.

“Shh. Let the grownups talk.” Gray turned away from Gavin and ignored his muttered pleas. “Either way, you think we’ll be safe if we bring him?”

“Yeah.” Tori was shaking, clinging to Vera’s side. “We’ll be ok.” Vera wrapped her arm around her shoulder protectively and squeezed her tight.

“What about the tracker?” Ellis’s eyes were shifting between everyone in the circle.

“We’ll find it and take it off.”

“What if there are more than one? What if we miss one?”

“Hey, bitch boy,” Vera threw over her shoulder. “Did you hear any details about these trackers?”

“No,” he whimpered. “I didn’t hear anything. Just that one existed.”

“Ok.” Vera pressed her lips together. “We’ll just do a thorough sweep.” She met Ellis’s eyes. “We’ll be ok. Trackers with that kind of range aren’t exactly tiny.”

“Then what?” Sam was latched onto Isaac, their hands clenched around his shirt.

“Then…we figure out how to kill Mommy Dearest,” Vera growled.

“No,” whimpered Gavin. “You can’t, please…she’s all…she’s all I have left…”

“What happened to Mark?” Ellis spat the name with contempt. “You two seemed real chummy when we last saw him.”

“He’s not…close family…”

“And yet you took all six of us as revenge for ‘taking your family away’,” Ellis threw back at him, punctuating the words with airquotes.

“I was just…” The words died in his throat.

“Oh, do tell. Please tell us what you were ‘just’ doing,” Ellis snarled.

“I was…just…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Being dramatic.”

“Now that’s the understatement of the fucking century.” Vera clenched her jaw in disgust.

“Enough,” Gray said gently. “Do we all agree, then? We take him north, figure out our next step from there?”

“I wasn’t aware this would come to a vote.” Isaac quivered against Sam.

Gray fixed their gaze on him. “Of course. If we’re going to take this risk, both to our safety and to our…mental health…” They swallowed. “Then yes, it should come to a vote.”

“I say we take him,” Vera said, “and let him suffer the consequences once we get north.”

Gavin shivered on the floor.

“I say we leave him here,” Ellis said bitterly. “Let him figure out how to survive. Trust fund jackass…”

“We should take him,” Finn mumbled. “He might be able to give us information we need.”

Gray turned to Isaac and Sam, held tight in each other’s arms. “What do you think?”

Sam huddled closer against Isaac. “We should take him,” they said softly. “He could help us.”

Gray looked to Isaac. “Isaac?”

Isaac’s jaw was flexed, his eyes staring straight ahead at nothing. “I don’t want him anywhere near me,” he whispered.

Gray inhaled slowly and blew out a steadying breath. “I think we should take him. He could prove useful. And I don’t want him free to…get into trouble.” Their face darkened. “As long as we know where he is, he can’t surprise us.” They put a gentle hand on Tori’s shoulder. “Your opinion counts, too. You’re part of the family.”

Tori squeezed Vera’s hand. “Um…” Her hand went unconsciously to her neck, to the bruises there. “I…I can’t.”

“You can’t have him around?”

“I can’t decide,” she whimpered.

Gray’s hand softened on her shoulder. “Why not?”

“I don’t want him near me.” Her voice rose in a nervous whine. “I don’t want him…” She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in Vera’s neck. Vera stroked her hair gently, her gaze locked on Gavin. “But I think it’s for the good of the…of the family. Of the resistance. To get him north.”

“You wouldn’t have to be around him,” Vera murmured. “We’d keep him away from you.” Tori nodded, tears wetting Vera’s shirt.

Gray exhaled slowly. They looked up at Edrissa, still perched on the top of the stairs like she was about to run. She hasn’t. She’s still here. They licked their lips. “What do you think, honey? You’re with us now, you should get a vote.”

She shrunk back behind the railing, her hands clutching the bars. “We can’t let him go,” she whispered.

Gray paused. “Why not?”

“He’s…he’s seen me…” Her hand went to wrap tightly around her forearm, where the still-healing seared-off tattoo still burned. “Please… He can’t go back. He can’t tell them…” Her lips trembled. She shrank back, a hand drifting up to protect her head as the crumpled into herself.

Gray made their way to the bottom of the stairs and began climbing up to her, slowly. She watched them with terrified eyes. “I think I understand,” they soothed. “You don’t have to say anything else. It’s alright.” She nodded jerkily, tears almost spilling over.

Gray turned back to the group, their eyes moving over each of them in turn. “It sounds like we have our verdict,” they said softly.

“No,” Isaac growled. He took a step towards Gray, Sam still hanging off his arm. “I…I can’t.” His voice broke.

“We’ll keep him away from you,” Gray murmured. Their hands went to his shoulders. “You won’t have to -”

“It’s my job to protect you,” he seethed, eyes burning with tears. “It’s…it’s my job…” He swiped his hand over his eyes. “And I can’t…protect you…” His chest was heaving, the breaths coming faster. “…with him around. I can’t…” He stumbled and Gray caught him. They winced as their injury flared. “I can’t keep you safe when my mind is…is broken…because I keep seeing him…” He pointed an accusing finger in Gavin’s direction.

Gray’s eyebrows pulled together as their hands became firmer on Isaac’s shoulders. “We’ll all take care of each other,” they said softly. “I think it’s for the best that we keep him close, keep an eye on him. Maybe use his knowledge. He won’t have to be around you. And he won’t…he won’t hurt you again.”

Isaac erupted into sobs and sunk to his knees, pressing his face into his hands. “I can’t,” he wailed. “I can’t.”

Gray knelt in front of him. “Yes you can,” they urged. “You can do this. You’re strong, Isaac. You’ve done harder things than this. And I…” They blinked against the tears that suddenly blurred their vision. “I hate to ask more of you, after everything you’ve done. After everything you’ve given. But please…” They stroked a hand through his hair and pulled him to their chest. “Please be strong for us one more time.”

Isaac whimpered as Sam’s arms went around him, too. “I’m sorry,” they whispered against his shoulder. “Isaac…”

Isaac convulsed in a weak sob, raising his face to Gray. Sam shuddered at how tired he looked. How…resigned. He pulled his shirt up and wiped his face.

“Ok,” he said, gritting his teeth. “Fine. We take him with us.”

“You won’t have to be around him.” Gray squeezed his shoulder.

“I won’t have to be around him,” Isaac repeated. He blew out a slow breath from between his lips.

Gray’s gaze lingered on him for another minute before they stood and walked over to where Gavin was still lying, trembling. They towered over him. “Sounds like we’ve made a plan.”

Gavin relaxed, his face pulling into a look of tentative hope. “Does that mean I get out of this?” He moved his arms against the rope.

“No.” Gavin’s face fell. “You stay bound, and you’re going in the trunk.”

Continued here

@untilthepainstarts, @womping-grounds, @free-2bmee, @quirkykayleetam, @walkingchemicalfire, @inpainandsuffering, @redwingedwhump, @burtlederp, @castielamigos-whump-side-blog, @insomniacscoprio, @whumpy101, @whumpywhumper, @stxck-fxck, @omega-em-z-02, @whumps-the-word, @slaintetowhump

#honor bound universe #honor bound 2 #bad things happen bingo #I will not be a victim #whump #whump the whumper #sam is a smol bean #sam is a cinnamon roll #PTSD tw #threats of death tw #gunshot wounds #tied up #The Thing #my oc: Isaac

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chicagocityofclans · 3 years

Photo

Isaac Baker → Daniel Kaluyaa → Wolf

→ Basic Information

Age: 66

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Born or Made: Made

Birthday: March 22

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Religion: Agnostic

→ His Personality Isaac was never the biggest or strongest in life. He grew up as the nerd who got pushed around and shoved into lockers. He was smart and cocky but didn’t have the skills to back up all the shit he talked. Until he was turned into a werewolf, and the natural personality that lived inside him came out in an obnoxious amount. Though Isaac has matured with his years as Alpha, he is still an impulsive showoff. He likes being the center of attention and making people laugh and have a good time. He can be confrontational and aggressive when dealing with situations, generally acting first before thinking of all the emotional consequences, especially with his words. Despite the rambunctious and loud behavior, Isaac is very genuinely a good person. He cares about his pack and everyone who he considers his. He is confident and lively, being incredibly welcoming and open to new pack members and other species. And though he can act impulsively and without thought, he has learned to recognize larger situations and has become versatile in the way he handles official pack business.

People often forget just how smart Isaac is, which he uses to his advantage. He is able to size a person or situation and up and manipulate it to his advantage. In the constant fights he faced as a young, incoming alpha he learned to find the weaknesses in the wolf shifter and attack those first, often knocking his opponent out before they could get many blows in. His foresight is not limited to fights, he could see all the advantages in bringing Duke into his pack and leapt at the opportunity.

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: Full time Alpha

Scars: None

Tattoos: None

Two Likes: Smart Technology and Salt and Vinegar chips

Two Dislikes: Football and Curacao

Two Fears: Flying and Losing control of his body

Two Hobbies: Playing Video Games and Coding

Three Positive Traits: Lively, Versatile, Good Hearted

Three Negative Traits: Confrontational, Show Off, Impulsive

→ His Connections Parent Names:

Sandra Baker (Mother): Sandra was always incredibly supportive with Isaac as a child. She tried her best to make his young, friendless life fun with family movie nights and vacations. She is very disappointed that Isaac dropped out, and wishes he’d come home to get back on the academic track.

Edward Baker (Father): Edward taught Isaac everything he knew about boxing and coding. He always had Isaac’s back and would let him get out and fail every once in a while, unlike his mother. Edward has always asked about the real reason Isaac left school. He knew how much MIT meant to him and how he’d never just give it up.

Sibling Names:

None.

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Simone Campbell (Ex-Girlfriend): Isaac was a goner for Simone. She stood up to him and often gave him perspective on his life. When Simone started hanging out with a hyena, it raised an alarm in Isaac and he tried to get her to stop seeing her, she dumped him. He still wants her back.

Platonic Connections:

Duke Thornton (Good Friends): Isaac and Duke have had a lot of time to get to know each other in the last decade. He is the closest person to Isaac in the pack, and would gladly have him as a second or third if he had any understanding of dominance levels.

Peter Knox (Friends): Isaac is very glad to have Peter as his second. They both had to fight their way through to their positions and he knows Peter has his back. He hangs out with him and his mate regularly at ANON and he was the one who introduced Isaac to Simone.

Leah Philips (Friend): He and Leah became quick friends when he first moved into Chicago, but she had a rough time transitioning from Ogden to Isaac. They’re almost back to where they used to be, though it has taken work.

Selene Andris (Pack mate): Selene has been a big help with all the new wolves coming to Chicago. He’s grateful she likes playing host and helping others feel more comfortable in the pack.

Ronan Cleirigh (Ally): He and Ronan made a deal to save Duke’s life. He offered him training and a pack while in return Ronan offered his voting power in council meetings. Isaac respects what the Cleirighs, and Ronan in particular, were trying to do for Duke.

Kaylor Cleirigh (Friendly Fear): Kaylor came to him personally after he offered to help Duke to lay down her “concerns”. Isaac wasn’t going to do anything on the list before, but he sure as hell wouldn’t do it after speaking with the scariest Cleirigh.

Judson Cleirigh (Chill): Judson comes in with his friends to drink at ANON. He is easily the most laid back of Duke’s family, though he doesn’t entirely trust him.

Nick Hamelin (Okay): He’s not friends with Nick, per say, but he’s ok with him. He thinks he can fit right into the Prisses at times, but he has more self-awareness than to sink that low.

Micah Toll (Friendly Acquaintance): Micah is alright for a rat. He respects the rules that Isaac put down, and only starts something in retaliation.

Ellis Watts (Council Meeting Buddy): Though he is apparently supposed to hate the jackals for reasons… Isaac immediately clicked with Ellis. He repaired a lot of the riffs between their two packs and they’ve started going to watch sports games together.

Hostile Connections:

Alan Thomas (Hates): Alan Thomas was one of the first people Isaac wiped the floor with and he’s gone out of his way to be the biggest asshole to Isaac. He’s glad he was kicked out as third.

James Shaw (Hates): James Shaw is both crazy and racist. He’ll talk endlessly about his family and how long they’ve been in the city and why his boys should be Alpha. Before Isaac wrote it off as an angry white dude, but there is something changing in James’s eyes and Isaac isn’t sure it is entirely healthy.

Clara Fields (Priss 1): Clara Fields loves nothing more than to hear herself talk. She somehow always speaks up at every single meeting, and Isaac prays for the day she gets magical laryngitis.

Chris Bialar (Priss 2): Chris Bialar has got his nose in the air. There’s always some made up jab that he tries to angle at Isaac. He loves to keep the politics up in the council meeting, and is a main for most of the riffs between alphas.

Percy McCormick (Priss 3): Percy McCormick is barely an alpha. He lets his pack run wild and the rest of the council is left to discipline and rule them. If there is one alpha that Isaac could kick out, it’d be him.

Greer Finley (Dislike): Greer is like Chris’s pet piranha. He thinks she might be more vicious than any of the other big cats in the pack.

Sol Alfaro (Hates): This guy will just not give it up. He’ll never win a fight against Isaac, and is honestly more of a pest than any real threat.

Pets:

None

→ History Isaac was raised in a small town outside of Ann Arbor. His mother worked as a recruiter for the University of Michigan while his dad worked at Pfizer. They had a good life, and he definitely followed in his parents’ academic footsteps, unfortunately that wasn’t the best for a young Isaac. He was constantly bullied by older kids which lead to fights and mostly injuries for him. His mother debated homeschool, while his dad tried to teach him how to fight back. His dad ended up winning and Isaac took boxing lessons. While he was technically very skilled, he was short and had difficulty packing muscle on which still let the bullies win.

By the time he graduated, he was ready to get the hell out of Ann Arbor, much to his mother’s displeasure. He was offered a full ride to MIT for computer software and gladly took it. He did well for the first year, high grades with honors. His parents were over the moon and became more willing to consider MIT being the best move for Isaac. However, his sophomore year changed everything. Isaac was walking home from the lab one night when he felt eyes on him. He assumed it was someone trying to take his bag; but when he turned around, arm ready for a hit, he was met with fur and painfully sharp teeth.

When he awoke he was in strange sweatpants and in a strange room. A man came in the room a few minutes after Isaac woke up. He explained they were werewolves, and that they needed to boost their numbers for an impending war. Isaac was quickly brought in on how to be a werewolf, including physical and fight training as well as how to control his wolf. But Isaac knew when he was being played and could see the alpha thought he was fodder for the battle. He read the situation and in the middle of the night Isaac ran away. He debated going back to Ann Arbor, but realized that might be the first place his “pack” looked. So he headed straight for Chicago, knowing he could probably get a decent paying IT job with his year at MIT. When he arrived in Chicago he was greeted to a fair deal of hostility. The majority of the pack didn’t want outsiders bringing their trouble into the city, and they specifically didn’t want him, a black loudmouth, interrupting their lives. But Isaac was a fighter and within 6 months he found himself as 2nd to the Chicago pack. There was a lot of grumbling, but Ogden acknowledged his position and gave credence to the claim. He took Isaac under his wing and refined the wild chaos that was a freshly turned wolf and gave him structure and purpose and place to put his energy.

Years later after getting settled in Chicago, Ogden died in a car crash. It was truly an accidental and ironic way for a wolf to die; not from old age, or violence but a mundane accident that went terribly wrong. Isaac had to step up to the plate and take over as alpha. They looked to him in their time of mourning, confusion, and fear and Isaac managed to win some of their trust. However not everyone was pleased with a relatively young and often arrogant alpha. He was challenged frequently, especially by Sol, but beat them all through his ability to read weaknesses. Isaac was never afraid to let them tire themselves out before going for the win. The fighting and challenges began to slow, and eventually things became more even keeled. That was until he began switching up ranks. Peter Knox joined his pack and fought his way to the top, a move that could never have happened had Isaac not thrown his support behind him. Then Geri became third, sufficiently pushing the rest of the “Old Guard” out.

Things had begun to settle down when” the Incident” occured. Animal shifters were unable to change to or from whichever form they were in. People were pissed and looking to the Witch and Warlock councils. While the first two meetings were spent grandstanding by the other alphas and leaders, Isaac was trying to read the faces opposite them, when the true reason for the magic gone bad came out. Deucalion Thornton was cursed to be a wolf shifter and they were trying to change him back. Outrage from both magic users and non magic users alike erupted and calls for banishment and possible death flew around. Nothing was decided and they adjourned for the day. Isaac hung around and stopped the Cleirighs as they exited. He offered Ronan a deal, he’d train Duke, allow him safety within his pack, in exchange for Ronan’s vote in various animal shifter matters. Ronan agreed and they devised a plan. At the next meeting before any other alpha could talk, Isaac stepped up and told them what was happening. It was settled and the rest of the council fell in line. Duke moved into the house, and Isaac nearly had a riot on his hands.

From that day forward he’d made it his mission to set things right in at least the wolf clan. No more of their racist, sexist or homophobic nonsense would be allowed, and every wolf had the right to a challenge. This came in handy when he gave his support to Peter after he’d risen through the ranks. He has kept the pack steady over the last ten years and despite the upset had no challenges to his position. → The Present Isaac is looking to get back onto the dating scene. He was recently dumped by his girlfriend, and while it stung initially, he is worried for her. She’d begun to befriend a couple of hyenas and he’s worried she’ll be attacked in the wave of changes that are happening across the city. Isaac knows her aspirations and is positive she’ll never achieve them if she’s bitten. Despite his worry, Isaac hasn’t mentioned any of the supernatural to her, and is just trying to get back in her good graces to keep her safe.

Murmurs of discontent are rising in the pack, and Isaac is positive it is due to Sol. He is losing his patience with the old wolf and the next time he challenges Isaac, he won’t let it go. Isaac knows he’s the one pushing the wolves towards greatness and it’s annoying that no one else seems to see it.

#Isaac Baker #Taken #daniel kaluuya #isaac owens

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saffiealbright · 4 years

Text

well, looks like i accidentally deleted saf’s intro post, because i thought it was a muse photo post (lol @ me). so here it is, rewritten! i’ve added/edited some trivial things, too, so here we go!

(ellie bamber, she/her) - have you seen seraphina albright? saffie / saf is in her junior year. the computer science major is 22 years old & is an aquarius. people say she is ambitious, candid, petty, and headstrong. rumors say they’re a member of hastings society. i heard from the gossip blog that she hacked into her schoo’s grading system and changed her grades to prove she could get into yates without her family’s help. (tessa. 24. pst. she/her.)

name: seraphina ivy albright nicknames: saffie, saf, sera, ser, s age, birth date: 22; february 14, 1998 hometown: new york city major, university: computer science, yates university sexuality: pansexual

past

“she debated our civics instructor so hard that he conceded so that he could go outside and take a smoke break.” “i watched her hack all of her ex’s social media during our cyber security class. didn’t look up from her laptop once.”

and that’s me, john booker rutledge.

no, it’s serphina ivy albright

seraphina is the daughter and only child of ethan and annabeth albright—a new york state senate field representative and a british transplant museum donor/philanthropist. (making it canon that saf has a few british english speaking tendencies—word choices, cadence, pronunciations, etc.)

does albright sound familiar? saffie is cousin to darby and leo (and the late james) albright through their fathers. ethan albright works for his brother, the state senator.

throughout her young life, both sides of the family were very tight knit. they’d take holidays together, have weekly dinners, attend events side-by-side.

all of this change after ethan and lucas got into an altercation. one moment they were standing in the hall, talking business and having a drink. the next they grew hushed and moved into a nearby home office. by the time ethan left his relationship with his brother was irrevocably broken.

no one knows exactly what happened in that room, but the parents will swear up and down that their side was in the right. this caused a deep split between both sides.

still, in order to maintain the image of a loving family and well-oiled machine, ethan continued to work for his brother. the only times everyone would really see each other, though, were briefly at events, during necessary business, and at james’ funeral.

you’d think the latter would’ve brought them together, but it didn’t!

saffie was slowly influenced not to like her cousins, her parents likening them to their parents in, well, not the nicest ways. to put it simply, they told saf that it’s probably best if she didn’t trust them.

being the young, trusting kid she was, she took their word for it. even if the whole ordeal revealed sides of her parents—of the entire family—that she began to strongly oppose.

teenage years / personality shift

suffice it to say, seraphine wasn’t a big fan of what she found made the albrights the albrights. for years she strove to impress her parents and meet their incredibly high standards: look perfect, speak correctly, present yourself with impeccable poise. learn three languages so that one day you can speak to a number of high-ranking business officials. pick up piano so you can “spontaneously” play at events and gatherings and impress your peers (oh, it happened! time and time again!).

a childhood nearly wasted, by saf’s standards. it wasn’t until she entered high school—about the time the debris settled from the family split settled—that she began to branch out and discover what she enjoyed. what she wanted to spend her time on.

her friend group expanded to those outside of her prestigious school, rapidly expanding her small world view and perspective on just about everything.

very quickly saf saw her path—and it wasn’t acting out like darby or grasping at the idea of perfection like leo. it was not giving a fuck. her family’s problems seemed abysmal compared to everything else happening in the world.

around this time she gained an interest in two things: the world and the computers it’s so obsessed with. thus her passions for current events/world news and computer science began.

quickly she became the black sheep within her household, a fact as amusing to her as it is frustrating for them.

look—all saf wanted to do was go about the city (and her life!) on her own terms. go see live music, attend her own peers’ parties and events, and god forbid have some time for friends.

an unspeakable offense in her parents’ perspective, especially because at this point her grades began to go down. it wasn’t that she wasn’t smart—she had the makings of any upper east side prodigy—she simply focused them elsewhere.

secret

that being said, by junior year it hit the girl that she’d need to step things up. attending yates, her father’s alma mater, was still the goal despite her own falling out with him. it was a damn good university and she had a deal to make. if she could get in on her own, she’d study there on her own terms. doing what she wants.

and you know what!? she did! after cheating her way through the system. lol.

it started with hacking one teacher’s grading system to change a few grades. then, slowly, it grew. midway through the year all of her teachers were lauding her turn-around. by senior year she was a “model student.”

cheers to the TAs for the assist! they did all of the actual assignment grading. saf bargained with them to not to say anything.

in the end she got her yates acceptance letter in the mail, packed her suitcases, and ended up in preaker.

present / personality / little facts

now she’s studying computer science and taking extra classes that capture her interests.

at the same school her estranged cousins attend. fun!

gave calloway, her father’s society, a big pass. went with hastings.

some quotes to capture her personality:

i hate it when people ask, “do you trust me?” like... don’t call me out... the answer is no.

if you have beef with me it’s one sided, because i literally don’t care

some tiktoks for more of a feel: one, two, three

so, yeah, she’s a bit apathetic and no-bullshit and that might be a bit polarizing to some!

but she genuinely doesn’t try to be mean to people. she’s just, uh, blunt. lol.

the type to write in sharpy in a bar bathroom stall, but it’ll say something like, “damn, you’re mad cute”

can’t drive for SHIT! always took taxis, public transport, and town cars in new york. probably learned how to drive a little... while in the UK... so, the opposite-sides-of-the-street thing disorients her

fact: she’s naturally a blonde and dies her hair red. every few weeks it looks like a blood bath in one of the hastings bathroom sinks/showers.

fact: when she’s about to do just about anything with a computer she does the violet baudelaire thing where she pulls her hair up into a messy ponytail

the rest i’m just!! figuring out as i go luv!! x

#yatesintro #did not reread this or proofread bc i'm over it adlfkjgal lmao

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marymccartneyphotos · 4 years

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A Picture of Devotion to Linda

July, 2008-- The Herald

If there is one overriding theme that comes over powerfully when talking to Mary McCartney it is how strong a bond of love and respect she had, and has, for her mother Linda. The late American photographer and businesswoman and her husband, the former Beatle, Paul, famously had one of the most enduring love affairs of modern times: she was the proverbial great woman standing, if not behind, then beside, a great man.

But what is abundantly clear from speaking to the couple's daughter, Mary, 38, is that behind both was an uncommonly close and loyal family, a closeness that remains. Earlier this year, to mark a decade since Linda died of breast cancer, Mary and her father unveiled a retrospective in London of Linda's work, which the pair had been working on for three years. Right now, the whole family, including Mary's fashion designer sister Stella, are closely involved in revitalising the Linda McCartney vegetarian food range, something Mary describes as "a very personal project".

In addition Mary, now herself a respected photographer, has become a strong advocate of good cancer care. So when she was approached by Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres to take photographs of famous Maggie's supporters wearing striking, new designer T-shirts, she was delighted to lend her support. The photographs, being published for the first time as part of The Herald Friends of Maggie's campaign, feature celebrities including the actress Amanda Holden, and the singer Sophie Ellis Bextor pictured with her mother, the former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis, whose friend Caron Keating died of breast cancer in 2004.

Coming together for the photos in the new London Maggie's centre gave McCartney the chance to spend time with staff and patients. She found the whole experience "truly inspiring" and believes her mother would have, too.

"I think she would have loved it," says Mary emphatically. "It feels like it's been designed to keep everyone's spirits up, which I think she would have liked." Thinking about her mother's period of treatment, she recalls strip lighting, a lack of windows and a distinct hospital smell, which Maggie's avoids: "It isn't dull, dark and depressing. There's glass, wood, colour and daylight, it's very open plan. It didn't feel oppressive. It's a real contrast to hospitals - you can allow in so much air and it doesn't have the smell. You walk in and it feels like a well-designed space."

Another factor that would have appealed to the redoubtable Linda, she says, is that it is well run. "I think she probably would have appreciated the organisational aspect of it - it doesn't feel flaky."

When Linda McCartney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, it was Mary's first experience of cancer at close hand. Her head was full of questions about this bewildering new visitor to their lives. "It's like learning a new language - chemotherapy, radiotherapy, all the different medicines. It can be very daunting," she says. So the fact that Maggie's centres provide support and information to the families as well as the patient, deeply impresses her. "It's so important. I find that it's the kind of illness where there are always so many decisions to make.

"The day I was at Maggie's, there was a husband there with his wife, collecting the medication for the week, and he was having a consultation with one of the counsellors. He said he saw a counsellor each week. I think he really benefited from it as well. They can help give you information so you can feel more confident about moving forward.

"That's why I feel quite strongly that there should be as many of these centres as possible because they're such a great help to people."

A loving family is a great support and the McCartney family were certainly that. Mary has an elder half-sister from Linda's first marriage, Heather, who was adopted by Paul; a younger sister, Stella, the fashion designer; and a younger brother, James, a musician and songwriter. The family adopted a low profile during Sir Paul McCartney's recent divorce from Heather Mills, which generated weeks of headlines. "I wasn't really surprised by the amount of coverage but I definitely kept out of it. I didn't read a lot of it," she says. Mary herself has two sons from her marriage to producer Alistair Donald and is expecting her first child with film-maker Simon Aboud. In fact, as we speak she is a weary nine-and-a-half months pregnant.

As a parent, she believes she has taken a lot from her own upbringing, such as "giving my children a sense of freedom, encouragement and adventure, which I got from my parents". Family holidays in Argyll were central to that. "We'd spend August up there. I kind of feel as if I grew up there," she says. She recalls driving up from the south of England in the summer, past mountain springs, looking in amazement at remote crofts and wondering what the occupants did when they needed a pint of milk. Her experience of exploring for hours and "being a bit feral" is deeply etched.

Has she come to Scotland recently? "I haven't as much since my mum passed away but I'm starting to really get a craving to go again now," she says. "I think we all stopped for a while because it felt a bit weird going up without her, but now it's kind of time to start again."

One of the projects that has been occupying her and her family recently has been "revitalising" the Linda McCartney vegetarian food range, which was launched in 1991. Mary had helped her mother with both her cookbooks and food range. Last year, the firm Hain Celestial bought the licence to the foods and the McCartney family (who are all vegetarian) have since been working with the firm, not only with photography and packaging design, but with new lines. "We're working with them on coming up with ideas based on the recipes that mum had and the way she cooked. We're very hands-on. We want to do it for her, the way she would have wanted it done."

Mary's photography, too, is in a sense a tribute to her mother. Linda Eastman McCartney photographed stars such as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and The Doors. When Mary decided to become a photographer too, Linda was thrilled. "She was really happy, really pleased," says Mary, with a smile. "If I'd had a day taking pictures, she'd go how did it go? When do you get the contact sheets back? Phone me the minute you get them back and come down and we'll go through them.'" While McCartney does a lot of fashion photography, which is a more formal style, she definitely sees similarity between her and her mother's styles when it's just her and her camera.

Her eye for fashion has certainly been caught by the new Maggie's T-shirts, exclusively designed by Dandy Star. The colourful T-shirts each bear one of three words, "hope", "joy" or "be", chosen to represent the ethos of Maggie's; McCartney says they made her job as a photographer easy. "They're great; often charity T-shirts are things you love because they're for a great cause but these are the ones that a lot of people would want to wear anyway. They're bright, simple and they've got good typography on them; they're not filled with logos."

She hopes her photographs promoting the T-shirts will encourage more people to support Maggie's: "It's just a really really important organisation."

T-shirts are available in a range of colours for men, women and children; price £20 adults, £15 children. Men's M, L and XL, available in brown (joy) and purple (hope). Women's S, M and L, available in green (joy) or purple (hope). Children's 1-10yrs, available in purple (be). Can be found at Maggie's online shop at http://shop.maggiescentres.org or from Maggie's centres.

#mary McCartney #Maggie's centre #linda McCartney #Photography #Paul McCartney #heather mills #family #article #vegetarian

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raybansandcoffee · 5 years

Text

Adventure of a Lifetime: Chapter Ten

You can locate the first nine chapters HERE.

“So are you going to tell me now about you and Jeremy?” Frankie asked. I’d been right. She had slept in my room. We stayed up late talking, getting about two hours of sleep before Frankie’s crazy-ass internal clock woke her up which meant she woke me up. Thankfully, she went and made coffee and delivered me a cup before sneaking up to her room to shower. She knew just how cranky I was in the morning without my magic bean juice. She was now laying on my bed with wet hair, black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and a plaid shirt. Her makeup wasn’t done yet she still looked way better than I would even after I was done getting ready.

“Why do you think I’ll tell you this morning but wouldn’t tell you last night?”

“Because you’re usually much more talkative when you’ve had time to internally freak out about a situation for a few hours, which I’m sure you’ve been doing.”

“No, I haven’t.” I had.

“Liar.” I was.

“We are just friends. Last night was nothing.” It wasn’t nothing, it was everything? Okay, maybe that was too much. It was a really great first date, calling it nothing diminished how I felt about it. But honestly, I didn’t want to have my sister analyzing it this morning.

“Last night wasn’t nothing. If last night was nothing you would’ve freely given me details to the night without hesitation. Your hesitation shows me it’s something. Was last night your first date?” She’d now come into the bathroom where I was putting my makeup on while my hair was wrapped in a towel on top of my head and hadn’t gotten dressed yet.

“Why does it matter?”

“Because you haven’t been on a first date since you started dating Patrick. I haven’t been on one since I was 18. The idea of a first date makes me want to break out into hives but I’d be really excited for you.”

“Yes, it was our first date,” I begrudgingly told her. “He technically asked me out on a date like two weeks ago and I found every excuse humanly possible to delay it. Last night I ran out of excuses.”

“Why would you want an excuse to not go out with him? He seems really great, in addition to the obvious that he is super hot.”

“First dates also make me want to break out into hives The last first date I went on I was in my 20s still and it was Patrick who I’d known for ages through mutual friends so it wasn’t really that intimidating. Outside of that shit, I don’t need to add more complication to my life. I need to focus on the kids. I don’t need to worry about having a life. I just need to provide for the kids, do my work, and that’s it. I don’t need the rest.”

“You might not NEED the rest, but you fucking deserve it. Charlotte,” she sighed. She never called me Charlotte. As a little kid she couldn’t say it because the double T gave her trouble, thus all of the nicknames. Plus my Dad loved that his girls had typically male nicknames and were named after his two favorite uncles. “Charlotte, honestly. Do you really believe that you are just supposed to be their mother and nothing else?”

“I mean, no. But the judgement I get when I attempt to have a life is just something I can’t deal with.”

“Who the fuck is judging you? Honestly. It’s not me or Ryan. Dad and Mandi both would support you in opening your heart again and finding love. Tony won’t pass judgement on anything, he’s 22 -old with no future plans living in his sister’s guest house. And clearly our mother has no room to judge anything. She packed up the house and moved to a different fucking continent when you were 13. Who else has an opinion that matters?”

“People.” I didn’t want to get into it. Frankie was a beast when she was in an argument and knew she was right.

“Is it Jane or Robert?” I shook my head. “Are you afraid of what Patrick will think?”

“Of course not. I understood why he left. The life I have is not the life he wanted, I mean it’s honestly not the life either of us wanted it’s the one that was handed to me.”

“And you did the most honorable thing I’ve ever seen and took it without any complaint and all you did was love those kids. Who on Earth are you worried about? Charlotte, who is it?” I refused to look towards her and into her eyes. “Is it Alex? It’s Alex right?”

“No, of course not.” I paused for a moment before shrugging. “Yes, it’s Alex,” I replied sheepishly.

“Alex is just a bitch. I mean I love her but she’s an incredible bitch a lot of the time.” She tried to keep her voice low in case Savannah woke up. She didn’t want to risk trash-talking her mother because honestly we both grew up with a lot of adults trash-talking our mother and it made life difficult. “Alex is still jealous that Sam and Michael trusted you with the kids. Which baffles me, has she somehow missed how upside down your life has been for the last year? Every plan you had in life changed because of one night. But it’s Alex. She fully expected when that will was read at Dad’s the morning after that it was going to say the guardianship of the kids went to her or at least someone in Sam’s family. She didn’t expect it to be you.”

“No one did, except me and Dad. I knew I’d answered yes when they asked and had to sign a form agreeing to it. Dad was their attorney so he drew up the will. Which they updated fairly regularly. It seems super weird for someone my age and I made fun of Michael for doing it when he was 30 because it’s a thing I really only imagine old people doing but because Michael lost both of his parents young he wanted everything in place. He lived in flux between aunts and uncles and grandparents for so long he wanted to know that there was somewhere stable for the kids to go.”

“I knew they were coming to you. Sam asked me if it was wrong to ask you. She respected that you didn’t want to have kids but she also didn’t want anyone else to raise hers if something happened to her. She knew of everyone in her life you would be the person who would raise them in the way she would. You would let them grow and learn and become who they were meant to be, not what someone thought they should be.” I hadn’t known this. Sam never told me she consulted my sister and Frankie never told me that she knew I’d said yes. She let me go on and on about how the societal pressures of motherhood on women in their 20s and 30s were ridiculous and listen to my feminist rants and my Gloria Steinem quotes about how I was never having a child, not ever for any reason possible would I become a mother. “I told her that there wasn’t anything in the world you loved more than family and those kids were family. Well that Ellery was family, they weren’t even pregnant with Axel yet.”

“They are my family. They are my universe. I always thought all of you were crazy about the ‘it’s different when they are yours’ bullshit. I get it now. You know how much I hate admitting that you are right. But you were so right. They aren’t even mine and it’s different.”

“They are yours. Ellie calls you Mom. Axel’s first word was Mama and he said it to you. You didn’t just get handed Sam and Michael’s kids, you essentially got handed their lives just without a partner to do it all. You opted to sell the LA house for obvious reasons, but you could’ve kept this place and stayed in the city. You’re still dealing with everything that weekend thrust upon you. Getting kids and PTSD in a weekend is no fucking cake walk.” I had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder shortly after they died. Seeing their house when it was still a crime scene with evidence markers, crime scene tape, and just about every horrific thing your mind can come up with if you’ve ever watch an episode of Law and Order. Then being the one to identifying their bodies because Sam’s parents weren’t in LA yet and I wasn’t sure Jane and Robert could handle doing that. I definitely didn’t handle it well, but I wanted to save them that pain. Taking part in planning the double funeral of my two best friends was so hard I wanted the San Andreas fault to open up and swallow me whole. Then becoming a Mom, that wasn’t something I’d ever even imagined being possible. It was a lot in the span of about four days and had left me a mess. A year’s worth of weekly therapy and I was doing a lot better though I still wasn’t great and obviously still dealt with residual trauma, like my nightmares. “I don’t blame you for moving here.”

“Seriously? You’ve been mad at me for 11 months for moving.”

“I know and I still am, but for purely selfish reasons. I miss having one night a week where I got to leave my kids with my husband and have dinner with my sister. I miss that on Saturdays in the summer we’d all somehow end up at Dad’s to swim without planning it and we wouldn’t go home until I had to put the kids in bed on Sunday night. I miss that if I wanted to see you that it was a short drive and you didn’t just exist on the screen of my phone. I miss having you at soccer games and dance recitals. I miss our coffee dates in the middle of a work day. I miss our brunches with way too many mimosas. I just miss you, a lot.”

“I miss you too.”

“I do also know that you bringing the kids here was probably the best decision for you and those babies. It gave you a chance to remove yourself and the kids from the immediate aftermath of the nightmare we all lived through. You didn’t have to run into friends at Whole Foods who look at you with sad eyes and try to pretend like it didn’t happen. Trust me. I’ve gotten those looks when I run into your friends. They ask how you are doing, some ask how the kids are, they all pretend that you didn’t become a mother because some crazed maniac murdered your best friends. It fucking sucks and every time I get in the car and cry about it I am just so thankful it wasn’t you in the store and that it was me.”

“The few times I’ve been back in LA that’s happened. I miss Los Angeles like crazy sometimes but honestly not running into people who know me has been nice. That happened once here. It was over winter, I ran into someone from college at the grocery store, they were here on a family vacation. It was awkward but it was only once. Los Angeles feels like a small fucking town now because I literally can’t go anywhere when I’m home without running into someone.”

“If you still lived there I think it would be easier but you’re starting to get happy here. Is Jeremy part of that?”

“I mean I haven’t known him that long. But having another adult human to talk to is really nice. I mean I see Jane and Robert, which is nice. But it’s still kind of awkward. I don’t think there will ever be a time that I talk to them when it isn’t 100% about the kids or how they are doing without Sam. Robert isn’t sure he wants to go to LA for the trial. Jane is going, she’s staying at my condo. Until there’s an answer to that and closure I don’t think they will every move through the stages of grief. While I still miss them every day I had to get to the point where I didn’t lay in bed crying every night because Sam and Michael were gone. I had to take care of the kids.”

“How often do you see them?”

“Once a month when I drop the kids off at their house. Which I really need to start catching a plane to LA for those weekends every month. Last month when they were gone wrecked me. Savannah spent the weekend with the dude she’d been seeing. Being in this house when it was completely silent was too much.”

“Maybe that will be different now that you have someone in your life that isn’t Savannah or the kids.” My sister shrugged. I knew she was happy to see that I’d put myself out there to even attempt to build relationships here. Even if it was just a new friend.

“Maybe, I don’t know. He’s going back to LA next weekend for a while. His ex-wife lives there and they share custody differently when school isn’t in session. So it’s not like I really need to be concerned about it. He’s going to leave and I’ll be here.”

“Well you’ve been talking about coming home for the trial. Maybe you do that. It gets you to LA for longer than a few days. Bring the kids back home for a while. Relax. Get some sun. Give me my sister back for a while.”

“I mean it will be hard to relax considering I’ll be there for a murder trial. Sort of puts a damper on a vacation.”

“But if you come back for a couple weeks or a month it will only hopefully be like a week of it. Plus we can do Ellery’s birthday in LA.”

“I’ll think about it.” She sighed. “Just finish getting ready. I know you brought your makeup over here so you could have an excuse to spend time with me this morning. So just do your makeup and let me do mine. And don’t sigh at me about this.”

“I just miss you and would love to have you home for part of the summer.”

“Like I said. I’ll think about it.” We finished getting ready both eventually drying our hair and attempting to curl it. Watching her in the mirror next to me made me laugh inside. She was who taught me how to do my makeup and do my hair. Our motions were almost identical. The only difference was her hair was much shorter than mine and I always settled for a more subtle makeup look than she did.

“Good morning, girls,” Mandi said as she walked into my room.

“We’re in the bathroom,” I yelled back.

“You both look beautiful this morning.” She sat in the chair. She was fully dressed. Her hair perfectly curled and makeup perfectly done. “Charlie, you might want to put some more clothes on.” I was in a pair of booty shorts and a t-shirt that I only slept in.

“I’m gonna put clothes on but since you two have been secretive about what we are doing today I hadn’t picked out clothes yet. I know I’ll need to be dressed a little nicer for our dinner tonight.”

“No, you won’t. We will just be eating here,” Mandi said. “Your Dad wants to do homemade pizza night like we always used to do when you guys were kids.”

“That sounds perfect. So we’ll need to go to a grocery store at some point today. Start setting this place for everything this weekend.” I could tell Frankie was already building a grocery list in her head.

“Do you know how many people will be at dinner tomorrow night?” Mandi asked.

“Umm. Our family which is 11, Jeremy and Ava make 13, Alex’s family makes 18, Jane and Robert are 20, plus their family which makes 23. I’m prepared for 25 in case Sam’s cousin brings her boyfriend. When I talked to her last weekend she wasn’t sure. I also wanted to make sure that if Savannah wanted to bring her boyfriend that she could.”

“And Saturday?” I looked to Frankie for an answer; she’d been the one keeping track of that.

“We estimated like 35ish but it could get up to 50 depending on if assholes that didn’t RSVP showed up,” Frankie answered.

“50 people in my house? Who the fuck did you and Alex invite?”

“The list we agreed on. Alex had a few extras she thought might want to be here. I thought she cleared that with you.”

“Of course she didn’t,” I replied. “What was the total list you sent out? I got at least 15 or 20 emails or texts from people who couldn’t come.”

“I think the total was like 80.” Frankie shrugged.

“I hate this. I don’t want that many people in my house. I don’t have the space for that many people in my house. I don’t like being around that many people unless I absolutely have to for work or the kids.”

“You’ll be fine,” Mandi said. “Your Dad and I will be here to take care of you.”

“Beyond the whole ‘I don’t like people’ aspect of this, my house is not big enough for that many people. My kids will be completely overwhelmed by that many people. And the last thing they need is people crying to them about how their Mom and Dad died.”

“It’ll be okay. Most of it is outside,” Frankie said. She could sense I wasn’t just anxious but I was angry. I was trying not to blow up because I knew it wasn’t completely her fault but she and Alex had invited all of these people to my house when I really just wanted a small gathering of the closest friends and family. I didn’t need a large party of people.

“Alright girls, let’s calm down. How about we leave the house for a little while?” Mandi suggested. “We can go get mani/pedis and maybe grab lunch somewhere. Just the three of us, hell the four of us. Let’s grab Savannah.”

“Are we sure we can leave all five kids with Dad, Ryan, and Tony?” I asked.

“They’ll be fine,” Frankie said. “The three of them on the five of the kids will be fine. The girls will probably all end up playing with Barbies or something and it’s not like Ryan hasn’t changed his fair share of diapers in the last decade.”

It didn’t take long before we were finished getting ready. I threw on a pair of jeans that had probably too many holes in them We kidnapped Savannah, left instructions on feeding lunch to the kids with my Dad and brothers and we were out the door. We all climbed into my Jeep and took off towards town. I’d opted to leave the GLS at home in case the men decided to take the children anywhere. They’d at least mostly fit in it. We grabbed coffee from my favorite coffee shop before heading into the salon and being seated for pedicures. It was actually really nice to have time today with just Mandi, Frankie, and Savannah. I rarely ever got girl time that didn’t involve the 5-year-old girl in my life. I felt my phone vibrate in my lap and picked it up to see a text message from Jeremy.

Good morning, Gorgeous.

Oh. Gorgeous huh? One date and we go from you calling me Charlie to pet names.

I mean, you are gorgeous so it’s more like an accurate description than a pet name.

How did you sleep?

As good as one can when sharing their bed with their older sister. I told you she’d sleep in there. Kept me up WAY past my bedtime to try and get details on what last night was and who you are in my life.

Better you than me. I came home to two very whiny dogs.

Bring them today as long as they promise not to maul my cats.

Harrison could kick the shit out of either of my dogs.

True story. He’s a chonky fucker.

Chonky?

Yes. Chonky. If I call him fat or chunky I’m shaming him. He’s chonky. It’s a term of endearment in the cat mom community.

You are one of the strangest people I know.

So what time do you want me to come over today?

Well, right now I’m getting a pedicure with Mandi, Frankie, and Savannah. We are going to also get manicures and then lunch. So I can text you when we are done. I mean you’re welcome to go over there now if you want to hang out with my Dad and brothers. I’m sure they would be at least half as annoying as the women are right now.

Why are they annoying?

This is the line of questioning I’ve received today:

So was last night a date? How long have you and Jeremy known each other? How did you meet? Did he kiss you at the end of the night and if so was he a good kisser?

I’d continue but my sister is starting to ask questions that I’m essentially answering with the middle finger.

Okay. Now I need to know those.

My sister is nosy. She wants to know if you’re a good kisser, which I didn’t disclose that I’d kissed you so she’s making assumptions. They are correct, but no less they are assumptions.

She’s funny and she will definitely make a great lawyer if she decides to practice and not stay at her non-profit.

For the sake of the world, I hope that this is just so she has another set of letters after her name and not so she can practice law. She’s terrifying.

So did you answer any of the questions?

Ugh you are just as bad as they are. I did finally confirm that last night was a date. Frankie started bugging me about it last night when we went to bed and all morning.

No answer on if I’m a good kisser or not.?

The answer was a middle finger.

You’re cute when you’re angry. You’re tiny and filled with rage.

You are barely taller than me! So just shut it.

Okay. I’ve been caught. Frankie says hi but if I don’t stop texting you she’s stealing my phone.

Text or call me when you’re on your way home. I’ll come over to meet you there.

Okay.

For real. If you’re bored just go over to my place. My Dad and Ryan are harmless. Hell my Dad will probably end up making you talk music for hours on end. The kids are all at home with them.

Not worried about me around your Dad without you?

Nah. I like you. I’m just refusing to give information to the women because it drives them crazy. My whole plan was for everyone to get to know you today.

I’m glad you like me. I like you too.

And you are a good kisser. So live with that knowledge while I refuse to share it.

You’re a good kisser too. I sort of regretted not staying last night by the time I got home.

You should learn to trust me. I’m always right.

You also have such a fucking ego. Enjoy your pampering, and I’ll see you in a few hours.

“You’re so smiley,” Savannah said. “I can’t even tell you how happy that makes me.”

“So, since she won’t spill everything, what can you tell me?” Frankie was determined to learn what she could about Jeremy’s role in my life.

“Umm, Jeremy’s daughter Ava and Ellery are best friends. He’s a great dad, super-nice, and has been a lot of fun to have around. Charlie is smiling more but I don’t think it’s just Jeremy. I think she’s starting to settle into life. It’s been a year. The first year of anything is hard right? College, post-college, marriage, kids, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. She’s survived a year in the worst hell anyone could imagine. She’s got the Mom thing down, well as much as one can. She deserves to get her personal life back to where it should be. Dating is a normal thing and she perhaps lucked out on her first try.” I smiled and knew I was blushing.

“Okay, okay! I told you! It was a date and he’s a great guy. He asked me out weeks ago and I was terrified that I wasn’t supposed to be dating so I tried to avoid it. I ran out of excuses last night and he planned a really fantastic first date. We’ve become good friends. He makes living here feel a whole lot less lonely. But it was ONE DATE I have no idea whether I got lucky on my first try. I mean if I were him I would run for the fucking hills. His date ended by meeting the woman’s ENTIRE FAMILY. Okay, not entire but basically my entire family. He should run far, far away.” By now we were sitting and getting our nails done while our toenails dried.

“But you were giggling at your phone which usually means you are texting with a guy you find cute,” Frankie said. “You’ve been like that since you’d hide on a laptop on AOL Instant Messenger while trying to come up with your moody lyrics to use as away messages. So you clearly hope you got lucky on your first try. And from what I saw of him last night, he seems amazing.”

“He is,” Savannah said. “She didn’t even hesitate to tell him about Sam and Michael or how she became a mother.”

“Seriously?” Mandi asked.

“It felt like he wouldn’t judge me and maybe he’d have some insight on the single parenting stuff I’m doing. He asked if I planned on having any other kids, I said I hadn’t planned on having them and life was too hard with two little ones on my own. He asked if their dad was in the picture and I just told him what happened.”

“Everything?”

“I mean I waited to tell him about the PTSD and the nightmares until we’d known each other longer than a couple of hours, but yeah, he knows everything. He hasn’t been scared off by any of it. He’s watched me cry. He’s gotten a phone call or two in the middle of the night when I woke up with a nightmare and couldn’t fall back asleep. He offered to stay with me this weekend because he was worried about the nightmares. They’ve been happening more frequently.”

“And you’ve told your therapist?” Mandi asked.

“I have. She wants me to take some sleeping medication for it but I’m too scared I won’t wake up. At some point I’ll feel like I can take it but right now everything just seems like too much.”

“Well, I think he sounds like a fantastic person. And everything you’ve told me about him makes it seem like he’s almost too good to be true.” I’d disclosed a little about him to my step-mom over the last couple of weeks. My sister, however, knew nothing. I didn’t want her to start to question me about him when there was nothing to question me about.

“How long have you known?” My sister turned to our stepmom with the look in her eyes that told us she wasn’t going to take any hiding from the questions.

“She text me about him the first day of summer break. It was the day Tony drove out here.”

“I was texting you that day, and you mentioned nothing.”

“You’re right. I didn’t. It was the first day he and I really spent together and you were trying to lecture me about letting our brother run away from home to live with me.”

“Well, you were.” She had to be right. Always. Even when she knew she wasn’t right, she would find a way to refuse to admit to Tony and me that we were right.

“Tony is doing great living with me. He’s not sleeping the summer away. Most mornings he’s in the house before I even come down for breakfast. He’s been working with me on the score I’m writing and has been a huge help with that. I was stuck for so long. He stole the copy of the film from me one night, watched it twice before bed and then came into my studio the next morning, sat down at my piano and fixed a song I’d been essentially screaming into the abyss about for weeks. I submitted the first draft of the score yesterday. I was running behind and got it sent in a week early. I may never let Tony leave my house.”

“He’s really been loving that he can just create with you every day. He sounds happy every time he calls home. As a Mom, that’s the only thing you can want. Which by the way, Frankie, when your sister calls home, she sounds happy too. So lay off it for a while. She has enough to worry about; we don’t need to add to it.”

“I’m just so confused by why everyone else knew but me. Well, Ryan too. Even Dad knew.”

“Frankie, you refer to my ex as Dickhead. Patrick didn’t do anything wrong, and you call him Dickhead. To his face even.”

“Well, he is,” she defended.

“But he isn’t. If the situation was reversed I would’ve left him. We had agreed that babies were completely out of the picture and marriage was a maybe. I broke our agreement and while he understood completely why I broke it, I also understood why he left. He never wanted kids of his own or anyone else’s so his girlfriend/roommate suddenly having a 4-year-old and an infant were dealbreakers. I will never be angry at him for what he did. It’s time for you to stop being angry about it.” I rarely spoke like this to Frankie, especially when there were people around us. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He did what was best for himself and in the end what was best for me and the kids. He wouldn’t have been happy which would have ended up making me miserable and I wouldn’t have been here for Ellie to meet Ava and you wouldn’t be grilling me about the first date I went on. So in fact, you should send him a fucking thank you note.” Mandi and Savannah both started to laugh as Frankie sat there with her mouth open. She was at a loss for words, a true rarity.

We finished with our nails and went to one of my favorite lunch spots. Lunch was much more normal conversation. We talked about the weekend ahead, family, and completely avoided the topic of my love life. It was a welcome break for a little over an hour. Once we were in the car, I quickly sent a text to Jeremy telling him we were on our way home. I pulled up the driveway to see his truck already there. I laughed a little on the inside knowing he probably had gotten bored and come over earlier because I hadn’t gotten a response from him. We climbed out and went into the house which seemed oddly silent for having four adults and five children in it.

“Where are they?” Savannah asked.

“I’m assuming the basement but the silence has me scared,” I replied. My house was only silent in the middle of the night when I was the only person awake. I put my purse down and headed downstairs. As soon as I made it to the bottom landing someone grabbed me lifting me up off the ground as I screamed. “What the fuck?”

“Hi,” Jeremy replied as I stopped moving and realized I’d been thrown over his shoulder and was now staring directly at his ass.

“Hi. That’s all you have to say. You just scared the shit out of me, and all you have to say is hi.” He flipped me back, so I was on my feet in front of him. I heard the three women I’d just had lunch with laughing along with the sound of my brother-in-law’s incredibly distinct laugh.

“Umm, how was lunch?” I balled my hand into a fist and punched him in the arm before he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a hug. “You look beautiful and smell really good,” he whispered into my ear.

“Lunch was fine. Now why on Earth is my house this quiet? This house is never quite.”

“Well, the big kids are all in the theater watching a movie. Axel is upstairs taking a nap.” He waived the baby monitor in front of me so I could see that he was listening to hear if he woke up. “And the grown-up kids are all in your studio. So it’s quiet because we’ve got things handled.” He smiled the cutest smile at me, and honestly, all I wanted to do was kiss him but realizing that a portion of my family was standing with us, I held back.

“Did you put Axel in bed?”

“I did. I got here as the kids were getting finished with lunch. He looked exhausted and needed cleaned up before I put him down. He and I are becoming besties.”

“You’re too sweet. Thank you.” It was in that moment that I realized we were holding hands. I almost yanked mine away but realized that I didn’t care.

“What movie did the kids turn on?” Savannah asked.

“Trolls,” Ryan replied. “Carter got outvoted by all of the girls. Poor guy wanted to watch one of the Cars movies.”

“Ellery is OBSESSED with Trolls. I can’t even tell you how many times a week we have a dance party to that Justin Timberlake song. She’s been stuck on it for what seems like her entire life,” I replied.

“Carter will be fine. You know all three of the girls are obsessed with it, he’s seen it enough times. Plus he knows he can come in here and read his comics. We bought him a bunch of new ones and a new graphic novel right before we left town so he’d keep himself occupied when he needed a break from everyone,” my sister interjected while she rolled her eyes a little. Carter was a lot like me. We could both handle crowds until we couldn’t handle them anymore and we needed quiet alone time. It often drove Frankie crazy how much alike he and I were. When we had family functions a lot of the time the two of us would disappear and they’d find us snuggled up in a chair together with a blanket and books. We were the nerds of the family.

“Your Dad told me when you got home, you were supposed to come to the studio,” Jeremy said.

“If Dad is playing with your instruments, I’m out.” Frankie was laughing. “I’m going to go watch Trolls with the kids.”

“I’ve got to go get some laundry and homework done before my family gets in town tomorrow,” Savannah said. “I’ll keep an eye on Axel too.” She held her hand open for Jeremy to pass the baby monitor to her. My sister and step-mom headed to the theater, where all of the kids were watching the movie. Jeremy pulled me into a tight hug once we both realized Ryan was out of the room.

“Sorry about earlier. I just thought it would be funny.”

“It was funny but also scared the crap out of me.” He leaned forward to kiss me. “So when did you get here?”

“When you were still getting your pedicure and told me to come over here if I was bored. I text Tony and he said that they were feeding the kids and breaking into the instruments when you were out of the house. I thought a good way to get to know your Dad and brother-in-law without you was to come over and bond over music.”

“It is always the best way,” I replied before kissing him again. “You also put my baby to sleep.”

“I did. He’s too fucking cute to resist. Fell asleep in my arms after I got him cleaned up and in pajamas.”

“Were you singing to him? That’s my trick. He hates the rocking chair which is honestly the worst thing to have happen with a kid who is a chunk like him. But if he can feel a warm body and you sing to him he’s out after a few little dances around his bedroom.”

“I did sing to him.”

“What did you pick?” I wanted to imagine in my head what it sounded like when he sang to my little dude. I could picture it and what I saw him my head was perfect. Mainly because Jeremy showed up today in jeans, a white t-shirt andgrey zip-up hoodie.

“I noticed you had song lyrics on his wall.” I bit my lip to stop myself from crying. In our final visit here together, Sam and I decorated Axel’s nursery. She was seven months pregnant, incredibly bitchy and knew any moment she’d be unable to travel. She kept fearing he’d come early because Ellery had come a few weeks early and had a short stay in the NICU. Sam was terrified that would happen again. Axel however came a week late and was the fattest happiest little baby.

She’d been unable to decide what to do with his nursery in Tahoe. In LA everything was pristine and a neutral color palette to match the modern farm house decor. Tahoe was harder because the house oozed personality. Deciding on the name Axel of course made Michael want to do every bad Guns N’ Roses themed idea he could come up with. He wasn’t allowed on the trip, in fact it was just a girls trip. He kept Ellery at home with him and we spent a full weekend in Tahoe just the two of us, Alex had been unable to come because of work. We laid on the floor of the room the first day throwing ideas out until one finally hit. We used the best of our art skills to paint a mural on the wall that looked reminiscent of the area the house was in. Lots of trees and a lake below them. In her perfect calligraphy Sam traced lyrics into the mural and filled them in. It looked like a greeting card or a notebook you’d end up paying $20 for at some fancy boutique or Anthropologie and then fear writing in because nothing was worthy of the notebook.

“Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you. And everything you do. Yeah, they were all yellow,” Jeremy softly sang into my ear as he held me in another hug.

“It was cheesy. It was an idea we saw on Pinterest. Coldplay was this weird love we shared. We saw them in concert so many times. We ridiculously took trips to under the false pretenses to visit my Mom so we could see them in London. Michael wasn’t really a fan but he allowed us to have that moment, though he told us we should’ve put the lyrics to ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ instead. He was outvoted 2-1.” Jeremy laughed. “If you’re ever in his room when it’s completely dark outside, wait a minute in the room after turning the lights off. We painted glow in the dark stars all over the sky of the mural and the ceiling.”

“That’s awesome. Though I would’ve totally been on board with a Guns N’ Roses mural.”

“Of course you would.” I kissed him again and just hugged him to me as I breathed my way through the memory I was in the middle of reliving.

“We should go back with your Dad and brothers. They will get suspicious.”

“They definitely will. Especially considering Frankie has had ample interrogation time today, and Tony has gotten none. He was so pissed last night that she wouldn’t let him come in my room with us as everyone headed to bed. He wanted to know how our date went.” Jeremy laughed before grabbing my hand and walking with me towards my studio.

“He did ask me how it went when it was just the two of us for a minute. I told him that it went great, and I was glad you finally weakened to my ways.” I laughed at him. “He said he was glad you might have a life finally.”

“Okay, this idea of you and my brother becoming friends is maybe not okay.” He laughed at me as he opened the door, pulling me into the studio. “So, what of my instruments have you destroyed?”

“None of them,” Dad said. “But when you moved you took some of my favorites and I missed them.” I loved seeing my Dad comfortably sitting with a guitar in his lap while Tony sat at the drums and Ryan at the piano.

“They’ve missed you too. I mean, you could come visit your kid once in a while.” I winked at him.

“Oh my middle child, my smartass and the one who ended up with my humor how I’ve missed you.” I sat down on the couch next to my Dad as Jeremy sat down in the comfy chair in the room. I rested my head on my Dad’s shoulder. I took a deep breath, breathing in his cologne. The same cologne he’d worn my entire life. It was Polo and came in a green bottle with a gold logo on it. It was the smell of comfort and safety.

“I would’ve much rather stayed home with all of you. They made me get all girly.” I held my hand up, showing my brand new, very fake nails. My rebellious act in being forced to do this was that they are pitch black. I always had incredibly short nails; it was truly an occupational hazard. They claimed that I needed to appear a little more ‘refined’ this weekend. I agreed if for no reason other than occasionally having long nails was fun and maybe they’d make me appear sexy or something. Honestly, I had no idea why I agreed to it, but I did.

“Can you still play with those claws?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes, they frequently force me into this situation. I learned quickly.” I reached for my Black Strat plugging it into the amp next to me. Without even a moment of hesitation I went into the opening guitar riff of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” causing Jeremy to laugh loudly as Tony started in on drums and Ryan stood up to do his best Axel Rose impression. It was obvious he’d immediately fit in with his wife’s misfit siblings the first time she brought him home. She’d been worried we’d embarrass her. My Dad sat back laughing and watching all of us. I knew this made him happy. This was what home felt like for us, I knew by the end of the night we’d get enough alcohol in my sister that she’d even join in. Normally Mandi would pick us over a movie but she hadn’t gotten time with Ellery in ages so I was sure she was just trying to soak up time with her granddaughter before the rest of the weekend came and she had to share her.

“Is there anything you can’t play?” Jeremy asked. Over the last few weeks, he’d discovered that I could typically play a song by ear. He’d played a few of the songs he was working on for me and I’d picked them up quickly. I had yet to figure out if it made him mad that I could play them without him teaching me or giving me sheet music or if he thought it was hot that this woman he was interested in could join in on one of his songs without lifting a finger.

“Yes, there’s a lot. In fact the solo in this song is one I’ve never been able to figure it out and it pisses me off. I’ve spent SO long trying. I hate it. Tony can play it. Ryan can play it.”

“I can play it,” Dad interrupted. “t pisses her off when I can play something better than her.”

“You can’t, but let yourself believe that, Pops.”

“You are still unfairly talented,” Jeremy said.

“Oh, it’s fair. I had no social life because of this.”

“She lies.” Of course, it would be my little brother that revealed my secret. “She had a social life, but it was all with other music nerds. She tried to be in a band, but it was all guys, and Dad put a stop to that quickly.”

“She was young and one of them had tattoos. I am a Dad.” Everyone in the room laughed. Dad was extremely protective of his girls. I had tried to join a band in high school with some of my guy friends and one of the guys in the band was 20 or 21 at the time. He did have a right to be concerned.

“I have tattoos,” Jeremy said. I started to laugh.

“So does she,” Dad replied. “Eventually, I lost all control of her.”

“Eventually, every kid grows up, Dad. Just wait someday I’ll call you screaming because Ellery has a tattoo.”

“Don’t put that image in my head.” He shook his head, causing all of us to laugh. “Did you ladies go to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner?”

“No, I did however order groceries to be delivered later today. It’s way more convenient. I have also had a nervous breakdown in the grocery store so I try to avoid it during daylight hours.” I laughed at myself as I saw Jeremy’s eyes get big. “You would’ve had one too. It was like rush hour grocery shopping on a Sunday. Elle had the flu and we were getting stuff for her so I could get her home, get her medication and put her in bed. She puked on me, herself, her brother and our groceries from where she was standing in the cart’s main area at her insistence. Then…her brother projectile vomited on me and a grocery shelf. Worst motherhood moment of my life.”

“You called Frankie bawling because you almost threw up in the car on the way home.” Ryan started to laugh. It was funny now, but it wasn’t when it happened.

“All three of us were covered in vomit. It was so horrible. Frankie had literally left the day before because she’d been here for WAY too long and with Ellie starting to get a fever we didn’t want her catching something and taking it home to the kids.”

“She was of course too late,” Ryan said looking at Jeremy who was the only person in the room that didn’t know the story. My family clearly all shared everything with each other and the rest of the universe with ease. “She was about half-hour from LA when she had to pull over and throw up. She barely made it into the bathroom in the house. By the end of the next day all five of us were sick.”

“It was horrible. I made Savannah wear a mask and threatened a hazmat suit. She was the only one who didn’t get sick. Even I was throwing up by the end of the day. It was Ellery’s payback for making her go to a some open play thing to make friends that Frankie found online in some Mom group. She did not want to go and she came home sick. She did not have to go back to it.” It was a little over an hour that we were having our own little jam session before the alert went off on my phone that the grocery delivery was at the gate. I went up to let them in and get the groceries. As I made it to the living room I realized Jeremy was on my heels.

“Need some help?” He knew I wouldn’t need it but also seemed to know a moment alone would be nice. I nodded as I walked to the door I’d directed the delivery driver and he helped unload the groceries into the butler’s pantry that was by the dining room table. Jeremy and I then quickly moved the groceries to the kitchen and started to put them away. He’d been here enough that he almost knew where everything in my kitchen went without needing guidance. “You okay?” He’d let me get most of the groceries away while being quiet. He seemed to know that occasionally I needed to say nothing and to let me do that.

“I’m okay. Just a lot of memories rushing back today. It was a year ago today that I had my last really good day with Sam. We sat in the studio, we didn’t have work to do because she was technically on maternity leave with Axel because he was only a few weeks old. But she wanted out of the house so she took Ellery to a friend’s house for a play date and left Michael and Axel at home by themselves. We laid in the studio, listening to our favorite songs, playing music together and just having a really great best friend day. We recorded some of it for shits and giggles. I haven’t listened to it in a year. I have it but I’m afraid to. We weren’t singing anything we wrote, we were singing our favorite songs and being goofballs.” I took a deep breath. “And tomorrow. Tomorrow is their wedding anniversary and it will be a year since I saw my best friend alive. A year since I hugged her. A year since I told her I loved her and her reply with her usual ‘of course you love me, I’m fucking amazing’ and then she’d pause and say ‘I love you too, Chuck.’ A year since I saw her beautiful smile light up her face when she looked at her kids or her husband. A year since I told Michael to remember how lucky he was to marry her and get me as his bonus wife. Tomorrow is their 8th anniversary. Sam’s lucky number was 8.”

“I’m staying here tonight,” Jeremy said as he pulled me into a hug as the tears started to fill my eyes and I felt the lump in my throat that had lived there for the last 364 days.

“You have to get Ava in the morning.”

“I can get up early and leave. But I know that you need someone around tonight, and rather than letting that someone be your sister, I’d like it to be me. If you’re okay with that.” I nodded as I took a deep breath and felt a tear slide down my face. “Do you have room for Ava and I both tomorrow?”

“Of course. The girls would love to have Ava as part of their sleepover all weekend. I was going to suggest it whether you decided to stay here or not. The stuff will go late both nights, and I want you here with me. Ava will fit in perfectly with the three girls. We’ll have three boys here too. It will be a houseful. You and Ava will be the perfect addition.” He pressed his lips into my forehead.

“I think tonight you should show me all of your tattoos. I was trying to be a gentleman our first day hanging out, and while I saw some of the tattoos because you were in a bathing suit, it was high waisted, so I have a feeling I missed a few.” I laughed. It was the perfect thing to break my mood and make me smile.

“If you’re lucky, I’ll let you see them. Though I know, there is one you haven’t seen that is easy to spot.”

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow at me. I pulled my arms back from around his chest as he kept his around me. I took my Apple Watch off, there on my wrist, in beautiful dainty handwriting, all lowercase letters, were the words ‘time makes you bolder.’ “Interesting.”

“It’s my Mom’s handwriting.”

“Like Stephanie? Your biological Mom?” I nodded. “When did you get that?”

“It the winter after I turned 28. I was struggling. I was working for a composer occasionally and getting a handful of really small jobs, nothing anyone would even really even know was me or ever see. So I disappeared for a few months to London to see if I could find work there. My Mom was still living there and Sam was there, she thought she was still in love with some guy she met when we went to stay with my Mom for spring break our senior year of college that she moved to London for. She was working in a coffee shop and playing open mic nights when she could. My Mom’s name is Stephanie. Most people call her that, it’s what she goes by professionally, Stephanie Rossi. But at some point in her life my Mom decided she wanted to be Stevie Nicks, she lucked out that her parents named her Stephanie. When they were still young and in love my Dad started calling her Stevie and it stuck. Honestly, Frankie and I both call her Stevie. I can’t remember the last time I called her mom.”

“So the tattoo?”

“Well, I’d been struggling with not doing what I really wanted to with music. I was considering that I’d gone the wrong direction and should maybe produce or focus on songwriting for pop and rock music instead of composing. Thought about putting a band together. I was lost, thus ending up roaming around England and Europe with my Mom. She understood how it felt to feel as lost as I was, fuck she left her entire family because she needed to chase her dream. I got my first big offer which got me to go home. I wasn’t going home to work for anyone else anymore. I was going to do the unthinkable and if necessary live off my trust fund until I was where I wanted to be, I was going to give it a year. Mom was so excited to see me make this GIANT bold decision. Sam realized it was the decision she needed to make and literally packed her bags in a split second to catch a plane with me. But the night before we left my Mom and I went to a tattoo shop and I got this. It’s from “Landslide.” Time makes you bolder, even children get older and I’m getting older too. My wrist clearly didn’t have space for all of it so Mom decided it should just be time makes you bolder.”

“And it’s made you bolder.”

“WAY bolder. Before my Dad told me to take time to go see my Mom I was positive I’d done everything wrong and should’ve gone to law school. I told Dad I was considering that I might need to work at his firm if I ever wanted to have a real-life and real job. He didn’t want to see that and knew Stevie would take care of any crazy ideas I had about being a real grown-up. I was their dreamer.”

“Do they get along now?” Jeremy asked.

“Yeah, fairly well. Things with Stevie were always hard for all of us. But she always says the one thing in her life that wasn’t a mistake was giving my Dad his girls. Even if it wasn’t the life she imagined for herself, it was the perfect life for him. She and Mandi is a different situation. She sort of threw us on Mandi without asking. Vinnie got a say in it and didn’t really give his wife an option. I mean, it’s better now but still not great. Small doses, and they are good.”

“She still isn’t coming this weekend?”

“No,” I said as I put my watch back on. “She’s off somewhere on a shoot and loving it. She called me yesterday morning to see if I had changed my mind and she offered to catch a flight. While it would be nice to have her here, it would just make everything worse. My Mom and Sam’s parents don’t get along well, which makes the whole fiasco of the funeral a worse thing than it could’ve been.”

“Why don’t they get along?”

“Well Sam moved to London at 24 and because moving directly in with a guy she fell in love with in the span of a week was a bad idea she crashed at my Mom’s place. Well her parents thought that she did. She really lived with the guy. But she told them she was moving in with my Mom. They thought my flighty mother had convinced their daughter to runaway after a guy that she introduced her to. It was a mess.” I laughed. “Stevie didn’t tell her to run away for love. I mean Stevie loves love and is always waiting for her next romance. But she wouldn’t encourage it with anyone else. Hell she tried to convince me that moving in with Patrick after 3 years was too fast. But because of that she and I both felt it would be best for her not to be here. She’ll be back in LA this summer and either come stay with me and the kids for a while or I’ll go home, stay with Dad and spend time with her.”

“That’s good.” He hugged me tighter again. “I wish I could hit fast forward on this weekend for you. Ryan said you had a meltdown on Frankie this morning because of the number of people that she and Alex invited.”

“Yeah, they invited 80 people. It’s possible that Saturday there will be 50 people in my fucking house. I am so NOT prepared for that.”

“That is a lot of people. But we will get you through it. Sunday will be a day at the pool with only the closest family. Monday when they are all gone I’ll just spoil you and let you sleep. Either I can help Savannah with all of the kids or we can bribe her and Tony to watch them so you can recharge and I can take care of you.”

“Are you real?”

“Yes?” He seemed confused by my question.

“I will absolutely need to recharge.”

“I know. Too much action is gonna stress you out.”

“Right. Well, I spent years with Patrick, who would always be mad that after a vacation or holiday or birthday party or work event or really anything, I’d need like two days of silence and sleep before I could be a functioning human again. He hated it. I finally started letting him stay at our place and would check into a hotel for a couple of days and sleep.”

“That’s odd, especially considering it was your condo.”

“Right? Okay so maybe he was a Dickhead sometimes. But you for real seem like you’re fictional if you’re going to let me have a day of silence after this.”

“I just want to make sure that you feel your best. Especially since I leave next weekend.”

“Don’t talk about that. I don’t want to think about it. We are so new if we are even a we, I don’t know. You leaving already sucks.” I pouted. He pouted back at me.

“You know if you hadn’t blown me off for two weeks we wouldn’t be so new, we’d just be mostly new.”

“You’re right but also shut up. I had my reasons.”

“I know, and I fully support them. You needed to get to the point where you felt okay attempting to be more than just their Mom. I get it.” I rested my head on his chest. “Do you want to go back downstairs?” I shook my head no.

“It’s quiet right now. I like that it’s quiet. Once they are all around again it won’t be quiet and I won’t be able to stand here like this with you. I’ll have to go back to basically pretending there’s an invisible forcefield around you that if I touch you I’ll get electrocuted.”

“Except you don’t. They all know we’ve been on a date. They will all know I’m sleeping here tonight and no offense, I’m not sleeping out at Tony’s.” I laughed. “I mean I can sleep on the couch in your room if you don’t want me in bed with you but I’m sleeping in your room. Maybe I’ll get to be the lucky one to stay up all night with you.”

“Maybe you will.” I stayed quiet for a minute as he swayed back and forth with me still in his arms. It was like I did sometimes when the kids cried. I’d try to soothe them with movement. It was working. I was fairly certain if I could figure out how to balance and not fall over I could fall asleep in his arms like this. “I’m sorry I hesitated.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“No, I need to. There’s a lot in my life that I’ve been afraid of the last year. I shouldn’t have been afraid of this.” I looked up at him and smiled before pressing my lips into his.

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE*****

First, I apologize for the delay with this chapter. It took much longer to get up than I expected. You may or may not have seen this so I will share a little bit about it again. It was just over two weeks ago that my grandfather passed away. Losing someone is never easy but it made some of this writing feel too real so I had to take a step back last week as we held his funeral and I worked my way through the beginning stages of grief.

Last weekend I started to feel more myself. I got back to work in a normal and productive manner. I work for myself so it was incredibly beneficial to be able to take the time necessary to process, grieve, and do the things I needed to do for myself. My grandfather was a very important person in my life and a huge part of who I am. I am obnoxiously proud of the fact that I am an Italian-American, my grandfather was the youngest son of two Italian immigrants who came to America for the hope of a better life. His father died when he was 18 months old. His mother could not read or write. His house was bilingual, mainly because their Mom struggled with English and her 7 children helped her to learn it based on what they were learning at school. There will likely never be a day in my life that I don't miss him, he was the strongest person I knew. He was 96 years old. He watched his parents, every one of his siblings, their spouses, some nieces and nephews, almost all of his cousins and a good portion of his friends die. But the hardest for him was losing my grandma. She was the center of his universe. I honestly think if he could've had it his way he would've held her hand while she died to help her through the end and then died right there with her. But instead, he lived on, for seven years without her. He missed her every day until he didn't have to miss her anymore. The unique thing for me is one of my friends was one of his nurses. She was able to tell me about her experience with him and the stories he was telling all of the staff about his bride and how he couldn't wait to see her again.

Needless to say, the sadness is still present and the tears still come like a waterfall on occasion, but working Charlie through her grief was honestly a helpful thing. Being able to sink my teeth into a chapter was not only healthy for me, it was freeing. I could take the feelings I have, adjust them for the purpose of how Charlie would feel and go with it. Writing is also my creative outlet. As someone who deals with depression and anxiety in a major, life-altering way my writing helps me to stay sane. So it's been an immense help. And I finally hit a good flow. I already have over 3,000 words of Chapter 11 on the way.

Okay, now about the chapter. I know it's long which most people love and it's maybe got stuff that doesn't seem important to people but I felt like the details about Charlie and who she is were important, especially as this awful anniversary approaches her. The happy memories are sometimes the hardest to face and she's facing them all head-on while still trying to be a good daughter, sister, mother, friend, and who knows maybe at some point be a good girlfriend. Having her family around her makes her feel whole. It's the thing about Italian-American families. We will argue and drive each other crazy but when it comes down to it family comes first and we'd protect them to the end. I know it sounds stereotypical but honestly, growing up in a city with a tight-knit Italian-American community has shown me how true it is. Italians also really know how to hold a grudge but that's for another day, haha. My Dad calls it Italian Alzheimers, they forget everything but the grudge. The closeness of the family and community of Italian-Americans is one of the reasons I'm drawn to writing characters that are part of that community. Also because it's what I know. The traditions, the family, even the arguing, it's my life and while I am not Charlie and don't have a ton in common with her, it's easy to write the interaction of her family. It's also why Everlee from In the Heat of Los Angeles was easy for me to write. There was a bit of a reflection of my family in theirs.

I am enjoying writing the shift in the relationship between Charlie and Jeremy. They are fun to write. They are an interesting couple for me to write. They have so much in common while still being very different from each other. Jeremy is quickly becoming a huge support system for Charlie, which is what she needs. It doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes and a good kisser.

As for the news recently about Jeremy. I am an outside observer, a fan. I don't know what is true what isn't true. I believe that cancel culture is toxic, even the law states innocent until proven guilty. I am going to continue this story because the Jeremy I've created is a character I love. If at some time the circumstances regarding the news from this week change, I'll re-evaluate. But for now, we will continue on this Adventure. I hope you are all willing to stick with me.

I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter, good and bad. It's been a tough few weeks for me so my writing could be completely off of it's normal. Your support, even if it's silent, means a lot but I would really love to hear from you. What intrigues you about this? Why you started reading it and maybe why you're still reading it? If you've read any of my other writing I'd love to hear how you feel about this as it is obviously very different from my past writing.

I am filled with endless gratitude for you all. Thank you for letting me take the time this needed. Hopefully 11 continues on as easily as it has started.

xx. Annie

#jeremy renner #jeremy renner fanfic #jeremy renner fan fic #jeremy renner fanfiction #jeremy renner fan fiction #Elizabeth olsen #Lizzie Olsen #Elizabeth Olsen as Charlie De Luca #oc fanfic #oc fan fic #oc fan fiction #oc fanfiction #original character fan fic #original character fan fiction #original character fanfic #original character fanfiction #marvel #hawkeye #mcu

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sidekickhq · 5 years

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can you please suggest mw parents?

i’m going to include wanted connections we have for specific parents underneath the cut, but others that i think are REALLY wanted by all are : bruce wayne, sigyn, anna marie, daken akihiro, clark kent, steve trevor, remy lebeau, donna troy, scott lang, wanda maximoff, matthew murdock, warren worthington ii, raven darkholme, hank mccoy, stephen strange, leonard snart, mary jane watson, pietro maximoff, wanda maximoff, cecelia reyes, kitty pryde, natasha romanoff, melinda may, cindy moon, namor, jean paul beaubier, peter quill, phil coulson, mick rory, maria hill !

ALYSSA BEAUBIER, our HAYLEY WILLIAMS fc is looking for a MOM/JEANNE-MARIE BEAUBIER connection who looks like UTP, who is 46. you DON’T have to contact (they’d have a lot to talk about as Alyssa ran off with no contact at age 17 so 9 years ago. Alyssa has a share of mom problems mostly stemming from feeling like she fucked up being the one normal thing in his mom’s life by being a mutant. )

DANIEL FOSTER-THORSON, our TARJEI SANDVIK MOE fc is looking for a MOTHER (JANE FOSTER) connection who looks like NATALIE PORTMAN, KEIRA KNIGHTLY, UTP, who is 40+ you DON’T have to contact prior to applying at danielthorson. ( so i don’t want to get too carried away with details but you’re more than welcome to contact me with any questions you might have! Essentially jane raised daniel (and any siblings he might’ve had) by herself, and initially she tried to keep him sheltered from his father and everything that could come with being a part of his world. But when Daniel was five, this changed- and Thor and everyone else became a part of his life. Apart from this Daniel absolutely adores his mother, she’s his favorite person in the world. Not to mention Thor would love to see her around! )

HUGO STARK, our JOSHUA CASTILLE fc is looking for a MOTHER / PEPPER POTTS connection who looks like UTP who is 50+ YEARS OLD. you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( give the stark kids their mum !!

NAOMI DANE-SUMMERS, our NAOMI SCOTT fc is looking for a MARCOS DÍAZ / FATHER / “STEPFATHER” connection who looks like ANY RELEVANT FC who is 45+ you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( Good Dad™ Marcos Díaz, naomi thinks the world of him !!!

QUINTEN ISLEY-QUINZEL, our MATTHEW DADDARIO fc is looking for a MOTHER / PAMELA ISLEY connection who looks like BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD, JESSICA CHASTAIN, CHRISTINA HENDRICKS / UTP who is 40′s-50′s+ you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( tw for death: pam was a big part in quin’s resurrection – her & necromancer brought quin back to life after he died during the attack on the school last year. due to pam’s heavy influence, he ended up with very similar powers to pam and they share a deep connection now because of it. he’s always been really close to her but this only brought them closer. )

QUINTEN ISLEY-QUINZEL, our MATTHEW DADDARIO fc is looking for a MOTHER / HARLEY QUINN connection who looks like MICHELLE PFEIFFER, JAMIE CLAYTON, CHARLIZE THERON, KRISTEN BELL / UTP who is 40′s/50′s+ you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( quin is… such a mamma’s boy, honestly. he loves both of his moms SO MUCH and while he’s always been more similar to pam, he’s still super close to harley. give quin his moms! )

TRIXIE ESPINOZA, our CHRISTIAN SERRATOS fc is looking for her FATHERS / DAN ESPINOZA & LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR who look like JAY HERNANDEZ, ALFONSO HERRERA, GABRIEL LUNA, ANY MEXICAN FC ( DAN ) / DIEGO LUNA, RICKY WHITTLE, TOM ELLIS, ANY FC ( LUCIFER ) who are 40+ ( DAN ) & 1000+ ( LUCIFER ) YEARS OLD. you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( healthy coparents, unite !! chloe and dan are two of lapd’s best and brightest, and trix loves her parents so much - but she ALSO loves her stepfather, lucifer, and he’s 100% on the same level in her mind as her birth parents. )

TRIXIE ESPINOZA, our CHRISTIAN SERRATOS fc is looking for her MOTHER / CHLOE DECKER who looks like LAUREN GERMAN, VERA FARMIGA, WINONA RYDER, SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR, AMY ACKER, PLAYERS CHOICE who is 40+ YEARS OLD. you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( if u have seen lucifer, then u already have a pretty good idea of trixie’s dynamic with her mom! her dad is great and all, but… chloe was the one who was REALLY there for her, ya know? i kinda had it hced that chloe is now with lucifer cause that’s how the show was heading to and i didn’t imagine anyone snagging anymore lucifer chars, but i’m! definitely open to changing that! just gimme her mom pls! )

WILLIAM WADE WILSON, our BRANDON FLYNN fc is looking for a FATHER (WADE WILSON) connection who looks like RYAN REYNOLDS, UTP+ who is AGE you ( DON’T ) have to contact prior to applying at ( willicmwilson ). ( look, i just want a wade. I’m also willing to make you gif icons of Ryan as Wade if you’d like, just shoot me a message!)

WILLIAM WADE WILSON, our BRANDON FLYNN fc is looking for a MOTHER (VANESSA CARLYSLE ) connection who looks like JENNIFER GARNER, HILARY SWANK, UTP+ who is AGE you ( DON’T ) have to contact prior to applying at ( WILLICMWILSON). (honestly i’m just looking for will’s family- i’m not going to dictate what you have to do. But feel free to contact me if you have any questions before applying! )

WINIFRED BANNER-ROSS, our SOPHIE TURNER fc is looking for a FATHER / BRUCE BANNER connection who looks like MARK RUFFALO, UTP who is 45+ YEARS OLD. you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( winnie and bruce spent a fair chunk of her childhood – ages 8 to 14 – in laga, east timor, to move away from general ross and help give timorese people access healthcare, farming, and education )

DEVYN XAVIER-LEHNSHERR, our COURTNEY EATON fc is looking for a BIRTH MOTHER connection who looks like PLAYER’S CHOICE who is 45+YEARS OLD. you CAN contact prior to applying at queenofillusionsx. (Devyn’s birth mom is a closeted mutant who was scared of having a child in case they grew to be one. When Dev was born with lilac eyes, there was no mistaking what she was, so her parents gave her up. Now she is at Paragon to make amends, but it is the one topic she gets angry at so she won’t be happy.)

NADIA KYLE, our ANA DE ARMAS fc is looking for her MOTHER / SELINA KYLE who looks like MELISSA FUMERO, JOANNA GARCIA / ANY CUBAN FC who is OLD ENOUGH. you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( it may be a little cliche, all considered - but there’s a reason that nadia has become the person that she is today, and that reason… is selina. the love she has for her mother, and the idolization that she’s always felt towards her, is unmatched. nadia’s upbringing was unique in that it wasn’t just isolated to selina & ted. rather, it was a combined effort of selina, ted, holly, eiko - and everyone had a huge role, but no one really ever outshone her mother. she’s always wanted to emulate her, because in nadia’s eyes, there’s no one better - and while she’s made mistakes in coming down this road, and while she’s done things that even selina probably can’t be proud of… it’s all been in hopes of both… being half the woman that her mother is, and being someone that selina is proud of. )

NADIA KYLE, our ANA DE ARMAS fc is looking for her FATHER / TED GRANT who looks like NESTOR CARBONELL, ALBERTO GUERRA, JORDI VILASUSO / ANY CUBAN FC who is OLD ENOUGH. you DON’T have to contact prior to applying. ( nadia has… a complicated relationship with her father, so to speak - and she always sort of has. he never really approved of the antics she got up to, when she was younger - and i don’t think it would be outlandish to imagine him at one point trying to have her diagnosed with the kleptomania she obviously exhibited, thinking that it might help her. he trained her, he loved her, and she learned from him and loved him too - but they argued a lot, and went very long stretches of time without communicating whatsoever. in fact, they went years without talking in her early twenties - ted not approving of how far she had fallen, and nadia unwilling to change. having a stellar relationship with her stand up father fits with the image she’s cultivated for herself and as so, nadia has spent time in more recent years trying to make amends and whatnot, but while she and her mother will always work on a similar wavelength and understand each other, as so ; ted sees her in a different light, and wants… better for her, really, than what she’s making of herself. )

#marvel rp #dc rp #appless rp #family rp #answered #anonymous #admin r

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sqoiler · 5 years

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backstories/character bios for my webcomic main characters:

growing up, emma rain was one of those weird kids who didn’t have any friends. she drew a lot & didn’t talk all that much, and although she was friendly to everyone, just kept to herself. she lived in a tiny town called hillville where everyone knew everyone, and her best friend was old mr. pocket from the antique store. after her dad died, mr. pocket adopted her. emma had had her superpowers for as long as she could remember, and the minute she graduated high school she hightailed it out of hillville, shaved her head, got a degree in art, went to a couple pride parades, and moved to the big city, where she started superheroing as her part-time gig after watching the local news one too many times and getting fed up. she had been a sorta superhero back in high school, but not really and she’s just now getting into it fully. she’s a little insecure and reclusive when it comes to other superheroes, but she’s working on getting out of her shell a little more. what could go wrong?

chloe winters was a Teen Superhero(tm). she’s been hardcore heroing since she was 14. she was part of a superhero team that disbanded when chloe was 18, but don’t ask her why cause she won’t tell you. she transferred schools after her freshman year of college and became the new face of superheroing in carson city. she met dragon two years later and a year after dragon & winter pole were the city’s dynamic duo, they got a sweet gig going with collin carson, local billionaire and superhero enthusiast. now chloe works for collin’s company as a personal assistant and kinda third wheeled around collin and dragon until she found herself living with the pair of them in collin’s mansion. it’s a good deal, and assuming chloe can forget her tragic past and maybe even help out the new hero in town, verity volant, everything will be awesome.

skylar jones has lived in carson city his whole life. he grew up normally, with his the most unusual thing about him being that he actually liked math class. when he was dared to eat a ghost pepper when he was a senior in high school, discovered that he could breathe fire. it wasn’t a great day for him. he then spent the next few years toasting marshmallows with his breath and trying to figure out how to blow on hot stuff to make it colder and not set it on fire. once he mastered the art of fire breath, he realized that the city only had one superhero but most other cities had a lot of them, and winter pole had only been doing heroing in carson city for a few years so she had a lot to clean up. then skyar’s brother got attacked by a roaming Monster, so he really felt the need to help out. he made a costume, started helping winter pole, accidentally bumped into collin carson after an interview with carson co. to try and get a janitorial job, and fell in love. next think skylar knew, he and collin are dating and skylar has a job as a video game tester, collin decides to fund him and winter pole’s heroing, and all three of them are living together in collin’s mansion. weird how these things work out. so yeah, everything’s looking up skylar, even though collin made some weird synthetic wings to help aid in the “dragon” look and there’s a really persistent reporter trying to get info on the heroes. but everything’s gonna be fine, really.

collin carson grew up as a billionaire, decided superheroes were awesome, and decided to become one. sadly, he didn’t have powers but his older sister secretly did, and while she was trying to keep 13 year old collin from killing himself, got really badly hurt and ended up having to move to a private island to keep herself alive & sane. collin blamed himself, and decided that heroing was a no-go. but his passion came back with a force when the winter pole, established hero with tons of experience and also happening to be super awesome, moved to carson city. collin dedicated himself to trying to get her attention, but then he got sent away by his parents to learn the “value of work”. whatever. he came back a few years later when his parents decided to move to the island where his sister lived, and before he could try to figure out a new approach to getting winter pole--and this “dragon” person--’s attention, he met skylar jones and immediately fell in love. pretty convenient, as it turned out. collin is happy to help skylar and chloe with funding, and lodging, and they let him do sciency stuff with gadgets, so they’re all happy. even when chloe decides that verity volant needs to join their little crew, and even later, when emma decides it’s a good idea to bring literal children into the mix. what and ever. maybe if he keeps being a good example to the public and helping the city in all the ways he can, his parents will let him see his sister again. hopefully.

natalie robinson is not technically a reporter, she’s a photographer, but a lot of people mistake her for one. probably because she’s pretty nosy and likes asking questions about what she’s photographing, and probably because she likes to stretch the truth and claim to be a photographer. whatever, her partner appreciates her extra help. anyway, natalie and her partner were sent to carson city to figure out collin carson’s deal now that he’s back in carson city and now that he’s the ONLY carson in their city. unfortunately, natalie doesn’t care about collin carson and would MUCH rather take pictures of the local superheroes, especially verity volant, who make’s natalie’s bi heart explode a little whenever she sees her. except, of course, natalie has NO CHANCE with a superhero, but with emma rain, the artist she met while doing some freelance photography for an art magazine? natalie’s chances with her are WAY higher. too bad emma seems to have some sort of secret....

sophie white developed her powers when she was 3 and her mom freaked out and sent her into the foster care system. she learned to control her powers pretty early and repressed them down super deep because she blamed her powers for her situation. when she was nine, instead of switching families she was sent to a summer camp and met dylan, who she immediately hated. the feeling was mutual and they played pranks on each other all summer long, until camp was over and sophie was placed into her new home and across the kitchen table was dylan. after that, they became inseparable and were dependent on each other. when they were eleven, they got kidnapped by a shady organization to test their new machine. the machine duplicated a person’s powers and gave them to someone else, and once the machine was used on them dylan got sophie’s powers. she teleported them out and they escaped. they decided that it was too risky to stay in the foster system and lived on the streets until they were found by verity volant...

dylan henry’s parents were killed by a monster when he was little, and he grew up bouncing around in foster homes. when he was 9, he was sent to a summer camp where he met sophie. they immediately disliked each other and were enemies throughout the rest of camp, playing pranks on each other and stuff. but when henry got back and sent to a new foster home, he discovered that sophie was also there and therefore also in the foster system. they became friends after that realization and were inseparable at the foster home and in the new school they were placed at. after they got kidnapped and dylan got sophie’s powers, sophie went right on repressing the powers again and dylan mastered them, thinking they were pretty cool. they lived on the streets and only needed each other, but then they ran into verity volant....

anna ellis has has powers since [redacted] and as a [redacted] she [redacted]. but then [redacted] and she quit. shortly after, she [redacted] which led her to [redacted]. she lives in [redacted] and tries to stay away from [redacted]. all she really wants is to [redacted] since she still loves [redacted] but she’s afraid. she stays away and uses her powers to [redacted]. maybe one day she’ll come back, but not yet.

bianca ellis: bianca is anna’s daughter. she’s 6 years old and doesn’t know what’s going on or what her mom is afraid of. if she has powers, they haven’t developed yet.

to be clear -

emma -- verity volant, born with the powers the powers of flight & light manipulation

chloe - winter pole, born with ice powers (think elsa from frozen)

skylar - dragon, developed fire-breath powers

sophie - shadow, born with teleportation powers

dylan - shadow, gained teleportation powers by the machine

anna - [redacted], [redacted]

#SADLY I DONT HAVE A NAME FOR THE COMIC YET RIP ME #original #my comic #<< that's the tag till i get a name #emma rain #chloe winters #skylar jones #collin carson #natalie robinson #dylan henry #sophie white #anna ellis #bianca ellis #long post

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coruscvnts · 5 years

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INTRODUCING ... THE FINAL MUSE , MUSE #5 ! did someone order a soft human boy with no idea wtf is Going on in his town ? because here he is right on a silver PLATTER !

( paul wesley, he/him ) — did you see tobias bishop walking through the streets of forks? the twenty seven year old human has been in town for his whole life and is unaware of the supernatural world. people in town seem to say that they're optimistic and amicable, but i’ve definitely seen them acting pretty protective and dull, too. hopefully they don’t cause too much trouble in town.

STATS.

name: tobias bishop.

age: twenty seven.

species: human.

unaware of the supernatural.

gender: cismale.

pronouns: he/him.

occupation: kindergarten teacher / bartender.

BIOGRAPHY.

murder tw, horror tw

when toby was 4 years old, his family took a trip to their lake house a few miles of forks. there they suffered a tragic murder, leaving tobias as the only survivor. ( think Hella dark horror movie , serial killer on the Loose , targeted rich family , they fought like hell to survive but ! didn’t )

toby hid in one of the air vents until morning and even then , he stayed there for two days , scared shitless . promising his mother that he wouldn’t leave the vent until she came and got him which - she never did .

officials found the family / crime scene after his two days and he was put in the state before a lovely elderly couple adopted him from forks . his old neighbors .

from then on , he was raised as their son but he never forgot that day . it’s the reason he has claustrophobic as Hell ! anyways , fast forward to hs

he grew out of the horrors of his family that followed him around in town , got used to being Stared at but anyways !! life in hs was Great ! he was quarterback of the football team and he was dating minnie reid , they were pretty much the Golden / It Couple for their year

all of that hit the fan when her parents died though , their relationship stuck in turmoil . eventually the golden couple was no more !

graduation came by and he didn’t really ? have any plans so he worked his way jumping from job to job before he finally found a steady one as a bartender . had a one night stand w this girl , knocked her up ( dn’t be silly , wrap ur willy ! ) and Boom ! eleanor ( ellie ) was born ! ( baby mama said that life wasn’t for her but was willing to go thru 9mos for toby )

the light of his life , ellie is only 3 years old right now ! such a soft girl , a sweet baby ! so now he’s just bartending ! ( a lot of potential plots tbh )

he’s the type to cut you off if you’re like Blackout Drunk , take your keys if you try to drive , scares away those creeps who prey on intoxicated people , stares down the Minors bc he Knows ! he can Tell !

during the day , however , he’s a kindergarten teacher ! gotta have those Two Jobs bc home boy is a single father ;-)

PERSONALITY.

soft boy ! has public tea parties in the town green w ellie all the time ! really friendly , invites the town to join if they can ! ( he’s pretty well known with the locals so ! wcs !!! )

full of dad jokes and never goes anywhere w/o his little girl !

always willing to lend a helping hand, probably a little too naive for his own good tbh .

thinks his jokes are Hilarious and just an overall happy , cheerful guy !

tldr ; product of a horror movie, grew up with an elderly couple, high school sweethearts with minnie reid, got a girl knocked up which gave him the best Present of all: his daughter , ellie . works 2 jobs as a kindergarten teacher & a bartender !

#dawned:intro #REALLY LONG I'M SORRY #murder tw #horror tw

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were-cheetah-stiles · 7 years

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The College Years - Freshman Year (Chapter 4) - Stiles Stilinski

Author: @were-cheetah-stiles

Title: “The First Patrol”

Characters: Stiles Stilinski & Reader/OFC

Warnings: Fluff, a teensy bit of explicit language. I think.

A.N.: Feel free to listen to any of the songs that I mentioned in the piece… or don’t let me tell you what to do. That’s also fine.

Summary: Stiles and Y/N go on your first patrol together to look for vampires in Berkeley.

Additional Note: I just realized that I have an issue with my timeline, like a very minor one, but whatever, try to ignore it as I clearly have been and will continue doing.

Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five

“So what are we supposed to be doing or looking for tonight?” You asked, breaking the silence. Stiles had picked you up in his old, light blue Jeep about a half hour before and besides small pleasantries, you two had not spoken much.

“Well, vampires… we are definitely looking for vampires for starters.” Stiles teased, grinning as he kept his face forward, watching the road in front of him.

“Oh good to know cause I was definitely not sure about that one.” You said sarcastically in return, a deep blush rising to your whole face.

Stiles chuckled softly and continued with more sincerity. “I don’t know, anything that just looks out of place, or seems shady. If you see a group of pale guys walking around at four in the morning, I think that’s a group that we follow…” Stiles glanced at you, you were nodding and watching him speak. He smiled slightly and looked back at the road.

“Okay, I can keep an eye out for that stuff… I mean, I am a New Yorker so my ’someone is being sketchy at night’ radar is finely tuned.” You joked.

“Is New York really that dangerous?” Stiles asked, skeptical.

“No.. not really, but I mean, when you are a small female, like myself, and you’re out late walking back to the train from like a concert or something and you’re alone?.. You know what your surroundings are. A measure of constant vigilance is just necessary, you know?” You answered honestly.

“That makes sense….” Stiles paused, not wanting the conversation to stop but not sure of where he should direct it next. “So why’d you leave New York? Left Coast really is the best coast?” He teased.

“You wish..” You smirked at him. “No, I just, I needed a change. Some weird… family stuff has happened in the past few years and I kind of wanted to escape… Don’t get me wrong, I love New York - it’s my home, it’s definitely where my heart is - but I needed a change and besides the vampires, Berkeley is pretty great too..”

“What kind of family stuff… if you don’t mind me asking…” Stiles was paying less attention to the road in front of him than he should’ve been and hit a pot hole that disagreed with the shocks in his car. He knew he’d pay for it later in rolls and rolls of duct tape.

You sighed. “It’s… really complicated, but I guess the biggest thing was my parents splitting up. It kind of sucked to be around and I, I really wanted out..” You explained, trying to maintain a smile, and not really wanting to tell the whole story and unload all of your baggage on this cute boy that you barely knew.

“I’m sorry, that definitely sucks.”

“It’s okay… Not a big deal.” You always underplayed how big of a deal it actually was to outsiders. “What about you?… Actually!” You stopped yourself mid-sentence, wanting desperately to veer the subject towards something cheerier. “I’m really curious as to how you became such an avid Mets fan.. did you live in New York when you were a kid or something?”

Stiles laughed. He took any opportunity ever to talk about his beloved Mets. “No, my mom grew up there. Actually, her grandparents emigrated through Ellis Island from Poland and anyway… she just got me onto the Mets at an early age because that’s what her parents raised her on.”

“Okay, well that makes sense.” You smiled, enjoying this conversation more than the previous one. “So how did your parents meet then? Was your Dad from New York as well?”

“No, he’s a California boy, born and raised, just like me. They met in college and she moved to Beacon Hills where he grew up and that’s where they raised me.”

“What do they do?” You asked, watching him drive and not watching for anything suspicious outside of the car.

“My dad is the Sheriff of the Beacon County Sheriff’s Department,” You nodded, and Stiles hesitated. “… and my mom was a teacher, but she died when I was ten so..” Stiles pressed his lips together, and stared ahead.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to….” Stiles shook his head, letting you know it was okay. You instinctively reached your hand over to his shoulder and rested it there for a moment. “I can’t imagine how hard that was.. and probably still is.” Your hand dropped back into your lap and you sat in an uncomfortable silence for a brief moment.

Stiles appreciated how sincerely and empathetically you comforted him, and glanced over at you. He smiled out of the corner of his mouth and made a right turn. He decided on a pit stop during their patrol that he hoped you would like. “It’s okay..” He finally said, catching some eye contact with you. “I miss her but I’m grateful I got the time that I did, and at least she taught me to be better than a Yankees fan….” Stiles smirked, his nostrils flaring as the devilish grin spread across his face.

“OH! I see how it is.” You smacked your lips and nodded your head, a smirk resting on his lips as well. You paused, checking your surroundings. “Aren’t we driving away from campus?” You questioned, catching what the last street sign said.

“Yea, I figured that since this is your first stakeout, patrol, whatever, that we were missing one key ingredient.” Stiles grinned and pulled into the drive-thru of a famous Californian eatery. “Have you ever had In-N-Out Burger?”

“Of course.” You laughed. He gave his order into the box and you ordered a chocolate milkshake and an animal style cheeseburger, and tried to offer to pay Stiles for her half, but he refused. You smiled to yourself thinking how his mother had also raised him to be a gentleman in her short time with him.

You took a bite of the burger and cocked your head to the side, wiping sauce off your cheek, you smiled. “Still not Shake Shack…” You shook your head and lifted the straw to your milkshake to your small, but supple pink lips, curved up in a teasing smile.

Stiles enjoyed the playful nature of your relationship so far. He knew that he needed someone who could dish it out as much as he always did with everyone. “Oh come on! Shake Shack is the worst. Nothing compared to In-N-Out!” He yelled as you two sat in the brightly lit parking lot outside of the restaurant.

“Have you ever even had Shake Shack?!” You demanded to know with a serious smile.

“I mean no, but I don’t have to to know that it’s inferior to this.” Stiles took an exaggeratedly large and messy bite of his burger, while making direct eye contact with you.

You laughed loudly, making Stiles get butterflies in his stomach, and the blood rush to his cheeks. “Okay, well, I am very serious about Shake Shack.” You grinned. “So I’ll make you a deal. If you ever come out to New York, which now you have to, I will take you to a Met’s game at Citifield, WHERE THERE IS A SHAKE SHACK IN THE STADIUM..” You raised your voice jokingly to make a point, eliciting a laugh from Stiles, which elated you. “and we can decide then who the real winner is.” You pointed at yourself, intimating that you would eventually be victorious.

Stiles was grinning so hard over the fact that this beautiful and funny and interesting girl wanted to basically take him on a date where she promised to feed him and take him to see his favorite team in the world. “You’ve got yourself a deal… maybe a Subway Series game, then we can see who’s really the best on all fronts: Mets or Yankees and In-N-Out or Shake Shack.”

“You are so on.” You put your hand out to shake his, letting him now that you meant business. You took another sip of your shake, and thought of a story he would like. “You know, my Dad is actually a huge Mets fan, but my mom, sister and I all love the Yankees, and once, when I was like seven or eight, he took us to Shea Stadium, their old stadium..” Stiles nodded, finishing his burger while you talked. “and I’m pretty sure that the Mets weren’t even playing the Yankees, but I wore this huge oversized Yankees t-shirt and baseball cap to the game anyway, and I kept walking up and down the stairs near our seats and like glaring at the Mets fans…” The two of you had dissolved into a fit of giggles as you tried to finish the story. “…and all these die-hard, lifelong Mets fan.. old men kept like yelling obscenities at me and I was just like ’The Mets Suck!’” You shook your head as you remembered how ridiculous you were that day.

Stiles was still laughing. “I’m surprised no one like threw a hot dog at you or something.”

You covered your face with both of your hands as you laughed. “I know!…. I would’ve deserved it. What a little asshole.”

“Nah, I bet you were really cute…” Stiles smiled and broke eye contact, staring down at the empty wrappers. “Uh, should we head back towards campus?” He turned the keys in the ignition and listened to the engine turn over. You nodded and adjusted your seatbelt back over your body.

Stiles watched you sipping at your milkshake and staring out the window. The street lamps highlighted your face in a way that made the butterflies come back as he drove back towards Berkeley, returning to your neglected patrol. “Do you mind if I put on some music?” He asked as he plugged his iPhone into his radio. You shook your head and listened as “Jesus Christ” by Brand New began playing through his speakers.

“You listen to Brand New?” You asked, a stunned look on your face.

“Yea, you know them?” Stiles asked, nonchalantly.

“…Of course.. They’re from New York, they’re huge around where I grew up….. I wonder what else you listen to…” You smirked at him.

“I guess you’ll just have to see what comes next on the playlist tonight.” Stiles was playing it as cool as possible. He did listen to and like Brand New but he played it especially because he hoped you would know them and it would give him some points with you.

“You know I can play this song on guitar?” You boasted, not being able to help yourself. You hadn’t felt this connected with someone since you left home and moved across the country.

“You play guitar? I play drums.” Stiles boasted back.

“The drums are super cool, and definitely way too hard for me to learn, so I’m impressed.” You smiled and looked down at your feet.

“I could teach you some simple stuff sometime..” Stiles offered. You nodded. “So what kind of music do you listen to?”

You sucked air into your mouth and grinned.“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see what comes up on my playlist when I drive on Tuesday night for our next patrol.”

“Okay, okay… I see how it is.” Stiles chuckled and nodded his head, sucking on the backs of his teeth. “What about movies? What’s your favorite movie?”

“Oh, I do not wanna say. It’s very nerdy and guys never believe me when I tell them and they end up quizzing me to see if I’m lying or something stupid like that.. What’s your favorite?”

“No, no, I asked first and, now I have to know.” Stiles laughed. You really knew how to pique his interests. “I promise, I will not quiz you or make fun.” Stiles lifted one hand off his steering wheel like he was taking a pretend oath to you.

You took an exaggerated breath. “Fine. My favorite movie is Star Wars. Not just one, like the franchise as a whole I just love so much. Even the ones people make fun of. I am loyal to Lucas.” You joked.

“No. Fucking. Way.” Stiles replied, trying to stare at you and not crash at the same time. Your eyes got really big as you looked back at him, worried about what he was going to say next. You had dug yourself into a nerdy grave, you knew it. “Who shot first?”

Your jaw dropped, and you tried to suppress a smile. “YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T QUIZ ME!” You yelled, and playfully shoved his arm. “And Han, of course, you asshole..” You laughed.

“Oh my god. Marry me?” Stiles joked, getting red over what he had just said out loud. You grinned bashfully and scratched a non-existent itch on your nose, trying to hide how red you got over that comment. “Star Wars is my all time favorite movie too. I remember the first time I saw it so vividly.”

“Me too!” You interjected, turning your body towards Stiles who was now just aimlessly and slowly driving through the Southern part of Berkeley’s off campus housing.

“Okay, your story first.” Stiles insisted.

You giggled, and leaned your head against the headrest to stare at Stiles as he drove. You tried not to focus on the cute upturn at the very tip of his nose, or the way that he messily shoved his hair up with gel, and how you usually hated that look but for him it was really working. “Um, so we had gone up to Cape Cod to visit some family and it was 1997, so I was just five years old, and I guess it was a rainy day or something but we went to the movies, and it was in theaters because it was the twentieth anniversary so they re-released it.”

Stiles cut you off. “I’m sorry, did you say that you were five in 1997?” You nodded. “Okay, so you’re two years older than me. We’re gonna discuss that later. Continue…”

You laughed quietly. “Okay, so I sat next to my cousin, who is older than me, and he was already obsessed with the movies and I remember watching him watch the opening crawl and he was so enthralled and excited, and then I remember the big starcruiser ships coming into view and I was hooked. That was it. I remember it like it was yesterday. It has been my favorite movie ever since. I even dressed up as an ewok that Halloween and Princess Leia the following year.. I loved it.”

“I’m going to need to see those pictures one day.” He joked, the butterflies floating through his stomach again. “I was seven when I first saw it and it was a crummy summer day for me too and it was my Dad’s off day and he was like ‘let’s watch my favorite movie growing up.’ We watched it and I remember thinking that Darth Vader was crazy scary but cool and that Han Solo was the man and that Leia was like the woman I was going to marry.” You laughed. “I was so into it that we watched all three that day, and then my mom got home and she was so pissed. She was like 'Noah, have you even taken Stiles outside today?! It’s beautiful out now. Have you fed him?!’ Meanwhile, my dad and I are covered in empty bags of popcorn, potato chips and candy wrappers. It’s still one of my favorite memories from growing up, and it is my favorite movie still too.”

“That’s really cute.” You mused, with a gentle smile.

Stiles blushed. “The funniest part is that the next day… Scott was already my best friend at this point… I went over to his house and I was like 'DUDE! We have to watch this movie!’ and Scott was like 'Meh’ and he has still never fucking watched it. It kills me.” Stiles laughed to himself, and saw you shaking your head.

“His loss.”

“Totally.”

“So how did you and Scott become friends?” You asked, as you two continued driving around aimlessly, and two hours left before sunrise.

You both drove around the rest of your patrol, not actually patrolling at all, but instead completely engrossed in each other’s stories. You talked more about movies, food, and stories about Scott and Stiles growing up, and what life was like after Scott got bit by Peter. You kept each other awake during an especially long shift and the crush that Stiles had developed on you grew substantially when he learned that you were so much more than just a pretty girl. You were funny, smart, quick, and had a ton in common with him.

He dropped you off at your front door, waving as you got out of the car. He felt like he had just been on the greatest date of his life and he was devastated it was over, and furthermore, not actually a date. He wanted to kiss you so badly. Nothing crazy or intense; he just wanted to see what your lips would feel like. He’d spent most of the night staring at them. He walked in the door as Scott was making coffee before his early morning shift at a local dog shelter, and crashed his body into their long faux suede black couch.

“How was patrol with Y/N?” Scott asked, his voice still hoarse from sleeping.

“Great, man. It was so good.” Stiles yawned and kicked his shoes off, a sleepy grin plastered to his face.

Scott narrowed his eyes and walked over to Stiles, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. “So good? Did you even patrol or did you and Y/N just flirt all night?” Scott grinned a little.

“We patrolled…. a little… there was no flirting though. I was just getting to know her, you know, talking to keep each other awake.” Stiles barely believed himself.

“Do you think she likes you?” Scott asked his best friend, in between sips of the hot beverage.

“I don’t know, Scotty. Maybe. I definitely like her. She has the greatest laugh… it’s like……” Stiles trailed off and just shook his head, smiling from ear to ear.

“Alright, well try to actually do some patrolling next time in between all your 'talking’ and maybe we won’t have to save her from vampires again.”

Stiles ignored Scott, laying on the couch with his hands folded across his chest. He drifted off to sleep thinking about how you looked in the passenger seat of his car, the warm glow of street lamps racing across your face as he drove.

Chapter Three <- -> Chapter Five

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pamphletstoinspire · 7 years

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Stories of Bilocation of Padre Pio—Part I

Bilocation is a special gift of God where an individual can be in two places at once. God always uses this gift for acts of mercy or charity to be performed by the Saint, in circumstances where it is physically impossible for the Saint to be present under normal circumstances.

While the gift of bilocation has been given to countless saints. Probably one of the most frequent and documented accounts occurred relatively recently in the extraordinary life of the beloved St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968).

Ellie Hunt’s family came from Padre Pio’s hometown of Pietrelcina and had known Padre Pio from his childhood. They eventually emigrated from Italy to New York. In 1960, when Ellie was 31 years old her grandfather, Jack Crafa became gravely ill. Ellie and her parents lived close to his home in Flushing, New York and during his grave illness, the family stayed by his side. When Jack eventually fell into a coma, they all knew that his life was soon passing.

One day while Ellie and her parents were at her grandfather’s bedside, a stranger knocked at the door. They were all surprised to see a Capuchin monk dressed in a dark brown habit, because there were no Capuchin monks in their Parish or in any other parish in the area for that matter. They were also surprised to see that he was wearing sandals without any socks, because it was a particularly cold day and snow covered the ground. The monk said that he had come to pray for her grandfather.

Ellie was also a bit upset, because she thought that the parish priest should have come to pray for her grandfather, and not a complete stranger. However, she was soon impressed by the kindness and compassion of the young monk.

He then went straight into her grandfather’s bedroom and blessed Jack Crafa. Then told the family to pray the Rosary suggesting that they sit at Jack’s side, praying the Hail Mary close to his ear, for he seemed to have the opinion that Jack was still able to hear. After the monk said that, Ellie was surprised to find that when she took her grandfather’s hand in hers, she felt a response from a very slight squeeze from his hand.

The young Capuchin then gave Ellie’s grandfather the Last Sacraments, then he blessed the family and bid them goodbye. As he walked out the front door, Ellie’s father, James noticed that there was no car waiting for him outside. James watched him as he walked up the street until he disappeared in the darkness. Jack Crafa died that very night. He had been in a coma for nine days.

After the unknown monk had left, Ellie’s father James became pale and appeared quite shaken. Ellie’s mother Lucy, asked him for the reason. “Don’t you know who that was?” James replied, “It was Padre Pio. He came to give the Last Rites to your father and he looked exactly like I remember him when I used to deliver eggs to him in Pietrelcina.”

For Ellie’s grandfather Jack had been one of Padre Pio’s spiritual sons from Pietrelcina and through a special grace of God, Padre Pio had come to comfort and encourage him, and to administer the last Sacraments of the Church, for his death was only hours away.

In another example, Signora Concetta Bellarmini of St. Vito Lanciano declares that she was suddenly stricken with a blood infection followed by bronchial pneumonia with a very high fever. She was reduced to such a state that the doctors despaired of ever saving her. The flesh had become yellow from the infection which had spread throughout her body.

A relative urged her to direct her prayers to Padre Pio. She prayed to him whom she has never seen, when suddenly in full daylight a stigmatized monk appeared to her and smiling blessed her without touching her as he stood in the middle of the room. The woman asked him if his appearance signified the grace for the conversion of her children, or else the grace for her physical cure. Then Padre answered, "Sunday morning you will be cured," then he vanished from the room, leaving an odor of perfume which the servant girl also smelt. After this visit her flesh turned normal color, the fever ceased and in a few days her health was completely restored. She went with her brother to San Giovanni Rotondo to see if Padre Pio was the one who appeared to her. When she arrived at the Monastery and saw Padre Pio in the church she turned to her brother and said, "There he is, he is the one."

Signor Bugarini Arturo of Ancona was urged by friends to turn to Padre Pio for the cure of his boy. Whilst he was standing near the bedside of his critically ill son he felt three consecutive taps on his shoulder, whilst a voice said: "I am Padre Pio, I am Padre Pio, I am Padre Pio." At the same time he felt all over his body a wave of heat as if he were next to an intense flame, then all of a sudden it ceased. This visit of Padre Pio restored the health of the son. Father and son visited the monastery to thank Padre Pio for the miraculous cure and the spiritual conversion of the father and all the Bugarini family.

On July 20, 1921, a Monsignor D'Indico of Florence, whom this author met in 1923 when studying theology at the Archbishop's Seminary at Florence, was alone in his study. He felt the sensation of having someone at his back. He turned and saw a monk who disappeared. He left his quarters to tell a chaplain what happened. The chaplain thought it was mere hallucination due to his actual state of anxiety over his sister, who was very ill. He invited him to take a short walk for mental distraction.

When they returned they called at the sick room. His sister who a little before was in the state of coma, at the same hour as when her brother felt the sensation of being in the presence of Padre Pio, narrated that she had seen a monk enter her room who approached her and said: "Don't be afraid, tomorrow your fever will disappear and after a few days there will be no trace of your illness on your body."

"But Padre," she answered, "are you then a saint?"

"No, I am only a creature who serves the Lord through His mercies."

"Let me kiss your habit, Padre."

"Kiss the sign of the passion," and he showed his hands transfixed and bleeding.

"Padre, I recommend to you my husband and child." "Pray, pray that you will be good and be assured that your child will be under my protection," and blessing her he vanished. She immediately got better and in eight days was entirely cured.

One day a monk who was speaking about the bilocation of St. Anthony of Padua who miraculously appeared in Lisbon, said to Padre Pio: "Perhaps these privileged of the Lord do not even know when their bilocation occurs: 'Padre Pio quickly interrupting him as one who is experienced with such events answered: "Certainly they know.

They cannot know if the body or the soul moves, but they are very conscious of what happens and they know where they are going."

While World War II was raging throughout Europe, one day General Cadorna, a General in the Italian Army, was in his study during the war and in deep study he held his head in his hands, thinking of all the young men who, for the love of country would have to give up their lives, when suddenly he smelt a very strong perfume odor of roses which was wafted around the room. Raising his venerable head, he was stupefied to see a monk with a seraphic look and with bleeding hands. Passing in front of him, the monk said, "Be calm, they will not do anything harmful to you."

With the disappearance of the monk, the general no longer smelled the perfume. He told a Franciscan friend about the vision and when he mentioned the perfume the Franciscan said, "Your excellency, you have seen Padre Pio." Then he told the general all about Padre Pio. The general decided to visit San Giovanni and when he arrived there incognito, he was immediately approached by two Capuchins, who had recognized the general even though he was trying to disguise himself in civilian clothing. They approached him and said, "Your Excellency, Padre Pio is waiting for you. He sent us to meet you."

Emma Meneghello, a very pious young girl of 14, was afflicted with epilepsy which threw her into fits several times a week. One afternoon whilst in prayer, Padre Pio appeared to her and placed his hand on the bed sheet, then smiled and vanished. The cured epileptic arose to kiss the place where the Padre had placed his hand and she noticed a cross of blood left on the sheet. A small square cut of the sheet with the blood stains is conserved today in a glass picture frame. "Through the intercession of Padre Pio,"

writes this miraculously cured girl, "I have obtained other graces, especially for dying babies."

Mrs. Ersilia Magurno, a woman of great faith, for two months was taking care of her husband, who was stricken with influenza. This illness would not have given alarm were it not that he was also afflicted with a very weak heart. Night and day helped by a nun, the wife was watching her husband with every possible care, whilst praying and invoking Padre Pio. He grew worse and the doctors advised that the last rites be given to him because of the very alarming failure of his heart.

One night the wife noticed in the room a strong perfume of flowers. The next morning, however, a worse condition prevailed and the dying man was approaching his end. A telegram begged Padre Pio's intercession. Two days later Mr. Magurno entered the state of coma. The wife did not give up hope and sent a second telegram. Finally the 27th of Feb., 1947, the sick man after a day of prolonged crisis fell asleep. The nun was away and the wife remained alone to watch him and at midnight she noticed that his sleep was more restful than usual. At 7:30 in the morning, noticing that he was awakening, she rushed to his side and said, "How do you feel?"

I am cured, I am well. Padre Pio just left the room; open the window please and take my temperature." It was entirely normal.

"Ernesto," asked the astonished wife, anxious to hear and to know. "What are you saying? Have you seen Padre Pio? And what, did he tell you?"

“He came together with another monk, he examined my heart and said, 'This fever will go away, tomorrow you will be cured and within four days you can get up.'

“Padre Pio looked around, examined the medicines, read the medical reports and remained in the room all night." To confirm this miracle a strong odor of violets was observed in the room.

Five months later on July 27 the couple went to San Giovanni and Mr. Magurno immediately recognized Padre Pio as the monk who cured him. Padre Pio received him with fond greetings and placing his hand on his shoulder said to him: "How much this heart has made you suffer."

"Go away child for you have been cured."

We must not think that Padre Pio arrives always unexpectedly at the bedside of the sick, for at times he announced in advance the time of his coming. Once a little sick girl told her parents the approximate hour of his arrival, and the parents in their simplicity not understanding the phenomenon went to meet him at the railroad station. When they returned to the child disappointed, they found her asleep.

"Padre Pio didn't come," her mother said sadly, as soon as she saw her waking.

"Why he just left!," the child answered. A young girl, cured also providentially from a grave infirmity, desired to test the power of Padre Pio and she came to him feigning the infirmity that once afflicted her.

“Go away child," he said, striking her jokingly on the shoulder, "go away for you are quite cured and be careful that you never again tempt the mercy of the Lord."

He miraculously appears to baptize a baby as promised.

A couple from Genoa visited Padre Pio to sadly tell him that they had no children. "Bring him to me to be baptized when he is born," was his answer. From this reply and many other similar ones we discover that Padre Pio was often able to foretell the sex of an unborn child.

The following year the fortunate couple returned with their baby boy, but in the Church of Our Lady of Grace there was no baptismal font and there was such a crowd in the church that they could not reach Padre Pio. The mother remained in the Parish House of San Giovanni Rotondo one mile away, whilst the father went to the monastery to protest that Padre Pio had invited them to come there, otherwise they would not have come. He waited and his wait was in vain. He returned to the Parish House to learn from his wife that even though Padre Pio at the time specified was very preoccupied with the people had come and baptized the baby.

In a city of central Italy a teacher and ex-secretary of a Fascist organization was accused of having furnished arms and bombs to the Fascisti, who perpetrated an explosion that killed military and civilians. But the teacher was innocent. Taken by force from her home to be tried and shot she succeeded in bringing with her a Rosary and a photograph of Padre Pio. They conducted her to observe the destruction and to see the spectacle of the dead whose death they attributed to her. They then brought her to the place of execution.

Meanwhile some members of the firing squad entered her home with the pretext of searching for arms. Instead they began stealing money, objects of gold, clothing, until all of a sudden there thundered a shout, “Enough,” so resolutely and imperiously that the soldiers fled abandoning their loot.

The sister of the condemned girl watching the whole scene cringing in a corner recognized in the shouting of "Enough," the voice of Padre Pio.

The order to aim and fire had been suspended because of the arrival of an interminable column of armored cars, horses, cannon, ambulances and marching troops. The commander of the firing squad remained standing on a car as if hypnotized.

The young teacher could hardly breathe as she reflected that her hour would come when the last soldier passed by. She began to pray to Padre Pio for the grace of seeing God's will in her execution. A gentleman approached her and asked what they had decided to do with her.

“I don't know, I no longer know anything, they are all away, there is only the commander there," as she pointed him out with a facial expression full of horror.

He was motionless as if cemented to his post. “Then consider yourself free and come with me."

He brought her in his automobile to her home where many women were comforting her grief stricken sister. The condemned girl threw herself into her sister's arms and then taking a picture of Padre Pio from the wall, kissed it and pressed it to her heart. In that instant she felt a hand gently patting her cheek.

A few months later the teacher went to San Giovanni to thank her savior.

“Padre," she said, “my life will not be enough to thank you." He said: “My child, how much your faith caused me to run."

-St Pio of Pietrelcina, pray for us!

Click below for downloadable pamphlet

Bilocation and Padre Pio - Part 1

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/a84285_e25a8cf1aed44b148c81ba1d25a2dce1.pdf

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