#lincoln!analysis

he's obsessive. he needs you to need him and would do ANYTHING to have you to himself. he's strategic or "organized" and deceptive in this pursuit. as opposed to someone like slasher or raider being impulsive or "disorganized" and brazen in their actions.

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also, he really fucks with your head and you might not even realize it. this is from pt. 5 when you go get in his bed during a very bad storm, and you're scared. :

. . .But you were also a little shy about how needy you felt. . . The moment you started overthinking it, Joel noticed and pulled back.   He experimentally grinded his cock against your front. He leaned his temple against yours and whispered, “Just ‘cause it's there don’t mean ya gotta do anything with it.”  You breathed an internal sigh of appreciation, even though you were salivating to have it in your mouth again. To have it anywhere, everywhere.  

He cupped your cheek and stroked it with his thumb.  “I just wanna make ya feel good.  Can I do that?” You nodded “mm-hm,” and his hand returned between your legs, ghosting your clit through the fabric.  “Cause I don’t have to,” he went on.  “Won’t hurt my feelings if ya go back to your bed, okay?”  You nodded.  “We’ll just do what you want,” he said. Except for what I want most, you thought to yourself.   

from pt. 4, Apple Blossom:

. . .Abe couldn't possibly have packed up and left. This didn't explain anything at all.  You'd have to see it to believe it.   "No. He wouldn't just leave," you said and got de ja vu. You were quiet. Nothing felt right.  You spent the whole afternoon scared and alone, and now this? "Sorry, peaches. Didn't know you were close." "We weren't. I just - I'm surprised. He didn't say anything this week, did he?" "Sure didn't."  "Just like Jesse,” you whispered.  Joel inhaled through his nose as though calming himself.  “I don't understand it," you said.  Joel was quiet for a moment.  "People leave, darlin'. But I promise you I won't.  Not ever."  You mustered half a grateful smile and indulged him. “Promise?” "Never.”  He looked gravely serious.  “Not unless I take you with me,” he said softer. 

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You thought about Bill and Frank's attempt at "the Talk" – how precious you were and that you could love anyone, but needed to protect yourself. Especially from men. Joel seemed like the protector. Not someone you'd need protection from.

I kept thinking, I could've sworn there was a song, but I couldn't find it. Then, days after posting the the first chapter, the song This Protector randomly got stuck in my head after not hearing it for years. It was never one of my favorites of theirs, but when I listened to the full song, it gave me chills how perfect it was, and not just the title.

You thought you heard a sound, there's no one else around, Looking at the door, it's coming through the floor

I ret-conned the pt. 1 title, changing "the" to "this," and decided to make the rest of the chapters White Stripes songs because they have enough songs with the right atmosphere and creepiness. Even certain motifs like apples, which were already in the story. Even the age gap factor, I mean look at Passive Manipulation, which of course was way too on the nose to use as a title lol:

Take a step back, take a look at one another You need to know the difference between a father and a lover

And In the Cold, Cold Night (sung by Meg)

You make me feel a little older, like a full grown woman might.

Anyway, there's a lot of good stuff. Screwdriver even has a Tommy in it as Milla mentioned.

Before this one, I had never made a story playlist before. I kinda lucked out on this. I overplayed the White Stripes so much in my formative years that I still know all the words to an alarming number of songs two decades later, for some of them.

As for the theories, I wouldn't feel right about killing reader or Joel in this story even though either of those could totally be realistic outcomes in different genres like straight horror or even true crime.