Melancholic Quest 7: Baby Del and Ms Buttons Edition
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=Thread 6=
You are Delilah, an unfortunate runaway with a strange and terrible affliction. There's plenty of hate and misery twisting inside of you due to the transgressions thrust upon you, but there is still a sliver of hope. Will you find your happiness in the end, or succumb to the evils of the world?
=Important Info=
Story Thus Far (Raw): http://pastebin.com/WnGZwK04 (embed) (embed)
There will, hopefully soon, be a much easier to read version of this, similar to reading a novel.
Quick Glance (SPOILERS); https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wXNWJdAKuqw-btrHDbvSkN5Gj3QhdY28XNKRUXMLHu0/edit#heading=h.8xfgre7nxqty
The quick Who is Who and what Delilah has. Mostly accurate.
Twitter; @Cowboy_Sue
Previous Thread: >>146992
You remove your hat and scarf.
"It's me...m-mom." The formality you're using feels strange.
She doesn't say anything and you take the seat again.'
"..." You wait to see if she will say anything. Her eyes are still starring at where you were.
"Mom..."
"..."
You reach up and shake her shoulder. There's a pause, and she finally looks over at you.
"Oh...Don..." Her hand reaches out to you, her voice hazy.
Your father's name.
"I'm so scared...to be a mother. I really am."
"I'm not Don."
"You're...that's right. Delilah. You're Delilah."
"I am. Can you tell me about...the apartment."
"Apartment...the...the new one. Right. What...what about it?"
"When...when exactly did you start with those pills?"
"The pills...in your food...it was...the third day. After the movers left."
"And you kept putting them in all my meals?"
"Yeah...yes, I did. Had to keep you asleep as long as possible."
You don't want to push her too far.
"Do you remember the name, James Bower?"
"Bower...Bower was...a friend...a friend of Don's."
"D-Dad's friend?"
"Yes."
"What...what was he supposed to be doing at the apartment?"
"Fixing you."
"What does that mean?"
"I...I don't remember...you were...what were you..."
Your mother begins to freak out again and you back off of your questions for a moment.
Is there anything else you would like to ask her?
>>160857
Why does she hate us?
>>160780
The fact that I enjoy something doe not exclude it from being bad. I've liked a lot of campy, stupid things before. Reasonably assessing the quality of the updates thus far, there's been a lot of shaky moments that fell flat. Lawrence's "revelation" was handled miserably. Every time we've been on a bus we've conveniently thought to ourselves so she doesn't have to describe the world going on outside us. And hell, the pregnancy reveal was a joke.
None of the characters have particularly challenged Delilah either. Despite the morally reprehensible things that she's done the only criticism she ever gets is largely internal. I mean for fuck's sake she smashed somebody's face in, then we went to the hotel and Lawrence was all fucking better despite just witnessing a 13-year old fucking bat into somebody's face remorselessly. Not just to defend him, no, to make him fucking suffer. No, he's only really embarrassed about the boner he got from her sensual licking. That's what fucking matters. That's the big hang up.
It's bad, anon.
>>160849
A lot of this is accurate. The choices we've been given aren't necessarily hard either, or are just character fluff. We need rough choices, and these are usually formed by scarcity and zero-sum games which don't happen nearly as often as they should.
I mean, case in point the choice where we needed to beat up somebody at Good Hope was obvious. Even if he was innocent, Roger was a person could sacrifice to preserve the primary cast.
>>160857
Was she getting paid for our... treatment?
Did any other men come to help... "fix" us?
>>160893
(I'm >>160839)
Well, it's not even so much about needing rough choices, it's more like...if you're gonna FORCE Delilah to be depressed and freaking out, give her an ACTUAL REASON to be, don't let the situation come out roses like Sue has been and wag your finger at us despite making a solid choice.
On the other hand, if you don't WANT to give us rough choices, then don't ACT like we made a rough choice, because it's very clear that we didn't, or quite obviously had our hands forced, or otherwise was very easily justified.
>>160852
Ask directly:
"What were you trying to fix?"
>Lawrence was all fucking better despite just witnessing a 13-year old fucking smash a bat into somebody's face remorselessly
>Not just to defend Law, no, but to make the attacker fucking suffer
>Roger was a person we could sacrifice
Now that fixes from >>160893 are dealt with...
>>160917
I don't know man, maybe it's just the quest dragging on. Good Hope has been bad for the narrative, it removed the feeling of loneliness and isolation that was needed to give the characters that break it actual impact. It's also removed the scarcity, despite the fact that even in a group there should be very real decisions to make about food availability and who eats.
>>160857
"What were you trying to fix?" is the question we need to ask. Followed by, "did you have it?" and "were we born with it?"
I have to say that I miss the calming questions that came after trauma. I think Sue is falling into laziness/getting dry creatively because for the last 6 updates or so the questions are :
>U R DELILAH
>U VERY FUCKED UP
>BECAUSE FUCK YOU
>WHAT U DO?
That's getting old and I miss those little intermissions of Delilah happiness.
Maybe, Sue you could also give us a more cinematographic angle on the story and, even if I know that the MC is Delilah, would be interesting and refreshing to read about the daily grind of the other characters. Because right now Delilah's just a ball or misery, mistakes and self pity. :(Also /u/pdates
>>160943
Yeah, true. By all accounts I feel like even with the pregnancy, Delilah has a slightly better life than she used to. Like I said, though, I don't mind this, so long as the actual narrative and choices and character reflect the situation we're in. Which I don't feel it does right now. It's why I kept harping on Delilah to grow a damn backbone last thread.
>>160893
I have to agree, honestly. Which is a shame, because this quest started out strong and had a lot of potential. It feels like it's been stale for a while now, though, and Sue hasn't really been handling the "dramatic" moments very well.
I've been keeping up with it because I feel like it still has potential, but honestly, it's not what it could have been.
>>160857
Ask her how she found out what was wrong with us, directly questioning her about the nature of the affliction isn't doing any good.
"Did I do anything wrong?" Your voice is soft as you ask this, like a child who knows they are in trouble. Her emancipated head shakes slowly.
"Then...did you hate me?"
"I didn't love you the way I should have."
You take this in silence.
"Did you...did you ever love me?"
"Of course. I don't think...I was ever good at showing it though..."
As she speaks her voice sounds closer to what you remember her, the sad terrible memories with her.
The silence hanging between you two is heavy. The sounds of other patients do nothing to cut the tension. Lawrence nudges you gently and you continue.
"Did you get paid for...letting me get treatment?"
"It cost me so much money to have you looked at."
"You were...paying to have me treated?"
"Yes...yes the doctor said that it would be expensive..and he's been right."
"Was there more then one doctor?"
"He...I think he sometimes came with others..."
You're struggling to think about this information.
"How did you know that...that I was sick?"
As she's about to answer your mother breaks down into the most horrific wailing. You can barely make out the words she squeezes out.
"You-...-got-....-from-...-me-..."
She's absolutely sobbing at this point. It looks like she's broken as she babbles on about things you don't understand. One of the machines hooked up to her begins to blare, and a nurse shoves the two of you away.
"You can't get her excited like that!"
The nurse rushes back to help with your mother, and in a lonely waiting room you stand with Lawrence.
How...are you supposed to handle this information...
You take a seat and hold your head in your hands.
Why was grandma here...why...just so many things...
Lawrence sits next to you as you begin to think.
It's the late afternoon, what do you do?
>>161186
Inherited, huh?
I think our next stop is to visit Gramma.
>>161186
See if we can get any information about our mom's medical info
Maybe try to coax it out of her doctor or something
If we are posing as family we should be able to talk to him or her
>>161207
yea, this. she'd be more coherent at the very least.
Wtf is wrong with you people, this is a quest, stop expecting top novel quality shit.
This is top teir quest shit here. Don't fuck it up
>>160956
Also we have been getting refreshing breaks alot, i genuinely don't see how these criticisms are legitimate, y'all niggers just buttmad because angst and suffering protag
Just fuck off if you can't handle the narrative.
>>161232
They're not expecting top novel quality. They're expecting coherent characters and a solid story. That's not much to ask for from a quest. Stop lashing out at criticism like a kid.
>>161232
...I'll agree with this guy in a less assholish manner. This is easily one of the best quests I've seen on the site, and certainly the best that was born on this shithole of a board. It can be a bit angsty, sure, but certainly not to the degree that some people are claiming.
Honestly, it's the closest one I've seen to an actual tabletop rpg, in terms of style if not crunchy mechanics. We have a character, we're given a situation, we have to figure out how to resolve it. Sometimes shit happens, other times things work out. I'm not really seeing a problem with this style.
This is all I ask.
>>161232
Compare rhe last thread witj thread 3 and 4. There have been obviously some freshening bits, but not like thread 3/4.
Im not buttmad. Im worried about Sue burning out and fucking up. Sue is doing a god work here and I'm really glad about this quest. Hell, I have cried at least 5 times. I can tolerate the FUCKED up things Delilah is going through because there must be some kind of menaing to all these senseless hate. What I'll not tolerate is Sue being edgy and literally torturing a 14 yo vampire girl.
>>161270
>Hell, I have cried at least 5 times.
>>161279
What can I say...I got a little sister around the age of Delilah. I wouldn't even imagine her or one of her friends living through the hell that Delilah is living.
>>161259
Don't sweat it Sue, we're bullying you because we want you to get progressively better. We bully you because we love you and want you to improve!
You consider asking a doctor about possibly getting some information on your mother but that might mean turning you over to either the police or your grandmother...though you suppose Lawrence could help pose as your guardian but...
Damn...you wish you understood this stuff better.
What could you do safely for now...
Grandmother...maybe you could go see her. The way she spoke with your mother just now...it's like it was a different person who had slammed the door in your face.
"I think I need to visit my grandma now...it sounded like she was looking for me or something..."
You sit upright, even if you don't have a whole lot to go off of...it feels like a new light has been struck inside of you. Even if it's the smallest flame, you can feel it spreading.
"And if she knows anything, anything at all...I can wrap my head around this whole thing. Even if she....even if she slams the door in my face again. It doesn't matter, I'll keep knocking on her door till my hands bleed and then more."
You jump up pulling your cap back on.
"And...and even if she doesn't open up then...y-you'll help me break down the door...right?" You look back at Lawrence.
He seems surprised by your new enthusiasm, but he stands up and offers his hand. You take it in your much smaller one and the two of you firmly shake. Glancing up, you can see he's looking at you again, a tug of a smile on his face.
"Alright, this is a promise. But don't forget the other one from the bus either, alright?"
There's the sign of fluster on his face, but you make a face at him before he can fall back into his mood.
"But we should get going now...I think by the time we get there it'll start to get dark."
Despite feeling like you've...'made up' with him, your long walk with Lawrence is silent. It doesn't have that awkward feeling to it though, and you're thankful for it.
As the orange light from the setting sun lights up the way, you can see you are coming into the right neighborhood. Tall and thin houses with their gates surround you rather then apartments. The rare lawn is even visible from the iron gates, and you stop in front of your grandmother's. A phrase you remember your father mentioning about his family rings in your head. Old money.
You glance up the walkway and to the heavy doors.
There's no reason to be nervous...running is always an option. Remember that...no matter what you can always run.
With a creak you swing open the heavy gate and ascend up the stairs. You bring your hand up, ready to knock. Hesitation pauses you, but determination moves you forward.
With firm hits your knocks echo through the doors. Your heart is fluttering about like crazy, but you try to keep your chin up right and steady.
The door swings open slowly and you find yourself facing your grandmother once more. It seems like she doesn't recognize you, and you slip off the cap and scarf.
"Delilah?"
What do you say to your grandmother?
Last update for the night. Till the morning!
>>161475
Let's just hit it straight from the jump.
"What needed fixing?""What am I?"
>>161475
"Hello meemaw." in the coldest voice.
Ask her what she knows about our disorder. Did dad have it? Does she?
... did she know about the rapes?
>>161475
Party time
Snort some coke with her
>>161551
Rhe only good and viable option
>>161482
This
>>161475
Hello. My name is Delilah Esposito. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
>>161625
Seconding.
>>161482
This
>>161516
Why couldn't she look past her hatred for mother for Delilah's sake.
>>162104
Things would've been an easier entry into good end.
>listen to kid long enough to realise the skank isn't fit to raise a child due to alcoholic issues
>that she drugged and got her raped
>that calling child services and/or law to remove custody of Delilah from her mum
>could've won the only remaining memory of her child back under her care
Though it could backfire when she reveals herself as a bloodsucker and how she would take it.
How much has granny Esposito suffered to the point of this hated?
>>161232
>white knighting
In a way I knew it would come to this down the line. But this is no "top teir" quest.
>>161251
/qst/ is rather young to be making "of all time" statements, and I don't see tabletop at all in this. Where are the mechanics, half the prompts have been prompts to go into DRAMATIC FLASHBACK to TRAUMATIC EVENT #37.
>>161279
>I have cried at least 5 times
wat de fugg XXD
>>161475
"What Am I?", cutting right to the chase. Repeat it if you must until the gravity of the question sinks in.
>>161251
But anon I like this but I rank stuff like that Jara thing, NaP or civ better as a tabletop.
There are seconds that hang between the two of you. She's stunned, as if comprehending that fact that you are standing in front of her.
"What part of me needs fixing?"
"E-excuse me?"
"Mom said I'm sick, and needed fixing. What exactly did she mean?"
Your grandmother stares down at you, a lost look on her face. She snaps out of it and you see her return to her more formal demeanor.
"Can we not have this conversation on the porch, Delilah?"
"Are you inviting me inside?"
"I am." Grandmother steps back, gesturing for you to come inside. She finally notices Lawrence standing a few feet behind you.
"...who is this?"
"Lawrence, he's my friend. If he wasn't around then I wouldn't be here right now so...um...please invite him in too."
You step inside and are greeted with the same interior style that your grandmother always had. As a child you always thought that her choice of decorating reflected her. Antique, gray, and wealthy.
Lawrence steps up to the porch, offering a welcoming hand to your grandmother. She looks averse to accepting it, but begrudgingly accepts it.
On a couch with thin wooden legs and a high back that offers little comfort, you and Lawrence squish in as your grandmother takes her spot in the same armchair she's had, the empty one your grandfather once sat in next to her.
The formality of the situation almost makes you forget what you had asked on the porch.
"Grandma...what's wrong with me? What needs fixing." Your hands are balled up in your lap, and while you look her in the face you can't help but feel intimidated.
"Hmm...Don had told me a little bit about it before he died, but I could never get him to elaborate. He insisted that you would be fine though, so I didn't try to pry. I tried in the beginning but he would tell me that I was being nosy." Your grandmother speaks sternly, but at the mention of your father there is that lingering softness that you once experienced.
"So you don't know what's wrong with me? What I am...?"
"Don just wouldn't tell me, and your mother certainly wouldn't either."
"Have you...seen mom recently?" You decide to keep your knowledge vague for now.
"I was informed when she ended up in the hospital. I expect that she did something stupid but no one has been able to get a straight answer from her. They noted that the fire didn't seem accidental. I honestly wouldn't have cared either way except..." She attempts to keep face, but you can see thin gray eyebrows wavering.
"They said she was the only one in the apartment. No one knew anything about, well, you. None of the officers or firemen or anyone at the hospital. It's like you had vanished."
"Well..." You mess with your hands. "...I did run away."
"That night when you came here?"
You nod.
"And your mother hadn't sent you out?"
"No."
How much about what has happened to you do you wish to tell your Grandmother?
>>162483
It's really none of her concern.
Just try to find out more about what's wrong with us. Like what happened to all our dad's stuff, his files and what have you. Surely there would have been something in there.
>>162497
I dunno, I think we should tell her the basics, at least. Got assaulted, wandered into a bad part of town, Lawrence found us, kept us safe.I dunno what to do about the rape. I feel like mentioning it would shock her, might even get her to help get one of those pills or something, if still possible.
>>162483
Keep out the whole unsavoury bits, just mention you found temporary lodgings without naming.
Inform her of this illness maybe?
I think the browser extension I am using is making the page freak out, so please give me a bit to fix it.
>>162483
Don't tell her about mom's exact involvement, no need to demonize her further in meemaw's eyes, just that James Bower, a man who worked with our dad, convinced mom to give us "medicine" for our condition.
That he would come to rape us regularly under the guise of... administering treatment. That he would sometimes bring other men.
That we were raped again when we tried seeking help after she shut a door in our face.
That if Lawrence hadn't been there at a bad time, we wouldn't be here.
That we're pregnant.
>>162552
What browser extension?
>>162555
Sure go with this. Also nice trips.
>>162573
4chanX. Whenever I open a thread from /qst/ the page blinks. I can write this but man is this annoying. I do write in a separate place so I can get updates even if I don't figure out the problem.
>>162555
This seems like a pretty good summation.
>>162555
Supporting.
>>162578
Stop using the extension. Install Tampermonkey, followed by the userscript versions of 4chanX and Oneechan. They'll be infinitely less buggy.
Odds are you're also using a dead fork of 4chanX.
Tampermonkey: https://tampermonkey.net
4chanX (click to install): https://www.4chan-x.net/builds/4chan-X.user.js
Stylechan
Stylechan (click to install): https://nebukazar.github.io/StyleChan/builds/StyleChan.user.js
>>162711
I'll elaborate, I found out about Stylechan mid-post as I looked up the link to Oneechan, turns out nebukazar has begun to work on his own spin which he's rebranded Stylechan, which I've subbed into the instructions because it seems neat.
"I ran away from home, because the man who was supposed to be helping me..." Your hand drifts to your stomach.
"I think he was coming in to give me medication, or do something like that. Mom said he would sometimes bring o-...other men in but I don't think she realizes what they might have actually been d-doing."
You can see that your words are beginning to spark some fear in your grandmother, and you deliver the blow that drives home her thoughts.
"I was asleep for almost the entire time...but one night I woke up and this man...this James Bower, came into my room. And..."
Deep breath.
"He raped me. Mom was passed out, so I don't think she heard what was going on, but I just ran. I tried to come here but..."
You decide to let your grandmother fill in the blank there, and from the realization on her face you can see it sink in.
"...so I was on the streets for a while. I...I ended up getting taken advantage of again by two more men..." You grip your own hands for support, you can feel Lawrence is uncomfortable with hearing all of this again.
"But I didn't know what else to do, so I just...wandered around for a while longer. I could have been worse but then...Lawrence helped me. He's helped me since then."
Your hands shake a bit.
"But now...here I am. Just confused and...and pregnant."
The look on your grandmother's face is one you have only seen once before. The face of a mother as she watched her only child being lowered into the cold ground.
"I...oh God...Delilah..." She puts a hand to her chest, and you worry that this might be too much.
"But I was hoping I could get some more information from y-"
"I-I'm sorry dear...I just...I need to take this all in."
Maybe it was too much for her to take in. You watch her rise with a shakiness unbeknownst to her.
"I...god...I need to take my pills..." You watch her shamble off to the kitchen. You only sit there with Lawrence till she returns, her wrinkled face an even paler white.
"Delilah..." Her voice is shaky, but she is so desperately trying to keep her sternness.
"I know that it doesn't mean much to you now. But...I am so sorry for all this hell you went through. You deserve any answer you want but...but I'm afraid if I continue right now then I won't make it through the night. Stay here if you wish, I have a guestroom for your...friend here, and you can take your father's room. There's food in the fridge but...I just can't handle all of this right now."
Before you can say anything she walks off and you hear the door to her bedroom open and close.
Do you wish to stay the night here?
>>162741
Yeah, let's. She seems remorseful enough.
>>162741
Maybe. Do we have a way to let the people at the school know? It's best they're not worried about us.
>>162711
Oh damn, stylechan is what I was looking for, thanks!
Is there any way of changing where the quick reply is hiding? Also, I'm using this https://github.com/ccd0/4chan-x extension, it seems to be updating pretty constantly.
>>162741
Free food. Stay, eat, rest, and then get your answers. Maybe think about your condition a bit, and if you had your vampirism all your life then what's up with that bite you got?
>>162741
Ask Lawrence if he thinks it's okay.
Meemaw isn't... a bad person. She just didn't know.
Maybe we did go on a little heavy, so we can at least make sure she'll be okay.
>>162741
Yea but only if we can sleep with Lawrence
That'll really tickle grannies buttons
>>162773Random note that you made me think about. 'Grandmother' in Italian is Nonna. A 'slang' term is simply 'Nonny'.
>>162741
Yes, it's been a while since we stayed in a proper home.
>>162781奶奶
>>162790Google'd. Chinese for Grandma? How do you pronounce that?
>>162798Nye Nye but with an accent like a checkmark, like you lower your pitch before bringing it back up.
![412[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/xdPpcLh.png "412[1].png")
>>162800
>Asking Law about his chub.
No!
>>162800
>>162802
>>162808Aha, gotcha. Thanks, actually. I'm friends with this old Chinese lady (has some pretty baller stories), and on occasion I try to bug her to teach me some words. She has on occasion, but mostly she just laughs and says it's really complicated. I'm trying to learn both it and Italian in my spare time- more focusing on Italian though- it's a bit easier for me.
>>162827
We already did and he promised to explain it better!
>>162836Yeah, at least italian has letters and words that are pronounced differently.
>>162844Pretty much. I don't have to rearrange my dang mouth to learn Italian. XD
>>162770
You can drag the quick reply box around Oneechan, don't know about Stylechan though.
>>162880
It's free software man. Learn to JavaScript and make it happen. Don't let your dreams be memes.
>>162899
But that would mean I'd have to update it by hand every time it updated.
>>162903
You do know how git versioning works right? Like, you can propose that the changes made to your fork are integrated into upstream through a merge request.
This is basic stuff anon. Even Pahjeet knows this.
>>162950
Yeah but I'm not going to register for git, learn JS, learn how their code works, then try to get them to merge it. If I was gonna change it at all I'd just edit the userscript.
>>162950
>see sharp
>a literally who
>on top
Why. Explain
And I'm pretty sure Haskell falls under neckbeard-tier
>>162950
So if I use anything, I'll look like I offer children candy from my panel van.
Fantastic.
>>162950
>C++
>Python
>Child molester level
k
You consider checking on your grandmother, but decide it would be best to leave her alone.
"You don't think I was too...rushed with that...do you?" Looking up at Lawrence he initially only offers you a shrug.
Don't know how else someone could have taken that. It's pretty heavy stuff you got going on.
"Yeah..." Your eyes look around at the living room and feel out of place among the nice things.
"Do...you mind staying here? It might be easier then going back and forth again."
Do you feel safe enough here?
"I think so, yes."
Then we can stay the night. If anything goes fishy we can bail.
"Right. And if...you don't mind..." You hush your voice, on the off chance your grandmother could hear you.
"Can..can I stay with you in the guest room? Dad's room is covered in his pictures and it...it makes me feel uncomfortable..."
It looks like Lawrence is about to put out that it's a bad idea, but nods his head in acceptance instead. You put out the tall narrow stairs to him and explain which door it is. As you go to the kitchen you can heavy his heavy footsteps creak above. This house is old, you knew that even as a child.
You open the fridge and you're rushed over with a semblance of...normal. Like this is something you would be doing, that this is something that shouldn't feel like a big deal.
...
Up the stairs you go, holding an old platter with sandwiches and cups on them. The skinny hallway, it looks even thinner now that you are older. First door, a closet. You use to hide in there. Second door, a washroom. Third door, dad's room. Fourth door, guest room.
You manage to open the door and balance the food. Inside, you see Lawrence is standing among the furniture, a little afraid to touch any of it.
"Don't worry, I've played on this stuff a bunch when I was little. If it didn't break then, it won't break now."
Lawrence sits at the vanity, and the creak of the chair makes you wonder if your previous statement had been untrue.
"Here, I made dinner." You sit on the bed, the platter balanced on the edge between the two of you.
"It's just...peanut-butter and jelly. Maybe...I should have made you something different..." You regret not asking him before hand, but he takes a sandwich regardless. Out of the oval window, you can see the street lamps begin to light up.
What do you want to do before bed?
>>163011
Make sure Lawrence isn't about the chew or drink something but, since we're in private and all, and he sorta did promise, we should ask him why it's such a bad thing that he got comfortable last night.
That doesn't sound awful. It sounds nice.
Is that what popping a chub means? Weird.
>>163011
Just go to bed.
With Delilahs luck, her grandma will be outside the door when that conversation happens. so fuck that.
>>163011
Just kinda enjoy the peace and quiet for now. No reason to spoil any of it. Relax, enjoy the house, enjoy the bed, all of that.
>>163011
Sleep.
>>163045
Bully him unintentionally.
What day is it by the way, in the story that is?I wanna take Lawrence to Mr. Faraway.
You eat your sandwich quietly, memories of the guest room coming back to you. None of them are awful, in fact most of them were fun.
It just makes you all the more sad to remember them now. You think back to when your dad was alive, back before you had gone through...
Everything.
You feel bad about always letting those dark thoughts creep in, but even at your happiest you can't stop it. Do other girls who go through this feel the same way? The constant shame and guilt? That they're dirty. Do...do boys go through this too? Can a boy be hurt in the same way? You're not sure how exactly...but they must go through this kind of mental pain too...right?
Or...are you the only one who feels like this?
You choke a bit on the peanut-butter and take a drink. Lawrence is looking out the window, and you try to think about what to do. You splay out on your back, looking at the ceiling.
It's quiet. You remember one of your friend's always had her ceiling covered in celebrity pictures from the magazines and those plastic stars that glowed in the dark. You always wanted your room like that but...now that room is gone. Maybe it's for the best. It's like the fire ate away those awful events then, right?
You look back over at Lawrence. He's still leaning against the back of the chair, looking out the window, bored out of his mind. Rolling over to your stomach, you reach across and poke at his leg for his attention.
"Hey...tell me now. I wanna know."
Lawrence is looking back you, feigning innocence.
"Tell me bout you getting all...comfortable...last night."
You watch as he writes, constantly stopping the pen as Lawrence thinks about the best way to put these down into words for you.
I don't want you to freak out about all this, okay? Last night while you were doing your thing, I wasn't really paying attention to you doing it, just what was being done. And honestly, a feeling like that just ended up feeling too good, I should have paid better attention to myself. But by the time I had thought about it, it was too late. I was hard, and I'm so so sorry.
He refuses to look over at you as you read this. It feels like you understand most of it, but there are still the little gaps. You're nervous about asking, but you've come this far.
"What do you mean by hard...?" You have a sinking feeling as he passes you the answer.
[1/2]
>>163319
As a guy, I just got too excited. Turned on. Excited. An erection, like when a man is ready for sex.
"Eh...y-you got...t-those feelings from me..."
Why do you feel scared by that? The thought of sex doesn't bring back any good memories...Lawrence isn't like those guys though...right? But they had those same feelings for you and they did that awful stuff. Your flight response is yelling at you, but it feels like you can't move.
Please don't think I would have done anything to hurt you. I know this sounds like I'm trying to make it sound normal, but I didn't want to act on it. I swear. I feel horrible about it. It's sick that I would get that way around you I know. I was hoping you wouldn't find out because I never wanted you to think I would be one of those people to hurt you like that.
It's a struggle for Lawrence to get all his thoughts out this way. Too slow for him, his words like a scribbled mess on the page.
I've already put you through a lot. Like last night. Jesus Christ, I let you be in that situation. I was always the violent one, I was always the one to make people scared of me. But looking back at you, with that bat and all that blood around you and the way you just looked so pleased was awful. I put you through something like that and didn't even offer you any condolence or even an explanation, I just felt like this sort of thing was the norm for me, and expected you to handle it like I do. And then what I let myself do in the motel room on top of that?
Lawrence's body is bent over, his face in his hands as you read this one. You look up at him when you reach the end, and it looks like he's ready to write you more but he gives up.
"I'm...so-rry..." He's looking in front of him, a pained look on his face, like he knows he's done wrong.
"I'm just...fu-cked...up...De-lilah..."
You're shocked to hear your name from him, but you remember that's what your grandmother had been calling you.
What do you do?
>>163321
"You're fine."
We believe him.
>>163321
>he feels guilty for Delilah smashing a guy's face into a million pieces
>his primary concern is still that he got an automatic boner due to a sensual experience
>nobody has questioned what kind of demon spawn Delilah actually is
"Yeah you are."
>>163401
This + mighty hug.
>>163321
Fight our desire to run. He at least didn't do anything with... 'it', right? He didn't try to hurt us or make us do anything we didn't want. He was worried that... 'it' being... hard would scare us.
That's... sweet.
We can tell him that. Reassure him. It's fine. He's okay.
Recognize that he might not be ready for it, but offer him a hug.
>>163424
I think the reason no one has questioned it is because she doesn't show that side much.
>>163469
But see, that's the thing, Lawrence has, more than once. He's the person who knows the most about her, and where we'd expect him to freak the fuck out he's been obsessed with something completely irrelevant.
>>163513
To be honest, I've written Lawrence off as just having skewed priorities since he's apparently a bit of a berserker himself. I think inwardly he KNOWS he should be concerned but he sees her as a kindred spirit so he doesn't question it.
>>163513
Someone will mention his chub the next request and the next.
It will go to the point of where we have nothing but dick on the brain.
>>163529
That's called head canon. That's in your mind. That has never even been insinuated throughout the story.
>>163565
Just like the girls in my Chinese comics~
>>163674
>>163669
What part?
There's the need to run of the room, but you fight the need. Your feelings of fear aren't from him...but...but things you've experienced in the past. Things he hasn't done to you. Things he doesn't want to do to you.
"It's alright..." You keep your voice soft, like you're afraid of startling him.
"I..." What's the right words to use here...forgive? Wouldn't that imply he did something wrong though?
"...You're fine." He still isn't looking up as you say this.
"You haven't hurt me. You haven't done anything bad. Why should you feel bad about it?" Lawrence is still starring at the ground, and you feel a connection.
"I feel bad a lot too. Parts of me says that I shouldn't...that what I feel guilty for isn't my fault. But despite that...I can't help it. Maybe...maybe I'll learn not to feel bad about it...but I do now. Maybe you're the same way."
There's nothing and you reach a hand for his shoulder. Lawrence flinches at your touch but otherwise doesn't pull away.
"But...the only thing I can tell you is that, I'm not mad at you."
You want to give him a hug, but you don't want to scare him off.
"If it bothers you too much then I can go sleep in the other room."
He slowly shakes his head.
"If you want the bed to yourself then that's fine."
Once again he shakes his head.
"Well...you can't sleep on the floor. I've tried. So um...when you're ready to, don't be scared about sleeping in the bed."
You would offer him your father's bedroom, but you don't feel like your grandmother would take too kindly to that. The room is basically a shrine for her.
You slip off your shoes and slide into the bed, as close to the wall as you can get.
"Um...you can just turn off the light when you're ready."
Laying against the downy pillows, keeping your face hidden, you listen for Lawrence. The lull makes you a bit nervous, you don't move to keep from breaking it. Finally you hear Lawrence stand up and the lights flick off. He's lays in the bed, above the covers and trying to keep a space between both of you.
As the time passes you can feel yourself becoming sleepy, but it feels like there's something you need to do. Turning around and facing his back, you let your hands come up to his back and lean against him in lieu of an embrace. He tenses up but doesn't stop you either.
"I don't want you to be scared about me...I don't hate you. I promise."
You stay in this position, and eventually you feel Lawrence's body relax some. Still, it feels like you should say something else to relax the situation...
Your grandfather died when you were fairly young, but your grandmother use to tell you the story about how they met. How did it go?
>>163708
Motorbike race.
Died as he lived, radical.
>>163708
Not long after immigration, they met each other on the docks, both lost and trying to find their way around. They bumped into each other after stumbling into a fairgrounds, he made her laugh, they decided to stick together for a while, and a romance bloomed from that.
>>163757
*Bumped into each again. As in it wasn't love at first meeting, but the second time.
Sorry for the typo.
>>163427
This, he's never done anything to cause us harm.
>>163679
>Implying we don't already have nothing but dick on the brain.
>>163708
They met on their way to the US, and he was smitten with her. They parted ways for a few years only for him to return having earned a promising job and ask for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately his family had a long history of heart disease and stress from his job plus a less than healthy amount of smoking and poor diet all conspired to kill him in his middle years.
>>163708
Meemaw used to work in her father's restaurant, charged with financial matters since she was going to have to take over with no brothers.
According to her dad, papaw was a good-for-nothing farmer's boy who wasn't ever going to amount to anything in life, though he still acted like the boy was doing him the greatest favor in the world by delivering meat and produce.
But he was wrong and meemaw knew it. Papaw was a nice and gentle boy with the heart of a musician, and he just needed a push.
>>163805
Awww. So Lawrence is our chance to do right by someone whom life discarded?
That's actually sweet, if only he would accept our affection.
>>163805That sounds more like someone from the Southern US as opposed to coming from Italy. I say that as someone from the Southern US.
>>163946You'd be surprised which stereotypes exist elsewhere.
>>163979Y'know what? I probably would.
"Even though she might not seem like it...grandma use to be a lot less strict when she was younger. There's a story she use to tell me about her and grandpa..."
You press against Lawrence a bit more as you remember how she told you this story. It was a happy story and she would always laugh, but there was also that spark of loss in her eyes too.
"When she was way younger, she had to work at the restaurant her dad owned. She was supposed to take it over when she got older, cause there wasn't any boys in the family who could do it. It was such a nice place too, so there was a lot of pressure on her. She would go and sneak out to the piers to go see the sailor men. One day though there was a ship that brought in some immigrants, and my grandpa was one of them. He just came from Italy, and wanted to make a name for himself in America with just the clothes on his back. Grandma says she remembers laughing at him because of how lost he looked and the funny way he spoke. When he came up to her for directions she could barely understand a word he said, but she tried her best to help him out anyways. He found where he needed to go and she said goodbye, and they didn't see each again for a while."
You aren't sure if Lawrence is even listening to the story, but maybe it will help him get to sleep if anything.
"Then one night, she and some of her girl friends went out to a fair that was being held. While she was there she saw that funny Italian boy again, working one of the rides. He was on a...a motorbike I think. She watched as he did his trick and failed, the bike rolled away from him and he crashed near by. She helped him up, and he told her right there, 'I'm going to marry you pretty lady'. Course she didn't believe him, but she started going out with him anyways. Grandma's dad didn't really approve though, he was a poor boy who ran errands for a grocer and did stupid stunts on the side. He barely had any money and lots of dreams instead. Grandma had to marry a good smart man he said. Then one day, grandpa said goodbye and left for a long time. It broke grandma's heart, she refused the offers from any other man. Everyone thought she would become a ...what's the word she used...a spinster. Then, one day, after three years had passed the Italian boy came in to the restaurant in these nice clothes. He asked grandma for her dad and when she brought him out, grandpa got down on one knee, took grandma's hand, and asked her to marry him. She said yes even after all that time. Grandpa had gone and became successful just so that he could marry grandma."
You can't help but smile at the story. It always sounded so sweet and romantic when you heard it as a child.
Is there anything else you want to talk about before you sleep?
>>163946
This. Grandpa served in WWII, fighting for Mussolini during the war. He got shot fighting the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in Massarosa, and then captured as a POW. After the war was over he immigrated to the United States.
>>164002
GODDAMMIT SUE I SPENT SEVERAL MINUTES WRITING THIS AND YOU CHOSE THIS BULLSHIT REEEEE
>>164002
Aww, that's sweet.
Let's wrap it up there, I think. Get to sleep, and let's home grandma has some answers for us in the morning.
>>164002
Mumble something about marrying Lawrence as we fall asleep.
>>164002
Let leave it at that and go to sleep mumbling about getting a nice prince one day.
>>164163
But does it come off as creepy in the mind of a thirteen-year-old girl who wants to feel safe after coming to the realization that she has been raped over a dozen times in the past two months?
>>164163
I don't think saying we'll find a prince someday to be crazy.
>>164178
To me, yeah. Strikes me as the wrong kinda 'safe'. I'd imagine she'd be looking more for a protective guardian figure, not something to kiss and whatnot. In fact I largely see Delilah as someone who'd be pretty averse to physical touching in ANY remotely romantic form for a long, long time.
>>164106
>>164133
>>164138
It's time to stop.
>>164209
That looks delicious as fuck.
>>164200
>To me, yeah.
I'm sorry to hear that you're a thirteen-year-old girl who wants to feel safe after coming to the realization that she has been raped over a dozen times in the past two months
>>164228
It's not the what, it's the how.
>>164294
The how being... where a thirteen-year-old doesn't see a connection between marriage and sex because it's this idolized thing from books and movies?
>>164294
I was under the impression that Delilah knew that the two were generally hand in hand. Mostly basing off my own knowledge of 13-year-olds.
>>164338
Schools advocated abstinence in the eighties, and generally didn't offer any information beyond that. If you were lucky you got a small spiel "no sex until after marriage" and no telling the kids what the fuck exactly "sex" is.Also, you're in big brother mode which I can totally respect.
You curl up some more and feel your breathing slowing down as you allow your body to fall into it's slumber. The heat beneath your fingers makes you stay where you are and you hope that's fine.
"I...I hope..." You're talking out loud but to yourself.
"That one day...I can have a nice story like that...to tell my kids..."
You close your eyes and your words become a barely audible mumble.
"Maybe one day I'll find a prince who is nice like you."
There's some slight movement behind your hands, but other then that you are able to fall asleep easily enough.
No dreams tonight, but you stay warm.
...
You wake up to Lawrence shaking you gently. Out of the window, there's the beginning signs of morning reaching in. Grandmother will probably be up soon, and it would be better for you to go and meet her then to have her come find you.
In the washroom you freshen up, preparing yourself for the questions you'll ask grandmother today. Down the stairs, with Lawrence following, you go and see your grandmother is sitting at the kitchen table. You could smell them from upstairs, but you weren't convinced that your grandmother would make pancakes. It's like when you were a child all over again.
She only has a cup of coffee in front of her, two plates already set out. You take the seat next to her, a glass of apple juice already in place. Knowing about some of the questions you're about to ask...it feels strange just sitting at the table like this
"I hope you slept well." You nod.
"Well then, eat up. And...you can go ahead and ask me what you want."
>>164549
I guess we should ask why Grandma hates Mom. What details she can infer about our... problem.
And whether we can stay, that's important.
>>164549
Ask granny about the reward on our head and if we can stay.
>>164579
Pretty much this.
Reminder:
The Law is forlewds
>>164742
Screw you. The Law is pure.
>>164809
I wantthe Lawtoscrew me.
>>164678
Backing.
We'll ask for them to stay too. It's only another 12 people or so? Don't worry.
>>164875YES
Sorry about the wait, Am building a bed.
>>165044
Post pics of bed.
My farm hand doing most the work.
>>165247
i hope you reward him later, if you know what i mean...i mean with suffering.
>>165247
That bed looks like it will be comfy.Im jelly.
>>165270I was expecting lewd sweaty action.
It may be best to just get down to the nitty-gritty of it all.
"What do you know about the fire?"
"Just that it baffled the firemen. It looked like she was trying to escape but just couldn't for some reason. Your mother may be idiotic at times, but I doubt she would get lost in her own living room like that"
Trying to escape...
"I know it was mom's but...what do you know about my sickness?"
Your grandmother takes a drink from her coffee to steady herself.
"Like I said, not much. Your mother had it, but I don't think Don knew till after she became pregnant. Whatever it was didn't seem to be too serious for her, but I think there was some risk for the child, for you. He did try to tell me that you would be fine though. Don got angry if I asked any more though, so I stopped pestering him."
Not much more there...
"Did dad work with any special people? I knew he was a surgeon, but was there anyone else he worked with that was...weird? Someone like...by the name of-"
"Bower. You mentioned his name before."
"Yeah...d-did dad know him"
"From what I can remember, they were on pretty good terms with each other. But that Bower...he was a strange one. I couldn't place my finger on it exactly, but there was something about him that worried me." Your grandmother's face turn sad. "And I can see now that I was correct."
You look down at your half eaten pancakes as she says this.
"I think the two of them worked together for a bit before Bower went off to start his own practice. That's all I know about him."
You struggle to take this in. The man that hurt you...knew your father...
Your grandmother only looks at you with a sorrowful expression while Lawrence is just letting you take this all in.
"Um..." You sniff a bit and wipe your nose with your sleeve. Why is this question coming to you now?
"Why...did you never like mom?"
Your grandmother has an annoyed look, but it seems more from the thought of thinking of your mother.
"I knew the two of them weren't meant to be together. They just weren't cut out for it, but then she went and got pregnant. I was worried that she would drag my little boy with her...I was so attached to Don. I...I lost two babies before I had him. He was my special one, the one who stayed by my side. I felt like your mother ripped him away from me, and after he died...I couldn't help but see a mix of her with Don in you and it just made me think of what I had lost."
[1/2]
>>165626
You never heard about how you look like your mother. It was always, 'oh you look so much like Don' or 'you have Don's this and that'. It's...it's weird to remember she's part of you too. You wipe at your eyes with your sleeve.
"I know this has been unfair to you. Being thrown into the middle of all this."
"Was it you that put up the missing ads?"
"I looked into it, but it looked like your mother had already done it."
"Mom posted a $25000 reward..."
"Gracious, where would she have came across that money? She never asked me for that amount "
"I...I don't know..."
It feels like your head is starting to hurt from all this.
"Can...can I stay here if I need to?"
"I can't turn you away again."
"Th-...thank you. I...I think I need to speak to Lawrence alone though."
Your grandmother gives a strange look to this, but rises up.
"Of course." You wait till you can hear her bedroom door open and shut again.
What are your plans?
>>165637
Kill
Bower
and the other members of the Deadly Viper Rape Squad
>>165637
Leave
There is nothing for us here
We need to find Bower to get answers
>>165686Rename quest to Kill Bower.
>>165841
Thisss
>>165637
For some reason it sounds like Delilah's mom was drugged before someone set the house on fire, considering her addled state atm and her being unable to find the exit.
Also it's starting to sound like the reward money put up wasn't from her.
So everyone knows Bowers is a vampire and he put up the reward money to try to find his little immortal fuck-slave, right?
>>165973please be true
"I need to get to Bower...I need to get to those others." You say this, and you can feel all the hate starting to well up.
"I want to find them and...and I want to..." There aren't words that you can find to describe your wants, the things that you truly want to do. The fork in your hand clatters against the glass plate, you feel so focused on a goal you can't even put into words.
"...we should leave now. It's morning, that means it's plenty of time to get...get what I need to do done." You rise from the table, but you can see Lawrence is looking off, a conflicted and worried expression on his face.
...
You stand in front of your grandmother, ready to head out. Lawrence stands at the bottom of the steps, letting you talk to her alone. Your grandmother is looking down at you with her usual stern expression.
"I should tell you, I really don't feel like I should be letting you out alone."
"I'm not alone. I'm with Lawrence."
There's a grim expression on her face.
"I see. I...I know it's too late for me to tell you this. But...just be careful around men."
You look away as she says this.
"He...I'm assuming he's a nice man, even if he's dumb. Er...I suppose your generation calls it mute now. Either way, I would feel much better if you were home before dark...even if you won't tell me what you're doing."
You don't answer this and your grandmother has the tinges of worry on her face.
"...please, wait a moment." She disappears into the house and returns quickly, slipping something small into your hands.
"Be careful with this, but don't be afraid to use it either, alright?" She whispers this as you look down in your hand. A tube...?
"It's pepper spray. Make sure it's not facing you and make sure the wind isn't blowing towards you either when its used."
"Ah...thank you...grandma."
You're about to walk off but she pulls you close and hugs you.
"I'm...so sorry about everything, Delilah. I really am." She whispers this and you can't hear the tears in her voice. You decide to return the hug before you set off down her steps. She watches for a long time before the door is closed.
"Bower...we need to find Bower first." Your mind is reeling with the thoughts, with the plans, with what you need to do-
Lawrence has his hand on your shoulders and turns you to face him.
"What is it?"
[1/2]
>>166112
He has that same look from earlier, and he pulls out a note that he must have written earlier when you weren't paying attention.
I know you're set on this. I understand, but I don't know if you fully understand what might happen, or what it could mean afterwards. I don't think it's healthy for you to sit down and think about it the entire day before making whatever choice you have. But please, hear me out.
Let me give you a day where you don't have think about any of this. You don't have to think about revenge or anyone hurting you or anything like that.
Just let me give you a day with nothing negative, and then you can make your choice.
Do you accept Lawrence's offer?
>>166114
You should accept. We probably need some time to recuperate after all these revelations anyway. Ask the Law what he plans on doing.
>>166114
...Alright.
>>166114
Embrace the dark side...after feigning consideration of Law's offer for the day.
>>166139
Scondign
>>166114
No. The good times are over. Bowser is probably raping other innocent little princesses as we speak, the longer we wait the more hurt he's going to cause
>>163679
Ayyyy comrade.
>>166114
That... might be nice.Going over all of 'that' in our head again and again has bee physically and emotionally draining.
>>166114
Accept it since he's probably knowledgeable about revenge and anger, and how it effects you.
"You promise this isn't a trick to convince me of anything?"
Lawrence nods, and you can see the mix of concern and sincerity on his face.
"Okay...okay we can." He smiles as you say this.
"What do you have planned?" And it's gone as he realizes that he hadn't gotten anything past this. Lawrence takes a moment to think and looks like a revelation has come over him.
Have you been to the Plaza?
"Uh...no. No, I don't think so." As you say this Lawrence looks really excited, contrasting harshly against his tired look that you have been used to. Without another thought he takes you by the hand and leads you down the way.
It takes nearly two hours and a bus ride, but you are led to a loud and busy area. There's a large park settled in the middle of a large open space, several businesses surrounding it. Plenty of families and couples are filling the area, many of them dressed nicely, probably straight out of church. There are trees dotting the place, unlike the majority of the city. Unfortunately they are missing their leaves, but the clinging snow makes up for the bareness. From the distance, in an outdoor stage area, you can see that a nativity scene has been set up.
"It feels pretty busy here..." You say, but Lawrence points at an older looking building. Large letters take up little space, but you can see that it's a movie theater.
"Ah...y-yeah. Yeah, I haven't seen a movie in a while."
There are a handful of movies playing, but you haven't been able to keep up with recent releases so you feel a bit lost looking up at the names. The posters offer you a bit more information, but you still have no clue what to pick.
"Would...would this one be okay?" You point at the poster in front of you.
Land Before Time
Cartoon dinosaurs decorate the scene, but you worry that it might be too boring for Lawrence. He agrees with your choice, but you feel like he would have gone for anything you chose. At the ticket booth he pays for both tickets and you find yourself among a sea of children and their parents. You usually like to sit up front but because of Lawrence's height you decide it would be more polite to stay near the back instead.
You're surprised by how much you cry at the beginning of the movie, you're pretty sure even Lawrence was looking away so you wouldn't see him tear up. But you still enjoyed the movie. Yep yep yep.
You're almost lost in the sea of literal children, but you come out of the theater just fine. It's about noontime now. From what you can see there are;
Restaurants: A café, a bakery, an ice cream parlor, and an Italian place.
An Arcade
A play that will happen later in the day
A photo-booth
A book store
A clothes store
An art gallery
What do you want to do next?
>>166452
Okay, so before anything else, RIP Ducky, you are STILL missed.
My vote is for either a book store or the Italian place if only so we can criticize the food.
>>166457
Seconding on every of the thing. Yep yep yep.
>>166457
SPAGHETTI
>>166452
Art Gallery. Time to criticize all of this post-Modernist bullshit that galleries love to spam.
"Um...would it be fine if we ate there?..." You point at the small restaurant, a chalkboard advertising the specials of the day.
The Vine
One again Lawrence agrees and soon you are waiting in a small line. People stand in front and behind you and all of them are dressed fairly nice, compared to the pair of you anyways. When it is your turn to be seated the host seems a bit taken back by you, but seats you at a table anyways. A small round table with a one page menu waiting greets you.
"Before grandpa died, I remember him cooking some food from his country. Maybe this stuff will be as good." You're excited to look over your options.
...
You...have no idea what half of this is. Why is there so many options for wine? What is this....
The waitress comes all too soon to take your order, and you can barely get your words out.
"I w-want uh...oh man um...p-pasta?" You figure you would try to sound fancy with it to impress everyone around.
"Alright, but which kind?"
Oh god there are other kinds? The only ones you can think of is spaghetti and maybe...wait...is ravioli pasta? Chef Boyardee is Italian...right?
"J-just spaghetti..." You feel so lame right now, but the waitress is nice enough to just smile and take your order. Lawrence just points to what he wants all calm and cool.
"I d-didn't look stupid just now...did I?"
No more then you usually do.
"Oh god." You feel incredibly lame.
...
"So...have you been to this place before?" You look out the window at the business outside, waiting for your meal to come.
Once. Usually you hear about people spending a weekend here or something. It's just a pretty family friendly kind of place.
"Why'd you come here before?" You hope this isn't a loaded question.
It was when I worked with William. I was a bit more cleaned up then and he thought I would be cheered up if he helped me get set up on a date.
"W-what happened?"
The girl was nice, I think it was his cousin or something. But there just wasn't anything special there I guess. We hung out here, she gave me a good-bye kiss, and I never ended up calling for a second date. I don't really know why. I guess I wasn't really ready for something like that. Or maybe I figured she couldn't handle me.
Lawrence is looking out the window as you read this.
"Oh...do you think she missed you though?"
Well if she did she got over it pretty quickly. Pretty sure she's married and has a kid now.
The food is brought and you enjoy the spaghetti given to you. Definitely not Chef Boyardee's.
You watch as Lawrence pays for this, removing the bills from his shrinking wallet. You hope this wasn't too expensive...
The book store catches your attention, and you pull him inside. You're excited to look at all the new arrivals, flipping through many of them.
Is there anything you want to get here? And where would you like to go to next?
>>166517
"With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge
Photo-Booth, keep a goddamn photo with us it's amazingly cliche and nice to have.
>>166517
Accidebtly notice 50 shades of grey
Take interest in it
Bully The Law about his chub
>>166535This is 1988. No 50 shades
See Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice.
>>166517
The C Programming Language
Delilah was always interested in computers
>>166517
Try and track down The Princess Bride, then go to the photo booth for some memories.Stop ruining my attempts to be cheeky. Sue. ;_;
>>166549
Then why not"EMACS: The Extensible, Customizable, Self-Documenting Display Editor" by RMS :^)
Apart from Anne Rice, we got THE HUNGER and FEVRE DREAMS as vampire literature Delilah could find.
>>166517
Sure, vampy books sounds good. Or maybe anything like historical fantasy. Or historical. Or nonfiction. Like biology.
>>166556
Of all the suggestions this at least seems like something she would do.
>>166517
Oh and I would like to go kill Bower next
>>166570
Thanks, guy.
You vaguely remember the Princess Bride being based off of a novel. Maybe if you look hard enough you can find it. Lawrence follows behind as you search the shelves, quickly scanning over the spines of each book. You slowly become more and more disappointed as your search reveals nothing.
"Maybe it isn't here...I love the Princess Bride movie but I don't think they have it here..."
Lawrence points you over to the mess that is the bargain bin section. The mess that is the unorganized boxes almost scares you away.
Almost.
You are elbow deep in the amass of paperback books. You pass over several selections, none of them filling the gap in your heart that the Princess Bride would.
You manage to get to the bottom of the bin, one book in hand.
With the Old Breed
That's not your wonderful story. You let it bounce back into the box. Admitting defeat, you're ready to tell Lawrence you're ready to go when he pushes you a worn out and dog-earred book. It looks a bit of a mess but...
You have the book rung up at the counter, and as you walk out you're carefully scrapping the price sticker from the cover.
"I hope it's as amazing as the movie was." The smile on your face is wide, you have found a treasure. You slip the book back into the bag from the store, noticing the photo-booth.
"Can we do that next?"
There's another line for the tall box. A couple stands behind you and a group of girls in front. A small family slips out from the black curtains and the girls go in next. You're excited, you've always wanted to use one of these. Your friends had shown you the photos they got before and you always thought it was cool. As you wait you're almost bouncing in your spot, so ready to go in.
The girls could not come out any sooner and you draw Lawrence in with you.
There's little space for the behemoth of a man and you, but with careful positioning the two of you manage well enough. The screen in front of you gives a small variety of options for your photo theme.
"Ah...um here, this looks pretty." You choose the winter theme and are greeted with a giant count down.
"Oh ah...pose, we have to pose!" It's about to go off-"
As you're trying to get ready the first picture snaps. You quickly turn and prepare yourself for the rest. Five pictures in total, printed off on a long black-and-white roll. You rush to pick them up, looking at the photos.
The first one, it looks like neither of you were ready, you just have a surprised look. The next few you think you look pretty cute in, despite the last one having Lawrence give you bunny ears. You make sure to show him the pictures before carefully placing them in the middle of your book.
It's about mid-afternoon. There's still some time before the play tonight. Where would you like to go next?
>>166590
Let's see what the art gallery is like. Maybe grill Lawrence on whether he'd ever want his art on display like that.
Maybe try and fluster him with compliments.
>>166605
Lets go to thelewds store
>>166661
Combination jewelry and lingerie store? Because I can get behind that.
>>166590
Clothes! Arcade! The Play!
>>166605
Seconding.
>>166590
Arcade. Lawrence is a pinball wizard and you are really good at Sky Kid. YourMomtaught you everything you know.
>>167300
It's filled with nothing but overpriced Post-Modern pieces and Pollock wannabes. Lawrence proceeds to drive his fist through a several thousand dollar piece.
Also I'm sure we'll pick up the C Programming Language eventually. Dad had a bunch of those books on his desk, but he never really understood the family computer. Just enough to use the BBS.
You think that maybe the art gallery would be a good idea, something that Lawrence will enjoy. The building is fairly small compared to the others, large glass covering the front so you can get a glimpse inside. There's a sign displaying the current artist, but you don't recognize it.
Inside, the walls are covered in an assortment on paintings and drawings done with different mediums. You take the time to walk down and look at each one carefully.
"Hey, this is that one old bank...um the one by that huge library downtown. I recognize the front door, it's huge. Are all these paintings places done here?" Lawrence nods and you decide to pay even more attention, to see if you can recognize more locations.
A park in the early morning, a couple walking in the distance. There's huge trees in the frame, you don't think you've been there before.
And this one...this is one of the few sky scrapers the city has. You can just see the letters of the building poking out from the top. Rather then focusing on the building it looks to be more about the old man walking down the street. His clothes look like they may have been nice once but just like him they have been worn down with age.
This one looks like it takes place by a garden, maybe a community garden? There's a tall wooden fence but there's an open gate and there are shadows of people coming and going.
And then this one...
...
It's a woman, standing on the guard rail of the bridge that leads out of town. Late at night, you can see the bleak night sky and the vivid water. From the way he made it look, you feel like it would have been more appealing to jump in the water instead. Oh...no wait...that is what she is about to do...isn't it? This woman, who's face you can't even see, is about to jump. Yet...it looks like she's holding on to the bridge for desperate support. Maybe....she's still thinking about if she wants to go through with it or not?
You look back at Lawrence, he's looking at this painting for a grimace. This could have just as easily been him.
[1/?]
>>167594
"I'm glad that...you chased me for as long as you did." It feels like it's the only words you can offer, but he takes them with a small sideways grin.
"Have you ever wanted your stuff in a gallery?" You ask this as you reach near the end of the exhibits. Lawrence shakes his head no.
"Eh? Why not? You're good! You could totally have your own show!"
Lawrence is taking this by looking away as you say this.
"I'm for real! I'm sure people would love to see them! It might take a while to make this many, but you should try. What if you become like...famous?"
That's the part that gets me. Even if it's positive attention I feel like I would just freeze up. I've never been good at being near the center of attention. Watching people look at my stuff might give me a damn heart attack.
"Aw, so you're scared of heights and have stage fright?"
Lawrence's subsequent bullying makes you have to take the time to fix your hair back to presentable again before the two of you leave.
"Eh, I was trying to be nice and this is what you do?" You're still trying to flatten out the mess that is your wavy locks. Lawrence looks content with his actions.
"F-fine....I want to go in there then." You point at the clothing store. Everything is that light gray color, and the writing on the window is some foreign words you could never hope to pronounce written in silver letters.
Inside you can see that, compared to a department store, there isn't as many selections to choose from. It still feels nice to explore, looking at all the nice clothes. The dresses, the skirts, the cute shirts with a ridiculous price tag, the...why is the underwear so fancy looking? You can't help but want to take a look. Frills and bows adorn many of the sets but they don't look kiddish, they actually look pretty. Many of them have matching bras that look just as nice.
"Heh...why would anyone put so much effort into making panties look pretty like this? Who would see it?" You turn to ask Lawrence, but you can see he is doing his best to keep his eyes averted from any of it. As you look back at the white set in front of you, they remind you somewhat of a wedding dress.
[2/3]
>>167596
Going through the clothes, you can't help but want to stop at the glass display cases. Different jewelry rests in velvet spaces, shinning in that eye catching way. Even if they aren't your style you go down looking at the necklaces, the bracelets, the earrings, the rings-
The rings are just...so lovely looking. The bigger more adorned ones don't hold your interest as much, but you can't help but become attracted to one ring in particular. A thin gold band, this one has a bright red jewel set in the middle but you wouldn't be able to notice it unless you were up close. Maybe it's just the simplicity of it, but you can't help but think about how nice it could look.
"Look how pretty it is..." You say to Lawrence, pointing your chosen one out.
"May I help you?" A well dressed woman comes up to the counter, a lipstick smile on her face.
"Ah! No I'm sorry I was just looking..." You back away a bit, feeling a disconnect with the store. You aren't dressed to be in here, it must look so odd. You decide it would be best to head out of here now.
The sun has begun to set and people are gathering around the stage area. You decide it might be nice to go watch whatever it is they are doing, feeling better about choosing to do something that is free instead.
There are a rows of chairs set out, most of the ones near the front taken up by parents with their children. The back is relatively free, and you manage to find a spot that still allows you to view the stage. The nativity scene that had been there earlier has been pushed aside, and it looks like they might begin in about ten minutes.
Is there anything you would like to talk about before the play?
Also as a heads up, I'm being social today so most updates will be later in the day!
>>167602
That time you were in the school play.You were the villain.
>>167602
Hold his hand a tell him he's been great; that we're glad we accepted his offer. This is nice.
We could do this, like, at least a hundred more times.
When everything returns to normal, anyway.,,
"I um..." You speak up suddenly. "I was in a play once, when I was really little. I don't even remember the name of it now but...I do remember that they made me play one of the bad characters. I had to help the evil queen or something like that. I remember thinking how weird it was that I had to play someone like that."
As you say this there is a slight smile on your face, partially from nostalgia and partially from how you remember something so...silly like that. You look down at your feet, your boots against grass buried under trampled snow.
"I...I also just wanted to say..." It's not so much that you're embarrassed to be thankful for this but rather how you're going to say it to him. You want him to really hear you, to understand each word you're going to say. It might seem weird, but you put a hand on top of his to make sure you have his attention.
"I hope it didn't seem like I didn't want to do this or something, I...I've really enjoyed it. It feels weird being treated like this again...so nicely."
You watch as the rigs on the stage warm up and begin to shine their light.
"And I...I hope that I can do something like this again. I hope I can come back to the Plaza and have fun like this again. I hope I can go other places too, and just...just enjoy it. I want to be able to have days like this over and over again...I'm sure most people do." Your voice falters a bit as you put your last sentence in before the announcer comes up.
"But I need to deal with everything first...I need things to become normal..."
...
It's a Christmas play, put on by a local church. Mainly children play the roles, a few of them are your age. You can see that some of them are nervous and reading their lines from a script, but that doesn't take away from your enjoyment. There are even a few parts where you found yourself laughing. Just a simple story of some kids getting ready for Christmas, yet it makes you feel that weird mixture of warmth and sorrow. Once it's over a pastor comes up and offers a short sermon. You stay and listen to his words, talking about Christmas. When everything is wrapped up, the sun has been replaced by stars and the sliver of moon.
You and Lawrence walk away, your hands shoved into your pockets and watching your breath in the air. As you are walking to the bus station you can see in the distance the bridge, illuminated by its many lights and the cars passing over. It looks beautiful, splashed against the starry sky, but you can't help but remember the painting of the woman. Did she end up jumping?
Would...would Lawrence really have?
You're still starring over at the bridge when a note is handed to you.
Think carefully about this, I beg you.
What do you plan to do if you go to see Bower?
Okay NOW I have to go be social for a few hours. Take this WIP
>>168734
He has to explain why. Why us.
He has to... Just like us, he needs to go through life suffering for what he did.Murderboners get out.
>>168734
We're gonna find out everything he knows about us and then castrate him.
>>168734
It was nice and all but Bower still has to pay.Lethal dose of morphine.
>>168847
All of this.
Could we for once not have edgy bullshit in response to what we should do?
>>169048
Could your camp stop trying to police the tone of the story?
Let it go where it goes. It's a quest.
>>169186
>implying my camp isn't the coziest and where we get to search for Delilah's happiness
>>168734
He tells everything about us, why he did it and about all of his little friends.
Then he pays, because otherwise he simply gets away and that is unacceptable.
>>168734
Isn't she supposed to have short hair now?
>>168734
We need answers
What is wrong with us? Is the blood drinking apart of the sickness? How do we fix it? Are there others like us?What is he gonna do to stop us from smashing his hands beyond repair?
>>169307
I'm still working on it ;_;
Also we need to go about this smartly
Don't just show up to his office and try to confront him there. Instead, shadow him for a bit, grab him when he's alone and bring him somewhere off the street where we wont be seen or heard. If it's not to inconvenient maybe take him to the junk yard and have William and the gang help Lawrence with the intimidation while we interrogate him.
>>169307
Seems decently short. I assume it used to be even longer. I mean, she was in a coma for two months.
![BPH24.V2[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/M44CUin.jpg "BPH24.V2[1].jpg")
>>168734
He'll give us specifics about our condition and potential treatments. Also about how he knew our father and why they stopped working together. Then we'll take a ball peen to hisballs and peen.
>>169295
Your camp wants things to be nice and comfortable despite the reality and gravity of the situation. Your camp is the fleeting comfort of a short term solution. But, in the long run, there is no "happy ending" for Delilah. She's a monster.
But at the very least, if happiness cannot be obtained then justice can. If Delilah is a bloodthirsty creature then she can be turned against the forces of injustice.
>>169652
W-wha? I don't think anything is unsalvageable, given a vampiric eternity and a willingness to do good.
>>169607 I am also pretty inconsistent with it originally
>>169652
Sue has said there are very good and very bad endings and a bunch in between available, and that we haven't locked ourselves out of any yet.
>>169670
The road to hell is paved with the best of intentions.
>>169186
Maybe he just wanted to know if people could not be edgy for once, or did his lack of reaction image make it seem like he wasn't trying to open up discussion?
So, while we wait for Sue to stop being a normal human bean, how about we talk about what it is that makes you anons so angry and edgy.
Is it the video games and movies? The rap music? I'm genuinely curious.
>>169762
>The le media makes you behave in certain ways meme.
Please tell me you don't really believe this Anon. When people are hurt, they get angry and want to stop being hurt or hurt the person who is hurting them. The real world can get pretty edgy for some people and Delilah is one of them.
>>169749
But the road to heaven, too, is paved with the best of intentions.
Why can't we give delilah vengeance and happiness? I don't see why we can't have both
>>169815
Yes. Good job. You found the sarcasm. Go down to your local grocer and pick yourself a nice, figurative coconut.
You may also want to acquaint yourself with the psychological trauma Delilah deals with, as it differs just a tad from being repeatedly bashed in the head at recess.
>>169882
Sue has previously stated that there are bad ends and good ends. If you read the archives, it's not subtle what'll happen if Delilah continues letting the craving take the reins.
That's not to say she can't have vengeance, she just has to play her cards right. Plus, doesn't it sound more satisfying to make everyone shun his presence? For him to not earn a shred of dignity in his old age because everyone knows what kind of sick bastard he is?
>>169762
If I had to guess I'd say it's that they have trouble imagining themselves as 13 year old rape victims.
>>170217
Specifically, we are a bunch of 20-something shut in dudes that have to imagine ourselves as a 13 year old homeless vampire rape victim.
>>170514
Pretty much, but we can at least make an effort.
Or some of us can.
>>170536
But, to be honest, a quest about a thirteen year old homeless vampire girl who is also a rape victim sounds pretty edgy.
Quests are collective games.
Let the QM worry about characterizing delilah and just vote however you want. Just don't vote for stupid shit
>>170559
It's funny because the only ones to ever call Delilah a vampire have been anons.
Think about that.
>>170566
"It's funny because the only ones to ever call the walkers 'zombies' have been the fans. Think about that."
If it shits like a duck...
>>170564
It'd be nice with a little more consensus and a little less what seems like samefagging, no?
>>170603
It's funny because it doesn't shit like a duck.
It can consume blood, but throws up if ingesting too much, and has none of the abilities commonly attributed to vampires. It does however have healing saliva.
I think your duck may not quite be the duck you think it is.
>>170629
Just because she doesn't wear a cape and counts on Sesame Street doesn't mean that there's she's not a vampire. We are at a point in literature that a vampire general description and attributes vary from author to author.
>>170629
There are tens, if not hundreds of different interpretations of vampirism, but the vast majority of them all share the consumption of blood in common. Since Sue has so far refused to go in depth with what Delilah's condition actually is, we're left to infer what we can from the two hard facts we really know.
>>170692
Please don't grasp those straws. Those straws are not for grasping.
>>170695
The vast majority of them also share being nocturnal.
It's also not that Sue has refused to explain what Delilah's condition is, it's that we're supposed to discover that shit.
You know, like how we discovered that the Vietnam War ended early, and there was a war in Ukraine? That the US is financially crippled? We didn't know any of that beforehand.
>>170608
>samefagging accusations
It's a quest, not /pol/. Don't see why the Juden would take an interest in this.
>>170728Grasp my straw, anon ~~
>>170731
Don't be mad. You can't get away with it every time.
>>168734
I'm going to cut his hamstrings so he can't run away and then penetrate his tender virgin boipussy with my baseball bat, so that he can know what it feels like to be RAPED
>>170728
I suggested it I think two threads ago and it never happened, hopefully once we confront Bower we'll get some clarity.
>>170728
>discover
>when the first part had it blatant that it was something inspired by vampirism
I'm waiting on curve balls now. As we know without that spoil that blood nulls pain and acts as a high when enough is consumed, and no physical advantages.
>>171535
It seems more the high itself is dulling the pain, just as it dulls the looming darkness from the shame, guilt, disgust, and all that fun stuff, though less effectively.
Im bored. Where are the /u/pdates?
>>171637
I ended up drinking. There will be an update tonight then normal schedule tomorrow.Do yo/u/ understand.
>>171641
I completely /u/nderstand what yo/u/ are saying, S/u/e.Give us a tease of /u/
"I want to know about what's wrong with me...as much as I can get of course." As you think about it you feel the knot in your stomach twists further as terrible thoughts come up.
"I...I still have these feelings about...about wanting to hurt him too. To make him feel pain like I have but...those thoughts scare me. They're still there though...deep down inside."
You're speaking softly, to keep the conversation quiet among the many people around you waiting for the buses. Many of them are the families from the Plaza, waiting to go and continue their happy lives, and here you stand with such awful thoughts.
Lawrence lights up a cigarette and sighs out the smoke. You say nothing more and the bus rolls up. In your seat you clutch to the bag you have. Today was fun, but who knows when you will get to experience something like this again? Or if you ever will again.
You look out the window the entire ride back. Dark streets and neon signs pass by, as do the lively people outside. These things pass by all too soon, and you instead pass by houses decorated in Christmas lights and decorations. That's right...most people are enjoying this time for the holidays, while you sit here with the sickening feelings in your stomach.
The walk up the hill to grandmother's house has never been more difficult. Once you're back, that means you have to go back to what you were doing before, back to getting information, back to...
You and Lawrence didn't say a word to each other the whole ride, and from what you can tell he was thinking the entire time. Are his thoughts about the situation similar to yours.
Without a key, you have to knock on the door till your grandmother arrives. Sunset was almost four hours ago, which means you're late. She must be asleep-
You are surprised by how quickly she opens the door, and more so by the worried look on her face.
"Delilah! Do you know what time it is? I've been waiting!" She practically pulls you inside, her voice a scolding tone. The door is almost slammed on Lawrence, who she lets in begrudgingly.
"I-I'm sorry...we just got caught up at the Plaza..."
"You shouldn't be out after dark like that! I shouldn't have let you out...don't you understand how worried I was?"
"You should have been this worried when you turned me away..." You don't mean to sound so harsh, but this sudden concern annoys you a bit. Grandmother looks like you have just struck her with your words, letting go of you.
"I'm sorry about that...but I'm fine. I promise. I was with Lawrence the whole time, he...he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me."
The look your grandmother has is...you aren't sure how to describe it. There's a scowl on her face, but when her eyes fall on you they soften.
[1/2]
>>171728
"As...as long as you're home safe..." She says this, but it sounds like she's forcing it out. You can understand part of her concern, even if it is a little annoying to be...babied? You still are just a teen so this kind of concern should be normal, but after all that you been through...
"I suppose I can go to bed now that you're home. It's much past my bedtime." You notice that your grandmother refuses to look or talk to Lawrence. Maybe it's a bit awkward to have him here...?
"You did sleep in your father's room, right? When I went inside this morning after you left it didn't look like anything had been touched."
"Ah...y-yes, I know how you like to keep things tidy so I tried to keep it this way..." You lie through your teeth. You aren't sure if she buys it, but your grandmother says nothing more on the subject. Instead, she offers you a good night and goes to her room. Once the door shuts you sigh a breath of relief, you were afraid it would be much worse. Maybe she's being so much nicer to you because of everything?
You shower in the bathroom, and discover that your grandmother has set a bag of clothes inside. A nightgown and two changes of clothes are inside, which you are glad to exchange for your dirty ones. It feels a little weird wearing one again, but once you have cleaned up you don the nightgown. It's almost like you're home again.
Back in the guest bedroom, you can see Lawrence is in the middle of writing. You sit on the bed and brush your drying hair as he finishes his thoughts.
You were talking about how you have those feelings of wanting to get back at the people who hurt you, to make them feel pain too. I understand that, to want revenge on someone who did you wrong.
But there's something you need to realize. Even if they did you wrong, if you just go in and hurt them, then you won't be applauded as a hero. What evidence do you have against them? Even if you could pin the crime on them, do you think the law would just give you a slap on a wrist? Even though they hurt you so badly, if you blindly went in for revenge then you're going to end up in a worse position. They will march you out on trial, and there will be people who will testify against you, calling your crimes thoughtless and heartless. They will try to paint you as a monster, and there's a chance they would succeed. Then, instead of justice, you will end up suffering more.
These words weigh heavily as you read them. Isn't the justice system supposed to help the innocent?
[2/3]
>>171730
There's always the option to run, but then what? You will be forced to run forever. You will never get to stop, get your life together, find a nice husband and start a family. All those dreams you had will be gone for good.
I went in and took my own justice blindly, and look where I am now.
It's a lot for you to think about, you aren't sure what to say.
I'm sorry if all this has spooked you, I just want you to realize the choices you are going to be making. But, don't think about it anymore. I feel bad for bringing down your mood today.
Lawrence scratches at his head awkwardly as you read this one.
Is there anything you want to say or do before going to sleep?
>>171735
Hug him, tell him he's right but it's not an easy thing to accept. Also tell him that today was a good day.
>>171735
>Sue tries to scare us away from the Bad-- end
stahp
live by the pocket knife, die by the pocket knife
Tell Lawrence that we'll be his girlfriend tonight. Also mess up the bed in Dad's room so that grandma won't get suspicious again. And snoop around the mansion and see what we can loot
>>171735
Be coy and ask him if this was a date, and if we're supposed to give him a goodnight kiss.
Admit that he's right and that he shouldn't feel bad; we have some new memories to cherish. To reflect on when things aren't as nice. He's been great.
We'll need to mess up dad's bed a bit, even subtly; a crease in the covers, a hair on the perfectly white pillow. Make it seem like an effort was made to tidy up.
>>171735
Begrudgingly accept that maybe death isn't something you could inflict upon those who hurt you without everything falling back in on you.
But vow revenge anyways. Maybe not now, but when you're stronger than they could possibly imagine. Lawrence is right, hasty action can only result in undoing all your progress. We go about this Count of Monte Cristo-like.
Also tell Lawrence he should check on the people of Good Hope tomorrow.
>>172258
Wow. Elaborate.If we end up getting a quick good end I'd hope we get a what-if reset that lets us go dark mode.
>>171730
>implying this is our home
We shouldn't come back to grandma's house after we leave in the morning
Just leave her a note letting her know we are okay but wont be back and maybe something about her already blowing her chance with us.
>>172258
Seconding
