#I did not see Barbie and I never will but I cannot imagine she was doing anything Oscar worthy

[rigginsstreet]

Idk why yall upset about Margot being snubbed lily Gladstone is taking the award anyway

[koolades-world]

Demons and Humans not understanding each other

Inspired by several other posts I read about this same thing <3 honestly even if the brothers insisted it was safe, I would consult Satan, Lucifer or Barbatos

this is mostly mammon freaking out

Humans think the deadliest things are like, adorable, like Cerberus. Mammon especially does not understand why Mc wants to run towards the very dangerous, very mad three headed dog. A few times he has had to throw Mc over his shoulder to keep them from staying behind

“MC CERBERUS BEING THE BEST BOY DOES NOT JUSTIFY HIS ACTIONS HE WANTS TO KILL US”

“But he’s so cute! He just needs a snuggle buddy”

Humans can also be very stubborn if they’re too hot or cold but refuse to admit it. It’s fine with Lucifer does it because he’s one of the most powerful and therefore resilient demons in Hell, but not so much when Mc does it. Beel and Mammon love playing in the Devildom snow, but given that it’s the Devildom, it’s definitely a lot colder than it is in the human realm. Even after ten layers, Mc is still freezing but refuses to admit it.

“Mc, are ya shivering? I thought ya would be too warm under all that”

“I’m sweating with this one jacket”

“I’ll live! Let’s go back to the snowman”

“no I don’t think you will”

On the same note, sometimes demons forget humans can’t withstand crazy temperatures. Asmo will invite Mc to a popular bathhouse, sauna or hot springs, forgetting that the temperature would literally boil Mc alive

“Hey Asmo this is the place you wanted to go, right?”

“Yes! Isn’t is cute?”

“Everything except the part where I boil alive”

“what!”

Some foods can kill humans just by being near them so imagine how the brother would feel when they learned this, it’s giving that lunatic pudding incident with Diavolo from that one card

“Mc! You’ll love this. Open wide!”

“Asmo I feel funny”

“DO NOT FEED MC THE TAKEOUT LUCIFER SAID ITS DEADLY FOR HUMANS IN LARGE AMOUNTS”

“FUCK NOT AGAIN”

In retrospect, humans probably sleep a lot compared to demons. Some demons probably don’t sleep at all, except Sloth demons. Setting aside about eight to nine hours of the day just to sit idly might not make sense to them until they learn they will shut down without it

“How are you feeling about the exam we just took? Exam week is finally over.”

“Mc? Mc, Satan is talking to you. Why are you on the floor”

“MY HUMAN IS DEAD”

“No, I think they’re just asleep idiot”

“oh. wait, THEYRE ASLEEP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HALL lucifer is gonna kill me”

I’d say both demons and humans are social creatures, but humans will go insane without social interaction. Yeah a demon would probably be upset if they didn’t talk to someone for thousands of years but I don’t think a human could last more than ten without losing grip on reality. Humans tend to copy each other, which is probably bizarre to demons. Humans don’t even understand yawning so demons definitely won’t

Going back to the food thing, demons can probably go ages without eating, besides Gluttony demons. Humans need to eat so frequently compared to them

“So you’re tellin’ me that if Mc doesn’t eat for a whole week, their insides start to eat themselves?!”

“Yes. But, Mc ate a few hours ago.”

(Mammon was already gone when Satan turned back around)

Demons probably also play game that would definitely kill humans. My brother and I used to play crazy games when we were little (our favorite game didn’t have a name but we would put Barbies in the toy train tracks and see what would happen when different Thomas and friends character would hit her. The train tracks would glow in the dark! I did not let him put my favorite doll in the train track and he had to listen since I was the older one, she was not a barbie and had bendy feet? that’s not for now) but we never seriously got at each other throats. I cannot imagine what games demons and demon children must play. Satan was born fully grown but imagine if he was born little and the brothers had to play his favorite games with him. I feel like they would find the Barbie game I played a little weird too. Like, they would probably tell me that I should’ve done it in real life since that would be better experience or something batshit like that

“Aww, Satan, do you remember all the times we played “Five minute eye stab” with Lucifer? You were so cute. Sometimes I think Luci let you win.”

“Do not talk to me Asmodeus.”

“I’m sorry, you played what?”

“One time we gave him an actual knife by accident and since he was good, he ended up stabbing Lucifer’s eye.”

“You’ll be next if you don’t shut up and let me read”

“HE WHAT”

“Oh he’s fine now, clearly. Only took him a few hundred years to regain normal eye functions”

“Can we not talk about this anymore?”

Babe it is a miracle Mc is still alive

[thebardisabird]

this is the first request ive ever made, but how would the boys react to a classic Bimbo reader? with classic blonde hair, pink clothes, expensive bags and nails, stuff like that😭 this may be a bit strange so dont answer if you dont wanna, i was just curious. thank you so much lmao 😭

We know her, we love her, she’s that girl!

So Osomatsu immediately goes gaga for you. I’m talking heart eyes, drooling, unable to think coherent thoughts kind of enamored. From your pretty long eyelashes, to your super short mini skirt to pink boot heels - he can’t seems to pick a spot where he wants to look! Every single inch of you sings sex appeal and he’s listening very intently. He knows he definitely cannot afford you tho - so he might pull off the same stunt he did for Chibimi and just about sell his soul to get a date with you. (Honestly when I think of all the characteristics you describe matched with Oso I think of @girlymatsu ‘s oc Erina-chan who is super cute and fun, please check them out, you can tell they put a lot of love in their art and you'll absolutely love their oc)

Karamatsu sees your fashion sense and instantly wants to be the Ken to your Barbie. You have this it girl factor that draws him in and with the sway of your hips and the wink of your pink, glittery shadowed eye, he’s completely under your spell. If you so choose to give him the time of day, he pays you compliment after compliment, and will take you out on a date to get coffee or a nice meal depending on what you’d like. If we’re talking about a classic bimbo trope where you’re a little on the less well-read side, then he might find it cute that you don’t really know how to pronounce some of the words of the meals or coffee drinks and he’ll try to use the opportunity to teach you some fancy words. You actually find his poses and flowery speech kinda funny, because he sounds like a poem out loud.

Choromatsu has no idea how you're even talking to him right now. He's seen you plenty of times and never ever imagined you would even say two words to him other than like... "Excuse me" if he was standing in your way. You are so far removed from all the things that encompass his life. Yet when you tell him that his favorite has super cute outfits and that you were thinking about becoming one yourself because you love the idea of all the glitz and glamour it brings, he short-circuits. You're already so gorgeous, to think of you being in cutesy outfits and dancing around? And he's allowed to talk to you? Associate with you??? The man is ready to die happy. But not as happy as when you dress up in his favorite idol's outfit - only it looks ten times better on you because your bigger chest and ass. While you don't exactly understand his love for anime, manga, and other more nerdy things, you humor him because he's just so cute when his little froggy face lights up the way it does!

Ichimatsu is intimidated entirely by you and will actively go out of his way to avoid you. You are like a beacon of light far too bright and undeserving for him to ever even get close to. Luckily for him, you notice one day that he's looking into the window of a cat cafe and you finally tap him on his shoulder and ask about whether he likes cats or not. It takes about everything he has not to throw up on the spot, but he is seriously questioning his life and whether or not some god above is about to smite him. You try to explain to him that you actually really love kitties as you point to your kitten paw choker and show him your baby pink matching kitten paw nails. At some point he realizes that you're not fucking with him and he slides out of fight or flight mode and into general nervousness. It takes a while before you can actually get him to speak (you're literally such a bombshell against his disheveled-ness, he feels very grateful that he's conscious enough to give you short answers instead of fainting like his body wants him to), but you eventually give him your number. When you part ways, then he slumps to the ground, but with the tiniest of smiles on his face.

Jyushimatsu actually makes you nervous. It's very clear that you're super attractive and bubbly, but there is a genuine sweetness to him that makes him stick out from all the other meatheads who try to normally get your attention. The yellow clad matsu isn't very subtle about staring at you and your appearance, but you honestly don't mind it when he says things like "Your hair reminds me of the sun!" or "You look like a pretty pink cloud today, haha!" The guy is just so adorable it makes you giggle. And when he smiles right back (even bigger than his usual grin), it makes you blush a bit. You end up leaving lipgloss on his cheeks all the time because you just find him so cute.

Todomatsu can't get enough of you once he gets to know you! You two feed off of each other's cutesy personalities. And since pink is both of your signature colors, you guys end up matching outfits a lot. Though the price to pay with you two being so matchy-matchy is that everyone else literally cannot stand being around you two lol. But that's fine to either of you because you both just chalk it up to them being rude and jealous and you pay it no mind...it's either that dynamic orrrrr you end up hating each others guts because only one of you can be the cutest in Akatsuka. Though that scenario ends up in an enemies to lovers situation because even though Todomatsu says he can't stand you - he definitely admits to himself (and only to himself at first) that you are positively gorgeous and the only person worthy of being at his level of pretty in pink.

[justanotherhh]

things about the episode:

I mean, yeah, it's setting up the next stage of the slowburn -- they are now officially no longer together, but they understand one another a little better (and blitzø is getting a sense of what he wants even if he's not ready for it at the moment/may think currently it'll never happen. that is a big step up from "refuses to admit it to himself" from one episode ago), meaning they can go through their stories and meet up again further down the road with more ability to deal with.... some stuff

verosika getting her say has been a want of mine ever since her first appearance, and this really delivered on that (all while prominently showing her crossed-out blitzø tattoo), and it also gave the feeling that maybe this has been catharsis for her, so she can move on from how he treated her

EDIT: also verosika and stolas being pals is good for me personally! we really got some good verosika Stuff here, she saw that awkward bird in the corner and hyped him up and was backup singer to his poprock song and smiled when he got some, what a woman!

if dennis is at this party, then im gonna go ahead and headcanon that some of these guests are fucking hanger-ons who only barely qualify (although clearly many of them aren't)

stolas is someone who... definitely loves blitzø. but is also quite naive and internal, as has been shown. and i think that means that he can't quite understand everything that blitzø is actually saying beneath the things that hurt him, although now a little better than before, and i think going out and getting laid and "feeling wanted" by some other guy/s is probably good for him in order to get out of his own head more

the apology tour highlights were absolutely wonderful, from doing drag at the in memoriam at the awards show, to ms mayberry and martha making it work -- all sorts find each other in hell, eh

im interested in the idea of an apology tour (regardless of how much blitzø "means" any of it until stolas and verosika) in the grand scheme of blitzø actually mending fences -- and trying to mend fences -- with a few characters already. verosika now ofc, but also fizz, and moxxie back in truth seekers, and he did try to reach out to barbie wire. there's clearly some part of him that's trying to make it work in his various relationships and has been growing and changing up until this point (this also includes loona and millie, whom he's attempted to have decent relationships with since the beginning of the show)

generally to me this feels like an episode that'll gain a lot more from where things are going -- it's promising certain things from blitzø and stolas moving forwards, so i think once the rest of the season is out it'll be fun to go back and rewatch it as a part of that arc/see how this set up those next steps (and who knows, maybe we'll get to see verosika again, possibly making out with barbie wire)

cannot believe blitzø thought calling stolas a homosexual in meme-format would work, babe you are floundering (can you imagine what loona, millie, moxxie, and fizz must be making of all of this??????? I wonder if he's told them yet)

[nualaofthefaerie]

Holding Hands

Pairing: Death of the Endless x Wanda

Content: SFW

Type: hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, a little bit of both

Content warnings: death (what a surprise)

Author's note: I wrote this in haste. I was entirely possessed by the concept so I rushed to write. Death x Wanda are my top wlw ship and I hope you all will see my vision.

It felt rather numb.

Wanda had always imagined death to be painful - stabbing through one’s soul, tearing at it, then gnawing it until there was nothing left. Life had certainly made her believe so. And death was supposed to be far worse.

In life she had to forge a path for herself, by herself. No one really gave her another choice and she certainly was not going to give those she left behind the satisfaction of complaining. Although she probably should have done so. If she had shouted, if she had resisted, created a mess, they would have had no other choice but to acknowledge her existence.

“Ts.” Her tongue clicked as she hovered over her aunt, crying through gritted teeth. “As if you ever cared.”

It was utterly grotesque to watch all of these people who had decided to burn their bridges with her, now mourn over her grave.

“That’s not even my grave!” she threw her hands in the air. “Alvin Mann is who you assholes are grieving!”

“I do not think they can hear you.”’

Wanda had indeed imagined death to be painful. But she was beautiful. She had a warm smile on her face and an awfully every day New Yorker look about her. The weather was nothing less but suffocatingly hot, yet Death wasn’t even sweating in her leather ensemble.

“I know you, yet I am sure we’ve never met.” Wanda’s brows gathered at the tips.

“We have.” Death laughed. “We have met so many times, Wanda. You are a rather reckless one.”

Wanda retreated back into the green fields away from her own funeral. No, Alvin’s funeral.

“Well, I do not remember you then.”

“Of course.” The tiny wrinkles around Death’s eyes raised and Wanda’s heart, although now certainly dead, skipped a beat. For all that had changed throughout the years the one thing that never truly did was Wanda’s affinity for falling in love with women out of her league. She’d reckon Death was at the top of that list. “Back at the Marquee a few years ago, in that bathroom-“

Wanda’s heart sank. She remembered the night at the Marquee well. Barbie had left for a few days and without her constant supervision, the anxiety had gotten the better of her and Wanda had fallen into old habits, habits she wasn’t particularly proud of.

“They said I was supposed to be dead then, you know.” Wanda sat down in the grass.

“You were.” Death nodded, sitting next to her. “I was supposed to take you away that night.”

“Do you do that for all of us? Take us away?”

“Well, I am a notoriously hard worker.” Death laughed, pulling out a pair of Ray Ban sunnies. “But yes, I try to be there for all of you. If I cannot, I have a small, but diligent group of helpers and subsets of my existence that will take care of any abnormalities…” she stopped mid sentence, turned her head to one side and laughed again. “Except a few special abnormalities. The universe can become a bit boring if we are all to constantly play by the rules, which is why I took you to the hospital instead of taking you with me. You were not completely gone then, so I was presented a choice and I took it.”

“Why?” Wanda interrupted her.

“Why not?” Death’s chin rose to the skies, satisfied with her vague answer.

“I died anyways.” Wanda shrugged.

“We will all die anyway.”

“Even you?”

“Well…I think so, yes.” Death’s booth dug into the dirt, but she kept looking at Wanda. The dead girl

“And who will take you?”

“You are a very nosy one, do you know that?”

Wanda tried picking up a flower but her fingers slipped through it like wind.

“Ha. Yeah, I do actually. At least Barbie always said that I ask too many questions.” Wanda then grew quiet, looking over the splash of black across the green field. Barbie was nowhere to be seen. Did she even know Wanda had died? Had anyone told the only person who was going to mourn Wanda as opposed to whoever’s body was in that damn coffin, she had died? The sun didn’t feel so warm anymore. “You know I always thought death would be painful.”

“Well, I do try to be gentle with you all. Frankly, I’m not even the scariest one of us all.”

“Us?”

“Not of importance.” Wanda nodded distractedly. She was still thinking about Barbie. “It is not so bad. I have seen deaths with a lot less…turnout.”

Wanda shook her head.

“It’s empty to me.”

“You should not leave this world filled with resentment.” Death’s smile dropped. “It’s not good for you.”

Wanda’s blood boiled at the thought. Her head turned sharply to the beautiful, but cruel Death.

“And how else am I supposed to leave? How else are we supposed to leave? I don’t owe them my forgiveness. They are not even here for me! They finally get to mourn the man they wanted but never got! I bet some of them are even glad I’m dead! They won’t have to give anyone awkward pauses anymore after someone asks them ‘And how is Alvin?’.” her jaw clenched. “And it is not only me! There are thousands, millions of people probably who feel the same as I do – abandoned, lonely, ostracised for nothing more than being ourselves. Yet, I am the one who should bestow them my forgiveness?!”

Death’s silence was deafening. She turned her gaze upon the crowd gathered around the Catholic priest whose voice raised above the hills. Quiet hiccups and sharp whispers carried through the winds all the way to Death’s ears. Her sigh sent a chill through the spine of every living creature.

“You are right.” She said at the end with all the seriousness in the world. “They do not deserve your forgiveness. But if your soul is not restful, I cannot take you.”

“Then don’t.”

“That is worse.” Death grabbed her hand. It was warm. Especially for a ghost. “Listen to me. You need to. Not for them. For you.”

“I can’t.” Wanda whispered. “I can’t just leave and let them win.”

Death kept her rules simple. She was not to get attached by any means to anyone, ever. Morpheus’ romantic frivolities were fascinating to watch, no doubt, but they were nothing she could afford. She was the eldest. She held it together so Destiny could remember. Simple. It was simple. That is how an eternity of existence had passed. Death worked alone. It was not her job to fix humanity, it was her job to observe, to learn and take. Enough cheaters existed already.

“You have to.” She whispered back. “I do not wish for you to feel pain.”

Enough cheaters, indeed. Yet, Death found herself holding Wanda’s hand tightly, her eyes firmly set on Wanda’s that shone in a dashing hazel colour. If she had a heart, the woman’s conviction and will would have certainly made it skip a beat. But she didn’t. Death was self aware enough to recognize attraction. She had very rarely felt it herself, but it was not as if she could ever act upon it. ‘Fucking a ghost is like a therapist fucking their client.’ She thought to herself. Still, her ether was moved.

‘There are enough exceptions. Enough cheaters.’ She was reminding herself like a mantra, hoping it would return her own unwavering principles. It did not. It only made her hold onto the dead woman even tighter (if that was even possible).

Then Wanda jumped, pulling up Death with her.

“Barbie!” Emerging from the pit of black clad mortals, was a woman, holding onto the arm of a man Wanda recognized in an instant. “The Mister!” she shouted, looking at Death. “I know this man.”

“I am sure you do.” Death nodded.

“No. I know him. I worked for him when I died.”

“I know.” Death sighed at the sight of her brother.

Morpheus, gallantly dressed as ever, was accompanying Barbie to the Wanda’s grave. His head turned towards the hill only once. He nodded, silently, as he usually did, then turned and re-engaged in a conversation with Barbie.

“I didn’t know they were acquaintances.”

“They are not. Barbie knows him as much as you know me.”

“Who is he really?”

“My stupid idiot of a brother.” Death turned her head to one side again. Wanda couldn’t tell if she did that when she was curious or agitated.

“So he can see us then?”

“Oh, yes. Even if he doesn’t want to.”

“And Barbie?” she asked, filled with hope, quickly shattered by Death’s gentle shake. “I understand.” The words forced themselves past her lips.

A shout interrupted the solemn conversation. Her aunt was shouting at Barbie, who wore the most outraged look on her face.

“You will not besmirch Alvin’s name with your lies!”

“Her name was Wanda.” Barbie’s shout far surpassed anything Wanda’s aunt could muster. She could always outshout anyone, Wanda smiled remembering all the times she had found that trait annoying. Now it felt more than welcomed. “She was a kind, understanding woman, who had all her life in front of her. She only ever did that stupid job because of you!”

“Now,you-“ the old woman raised her hand, prepared to strike Barbie for all her disobedience, but it never landed.

“I would advise against such displays of unnecessary violence.”

Death’s brother, that weird tall and lanky mister, sounded menacing. Wanda swore he did not sound like that mere days ago. The aunt let go without further fuss. The coffin was slid into the ground, covered with dirt and that was it. The crowd dispersed with no excitement, only exacerbated sighs and puffy from crying eyes.

Wanda could not help but roll her own. Death chuckled, then offered her hand once more.

“Come on. I will re-introduce you to him.”

Wanda took it, no questions asked. She thought she would take it dead or alive. Oh, how much she wished she could tell Barbie about this beautiful woman; the young divorcee would certainly find the story amusing.

“Brother!” Death led Wanda by the hand back down the hill and into the crowd.

“Sister.” His response was far calmer than the excited shout of Death and her waving. “Excuse me, miss Barbara.”

“Of course.” Barbie nodded in both directions, sniffling quietly under her nose.

“Wanda?” Death placed her other hand on her shoulder, but Wanda did not move. She watched as Barbie rubbed her tears away violently, smudging her intricate makeup; fell to her knees, while her white stocking rolled in the dirt; pulled out Wanda’s favourite lipstick – a decade old Mac in bright, bright pink, and with all the love in the world dragged it across Alvin Mann’s name, writing “Wanda” instead. Nothing more, just Wanda.

“I love you.” Barbie’s jaw was clenched, but she continued talking. “You were the closest I had ever had to a soulmate. I still think Ruby might have been a better name, but you loved Wanda too much. So, Wanda, don’t you dare leave me, you hear me?! In spirit, as a ghost, whatever. Don’t leave before I leave.” Barbie got up, dusted herself off and without saying goodbye, left.

Wanda couldn’t bear to look after her, but she did feel anger rise in her.

“I deserve my goodbye.” She turned her head to the Endless.

“You get what everyone gets, dear.” Death smiled quietly. “Nobody ever gets to settle all of their affairs.”

“I am not talking to you.” The curls on Wanda’s head bounced as she turned to the King of Dreaming. “You. I am dead because of you.”

Death barely contained the delightful laugh about to escape her. How full of surprises can a ghost be?

“One does not fare well exploiting me.” Death’s brother looked down upon her. For a moment Wanda felt fear, then remembered she is already dead and there was nothing more that could happen to her anyways. So she put her hands on her hips, looked up and with a silent pout demanded. He looked sternly over his sister. “Will you intervene, sister?”

“No.” Death trailed unsure. She felt herself tapping in waters unknown even to her. “I do not think I will, actually.”

The man sighed.

“Your punishment of me is wholly unnecessary.”

“I am not punishing you, Dream.” Death put her hands in her pockets, intrigued to see where the conversation went.

“Hey. I am still here. Here’s what – you let me say my goodbyes with whatever magic is it you have, and I don’t blame you for the rest of eternity.” Wanda held her own. She imagined the stronger she appeared the easier it was going to be convincing the man of her wishes. “All I want, Dream, is to say goodbye.” She bawled her hands in fists, but still refused to look away.

‘I will not die out quietly. I will not.’ Wanda repeated to herself, time and time again.

“Perhaps, I can offer you a different solution.” Dream began with composure. Death knew what he was about to do. He had the habit of picking up strays and she watched them all grow utterly devoted to him, each in their own way, but they were a loyal, close knitted group. She imagined Wanda amongst them. She didn’t like that thought. Her ether was pricked, she felt it as it twisted and turned in a knot. 

For the first time in a long, long, long time Death felt the universe come out of its axis, as realisations she had hoped to never think of in their entirety clouded her judgement.

“He can offer you a goodbye, but that would be followed by servitude. I…” what was she doing? “I can offer you something better. You don’t want to go yet, do you?”

“Not if it can be helped.”

“It can be. I need…assistance moving souls from one place to another; delivering some messages of fright and finding missing souls.” She did not look at her brother in that moment, but Death certainly felt his almost mocking gaze upon her. ‘He will never let me live this down.’

“Alright.” Wanda nodded with no hesitation, grabbing onto Death’s hand.

“It is not a job for kind people.”

“I think I will fit the role of a mean ghost quite well.” Wanda rushed to lock their arms, giddy. Frankly, she thought Barbie would understand the desire to follow Death into…well, death, but more importantly she wouldn’t have to say goodbye to Barbie quite yet. She could spent her time with the most beautiful, kind woman to exist and love her from afar, even possibly from up close, while waiting for her soulmate.

“I think so too.” Death whispered.

“Very well, then. Where do we begin?”

“I need to bid my brother farewell.”

“Of course.” She unwrapped herself from Death, pointing at the hill. “I will wait for you there, okay?”

“Yeah.” Death nodded.

Wanda ran, while Death remained, her nightly shadow behind her.

“Do not say anything.”

“I do find it especially amusing considering your strict convictions.”

“Morpheus?”

“Sister.”

“Zip it.”

Morpheus offered a coy smile.

“It is a refreshing moment, indeed.”

“Do you feel vindicated?”

“Very much so. Enjoy the misery of these humane feelings you love talking about so much, big sister. You will quickly find out, they do leave scars.” He finished on a sour note.

“Okay, okay. Don’t you have better things to do?”

“Perhaps.”

“Then go.” Death pulled his ear. “Get out of here.”

“Will you not ask me how she died?”

“No. I do not wish to know. I do not wish to be part of this concoction that is you and Delirium. It is too much. Even for me.”

“Very well, then. Good day sister.”

And just like that, he was gone, leaving behind only the ghost of Wanda, who was smiling and waving as if she had been offered a whole new life.

“Come on!”

Death smiled and waved back.

She was perhaps allowed to cheat herself once in a while.

AN: I hope you enjoyed that. I am unsure whether I would do this again, probably not simply because I do wish to keep my blog exclusively about Nuala, however @orionsangel86 offered me kindness in the last week that I am eternally grateful for. So this is my present for them.

[variety-fangirl]

OH MY GODDD HIIII I HAVE AN IDEAAA!!!

I think you are the only active writer on here who writes for Jimmy Keene (I cannot thank you enough for your service ma'am ) so can I request a one shot where the reader and Jimmy are visiting family. The reader has an older brother who has accepted Jimmy (and maybe even play football togheter sometimes) and a younger sister. Now I have a bit of a laugh and a bit of a hard time imagining this BUT the reader also has a younger sister (toddler) who enjoys giving Jimmy "glow ups" or making him watch idk Barbie. Long story short basically Jimmy always goes along with it and yea just a cute little moment and laugh for my imagination :). Hope u like it <3 have a nice day mwahhh

Family Gathering / Jimmy Keene x fem!reader

Summary: Jimmy comes with you to visit your family one weekend, and your little sister has a little too much fun with your boyfriend.

Warning: nothing, just pure wholesome fluff 😁!

Authors note: HI HELLO MY LOVE 😁! I am happy to be of service 🫡 I am glad you are enjoying my stories 🥰 Oh 🥺 I love this idea! 😂 Absolutely, of course! I added an extra family member, I hope that is okay! I am more than happy to fuel your imagination into a story ☺️ Thank you so much for requesting, I hope you enjoy and like what I came up with my love 😘 Have a nice day also sweetheart 💜 mwwwaaahhhh. For anyone wondering, I am going in order of oldest to newest requests, this is the oldest. Thank you for reading, commenting, reblogging, and liking really helps me out! Enjoy ☺️

Word count: 1.035k

You and Jimmy had been dating for two years now, and your family loved him. He had come with you to visit them often and they had become just as attached to him as you had. You were thankful for that. Especially your siblings. You were one of four, your parents had always loved the idea of having a big family, and honestly, so did you. You adored all your siblings, you always had a really good relationship with them all. Your older brother hadn't long turned twenty-eight, your younger brother is fourteen, and your baby sister is two and a half. You were the second eldest. And your younger siblings had immediately become attached to Jimmy, your older brother liked him too.

Your younger siblings had often dragged Jimmy to play with them. Your brother often asked him to play video games or football out back. They had formed a beautiful bond and we're super close, he turned to Jimmy for advice often. And your sister, unwillingly, dragged Jimmy to play dolls, house, dress up, all the typical things you would expect. Jimmy could never resist when she spoke in that cute baby voice and struggled to say words, it pulled at his heartstrings and he would honestly do anything she asked. Which is what led you to today.

You and Jimmy are over at your parent's house for your weekly Saturday night family dinner, you were helping to set the table. Jimmy had gone outside to play football at your brother's request to join, and all three were enjoying themselves and luckily, not getting muddy because the weather was beautiful. You were helping your mother to cook, spending about two hours doing so, whilst your father watched football on the TV. Your baby sister was playing in her playpen with her toys, babbling happily to herself. You heard her mention something about 'a good dolly' and 'make food'. She was obviously learning and watching you and your mother, it was quite adorable.

Honestly, the afternoon couldn't be more perfect if you'd planned it yourself, it was amazing and everything you've always wanted with a partner. Watching Jimmy interact with your brothers was something you absolutely adored, it was so sweet and heartwarming to watch them bond so well with one another like they do. You hear the sound of footsteps coming towards your direction, looking up from the cookies you were making for dessert, you see Jimmy standing in front of you grabbing a drink. Jimmy flashes you his million-dollar smile, adding a wink when he notices you staring and admiring his beauty.

He leans over the counter, avoiding the chocolatey dough everywhere and kisses you. His one hand cups your face tenderly, thumb stroking the soft skin of your cheek. You smile into the kiss before pulling away, having to push Jimmy away because he kept coming back to peck your lips multiple times. You giggle happily, "Go! You're distracting me from my cookies." you fake stern shout, pointing a finger to the back garden. Jimmy chuckles but leaves nonetheless, joining your father on the couch with a beer in hand. You smile as you hear your father greet Jimmy happily, the sound of a hand slapping against a shoulder lets you know he greeted him in his fatherly way with the boys. You were grateful for the closeness of your family's bond with him, it was wonderful.

This was how you loved your evenings, surrounded by family who loved each other and your partner. Your brothers playing football outside, your sister playing with her toys and babbling happily, your mother humming a tune you loved as she manoeuvred around the kitchen with years worth of practice to be perfect at cooking, and your father happily yelling at the TV as he drank a beer with your boyfriend.

Eventually, after three batches of baked cookies and most of the food is done cooking, you take a peek to check on your little sister. You frown when you notice she isn't in her playpen anymore and is also very quiet. At the same moment, your little brother comes into the kitchen for a drink, he and your older brother had come in from paying shortly ago. "Hey little man, where's sissy?" you ask as you pass him a bottle of water from the fridge and place a kiss on his head. He shrugs as he hugs you, "dunno. Went with Jimmy to her room I think?" You nod and then clean your hands before going to investigate where the pair had sneaked off. On your way down the hallway, you hear the familiar sound of your sister's favourite movie, Barbie The Princess and The Pauper. You smile and almost laugh as you hear Jimmy and your sister singing along to the song 'I Am A Girl Like You' one of your personal favourites.

You push the door open gently and lean against the doorframe, almost bursting into laughter as you catch sight of your sister sitting on Jimmy's lap as she plasters his face in pinks, purples, and blues with makeup to match Barbie on the screen. You try to giggle silently but it alerts them both, your sister comes running towards you and pulls you by your hand into the room to join them. You come and sit next to Jimmy, placing a kiss on his cheek with a teasing smile, "you looked absolutely beautiful. Honestly, the best you've ever looked I would say." Jimmy growls, not looking the least bit menacing with pink eyeshadow and overlined pink lips. Your sister points to Jimmy with a little giggle and smiles saying, "Look! Look! Pwetty Jimmy."

You kiss her forehead and fuss her, "he looks so good! Well done sweetheart, high five!" you cheer happily, loving the way she laughs as she high-fives you. Jimmy can't help but smile at the noise, he was a softie for your sister through and through. She had him wrapped around her little fingers, which is how he gets into these situations. "Come here you!" Jimmy growls playfully as he grabs your sister, making her squeal with delight as she gets tickled. Yeah, you loved your boyfriend.

[eleanorbloom]

Which of your characters are seeing Barbie and which are seeing Oppenheimer?

Ooohhh such a great question! And I was so excited to see your ask on my notifications, as I can talk about my babies, so thank you so much for asking, anon  😭❤️

Well, let’s see:

Amelia Rose(CoP) is definitely watching Oppenheimer. She’s a history fan, so obviously would love a good history movie. However, she’ll watch Barbie too, because Trystan needs someone to go to see Barbie for the second time (the first time was with Marguerite). In the end she will love Barbie because the feminist message was deeper than she thought it would be. (I imagine Trystan giving her side looks every five minutes to see if she’s enjoying the movie and be very excited when he hears her cackling with some hilarious scenes, and falling in love even more when he sees from the corner of his eye she's wiping a tear in the emotional scenes).

Eleanor Bloom, (OH, When You’re Ready Universe) is 100% Barbie. She and Bryce bought tickets weeks in advance and had their matching pink outfits ready like a week in advance. People at the cinema will ask him for some photos because he’s a Ken personification lol kinda look like a cosplayer XD and Bryce will be on cloud nine because we know the man loves this level of attention, and Eleanor will enjoy every minute of it because she knows his man’s worth. If her Goldie is happy, she’s happy.  And probably Bryce will act like Ken in the following weeks (spoiler alert: being submissive asf, in a playful, flirty way). In the next few weeks, she’ll probably going to see it again with Sienna or the rest of the gang. The movie has a lot of messages you cannot process with just one watch.

I also think she’ll watch Oppenheimer too, but because Keiki asks her to go with her (I feel like Keiki is a super fan of Christopher Nolan, so she would watch every film from him. She liked Interstellar, but after some time she started to like it beyond all the astronomy thing: she liked the way Nolan tells stories, so she became a fan of all of his work). Keiki would go alone or with some friend the first time, but when she wanted to see it for the second time, she asked Eleanor if she wanted to join her, and Eleanor obviously said yes, because she never says no to alone time with her favorite sis-in-law 💕 but she actually liked the movie because she has liked other of Nolan films before, like Inception, Interstellar and Batman.

Matilde Luna (OH, Moonlight Universe) is an Oppenheimer gal. Will absolutely refuse to watch Barbie because she doesn’t see the appeal of it. Not so much because she’s kinda punk/gothic/dark clothes girl, but because as a child she was never a Barbie girl, more like a baby-doll/taking-care-of -others,/spending-time-in-nature kind of girl. HOWEVER, she will watch it, once it's on a streaming platform. She will watch it alone, won't tell a soul, and will die before admitting to anyone she did it. Unfortunately, as she is a person that usually relate the things she sees on internet, movies, tv shows, etc, to daily life things or work things, at some point she will make a Barbie reference and will expose herself, probably in front of Bryce, much to her disgrace, and she will never hear the end of it lol. She’ll have to admit to Bryce she liked the movie, Bryce will make her to watch it together, and just then Bryce will stop teasing her (just a bit) 🤣

Victoria Spencer( TRR, Drake romancer) is totally going to see Barbie first, and with Maxwell of course. Drake never seemed very hyped about it so she didn’t pressure him about it. Drake was supposed to go to see Oppenheimer alone, because his alone time usually involves being in the nature or watching some movie at the cinema, but when he casually drops the “I suppose you’re not interested in seeing Oppenheimer with me, right?” Victoria just couldn't refuse, even if he was right at saying she wasn’t interested in it. She remembered the thousand of times Drake must’ve pretended to be interested in something she liked, just to be with her, so she had to return the favor, and honestly? Just being with her husband was tempting enough for her. In the end she enjoyed the movie, but specially because it was alone time with her hubby, and he was very happy to go with her 🥰

I know I’ve never published anything about Victoria or TRR but I have some WIPS and headcanons about them, so they’re my characters in some kind of way, so that’s why I added her to this list lol

Thank you again for asking! This was fun. Probably you were expecting some straight answers, but the headcanons just flowed into my mind, so I had to put them into words.

What about you, anon? Did you go to see Barbie or Oppenheimer? What are your thoughts?

I am planning to go to see Oppenheimer during the week, though I wanna watch Barbie again, because, as I said about Eleanor, the movie has a lot of messages that are hard to digest in one watch. I don’t know if I’ll have time for both, but we’ll see.

[jakantakanga]

Men in reality have never cared about women, and even men who claim to be feminist tend to be quite the opposite.

Men treat women in two manners,

1) Pretend to be nice to her, as I’m attracted.

2)I’m not attracted to her, and therefore she deserves to be treated awfully.

1) I, and many other women, cannot tell you the amount of times we’d met a man, had them be nice to us, only for them to confess their “””love””” for us in only 3 days. I had once met a man who came up to me in the library because I had been reading a book he said he enjoyed, only for him to ask for my phone number. The man never once asked my name, and knew nothing about me besides the fact I liked a book he did and that I was from the same island as him, but in only 2 days of knowing him, he sent me a lewd message asking for nudes. Imagine that! When I said no, and that I had a girlfriend, he swiftly blocked me and pretended I had not existed. This has happened multiple times to me, and is a reality of women

2) Men do not even consider the woman they find to be unattractive, human! Growing up, I had struggled with acne, I was/am autistic, and even more so I have always been out as a lesbian. The way in which men referred to and talked to me was cruel, always pointing out my flaws and making fun of my looks, telling me to shut up when I tried to join in on conversation, and even in some cases, calling me slurs. Just not even a month ago a man whom I knew for a long time got extremely mad at me when I questioned a comment he made. His response? He called me a dyke, a “sped bitch” and even threw in my race with more mysoginistic degrading “go eat some rice and beans you border hopping lesbo cunt.” (I wish I was making this up.) And this was the man who criticized me and called me anti-feminist for not being a fan of the barbie movie! Studies have proven time and time again that men do not see women they can’t sexualize as people, and women’s experiences can confirm this.

Stop trying to affirm that men can care for women, stop saying that you know men who are “one of the good ones,” and ask yourself, have you ever met a man who didn’t fit into those two categories?

[gothicemoowl]

Push chapter 2: Soon you'll get better.

Summary:

Title from Taylor Swifts: "Soon you'll get better."

TW: Panic/Anxiety attacks, child slavory,

more at the end to avoid spoilers. Nothing too major, but if you need family or medical related TW, read the end note first. It's right below the story.

"I know delusion when I see it in the mirror

You like the nicer nurses, you make the best of a bad deal

I just pretend it isn't real

I'll paint the kitchen neon, I'll brighten up the sky

I know I'll never get it, there's not a day that I won't try

And I'll say to you

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better

Ooh-ah, soon you'll get better

Ooh-ah, you'll get better soon

'Cause you have to." -Taylor swift, Soon you'll get better.

{IMP, present: }

Blitzø got back to IMP after what felt like forever! Fuckin shit does Stolas love to draw things out.

“Where the hell have you been?” Blitzø heard immediately as he sat down. "We're supposed to be visiting mom in an hour, I almost left without you."

“Relax, Barb. I didn't forget.” Blitzø sighs, can’t just get a second of quiet for fucks sake. “I just had some business to tend to.” 

“Business? What kind of business?” She asks suspiciously. "What did you do?" 

Blitzø sighs. “Look, it's not a big deal…I was taken by Stolas’s guards and I had to smooth things over with him. Okay? It's not that big of a deal."

“Fucking damn it, Blitzø.” Barb says. “Again? You’re an assassin for Satan's sake! You’re supposed to be invisible!”

“Christ on a stick! I am NOT a fucking ninja!” Blitzø argues.

“Uhm. Who’s Stolas?” Loona asks, appearing in the room with Millie.

“Ooo! Is he your boooooyfriend?” Millie teases.

“He’s…no one. Okay? How about that?” Blitzø asks. “Why don’t you three mind your own business for once? I don’t pry into your stupid personal lives!”

Barbie rolls her eyes. "You do that all the time!"

“You totally do that!” Loona says.

"Come on, you kinda do that." Millie says.

Barbie grabs Blitzø's arms and grips them tightly to look at her. “Blitzø, you cannot get involved with that spoiled prince again! You know how you get around him!” She says.

“Prince?” Millie asks. “You dated a prince?!" Millie asks. 

"How is that even possible?" Loona asks.

"Okay- why is that so shocking?" Blitzø asks.

"He's a prince…" Loona says. 

"It's you." Millie says. 

"How the hell did you manage to date a fucking prince? Who is this guy?" Loona asks.

"It doesn't matter because we're not together anymore, okay?" Blitzø asks. "I wouldn't exactly call what we did dating." Blitzø mumbles.

"Just-“ Barb pulled Blitzø to look at her again. “Please tell me you didn't fuck him." 

“Ooooooo~” Millie teases again.

“Gross!” Loona complained. “I don’t want to hear about your sex life!”

"Then don’t ask me about it.” Blitzø says.

“Blitzø!” Barb shouts. 

"I didn't fuck him!" Blitzø says."We only talked. He agreed to let us use the book for work. Isn’t that great?” He asks, forcing some enthusiasm, knowing his sister well, and knowing she’s not gonna like what she’s hearing.

"And why the fuck would he do that?" Barbie asks.

"I don't know…maybe he felt bad for how things ended between us?" Blitzø suggested. 

"It's Stolas." Barbie says. "He doesn't care about anyone except himself." She says.

"He's not a monster, Barb. Just a stupid prince with his head screwed on wrong." Blitzø explains.

"Give the book back, I don't want you associating with him!" Barb says.

"I'm not going to do that, Barb. Because A, you’re not my mother, and B-" Blitzø moves Barb further away to whisper. “We’re kinda desperate in case you forgot.”

Barb crossed her arms.

“I know this sucks, but it’s nothing. I’m over him.” Blitzø says. "I promise."

His sister sighs heavily. “I know, but- it’s…it's Stolas.” Barb says.

“I know…” Blitzø says. "But, imagine what good it could do." He says. "We can help mom, we can build this place from the bottom right to the top. We have people to take care of."

“You’ll catch feelings and get yourself hurt. Just like you always do! I don’t want to see you…like that again.” She argues.

“I’ll be careful! I know it's hard but…it’s Stolas. He’s never been that serious about me….I know that now.” Blitzø says.

Barb pinches the center of her face. “Okay…I’ll trust you against my better judgment. But only because we don’t have a lot of options.” She says, taking the book from him.

Blitzø nods, he knows better… Stolas only ever saw him as a servant to do whatever he wants to…

They were never really friends…

He only wished he had realized that sooner…

{Past: Blitzo}

Stolas made good on his promise, he made a deal with Paimon. Instead of letting Blitzo rot in prison, he agreed to let the Imp work off his debt.

But, knowing everything he took, Blitzo knew to pay even a fraction of what he stole would take a million years! Imps don't get paid enough to actually pay them back.

He supposed it was better than prison though, because he at least had a friend.

But, he still had hope that his family would save him! They just didn't want to make the deal, but surely they didn't forget about Blitzo.

But, then the weeks passed.

Then months.

Blitzo learned the trade from the other servants, he was now to be Stolas’s personal slave.

Making his breakfast, cleaning his room, dusting his books, helping him get dressed.

It wasn't the worst life…but it was less than ideal.

How was he supposed to be a good performer if he can never practice? He's way too busy helping Stolas.

"Blitzo!"

"Ahh!" Blitzo dropped the tray he was holding, breaking the plates and cup that was on the tray. This is surprisingly not uncommon in the Goicia household, at parties they'd throw their glasses around like they were disposable. Blitzo had one plate at home. If he broke it…he'd just have two very small yet sharp ones. They couldn't afford to replace crockery like that.

"Oh, sorry." Stolas says, helping him pick up the broken plate and cup pieces.

Blitzø sighs. "It's fine, I got it." He says. They could get in trouble if Stolas was caught helping "What do you need?" Blitzo asks.

"I was hoping you would help me practice magic, it’s so much more fun with you there.” Stolas says.

Blitzo liked practicing with Stolas, but he had so much to do, he'd rather get it done so he didn't have to stay up so late… but he literally can't say no to Stolas, they'd probably whip him or something. “Yeah, okay.” Blitzo says. "I'll meet you out there after I get this cleaned up."

Stolas smiles. "Alright, can I help?"

"Better not, your dad or someone could see. No offense, but most of your staff are huge narks."

Stolas nods. "Oh right. I'll be outside then!" Stolas skips away.

Blitzo finished cleaning up the tray and then met Stolas outside to help him.

{Later:}

It was hours later when Stolas was satisfied with his progress. He usually spends an hour or two every day. Today, it was four hours of non-stop memorizing and casting spells.

Once Stolas felt like he had enough, him and Blitzo just laid down on the grass to look at the sky.

Technically Blitzo should have just went back to work, but he probably wouldn't be in trouble since Stolas asked him to stay for a bit.

"You sure take this magic thingy seriously." Blitzo says to him.

"Well, father says it's very important, I want to make him proud." He explains.

"Your dad doesn't seem to be around much, is that like, normal for you?" Blitzo asks

Stolas shrugs. "Well…he is very busy." He says. "Is your father around a lot."

"Kinda, he likes Fizz more though." Blitzo says. "He thinks Fizz is so much better, but I'm gonna show him someday how great a clown I really am!"

"Is Fizzarolli your brother?" Stolas asks.

"No, we're friends. I don't have any brothers, just a sister." He says.

"Well, I think you're a great clown, Blitzo." Stolas says. "You made me laugh way more than Fizzarolli did."

Blitzo smiles. "Really?"

"Absolutely." Stolas says. "Surley the rest of your family knows that. What about your mum?" He asks.

"Mom says I need to practice. But she also said Fizz, me, and Barbie are all different and we should all focus on running our own race, whatever that means."

Stolas was going to say something, but noticed Blitzo holding his arms in his hands. "What's wrong, Blitzo?"

"I miss her." He says. "I miss all of them."

"I know." Stolas says. "I'm sorry I got you into this."

"It wasn't your fault." Blitzo says. "I just wasn't sneaky enough…I need to work on that."

Stolas chuckles softly. "It will be okay, Blitzo. I'm sure they'll be back with the treasures, they probably just traded some of it and they're trying to get it back." He says.

"Yeah…maybe." Blitzo says. "I should probably get back, or Mr. Butler will get upset."

Stolas nods. "Alright, thanks for the help, Blitzo."

Blitzo nods. Once he was away from Stolas, he wiped away a quick tear and got back to work.

{Present: Blitzø}

Barb and Blitzø headed to the sloth ring, St. An's Assistant living facility.

It's the best place they could send her to where she'll actually be taken care of, but bills have been piling up like crazy.

It'll be worth it once they're able to offer her a good therapist to work with.

She has nurses and friends here, which is great, but they want her to actually heal from this, and these people can only do so much.

"Hey, mom. How's it going?" Barbie asks, greeting their mother.

Tilla looks up at Barbie and smiles, she gets up from where she was sitting and hugs her daughter tightly. "Barbie, hi sweetheart. What took you so long? I've been waiting ages."

"I know, we're a little late." Barbie says. "How are you doing? You feeling alright?"

"Never better, dear. Nurse Karen's still a bit of a sour puss, but I won't let her slow me down.' She says.

"Hey, that's great, Mom." Barbie says. "Hey, look who's here." She says.

Blitzø swallowed hard. "Hey, Mom." He says, waving a hand at her slowly.

Tilla looks him over, confused. "Cash?"

"No, ma. It's Blitzo. You remember him, right?" Barbie asked.

Blitzø stepped closer despite the intense anxiety he was feeling, he held his arms tightly. He doesn’t know of he can do this.

Tilla starts breathing heavily, something horrible snapped within her. "Blitzo? Where is he?" Tilla asks. "Where is he?" She asks.

"I'm here, mom. I'm right here." Blitzø says. "See? Everything's gonna be okay."

Tilla didn't acknowledge what he said, instead she started panicking, looking around the hospital calling out for her lost son: "Blitzo! Nonono, I have to find him!" She says as nurses gently restrain her.

The nurses try to calm her down, but Tilla is still shouting: "Where's Blitzo? Where is he? I have to find him! I have to-"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Blitzø says.

"It's alright, but I need you both to leave." Nurse Charlotte says.

Blitzø walks backwards until he is brave enough to turn away and leave.

"Blitzø!" Barbie called out.

"Ma'am, you need to leave now." Nurse Karen says. She turns back to Tilla. "It's alright, Tilla. He's okay."

Barbie looks at her mom, seeing her cry and shout like that…it was unreal. No matter how much they try, it never gets any better.

Things look so blurry as she turns to leave, her head feels so cold, so dark. It wasn't real…

She found Blitzø right outside the building. "Blitzø? You okay?" Barbie asks.

"It never gets any easier." He says, drying his tears quickly.

"I know." Barbie says. "But, we gotta keep trying."

Blitzø shakes his head."No, I can't keep doing this, I only upset her." Blitzø says.

"Blitzø-"

"I can't keep seeing her like that, I can't!" Blitzø shouts.

"I know it's hard, but you're not alone."She says.

"We have work to do tomorrow." Blitzø says. "We should go home."

Barbie sighs, but agrees with him.

She still had hope that Tilla would be okay. ..

She has to be…

"This won't go back to normal, if it ever was

It's been years of hoping, and I keep saying it because

'Cause I have to." -Soon you'll get better, Taylor swift.

NOTES:

TW: Sick mother not being able to recognize her son, nursing home

Note: Bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope you liked it anyway. (I swear it'll get more interesting as it goes on.)

The IMP gang seem to have some troubles right now. But at least they have each other, Blitzø, Loona, Millie, Barbie...

We aren't missing anyone, are we?

Tags: @susstardust

[misslatinbarbie]

Lu was in disbelief over the betrayal she had endured. She never imagined that her friends would stab her in the back. The thought of them snickering and keeping secrets was extremely infuriating. The gala planning was already set in motion. There was no way to cancel it. The elite of Espana had been invited. Despite how she felt, Lu would have to see it through.

"They think that I'm a fool! How dare they! I am Lucrecia Montesinos Hendrich and they will feel my wrath!"

Lu held back her tears as she gathered her belongings. Fearing the she'd ruin her make-up, she took a deep breath, and regained her composure. Hearing her mother's voice calling her. Lu exited the bedroom and waltzed down rhe grand staircase. It was time to smile and pretend like everything was alright. She learned how to do that well after ending things with Guzman. Eh. Guzman. A different story for another day.

Arriving to the plaza was rather quick. The driver pulled up to the curb and parked. Lu waited for him to open the door. As she stepped out the cold night air pinched her cheeks. People were already arriving. Laughter and chit chat could be heard amongst the elite. Seeing a friendly face, Lu smiled, and walked towards Tino. He was a dear friend since childhood. He could tell that something was troubling her, but did not ask. He knew better than to pry.

"May I escort you in, beautiful?" Tino grinned and held out his arm for her to take. Lu obliged and the two walked in together. Eyeing the bar she beelined for it. Not missing a beat, she started downing champagne. Before she knew it, a light buzz hard taken over. Tino reached for the champage glass and she snapped at him.

"No me toques. Es mía." Tino shrugged whilst backing away. Lu headed towards the stage. Carefully walking up the steps. She stood in front of the microphone and smiled.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight we have gathered to celebrate the designs of my good friend Cayatana. Her immaculate designs have been auctioned off for a good cause." The crowd clapped as Cayatana looked around and thanked everyone.

"Save your applause! It is a lie! Am I right, Cayatana?" The young girl looked mortified as gasps were heard.

"Cayatana not only stole the designs, she can't even draw! She is a fraud. A nobody. A scholarship poor girl. The only reason she is at Las Encinas is because her mother is the janitor. You're not an instagram influencer. You're a joke. A waste of space." Cayatana ran off in tears as Polo glared at Lu.

"How dare you look at me in that manner, Polo. You too have secrets. To think that Guzman has stood by your side for all these months. You pretend to mourn the death of Marina. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a murderer amongst us. Bravo, Polo. You wanted to be relevant. Now you are. Polo murdered Marina and Carla covered for him." Carla's head shot up and her jaw dropped. Polo charged to the stage, but was stopped by security. Guzman stood still as tears streamed down his face.

"I will not apologize for telling the truth." Looking over at Guzman's parents, tears filled her eyes as she began to speak.

"I tried. I tried so hard to be with Guzman. I just wasn't enough. He insisted that we pretend for the gala. I simply cannot. I will not cover for him nor be his punching bag. Guzman cheated on me with Nadia." His mother's eyes widened. Shock took over and she yelled at her son. Seeing someone walking towards the stage. Lu looked down to see Rebe.

"You've had enough to drink, barbie. It is time to go." Lu chuckled and faced the crowd.

"Oh, Carla. I know your secret too. Carla is totally fucking Samuel." Rebe looked at Samuel who's face had reddened. Before Lu could say anything else, Rebe walked up to him, and slapped his face twice.

"All the money will be given back to each and everyone of you. I refuse to be taken advantage of. I never thought my friends would keep me in the dark. Did you honestly think that I would not find out? Do you know who I am? Do you?" Lu shed a tear as she raised her champagne glass.

"Cheers, fuckers." @bigbadhybrid

[nono-bunny]

I knew Brooklyn and Malibu are probably the second biggest ship after Malibu and Ken, but before watching Big City Big Dreams I had no real frame of reference to who Brooklyn is as a person and what their dynamic is like, but after watching it... Istg literally every single time they're on screen together there's just a completely unmissable romantic undertone???

We KNOW the Barbie staff is capable of writing platonic relationships, because Malibu has tons of platonic friends! So I literally just cannot imagine that this wasn't meant to be gay??? Istg at times the symbolism and chemistry was better than with Ken, and?? I'm genuinely really confused by the whole thing because if they're capable of writing this sort of romantic tension without making it awkward (ugh "do you want to dance?") then why not put that effort towards what is very obviously gonna be the endgame couple? I love Ken, he's great, but things were kinda awkward and a bit cringe before BCBD when it comes to those two, and then they turn around and deliver this flawless romance devoid of any implicit depiction even though I feel like it's unmissable and.. Why was this not done with Ken?

I like Brooklyn well enough, I loved her a lot by the middle of the movie but the way she so easily got played and needed "proof" to believe in Malibu, as if they weren't all goofing off and she had other friends to verify it was an accident even without a video... Like, that was NOT a good look for her, and the movie in general really suffered from just like... Being a movie, actually- it would've made for an amazing series with room to let things develop more, which the staff working on it obviously realized given that there are two seasons of a Double Barbie show, but! My god was the pace here suboptimal lol

Also whatttt the fuck in regards to Emmie's dad, he's AWFUL and that never got resolved and I'm hoping to god that storyline gets continued and that Emmie and Rafa don't get dropped in the sequels/spin offs

Rafa felt off in a way I couldn't put my finger for a while, but I think it's that he just looks way older in comparison to the other three lol. I don't really have any particular feelings towards him otherwise but I'd like it if he could stay relevant and become more than a gay coded fashionista with a dog. For example, he clearly has some theatrical skills and I'd love to see them maybe expand on that rather than chalk it up to this being a musical, because that one song he sang had me more invested in his character than all of his other scenes combined lol, like I was SURE he wasn't gonna take part but then he did and it was great and I kinda want an in universe explanation for that??

Anyway the ending left me feeling like it was very rushed and with a lot of unanswered questions and I'm hoping that the follow-ups to this are good! The beginning/middle parts of the movie were really good but the ending kinda really tanked it. For a movie that did a surprisingly good job with its montages, it still failed to have them in some places where they were SORELY needed and it left it as a weaker story as a result... But it's no big deal to me so long as they manage to make up for the stuff they missed in the sequels, so... Here's to hoping!

[casicroaks]

Kelly is nervous about her school grades, since she couldn't manage to dissect a frog in science class. Luckily for her, Barbie, her tutor, has just the right tale to motivate her to try harder and pass her exams -and, who knows, maybe even learn a valuable lesson…

CHAPTER 2

[ here for CHAPTER 1 ]

The monstrous doll finished speaking. Vivianna was left aghast. Night had fallen, and while Vivianna thought about what had been narrated to her, the creature walked around and gathered a few branches and twigs to build a small fire.

“I thought…” muttered Vivianna, never taking her eyes off the being. “I thought you would want to kill me.”

            “I don’t want to kill you,” said the doll. “You see, when one hunts, one has to try to kill the creature you’ve wounded as fast as possible, as to spare them the pain. With you, I don’t want to spare the pain. You deserve it, through and through, and I will not stop until you feel it, until you live in it, until it becomes your new normal state, as it has become to me.”

            Vivianna shuddered. The doll took two stones out of her pocket, and pounded them against each other until a few red sparks flew out, and the fire was lit, and at least a bit of warmth was restored.

            “Of course, as I told you, that shouldn’t be necessary–”

            “But –I don’t understand –you want me to do what?”

            “You have created me, now, haven’t you?” snapped the creature, suddenly furious. “How difficult would it be for you to repeat it?”

            “Well, I… I’d say, it’s not easy at all. I need instruments, a private space, somewhere I could work in peace and— but still—”

            Vivianna still hadn’t fully understood what her creation meant with her demand.

            “Only you can do this. And as your child, knowing your capabilities, I think I’m not wrong in arguing that this wish for companionship is a right you owe me.”

            “I owe you nothing,” said Vivianna, gritting her teeth. “You killed my sister!”

            “And I will kill again, and I won’t hesitate,” the creature said, making her best attempt at being patient. “I know that, if you could, you’d kill me instantly, and savor the revenge; you would not call it a murder, since I know you consider me less than human. You know I am capable of love; but if I cannot love, then I will hate with a fury you cannot imagine. I have noticed how my body was made resistant to most things others would find mortally painful; I can go much further without food, drink or shelter. And you know, better than anyone, that I would never give up. And you can stop this destruction from being born, if you only grant me a single wish.”

            Vivianna, against her better judgement, moved closer to the heat of the fire the creature had created, and the creature smiled a small, terrible grin.

            “Am I not being reasonable?”

            Vivianna thought she was. Despite herself, she found herself –what shock –sympathizing with her sister’s killer. She wondered what she would have done, if it had been her in the creature’s place. And, besides, if she could stop any more deaths by her creation’s hand…

            “But I know –we both know,” argued Vivianna, who didn’t want to be seen as less –as too consenting –as too easy to convince. “That what you crave is human companionship. You have tried so many times, and longed for it so long… What do you have to make me certain that you and this hypothetical mate I’d build you would be compatible? What if you end up despising each other?” And before the creature could reply, she continued: “And besides, even if you do end up satisfied with each other’s affection, what can assure me that you both would not join forces and destroy more lives, and take revenge on humanity which shunned you?”

            “Shunned me? It was you who did so!” cried the doll. “If you only had taken the time… If you had only shown me any sort of affection during those early moments of my existence… But it’s too late for that, now. Take my request, and fulfill it; or do not, and suffer the consequences.”

            Vivianna thought that, either way, there was no certain outcome. The possibility of her creature, and a second being made by herself, of continuing the murder spree or (and Vivianna didn’t know which was worse) both loathing each other and deciding to part ways, for each to wreak havoc on their own, truly scared her. And yet… Vivianna thought of the possibility of her friends being killed –as Marianna, and Elliot, had just been disposed of –and this gave her such a feeling of emptiness and despair that it was clear, in the end, that there was only one true option.

            “I will make what you want of me,” she said, avoiding the creature’s large, glassy eyes. “Only if you promise to leave me and my friends alone; to never return, never to contact me again, never to try to communicate with me and to never, ever hurt another person, ever again.”

            The doll smiled even more widely, forcing her cheek muscles to pull, strain and wrinkle in a disturbing grimace. “I swear to you, Vivianna, my creator, my goddess, my pious mother!” she cried loudly, raising her long arms to the night sky. “If you grant me a companion, you will never see me again. You’ll forget

            “What do you want, then?” asked Vivianna bitterly. “Perhaps a little sister?”

            “No, no; I have seen how families work, how loving works,” said the doll. “I have seen young women, just as I should have been, flirting and enjoying the company of young men. I have seen weddings, those charming ceremonies in which love is celebrated above all. I have seen parents with their children, couples walking hand with hand, couples kissing, couples embracing. That, I believe, is what must be the natural way. In stories I have heard and read, woman and man are meant to be together; and so, what I require of you is an Adam to my Eve.”

            “So, a man then?”

            “Yes. In seven days,” declared the doll, almost beside herself with joy. “You will make me a man.”

            “Just a week?” cried Vivianna.

            “If you fail to do so, you’ll leave me no choice but to condemn you to the same life of solitude that you have given me,” she continued hurriedly, clearly afraid that Vivianna would change her mind “I will dispose of everyone you love. I will have no mercy, and I will not stop until you feel the same despair I have felt since I have first seen the light—”

            “Yes, yes, I know…” said Vivianna. “But I don’t have where to work! I have no instruments! In such a short timespan I cannot create something as complex as you—”

            “You must,” insisted the doll. “If you take a single more day, I will think you are dallying your duty in order to hatch a plan to escape your responsibility. I have waited long enough; and seven days is plenty of time. Go back to your home, there you will find what you need; I will wait, and see you and your gift for me in a week.”

            Vivianna wanted to continue arguing, but understood it would be fruitless. The doll covered herself further with her black mantle, and walking away from the fire, she disappeared into the dark. Only then, by herself, in the middle of the snowy forest, as the small fire slowly died down, Vivianna came to terms with the pact she had signed, and the responsibility she had undertaken.

…

            Vivianna returned to her house, as the dawn slowly crawled from behind the horizon. As she pictured the sweet faces of Henrika and Matt in her mind, worrying for their safety, she hurried back and swiftly ran to her late father’s laboratory, where she had spent many afternoons spying on the doctor, full of contained curiosity, as a child. Everything was left just as it had been; and yet it was clear Elliot had been cleaning the equipment and tools, as it all had remained perfectly impeccable. And so, with a heavy heart and fed on desperation and anguish, Vivianna began her work once more. She returned to the graveyard and the slaughterhouse, the dumpsters and the morgues, to acquire –and sometimes purchase –the ingredients needed for her next creation. Having already made a living creature, Vivianna found that it truly had become easier –she no longer ever winced and gagged at the sight of guts and open bodies –and the attaching of limbs went through without a hitch.

            Letters from Henrika and Matt kept coming and flooding her mailbox, but Vivianna could not be bothered, no matter how much she desired it, to stray from her restless toil. She worked day and night, barely eating, barely sleeping, only working and glancing at the house’s clocks, calculating how long she had before the monster would show up on her doorstep, demanding something she could not mess up.

            While looking for something that could be of use in her old notes and diary recordings, Vivianna found a letter –unopened –sent by Marianna, which contained another unopened letter, this one from her father, written before his demise and with Vivianna’s name as the addressee. Slipping the bloodied gloves off her hands, Vivianna opened the letter and pulled out the yellowed paper. She read:

            “My dearest Vivianna; I hope you and your sister are in good health, while I continue on my business trip. I have been to many fascinating congresses and conferences, but I find I miss you two most of the time. I will soon come home and kiss both your lovely faces. However, the reason for this letter is most specific for you, Viv. As you know, your late mother had hoped for years that Matthew, our dear friend, would someday become your husband and you his wife. Unsatisfied with the possibility that you may have an unhappy marriage, she kindly took it unto herself to raise someone you could be fully capable of loving. However, her untimely death left us with the prospect of Matthew becoming more of a brother to you than a possible fiancé. I hope you know that was the reason you were separated, and why he was sent to be raised and schooled by a personal tutor. Luckily, the, albeit rather short, distance I had to establish between you two didn’t hurt your relationship, and I am happy to see him often visiting us, playing with you just as you did when you were younger, and so I grew more hopeful of fulfilling your dear mother’s wish. Matthew knows this, and what is expected of him; and I didn’t want you to go on clueless for much longer. I think you’d be happy to know how much we wanted him to become an official part of the Frankenstein family. And I remember clearly your childhood fantasies of a grand wedding. You must rest assured, no expense will be spared in your ceremony…”

            Vivianna lowered the letter and took her trembling hand to her face, trying her best not to start sobbing. She had forgotten all about that plan her parents had arranged. Indeed, her childhood fantasies of marriage had soured so potently since she had obsessed over the defeat of death, that Matthew as her husband didn’t even sound like a possibility. All she wanted, all she thought about, was to finish her work –satisfy her creature’s demands –and later… Later, God knew what awaited for her on the other side of her second time fiddling with the power of creation.

            As she continued her work, Vivianna promised herself she would spend the rest of her days, free from the monster, enjoying the company of her friends –more so than she could have done ever before, before knowing how easily that company could be lost. But her union to Matthew –who she had always knew was to be her betrothed someday, yet never could truly picture it beyond the marriage ceremony and her glorious, enormous white dress –seemed farther and farther as time marched on, and as time ran out.

            By the early morning of the seventh day, the so-called Adam was finally assembled and completed. Staring down at him, plugging the wires inside his cold flesh, Vivianna realized with no small shock that, in her complete detachment of the task at hand, she had inadvertently modeled the male creature’s features on the likeness of Matt. She took a few seconds to gaze upon the creature’s still face. Indeed, he had the soft and angelic structure of her friend, and she allowed herself to marvel at the delicate perfection she had created in such a short time. He was truly beautiful, but in his lifeless self it was more the icy beauty of a Greek statue rather than that of a living, rosy-cheeked young man. Vivianna even dared to smile proudly, thinking that this one would surely satisfy the monster’s request; and, just as she was about to apply the heat and electricity of life to the corpse, there was a loud knock at the door.

            Vivianna stopped everything. She heard carefully, wondering if the lack of sleep was altering her senses. But there was truly a knock at the door, and Vivianna walked up the stairs to the great hall, and approached the door, and opened it –to find none other than Henrika herself, just as lovely as ever, dressed to the nines in a regal purple winter jacket and a darling lilac dress, a black fur hat with a purple feather, black lace gloves and a charming little beaded handbag.

            As soon as the door was opened Henrika embraced her friend, and while at first she was too shocked to react, Vivianna embraced her back, hugging her with all her strength, unable to stop smiling and crying.

            “My dear, dear, dearest Vivianna!” cried Henrika. “Oh, I thought you may not be at home; you haven’t been answering any of our letters! Matt and I were worried sick!”

            “I’m so, so sorry, my love”, sobbed Vivianna. “I am truly sorry. I neglected you again, so focused was I on finishing my… It doesn’t matter. I have already finished the most difficult part… I think I deserve a little break from work.”

            Henrika beamed, and kissed her friend. “Oh, I missed you so…”

            Knowing the house as well as her own, Henrika walked with Vivianna to the kitchen and fixed them some tea and homemade biscuits she had made herself for her friend. Vivianna, having not eaten in quite a while, found herself to be starving and eating, while a bit rudely, with enthusiasm. She remembered Henrika’s wonderful baking, and the sweet and crisp taste of the biscuits took her back to lovely picnics in the woods, tea parties and sunny days.

            “What have you been doing, Viv?” asked Henrika.

            “Oh, you don’t want to know… I will finish soon, though. And as soon as I do, you and I and Matt will never part ways again –we will live together here, all three of us, and stay together, and –and—”

            “My dear, please, don’t eat so fast,” laughed Henrika. “You won’t leave any for little Willard.”

            Vivianna raised her eyes from the plate. Henrika gazed back, and slowly her smile faded.

            “What happened to Willard?”

            Vivianna swallowed, and the biscuits no longer tasted as good. What happened to him, indeed?

            “I… I don’t know. I don’t remember. I think I…” She tried her best, but could not picture the last place she had seen him. “I think I have… I think I’ve lost him.”

            Henrika frowned. “You’d never lose him. What do you mean?”

            “I… I don’t know what happened to him. I had Willard with me –and then I no longer had him. I don’t even know…”

            Henrika looked at her friend, biting her lips. She sat closer to her friend.

            “Viv, why do you do this to yourself?” she asked her, embracing her again, as Vivianna broke down in tears once more. “Why do you keep hurting yourself like this? You disappear for weeks, and then… Then you reappear so tired, so thin, so sickly…”

            “I cannot tell you, my love, I just can’t…”

            “Please –let me help you…”

            Vivianna gazed at Henrika’s sweet, loving face. “If I told you, my dearest friend… You’d despise me.”

            “I’d never,” said Henrika.

            “You would, yes, you would…”

            Henrika kissed Vivianna to calm her, to no avail. Vivianna’s sight darted to the windows, as a gust of wind hit the house and a high-pitched whistle went through the empty rooms, down the stairs and into the kitchen. She felt the monstrous doll was near.

            “Please, Henrika, you must leave now.”

            “Now?”

            “Yes, yes… I have to finish my work. I cannot stop. I cannot rest.”

            “But –my love –please, you can’t keep on like this—”

  ��         “Leave!” cried Vivianna, in a hoarse voice –devastated by her actions, but certain that it was for the better. “Just leave! I’ll call you, I’ll send you a letter when I’m done. But now… Now we can’t!”

            “Please,” sobbed Henrika, and seeing her cry broke Vivianna’s heart. “Please, I long to be with you… Even in silence, even in your quiet pain… Than to not see you and worry over you for so long… Vivianna, my dearest, I can only feel at home with you.”

            These words almost changed Vivianna’s mind; she too wanted her friend’s company more than anything else in the world. But the image of the grinning doll came back to her, and resolved –with much sorrow –that it truly was for the best –and in this way, she would protect her.

            “Not now, Henrika. Not now…” said Vivianna. “Please, leave.”

            Henrika noticed the resolve in her friend’s face. There was nothing to do about it. Begging wouldn’t help. So, without another word, without another sob or another look, Henrika slowly stood up and walked herself to the door. She obeyed and left, and only when she was already out of the house did Vivianna stand up and run after her, only to stop herself by the entryway.

            As she saw Henrika leaving, Vivianna thought of the old days –of the days she had not a care in the world, and when she could tell Henrika everything, things she would not tell her sister, things she could not tell Matt. It consumed her, the burning desire to tell her everything –all her mistakes and the consequences –and having Henrika console and comfort her, and hug her, and kiss her, and promise her everything would be alright. She cursed herself for how she shooed Henrika away, but again the wind blew, and Vivianna closed the door, and walked down the stairs to the laboratory, and sank herself again.

            But then, in the cold light of the underground and beside the white body of the creature she was about to instill life into, Vivianna reconsidered.

            The young, dead man which laid on the operating table, despite his evident beauty, may become just as deformed as his predecessor after the effects of the heat and the electricity. He was to be barren, just as the previous doll was, but this did not ensure –as Vivianna could never be certain –that they could not, somehow, defying the laws of nature, find a way to reproduce and create a new race –a breed of monsters who would define themselves as the predators of humanity. He could very easily reject the doll’s aggressive advances –reject a life with her –and then, Vivianna feared, she would turn to further mayhem and murder, so much she would lose any sort of empathy for others she might still have. He would be as smart as his mate, but having one previous, there was a chance he would try to separate himself from her –try, just as she did, to assimilate into society –and learn the same awful lessons she had learnt. Nothing could truly predict what he would become, and Vivianna grew more and more afraid of the possibilities. She could not picture a single good outcome. These beings, as she saw them, were aberrations fit only to spread chaos in their quest of their so-called justice, their revenge on a world which would not accept them by their own very nature as anomalies.

            Vivianna then grabbed one of the tools she had used to break bones and separate pieces she couldn’t find a use for –a sort of wrench with a round edge, rather like a nut cracker –and smashed it against the pale body. She busted arms, knees, the throat, the ribs, the eye sockets, as she splattered dark blood everywhere –and she continued to destroy the assembled creature until it was barely more than a mess of broken skin, exposed muscle and cracked plastic. Vivianna only stopped when she made sure nothing could be salvageable. She stared at the work of a whole exhausting week, completely ruined. A slight sense of relief washed over her.

            There were heavy steps coming down the stairs. Vivianna turned around. The monster was there, and as soon as she reached the laboratory and raised her face to the hard white light, she saw the disaster that laid on the operating table. There was a moment of silence. Vivianna stared at the floor, trying not to see what she had done, expecting that everything would disappear and she would wake up from this dreadful nightmare.

            “Well, you made your choice,” said the unsettling doll in a low voice. “Evidently.”

            “I couldn’t do it…” said Vivianna.

            “I can see that. You had done it… I can see you had almost finished, but had a change of heart.”

            “There was no certainty on what could happen if this project was completed… I couldn’t bring myself to commit to such an atrocity once more.”

            “I understand,” said the doll. Her voice, while still low, trembled with seething rage. “So now you must bear the consequences.”

            Before Vivianna could mutter anything else, the creature climbed up the stairs and disappeared once more. Vivianna took a deep breath. She wondered if she had imagined the monster’s presence and words. The bloody mess on the table remained the same. Vivianna could not bear to look at it or touch it any longer. She ran up the stairs, ripping the blue apron and the gloves off her, throwing them on the floor, trying to breathe normally. She locked the laboratory’s door, to make sure nobody would ever see what she had been building. And then, still with her heart beating hurriedly on her throat, Vivianna realized how empty the house was, how cold it had become, and she saw the muddy, tiny-footed steps of a barefoot creature, marking its way in and out of the house.

            The consequences of the broken promise dawned on her, and Vivianna immediately thought of Henrika. She ran off –barely taking a moment to slip her jacket on –and ran through the pathway in the snow, away from the house, away to find Henrika –and make sure she would be safe.

Closest to hers was Matt’s cottage, with light on the windows as the sun began to set. Vivianna, tired of running and still weak from the lack of food and rest, decided to stop by for a moment, to recover her strengths –she would need them. She knocked on his door, and Matt himself greeted her with a hug and kind words. Vivianna, however, was too overwhelmed and frightened to answer to his affection, and when he realized just how unstable she was, Matt helped her sit by the fire of the living room.

“How are you, Viv?” asked Matt, softly, as delicately as he was able to. “Are you better now?”

“No, Matt, no, somehow things turned out even worse…”

“No, don’t say that; you know that things will improve from now on.”

Vivianna smiled back at Matt, wishing she could believe him.

“How are you, Matt?”

Matt managed to keep the smile on his face, but his eyes darkened with grief. “I do still miss Elliot… I miss him so very much. I miss his voice and his smile, and how he lighted up when we laughed together… I miss the days when we were all together. We used to be so bright and happy back then… And now everything is so complicated, and painful, and I don’t know why.”

Vivianna closed her eyes as the memory of Elliot’s screams came back to her. She considered telling Matt –confessing to him, as she should have done with Henrika; but just then Matt clasped her hands.

“My dear friend, I have something important to tell you,” whispered Matt. Vivianna became nervous again. “I don’t want to tell you this; I wish I could just enjoy your company, and that we could catch up and have a nice time, and try to forget all our misfortunes… But you should know. And this cannot wait.”

“What is it?” asked Vivianna.

“Henrika… She’s gone.”

Vivianna covered her face with her hands, and let out a long pained cry.

“No, no, not like that! She’s not gone in that sense,” said Matt quickly, trying to get his friend to continue listening. “She came by just about an hour you came here. Her face was white, as if she had seen a ghost… She told me that after leaving your house she had a very strange encounter.”

Vivianna blinked. She herself was becoming paler, as her suspicions over the encounter grew and turned into certainties.

“Henrika told me someone came to her –she wouldn’t say who, she wouldn’t even describe them… But she swore that this person told her the truth –told her of something awful, about a horrible crime, something she couldn’t believe but which somehow made the most sense.”

Vivianna was now shaking with fear.

“Did… did Henrika tell you what that truth was?”

“No. She simply stopped by for a bit of food and drink. Then, I gave her my knit cherry red hat and my matching periwinkle blue and white scarf for her to take for her walk home; but then she said she wouldn’t go back home. She said she had to leave, to go far away, to escape… She said she would never return. She said it would be the last time we would see each other.”

“Did she say anything about…?” Vivianna couldn’t talk without stammering. “About me?”

“No. I asked her if she came from over your house, since she was around. I didn’t expect her to say yes. We both thought you were the one who would not return, when you went to the forest in the middle of the winter…”

“Why did she leave?”

Matt sighed. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t say. Henrika only repeated that it couldn’t be, but it was, but couldn’t be, but it was… I worried she might have gone mad.”

“Oh, my dear Henrika…”

“Did you say anything to her that might have upset her?”

Vivianna knew what it had been that upset Henrika. She was certain her friend had met the monster when she left the house, and that it was the monster who told her about the truth about crime of Marianna –and who what else? –and forced Henrika to leave and to never talk to her friends again. So the creature’s threats had not been empty. She did mean to condemn Vivianna to utmost solitude.

On the verge of desperation, Vivianna grabbed Matt’s hands even more tightly and pulled him to her, her whole body shaking.

“Matt –my good, only friend –now you must understand we can’t be apart. My Marianna, my Henrika, your Elliot –all of them have left us so suddenly, so unexpectedly, and all we have now is each other. You know something, something terrible is after us…”

“Some kind of malicious curse, yes…” nodded Matt, as desperate as she was. “But –what did you say to Henrika?”

“I said nothing to scare her, I promise on my mother’s grave,” sobbed Vivianna. “I promise, I swear, I would never do something to scare or hurt her. You know very well how close Henrika and I are… You know I would never do anything to hurt her.”

“Perhaps you did something to help her,” said Matt. “I’d understand –I know that sometimes we have to do things we don’t like in order to help others. But—”

“I did nothing, Matt… You know I haven’t done anything,” she cried, now with the misery of a panicked child. “Please, say you believe me… Say you’ll stay with me, so we’ll be safe. Promise you won’t leave me too.”

“Alright. I understand… Alright. Please, Viv, don’t cry, it kills me to see you cry.”

Matt approached his hand to Vivianna’s face to wipe her tears. Vivianna recoiled in fear, before he could touch her.

“I’m –I’m sorry, I can’t… I’m so afraid, now. I’ve been trying so hard to contain this fear, but now… Now that Henrika has left us and gone who knows where, far away from us, I can’t… I can’t help myself, I can’t keep my fear hidden any longer.”

“I know. I’m afraid too,” said Matt, embracing his friend. “We will get over this. We will survive, I promise you, my dear Viv. We will live, in honor of Marianna and Elliot, we will live and be happy. They wouldn’t have wanted to see us so sad.”

Vivianna wondered what her little sister had thought of her, before dying. She knew Elliot’s last thoughts had probably gone to her, to cursing her and her existence, to cursing her silence. Vivianna had both their deaths –and now Henrika’s flight, too –hanging over her head, as twilight sank the small cottage in the dark of night, and they both tried to sleep.

…

Next morning Vivianna and Matt decided to move to the Frankenstein house, in part because it was Vivianna’s inheritance and because it was generally safer than the little cottage her parents had left Matt. Never mind, Vivianna thought, that the monster had managed to creep inside; she would install new locks, bolt the doors, buy dogs, do anything necessary to keep the creature out. As they walked together in silence, Matt carrying a trunk with all his belongings and Vivianna wrapped in a thick brown leather coat he had lent her, Vivianna realized how truly and deeply she had chosen a life of fear when she destroyed that body on the operating table. She would have to lock the door to the laboratory too, to make sure Matt would never see it. Yes, they would have to live in panic, and she, the most tortured of the two, would have to also yield the weight of the lies and the guilt she carried for all the reasons of their sorrows. Snow began falling on them, and despite it being almost midday, the sun barely shone behind a thick layer of clouds. Walking became even more difficult. Both panted in the effort to move forward, and yet they went on, closing their eyes as the wind blew the flurry into their faces. They were deafened by the strong whistle of the wind, and the sound of their own heartbeats, and their heavy breathing, as they kept moving forward.

“Hey, Viv?” asked Matt, his voice cracking, as he tripped and strained to pull up his trunk.

“Yes, Matt?”

“I had wanted to ask you… If you don’t mind… Whatever happened to—?”

Vivianna stopped and kept still. Matt stopped beside her. They were stunned by the sight.

The Frankenstein house, still a few miles away from them, atop the hill it had always stood upon, was burning to the ground. The flames danced in the wind, rising higher and higher, the black smoke column ascending and staining the sky like an ink blot. Under the sounds of their own tired bodies, they heard the hissing of the flames and the crackling of burnt wood. The fire had been set a while ago –the house was on the verge of collapsing –and not even the fresh snow could do anything to slow down the impending disaster. As the top floor crumpled and sank, all blackened furniture and ashes, it pounded the ground with the sound of hundreds of beautiful, old things crashing and breaking and bursting and crumbling. Vivianna took her hand and covered her mouth, stifling a scream. Nothing would be saved. Matt put a hand on her shoulder as an attempt to comfort her. Vivianna barely noticed it. She kept trying to wake up, unblinking, to wake up from the nightmare she was living.

The house didn’t stop burning. Vivianna fell to her knees. She cried for a while, as Matt resolved to keep quiet –he felt there were no words he could say to help her. He only stood by her side.

They stayed until there was nothing left to burn.

…

            Vivianna and Matt decided to go to the town and try to find shelter there. The quickest way, though the less safe, was through the woods. Matt said that the road from the house to the town was long but trustworthy, and that it would be the safest path; but Vivianna said that at night, it would become colder, and that there was a possibility they would freeze to death. Reaching their destination as soon as they could, she said, was a priority.

            Matt sighed, but agreed. They walked through the forest as the sun set, too exhausted and despondent to enjoy the beautiful view. Vivianna didn’t even look at the sky: she was too nervous watching the woods, the trees, trotting as fast as she could without leaving Matt completely behind. The monster started the fire. The monster left them without a home. This was all the monster’s doing, and if they weren’t careful, the monster would come for them, too.

            At one moment a strange sound made them grind to a halt. Vivianna grabbed Matt’s arm in panic. But the high-pitched sounds were not that of the creature. The noises belonged, as Vivianna and Matt soon realized, to a pack of rats feasting on the carcass of a sickly young deer. Among them, Vivianna recognized a smaller, grey rat, barely the size of a child’s shoe. Matt pulled her forward, trying to avert his eyes –it was a bloody mess, the open guts of the fly-covered deer –but Vivianna kept staring at the little grey rat.

“Willard?” said Vivianna, blinking rapidly.

As she spoke out loud, the rats turned from their meal and looked back at her. The little grey one even stood on its hind legs to take a better look at Vivianna. She smiled and let out a joyful laugh.

“Oh, Willard! Willard, my sweet little baby!” she cried, running toward it.

But the rat –who most certainly was Willard, yet very much changed by the challenges of living in the wild –immediately hissed and opened its mouth to reveal sharp, bloodied teeth. The other rats circled the carcass. A few flies were startled and flew away. Matt looked at the scene with a mixture of disgust and pity. Vivianna wouldn’t give up just yet.

“But –why are you doing this? I’m Viv! I’m mommy!”

Willard didn’t seem to recognize her anymore. He hissed again, let out an angry squeal, and when he and the other rats realized Vivianna wasn’t going to steal their food, they continued eating.

“Come, Viv. There’s no use,” said Matt.

“But… But it’s Willard. It’s my baby… He’s mine.”

Willard didn’t even turn back. Matt squeezed Vivianna’s gloved hand.

            And so, acknowledging they wouldn’t add another member to their party, they went on.

            They reached the town by midnight, maybe just a bit later. They arrived, completely spent, and Vivianna hurriedly dragged them both to an inn so they could have some sleep in a proper bed, with a proper fire by their feet. She dropped some cash on the innkeeper’s desk, and soon they were huddled up in warm blankets and sunk into a deep, restless sleep.

            Vivianna woke up by dawn. The small tightly shut window barely let any sunlight in, but she knew morning was coming, and that they would have to continue their journey and make sure the monster wouldn’t follow them. Wrapping herself in a thick blue shawl with mustard yellow embroidering she had luckily packed before the house was burned, Vivianna went close to the window and tried to see through the frosted glass. The street below was empty, and

            “Viv? Are you awake?” whispered Matt.

            Vivianna sat next to him. “Yes, I am. What about you?”

            Matt smiled. “Did you sleep well?”

            “I don’t know. I feel like I have barely had any sleep at all… But at least there were no nightmares.”

            Matt kept quiet. Vivianna noticed his bitter expression by the dim light.

            “Did you have any nightmares, Matt?”

            Matt sighed and sat on the bed. “I did, yes… It’s hard to remember all of it, but I dreamt… I dreamt we were back in front of the house on fire. It was less destroyed –the structure still stood –but inside from the flaming windows I could see Elliot, and Marianna…”

            “Was Henrika there?” asked Vivianna.

            “I can’t recall. I just know that I ran into the building and tried to rescue them, but the smoke was too thick and I couldn’t breathe…” said Matt in a low voice, as if the rest of the inn guests could hear him if he spoke too loud. “The fire burned my skin and the heat suffocated me, and soon I could not see clearly… I tried to climb the stairs but they crumbled from beneath my feet, and I heard Elliot and Marianna screaming in pain… I tried to do something… Yet I knew I was about to be killed by the fire myself.”

            They kept quiet for a moment. Vivianna could picture it perfectly in her mind, so well that it almost felt more like a memory than a dream.

            “Was I in the nightmare?” asked Vivianna. “Was I in the house?”

            “I don’t know… I hope you weren’t,” said Matt. “I hope you managed to save yourself.”

            Matt, always so kind, so selfless. Vivianna stroke his soft wavy hair, remembering when he had placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She hoped this gesture would be enough. Matt smiled to her, and sighed.

            “Thank you, Viv. It’s alright… It was just a dream.”

            “We can’t stay here for long, Matt,” said Vivianna, stroking his hair a bit hurriedly, more anxiously. “We need to leave. We aren’t safe yet.”

            “What do you mean?” asked Matt, alarmed. “Did you see anything through the window?”

            “No, no, not at all… I just mean… We aren’t safe. We should keep on travelling, until we find somewhere we can truly be safe.”

            Matt furrowed his brow. “But, Viv—”

            “Please, listen to me. You have seen the house on fire, you talked to Henrika, you know I have reasons to be afraid,” Vivianna said as she tried to think of a plausible reason she could convince Matt to go on with her. “We might be cursed. What else could explain all these awful things that keep happening?”

            “But what does it matter, wherever we’re here or somewhere else?” said Matt. “If we’re cursed, the geological location won’t do anything to change it.”

            Vivianna huffed, holding her head on her hands, closing her eyes. 

“Trust me, please, my dear Matt, we need to go away. As far as possible…” and Vivianna looked at him with her clear blue eyes, on the verge of tears. Matt couldn’t possible say no to that. “Let’s go, together.”

“Alright, Viv. I do agree, we have to be together. We have to help each other out.”

Vivianna smiled, and Matt smiled back. They embraced in silence, as the morning came and it became time to leave the warmth of the inn and venture into the cold unknown.

…

After some discussion they agreed to escape to London, England; a bustling city where there was a famous Queen, who lived surrounded by policemen and soldiers; there, Vivianna and Matt concluded, they would be safe. While on their horse drawn carriage which took them from the London train station through Clarkenwell Road towards Hackney, they began looking in their map for possible places to establish a home and plan their futures –when suddenly Matt said:

“Oh –we forgot about it completely –what are we going to say about us?”

“What do you mean?” asked Vivianna.

“Yes –to the landlord, when we arrive somewhere we can live –what will we tell them about us?”

“Well, that we’re friends, of course, going on a trip together,” said Vivianna, a bit muffed by the interruption, thinking it wasn’t a topic as important to consider. “Or that we’re on holiday… It doesn’t matter.”

“But… I mean…”

Vivianna opened her eyes wide, and nodded, understanding what he meant. “Oh… You’re right.”

“We should say we’re siblings, then,” said Matt.

Vivianna snorted. “Nobody would believe that.”

“Why not?” asked Matt, genuinely baffled. “During the first half of my life I was raised by your family. I don’t even have a surname of my own.”

“You are a Frankenstein, dear Matt, and you’ve always been one,” said Vivianna, holding his hand. “You are part of our family.” It felt strange to say ‘our’, as it was only her who remained.

“I know. So why can’t we say we’re siblings?”

“Because… Well, we’re not. Even if it feels like that…” And an idea popped into her head. “We really aren’t.”

“So what do you suggest?” asked Matt.

“Well… The English are not as… Liberal, shall we say, as the Swiss,” said Vivianna. “They won’t look at two unrelated people of different sex living together with good eyes.”

There was a short silence, only interrupted by the rhythmic clopping of the horses pulling the carriage through the snowy streets. Matt looked down. He knew what she meant.

“I mean…” said Vivianna, quietly. “Just to avoid suspicion.”

“We haven’t done anything wrong, Viv.”

“Still…”

“But I know. Your parents wanted us to be together for so long… I guess this would be a good time as any.”

Vivianna nodded. “So, then… Would you marry me?”

Matt kept his eyes down, still not looking at her. Vivianna bit her lip. She wanted to believe she was doing themselves a favor –after all it would help them to be seen as a couple, to avoid gossip and judgmental stares –and yet… She truly loved Matt, and was sure he loved her too –but not like that. But, most of all, she knew –even if she wouldn’t admit it to Matt’s face –that, as the only person left from her childhood days, what she feared most was him disappearing from her life, like Henrika did. If Matt fell for someone else, and ended up deciding to leave her, she would have nothing to rely on. She would have no one else.

“Yes, Vivianna. I’ll marry you.”

Vivianna expected to be happier. Though what she truly felt was more of a pang of relief, she smiled and embraced him, hoping at least he would be happy with their union.

Finally they arrived to Hackney, where they were redirected to a large house whose elder landlady rented a room. Vivianna and Matt introduced themselves as an engaged couple, and Vivianna even flashed her family ring as an excuse. Luckily for them the old lady had heard of the Frankensteins –even there the name was respected.

Vivianna paid the rent for the following two months. They quietly settled into the rooms they were given with the few trunks they had with them, and tried, once more, to get some sleep –and hopefully have no nightmares to remember the next morning.

…

            Little time was wasted as Vivianna planned the wedding. During these few days, while Vivianna did everything she could to arrange the venue and establish a social life among the neighbors –making sure she and Matt were always surrounded by others, as she believed the monster would not attack them in public –Matt spent the hours moping around, being carried from place to place by Vivianna and the horse drawn carriage. He slowly limited his words to the point he barely said a few sentences for the whole day. Vivianna was confused and rather alarmed by this. Matt refused to eat and became thinner as the days went by, and while she wanted to help him and ask what was happening, Vivianna didn’t know how to comfort him or how to manage his sulking. She took him to the fancy parties they soon received invitations to, and dressed him nicely, and held his hand and smiled widely when presenting themselves, and when she asked him what he thought of it all he smiled weakly and said ‘it’s alright’, and Vivianna forced a smile and kissed his cheek to make sure everyone knew they were engaged.

            As the day of the wedding neared, Vivianna wondered if the monster had indeed been following them. Nothing bad had happened since they left for London, and yet something, an illogical feeling she couldn’t avoid, told her that the creature was still near, following them, watching from behind the trees, from the alleys, from the chimney-filled roofs of the city. The nightmares came back, as she saw –every single night –the lifeless bodies of Marianna and Elliot, lying on the feet of her bed, softly moving and wheezing as they tried to keep breathing through their destroyed lungs. And Henrika, who never left her dreams at all, stood by the bedroom door in her long, silky white nightdress, staring at her, completely still, like a ghost. Some nights Vivianna would call her, begging her to comfort her, to come closer, to kiss her; she could not move, with the weight of the corpses lying on her bed. Henrika did nothing. She stood, unblinking, her clear blue eyes piercing Vivianna and torturing her with every passing second of her unending condemnatory stare.

            Vivianna then usually woke up and, refusing to return to bed, went into the little study and continued stitching her wedding dress, adding more and more things to entertain herself and fill the empty time. She hand-sew frills, ruffles, embroidery, lace and pearls, and more embellishments, and fitted it on herself over and over, squeezing it a bit tighter every time she tried it on, until she was the one wheezing and making an effort to breathe. And when she took off of the bulky dress, she simply had nothing else to do but sob and wait for the morning to come.

The wedding day came, just as the first day of spring arrived, and it was warm enough to forgo jackets and coats. Matt and Vivianna changed in the same room, being careful to not look at each other. There were several guests, people they had known for a very short time. Vivianna was alright with that. She only needed witnesses and reasonably pretty and decent people; she considered none of them a friend, more like acquaintances. The ceremony was celebrated, if one could call it a celebration, on a fancy boat on the Thames; Vivianna had said she had always loved the water and that she had dreamt as a child for a wonderfully beautiful wedding on a boat. The truth, of course, was that she was sure the monster could not infiltrate a large boat filled with people, and surely, she thought, the horrible doll could not swim. And after the ceremony, when Matt and Vivianna realized they had bound each other for life, they spent a quiet time on their private cabin on the ship. The sound of the waves mixed with the crackling of a small fireplace, and while still on her wedding dress, Vivianna finally took a good look at Matt, at her newly wedded husband.

Matt was so much thinner, and she hadn’t even noticed it. He had lost much of his heavenly glow, and his hair was no longer bouncy and golden; it had become opaque and lifeless, just as his cheeks had become hollow and grey. He had not lost his soft features and tender eyes; and yet he looked like a shadow of his past self. Vivianna knew that at least part of the blame of his transformation fell on her.

It would be alright, she repeated to herself, refusing to take a single glance at the mirror, at herself. When they returned home, their new home, they would eat better, feel safer, sleep soundly. They could go and buy books, and play songs, and try to reclaim the lovely activities they participated in during their childhood. Both of them knew that every single thing they did was tainted with the empty space where their friends should have been. That, however, convinced Matt that they had to keep on going, keep on living, though Vivianna could feel the doubt in his voice. But there was nothing else to do, truly. If they didn’t try at least to have a good time, then they would spend the rest of their lives drowning in shame and fear, and both were tired of living like that. They wanted sun and happiness and laughter back, and while the wedding didn’t truly managed to lift their spirits, perhaps the upcoming sunnier days of spring would improve their humor.

Just as Vivianna was thinking of blossoming flowers and blue skies, there was a crack of thunder and rain swooped down and pounced on the small round windows of the ship’s cabin. Both were startled by the sudden storm, but Matt managed to laugh nervously.

“That’s London for you, I guess,” he said, and Vivianna laughed too.

Vivianna approached the window. The raindrops raced down and draw lines on the glass, and as the river became wilder, it became difficult to see anything. There were many shadows on the waters, which could truly be anything. The dread climbed up her guts and into her throat, choking her, flooding her body with panic and adrenaline.

“Is everything alright?” asked Matt, taking off the black jacket of his tuxedo.

“Yes, yes, it’s just… I wasn’t expecting this storm.”

There was another booming thunder. Vivianna grit her teeth and pressed her nails against her palms. Matt knew there was something that was upsetting her.

“We should get some sleep, Viv,” he suggested. “We’ll arrive to shore by the morning. We should sleep until the sun comes up.”

“You do that, Matt,” said Vivianna, still watching through the window. “I’ll go outside, to the deck.”

“Now? But it’s pouring out there!” said Matt. He didn’t seem really tired at all. “You’ll get all wet.”

“Don’t worry, dear,” And it had become strange to call him dear. “I have a raincoat. I’ll be alright. You just have some rest.”

Matt sighed, but let her go out without another word. Vivianna wrapped herself with another piece she had designed and sewn, a dark blue –almost black –rain cloak made of a thick waterproof fabric resembling fine shimmery silk. She walked out and into the heavy rain, making sure as best as she could that her pure white wedding dress wouldn’t be ruined.

There was no one else outside; there was only rain and the noise of the waves. Vivianna grasped the edge of the deck, trying to keep her balance. The wind shoved her and the water entered her eyes, her nose, her mouth, messing her delicately braided hair. As she blinked furiously, trying to get to see something, Vivianna wondered if there was much difference between that situation and being completely underwater. She gasped for air, swallowing quite a bit of rain, but managed to partly cover her eyes and see around her. The ship was still moving forward, albeit unsteadily. Around the shores of the Thames were the English houses, used to the foul weather. And yet, she noticed, there was no one on the streets, not even a single umbrella to be seen. Vivianna turned around, almost slipping, to make sure she wasn’t just imagining it. But indeed, the streets were empty. Nobody came out during the outpour, only her, it seemed. She scanned the streets, the alleys, the roofs, as well as she could, to try and find the silhouette she was already very familiarized with –but there was no one, not even the monstrous doll, outside during the storm. So Vivianna wondered, what am I doing here?

Suddenly there was a blood curdling, dreadful scream. Vivianna turned around to see the little door going down to the cabin –the little door was half open –but she had closed the door, so no water would come in. The realization of the truth made Vivianna’s eyes widen, her mouth open, despite the heavy rain, and a chill went up her spine; the scream was repeated, and Vivianna, fearing the worst, certain of the worst, ran back inside.

Dripping wet, Vivianna stopped right as she stepped inside the warm room. The monstrous doll was there, yes, as soaking wet as she herself was; and Matt was also there –but, by some fortunate timing, he was still alive, though white as a sheet. Both the creature and Matt looked back at Vivianna, as Vivianna looked back at them. There was a brief silence, before the monster said:

“Shut the door, please. Don’t let the cold in.”

Vivianna, intimidated but assured that the monster had left her husband alive for another one of its devilish deals, closed the door and took off her raincoat. Her wedding dress did suffer a bit due to the storm. As it gazed upon her, by the light of the small fireplace, the doll let out a sigh.

“Look at you. You appear as an angel, all in white, all shiny, sparkly and smooth. Did you have a good ceremony?” it asked, and Vivianna gritted her teeth. “Were you happy?”

“I cannot be happy, knowing your sword of Damocles hangs upon me –upon us.”

Matt looked at the monster, then at Vivianna.

“Viv –please –what is happening?” asked him, trembling. “Who… What is this?”

“Leave, now,” said Vivianna, with a confidence she did not know in herself.

“You know why I’m here,” replied the creature. “And you know I won’t leave.”

“Please –can someone tell me—?”

“Now will I tell you,” said the creature to Matt. “Be patient. This is a momentous occasion.”

“You won’t tell him anything!” yelled Vivianna, losing her composure. “You don’t deserve to speak, to have a single word said your way! You monster, you devil, you inhuman, heartless parody of life!”

“Well, it wasn’t a very funny parody, was is?” grinned the monster. “Was it, mother?”

Matt was stunned. “Mother?”

“Yes,” said the monster, grinning even more. “Let’s come clean and tell the boy the truth.”

“What truth?”

“Don’t believe a thing this fiend says, Matt,” said Vivianna, both wanting to pounce at the monster and to keep a safe distance from it. “It’s all poisonous lies.”

“I do not lie,” said the creature. “I never do. And since he doesn’t know, just as Henrika did not know… They deserve to know the truth. You know that, Vivianna, my creator.”

“What does Henrika have to do with this?” asked Matt.

“I was the one who told her to stay far from you and her, from you two. But especially, particularly you,” said the creature, now pointing at Vivianna. “I revealed to her the truth about her dear friend.”

Vivianna’s heart skipped a beat. She now had confirmation of her long-held suspicions. “You kept her away from me.”

“No. She kept away from you. It was her choice.”

“What did you tell her?” asked Matt.

“That I was the one who killed Marianna,” said the monster, and its voice did not falter, nor did it swell with pride. For the creature, the murder was trivial, not something it could be bothered by. “I killed her in the woods, and when the trial came and the young man you called Elliot was caught, I knew I had dented my creator’s happiness in a way she would never recover from.”

Matt looked at Vivianna. “But Elliot… He was killed because of—?”

“I did not intend to frame him,” said the creature. “But I do admit it was a fortuitous coincidence.”

“Wait –so… You made this thing?” Matt asked Vivianna.

Now Vivianna couldn’t say a word. This moment was what she had been dreading for several weeks. The truth was coming out, and it was so ugly she could barely bear to open her mouth.

“I… I did make her… I made this thing, yes,” admitted Vivianna. “It was something I made during my time in the academy. This was the project that held me off from replying all those letters, and returning home.”

Matt gazed at the creature’s deformed face. All wet and slick, all reddened by strain and fury, it was even more of a beastly sight. By the dim cold light of the small window and the warm glow of the fireplace, her body seemed further deformed, even with the black cloak that hid most of it.

“How did you even… What even is this, Viv?”

“I assembled her. It’s made from several pieces and parts, organs and limbs from an assortment of creatures… I did what I could, and took what I found, in my attempt at crafting a body to instill life into.”

“But –how did you—?”

“It was a very complex, difficult process that I cannot possibly explain to you, Matt,” said Vivianna. “Just know that it took a lot of effort and time to manage to create this, as lacking as it is.”

The creature glowered at Vivianna, but said nothing.

“But –you don’t even like science, Viv,” said Matt. “You like designing, and sewing, and… and fashion things, for goodness’ sake! Not science. You never demonstrated any interest in it.”

“I do,” she said. “I have gone to an academy. You know that, you’ve sent me letters.”

“I thought it was a fashion academy, or something of the sort.”

“Nevertheless,” continued the creature. “She created me there, through a method unbeknown to me still. There, in her small academy room, I first saw the light and the fire. And I wanted to embrace my creator –thank her for the gift of life –and yet she rejected me, she despised me, she escaped me. She avoided me, and I do not doubt she has been ashamed from me ever since I opened my eyes,” The creature’s voice became surprisingly tinted with emotion, a distraught melancholy that almost –almost –moved Vivianna. “I attempted to find someone else to be the recipient of my affections. I searched for a family to adopt me. I received nothing but scorn, hatred and violence. Humanity never showed me a kind face. It kept disappointing me, every single time I made an effort to find that which you seem to call compassion. So I stopped trying, and I stopped searching. I decided to devote my life to pay in kind the treatment I deserved. I knew there was someone in particular who had been particularly inhuman to me, and so I set my sights on her, Vivianna Frankenstein, my mother, creator and goddess, the most powerful and wretched creature in the Earth.”

Matt was beginning to understand. “Do you… Do you really have that power?”

“I do,” replied Vivianna. “Though I wish I didn’t have it, I wish I never discovered it. I wish I could have left it untouched.”

“And you created this thing, this creature…” said Matt. “And you really did abandon it.”

Vivianna grit her teeth. “That doesn’t matter now.”

“Yes; what matters now, is what you will do, young Matthew Frankenstein, with that information,” said the creature.

“What do you mean?” asked Vivianna.

“I gave Henrika the same option. I informed her of me, of my crimes and yours, of the blame you held for the death of Elliot –who you did not truly help during his trial –and of the secrets you, my creator, my destroyer, kept from those you say you love.”

“I can’t believe you’d never tell us any of this,” muttered Matt.

“Matt, please, how could I…?”

“So now you have to make a choice, Matthew,” said the creature. “The same I offered Henrika. You can choose to believe me, and recognize that your friend and bride is as much a monster as I am, reject her and stay away from her, and so I’ll spare you; or you can obey her and convince yourself that what I said are lies, that I am the sole guilty and villain of this story, and that Vivianna was innocent all along, and so I’ll kill you.”

Vivianna covered her mouth with her hand. So this was the monster’s game.

Matt glanced at Vivianna, and then at the monster. He seemed deeply lost. “Why… Why should I believe you?” he asked the creature.

“Because I say the truth,” said the creature.

“But… I believe Viv –I believe Vivianna, because… Because…”

“Because you’re my friend,” said Vivianna.

Henrika had believed the monster, and she had chosen to leave her. She couldn’t let Matt get away too. Vivianna just couldn’t let that happen.

Matt looked back at Vivianna. He had his tender, loving eyes again, those she was raised trusting. “You have always been so kind. You’ve been such a good friend… You cared so much for us, even when you were afar –I knew you wanted to see us… You are a good friend, Viv. I just don’t know now if you’re much of a good person.”

Vivianna went livid.

“But… I cannot believe that my friend is a killer, or an accomplice,” said Matt, now to the creature. “I don’t believe she knew it was your hand that killed Marianna. If she did know, she would have helped Elliot. He was our friend too –I know Viv, I know she would never let down a friend like that.”

The monster seemed like it was stifling a laugh.

“Vivianna may not be perfect –she may not have been gentle to you –but I think it’s understandable. She was afraid, after all… She had made a mistake,” said Matt, more to himself than to the others in the room. “I cannot blame her for that.”

“Can you blame her for her lies, then?” said the creature.

“No. No, she did not lie,” insisted Matt. “She just didn’t know. She couldn’t have… Vivianna was in shock. I know how sick she had been, Henrika told me…”

“So why do you think Henrika left?”

“I think she might have been more susceptible to your words… Henrika has always been a bit too charitable,” said Matt. “A bit too gullible.”

Vivianna held her breath. Matt kept his eyes on his hands, head hanging low, racing through his thoughts.

“Have you made your choice, then?” asked the creature.

Matt let out a chuckle. “There’s not much of a choice, is there?”

            “Of course you have a choice,” said the creature, slowly leaning down, getting closer and closer to Matt. “You need to prepare yourself for the consequences, that’s all. If you are prepared, then the choice is clear.”

Vivianna then burst into tears, fell to her knees, and held Matt’s hands. “Oh, please, Matt, my dear, my dear friend, you must know… I never wanted any of this to happen… I loved you and Henrika and Marianna –and Elliot, yes –so, so much… I never wanted anything bad to happen to you.”

Matt smiled softly, and put a strand of Vivianna’s messy hair behind her ear, gently stroking her face. “I know. I know you do.”

The creature looked at them with an undeniable yearning. Matt raised his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I trust Vivianna. I know her. I know she wouldn’t hurt no one. I know she’s innocent.”

The creature nodded with a sigh. “What trust,” it said quietly. “What love.”

And then, with no hurry, with no more words nor sighs, the monstrous doll’s hands reached out of the black cloak, stretched towards Matt, and as he closed his eyes, the slim, long fingers of the creature wrapped his pale neck. Vivianna screamed, grabbed the hands and the wrists and tried to stop it, to shove the monster aside, but there was no use. The monster pressed its thumbs on the young man’s throat, and as the tears rolled down Vivianna’s cheeks, Matt’s lips parted to take one last breath.

“No!”

And in no time, Matt laid on the bed, eyes closed, mouth halfway open, lifeless, inanimate, draped among the silk sheets and the crumpled pillows. Vivianna cried and cried, covering her face with her hands, refusing to lay eyes on the latest victim, unable to think of anything else but her unending grief. By the time she had managed to breathe normally and stop shaking, she looked around the room –the monster had disappeared, and the fireplace was cold. Vivianna sat on the bed and embraced her husband’s icy body. The storm went on outside the cabin, but Vivianna could not hear it, nor could she feel the sway of the ship on the waves. Everything she felt was the soft skin and fabric under her fingers, the curls by her cheek, the drops falling from her face.

…

            When the ship arrived to its destination, late at night, Vivianna picked Matt’s body as well as she could, and managed to drag him inside the newly furbished house where they would have had their honeymoon. She locked herself in, closed all doors and windows, drew all curtains. Only the occasional groceries and strange packages entered the front door, and the new neighbors began to speculate, as they were wont to do. Some said the beautiful young woman had gone mad after the mysterious death of her husband, and that she was having him mummified so she could keep him by her side forever. Others said she was an anatomy student who murdered her fiancé to use his body for covert experiments, the type a medical school would not allow. Others, mostly children, said she was a witch who appeared as a lovely lady, with a fair smile that hid the monster underneath.

            None were too far from the truth. Vivianna was indeed using Matt’s body; she could not bear to part with it, the only thing she had left. Once again, all the equipment were brought, and all the necessary ingredients; a new neck was in order, as well as new lungs and, just in case, a new heart. Already having done two previous attempts, Vivianna connected the veins, sewed everything together with tiny, neat stitches, made sure the nails, teeth and hair were clean. It took her almost a week, since she thought she had learnt from her previous mistakes, and now, she was going to try her greatest achievement –not only to imbue life, but to bring back what was lost. The brain and the whole nervous system was untouched. Bad weather was common in London, so soon an electric storm presented a window of opportunity. With no distractions –none at all –Vivianna worked harder and more focused than ever before, even when she had the excitement of innovation, and when she had the haste of desperation. The body was readied. The systems were working. The engines and batteries were at full capacity, and Vivianna, her body aching from the effort, calibrated everything to the finest degree.

The lightning began. The thunder was audible even from the darkest nooks of the barred house. Vivianna’s thoughts were racing, alternating wildly from grief to fury to hope to despair, as she could barely control herself, as she laughed and cried and screamed like a madwoman.

And just as the proceedings were about to begin, a moment of clarity stopped Vivianna Frankenstein.

This would not bring Matt back. This could come out a hundred of different ways, all more complicated than the last one. This would not bring Matt back, not the one she knew. And he wouldn’t agree to this. He wouldn’t agree to her doing this to him. He had made his choice…

The lightning went on, and so did the thunder, as Vivianna tried to make her own choice. Time could not stop for her.

And finally, her heart pumping and beating loudly on her ears, her throat, her hands, she took the body of Matt off the operating table. Vivianna stripped down to her lace-trimmed chemise, and laid on the table, and the proceedings continued. She took a deep breath, and she looked up at the night sky, and pictured the rain falling down, soaking her face, the lighting flashing on her, the thunder making the ground shake. She closed her eyes.

A burst of heat and lighting flooded the sky, the house, and Vivianna’s body. She choked a scream, as the pain became white-hot, almost so total it was like a complete numbness. Vivianna couldn’t breathe. Her whole body convulsed and her limbs stretched and writhed violently.

Vivianna had made up her mind during those last few seconds before she laid on the table: the only thing she could do, the only option she had, was to take revenge. She could not fight the monster on her own –not as she was, so vastly overpowered by her own creation. And, beyond that, another thought had overtaken her: if she died, the monster won. If the creature could see a world without her creator in it, without its goddess, then the creature would win. And that was unacceptable. The only thing to do was to be the monster –to recreate herself –to have and never lose the power.

…

Vivianna opened her eyes to a quiet, sunny morning. She trembled as she sat and set her feet on the floor, but as she took her new first steps, she knew she remembered everything. She put on her dress again, packed up her bags, locked the house and left before anyone woke up, before anyone could notice her departure.

The power she now had was not evident, luckily; she had not suffered any particular physical change, save perhaps a certain hardness of the skin, a certain tension she sometimes felt when the weather was changing. But Vivianna did notice how her body was now stronger, impervious, and how, as time went on, age didn’t seem to produce any alterations.

Vivianna hatched a plan on the train to Paris, always making sure to be surrounded by people, never to be alone or even worse, alone in fields or mountains. She would remain in cities from now on, where the monster would have a difficult time attacking her, attacking anyone. Her family name was now tainted, she had become aware: from rumors of witchery and black magic, to curses and tragic mysteries, she no longer wished to be tied it. When passing the immigration offices during her arrival to France, she came up with a new name and identity: Barbara Millicent Roberts, a young fashion student, wishing to make it big in the Paris design business.

She remained in Paris for several years, learning languages, working to become one more in the crowd, practicing how to be a normal person: after so much time on her own, locked inside herself, surrounded only by her dear departed friends, she had forgotten how to behave, how to talk, how to be. Smiles and a great personality alone weren’t enough. To survive and thrive in the difficult, competitive world she had been sheltered from since birth, she had to learn its ways, to accommodate, to accept things not going her way –to immediately work on improving her situation.

Vivianna Frankenstein, now permanently renamed Barbara Roberts, took the last few million dollars left in her family account, and took to the United States in 1959. She passed again through the immigrations office, quite easily, due to her impeccable English and flawless appearance. And so, she tried getting jobs wherever she could, still unsure of whether the monster was still following her or not. She managed to land the job of fashion model, partly because of her fancy, tailored style and partly because she thought being on the public eye could help her to protect herself –since how would the monster try to kill her when she was so often surrounded by other models, by fans, by designers…? The fashion model lifestyle was not precisely quiet and relaxing, but Vivianna –now nicknamed Barbie –soon managed to also land the job of fashion designer –which gave her much room to exercise her sewing abilities. After that, she climbed up the company and got the job of business executive. She thought she was safe there –with the power that came with holding authority in the fashion company she had now taken over –yet a strange and gruesome crime involving her personal secretary –the poor woman was found lying on the kitchen floor of her home, strangled to death –convinced her to keep on moving, to never stay too long in one place, to surround herself with new people –and most of all, to never form any relationships the monster could use to hurt her.

So the now renamed Barbie finished her science studies and went to medical school, to become a nurse; that same year, just for fun, she decided to also become a flight attendant. By the end of the year, she also took some classes and became interested in ballet and dancing; in no time at all, Barbie became quite a talented ballerina. And, since she was already performing on stage –which did wonders to her declining self-esteem –she also took singing classes, remembering the good times she had singing with Henrika, and poured her heart in the songs she recorded. Later she also became a babysitter for the children of her fellow ballerinas and stewardesses, a temporal science teacher, an astronaut, and some time later finally finished her doctorate and became a licensed surgeon, and also a cheerleader, as she discovered American sports and took an interest on them too. She took a special liking to skiing, and became an Olympic athlete on that category, the only one to design and sew her own gear; the good publicity her silver medal gave her led Barbie to land a role in a sports movie, as the best friend of the protagonist. Her breakout role and good reviews went on to land her a protagonist in a fantasy movie, as the beautiful princess of a magical land; a panic attack during shooting, however, as she was attacked by the monster antagonist for a scene, made her known as a difficult actress to work with, so she decided to retreat for a while –it had been a lot of jobs for a long time, and by the beginning of the eighties, Barbie felt understandably exhausted.

She retreated to her private ranch in Oklahoma, where she lived for a while as a cowgirl. There she was the happiest she had been for quite a long time. The desert, with its flat horizons and immense roaming space, gave her a certain comfort. If the monster wanted to attack her, she would see it coming from miles away. Besides, American gun laws were flexible enough for her to load up on weapons to defend herself and her cows in case the monster should appear.

The money, however, ended up running short. Barbie had to sell her cows and was evicted from her ranch, and so she moved back to the city, and started from the bottom once again –as a McDonald’s cashier. She got a job as an aerobics instructor –it was still the eighties, after all –and, once more, she managed to use her natural charisma and well preserved beauty to make her aerobics classes a country-wide phenomenon, selling tapes of how to lose weight through aerobics and launching a new sport clothing line. With a new fortune achieved, Barbie went back to schooling, became a veterinarian –mostly to see rats like Willard again, though she swore to herself never adopt a pet –since it would put it in risk of being killed by the monster, which she was still certain was following her –and agreed to a contract with Universal Studios to become an actress again, with more freedom to choose the roles she wanted to play. Barbie headlined a few musicals that had a good reception but were quickly forgotten by the public at large.

By now, at the tail end of the eighties, Barbie was already living on sleeping pills and protein shakes and was completely devoted to working as much as possible, staying as little as possible on one place, doing the most with the time she had given herself.

As she slowly sank into depression, Barbie decided to train as much as possible to protect herself for the imminent attack of the monster that still haunted her every night. She joined the American army, making her best to ignore the institutional sexism of her officers and her fellow soldiers (she was rather used to it by then), and in the span of three years she achieved the position of Army Officer, Air Force Pilot, Marine Corps sergeant, and Army Medic. While training every day to reach her ultimate physical ideal, Barbie became almost by accident a UNICEF ambassador, which she was very thankful for but remained rather confused about. The goodwill of the people –she was seen by the voters as al almost supernatural overachiever who was unbelievable youthful and pretty, deeply charismatic and absolutely stylish –also managed to help her into a political campaign she didn’t see coming, but she nonetheless took advantage of it –since who was safest in the country than the POTUS? –and devoted herself to her presidential campaign.

Unfortunately, her attempts at communicating her policies through rapping –since she heard that was popular with the youth –during a debate cut her presidential campaign short. Desperate to regain the public goodwill she once had a strong grip on, she joined both the Washington Police Force and the Volunteer Fire Department. Despite her great physical strength and thorough military training, her lack of ability for team playing led to her dismissal from both. Unable to rest, she joined a cooking school almost out of boredom, and became a mildly respected chef. Craving the excitement of the army and the police force and the fire department, Barbie took a few driving classes and became a NASCAR driver. She didn’t win any big prizes, though. So she went on to train to become a basketball player and join a major league, though once again her difficulty for team playing played against her.

By a strange mistake, she also became the youngest United States President for three days, before being ultimately replaced –something Barbie never forgave her campaign team for. Still not ready to leave the public eye, for the third time, she returned to Universal Studios and asked for one more job as an actress. While some producers were quite confused by the fact Barbara Roberts looked exactly like she did in the eighties by the beginning of the new millennium, she was given a test audition and did well enough to land a role in the first of many movies she starred in, as different iterations of magical princesses, which made her even more popular among young girls. Barbie even produced several of her own movies, though she resented how she was never allowed to write her own lines and decide on the plots.

As premieres followed interviews and publicity stunts, Barbie realized the true affection her hundreds of young fans held for her. These children, she came to understand, were the ones who kept her afloat for the last two decades, and while there were days she could barely get out of her bed or leave her personal trailer and act the scene of the day, she could feel the passion and love these children had for her during each movie release, as she signed autographs, smiled for the cameras, and answered fan questions.

Barbie took a break from acting, ultimately, as she finally found a sense of safety. She lived once day at a time, trying not to let her fears get a hold of her, and while still refused to form any strong relationships out of habit, Barbie managed to be something close to happy, enjoying quiet afternoons in her mansion in Malibu.

And yet… A quiet life was not something that Barbie could enjoy for very long. She decided to go back to teaching; since no scripts she liked reached her desk, her next best option was to return to schools and teach some of the many, many things she had learned in her long lifetime.

And so, Barbie became a science teacher, returning to her first love: science. And she’s been doing pretty well as a science teacher, ever since.”

…

            Kelly stared at Barbie, completely dumbfounded.

            “Wait… But…” mumbled Kelly, trying to wrap her head around the very long last few years of Vivianna Frankenstein. “But if… Vivianna was… Then…”

            Barbie smiled enigmatically. Kelly put her hand on her forehead, trying to think, to make sense of it all. “So… All that time… Vivianna was you?”

“Oh, who knows?” laughed Barbie, shrugging. “Who’s to say…? But it does make a good story, now, doesn’t it?”

“But –are you Vivianna? –I mean, were you Vivianna…? I’m confused.”

“Well, I guess that’s a story for another day.”

Kelly looked down at the textbooks and papers she had been meant to been studying for the past hour. She tried to remember how it came that Barbie had told her that very long, very gruesome, very strange, very tragic story, and what it had to do with her science project in the first place.

“So, what have you learnt today, Kelly?” asked Barbie.

“I… I don’t know.”

The light suddenly came back. Barbie smiled. Kelly let out a relieved sigh. Now with everything visible and clear, with no dark shadows surrounding them, it almost felt like the story her tutor had told her was less of a story and more of a shared dream, an outlandish illusion that, with a little effort, she could manage to erase from her young mind. Never mind the rain that kept pouring, the noise of the storm pounding on the windows. Barbie had always had a penchant for storytelling.

The grandfather clock rang. Barbie closed her books and papers and put them back into her leather bag. Kelly gathered her own textbooks and notes, and let another sigh.

“Are we doing something about my science project next time?” she asked.

“Of course!” said Barbie. “Though I daresay you are more ready now to dissect that little slimy frog. Don’t you think?”

Kelly couldn’t deny that.

The light suddenly went out again –now with a burst of sparks coming from the main ceiling light, as the bulbs shattered. Kelly let out a small, scared shriek. The darkness was back.

“Something must have broken –perhaps there was a short circuit on the—” commented Kelly in an attempt at seeming braver than she felt.

Barbie shushed her. She raised her head and listened carefully. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed Kelly’s arm. Kelly was confused, but let her do it anyway. Barbie turned to the windows, holding Kelly closer and closer to herself, almost as if she was shielding her from something.

“Um, Barbie…?”

One of the large bay windows shattered –the glass flew out inside the room –the shards tinkled on the wooden floor. Barbie covered Kelly so she wouldn’t be on the way of the glass. Kelly barely had time to scream when Barbie moved back and gazed, with wild open eyes, at the windows –and so Kelly saw too –a dark figure, soaked in rain and illuminated by lightning, standing there.

“Get behind me, Kelly,” said Barbie in a grave voice, serious, authoritative, that Kelly had never heard from her before. “Now!”

Kelly obeyed. The figure came forward slowly, its face in shadows. Kelly wondered if she had fallen asleep during the lesson, and was now having a terrifying nightmare.

“What are you doing here?” asked Barbie, gripping Kelly’s arm in one hand and her leather bag in the other. “Why now? Why here?”

“It’s been long enough,” said the figure –the creature. In the reflection of a new lightning –as the white light bounced from the wide mirror behind the table –the creature’s face became visible. Kelly wished it wasn’t. The large blue eyes were glassy, surrounded by thick long eyelashes, and the nose was small and thin, and the lips were full and veiny, and there was almost no hair on its large head, and the proportions were so outrageous Kelly became almost certain she was dreaming. Nonetheless, she screamed at the sight. The monstrous doll ignored her scream. “And I thought you wouldn’t tell the whole story. I thought you’d have the good sense to keep it to yourself.”

“What do you care?” grunted Barbie. “If you want a fight, well, go on. I’m ready. I’ve been getting ready for this for years.”

“I don’t care for fighting,” said the creature. “What I care for is you telling others about me –warning others –I think you want people to find me and destroy me, because you’re afraid of doing so yourself.”

“Do you think I’m afraid?” asked Barbie, and Kelly at least could not perceive anything even close to fear in her voice. “I was telling her the story just like that –as a story. I know she wouldn’t believe it. It’s been a long time since people have believed a thing I said,” smiled Barbie, and she lowered her hand holding the leather bag. “You’ve exposed yourself in your attempt at keeping yourself hidden.”

“Well, isn’t that ironic,” said the creature, now looking at Kelly. Barbie pulled her further behind her, to keep her out of sight. “Yet you should have known you have condemned the child by telling her the truth. That’s the price you pay –that you’ve always had to pay –for neglecting the consequences of your actions.”

“You’re not laying a single finger on her,” said Barbie. She pulled out of her leather bag a long sword with a shiny pink handle. “You can leave now, or I can take this chance to finish this once and for all.”

Kelly now wondered if she truly had the imagination needed to come up with such a scenario.

“So? What will your choice be?” said Barbie, taunting the creature. Even from behind her, Kelly could hear the pride, the gloating on her tutor’s voice. She truly had no fear. She seemed to relish the moment.

“I can’t leave any loose ends –not even a child, not even someone who people would never believe,” said the creature. “Best to do as you said, and finish this once and for all.”

There was a clap of thunder. Barbie walked forward, brandishing her sword.

“Not here. Not in front of the child,” said Barbie. “She shouldn’t have to see this.”

“Now you’re worrying about others? That’s new,” said the creature. “Well then, I guess I can allow you one last wish.”

Faster than what Kelly could expect, the creature grabbed Barbie’s ponytail –pulled it hard –and threw itself along her through the broken window, down to the beach below.

“Barbie!” screamed Kelly.

She ran toward the window, careful not to touch any broken glass, to see the fight going on below. Barbie was an expert swordswoman, moving elegantly and swiftly, going from position to position, perfectly blocking and attacking. And yet the creature had brute force, knew its way around the sword’s hits, which did barely seem to hurt it.

Unable to keep away and hide, and overtaken by curiosity, Kelly run out of her house and through the stairs to the beach, where the dark sea was full of crashing waves, and the rain fell even harder, the wind whistled harder, everything felt heightened. Kelly thought she should have grabbed her raincoat before running out.

“Barbie, look out!” cried Kelly.

The creature punched Barbie hard on the face –a hit that would have knocked out anyone. But Barbie merely stood up, wiped the blood off her lip, and, panting, charged back again at her enemy. The creature now had a large, awful grin on its face, certain as it was of its victory. Indeed, it was much, much larger than Barbie, an imposing figure even though Barbie was plenty tall –at least to Kelly, who was rather short.

The sword, which did seem to barely do anything, almost snapped inside the strong grip of the creature’s hand. Barbie tried to pull it away, but even though ink-black blood trickled down the creature’s forearm, it did not release.

“Give up now,” said the creature, low enough that only Barbie could hear it. “Please, my creator, just give up. I know you have wanted to do so for so, so long… You don’t have to live in fear.”

Barbie softened her grip. Her whole being seemed to unwind, as her arms lost their tension, as her face lost its determination. Kelly covered her mouth, expecting the worst, guessing what was next. She truly seemed to be about to give up. The creature released the sword, which dangled from Barbie’s loose arm, and gave her a small smile now, a little smile of pride, yes –but also of sympathy. Finally, after all that time, they did see eye to eye.

“You are right…” muttered Barbie. “I shouldn’t have to live in fear.”

And with that Barbie gripped the pink handle, raised her arm –and before the creature could even react –she cut the creature’s head. Kelly let out a scream. The head rolled down the damp sand and stayed face down next to the sea foam. The remaining body shook a little, then fell to its knees before collapsing for good. It was still quavering, some remaining life trying to hold on to the damaged body, by the time Kelly approached her tutor.

“Barbie! Are you alright…?”

Barbie also collapsed, yet much more gracefully. She sat on the sand, with her hand on her ribs, where the creature had kicked her before. Despite everything she didn’t seem to have suffered much damage. The rain washed away much of the blood, and the dark of the night concealed many of the bruises. The only thing that betrayed that apparent normality was the heavy panting, as Barbie tried to catch her breath. Kelly sat next to her, not minding the rain and the wet sand anymore, trying her best to avert her eyes from the still moving dead body a few meters aside.

“Yes, it was nothing,” said Barbie quietly. “Don’t worry about me.”

It was not nothing. Barbie was still too tired to celebrate, but she had –finally –after decades –completed her revenge. She closed her eyes and turned her face to the sky, remembering that fateful night in which she had given up her mortality. Barbie took a deep breath as the lightning lit her face, and she smiled, as she finally –finally –felt herself at peace.

“Barbie… How did you become so good at sword fighting?” asked Kelly.

“I had lessons to prepare for a role, in one of my movies,” said Barbie. “Then I kept practicing, just for the fun of it.”

“How did you know that you had to cut the head to kill it?”

“After I retired for a while from the public eye, I began doing little experiments, knowing that I had to confront my past sooner or later. So I tried with animals –first worms, then frogs,” And she gave Kelly a little smile. “And later with mice and rats, until I could be certain that, with a resuscitated being, the only thing that could truly and definitely kill it was chopping its head off its body.”

Kelly nodded, as if this made total sense. They spent a moment in silence, watching the furious sea, under the heavy rain. Suddenly Barbie stood up, stretched her neck, and looked at her student.

“Come, Kelly,” said Barbie. “We need to dispose of all this.”

“What?”

Kelly flinched and moved back. Barbie sighed. She kneeled in front of Kelly, looked deep into the child’s eyes, and said: “I wish you didn’t have to see this, I truly do. But now it’s too late. I need help to push this deep enough into the ocean, so it will never be found. The body will sink, I am certain of that.”

“But—”

“I need your help, Kelly. Please.”

Kelly swallowed, but agreed. She also stood up, and they approached the body –which was fortunately, permanently still –after Barbie grabbed the head and, like an expert volleyball player, tossed it far into the sea. Then, Barbie picked up the torso of the creature, arguably the heaviest half. Kelly, with her child arms, tried her best to pull up the corpse’s long legs. They both moved slowly but surely towards the sea, and as they walked in –already pretty soaked by the rain by the time they were knee deep into the water –the body became heavier, as the water pulled it downward.

“Not yet, not yet. It needs to go deeper,” said Barbie.

They went only as far as young Kelly’s height could allow them. She stayed behind when the water reached the child’s waist, and Barbie pulled through the last few meters, and she dropped the body –walked back to Kelly –and held her hand tight to make sure the waves wouldn’t push her too much, as they returned to the shore.

“What are you going to do now, Barbie?” asked the child.

“I… I truly don’t know. I’m free, now,” she said. The storm was slowly stopping, as the rain became softer, and the wind was not as harsh. “Finally, for the first time in years, I’m free.”

Kelly smiled, a little bit because she liked to see Barbie smile again, and because on the horizon over the sea some sunrays were visible. The dawn was near.

“Will you come to tutor me next week?”

Barbie smiled again, though a little bitterly. “I’m sorry, Kelly. I don’t think I can. Your mother will surely think badly of me after seeing all that broken glass.”

“No, but I’ll explain it!” cried Kelly, clinging to her tutor’s arm. “I’ll make something up…”

“No, Kelly, I don’t want you to lie for me,” said Barbie. “You can tell your mother, it’s alright. After all, she won’t believe you. She’ll probably conclude it was a strong gust of wind of a particularly determined seagull or something of the sort.”

“I don’t want you to leave, Barbie…” sobbed Kelly. “Please… I want to learn more. I want to know more. I want to know all you know. I want to be like you.”

Barbie stroke Kelly’s damp hair. The rain had stopped. “I know. I just want to tell you… Be careful. And be aware of the consequences, always.”

Barbie stood up. Kelly wiped away her tears. Her tutor gave her a last small kiss on the forehead, gave her a little hand squeeze, and walked away on the beach, away, until she became so small she could not be distinguished anymore from the faraway rocks which were still being punished by the waves. And as Barbie left her life for good, Kelly turned back to the sea –and witnessed the most beautiful sunrise, the sky opening to reveal golden sunlight and the loveliest colors lighting up the horizon.

And so, young Kelly Sheridan learnt a very valuable lesson: to never, ever, play God.

[ here for CHAPTER 1 ]

[tears-of-boredom]

ok finished life is strange true colors. probably gonna be spoilers in this. so, i dont know if its because i was expecting to not like the ending, but i didnt like it. ended up really angry at the ending. tbh the whole vibe of the story was weird. my vibes didnt match its vibes. reminds me a lot of tell me why in a sense. with the siblings being reunited after both were separated when young and so the foster care system fucked them up even worse. and they can only begin to heal once they get out of it. and they investigate a family member's death. and the character models never seem to actually be touching anything around them. kind of like trying to get your barbie to hold something that didnt have that small finger ring. but the difference is that i like tell me why. maybe its just because the emotions matched mine more. idk. i wish we got to meet izzy. oh and yeah im not gonna even do the bisexual thing.

idk just left me angry and feeling shitty. but ig something happened outside of the game at the same time so that might contribute to my mood too. but man. i didnt even get to cry. and no one even went after someone in a fit of unbridled rage.... i mean,, of their own choosing you know? i wanted alex to walk into the black horse and just charge jed with a knife. and it is so fucking annoying because everytime i saw jed, i was thinking about how happy i am that for once the old man who the community trusts didnt do some horrible shit. like oh my god, i wasnt even fucking surprised when he pulled the gun, i was just so disappointed. i fucking hate that trope. so much. let old people be fucking good people for once, who arent trying to hide their past at all costs. like oh my god, let a main character actually get a father figure into their lives without them being a liar and a coward. and sorry but why the fuck did the game even give you an option on whether or not to forgive him?? like, yeah i could've fucking forgave him for being a bit too proud and making a horrible mistake because of that, but who the fuck fucking is forgiving him for all the shit he did to keep the secret. he didnt intentionally kill those miners, but by creating this lie about being a hero, and putting everything on keeping it up, he killed someone. and to be honest, i would not be surprised if there were more. and why the fuck did they make alex see herself in him? whatever her "gift" canonically is, she did not choose it. the monster she is ashamed of was something she did not choose. but jed made a decision. he hates himself because of a choice he made. neither of those things are less real or,, anything. they are just different. pretty fundamentally. hating yourself for something you cant change, and hating yourself over something you can change. oh my god i hated the ending. and hated how unlike me alex was. despite there being so many similarities between us. that flashback about the guitar, when shes imagining gabe and her at the orphanage. it hit me quite hard. i wonder how many kids have thought that. because i sure have. i wasnt even there for that long. but everynight, when i wasn't allowed to do anything but lay in my bed,, i think i thought "they cannot be so stupid to do this to me with sincere intentions." but,, i wasnt stupid myself. i knew that they were genuinely trying to help with all the restrictions. so eventually i concluded that they're stupid as fuck and know nothing. but they think they know better. the worst fucking combination ever. impossible to argue against people like that. usually they are like cops too. if you make them question the rules, they just fall back on "well thats still how it is (and there's no changing that)". adults love to obey authority and not question anything. and i would understand that if it was just a choice for an individual, but they affect a lot of other people by being like this. young people. but thats just how it is right. adults fuck up kids because they dont want to challenge anything, and then those kids grow up to be afraid of challenges too.

im really tired. i cant really tell if im even making sense. im gonna shut of my pc now.