If I Should Stay
Holy fuck, yall. SO MUCH happened. Had to delete Tumblr for a day (or, as it turns out, like, 8) but I’m back!! Y’all get TWO parts today and then another in two days to keep us on schedule.
Part 1 | . . . | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
Dinner is filled with raised voices, back and forth, thinking of and discarding plan after plan, until an agreement is reached. Joyce takes her kids home soon after, and helps ferry some of the other kids as well. Nancy takes Mike and Robin. Steve winks at Robin as she leaves, resulting in her sticking her tongue out at him.
Then it’s just Steve and Eddie, Alli having given Steve a look before taking her leave and heading upstairs to her room.
“So,” Eddie says with a grin, holding up his lunchbox.
Steve swallows the noise that wants to come out. “Please,” he says instead, leading the way to the back door before freezing just inside, realizing what had happened just a few days ago. “Um,” he says embarrassedly, “how do you feel about roofs?”
Eddie gives him an odd little look before replying. “In general?” He asks, though his smile reveals he knows what Steve means.
Steve chuckles. “Y’know what? If you have actual opinions, I want to hear them.”
“D’you know they’re made differently depending on where you are? Because the type of weather? They’re steeper here than in, say, Florida, ‘cause we get snow and Florida doesn’t, and snow is heavy and can cause your roof to cave in if too much settles on top. Also if you live in areas that get a lot of snow, don’t grow weed in your attic, ‘cause the heat will cause the snow to melt on just that one part of your roof.”
Steve blinks. “That’s… actually really interesting.”
Eddie grins. “Isn’t it?” His grin falls when Steve opens the door to his room. “Speak now or forever hold your peace, Stevie-boy, ‘cause I’ve got opinions on your room.”
Steve sighs. “I think I’ve probably heard it all before, but go right ahead. Surprise me. You’re good at that anyways.”
Eddie gives him another odd look before looking around. “Seriously, if you don’t want me to say anything, I won’t. I mean, it’ll be hard, but-”
Steve snorts. “No, go ahead, I wanna hear it.”
He wanders over to the desk, picks up the phone, and brings it to his ear before saying to Steve, “the seventies are calling. It wants…” he gestures around, “all of this back.”
Steve snorts, drawing a hand over his face to hold in a laugh. “That all you got?”
“Hey, that was a good one,” Eddie retorts, then looks around again as his smile falls. “I dunno, man. I get that I don’t really know you, but… this doesn’t really feel like you.” He tilts his head. “Besides maybe that car,” he gestures to the picture, “but… is that the stock photo?”
Steve hums. “Probably. My mom decorated it. I didn’t have much say. Well,” he considers, “any say, really.”
Eddie narrows his eyes. “Can I ask about them?”
“Who?”
“Your parents.”
“Oh.” Steve shrugs. “Sure. There’s not much to say. They’re not terrible, just… absent. I mean, my dad can be an asshole sometimes, but that’s just dads, right? But he’s always gone on business trips and my mom thinks he’s cheating on her—she’s probably not wrong, by the way—so she goes with him.”
Eddie blinks. “Your dad sounds like a dick.”
Steve snorts. “Well, his name is Richard.”
Eddie’s eyes light up. “His one redeeming feature.”
“His name?”
“Exactly what it says on the tin,” Eddie nods.
He’s so earnest, so ridiculous, Steve can’t hold back the laugh. He leads Eddie out onto the roof, extending him a hand as he crawls out the window and staying behind him as they crawl up, a misguided hope of being able to catch Eddie if he were to fall.
They make it up unscathed, however, and Steve watches as Eddie lights a pre-rolled blunt, taking the first drag and releasing it—and the tension in his shoulders—before handing it over to Steve, who inhales deeply before immediately coughing. “Fuck, man,” he says, laughing, “I forgot I haven’t smoked much yet.”
Eddie raises a brow. “Yeah? You do it a lot in four years?”
Steve shrugs. “Not a lot, maybe, but definitely more.”
Eddie hums in response before accepting the joint back. “So tell me,” he says after a few minutes. “We’re actually friends? Or ‘s this more of a keep your friends close and your enemies closer type thing?”
Steve huffs a laugh. “I can definitely see how you’d think that,” he admits. “But no, this is… it’s friends. We’re friends. Or I’d like to be, at least.”
Eddie grins at him. “You don’t seem too bad,” he teases. “I guess I could stand being friends with you.”
“Oh, well I’m so glad I meet your standards.” He grins lazily before taking another hit. “If it makes more sense to you this way, we can just say this is reason enough,” he says, holding the joint up. “Cause man, I tried another dealer, and I dunno what he had but it sure as hell wasn’t this.”
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Though I'm unsure this will reach the right people, I need to speak my mind about the reaction to the Shubble situation.
I am overwhelmed with reassurance by how this community is supporting Shubble.
A part of me heals every time I see everyone continue to recognize that Shubble is the most important person in the room.
I am proud that we are supporting the victim.
But I do have to stress that we haven't stopped the support of the Abuser, Wilbur Soot.
While it's amazing to see the community come together for Shubble, and that we have already hurt Wilbur's reputation.
I am still afraid it's not enough.
Wilbur still has a fanbase, he still has reach. But most importantly: He has INFLUANCE.
Though I am already seeing the effects of this community's endless support of Shelby already reaching his fanbase, I can't ignore the people who haven't left.
I know that I can't speak for everyone, but it's hard to immediately cut ties with someone like Wilbur. He was someone that I used to look up to and admire. It was painful to let go of the comfort I found in him. But I still found a way to leave him.
Right now people are slowly learning more about the situation through videos on YouTube and posts here on Tumblr, but there are still people who are blindly supporting Wilbur.
As someone who doesn't use Twitter, which is where everything is taking place, I had to learn about the situation from Tumblr users fighting over Wilbur's innocence.
Which was two days before his apology was screenshotted and reposted on Tumblr.
Before Wilbur's shitty apology, there were only two videos on YouTube discussing Shelby's VOD and Wilbur's allegations, now confirmed, of his involvement as the Abuser.
With the only informative video being a quick summary of Shelby's VOD and all the main arguments for Wilbur being the abuser. Which, as I'm now making this post, the YouTubers who made those videos have yet to update the current situation.
Though there are more "informative" videos on YouTube now, they still lack both reach and current facts. With only one in particular having both requirements, xetn4's video which I'll link here: Why do my heroes become horrible people. (youtube.com).
But while xent4 has made a solid video that has checked these boxes without being clickbait, that video still only has 10k views (as of now).
Sure that's nothing to sneeze at, but that 10k compared to Wilbur's 6 million subscribers (as of now) pales in comparison.
And that's not even mentioning how his video is the only one that doesn't feel like people trying to hop onto the "Fuck Wilbur Soot" train before it leaves, using it as clickbait for views.
But even with how ungenuine those videos are they still only have a thousand views at best.
And while posts here on Tumblr have been reaching nearly a thousand notes overnight, they still don't have the proper reach.
Again, I cannot stress enough how little reach this situation has outside of Twitter.
Because while the support for Shelby has affected Wilbur's fanbase, I'm still afraid it isn't enough.
And with every day that passes my fear that this situation will be swept under the rug and forgotten only increases because I'm already watching the numbers fade with every day.
Because as long as the situation stays on Twitter, as long as people read Wilbur's apology without knowing it's about Shelby, the less people are going to know the very real threat Wilbur poses as an abuser with a fanbase.
And yes, to clarify the apology, people are going to shrug it off without knowing the heaviness of his words. Wilbur wasn't afraid to say Shelby's name, he was ensuring a safety net, a loophole.
Because if you read his apology without any of the facts, then it ensures that you stay ignorant and continue to support him under the guise of him "getting better".
And I'm not assuming here, because I've already seen it happen with my friends. Just showing them Wilbur's isolated apology multiple of my friends have asked me why it matters so much "he's already apologized and is getting better, so what's the problem?".
The problem is that Wilbur is dangerous.
And as long as someone can read Wilbur's apology without Shelby's name or the facts, then they will continue to think that everything's taken care of and that nothing has changed.
I can already picture that without Tumblr I would also be one of those people and would still be blissfully ignorant as I happily listen to Lovejoy thinking about Wilbur's next upload.
This is the very thing that is happening as long as we allow this situation to stay contained on Twitter. Because if we don't spread the facts and get the proper reach, we are allowing Wilbur to keep his peace.
His peace which was the exact thing that kept Shelby silent in the first place, hell it might even be the reason why the VOD was taken down to begin with!
Wilbur is dangerous and shouldn't be allowed peace.
Wilbur doesn't deserve a fanbase and we need this situation to reach the proper audience, his audience before it's too late.
Always Believe the victims.
Don't support the abusers.
Support Shubble.
Stop Wilbur Soot.
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ik that you just did something about what dates Valeria and Laswell who take you on butttt can you still do how’d they like to celebrate valentine’s day! Hope you have an awesome valentines 🩷
Hey! Sorry for not posting on Valentine's Day or yesterday, I was extremely busy with work and had some very long days ^^; But I'll post twice to make up for it today! Sorry this was a bit late as well ^^;
Valentine’s Day with Valeria and Laswell
Valeria: We’re just going to assume that she has time to spend with you this Valentine’s day and took a day off or something. Valeria doesn’t think too much about it, it’s just another day where people are taking the money straight from your wallet, either because there’s someone you love or because you’re single and need to eat your frustrations away. She doesn’t care at all about that day, and whether she does something for it or not entirely depends on whether or not you complain about wanting to go on a date with her that day. If you don’t then there will be no date. Because it’s only a cash grab sort of day, Valeria wouldn’t particularly buy you chocolates either. She really doesn’t like Valentine’s day. Complain enough and she’ll get you some chocolate straight from the chocoria, no matter how expensive. A few flowers maybe as well, but that would be it out of her own initiative. She’d much prefer to stay at home and watch some movie with you. One that isn’t about romance, just a normal action movie or comedy or something. Complain enough and she’ll sigh, grabbing her coat and ushering you outside. It’s not often that she does something like this, but you’ll be walking around Las Almas together, chatting a bit, getting some of the yummy street food out there. You’ll do something akin to sightseeing where she shows you all the places there are in the city and around it, except they’re all the places she found when she was still young and reckless. From the berry bush in the park no one knows about, to the abandoned mill by the countryside she used to hide from her parents in. Valeria is normally a classy woman who could buy the world if she wanted to, but her real signs of love would be when she isn’t spending money on you for once. It shows that you’re more to her than just another cost, another person who’s just out for her money. Or, at the very least, she trusts you to not be. While there still won’t be too much sentiment from her side, you’ll also go stargazing together if the sky is clear. She can’t tell you too much about the constellations, but you’ll just stand there and look at the stars. Valeria hasn’t had the time to do that in forever, so she’ll likely take a while.
Laswell: Again, we’re going to assume that she has the time to spend with you and isn’t out and about abroad, risking her life. Laswell has a much greater tolerance of Valentine’s day than Valeria does. She used to love that day much more when she was a teenager and was with her first girlfriend, but stopped caring as much about it as the years went by. While she doesn’t like how romance is being forced down everyone’s throat that day, she’ll tolerate it since she can’t change it anyway. However, Laswell is much more likely to do something with and for you on that day, she doesn’t complain either. Starts the day off with a kiss to your temple in order to wake you up, makes you breakfast, heart shaped pancakes with vanilla ice cream, before she gives you the chocolates and flowers she got for you. The flowers are fairly fancy, roses, dahlias, lisianthus. Anything that looks nice and could show you just how much she loves you is a-okay. After breakfast you’ll lounge around your home for a bit, doing chores together and stuff, until it’s time to leave that is. You’ll be going to a fancy restaurant together, eating at an all you can eat buffet until your hearts and stomachs are content. Of course, all of it goes on Laswell’s bill. Afterwards it’ll be something relaxing for the time being, digesting the food as you take a stroll through the park, for example. Whatever suggestions you may have, you may voice them now before the two of you will go to a jewelry store where you can pick out something gorgeous that fits you, your outfit, your eyes and whatever else there may be. After your stroll is over, you’ll likely go home together, cuddle on the couch and watch TV. It’s not the most exciting day there is, but Laswell is just glad she has a sweetheart she can spend the day with. You’ll end up watching some awful rom-coms together, complain about them and how bad they are, only to be watching the next one right afterwards. You will be eating popcorn together, salted, with caramel and maybe steal a few kisses from each other here and there while there’s nothing interesting going on at the moment. Again, it’s not much but Laswell is usually out and about just about anytime and wants to relax for a bit for once. Even better if she gets to do it with you.
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