Tumgik
#Clay Sinclair
slashwhores · 10 months
Text
Welcome to another installment of every artists hell like game... *drumroll*
[Crowd]
Which
Art Style
Will
I
USE
TODAY!!!
*crowd applauds*
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
3 notes · View notes
pinkbarbiebabi · 6 days
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
THE JOKER Uncovered
22 notes · View notes
ok listen up I have the Sinclair kid names here: Antonia Frieda, Silas William, Alexander Niklas, and Helena Ida, aka Tonya Clay Alex and Helena
5 notes · View notes
distamoni · 2 years
Text
REQUESTS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED AS I'M TAKING BREAK FROM WRITING DUE TO EXTREMELY POOR MENTAL HEALTH
As of now I'm going to be taking fic requests! Took me long enough I know.
Male reader only!
I will do:
Stranger things
Eddie Munson
Steve Harrington
Billy Hargrove
Will Byers
Mike Wheeler
Dustin Henderson
Lucas Sinclair
Jonathan Byers
Platonic! Robin Buckley
Umbrella academy
Luther Hargreaves
Diego Hargreeves
Klaus Hargreeves
Five Hargreaves
Ben Hargreaves
Viktor Hargreaves
One of us is lying
Nate Macaulay
Cooper Clay
Simon Kelleher
42 notes · View notes
graphicpolicy · 11 months
Text
Preview: The Joker Uncovered #1
The Joker Uncovered #1 preview. The Joker: Uncovered to see a murderer's row of the world's greatest comic book artists commit the Joker's beautiful image to dozens of wonderful variant covers #comics #comicbooks
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
3 notes · View notes
mmnjewelry · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
New earrings up on my Etsy! I was honestly kind of disappointed by season four, it felt kind of drawn out and the writing was poor, especially in volume two. That being said, the first three season slap and I miss the vibe of season one.
7 notes · View notes
brujanativa · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
Enid & Wednesday 💖🖤
3 notes · View notes
mail-me-a-snail · 2 years
Text
sometimes writing mindhunter fanfiction is about giving holden a bestie he can talk about helter skelter with
3 notes · View notes
pedroam-bang · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media
Mafia III: Faster, Baby! (2017)
1 note · View note
casualoptimist · 7 months
Text
Book Covers of Note, September 2023
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
1 note · View note
murkyhazed · 2 years
Text
.
1 note · View note
secretsnowclub · 9 months
Text
Snow's TTRPG Class: Lesson #1, a reading list of experimental rpgs
"Go ahead, put anything here," Tumblr says. Well don't you worry, Tumblr. I will put anything here. Just wait and see.
I wrote this article: https://nerves.games/2023/07/26/snows-ttrpg-class-reading-list/
It's got some words in there. Go check it out. OR, just look this list of games and read them. It's your first assignment. These are all games that I think have pushed on the boundaries of TTRPGs and most of them I would consider experimental. They are in alphabetical order.
Tumblr media
Adventure RPG (in Need of Translation), Mameli – https://better-legends.itch.io/adventure-rpg-in-need-of-translation 
Tumblr media
Apollo 47 Technical Manual, Hutchings – https://thousandyearoldvampire.com/products/apollo-47-technical-manual-an-rpg 
Tumblr media
Care for Hecuba, Libre – https://bigstuffedcat.itch.io/care-for-hecuba 
Tumblr media
Clay Creatures, Sinclair – https://s-jared.itch.io/clay-creatures 
Tumblr media
Disk Horse, Geist – https://fm-geist.itch.io/disk-horse-1-off-to-the-races 
Tumblr media
Don’t Lose Your Mind, Baugh – https://evilhat.com/product/don-t-lose-your-mind 
Tumblr media
Everyone is John, Sullivan – https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/271276/Everyone-is-John 
Tumblr media
Feedback, Slattery – https://adira.itch.io/feedback 
Tumblr media
Flying Games, Dragon – https://possumcreekgames.itch.io/flying-games 
Tumblr media
Freebase, Thron & Shaughnessy – https://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1411822901179.pdf 
Tumblr media
I EAT MANTRAS FOR BREAKFAST, Mison – https://mariabumby.itch.io/i-eat-mantras-for-breakfast 
Tumblr media
kill puppies for satan, Baker – https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1370/08/1370081361036.pdf 
Tumblr media
Lady Blackbird, Harper – https://johnharper.itch.io/lady-blackbird 
Tumblr media
Paranoia, Costikyan, Gelber, and Goldberg – https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/224392/Paranoia–First-Edition 
Tumblr media
Plot Armor, Black – https://oriondblack.itch.io/plot-armor 
Tumblr media
Print Weaver, Morrison – https://nlmorrison.itch.io/print-weaver 
Tumblr media
Teen Witch, Adler – https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/variations-on-your-body 
Tumblr media
Ten Candles, Dewey – https://cavalrygames.com/shop/ten-candles-pdf 
Tumblr media
This Discord Has Ghosts in it, Jobst & Vass – https://willjobst.itch.io/ghosts 
Tumblr media
Unusual Esoterica, Unpleasant – https://axesorcs.itch.io/unusual-esoterica-series-1 
Tumblr media
We Are But Worms, LaBresh – https://riverhousegames.itch.io/we-are-but-worms-a-one-word-rpg 
Tumblr media
Wisher, Theurgist, Fatalist, Moran – https://afarandasunlessland.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/wtf.pdf
If you didn't read the article: this is not a list of best rpgs, or a list of great starter rpgs, or a list of my favorite games! It's simply a list of experimental games that I think pushed the bounds. I think if you're in my internet house (which you are while you read this, welcome in, get comfy, we've got fresh-squeezed water) you should read these and have opinions on them, even if your opinion is "lol, lmao, this is trash." But this is school so you have to put it in a complete sentence of you get an F. Minus.
Bye,
Snow
286 notes · View notes
Clay: Are you really planning to shoot the demon? Helena: Don't worry, it's a holy gun. Clay: How so? Helena: It makes holes.
3 notes · View notes
devilschaos · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media
so i've been really into fantasy / acotar vibes & i know that names are sometimes so hard to think of. so under the cut is going to be a list of names that i love so so so much.
thea.
astrid.
starla.
wrenna.
anessa.
brynna.
raya.
janine.
corvina.
janiel.
gentrie.
kodi.
dione.
aldea.
celadine.
kasia.
prudence.
temperance.
monroe.
eryn.
veda.
greer.
georgianna.
sinclair.
hermione.
capryse.
remi.
annalise.
galadrie.
coralena.
alysia.
gwyneth.
tasia.
scotlyn.
wisteria.
rhea.
vinyette.
zoella.
zarafina.
maertisa.
sorcha.
apricity.
adalie.
lorenna.
tamara.
whitley.
safiya.
nikita.
pearla.
aleila.
magdalena.
alix.
marposa.
solana.
imani.
samaria.
marielle.
michah.
mila.
satori.
celani.
vallie.
camelia.
faerydae.
simora.
elisa.
araluen.
althea.
ravenna.
vieva.
azariah. t
wyla.
faelyn.
shaina.
xenia.
dove.
clarabella.
calliope.
destry.
evie.
raesha.
aveline.
josephina.
delyth.
elaya.
eudora.
leandra.
tiara.
maliah.
lana.
noella.
nasryn.
effie.
zahfira.
avena.
constance.
joelle.
saige.
keira.
aviva.
trista.
ariella.
sayla.
vaughn.
axel.
rhodes.
elio.
dominic.
ellis.
calder.
kieran.
henley.
leon.
amel.
jude.
marco.
evrin.
farron.
louie.
saint.
colby.
rhidian.
gideon.
tieran.
flynn.
roan.
harlan.
arden.
dashiel.
stiles.
hendrix.
haynes.
sevrin.
joel.
dallin.
rafe.
sirius.
eiran.
adir.
troian.
jamison.
roland.
lucian.
zanders.
jayden.
azriel.
cyrus.
chase.
jonas.
nero.
phoenix.
thane.
clay.
louis.
bronson.
demarco.
dimitri.
aeros.
arik.
lewis.
cedric.
bastian.
othello.
kaladin.
arrow.
evander.
merrick.
harvey.
hoyt.
artemis.
koah.
oliver.
dawson.
cody.
eryx.
ammon.
fabian.
davien.
dane.
valor.
kallias.
beck.
rhett.
kane.
davian.
castiel.
anson.
adonis.
zion.
andros.
tallon.
orin.
porter.
nolan.
layne.
brick.
slater.
soren.
wilder.
adler.
conrad.
everett.
rafael.
orlo.
pierce.
dax.
finnian.
laurent.
rhysand.
cassian.
71 notes · View notes
lu-is-not-ok · 8 months
Note
hello i have no idea if you have analyzed Impending Day Sinclair yet or not (or if u r even still doing analyses) but if you are.... perchance could you analyze Impending Day Sinclair??
Aaaalright, let's get right into it. This is... gonna be an interesting one.
So, as always, let's start off with the Abnormality - Doomsday Calendar. And, my god, what an Abnormality it is. Four whole phases in its fight, each one with unique passives and attacks and mid-battle events (which, mind you, the Fandom Wiki still doesn't list)... I've got my job cut out for me here.
Now, because of just how many phases this fight has, I'm going to go in a slightly different order than I usually would for Abno analysis. We're gonna go Phase by Phase, as I personally think that's a slightly better way of analyzing it than throwing all the Attacks on the table at once and trying to dig for a meaning there.
Got that? Alright, cool.
The fight against Doomsday Calendar starts with Phase 1, which for the sake of the Analysis I'll call the Prelude.
During the Prelude, we're met with a couple of Doomsday Clay Dolls, a sort of "minion" entity to the Abnormality proper.
Let's briefly talk about those Clay Dolls so as to not get distracted later. First of all, it's not really shown to us how these Dolls are made so to say, but we do get to see the Calendar revive these Dolls with every progressing Phase. This is confirmed by their passive, Idolatry, which says that they don't die when reaching 0 HP, simply staying there untargetable and immobile until the next phase, or until the Abnormality is fully surpressed.
Interestingly enough, the Abno Logs describing the Clay Dolls never explicitly say that they're made of clay, but there is that implication that that's the case as their bodies are describes as resembling muscle fibers, and with their name being corrected from "flesh dolls" to "clay dolls" in an Abno Log later on. I don't think it's too important to Doomsday Calendar itself, but I did notice that just now and have a feeling it connects to some wider themes that are slowly being presented throughout Limbus Company.
Beyond that, their passive name and Lust skills imply they only exist to admire, love, and serve the god-like figure that is Doomsday Calendar.
Looping back to the Prelude, during this phase Doomsday Calendar does not act and is completely unargetable. It has only one Passive during this stage - Let the Blood Festival Flow, describing what has to be done to progress to the next phase.
This gives us a very interesting image already. Each of the phases after the Prelude are "Festivals", or specifically religious celebrations. A very dark and ironic take on this idea, seeing as each of these Festivals requires a human sacrifice, though I may be getting a little ahead of myself.
Once the Clay Dolls are defeated, Phase 2, the Blood Festival begins. The Clay Dolls are revived, with an extra one joining in. Doomsday Calendar awakens, sprouting arms that it uses to attack the Sinners.
Here, Doomsday Calendar makes use of two different Sin Affinities. Sloth for the attacks Quake and Slam, the animations of which are the Calendar literally just slamming its fists against the ground as if having a tantrum; and Lust for Live Offering, in which the Calendar grabs a Sinner and puts them in its... uh... Mouth? Facehole? Basically, the Calendar is hungry and needs to be fed.
The first mid-fight event happens after one turn. Immediately, the text here paints a specific image. The sacrifice done to appease is called a gift, a tribute if a Clay Doll is offered. It's described to be the way to calm someone down that the Abnormality likes the most. The gift it specifically seeks here is fresh blood, and it becomes satiated once it recieves what it wants.
Perhaps the phases are Festivals to the Calendar as it's recieving gifts in the form of these offerings, but to the people around it they're really more like Rituals meant to stave off whatever calamity this god will bring.
Something else to note here is an interesting sense of inevitability. Doomsday Calendar becomes satiated by the blood, yes, but it only calms down "for a moment". It will inevitably grow hungry once more, and will need to be fed again to quiet down its tantrums.
Once again, the Calendar's Passive here gives us an idea of the next phase - Let the Fire Festival Ignite.
Upon being damaged enough, Doomsday Calendar's phase 3 begins, the Fire Festival.
In this phase, all of the Clay Dolls begin Burning, creating fire within their masks and gaining the Wrath Affinity skill to belch out the fire, perhaps expelling it out as if trying to get rid of it.
Additionally, Doomsday Calendar takes on some interesting behavior here. It doesn't actually attack, only using a guard skill named Stalwart Altar, something that further exemplifies its role as something to give Ritualistic offerings, as well as adding to the idea of it being inevitable, indestructible. Something that will always come back, no matter how many times it's staved off.
Beyond the Phase-changing Passive, Doomsday Calendar also has a second Passive during the Fire Festival - Frenzy, which inflicts burn to all its enemies.
If the Blood Festival was about satiating the Calendar's hunger for blood, then the Fire Festival is about cooling down its simmering rage and raging fire.
The second mid-fight event takes place two turns into this phase. The text says that to weaken the Abnormality's flames, one would use cool water, before noting that the Sinners don't just carry buckets of water around. Does this imply that the 'proper' Ritual here would have been to offer up water as a gift? It would make sense, after all during the Blood Festival the Calendar only wants blood, not specifically human blood. Perhaps in that case, just animal sacrifice would have sufficed as well.
Tangent aside, if a Sinner is chosen to be offered up, the prompt for the skill check specifically asks for someone with a "cold heart", and even beforehand the text asks for someone "cool" to be offered up instead of water. Upon success, the Abnormality's fervor is cooled, and its flame shrinks to a flicker.
Note again the idea if only pushing back the inevitable. The Abnormality's flame isn't fully put out, it only shrinks to something much more manageable, something that will need time to build up again. These Festivals aren't really solutions to the problem, they're merely bandaids and duct tape meant to give people a little bit more time.
The last part of this phase is the Passive that tells us of the next one - Let the Star Festival Fall, which activates when Doomsday Calendar is hurt enough.
During Phase 4, the Star Festival, none of the Clay Dolls act, and the Calendar only uses one attack - Universe Aflame, which has Envy Affinity. First, it uses them on its allies, and if the last mid-fight event, it uses it on all the Sinners, which causes a unique death animation when it kills. And uh, it will Very Likely kill, because that shit is a 35-45.
As for the reason it's an Envy attack... I believe the event that happens after it kills its allies explains it well.
The Abnormality isn't the one being given an offering here, and it's not the one causing the calamity, rather it's only a gateway, a vessel for the actual cause of the Doomsday - the stars.
Stars are... an extremely important theme in Limbus, and it began as far back as Lobotomy Corporation. I don't want to go on too long of a tangent about that here, since it's only a small part of Doomsday Calendar, but let it be known that the stars in this series seem to be entities of unimaginable power in their own right.
Back to the event at hand, the text here describes the stars as "twinkling", saying that when they shine, they will rob the Sinners of their sight.
That specific idea makes me think of the sun specifically, as its (hopefully) common knowledge that staring directly at the sun could blind you. This is fitting for Doomsday Calendar, which includes a sun-like design as part of its stone plate. Doomsday Calendar being related to the sun also explains a lot of its other quirks, such as its connection to fire and even the whole thing with human sacrifices, as that connected with it being clearly inspired by Aztec stone calendars further relates it to the idea of a sun god.
Just like with the other sacrifices, this offering is also called a "gift", though here it is explicitly given to the stars rather than the Abnormality. This event also forces you to pick a Sinner rather than a Clay Doll, and the skill check prompt explains why - the person being offered up needs to have a voice that could "lull the stars to sleep". If this lullaby succeeds, the stars are put into a deep slumber, their light leaving people be "for a while".
For a while... again with that idea of inevitability. Putting the stars to sleep only puts off their awakening for later, it doesn't actually stop it. With time, they will inevitably twinkle once more, and their starlight will again threaten to "blind" everyone.
While this may not be enough to fully stop the stars, succeeding at this skill check is enough to suppress Doomsday Calendar.
That was... a lot. Let's take a look at the Abno Log before we try to come up with some themes for this thing.
The main details that we learn from these Logs are as such:
The pedestal the stone plate is on is actually made of wood, it only looks like it's woven from muscles.
The plate is confirmed to be a form of calendar, tying into the idea of foretelling some inevitable calamity.
The plate physically changes with each progressing Festival, being noted as becoming more ominous with each change.
Being killed via offering to the Calendar doesn't seem to kill in the traditional sense, rather it seems to disconnect the consciousness of the offered from their body and... it's unclear what exactly they see since Yi Sang's too traumatized to make sense in the Log, but it's clear it's some form of End of Everything.
Now then... What the hell kinda themes can we extract from all this?
The biggest one that I've probably spoiled in this write-up is the theme of some inevitable calamity. An End of the world, whether literal or metaphorical, that can never be truly stopped, only delayed indefinitely.
Another theme I can see here is this dissonance between two parties. Something that one sees as a horrible act being seen as something to celebrate by someone else. Sacrifices seen as gifts, Rituals seen as Festivals, the stars' light bringing forth darkness for others.
Last theme I want to bring up here is the concept of a harbinger. A calendar with a deadline on it isn't what's causing that deadline, it's only warning you of that deadline approaching. Likewise, the Star Festival shows us that the Doomsday Calendar isn't the one directly causing calamities, it's only a vessel through which other forces act, and through which they can also be calmed to delay the inevitable.
With all of that laid out... Impending Day Sinclair. Oh man, Impending Day Sinclair.
Let's start off with the Awakening attack, shall we? Here, the... staff? Mace? Hammer? The weapon that Sinclair uses takes on a form mimicking the shape Doomsday Calendar's plate has during the Blood Festival phase. This corresponds nicely with the effect this attack has, being healing and granting a buff on a kill, as if devouring the target similarly to how Doomsday Calendar needs blood to be satiated during the corresponding phase.
The dialogue line, "I’ll crush you…", doesn't really tell us much by itself. Sinclair's delivery here is sort of strained, not exactly scared but not angry either. Anticipating, perhaps? Readying himself? Trying to show restraint? It's a little bit hard for me to tell. What I do find interesting is how this line seems to roughly correspond with the type of attack Doomsday Calendar does during its Blood Festival phase - pounding and slamming the ground with its arms. Likewise, the type of attack Sinclair goes for here is slamming down onto the target, pushing them further down to the ground.
Considering how the Blood Festival phase shows us Doomsday Calendar seemingly having a tantrum out of impatience, is this meant to be a reflection of Sinclair in some way?
Of how he acted out, not exactly out of impatience but more so out of the anxious anticipation of his upcoming prosthetic procedure, leading to him breaking his family's trust and indirectly causing them to be "crushed" by Kromer?
Then, there's the Corrosion attack. Sinclair's weapon here takes on a form mimicking that of Doomsday Calendar's plate during the Fire Festival phase, showing the progression of intensity. The mechanics and animation aren't as close of a parallel to that fight's phase, considering Doomsday Calendar only guards during it, but I think there is still something to be noted here.
During the Fire Festival, Doomsday Calendar can be best described as "simmering" in my opinion. Letting its raging flame be known while also seemingly calmly waiting for an offering to be given. Likewise, Corroded Sinclair could also be described as simmering in this attack, gaining a buff but also being hurt if he fails to kill. His dialogue line's delivery also gives off that vibe of a controlled frenzy - sounding calm yet at moments being so intense it almost makes him sound ecstatic.
His line here, "You, too, will be a live offering.", is... interesting. It's as direct of a reference to the Abnormality as it can get, but there's just something about it that makes me wonder. The wording of 'You, too' brings to mind the image of someone having already been offered up beforehand. Who was this previous offering? Who is this current one?
In the Fire Festival phase, the offering given to the Abnormality is meant to weaken its flames, to cool its fervor. It patiently waits for it, like an Altar, while damage is caused all around it. Perhaps, just like in the Awakening the calamity being brought forth represents Kromer, the Corrosion represents how Kromer patiently waited for the second 'offering', Sinclair himself, to show up at her altar, while N Corp's Inquisitors burned down everything for her in the meantime.
Finally, we have the Sin Analysis portion of this post.
Impending Day's Sin Affinity is Wrath, the Sin of defiance and the audacity to try and change the world. I think that perfectly represents what sort of 'impending day' this E.G.O represents. By acting with Wrath, by trying to delay the inevitable procedure and trusting Kromer, Sinclair became the harbinger of the calamity she brought.
Just like how in Doomsday Calendar's fight delaying one calamity only brings forth another, Sinclair delaying the end of his world that losing his organic body meant to him only brought forth a different kind of end to his world.
When it comes to Sin Resource Cost, Impending Day requires two Sins - Wrath (3 of them) and Lust (2 of them).
Wrath requirement is already partially explained by the Affinity. Sinclair needs to wish to defy his reality, to delay the seemingly inevitable, to be willing to rebel against his family, for the Kromerity (that is, Kromer calamity) to take place.
Lust is an interesting Sin requirement here. I believe it's meant to represent Sinclair seeking fulfillment, specifically a fulfilling life and a form of social fulfillment. On one hand, he's seeking a way to continue living this his organic body, as it's the way of being he finds far more preferrable and comfortable to the cold prosthetics he sees his family using. On the other hand, there's the social fulfillment that comes from befriending Kromer and listening to her further justifying his own disgust. Both of those contribute to him being compelled to trust Kromer, thus bringing forth the Kromerity.
When it comes to Sin Resistances, interestingly enough the only one Impending Day Sinclair shares with Doomsday Calendar is being Fatal to Sloth. By resigning himself to his fate, to the initial calamity, Sinclair could have avoided this whole situation, which is something he's painfully aware of.
Impending Day Sinclair being fatal to Gloom is also a reflection of his regrets. If only he had listened to his doubts and worries in the moment, if only he had let his initial anxiety around Kromer lead him away from her, perhaps this all could have been avoided.
On the other hand, Wrath is ineffective against Impending Day Sinclair. After all, Wrath is what led him into this situation in the first place, but it's also what can get him out right now. By directing that Wrath against Kromer, by defying what she wants, he can delay her next inevitable calamity.
To properly summarize, since I really should summarize these posts more often, Impending Day represents Sinclair's role as a harbinger of the calamity Kromer would bring, and how his attempts at delaying his own prosthetic procedure led to him and his family becoming 'offerings' to her. It's a reflection of his guilt, of the role he believes he played in this tragedy.
So... yeah. Hope that was enjoyable to read, I don't know how long this post turned out to be and at this point I'm afraid to ask!
87 notes · View notes
sketchy-rosewitch · 9 months
Text
Ambrose means Eternal: Bo Sinclair x feminine!gn!reader
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Warnings: allusions to abuse, reader and Bo have an age gap of 2 years (reader is older), reader gets called Mama, other than that reader is gn, let me know if I missed anything.
A/N: Oh this is one I’m really proud of, been a wip for awhile.
A loud knock and your doorbell is heard as you do the dishes making a small sigh escape your lips. You shut off the water and take off your dish gloves before making your way towards the door.
Peeking through the eyehole you see the toothy grin of a twelve year old boy.
You open the door. “Did you at least check to see if Vincent and Bo were havin’ issues before makin’ your way over.” You ask, Lester was already making himself at home, shoes off, backpack on the floor, and walking towards the kitchen with you quickly following behind to finish what you were doing.
“Yeah, Ma and Pa were beatin’ Bo real good. Vincent wasn’t nowhere to be seen. Don’t remember what they were yellin’ at him about but I got out of there cause I knew I wouldn’t be gettin’ fed. Probably would’ve gotten a board to my ass too.” You hiss at him swearing and point at him then the cross that hangs on top of the entrance of your kitchen. He gives as innocent look and you sigh. This situation is unfortunately very casual for him. The kid would come home more often than not to Bo and even sometimes Vincent getting yelled at and beat with a belt or a wooden board or whatever Trudy and Victor could get their old wrinkly hands on. He’d stay quiet, more quiet than Vincent ever was and turn around to make his way to your house.
It was practically routine at this point.
“Sick of your damn parents kid.” You growl, turning on the kitchen. Out of anger you put a little force on the handle of the faucet causing it to squeak.
You continue to do the dishes and look out the window, it’s sunny and breezy outside. “You wanna play on the swings while you tell me about your day after I’m done?”
“Yeah, but I gotta tell ya. I’m gettin’ too old for those things. Soon enough we’ll be in rocking chairs on your front porch!” Lester jokes, you snort and listen as he opens a bag of chips, setting some on his plate.
“Give it 60 years at least kid. Though, I bet you’ll be out of this town by the time that comes around. You’ll probably be outta town in the next 6 years really.” You smile, hoping he finally leaves everything behind, you know he deserves a fresh start away from the hurt and neglect he receives.
“Will you come with me?” The kid asks as he stuffs the Turkey sandwich he made in his mouth. You let out a small laugh and finish washing the last dish in the sink.
“How am I supposed to take care of the other neglected kids in town if I leave?”
You turn off the sink and sit next to the youngest Sinclair brother. He squints and purses his lips.
“I’m the only neglected kid in town and you know it. If you leave that means you’re still taking care of them. Cause you’re going to take care of me. Make sure I’m alright.” He stuffs a bunch of chips in his mouth, crumbs fall onto his plate.
You let out a soft laugh and shake your head at the kid. “Maybe I will, but most people’s time for leavin’ this town passes after they turn 18, that’s 2 years since I’ve missed my opportunity.” You rub Lester’s back as he finishes up his food. Once he’s done he sets the plate in the sink and the two of you head outside.
The breeze and sun feel good on your skin as you push Lester on the swing and go to sit on yours. You give yourself a light push to get going. “What’d you do at school today?”
“Started on some clay art projects. I like playing with it. It’s like mud.” Lester explains. You nod your head to indicate you’re listening to every word he says. It’s honestly the least you could do for him. Not that you wouldn’t listen, he’s more interesting than one would think. “I think next week we’re gonna start another book. I don’t really care for the stuff we read in class. I like comics and stuff. But Mrs. Gerringer says they ain’t actual books so they don’t count for reading. I disagree. But don’t tell her I said that.”
You laugh, “Yeah like I’m going to tell a teacher I absolutely despised that, ‘Lester Sinclair disagrees with the fact that comics aren’t actual books.’” You shake your head at how silly Lester can be. Even though it is just the mind of a 12 year old.
“What else are you doing?”
“Well, we played dodgeball durin’ gym. Apparently everyone wants me on their team. I think it’s just ‘cause I’m good at dodgin’. I’ve been told I’m very fast.” The twelve year old says matter of factly.
“I’d have to agree with whoever said that.”
Lester gives a toothy grin and he slows himself down on the swing so you can see it.
“Bo gave me some money for lunch today. Said it’s from him workin’ at the gas station. Bought myself a zebra cake and a milk. Savin’ the rest to get whatever I want later.” At this point the youngest Sinclair had stopped swinging altogether just so he could show you proof of the money he had in his pocket.
“That’s sweet of him.” You smile and watch as he pockets the money and starts to get up, still talking but this time he’s walking around the yard. You swing lightly, and watch as he talks about Bo and Vincent moving out with him and you.
You honestly wonder how Bo is doing right now. Vincent usually isn’t the one you worry about, he learned young to just stay quiet and out of things.
Bo never learned that, he didn’t want to learn that, not when starting shit could get his parents to finally notice him, not when the attention he craved was one broken wax vase away.
Lester didn’t stay out of shit, he got into it too just not as deep as Bo. Still, his parent’s attention never faltered from giving praise to Vincent and condemning Bo as Bo would get blamed for Lester’s faults and chaos making the youngest Sinclair the Invisible Man.
Bo would probably come and pick up Lester tonight or tomorrow. Seems the only time Lester isn’t ignored is 8-12 hours after he’s gone.
You hope this time Bo will let you out ice on his bruises and kiss him better. You’re sure the kisses wouldn’t come as easily, he hasn’t let you do that since his sophomore and your senior year of high school.
“How many marshmallows do you think I can fit in my mouth?”
You squint at Lester, who is now in the grass trying to look for bugs. He looks up at you, that same gapped toothy grin comes across his face. You raise a brow and smirk.
“I dunno. You wanna go see?”
“Fuck yeah!”
“Lester James Sinclair!”
The look on his face reads as an innocent apology making you playfully roll your eyes and grab his shoulder wrapping your arm around it as the two of you head inside.
-
“Gotta say it after each one or it doesn’t count.” You cross your arms and raise a brow at Lester.
“Chuhvee Buhnee.”
“That’s 12.”
He stuffs another marshmallow in his mouth.
“Chueee, Buhhnee.”
“13.”
He spits them out onto the kitchen floor and both of you let out a laugh.
“Better than your last one. That’s three more.”
The kid smiles at you and is already going to grab some paper towels to clean up the mess he made. You wrap up the marshmallows and store them back in the cabinet for later.
“Can we watch a movie now?” He asks.
“Yeah let me get a pizza in the oven and we can do that.”
-
Lester is passed out on your couch when Bo shows up.
From the knocks and the time you can tell it’s him. So you get up and open the front door.
“Is he here?” Bo asks, hands stuffed in his pockets, he slouches but the porch light still illuminates his face and you can see his eye forming a bruise around itself.
You nod and open the screen door to let him in.
He looks over at his little brother and sighs, shaking his head. “Les-“
You make a quick decision to let Lester sleep for a little longer and to take care of Bo. You touch the older Sinclair’s shoulder. “Let him sleep.” He looks at you. “Come on.” You take his hand and guide him towards the kitchen. The chair squeaks underneath Bo’s weight as he sits down. He wears a frown on his face but you don’t care, instead you grab an ice pack from the freezer and move the other kitchen chair so you’re facing towards him.
“Did you eat tonight?” You ask, pushing the ice pack onto Bo’s eye. He flinches from the coldness, his face turning from a frown to a scowl.
“Why do you-“
“Just answer. You know why I care.” You say. Bo rolls his eye.
“No.”
He knows what you’re doing next, so he takes the ice pack from your hand and holds it there. You get up and plate some pizza then set it next to him on the table.
Your body relaxes a bit as you sit on the chair and watch him eat.
“Lester talked to me today about all of us leavin’ town.” You say, Bo scoffs.
“You and him can leave town. Vince and I ain’t.”
“Why’s that.” It’s not a question.
“Vincent is taking over the museum and I gotta take care of him. Someone’s gotta take the blame for somethin’.” Bo explains between bites.
“You guys ain’t obligated to do any of that.”
“Well you ain’t obligated to watch over Lester yet here we are.”
When you bite, Bo bites back harder. You sigh. “Guess I’m not.”
“Vince won’t change his mind. I know because I’ve tried to get him to. Even Lester has. Guess he’s still convinced things will change in 6 years..“ Bo finishes his pizza and shoves it away. “I gotta take care of Vince though. I know Lester will be fine, especially if you go with him.”
“I can’t go without you. You know that.” Your voice sounds calm and hushed, but your emotions are anything but that. Bo Taos his fingers on the table. He thinking. “Quit actin’ like you’re unloveable.” Slowly, as if you’re trying not to scare a bird away, you lean in.
“You love someone you don’t even know.”
“I’ve known you your entire life Bo Sinclair.”
His breathing hitches as you get closer and he takes the ice pack off of his eye. You kiss Bo. He takes you in hesitantly, eventually moving his hands to hold your face. One of them is cold but you don’t care.
“I’m gonna take good care of you and your brothers.” You whisper as Bo pants. He nods and kisses you again, this time he doesn’t hide his desperation. He lets a tear fall down his cheek and you’re quick to wipe it away without any words. Bo’s hands move down your body and so do his lips.
“Don’t leave me here alone, Mama.” Bo whispers. Your heart stops at the name, but you nod your head and run your fingers through his curls. “Say it.” He commands. You swallow.
“I won’t leave you here alone. I’ll always be there for you. I’ll be there for Lester and Vincent too.”
He kisses you again and looks into the living room. “I should probably get Lester home. We have school in the morning.” Bo mumbles.
“Of course.” You stand up and Bo follows after you. He kisses you on the cheek and grabs Lester backpack before making his way over to the couch. You smile as Bo picks his little brother up instead of waking him and you walk to the door opening it and stepping into the cool night to hold open the screen door.
Bo steps out after you and kisses you goodnight. You rub Lester’s forehead and kiss it. “Sweet dreams little man.” You say before looking at Bo. “Goodnight Bo.”
“Night Mama.” You kiss him one more time and he walks to his truck, opening the door and placing his little brother in the seats. He gets in and starts the truck, driving back up the road and back to his house.
You smile sadly and go back inside.
No one ever leaves Ambrose past the age of 18. You tried and tried. First your grandmother got sick, then she passed, then your home became a safe haven for the Sinclairs to get away, then you promised Bo you wouldn’t leave him.
Lester only moved 20 minutes out of town. You had already married Bo by then, and now there really was no escape, not when Bo and Vincent still felt like they had to prove something to their deceased mother.
The hole kept getting deeper and deeper when Bo and Vincent began killing people. Started with folks around town, then they made a detour and lured them in. Bo said you’d never have to do any of that and he’s take good care of you.
He kept his promise and you kept yours.
What a good Mama.
100 notes · View notes