𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒌

ETHREN: you protest too much, morgyn. MORGYN: i could protest more if i could be bothered, trust me. DANIEL: he's interested in you, stop playing hard to get!! MORGYN: he's interested in my body, not me. ETHREN: oh, i didn't realise you were able to completely separate your conscious from your human flesh vessel. very cool. DANIEL: [laughs] MORGYN: you're so weird. we're leaving, dani. DANIEL: no!! i like him, he's funny.

jesse: the count's victim doesn't understand why. he's a victim & he's treated like a criminal on trial for the crimes his attacker committed. & slowly he begins to hate his father -- a hate that begins with cries & ends in silent, burning resentment-- ethren: jesse! stop mentioning vampires. jesse: [laughs] & soon, the count's victim feels that maybe he is the monster his father is painting him to be, & maybe -- one day -- his first bite might just be on his father's neck. perrie: that's sad not scary! ethren: it's getting late, we should go inside. son, i want to talk to you -- in private. come on.

jesse: that's really spooky. perrie: [groans] i know. could it've been ethren? jesse: maybe? my dad doesn't make a habit of watching people sleep, though. i think i might've forgot to close it properly last night & dad does sleep with the windows open. doesn't take much of a draught to blow a door open. perrie: you're right but... i've been having dreams about someone hurting me & knowing a vampire was sniffing around my house is putting me on edge. jesse: that's my fault, i should've stayed with you. i'm sorry. perrie: no, it's not that. i had a dream the night i called you too -- i saw my aunt in that one & the one last night. jesse: grief can do strange things. you're still mourning, after all.

Dani had never been shy with socialising & certainly didn't hide from getting close to the locals at almost every holiday spot we'd visited together. It was Ethren that approached him while we were in the bar, Elixirs & Brews, that's nestled behind Brooks Bridge Borough. "Do you blame him for what happened to Dani?? Ethren, that is." Oh, no. No, I don't -- I couldn't. There wasn't any chance he knew what was going to happen & there's not a bad bone in his body. Ethren... Ethren was trying to be a flirt; he saw tourists in Glimmerbrook, his home, & he wanted to play around. If he knew how things would end, even how things would end for himself, I doubt he would've spoken to Dani that night in '96. "Do you think, in hindsight, he regrets where he is now??" I don't know & it's a question I'd rather not have answered, but this is about Dani, isn't it?? This isn't about Ethren & I believe his expectations for his own future are irrelevant. "You're right, but I would like to revisit this topic in another session." Yes, yes. Anyway...

Jesse didn't sleep in with me last night nor did he answer my question about his other dad. He kissed my forehead & told me he'd explain in the morning -- it was late & whatever he said wouldn't come out right anyway. & that night the dreams came back. I'm running but I can't see who I'm running from; their voice is busy when they tell me they aren't going to hurt me -- I don't know who it is. Then I hear her. Auntie. "Don't run," she says. It's light & airy, as if being carried by the light breeze tickling my ears. "Go back." My words are choked out. "What?? No!! I can't!! They'll kill me!!" "They won't, baby. I promise you, they're as scared as you are." Her warmth sends shivers down my spine, & my eyes water. She appears, just as she'd been when I was younger. Her untameable red hair cascades down her back & frames her full, smooth face. I reach out towards her, but my hands phase through, & my chest tightens. Even in my dreams I couldn't pretend she was alive, that she was right beside me, telling me everything was okay. "I haven't got long, Perrie, so please listen to me. You're safe where you are -- don't go back to Glimmerbrook or the Magic Realm, okay?? Someone wants to hurt you, he wants to hurt you, & Ethren knows how to keep them away. If you must leave..." She starts to fade, a whispered curse under her breath. "L. Faba!! Perrie, stay close to L. Faba!!" Then the forest is empty, the sparkling place she was once in dull & dark. A hand clamps down on my shoulder, a familiar gloved hand from a dream I'd had the night before. They bend down to my ear, but I don't feel their breath. It's as if they aren't breathing. "I'm sorry." The apology hangs weakly in the air around us, my stomach churning. They sob, using my shoulder for support. "I'm so sorry. I just want to be normal again. Please forgive me. Please." The door was ajar when I woke up, though I could barely see it through tear-filled eyes. I don't remember whether I heard it click when Jesse left, but I know it wasn't like that when I fell asleep.

• someone you loved - lewis capaldi • cherry wine - hozier • smoke - pvris • greek tragedy - the wombats • eyes on fire - blue foundation • ship to wreck - florence & the machine • take on me - a-ha • solo dance - martin jensen • don't call me up - mabel • anklebiters - paramore

jesse: my dad won't think that's appropriate. perrie: i don't want ethren to sleep in bed with me. jesse: that's... not the dad i'm talking about. perrie: i don't want any of your dads to sleep in bed with me. perrie: hold on. two dads? where's the other one?

When Dani had suggested a holiday during winter two years ago, I'd expected Sulani or Oasis Springs, not Glimmerbrook in the middle of their first blizzard of the season. Alas, I agreed to go; it was close to where my family would camp during summer break in Granite Falls, so I thought I knew the area like the back of my hand. The mud had frosted from the cold & the towering mountains in the distance sparkled as we arrived, haloed by the morning sun. Perhaps I'd been rather negative -- in the beginning. Mama had said to take care of him, & I'd promised her I would -- he was my younger cousin, after all, & he was always so much more naive than I. He was curious, seeking to sate his thirst for the strange & bizzare, & he'd often run into the road to pet kittens sleeping beside bright coloured phoneboxes. Dani was soft & I wasn't. Being an only child to parents who desperately wanted to teach me to look after myself, if something were to ever happen to them, I couldn't be soft. I was the oppressor; whenever Dani wanted to do something dangerous, I'd be the bad guy beating down on him, killing his fun & ripping an adventure from his hands. It had been like that since we were young -- evil, responsible Morgyn & innocent, fun Daniel. I wish the pressure hadn't got to me.

perrie: should i go & check on him? ethren: no, no. he'll be fine, i'll make him something later. perrie: are you sure? i'm worried, maybe i-- ethren: you can check on him after dinner; you shouldn't sacrifice your own hunger for him. he's not going anywhere, okay?

*chanting* Fuck off, Vlad!!

I know I said private save but look how cute Calvin is!! Hard-working baby boy.

NOTES: - Sims marked with an asterisk (*) can be nonbinary!! & feel free to make any of the sims transgender. Whatever the gender settings are on them, I won't change it, because that's how you created them & that's how they're staying in my game. - Naturally, I'll give you full credit for the creation of the sim & tag you (or link to your tumblr if you'd prefer not to get a notification) in every post they're in. - I will never kill the sim. I don't like killing my sims anyway & I have aging turned off (because I'm weak).

perrie: 35 years? how old are you? jesse: he's gotta at least be 60. ethren: haha, very funny. i'm 48. perrie: you are young looking.