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#like when my dad keeps saying homophobic shit
sonsband · 2 years
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tizniz · 2 months
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Ooh you're taking prompts 👀👀 if this doesn't spark joy, you can ignore it! No worries❤️❤️❤️❤️
But if it does...
Prompt: "Damn, you look good with my name on you." Or something similar to it. Of course you can change it to whatever you want or fits better
Hi Jules!
I absolutely am taking prompts. I only have the one WIP currently *glances at my big bang fic tucked away in the corner and then ignores it* so I'm happy to take prompts or ideas :)
Yours was so fun. Hope you like it!
Buck glances at Hen and Chimney as the two paramedics giggle to themselves, both attempting and failing to straighten their expressions when they notice Buck watching. “What?” “Nothing.” Chimney replies, a shit eating grin on his face that does nothing to ease Buck’s confusion. “All good here, Buckaroo.” Hen adds, her voice oozing faux innocence. He narrows his eyes, ready to make a retort but then Bobby is calling him over, and well, they are at a call so he can’t exactly ignore his Captain. At least it’s a small call, with no real big issue occurring. A teenage boy had been trying to impress his crush by grilling some steaks, but apparently he had impressed his crush too much, because the two of them got caught up in making out and didn’t realize that their steaks had caught on fire. A peeping neighbour certainly had though and called 9-1-1. The two flustered teens had already put the fire out by the time the 118 had shown up, but Bobby was insisting they do checks and had been lecturing the two boys when Buck had left him and Eddie to go report to Hen and Chimney that there were no injuries.
“What’s up, Cap?” Buck says as he joins Bobby. “Grab Eddie and tell him we’re good to go.” Bobby tells him, half turned away from the neighbour that had made the call. Her beady little eyes moved up and down Buck’s length, making him shift uncomfortably. She gave him some not nice vibes. “I’m just finishing her with Mrs. Norbit.” “I hope you told those boys to be smarter.” The lady, Mrs. Norbit sniffs, crossing her arms tightly across her powder pink cardigan. “And that they shouldn’t be doing such sinful things outside.” Bobby sighs, turning his focus back to the older lady, “Ma’am, they were both well within their rights to be doing what they were doing.” Before Buck can hear anything more from the clearly homophobic neighbour, he spins on his heel and hurries up the lawn towards the gate. But before he can step through he hears Bobby call his name once more. Buck pauses, looking over his shoulder. His Captain is looking at him with an amused expression on his face, mouth open as if to say something else, but when Buck cocks his head, waiting for more, Bobby shuts his mouth and shakes his head. With a wave of his Captain’s hand, Buck shrugs and heads into the backyard.
He finds Eddie talking casually with the two boys, their hands clasped together between them, both looking sheepish. Eddie has his hands on his hips, clearly in his ‘lecturing dad’ mode, but there’s also a fond smile on his face that has Buck smiling in turn. Walking up to the other man, he knocks into his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Cap says we’re good if you’re done giving the dad lecture.” Eddie turns to scowl at him, “I was not giving a dad lecture!” One of the teenagers clears his throat lightly, “It was a bit dad-like.” “Be nice.” His crush hisses, glancing at Buck and Eddie. “Don’t worry,” Buck grins back at him, “He’s harmless. Usually.” “Buck.” Eddie sighs in that way he does with only Buck’s name. It’s a bit endearing. “Come on,” Buck knocks Eddie’s shoulder once more, “Let’s go!” He gives a wave to the two boys and spins on his heel, heading back out of the backyard. A choked sound catches his attention, and he goes to turn to check on Eddie, but there’s a firm grip on his elbow, keeping him from doing so and then he’s being hauled out of the backyard by his boyfriend.
Just before the gate, tucked in a pocket of shadow, Eddie is shoving Buck against the wall, one hand cradling the back of Buck’s head while the other sneaks under his turnout coat, and then Eddie’s mouth is crashing down against his. Immediately Buck sinks into the kiss, mouth opening around a moan that Eddie wastes no time in swallowing, sucking Buck’s tongue into his own mouth. Buck scrambles to find purchase on Eddie’s body, the other man having already removed his turnout coat. Buck manages to find Eddie’s suspenders, gripping tightly onto them as Eddie slots a leg between Buck’s, either to help him stay standing or to torture him more. Buck isn’t entirely sure and doesn’t have the brain power to think about it. Eddie pulls back just as suddenly, and Buck chases after the warm mouth, blinking heavily at the heated look being sent in his direction. “Huh?” Brown eyes study him for a moment, allowing Buck to try and gather his scattered thoughts together once more. Then Eddie’s smirking, thumb stroking along Buck’s jaw, causing him to shiver. “You don’t even know, do you?” “Know what?” Buck mutters, tilting his head forward to try and catch Eddie’s lips in another kiss. His boyfriend chuckles but obliges, biting down lightly on Buck’s bottom lip, drawing a small whine from him. “Eddie.” “Baby,” Eddie says against his lips, “You’re wearing my name.” That has Buck pulling away this time, blinking rapidly at Eddie. “What?” Eddie gives the turnout coat Buck’s wearing a tug, “This is mine, mi amor. You have my name on you.” “Oh.” Buck exhales, everything slotting together suddenly. That explained Hen, Chimney, and Bobby. And it certainly explained Eddie jumping him in the shadows while in the middle of a call. "And damn, you look good with my name on you." Eddie mutters, pecking Buck once more before stepping away, “Might have to make it permanent.” He finishes with a wink. Buck watches, gaping, as his boyfriend turns and leaves him there. Oh, he is so paying for that later.
Tagging for sharing because it's fun: @hippolotamus, @diazsdimples, @disasterbuckdiaz, @spotsandsocks, @fortheloveofbuddie, @bucksbackwardcap, @actualalligator, @actuallyitsellie, @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove, @theotherbuckley, @daffi-990, @jesuisici33, @cal-daisies-and-briars, @exhuastedpigeon, @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming, @monsterrae1, @epicbuddieficrecs, @elvensorceress, @eddiebabygirldiaz, @shitouttabuck, @spagheddiediaz, @wildlife4life, @evanbegins, @devirnis, @buckaroosheart, @perfectlysunny02, @nmcggg, @watchyourbuck, @loserdiaz
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wasawattpadkid · 1 year
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Housewife
Part - 11
Summery: Billy and Stu have been planning these murders for quite some time. Everything is going to plan until you show up. What happens when they meet someone who is just as mentally deluded as they are?
Pairing: Poly! ghostface x fem!reader
Warnings for this series: murder, blood, smut (will be more in depth on smut chapters), power dynamics, a dash of sexism, knives, stalking, perverse behavior, cheating, homophobic slang
Part 1
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Billy slammed his bedroom door after yet another fight with his dad. His father wasn't keen on his son skipping school and being a victim of a brutal attack wasn't a good enough excuse. He pulled out his phone dialing Stu's number. It rang and it rang which was unusual. No one answered. 'Maybe he wasn't home?' Billy wondered quickly realizing Stu had no place to go. He dialed again hearing the mind numbing ring. Finally Stu picked up.
"Hello?" A woman spoke. "Uhm is Stu there?" The voice on the end belonged to his mother. A person Billy only met twice. "No, Stu went... Oh shit honey where did Stu go? What's his little girlfriend's name?" Billy listened closely trying to hear all of the conversation. He could barley make out a man's voice in the back which he assumed was Stu's father. "No not that one she died remember." Billy raised his eyebrows in surprise. Even he wasn't that insensitive and he murdered her. "Y/n, Stu is staying at Y/n's." Staying?
Billy laughed nervously. "No I don't think I heard you right ma'am. Did you say "staying?"" She rubbed her forehead wanting to hang up on the strange child. "Yes he moved out while we do renovations. Goodbye now." The line died leaving Billy to piece all this together. It was almost laughable. He managed to lose the only two people he cared about on this horrible planet and both of them were probably fucking without saying so much as one word to him. Billy grabbed his things deciding to pay you and Stu a visit.
The drive back to your place was nice. He had a plan and things always ran smoother with a plan. He parked a block down the street deciding to walk the rest of the way. Your bedroom light was on making it easy for people like Billy to see into your life. He was ready for the worst. Maybe he'd break in like a scorned lover and kill the both of you. It'd be poetic but it would easily trace back to him. With your fragile little heart it'd probably stop knowing you'd been caught.
He lifted the binoculars he brought up adjusting the lenses so he could see. You walked into the room wearing some nightgown that resembled something he's sure his grandmother wore. You were holding a bowl handing it to Stu who sat on the floor. Once you sat down you were completely out of view. Billy cursed under his breath as he thought up a new plan.
"You can't hog the m&ms asshole." You threw a blue one which he caught like a seal. Stu raised his eyebrows surprised he actually caught it. "I'm impressed." You clapped and he did a half bow sitting on the floor. "This is one of my favorite's." You said pointing towards the movie that just started. Stu rolled his eyes. "Everything is your favorite." He passed you the bowl of candy. "What is this again?" Stu asked only paying attention to long haired actor.
"Benny and Joon. I saw it when it came out with my ex." Stu was interested in that story but he let it go knowing how much you wanted to watch your movie. "Billy should grow his hair out like that." Stu said before he popped a handful of candy in his mouth showing you the mashed up contents. "Why are you so nasty?" He laughed looking back towards the TV. "No, long haired boys have too much power over me. He keeps playing though I'm going to buzz off what hair he does have."
You were oblivious to the man in your home and Billy was scared for you. No wonder you needed someone to protect you. The key was still in the same place it was Saturday after they left your house. He wished he could relive that day. Billy heard his name so he stopped moving trying to hear what Stu was saying. He thought you were furious at him but you talked about him like he was still your friend.
Stu laughed. "In that case I'll grow mine out." He was only half joking. "I think you could pull it off. Grow it too long though you run the risk of looking like Shaggy form Scooby Doo." You teased tossing a m&m up letting your friend catch it. "I'll keep it like it is then. I have thought about dyeing it though." You squinted picturing him with different colored hair. "What color?" Stu scratched his head in thought. "White or maybe frosted tips." You cringed at the thought of frosted tips. "Fuck I'll make sure never to play poker with you. Damn." He laughed at the obvious face you made.
Billy crept up the stairs just enough to be able to see in your room. "Oh shhh. I think blonde hair would look good on you but frosted tips is just too gay even for you." He gasped as he brought his hand up to his forehead like he was about to faint. "Yeah you're probably right." He dropped the act eating more candy. "Besides once we graduate we'll pack our shit and leave. You could dye your hair whatever color you want. What's your opinion on cottages?"
You sat on the bed with a big bowl of candy while Stu sat in the floor at the end of the bed. Billy was relieved and a little disappointed there was no sinful act happening. Where did this leave him though? Were you both just waiting for him to make a move? You didn't tell him how to fix things and that bothered the hell out of him.
"You're worried about frosted tips being gay but you want me to live in a cottage with you? I might as well wrestle naked with Billy outside just to show off to the neighbors." You pursed your lips. "Include baby oil and I'll be there." Stu laughed scrunching his face. "You are an absolute freak. Me too." You both laughed eventually focusing back on the movie.
It was nice to know Stu was still his usual self but it was odd seeing you adapt to who you were around. The baby oil comment which Billy did not want to unpack is something you'd never say to his face. You were carefree around Stu and it felt like for the first time since he met you he was seeing who you actually were.
"Someone's at the door." Stu said pausing the VCR. You groaned knowing Billy was showing back up to either kill you or try some stupid attempt of convincing you that you need him. "I'll get it. Stay up here I don't want a fight." Stu nodded laying back on your floor. You walked to the front door trying to prepare yourself for whatever was about to happen. "What do you want Billy?" Billy had a small window of time to back out.
"May I come in?" He asked and you knew he was about to put on an Oscar worthy performance. "You may." You said bemused as you moved out of the way letting him in. "Can you tell Stu to come down here I need to talk to him too." Your blood ran cold. Billy knew and you were both likely dead. "How'd you know?" The door locked in placed once you shut it. "I called his house and his mom picked up." You sighed nodding your head. "Hey Stu, can you come down here?" You called out worried for the both of you.
Stu was terrified. He felt like a child in trouble. The walk of shame down the steps was especially embarrassing seeing Billy at the end of them. "Hey Stu." He said sending the boy a small smile. Your new roommate shot you a look saying something along the lines of "what the fuck?" Billy knew he had to choose his words very carefully. "Um can you both just sit down for a second?" Oh yeah the cops were sure to find you and Stu tomorrow.
Both you and Stu sat on the couch looking at your friend stand in front of you. "I'll be the first to say I'm not good at this." He looked to the floor only looking up once Stu spoke. "No kidding." He joked but you looked at him with eyes that could only tell him to shut up. Billy chuckled before talking again. "I'm sorry." You analyzed those two words over and over in your head. They sounded genuine but they couldn't be coming from Billy, could they? "I am sorry for what I did to both of you. Stu I'm most ashamed about what I've done to you."
Billy was walking on eggshells here. His eyes darted over at you reading you expression. You weren't mad. Stu has suffered Billy's wrath way longer than you've known him. "I really do care about you, I'm just scared of what people think about me. I hate the way people stare at us when we're out in public it makes me want to peel my skin off. I shouldn't take that out on you or make you feel as awful as I do. So I really am sorry." Billy's words worked on Stu you saw it in real time. You still couldn't figure out what was genuine and what was bullshit.
"Y/n." It was a good start but how was he going to finish it? The moment he tried to put the blame on someone other than himself you swore you'd beat his ass. You and Stu would have a body to dispose of. "I was and still am a horrible person. I never once thought about how you felt or how what I did affected you because I never cared." It hurt but it was honest. The way kids stared and whispered about him today, he couldn't begin to imagine what you went through on a daily basis.
"I'm going to change." You laughed dryly turning your head away from him. Billy dropped to his knees in front of you holding your hands in his. You were losing. He knew what he was doing and it was working. "I'm going to get better because I can't imagine a world without you and Stu in it. I know you can make it on your own but I can't. I need you a million times more than you need me and I know that. Not just to cook or clean but I need you to squeeze my arm when you watch a scary movie. I need you to call me out on my shit when I'm obviously spinning a story my way."
"I need you Y/n." Stu looked at Billy never seeing him open up like this. "You don't even know me." You quipped trying to be the voice of reason. Billy's voice cracked as he spoke. "Then teach me. I'll take notes if you want me to. This whole thing was to start over. We could bump into each other somewhere and we will meet for the first time all over again. I just need you Y/n, whatever version you give me I'll be happy to have." You lost. "Will you two excuse me for a moment?" You politely stood up going up stairs to your bathroom. Shutting the door you then turned on the faucet to full blast. The sink was going and eventually so was the tub. "Is she running water?" Billy asked worried he had done something wrong. You screamed so loud Stu honest to God thought the neighbors would call the cops. "Is she okay?" Billy asked standing up to go check on you. Stu stuck his arm out stopping him. "She does this."
You calmly returned, both the boys worried you might pass out from the length of the screams. "What do you want?" You asked Billy as you leaned on the door frame. "What do you mean?" This time he just wanted your forgiveness. He wanted to try again. "I accepted your apology. What do you want from us? Do you want us to go upstairs so we can some a threesome or are you actually wanting to figure this out?" It was sarcastic but you saw the brief second of consideration pass your friends faces. "I want us to be friends again at least. Did you know some bitches sat at our water fountain today?" He looked at Stu starting a whole new conversation. "Are they blind we sit there everyday?"
You snapped grabbing their attention. "I'm not fucking around. If we do this we do it right. I'm not getting hurt again and if I do I'm cutting someone's balls off." Stu put his finger to the tip of his nose quickly. "Not it!" He shouted making Billy smack his arm. "Ow man I was joking." He wasn't joking. "Am I understood?" The boys looked at each other not sure if they should feel this way about you right now. "Understood." Billy said as Stu echoed him. "Great! Now who wants dinner?"
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Taglist: @katie-tibo @agustdeeyaa @bowlofceral @gonnapermashift @tati-the-fangirl @kozumewhore @tatijoestar @illyanam1011 @c4rved-pumpk1n @msghostface @gojosbucket @sammanna @lokigirlszendaya @reneki @fetusharryluvr @kadu-5607 @pumpk1n-writes @lovekeeho @tojisblood @zeysartzone @bluedevilss @life-of-music3 @flyestvenustrap @littleblondesoprano @loomiscorpse @nicciekawegosblog @reneemunson @miss-puregotti @ksgsfsgaj @zoleea-exultant @briefwinnerpersonaturtle @mistydreamscape @l4venderia @nex-crowley @ashreblogsnow @brynaa223 @your-desire666 @billyloomiswhore4 @holyladyofsorrows @megluv1 @ellieswifeiya @yoluvrz @forallthstarsinthesky @madsothree @youcantbesirius @lubunnii @captainhowdysseptum @geekygremlin @madneedshelp
Part 12
A/N: I am absolutely in shock by how much love this series is getting. I just wanted to let everyone know that the taglist is now closed. Thank you all so much for being so kind and supportive. 💕
(if your name has a line through it Tumblr wouldn't let me tag you.)
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vaspider · 2 years
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Pete Buttigieg is not the fucking point.
Truly amazed at the people whose big takeaway from that thread is "you hate Pete Buttigieg" like buddy did you not... read... all of it?
I genuinely don't give a shit about Pete himself. If you think this is about Democratic self-devouring or whatever the fuck, please mentally substitute Ellen or George Takei or Rachel Maddow or your favorite Other Respectable Gay. I hear some dude named Rubin is even a conservative who is getting turned on for adopting a baby? I don't know who he is and I don't care (do not tell me, I do not care) but if it makes you feel better, substitute any of those names.
I think the ones that actually make me sad are the people who keep insisting that 70% of people support gay marriage, and that I'm just 'acting out my trauma', and we won't see things turn against us, we're perfectly safe now, how dare I say that cishets won't put themselves out for us when it counts, it's different now.
Honey, 99% of people want tomorrow to go on pretty much like today, and what they'll support when it doesn't cost them anything has nothing to do with what they'll support when it does. Those of us telling you 'we were abandoned before, and we were the ones who took care of us then' aren't telling you because we're incorrigibly bitter misanthropes. I am annoyingly hopeful, actually, and in love with humanity and the beauty of life. Seriously, I have to write poems about it because I love the universe and all of humanity so fucking much. One of the things I love about humanity is its fragility and its uncertainty. I love the ways in which we fail.
And humans, over and over again, turn our eyes away from tragedy.
If you are lucky enough to have cishet friends and family who will put themselves out for you when it really matters, that is fucking fantastic. That's not nearly universal, and I'm afraid that you're going to find out sooner rather than later that it's far less universal for you than you'd like to believe.
At the end of the day, you can believe me or not about all of this. You can say that I'm just a bitter old transfag, an angry old dyke, a traumatized old queer if it lets you sleep better at night, if it allows you to just close your eyes and say 'this is all going to be fine, because 70% of people support marriage equality!' and get some rest. I can't make you pay attention.
And the thing is? I'd love to be wrong. I would absolutely love for every cishet who has ever said "one of them" or said "well, I mean, I just don't want to see it, they can do whatever they want in private" or whatever to turn out to be the raddest fucking ally the world has ever seen. I know it can happen! My in-laws went from being Baptist homophobes to getting weekly chatty update phone calls from the two trans women refugees from Latin America who they housed and helped get their papers sorted and who are now living in New York and call them Mom and Dad. Like, truly, it can fucking happen!
But you can't count on that from the vast majority of people, because when it comes down to it, most people want tomorrow to go on pretty much like today. You're much more likely to be able to count on someone with a dog in the hunt.
More than that, though, the point of that essay -- which, when people miss it, they miss it so hard that it feels deliberate, honestly -- is that all of our bullshit infighting doesn't mean dick. I've been saying that for years, begging people to think inclusively about our community, begging people to stop all the bullshit infighting because I could see this shit fucking coming, you didn't need to be Cassandra to see it coming but sometimes I felt like I was screaming until my throat was horse, the fucking tsunami is coming, it's coming, motherfuckers, can't you see the way the water is pulling back?
And here we are, and all the arguing about whether bi lesbians are "valid" doesn't matter, and everyone's attempt to gatekeep butch and femme doesn't matter, and everyone's arguments about whether neopronouns are bad doesn't fucking matter because we are all just fags, dykes and trannies to them, they do not care for one fucking second about any of this. None of them care for one second about our infighting. No one is going to stop and ask you what your orientation is so they can call you the right slur when they're gaybashing you, kids. They. Don't. Care.
So now here we are, and people are acting like the point of the essay is that I wanted to call one particular dude a fag, rather than that it doesn't matter how perfectly primed you are to fit into Respectable WASP Society, it is your queerness which is objectionable. It is your gayness. It is your transness. It is your bisexuality, your asexuality, your lesbianism. You will never be granted rights and respectability. You have to defend your rights, and stop giving a shit about respectability as a metric of whether or not someone deserves them.
I mean, for fuck's sake, some Iowa voters tried to withdraw their caucus support once they realized that Pete was gay. It literally fucking happened. There's video. Someone they supported above all the other candidates in the Iowa primary was immediately disqualified for them to the point where they tried to retract their support the minute they found out he was gay.
That's the fucking point. I don't care who you use as your Proxy Respectable Gay.
Pete Buttigieg is not the fucking point.
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AITA for laughing at my conservative uncle?
This is an incident that made half of my family go no/low contact with each other, and some still think I was an asshole for it (I think I wasn't), but I wanna get tumblr's perspective. I was 24(F) when this happened, my uncle was 58.
Thanksgiving 2021 my family wanted a big weekend long get together after not being able to do Thanksgiving in 2020 due to lockdowns. Family members took time off work and drove in from out of state so we could all hang out from Thursday to Sunday.
We all have that one uncle who spends every family event saying the most out there racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/whatever shit, and mine I feel is worse than most. He has some truly shitty takes like "It should be legal to hunt the homeless for sport", and "If a woman doesn't wanna get raped she should get married at like 16 and never go anywhere without her husband," and "If I ever saw a man pretending to be a woman I would kill him with my bare hands, and most of this nation would agree with me". Truly a piece of shit. Meanwhile my family knows I am extremely progressive, so they do their best to keep me and my uncle separate during family events or else it could (and has in the past) lead to shouting matches.
But here's the thing: I would happily avoid him and not talk to him during get togethers, but he loves arguing. He seeks me out. He'll follow me to the bathroom and bring up transphobic things happening in the news. He'll get up from the dinner table to walk over to me and shove an news article about Trump in my face. If he sees me enter the room he'll start talking LOUDLY about his political opinions. He WANTS to argue with me, and the family considers it my duty to ignore him and calls me an asshole when I engage, because that's just giving him what he wants. But he somehow never gets called out for hounding me, because "that's just how he is".
So it's Thanksgiving 2021. And maybe it's because of the therapy, or maybe it's just because I'm getting tired of avoiding him, or maybe it's the lockdowns that eroded my social graces, but I see him spot me from across the room and get that "ohhh I'm gonna make her sooooo mad" little glint in his eye and start to make his way over, and I don't find it infuriating anymore. I find it deeply funny that this divorced, no job, no bitches, deadbeat dad, that everyone secretly hates, has decided the only way he can get a drop of serotonin in his sad miserable life that HE ruined all by himself, is to turn to reactionary politics in a desperate attempt to get a rise out of his niece.
He starts in on the regular vile transphobic shit (I don't need to repeat it we've heard it all before, imagine the worst anti-trans rhetoric you've ever heard and yup. That's what he was saying) and I don't try to counter his points like I usually do. I just laugh. He keeps going, looking more and more puzzled, and I keep laughing.
He thinks I didn't hear him right. No no, I heard it all, and it was funny. He decides I must be too triggered to speak. No I promise, I'm having the time of my life. He guesses I'm not as smart as I think I am then, if I can't come up with a good counterpoint. Oh I'm plenty smart, and you're plenty hilarious.
Long story short he gets madder and madder that I won't engage until he's red faced and yelling. Family members are trying to calm him down and telling me to stop. I don't. I'm not mad that they're again blaming me for the interaction when I was just standing there and HE came up to ME, it's just really funny at that point. Really funny that the entire family walks on eggshells to protect his precious feelings when they could just laugh in his face like I am. My uncle punches a hole in my grandmother's wall and storms off cussing. The mood of the entire Thanksgiving weekend is ruined, and even my most left leaning family members think I'm an asshole because I KNOW how he is and I should have just walked away.
Should I have just walked away to save everyone's Thanksgiving weekend?
What are these acronyms?
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navarice · 1 year
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my dearest fellow mdzs stans, i really don't want to spoil anyone's fun but sometimes some things must be said. please do NOT mistake fanon characteristics for canon characteristics because by GOD is it frustrating to dissect a character when all anyone wants to do is blindly turn away from the very vivid and metastasizing flaws.
jiang cheng is an extremely complicated character, and that's why we love him. but by god, he is a jealous, self-victimizing asshole with a massive inferiority complex who likes to torture (probably) innocent look-a-likes of his (as far as he knew) dead adjacent family member. jesus christ this isn't some simple case of miscommunication (well it is but, you know no amount of communication will ever mend the giant chasm that developed between them. especially not with asians raised within the most classical case of asian parenting, i mean come on now) but a matter of deep and intense self-loathing developed since early childhood projecting violently outwards. let me be clear. he hates wei wuxian. he loathes him. he wants to kill him with his own hands again and again so some part of his convoluted sense of justice and superiority will be fulfilled. he's a classist, a bully, and abusive to everyone around him. ong at the end of mdzs, i was nearly crying tears of joy when jin guangyao flayed him flat on his ass bc that man needed to hear it. he needed to feel it. he needed to stop blaming others and blame himself.
and!! he's homophobic!! the entire cultivation world is, yes, but he's the only one we see give wei ying and lan zhan active shit for it!!
point is...his complexity makes him interesting. as a child, he was pretty alright tbh. he was understandably upset when three of his dogs got taken away and he saw his dad give a completely random kid such a gentle hug when jiang cheng never received one so far. he was a kid, and it was sad and helped the readers get a glimpse at the already dysfunctional family dynamics before wei ying came into the picture. as an adolescent/teen, yes he had a lot of unresolved rage and inferiority issues building up when he was constantly being compared to wei wuxian by his mother and not given enough reassurance from his father (once again, all present before wei ying...everyone just likes to dump the shit on him bc it's easier to point fingers at others than at yourself). perhaps he could have turned out differently if literally either of his parents stepped up and took accountability. however, after the burning of lotus pier? after the golden core transfer? after wei ying stuck around as his subordinate just as he promised, and protected jiang cheng like he promised, and defected just to save the yunmeng clan's reputation so jiang cheng doesn't have to put up with the other clan's shit, still continuing to keep his promise? after wei ying's death? idk abt y'all, but all bets are off bro.
mxtx makes it a point to make him so irredeemable. he's an exploration of what can go wrong if you let your traumas, self-hatred, and revenge fantasies blind you. he has the worst traits of his parents for a reason, directly contrasting with the other sibling, who is a perfect picture of eldest daughters born into a dysfunctional family. jiang yanli has the best traits of her parents (in terms of compassion and standing up for her family), but the family dynamics also made her the way she was. the responsible, the mediator, the occasional mother, stepping in where madam yu cannot.
there's just so much potential to hold him accountable buried under the pretense of misunderstandings and kinnie moments. he just had so many chances, more than any other character, to make a different choice. to actually look past his misgivings and unlearn the bad habits he used to protect himself as a child. i'm not saying he has to magically heal from all his traumas, but at the very least know not to be like his parents. but he wasn't written that way. because that is what happens when you give into your insecurities and generational trauma.
bottom line: jiang cheng is a fantastic archetype that needs to be explored in all his authenticity, including his moments of loyalty and cruelty.
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thelikesoffinn · 2 years
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Billy Hargrove was not irredeemable.
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This boy needed help. He needed someone to show him that life was not just pain and suffering, that there was more once you break through years of abuse.
And I'm not talking as a sappy fan here, but as a licensed social worker.
Without a doubt, this bitch would have been my favourite client. He already IS my favourite client.
Now, would it be hard to work with him?
Fuck yeah.
He would Rebel against anything I say, he would try to intimidate me and keep me far away, he would most definitely be rude as fuck and make fun of most things that leave my mouth. And he would flip his shit hard whenever I touch any subject he doesn't want to talk about.
On bad days, days where he was beaten and abused again, he would be an absolute menace. He would probably throw chairs and tables around, start fist fights with the other kids in my group and just be a proper pain in my arse.
So yes, Billy hargrove would be difficult. Especially in the beginning.
But that's what abused kids do.
They want you to stay the fuck away from them. Because all they know is pain. They've been hurt so much, that they can't believe it's not normal. That not every one is out to hurt them. Because people don't care for them. They don't care about them.
Social workers are "in it for the money" anyway. They don't give a shit, much less about them. Much less about kids like Billy.
Good things don't happen to them.
Good people don't just stumble into their lives.
Because nothing good ever does.
But you know what kids like Billy also do? What I've seen so many times at my job, working with troubled youths?
I've seen kids like Billy Hargrove beam at compliments. At genuine compliments, compliments that aren't used to get them to do something. They dead arse break a grin so wide it blinds you, despite not wanting to.
I've seen them get glassy eyes when you welcome them and tell them you're happy to see them around. Because they feel appreciated, like them being there is a good thing.
I've seen them slowly opening up, once they realise that I'm not going anywhere and that I, in fact, actually care about their well being.
I've seen them go all soft and huggy because they crave warmth and kindness. They crave what they never get at home.
I've seen kids have fun, fun that they've never been allowed to have at home. They are the older siblings, the only providers. They carry responsibilities the shouldn't have to carry at home. But with my colleagues and I, they don't. They can be themselves and have fun. Being silly, being young and being genuinely happy because they are allowed to be.
Just imagine Billy breaking an involuntary grin because you tell him how neat his camaro looks, all clean and shiny today.
Imagine him getting flustered when you tell him how nice it is to have him back with the group while you pass along some sweets or whatever.
Respect and responsibility? My arse. Everyone get the waterballoons, we'll have a fight. And we all know Billy would hold back at first, pretend it's stupid, before ambition hits and the kid tries to be the last dry one standing. he's laughing with the other kids, dripping wet by the end of it. And he enjoys it massively.
How he suddenly allows other people to pat his back, hug him or bump his hips. How he actually starts liking it, touch starved as the boy likely is.
Now imagine Billy Hargroves face once he realises that he doesn't have to scare people away because whatever his dad taught him was bullshit. That he really doesn't need to repeat any of the homophobic or racist slurs Neil threw around ever again because he doesn't believe them anyway.
So yes, Billy Hargrove was not irredeemable. He was not. He was a boy that needed work, definitely, but he was far FAR from being a lost cause.
Billy was just a poor eighteen year old boy that needed warmth and softness. That needed a chance to learn that people cared, truly cared, about him like no one in fucking Hawkins ever did. Not his father, not Susan, not Max.
Billy needed one person who understood him, cared for him and taught him that life was more than pain and suffering.
And its fucking bullshit that he never got to meet that person because killing him was easier.
No, he was not irredeemable and everyone who says he was just chooses the easy road. Because seeing and accepting layers is so much harder than saying he's a piece of shit, am I right?
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gettingfrilly · 7 months
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Let's talk about Eddy's family
Out of the three boys, I feel we know the least about Eddy's family. We may have met his brother, the only adult to ever have a role in the show, but of the Eds, he talks about his parents the least. And I refuse to believe his brother is just Like That all on his own. Something happened to that guy and I wanna know what.
So, let's look at what we know:
Eddy was physically abused by his big brother. On the flip side, his big brother also passed his knowledge onto him, the show implying that his bro took on the role of a mentor in Eddy's life. Eddy also inherited a lot of his brother's stuff from him; whether Eddy's brother had a choice in that matter or not is unknown, since Eddy could have simply taken the items out of his brother's room after he was gone.
Bro is much older than Eddy, though we don't know exactly by how much.
in the episode 'Ed... Pass it on...' we learn that the older boys in the neighborhood (Kevin and Rolf), who would have clearer memories of him than the other kids, are terrified of bro.
Eddy idolizes his brother. He pulls his pranks, wears his clothes, and speaks his praises any chance he gets.
Eddy's dad is most likely a homophobe judging by the implications of the only direct description we get of him in the bible. He doesn't want his son to be gay and worries that he is.
Eddy's mom thinks Eddy can do no wrong. Now, I've seen a lot of people interpret the line about Eddy's mom as a continuation of the line about his dad, and that she, too, is homophobic but doesn't believe Eddy is gay. However, I think they're separate statements. Eddy is a guy who gets in a lot of trouble, and usually when a kid gets in trouble, their mom is the first to be told. I think what the bible is communicating to us is that Eddy's mom flat out doesn't believe the stories about the trouble Eddy gets up to. It's probably one of the biggest reasons he keeps making trouble without fear of consequences.
Here's where things get a little more up to interpretation-y:
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Here we have Eddy throwing a mug that says "#1 son" out of his closet. So. Yeah. He's the favorite child and his parents aren't afraid to say it out loud.
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Eddy's dad, like Eddy, seems to have a short temper and isn't shy of getting physical with people, including his own children (important to keep in mind that this is a hyperbolic, slapstick cartoon, and not any sort of canon proof that Eddy's dad is abusive.)
Then there's the way Bro is talked about in the bible. "Before his brother went... away," why the ellipses? Was there something else to be said other than just "away?" I think the hint here is that Eddy's brother didn't just grow up and move out. There was some sort of inciting incident that lead to him living on his own. There's also the fact that Eddy has no idea where his brother lives in BPS, and that when he does show up, the first thing his bro asks is "Do mom and dad know you're here?" Eddy answers "AS IF!" which tells me that Eddy's parents would not approve of Eddy being around his brother, and both brothers are aware of that. This is followed up by bro asking "Does ANYONE know you're here?" Which. Big scary imo. Really fucking weird thing to ask your little brother before you start beating on him. Like he wanted to know what he could get away with.
So with all that in mind, here's my own personal headcanon that is not in anyway present in canon this is just what i like to imagine happened:
Eddy's brother was the family's scapegoat, whereas Eddy (in his mother's eyes, at least) was the golden child. Extremely rarely do children grow up to be violent just because. I think bro learned that behavior at home. I've discussed before that I think Eddy has ADHD, and that shit hella genetic, so I think his bro has it, too. Their mom and dad were new parents when they first had bro, and probably knew squat about raising a neurodivergent kid, and neurodivergent children are more likely to be victims of abuse. When corporal punishment didn't end up working out so well on bro, I think his parents changed tactics for Eddy. I also personally think that his mom felt guilty for how bro was raised, which is why she's so lenient with Eddy. So now, bro is jealous of Eddy and bitter about his own abusive upbringing, and he takes this out on Eddy by being exceptionally cruel and violent towards him.
This led to bro eventually doing something bad enough to get his ass sent to either juvie or prison, depending on how old he was at the time. This was hidden from Eddy, who adores his older brother, and was told that his brother had simply moved out. And that's how things ended up how they are in the show and how Eddy's brother ended up the way that he is. Again, this is just my own imagination. While it makes sense as something that could be true when you look at canon, I don't think canon actually props it up as accurate in any way. Anyway, I'm curious to hear what you guys think of bro and Eddy's family!!! especially if any of you know what the hell "Eddy's genes are working the fastest" means.
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enbycrip · 9 months
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ID: “HOW MY DAD CAME OUT
It was at Thanksgiving and everything. Just me, my sister, and my dad.
Dad: So, since it's sort of tradition to confess things over Thanksgiving dinner, I think I ought to let everyone know that I'm...uh, bisexual.
Me: Cool.
Little sister: What's that?
Dad: It means I like girls and boys.
Little sister: Oh. (my sister and I keep eating)
Dad:...and everyone's alright with that? Everyone:...yeah...
Dad: Oh. Okay, good. (sits down, then stands up again) At least act surprised, come on! I'm fifty, I've been sitting on this shit since I was sixteen!
Little sister: (confused) But you've always said you wanted to marry David Bowie!
Dad: Well, I thought you assumed I was kidding when I said things like that.
Me: Nobody is kidding when they say things like that about David Bowie.
- Submitted by Anonymous”.
Sometimes I think it’s hard for younger folks to get how difficult and shitty this stuff was in the past.
I didn’t get that I was nonbinary when I was a kid, but I knew I liked girls from when I was about 11ish.
There were no out queer people in my life or my family’s lives when I was a kid, and it was under Section 28 when there was a legal moratorium on this being talked about by educators.
I was *terrified*. I felt so much shame about it. I figured everyone would be able to read it - and, Tbf, they clearly could read my queerness. I got a huge amount of homophobic bullying thrown at me that was just as much about my non-binaryness as about my sexuality, and throw my (then-undiagnosed) autism in there too.
These days, me being bi isn’t even something I mention all that much because me being nonbinary is treated as so much of a bigger deal. But if I hadn’t had the luck to meet queer people in adulthood, gone to uni and read queer theory, and had the internet to connect with my queerness - I can see how this could have been something like that for me?
No one deserves this, btw. That sense of shame and wrongness. And that is what the TERFs and the GCs they connect with want; first for trans folk, and then for all queer folk, because the GCs are fascists and fundamentalists.
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somewosoloverrr · 2 years
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heyyyy could you do a ziggy x fem!reader having their first time moments before everything goes to shit? (in place of the ziggy & nick scene)
   Yess here it is, I love this idea, thank you for requesting ❤️ I’m making the r nicks sister btw
Fuck it
Fuck it pt2
Ziggy Berman x fem!r goode
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Tw: blood, murder, heavy making out, a bit of homophobia?
You and Ziggy were both gasping for air, as you ran while laughing at the prank you had just pulled on Sheila.
Once you were back in the science and nature cabin you chuckled as you remembered at how Sheila screamed “Did you hear her?”
“She sounded like a frog” Ziggy replied as she proceeded to mock Sheila.
You laughed at this and confidently said “What did I tell you?”
“Fuck paint” Ziggy replied as she looked at you, “Yeah, fuck paint” you immediately agreed.
She chuckled at your response as both of you stared into each others eyes, “Who are you?” she asked confused about the prank you did even tough you were a counsellor and a Goode.
You smiled at her and pulled your hand out “Y/n Goode, nice to meet you”, Ziggy shook your hand  back. As you stopped shaking hands you immediately missed the warmth, over time you developed the biggest crush on the red head.
Soon enough both of you were playing twenty-one question, in order to get to know each other better.
“Okay, next question. Mmm- What about you and Cindy, you guys get along?” you asked curiously as you had seen the sisters arguing multiple times.
Hearing your question the girl scoffed “I thought these were supposed to be easy questions.”
“Well, technically we can ask anything..” you trailed off
“God I hate snakes” Ziggy mumbled trying to change the subject as she crouched down to look at a container with a snake in it.
“Why are you ignoring my question?” you boldly asked
Ziggy stood up right while furrowing her eyebrows in annoyance “Why do you care?” she shot back
“I’m just... curios” you simply replied.
“I’ve hated her since I was a baby. Next” the girl quickly answered, not wanting to open up.
“Come on...” you complained.
“Why are you so full of shit?” the girl fumed
“I- what?” you asked a bit confused and offended.
“Y/n Goode, heir apparent along with her brother. Daddy was the police chief, the king of Sunnyvale, and know you and your brother are gonna be the same...” the girl trailed of as she started walking slowly around the cabin.
“Except it’s all make believe for you. The truth is you like Stephen king and spider and last of all ... the weird girl from Shadyside” Ziggy finished as she smirked at the last part.
“Well, firstly Stephen King is super duper popular. And second I can’t like the weird girl.” you shot back, and said the last part even if you really liked the girl.
“Why not?” Ziggy questioned curiously.
“Cause I’m a counsellor and she’s a camper..” you trailed off
“Last year for me. First year for you.” the red head justified as you shook your head at her persistence.
“Furthermore, two girls liking each other in the seventies...” you added knowing how homophobic everyone was nowadays.
The red head stayed silent knowing that what you were saying was true and tension quickly rose up in the room until you quickly broke it “Plus how will I ever get to know her if she keeps avoiding my questions?” you finished as you walked backwards and sat down.
Ziggy crossed her arms and sat beside you, you turned your head to look at her “There was a time where things were good between us. When my dad was around and my mom was happy, and my sister and me, we would umm...” the red head smiled at the memory as you looked at her completely mesmerized. 
“- we’d throw toilet paper on Mr.Corkle’s tree, and then go jump in the lake in all our clothes and... Now” the girl frowned “Now it’s just gone and everything’s shit. Thats what happens when you live in Shadyside. Everything turns to shit eventually.” Ziggy held a sad smile in place as she sarcastically added to lighten the mood “But I wouldn’t expect a Sunnyvaler to understand.”
“Maybe you’re right” you agreed. “But being the heir apparent as a girl isn’t easy either.. Before he died, my dad loaded me and Nick up with all this ‘you’re my legacy’ bullshit.” you paused “He just kinda dropped this huge thing on our laps and expected me to be perfect, without even asking what I wanted to do. I mean maybe that’s not what I wanna do” you stated as you looked up to meet Ziggy’s eyes.
“Maybe I wanna like Stephen King and spiders and--”
“the weird girl from Shadyside?” Ziggy finished
You finally got rid of all of your nerves, moving your hand towards Ziggy’s arm and replied “yeah, the weird girl from Shadyside”
“But uh, I guess theres nothing I can do about it.” you stated
“Why not?” Ziggy whispered as she was close to your face, you were truly tempted but you knew better than that. You couldn’t bring yourself to do it so you stood up while saying “You were right, we should go back to the easy questions.”
The red-head sighed as she stood up “Ok”, she then stood right in front of you “umm, so y/n... would you ever kiss the weird girl?”
Then silence filled the room, your eyes drifting from her blue ones to her pink lips as she did the same. You liked this girl for so long and couldn’t hold back as she started leaning in  Fuck it.
And just like that your lips met and you felt her left hand on your cheek pulling you in for more, as you put your arms around her neck.
The kiss started passionate and slow, and both of you pulled away for a second to regain your breaths and then you were back at it. This time it was more rough, and suddenly the room started feeling really hot.
Ziggy started pushing you backwards to were you where seated before, meanwhile you started kissing her neck as she moved her head back to give you more access. 
As your back layed on the bench you where previously sat on Ziggy got on top of you, both still kissing each other as you slowly started grabbing the hem of her shirt stopping the kiss to ask for permission “can I?”
Ziggy quickly nodded resuming the kiss as you took of her top, however you quickly stopped as you heard a scream.
You and Ziggy looked at each other confused as you helped her get her top back on. Then both of you sprinted to the door wanting to find out what the hell was happening.
a/n
Should I do a part 2 of the rest of the movie??
Anyways thanks for reading <33
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jamiedc-they-them · 1 year
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Being Joel's Surviving Child and an Older Sibling to Ellie Part II
Link to Part I
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CW: Normal last of us violence, swearing. Mentions of suicidal thoughts. Bunch of angst. Also, a long one!
So, five years. A lot of can happen in five years.
You’ve almost, almost, gone back to how you used to be. Normal. A citizen rather than a survivor.
You’re more relaxed.
It’s not constant, twenty years of surviving isn’t something you just forget and move on from in an instant.
Your family understands that.
Tommy takes you out on hunts sometimes. It’s a good bonding experience with your uncle.
He has your help with organising patrols. These are the main times you see Ellie. Other than teaching her how to shoot.
It’s nice seeing your sister, though she is more distant.
You just put it up to age. She’s growing and changing, becoming more independent, so she distances herself more because of that.
You and Sarah had sort of done that before…everything.
In a way, you’re envious.
Still though, you just keep going on.
You help out with the town.
Joel checks in every so often. But after a certain period, you can’t quite remember how long into those five years it is, he does it almost all the time.
He acts differently. Softer. 
“Something wrong?” you ask.
“I’m alright, kiddo. Just…feeling my age is all. Do you, uh, do you wanna come over later? Found that sequel. Curtis and Viper 2. ”
“No way?! Hell yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Alright, kiddo. Sounds like a plan.”
You notice Ellie’s absence. You don’t question it, though. Her and Dina have been talking lately. From the brief interaction you had with the girl, she was sweet. She was kind to Ellie, as was Jessie. You liked that they had a little group.
When you next see Ellie before a patrol, you talk to her.
“Didn’t see you at Dad’s last night.”
She turns to you, but you can tell she’s more tense now, “Oh, shit. Yeah, sorry. I was out with Dina and Jessie,” she does sound genuinely apologetic. You miss the mistrust in her eyes. It flickers only for as second, but you still miss it.
“It’s cool,” you say, waving it off, “just be careful, yeah?” 
“Always am,” she assures, putting her pack on her horse and mounting up, letting you take them outside the stables, “besides, with your training, how could I go wrong?” 
“Exactly,” she chuckles at your response, “Just…talk to each other, yeah? Whatever it is.”
She sighs. She wishes it was that simple, but she tells you she will.
She loves you, but doesn’t like you meddling sometimes. Joel too.
Sometimes, you’ll take her on a run. Or one of her friends.
It’s through this, you get the idea that someone has a crush. Dina asks you things about Ellie; favourite food and what not.
You don’t always have the answers, but you do have an idea of what is going on.
You don’t pressure Dina or her on it. Though you do ask one about the other every now and then to try to gauge it and push them to admit their feelings.
You were never into the whole love thing, so this is not your field. But they are adorable, the pair. Jessie is a good friend. Loyal. He opens up a bit more to you. He’s funny, too. Casual. Good person.
Brings out your lighter side.
Seth isn’t an awful guy, but is a homophobe. 
Ellie seems to have a six sense with you, despite the distance she’s caused, and always finds you before anything bad happens.
Her own blood boils when he calls you a “queer” in an insulting way. But she always drags you back, keeping herself between you and him. Her eyes on you as she forces you not to make a scene.
This happens with a few other troubling people in the town.
She also gives you a place to crash when you want to, or are drunk. You do that a bit. Trying to tame the loudness in your head.
It worries her, but she’s gentle. If you ever wake up from a nightmare and are around her’s, she wakes you up. 
“It’s ok, Y/N. It’s ok. It was just a dream. I’m here. I’m here,” she puts a hand to your cheek, “I’ve got you.”
Sometimes she’ll stay with you. Sometimes you both stay up together. Sometimes she sits with you until you drift off, looking at your gentle form, before going to bed, wishing she could stop whatever is plaguing you.
You’re her sibling, older sure, but she loves you.
Sadly, she never gets a chance to ask you, as she soon is plagued by similar nightmares. 
A golf club kills your father, and she had no choice but to watch.
Dina arrives before you, Jessie being the one who fetched you when Joel didn’t come back.
Dina gets Ellie up and out, but Jessie sees you frozen, just staring at your father. Or what’s left of him.
He sees your fist start leaking blood. You don’t notice. Your eyes are glassy, but no tears fall.
You’ve shut down.
You don’t even register him leading you away. Mentally, you’re still there.
Maria visits you.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she says, sitting next to you on your bed, “C’mere.”
She tries to hug you, but you lean away. 
You stand up, arms crossed, facing away from her.
“What’s that?” she prompts, not hearing what you said just then.
“It should’ve been me,” you say, a bit louder.
“Y/N. No. No, it, no it shouldn’t of been.”
“He’s dead.”
“I know…” 
“He’s dead…”
“I’m so sorry, Y/N.”
She goes to hug you, or try and help, but you scream, back away, and then run from your room and out of your house, tears be damned.
Dina hears you sprinting, just seeing you as you trip over trying to get into the cemetery.
“Shit,” she says, going to help you up, “hey, Y/N. Hey!” she’s gentle, but you flinch at her loudness, “Look at me,” you do, eyes frantic. She hates her friend in pain like this, “I have you. I -”
“I need him,” her heart breaks. You sound like a scared child - she doesn’t blame you, this is a horrible situation - and not the late thirties person that you are.
You sob, putting your head in your hands as you just break completely.
You then fall back in the snow.
“Sarah would’ve been able to control herself. She would’ve stopped this.”
“Y/N,” Dina crouches near you, ignoring the cold, “you aren’t expected to just control this. There’s no precedent for this.”
“Sarah was. Henry and Sam were. Tess was.”
“They weren’t your fault.”
“Then whose were they?” 
She doesn’t have time to answer you, as Ellie clears her throat.
Ellie moves to you, her too crouching down, “I’m so sorry,” she says, voice raw, “I’m so fucking sorry, Y/N.”
Despite what Dina just tried to get you to understand for yourself, you impart it to Ellie, “It’s not your fault, El. It’s not your fault.”
Dina hates what this has done to you both. Broken you both. Her girlfriend and friend who looked out for her.
You both go to Joel’s house, and she waits outside for you both.
“Can…can you…” Ellie can’t finish her words.
Wordlessly, you nod, opening the door and going inside. 
You’re both slow, looking around.
You even find the copy of Curtis and Viper 2, you let out a choked laugh at it.
Ellie takes the revolver, but hands you the watch.
“I think…I think he’d want you to have this.”
 You take it, and put it on your arm. It fits you just as well as it fit him.
You look at your little sister. He’s gone, so you have to step up.
You go where she goes. That’s your job: you protect, you guide, you support.
Maria isn’t happy with Tommy going, and tells you guys to go get him.
Before you leave, Maria stops you.
“Please make sure you come back too, Y/N, ok?” 
You nod, “you can count on it.”
She doesn’t think she’s ever been more scared of you. The flicker in your eye. The crazed look of someone on the edge of breaking completely, and with one more promise on the line.
It’s the look of someone who will do all they can for that promise. No matter the cost.
As said before, she’d heard the stories of what you and Joel did to survive, how you were so young and lost your soul in the name of survival and control.
The last five years had seen you return to normal. 
That had now been taken.
So, off you go to Seattle. 
You tell them all the memories of this place you can remember. From small trips and what not. Dina paints a picture of Sarah in her mind as you describe your actions with your twin. 
Randomly, small facts come back to you about the place. They’re always impressed by your vast knowledge (you doubt a lot of it is true, but there are one or two you know are facts).
Then you’re brought back to how the world is with them asking you how old you were in your first kill.
The age gap between you and them is shown, as you try to water it down. You tell yourself it’s to protect them, but really it’s just to protect yourself.
“We’re old enough to know, Y/N,” your sister says, “or are you forgetting about David?” 
The words sting. Ellie regrets them. You just ride on ahead.
“Who’s David?” Dina asks.
“An arsehole. He’s dead now.”
“Did he do something to you?” 
“Tried to. But he also made he break a promise I made to Y/N.”
“And what’s that?” 
“Doesn’t matter now.”
Dina nods, respecting the boundary. It makes her miss her sister more, having inside secrets that friends wouldn’t know.
When it comes to climbing, Ellie goes, joking about your age and your back. It brings her back to simpler times.
“Did I do something to make her upset?” you ask Dina as you wait for Ellie to open the gate.
“Oh. No, I don’t think so. She didn’t say anything to me about something like that. Why?” 
“Just…I don’t know.”
“You’re not gonna lose her, Y/N,” she assures.
“I thought I wouldn’t lose my dad, either,” it’s a cheap shot, and she knows it’s not being fired at her, but she still flinches at it, “sorry,” you say.
She nods, “it’s ok,” though there is hurt in her voice.
Ellie shows you the map, handing it to you every now and then to double check where you’ve been and haven’t been. Sure, things are marked on and off, but she doubts herself a bit. 
Dina moves past the awkwardness between you both, listening as you and Ellie swap stories about Joel.
Dina is happy to hear them, at least you both aren’t completely drowning, you’re keeping each other afloat, and she’s glad to be of assistance in that. 
Dina opens up to you both about being Jewish. You always liked the idea of a god, but never believed yourself. Especially not after the apocalypse, but the hope it gave her was something you understood.
Ellie was that hope for you. If she was alive, and happy, you were happy. 
If what was left of your family was ok, you were ok.
That was why you had to make this right. Make it mean something.
When it comes to combat, you take the lead. Giving them orders. It makes it seem more controllable that way.
Most times, it goes wrong, with you having to adapt, but the feeling it gives you before that keeps you going.
Ellie and you are a deadly duo, Dina notes. Able to read each other’s minds and actions. You seem to forget Dina is there for a moment, your soul focus being on your sister. 
One time, with you all being pinned down, you shot someone who was going to sneak up on Ellie, only for Dina to take a hit.
You helped patch up her wound, but avoided her eyes.
She doesn’t want to hold it against you. You’re her friend, and Ellie’s sibling. You’ve been good to her on runs. You were honest with her about things. While she knows she’d be like this had her sister still be alive, but it does scare her what it can do. 
Yes, she’s following you because she cares about you both, but she’s also scared for you both. What you’ll do. How you’ll do it. What you’ll lose in the process.
Ellie is taken, and you don’t talk the entire way to rescue her. Dina follows, and sees how good at tracking you actually are. 
Dina is shot through the roof, and one bullet catches you. You lay on the roof.
Ellie shouts up to you, telling you to “find another way to get this fuckers!” 
You hesitate, and she seems to tell, “Go!” She yells, “trust me!” 
You do, but you can’t find another way in. Your heart hammers, hearing only the chaos inside.
They’re out of your sight. What if they get hurt? What if they die? You lose more of your family?
You reunite outside, and you check them numerous times for injuries. 
“We’re fine. We’re fine, Y/N. Look, look! No wounds,” she shows you. You just pull them both in for a hug. 
Ellie remembers Joel doing that at the hospital…though she doesn’t push away this time, not wanting to raise suspicion or confront you on it just yet. She doesn’t want to lose you too.
You find more images, and one of the people from the photos is dead. 
Dina looks to you, “What the fuck have we gotten involved in?” 
“I don’t know,” you say, honestly, “but we just need Abby.”
“Y/N, this is insane. What if they already got her?”
“They wouldn’t have,” Ellie says.
“How do you know?” Dina challenges.
“Gut feeling.”
Dina looks to you.
“Let’s go,” is all you say.
Ellie’s secret comes out about the immunity, and you all barely escape with your lives intact and make it to the theatre. 
Dina reveals she may be pregnant and Ellie snaps. You don’t follow her, instead, you sit with Dina. 
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she says.
“I get it,” you say, “it’s scary. Especially in a world like this.”
“Do you think it would be ok? Even after all this?”
“It will.”
“You can’t promise that Y/N,” she hopes you’re right, but is being more real about it.
“I can. I can,” you say, nodding, but you look away right after.
She nods once, before laying down. 
You find yourself falling asleep on the floor. You dream about Sarah.
Ellie remembers the birthday gift you and Joel gave her. That was a good day. A day of your bonds being the strongest.
You have a memory of a time when she fixed something, some dickhead bully. He never bothered you again.
You wish that either she was here instead of you, or you could do what she could.
Ellie wakes you up, nervously asking if you can come with her.
“We’ll make sure Dina is safe. I just…can we go together, Y/N? Please?”
You nod, leaving with her. Dina just asks you both to be careful.
It’s quiet, at the start as you both set off on your journey to find Tommy.
“Did I do something?” You ask as you search a store.
“What?” 
“Did I do something?” 
“No,” she says, not completely lying. 
“Is there a reason you and dad weren’t talking as much? Was it the party?”
“Mostly.”
“‘Mostly’?”
“It’s complicated,” it both is and isn’t true.
“You can talk to me, you know?” 
She wants to more than anything, but that would be - potentially - driving away the one piece of this family she has left that has been with her through so much.
“I will, ok? Just, give me time?” 
You want to press her on it, it sounds bad. Especially if it drove your sister and father apart. But, to keep her happy enough, you find yourself saying the one thing that can do that:
“Ok.” 
Ellie and you find the archery statue. She holds it up and turns to you.
“People cared about this stuff?” 
“Sure, sometimes.”
“You think this thing was worth a lot?”
You chuckle, “not money-wise, no. Thing was probably cheap as anything. But, sentimentally? Yeah, definitely.”
“Why’s that?”
“Made people feel valued. Wanted. Like they actually accomplished something.”
“This little thing did that?”
“A lot of things can do that.”
She nods, but can understand what you really mean. It’s why you’re here after all.
It makes her feel valued. Less alone. 
She does have to admit, seeing you not drowning or shutting down in your grief as you had before was a genuine relief to her.
But, she does know you. She’s known you for like six years at this point.
She can see it’s getting to you. 
You look at the blood on your knuckles more. You check in with her more. Making sure she is ok.
She tries to with you, but you just turn it around on her.
With Jessie, you drive. She rides shotgun, and Jessie sits in the middle. You almost die, but you’re just thankful Ellie learnt how to swim.
Dina and Jessie reunite. You see Ellie walk off, you watch the friends and exes reunite.
“Look, Jessie, I -“
“It’s cool, Y/N. Really. I’m not angry.”
“You’re not?” You did sort of go into this whole thing thinking he would. Though, maybe that was just because of the shows Sarah made you watch when younger.
He chuckles, “Yeah, all good. I mean, it’s a lot. But, Dina and Ellie are my friends. I want them to be happy. Their problems, are my problems.”
“That’s a sweet way to live, kid.”
“You’re my friend too, you know.”
“I’m older.”
“So?”
“I take on more problems for everyone. It’s my job.”
“That’s not healthy,” where’d he read that?
“We ain’t in a healthy world.”
Ellie has a mostly good memory of you, the strings incident. Well, good with you anyway, though at that point you had started to catch onto something being wrong. Still, you like that your dad is trying now with the comics. He and you had even had some discussions.
With the Bloater, you just held Ellie in your arms as Joel took it down.
With the couple and the lie you’ve both spun to her, you’re silent while Joel doubles down on it. She’s catching on, and you don’t like that.
Reminders of the lie you told her about being there.
Whenever you remember a birthday, you ignore that bit. You just remember the dinosaur.
With the strings, you focus on the bloater part and the comics.
With the sewers, it’s you who goes out the window. She doesn’t even think before jumping in to try to find you.
You drag her out of the water.
“What were you thinking?!” 
“Me?! What the fuck were you thinking?!” 
“I had to protect you, El!”
“You scared me! I thought you were dead, you arsehole!” 
She hits you in the shoulder, and then you both take pause. 
You’re both disturbed by the Seraphites.
“You think we should have a code like that?” She asks you as you make your way through a building.
“Would be useful,” you admit, “maybe you learning to whistle weren’t for nothing.”
She gives a humoured scoff. But she’s glad you can still have these moments.
She’s glad she hasn’t lost you. She just hates that internally she adds a ‘yet’ to that.
Before the camp, however, she turns to you, “I need to do this on my own.” 
“What?” 
“Look, there could to spores in there. And I don’t want you getting infected.”
“The fuck are you talking about, Ellie? We stick together.”
“Do you trust me?” 
It seems like you hesitate, but really she sees you weighing up the options in your head.
You nod.
“Hey,” she grabs your hand with hers, “I’m coming back, ok? With that bitches head. I promise,” she squeezes your hand.
You look one more time to the camp, then back to your sister. 
“I don’t like this.”
“I’ve got this,” she says. Your eyes soften at her echoing words.
You nod a tiny bit. You know she does.
You make your way back to the theatre.
“Y/N…” Dina says when she sees you, “Oh. Oh, god, is Ellie…” 
“No,” you say, instantly, “No. She’s fine. Just thought she should go alone. Spores and whatnot. Don’t exactly have my mask.”
“You sure it’s a good idea to leave her on her own?” Jessie asks. He means well, but he is also their age.
“She’s got this,” you assure her friends, “she’s tougher than you think.”
“I know that,” he says, “it’s just…with her state of mind.”
“I’m worried about her too. But, I’d be no use to her dead.”
“To any of us, Y/N,” you smile a little at Dina’s words. 
“So, what do we do?” Jessie asks.
“We wait for her to come back. I’ll, uh, give you two some space to talk about the whole…kid, thing.” You clear your throat, doing that.
Ellie returns when you’re asleep. Jessie wakes you up.
“Where is she?” 
“With Dina,” you get up, and Jessie knows what your plan is, “I think we should just leave them for tonight. Dina’s got her.”
“I could help.”
“I’m not saying you can’t,” despite the almost twenty year gap between you both, he seems to be the more mature one at times, “but you don’t need to smother her.”
Your eyes look dangerous when you look at him, “I ain’t.”
“I’d follow you, Joel, Ellie, or Dina anywhere, Y/N. But, Y/N, there’s gotta be a line where you walk away.”
“Not with her. Not with this.”
“I know Joel was a good man; he was a good father to you both. But, look, Dina’s pregnant. We aren’t exactly going to find her help out here, are we? And I know, you wanna help Ellie; but…she’ll listen to you.”
You go to check on your sister, she shivers, her wounds making you sick. 
You sit next to her, and move the cover she has over her a bit more. She flinches a bit. You mule over Jessie’s words.
You go with them, giving Dina a bottle of water, and leaving too.
However, you then see how high the water is out there. And you see Ellie’s plan to steal the boat.
Jessie starts to back away. Ellie then looks to you
“Not you too,” she says. Damn it, she knows you too well.
“El -”
“Don’t do that. Please don’t fucking do that.”
“I just think –”
“I didn’t think you’d leave me too.
“I’m not –”
Guys,” Jessie tries to interject, noticing your voices going up a notch in volume. You hold your hand up to silence him, then gesture with your hand to lower the volume. Even in her pissed off state, she agrees to that.
“I thought you’d have my back on this,” she says, quieter.
“I have your back. Really, I do. But I’m gonna have to pull rank on this and –”
“‘Rank’?” 
“I’m the older sibling. I have to look out for you.”
“Then do that by coming with me on that fucking boat. If we fall in, we can both make it back to the boat. I need you to trust me.”
“And I need you to listen to me.”
“They killed, Joel. What if it was me?”
“That’s not fair.”
“If it was you, you would want us to try, at least.”
“I wouldn’t know, would I?” you take a breath, “we should just go home. Ok?” 
“You go, then. I’ll see you there later,” you open your mouth to argue, but she beats you to it, “fuck off then, coward.”
The words sting. You want to say more, to try and get her to see the way things are going. But you realise, maybe too late, that you can’t stop her. You can’t control her.
Jessie says what is on your mind:
“I really hope you make it.”
He respects your silence on the way back to the theatre.
You don’t explain to Dina, you just go to your own little space.
“Are they ok?” Dina asks Jessie.
“Ellie and them had a fight.”
“Oh…” she says, looking to the stairs, “should we go check on them?”
“No. No, I think they need some time alone, you know? I don’t think they’ve really had time to unpack everything.”
“None of us have,” it had only been a few days after all.
“That’s true. But, he was Y/N’s dad.”
“You know, at first, I thought Y/N was Ellie’s dad.”
“Yeah?” Dina chuckles a bit.
“Yeah. I mean, you seen how protective they both are…were, over her?” 
“Y/N still is.”
“Yeah…” Jessie looks to the stairs too, “that’s what scares me.”
Jessie leaves on a quick patrol of the area and finds Tommy. He brings him back.
You come down and see your Uncle in the first time in what seems like forever.
“Hey, kid,” he says to you.
He doesn’t get a warm welcome, instead, he gets shoved. Then slapped.
“You left, your goddamn wife! She’s worried sick about you, Tommy!”
“I know, I know,” he says, but you don’t stop there.
“You could’ve died, and we wouldn’t of known. You fucking idiot!” 
The younger two have never heard you so loud. Not even when fighting Seth.
“I KNOW!” Tommy roars, “They killed my brother! I had to try, Y/N! I had to do something.”
“And how’d that fucking go?” you sneer.
“I saw her,” he says, “I saw the bitch that killed her.”
“Yeah? Where’s her head?”
Tommy looks almost ashamed, looking at the ground as he answers you, “she had a kid with her. They beat me. Almost drowned.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t. I’m glad you didn’t, Uncle Tommy.”
He nods, “Me too, kid.”
It’s then, you hug him.
Time goes on a bit longer before Tommy and him decide to leave to find Ellie. They hear on the radio about the Aquarium. 
Dina is the one who asks you to stay, “please. I don’t want to be alone. I’m scared.” 
You tell the other two to go and stay with Dina.
You keep her drinking water. Try and keep her as well as you can.
She falls asleep, and you try your best to get her to bed ok, though she does stir awake at one point. But, only slightly, she falls back to sleep pretty easily. You get her in bed, trying to get her comfortable.
You don’t exactly envy her situation, especially given how hard it would’ve been in the old world. This new one just added more challenges. 
Still, you wanted to help. Just how was the question?
You hear the door close and cautiously see who it is.
It’s your friends.
You see Ellie, eyes distant and scared.
“Hey. Hey, what happened?” you ask, moving on from the words exchanged earlier.
You look to Tommy, he shakes his head: not now.
“Do you wanna go see Dina?” she nods, “Ok, kiddo. Ok. I’ll take you to her.”
You’re slow with your movements, moving at her pace.
When she sees Dina, she is less tense. You let her go, and she goes to Dina, laying down next to her and moving some hair back. 
You close the door gently, before going downstairs.
“So, you wanna tell me what happened?” 
“One of the girls she killed,” Tommy pauses, puts his head in his hands, and pushes his hair back, “she was pregnant, Y/N.”
“Jesus,” is all you can say as you sit on the stage. 
“Yeah,” is all Tommy can say as he sits next to you. He then looks around the theatre.
“You remember when you and Sarah came here?” 
You smile a bit, “yeah. Or, well, somewhere like here.”
“Nope. Pretty sure it was here,” you have no idea if he’s fucking with you or not.
You narrow your eyes at him a bit.
“I’m serious,” he says, “can’t remember what we saw, mind. But, it was right here we saw it.”
“Hm. Quite the legacy,” you admire.
“Ain’t it just.” 
A quiet few moments go by.
“I think we should go home,” you say.
Tommy nods, “Yeah. Though, not exactly looking forward to Maria kicking my arse.”
“Yeah, well, I ain’t gonna be able to help with that.”
“Maybe I’ll use you as a shield.”
“As if she’d let you,” you say, “She loves me.”
“I’d like to think she loves me more.”
“Uh-uh, told me herself.”
“Did she now?” 
“Oh yeah.”
It’s nice, this moment of normalcy.
“Go get some rest kid, we got a long trip tomorrow.”
“Guess you’re right,” you say, standing up and stretching, “night, Uncle Tommy.”
“Night, kid.”
You don’t sleep too long. Your instincts tell you something is going on.
You go to the main lobby and see Tommy on the floor, an arrow in his leg.
“Hands up,” you say, pointing your pistol at…shit, it’s Abby. And the kid Tommy mentioned.
“Y/N, run!” Tommy calls out.
“I ain’t leaving you,” you say to him, keeping your eyes on your father’s murderer.
“It’s you,” Abby says in realisation, “you’re the one who Marlene took as bait for…for him.” 
“You took him from me,” you spit.
“And yours took mine. Now you know how it feels.”
“We just gonna stare at each other?” 
“Not if you move. You’re not on my list. The girl is who I want.”
“So you can run more tests? There ain’t no cure.” 
“No. No, the cure is long dead. On that, we can agree.”
“I’m not letting you get my sister.”
She steps a bit closer, gun aimed up a bit, “Then I’ll take you both. I don’t care.”
You look to the boy, “You found the one good Seraphite?” 
“Just as quick as the rest.”
“Ok then,” you say, putting your gun down, hands raised, “then take me.”
“NO!” Tommy shouts, getting a kick in the gut.
“Maybe I would’ve,” she admits, “but not anymore. You’ve both taken too much from me. All you had to do, was stop. To get her to stop.”
You go to say something, but the door bursts open.
A few gunshots go off. You ignore the burning sensation on your body, and instead, try and deal with the one at your throat, the arm Abby has around it crushing your available air.
“Come on out! Or this one’s next!” Abby calls out.
“Ok. Fuck!” Ellie throws her gun away, standing up, hands raised, “you did this because of me, right? Because they both saved me? It’s me, I’m the one you want. Just let them go, ok?” 
Abby presses the gun into your head, “we let you live,” she says to Ellie.
“I’ll let you live,” Abby says to you, “but I swear, if I see you again, I will kill you.”
Your world then goes dark. But you hear your sister yell out your name.
You wake up to silence. 
Your vision goes double. You vomit on the floor.
Once on your feet, you slowly make your way down the theatre. You wished for music. You wished for something. Some sound to signal life.
You get backstage, and see a hole in the floor. You don’t even think before dropping down it. It doesn’t help your vision or unsteady legs. Shaking your head and getting to your feet once again, you’re greeted with your sister, coughing blood on the floor, and Dina bleeding from her head, unconscious. 
You go to your younger sister, fall down and hover over her. She just coughs more.
You don’t know what to do. You just put her head in your lap, running your hand through her hair.
If this is it, then so be it.
You go to sleep, not expecting to wake up again.
You do, and Ellie is quietly saying your name.
You look down, an unknown amount of time having passed.
“Are….are you…?” 
“Here. Present. Alive.” you say.
“Dina…” You look to your friend. Gently putting Ellie back down, you turn Dina over. The baby bump looks ok. You get some cloth and put it on her head.
“I think the baby’s ok.” 
Ellie lets out another cough, this seems to be her attempt at a sigh of relief.
How you get out, you can’t remember. But you do.
Ellie leaves Jackson. But you’ve already gone before then.
You can’t deal with all the looks from everyone. And what you gather to be a disappointed look from Maria when you bring Tommy in.
You aren’t far from it, instead just living in the woods.
You go to the same part of the water you went to clean yourself in after Henry and Sam died. You don’t really care you’re stealing the Jackson community water technically, you just use it.
You figure this will all help clear your head. It’s neutral. 
Maria comes to visit you, bringing some extra supplies. You just thank her.
She updates you on Tommy. Even tells you they split.
You just give her your condolences and go back to your little hobbit existence. Just you and a tent.
The final time Maria visits you, it’s to ask for you to go with Tommy. He wants to visit Ellie.
“I think she could use your company, too.”
Maria is still family; as is Tommy; as is Ellie.
You have to pick up the load now that Maria shares.
“Ok,” you say, voice croaky from a few months of disuse.
“Thank you,” she says. You nod.
She smiles a bit, happy that you’re somewhat in good standing with each other.
Tommy tries to make conversation with you, but you ignore him the whole ride down.
You help him off his horse and send him up the stairs first to the door.
You take in the place. It’s got a nice view. They’ve done well for themselves.
Dina greets you warmly.
“Hey, Y/N,” she says, giving you a hug.
“Hey, hon,” you say, hugging her back.
She takes a look at you, looking at your face and moving it around with her hands, “you had it rough, huh?” her voice is soft, unjudging.
“Sort of?” you say, unsure of how else to answer.
“Well, sit down. We’ll get you cleaned up.”
Then Ellie comes in, with a baby. 
She pauses at seeing you both, but a whole flood of emotions comes to her when she locks eyes with you.
“Hey,” is all she can get out.
“Hey,” you say.
It’s all going ok. Then Abby is mentioned again, and the mood turns sour.
“Oh, for fucks sake,” you say, hand going down your face.
“Now, don’t you fucking start –” Tommy starts to say.
“We ain’t doing this, Tom. You said you wanted to talk to her.”
“I am,” he protests, though does note your lack of ‘Uncle’ being used, “that’s all we doing.”
“Is it hell,” you say, trying to not teach the kid bad words this early. Like your dad did with you and Sarah.
“Oh, so now you wanna talk, huh?” Tommy challenges.
“We ain’t doing this here. Especially not in front of the kid,” you say, pointing to JJ. He grabs you finger, cooing as he moves it around. You move a bit closer, hand going through his hair, as your eyes stay on Tommy.
“Can you hold him?” Dina asks. You do. He complains at first, being away from his mother, but settles into you in the next moment. Dina takes Tommy outside.
“You’re a natural,” Ellie says, somewhat brightly. You start to rock from side to side gently as JJ settles even more, head on your shoulder.
“Yeah. Somehow,” you joke. Ellie scoffs humorously. 
“I’m glad you’re ok,” she means it.
“Ditto,” as do you.
The silence is awkward, and you see her eyes go to the map.
“Don’t,” you say, “don’t mess this up.” At ‘this’ you swirl your finger around the area.
“Ok,” she says. You look into her eyes that flicker down to the map every so often. You’re looking for signs of bullshit. You find some. You just don’t say anything.
“Ok,” you say.
Tommy leaves, but you stay the night. You get to know your nephew a bit more. He’s lively.
Dina and Ellie both show you around the farm. The sheep are nice. They help calm you down. Even JJ loves petting them.
Dinner is nice. They can both cook. You both even dance a bit. Just minus bigots being there, even better!
Then comes to bed. They show you your bedroom. You thank them and head in.
Early in the morning, you head downstairs, taking the map and putting it in your bag.
“What are you doing?” Ellie asks, coming downstairs, Joel's jacket over her shoulders.
“Trying, one last time.”
“To do what?”
“To stop you from this spiral being complete.”
“I’m not spiralling, Y/N. I’m hurting, and I don’t know how to make it stop.”
You sigh, sitting down, “You know, back in the old world, they had things called therapists. You ever heard of them?” she shakes her head, “they’d talk to you, try to help you find a way through. I’m sure there are some who would fit that role your age without knowing the turn, or just people my age who became them, but the talking bit I can do.”
“I don’t want to talk. Give me the map.”
“So you can run off and get killed?” 
“I won’t get killed.”
“How’s that?”
“You and Joel showed me how to survive.”
“And anyone can get a lucky shot in. I mean, Christ, look at Tommy, a bullet through the head should’ve killed him.”
“But he’s still alive. And so are you. I don’t want anyone else to almost die because of me.” you can hear the slight crack in her voice.
You know you could keep doing this with her. Going in circles. Your own spiral.
But, you’ve drained yourself.
So, you stand up, and take the map out of the bag. 
You see Dina peak from around the corner, but you’re quick in your eyes going back to Ellie, who is watching you, eyes glassy, and tense.
You approach her, and put the map into her hand, “I love you, Ellie. Far as I’m concerned, you’re my blood,” you grab her face in your hands, “You always will be, ok? But, if you do this, I won’t be here when you get back.”
Either timeline her brain cooks up as to that meaning scares her.
“Ok,” she says, even as her voice wobbles and tears threaten to fall. She takes the map and goes to her bag. You hear her sniffle from the kitchen.
You turn to Dina, and knock your head to the kitchen. She goes down. You sit on the chair in the living room as they share a goodbye.
Dina then comes back, you hug her. You hear the back door close. Ellie seemingly didn’t want to confront you again.
“What…what happens now?” Dina asks you in hiccups.
You kiss her head, “well, I’m gonna get some supplies from Jackson, and go back to my little home.”
“Can you…can you help me move some things back there, please?”
You hug her a bit tighter, “course, kiddo.”
“Thank you,” she says as you pull apart.
You smile down at her, “you’re family,” is all you say.
The three of you head to Jackson, you help Dina set up in her room. 
“Thank you. I mean it. Please visit, that’s all I ask. Don’t do that other way out. Please.”
You sadly smile at her, “I’ll do my best on the last part. I’ll swing by, though. Promise.”
“Ok…ok,” she hugs you again.
“I think you would’ve liked my sister,” she says, voice muffled by her shirt.
“Bet I would’ve,” you agree.
You go back to your tent; luckily, nothing has happened to it. 
You go on a hunt and start skinning your deer. You hear a twig snap, and a quiet “shit” from the person you know who broke it.
You continue skinning, then start cooking. Ellie takes a seat on the log.
You look at her, seeing her casual clothing, and that she’s missing two fingers.
You don’t say anything. She watches you, eyes going to the fire every so often, fingers playing with themselves. 
Wordlessly, you hold out a small cup of water. She takes it, and drinks from it, before handing it back to you.
It is then replaced with some meat.
She eats, then looks back to the water.
She feels something hit her feet. Looking down, she sees a sleeping back. Looking back up, she sees you trying to do another tent. 
She finishes her food, and approaches you, “I’ve got it,” her voice quiet, drained, hurt.
You don’t look at her as you go with your own food. 
“Can you help me, please?” she asks. You pause, putting your food back into the bowl, before getting up and helping to finish her tent.
“Thank you,” she says. You nod, before finishing your meal.
You then set up your sound traps.
“Is that like Bill’s?” she asks.
“Yup,” you answer.
“Cool,” she says.
You just nod.
Once they’re done, you retire to bed yourself.
Ellie stays up, just looking at the fire, then down at her fingers that can no longer play the guitar.
She goes into her tent. The bed isn’t too uncomfortable. Yet she’s still restless.
She hears you snore a bit from the tent diagonal from her.
She shuts her eyes. In her mind’s eye is one of you, her, and Joel having a snowball fight. It’s nice. Warm. Fuzzy. Happy.
You have a dream of Sarah. Of one time of you both comforting each other after a sad film, just holding each other and crying. It’s sad but comforting. 
The dream changes, Ellie comes and sits next to you, and a new movie starts: Curtis and Viper 2.
You all pull up the shared blanket.
It’s a dream, you know that.
Yet you find comfort in it.
It drowns out what’s actually happened. What’s actually been lost.
The illusion will shatter as soon as you wake, as it always does.
But you hope you can dream a bit longer.
Escape the broken bonds you have to go back to at some point.
The sad existence you live.
The emptiness you feel.
The one your sister has too.
Maybe you can overcome it, one day.
But you both know that day is far away.
And it terrifies you both…
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heard-nsfw-is-back · 5 months
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oh my God healthy mother alert
Cw: hateful speech (homophobic, classism, cheating parents, ableist rhetoric ie learning in a classroom setting) it's not healthy but for once I wrote about a good mother son relationship. Don't worry I'll make it up next time😌
Steve and Eddie come back late from a date and unfortunately Steve's parents' car is there in the driveway. Steve feels so fucking cold and Eddie takes a deep breath and looks to him. "Wait here." Steve says, holding up a hand. He already knew Eddie was willing to come with him. At Eddie's face, Steve smiles, warm but terrified. "I'd rather deal with them alone. Don't worry sweetheart, keep the car warm." He winks and slides out the car, keeping it running just in case.
Eddie is sitting in the dark, minutes drag by and his legs are getting tired from bouncing around. Eventually Eddie sucks his teeth. "Fuck it." He climbs out of the car, careful to leave the door open in case they need to run. Or worse, walk slowly and hold themselves together. Steve was always talking about how exhausting his parents are. A nice way of saying they sucked, as far as Eddie's emotional translator was concerned.
He walked up to the house, carefully and quietly. Not that it would have done any good, he could hear Steve's father from outside. "....enough that it's a man but does it have to be that man? He's a fuck up in school Steve. He can't even graduate, it's just memorizing answers at this point he can't even do that right!" Well fuck. Ow. Eddie pantomimed pulling a dagger from his heart, trying not to giggle. Weak sauce insults were a dime a dozen. He's heard worse from 12 year old girls. Steve made a disgusted sound. "Dad you only got your first job because your father blew the old boss. We all know it." Eddie's knees almost gave out. Fuck his baby knew how to take it AND give it. "Besides, whenever I asked you for help you always told me to ask mom. Looks like you need a refresher, huh? And anyways it doesn't take a genius to make coffee you said? You broke the first two coffee makers I bought you for Christmas!"
Eddie was going to rawdog Steve the second he got his hands on him. Maybe he could convince him to do it on the driveway. Steve's dad interrupted Eddie's frankly fantastic imagination. "All we ask is for you to do well enough to get in the business and take over. Get a wife. Hell we'll find you one! But you have to go after that sick murderer! We're doing this for your own good. For the family's good." Steve scoffed. "If you have a shit about my well-being you should have been here instead of banging your secretary. Family good, my ass." Eddie grinned and made a face. Fuck Steve was so hot when he was being mean.
From this angle he could see both Steve and his dad look over at a woman that frankly, was far to gorgeous to be married to that guy. She held up a hand and Eddie swallowed another laugh, Steve looked just like her. "I've heard enough. I've just had a 12 hour flight. I've been wearing shoes that would make Madonna cry in sympathy. I'm tired and I don't want to hear anymore. Steve." And his baby looked seconds from crying. "Steve did I ever tell you I had a girlfriend in high school?" WHAT? WHAT? HUH? EXCUSE ME? Eddie's jaw broke off and bounced somewhere over where Steve's must've. "Mom. What? Like a girl space friend or a." At this Steve made a wiggle with some finger scissor. Eddie took it back, he was going to teach Steve some decorum on the driveway.
His mother just smiled. "Sweetheart I would never get mad at you for dating who you wanted. Besides I know about the secretary. Who do you think told me?" At this she made a sly wink and Eddie was going to eat out two Harringtons in his life or his name isn't Edward Munson. Joking. Mostly. Steve's father was fit to burst. "But dear, our boy is shacking up with the Munson boy! It's just not right!" His mother snapped her finger and both men stood up straight. Interesting, good to know Steve can be obedient, Eddie thought. He had to learn how to snap though.
"I've heard your complaints, dear." The word dear coming out more like a mocking thing rather than endearing. "I'm refusing to hear them. I won't have our boy, our son, trapped in some worthless, emotionless well like ours. Steve as far as I'm concerned, you're fine. All is well." She pointed at her husband. "Don't make me disgrace you with a formal divorce." She snapped when it looked like he was going to protest. "The fact that I still have your last name is vile enough, I have enough stakes in the company to keep me well fed, I will do it. And I'll take your pretty little secretary with me."
Steve looked proud, intrigued, and a little grossed out. "Mom I really. Really don't want to hear about your sex lives." At this, she looked a little considerate. "You're right. It's inappropriate. Anyway, go bring your boyfriend in, that concrete can't be good for his knees." They all looked up and Steve smiled. Eddie had hid his upper body well behind some plants but the entire lower half of his body was out to see. He waved his fingers and walked in. "Uh. Hi. Hi, Steve's mom. Steve's dad." His mother looked amused and Steve was smiling, clear adoration in his eyes. His father looked. Embarrassed. Good.
"I'll skip the small talk. If my son comes to me upset in any way, and I find out you had anything to do with it, nothing, no one, and nowhere would keep you safe from me. Understand?" Steve's mom leaned back, looking relaxed and regal all at once. "Yes ma'am." Eddie promised. "You better graduate." Steve's dad interjected. "Can it." Steve threw back. And he took Eddie's hand. "Come on." He dragged Eddie back out to the car. "You can't have a boner in front of my parents dude." Steve hissed when they sat in. "Oh shit." Eddie murmured and Steve's head hit the steering wheel.
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1d1t0t1c-g0at-b01 · 2 months
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Do you get to choose who you can adopt or can you adopt just anyone? Even if their an anon
I adopt everyone, even if their just an anon
When I was 11, my friend, who was like 9 at the time, didn't have good parents or a good home life, so to make them feel better, I let them call me mom/dad, and whenever they would tell me they accomplished something I would always say "Good job! I'm so proud of you Kiddo!" even if it was something simple like them actually eating
I am so dedicated to being the mother to people who don't have a good home life/good parents that I even adopted a 17 year old when I was 13 cause he was being treated shitty by his parents
One of the kids from my middle school had the worst parents, and I cared for them so much, I promised when I get a house I will try my fucking hardest to get that kid out of that home, he is trans(ftm) and his family is transphobic and homophobic but we don't tolerate that shit in my fucking household
I promised him that and I intend to keep that fucking promise.
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Text
Live Reading: The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
Some initial (spoiler-free) observations for now:
1.) desperately missing the style of publication from twofs and tbs, book covers that come off are my biggest opp
2.) Edward Cullen lookin ass cover I kinda love it
3.) absolutely love the fact that The Bedlam Stacks is officially part of the Watchmaker series even though Mori is in like 3 scenes, he’s so powerful
Off the bat, it's really interesting to see the way January interacts with what is our present like it's something ancient. The way he describes the "ruins" of London and various places around that people today may even live in, as if it's centuries old. Idk what year this takes place in but I feel like it's going to be like 2030 or some shit lmao
I already read the leaked chapter so I'm just going to skip it, all in all though I like January so far. He's a little less...I don't want to say compelling, but he doesn't have as much of a distinctive personality off the bat as Valery or even Flint, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Plus he's like. Actively in crisis, so I'm going to give him a pass
He does have the gen Z tendency for nihilism tho, moreso than the other mc's, and I really like it
Oh wait no he's not even gen Z he's like. Gen Theta??? This is farther into the future than I thought, which is good bc it was a lil depressing to think it was this close to the present and everything was flooded (I mean we're still boned but I was expecting the time period to be like. A very likely 2027 or something.)
I honestly really like the way January isn't content with the small things in his life that make him miserable like the other mc's. He's a Complainer. He's literally me-
"It was fine as icing sugar." ??? Girl are we getting some freaky future ghost shit again??? Please???
I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T DO THIS I CAN'T-
MORI AND DAUGHTER??? I'M GOING TO PASS AWAY-
I will be crying about this forever
Six taking over the shop but keeping her dad's name attatched...BEING CANON??? We STAY winning
"There are moments when you come so close to another future you can taste the air in the courtroom." GIRL SHUT THE FUCK UP RESPECTFULLY I'M ABOUT TO START SCREAMING-
Wait these exoskeleton things sound cool as fuck, I wonder how hard it would be to make one for cosplay purposes??? Probably pretty tricky (and knowing myself I would never finish it) but it still seems really fun to make
Damn he's really scared of not wearing that thing, my poor baby :((( ugh I really do like him a lot so far
Ohhh wait I thought wearing the suit was to protect him, not to protect others??? I misread
But he's still really that scared of hurting anyone else :((( he's my baby I've decided
I feel like I'm not going to like Gale much off the bat bc they're going to be rude to him, but I'm sure I'll grow to like them more. I mean I didn't much care for Shenkov off the bat but I adore him now so
Not to get Prentious-English-Major-y, but it seems like a running theme in this book is getting over the shame of taking up space in the world. January is constantly being reminded that he needs to stay in his place and not cause trouble for others, and it's so engrained into him that he can't help but panic over a simple mistake that could've been corrected with a gentle warning. But it also wasn't a gentle warning; the guy in the elevator fucking yelled at him!!! Immediately!!! I get the notion that it was a matter of safety for him, but January was far away from and couldn't have possibly hurt him, and he still yelled. Coming from the lense of a queer man, it's very reflective of the homophobic idea that queer people can't even be trusted in public because they're "sexual deviants" and the like, or even going back to the 80s when people thought that AIDS was transmitted through just skin-to-skin contact. Idk. Food for thought.
Honestly??? The way his thoughts keep circling back to the way everyone was horrified of him on the elevator is the most accurate way I've ever seen someone describe anxiety attacks
What tf is up with the pink elephants??? New tattoo idea just dropped???
Ooo interesting monetary system for the trains. I went into Boston to get my copy and they started doing a similar thing on the green line (the only train system that runs above ground, so they can't really stop people from not paying to get on) and it kind of reminds me of that. It's definitely not that similar, but it's enough that I made the connection
Creepy Government Programs Meant To Completely Cripple Minorities Just So They Can Access Slightly Worse Basic Rights They Should Already Have...totally not realistic...haha...not at all...
Only a year??? January...buddy...you've been here for 600 days...
Oh wait no I just looked it up, a year on Mars is actually about 687 days, nvm, fuck me I guess
The whole conundrum of naturalizing vs just using the cage is vvv interesting, and is also reminiscent of the way disabled people are encouraged by society (and warned by medical professionals) to undergo drastic surgeries to cure their disability
Damn so going on the train cost him a half hour of work??? That's kinda nuts. Although if it's a longer distance train it's not as bad, but it seems like it just went from one part of the city to the other
Oh??? Hello??? He has a crush on his boss??? Honestly she sounds like a milf I don't blame him-
I feel like the release button of his suit being over his heart is going to be important and dramatic and it's going to make me cry
Idk how to word this properly but like. January being motivated to eat more and train for ballet again bc he's just overall happier with Gale may just (happily) destroy me, the same way tlfop describes Thaniel getting a lot stronger over the course of four years bc he's eating more and started boxing and that, but I feel like it'll be different bc him being married to Gale will offer him the privilege to do that kind of thing while others aren't awarded the freedom
The group physical therapy before work is kinda nuts, we should honestly do that at my job too
Honestly the way they're describing these work suits is kind of a serve, especially with the cool skeleton lookin thing around it, that would make such a fun cosplay
Senator Gale in the mix too!!! Vvv excited, even though I know January is going to do some fuckshit on tv with them
I KNOW January is pretty af I know it in my soul
"Great power to be had from ogling." I'm love Val sm-
Love that she included how to pronounce Mx bc it always throws me for a loop. Also...McWang??? Girl-
I really do not know what I expected from the woman who managed to get the word "octopussy" in three of her books
"...so that he wouldn't think about how much he would have loved to see someone shove Audrey bloody Gale off a cooling tower." DAWG-
He really fuckin hates them wow, their public persona must suck
Oh also random thought I forgot to include a bit earlier, but is it like. Genuinely illegal to assume people's gender in this society??? That's kinda based actually. Fox News would have a field day. "ThIs Is CoNfIrMaTiOn Of ThE fUtUrE tHeSe LiBeRaLs ArE lOoKiNg FoR." Ugh I hope someone shows them, that would be fucking hilarious (obviously no one should tho bc I sincerely believe there are some idiotic people who would start sending Natasha death threats over it and I don't want that).
"...and do everyone a favour by turning immediately into goo." Jesus fucking Christ dude-
I hope January beats the shit out of some of these people I really do-
Hehe puffweens
Ooo the Mars citizens fashion seems fun
"Thirteen year olds were, of course, terrifying monsters..." thirteen year olds are extremely lame when you get to know them but I do get the anxiety (I say as someone who worked with them for over 5 years)
He doesn't want to scare anyone :(((
First he's comparing Gale to the devil, and now he's saying they look like a god??? Make up your mind dude
"He followed the news like a bloodhound when it came to Gale." My good bitch you are so definitely into them-
The fact that Val has to bribe January with chocolate to not throw a brick at Gale is so...I'm love them so much
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bitacrytic · 1 year
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Do you think Vegas would have been just as much a coward when it came to his dad? I mean if it came down to the choice of Pete and gaining his dad's love, don't you think Vegas would have thrown Pete away just like that too? I am not saying he won't despair over it. That for the rest of his life it wouldn't have been a sore spot- but isn't cowardice that you accuse Kinn of, there in Vegas too?
They're both cowards when it comes to their fathers. No doubt. But it's not to the same degree.
Vegas was holding a whole sting operation without his father's knowledge. Something that he instilled in Ken as so important that Ken would rather die than disclose.
Vegas had Tawan sequestered off somewhere, regardless of the fact that his violent father, unlike Korn, was a homophobic piece of shit.
Now, regarding their fathers and their boyfriends. I'll give two examples that sum up each man's ability to think for himself.
In the beginning of Kinn's relationship, while he was falling in love, after he'd slept with a drugged Porsche, Kinn was asked to do something about Porsche's behaviour. Even while knowing that Porsche was targeted because of him. Keep in mind that this is Kinn who is supposed to be the "better" cousin. But when his father gives him that lecture, he runs to go punish Porsche.
On the other hand, in the beginning of Vegas' relationship, even before he saw Pete as a human being, while he was torturing Pete and contemplating how to break him, Kun commanded Vegas to kill Pete. Vegas didn't. And he wasn't even in love with Pete. He didn't care about Pete. His father gave him an order and Vegas just ignored it in favor of doing his own thing.
Let's not forget, that Vegas went to war with the main family and warned every single one of his men to NOT shoot Pete. He didn't have to explain anything to them. He didn't have to go and hold a conference with his father and brother and EXPOSE A RELATIONSHIP THAT WAS MEANT TO BE PRIVATE. He just gave an order. Kinn couldn't even protect Porsche WITHIN his organisation, without exposing their relationship to his father. Which Porsche wasn't ready to do. So, once again, in favor of his father's grace, Porsche was put in another awkward position.
Yeah, both guys are cowards in the sense that they're choosing to have a family feud over something that's between their fathers. They're adults, but still afraid to step away, outrightly.
But the difference is that Vegas is independent. He has been shown to think for himself. Even when it didn't concern romance or anyone else. Long before he met Pete, Vegas has been thinking for himself.
Kinn, however, has been an "obedient" son. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, except for the fact that he keeps using that obedience as an excuse to get in Porsche's good graces. There's nothing wrong with doing your father's bidding. It becomes irritating if you do it, then go visit your boyfriend and claim to not like your father's actions. Only to turn around and embrace your father again and obey him.
Vegas has never once said, "my father made me do it." He's done fucked up shit, but it's been his decision. Ever since he fell in love with Pete, we haven't seen him have to choose between his father and Pete. Now his father is dead and immortalised as a martyr in his head. But we already know that Vegas has the potential to do go against Kun.
We've seen him do it.
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jasontoddsmommyissues · 10 months
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My personal headcanons about Eddie’s dad that the book may end up contradicting but at this point idgaf
Warning: Mentions of child abuse, loss of a parent, homophobic language
Masterlist
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Feat young Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Al Munson
-He’s Wayne’s younger brother. Both their parents passed when they were young adults, so Wayne always felt obligated to look out for him, which was a lot easier said than done because Eddie’s dad has always been pretty wild.
-I assume the Munsons aren’t originally from Indiana, since Wayne’s accent definitely isn’t Midwestern. In my mind, Eddie’s dad was a little bit of a drifter that rolled into Hawkins one day when he was like 24 or so and started seeing Eddie’s mom (who was like 18 and freshly out of high school at the time) with the intention of moving on in a few months and forgetting all about her.
-Instead she winds up pregnant, and he definitely isn’t interested in settling down and raising a family, but Wayne ultimately talks him into doing the right thing and marrying her.
-Eddie’s dad was never really cut out for family life. He hated being stuck in Hawkins, and has always resented Eddie because of it. When Eddie’s mom was alive, he was pretty absent, always going out drinking or committing petty crimes, hopping from job to job, probably seeing other women behind his wife’s back.
-Then his wife died and he was suddenly the sole parent responsible for a kid he never wanted in the first place. Those few years where Eddie was living with just his dad were pretty rough.
-A non exhaustive list of shit Eddie’s dad put him through at the time:
When Eddie’s mom first died, his dad would want to go out drinking, so he’d just put little grade school Eddie in his car and have him sleep there in the parking lot of whatever dive he was hanging out at. (Eventually he gave up on this and just started ditching Eddie at home)
He hated spending money on Eddie. They barely had any to begin with, and the priority with what they did have was always booze and cigarettes. There were nights that Eddie went to bed hungry because his dad didn’t bother buying any food for him. Most of Eddie’s clothes and shoes were old and ill fitting because he wouldn’t bother replacing them.
Even when he wasn’t out drinking, he was neglectful of Eddie. He rarely put in effort to make sure he was properly taken care of. Eddie would come to school covered in dirt because his dad never made him take a bath, his clothes often went long periods of time without washing etc. His peers would often pick on him because of it, and at the time he didn’t have D&D or anything to fall back on.
Eddie’s dad had a nasty temper, and no matter how much Eddie tried, he’d always end up doing something to anger the man. He’d scream at and berate Eddie, and sometimes get physical. He’d also take this opportunity to throw their situation into Eddie’s face. He’d say Eddie was a burden, how he was unwanted and how it was his fault his mom was dead.
I’m a big Eddie has ADHD truther, and I’d imagine this was a point of contention between him and his dad. ADHD wasn’t really known back then, so his dad would just chalk his symptoms up to him being “dumb”. Eddie would struggle with school work and his dad would tell him he was just stupid and that he shouldn’t bother because it’s not like he’d ever amount to anything.
He made Eddie keep his hair buzzed. If Eddie expressed interest in growing it out he’d say stuff like “long hair is for women and f*gs”
-At some point, when Eddie was middle school age, his dad finally got arrested for something that came with serious jail time. He wouldn’t be out until Eddie was at least 18, so their options were either for a relative to take him or he’d end up in the system. Of course Wayne didn’t hesitate to take the boy in, and the rest is history.
-Wayne has forgiven his brother for a lot of the shit he pulled, but one thing he can’t ever forgive is the way he treated Eddie. It took a little while of living with Wayne before Eddie came out of his shell, all thanks to the abuse his father put him through.
-Wayne does still communicate with his brother though, sometimes talks on the phone and even goes to visit every once in a while. Eddie on the other hand doesn't. He has no interest in a relationship with his father and Wayne isn’t going to force it on him.
-Eddie’s dad dropped out of high school at 16. Part of the reason Eddie’s so insistent on graduating is because he doesn’t want to be like him.
-But of course, even with all Eddie’s efforts, it’s still hard to escape the shadow of his father’s reputation. People have always assumed that Eddie is just a no good delinquent like his father. They were even more convinced when Eddie started getting into “immoral” activities like D&D and metal music (never mind the fact that Eddie’s dad didn’t like either of those things).
-Overall, Eddie’s dad is just super bitter and jealous of his son. He’d never admit it to anyone, not even himself, but deep down he hates that he threw his life away and now he’s rotting in prison; he wants to see Eddie end up the same way because the thought of his son being a better person than him upsets him.
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