Created by @oddlyspookz / Caspar Anne "Spookz" Lee. Content Warning- various heavy topics may be dealt with, such as mental illnesses, unhealthy family dynamics, and other things that may be triggering. Please read on with discretion.
Be mindful of the main characters' ages. They are High Schoolers.
Be kind and open minded
Do not be rude
Please do not intentionally ignore content or trigger warnings. Your mental health and wellbeing is more important than anything else.
Have fun!
DNI CRITERIA
TERFs, Tr*mp Supporters/MAGA, Homophobes, Transphobes, trolls, ableists and most other immoral/bad things, DNI
More info below cut!!
WHAT'S THE STORY?
Lyle Springs follows a group of teens growing up in a small town in Nevada, each who have their own individual struggles and each overcoming their own challenges, eventually finding each other.
Lyle Springs takes place in the fictional desert town of Lyle Springs, Nevada, between the years of 2013 to 2017. It follows 6 teens from the start of their freshman year of high school, to their graduation.
WHO'S THE AUTHOR/ARTIST?
Lyle Springs was started in late 2019/early 2020 by @oddlyspookz , a.k.a. Caspar Anne "Spookz" Lee, as a way to work through and cope with things like finishing their own high school journey, dealing with the pandemic , and a few other things. Now they want to share that story with the world.
I am a 21 year-old amateur writer, artist, and life enjoyer. I love video games, cartoons, swimming and the outdoors! Maybe check out my lin
I wanted to say that I love the disability representation in your Lyle springs thing, because as you probably know from knowing me I'm a nerd about disabilities and disability rep and I'm disabled myself
I think more media needs to do disability representation and people don't talk about that enough
I agree! I (the creator) am also disabled so I want to have that rep especially from my own experiences.
Finally getting around to drawing the parents' Ref Sheets.
To start off, I made Abby's mom, Eveline.
She's a kind-hearted, yet sometimes rough young mom who started off as a scared, lost teen mom at 15. She was kicked out and disowned by her conservative abuela when they found out about her pregnancy.
Lyle Springs, Book 1- A Father's Words (PREVIEW 2)
(TRIGGER WARNING//The following text may contain mentions of abuse, transphobia, s.i., and self-harm) reader's discretion is advised.
Chapter Three
The next few months of Thomas' life passed by in a blur of absolute hell. Between his mother's wavering support- which became sparse as the years went by due to Hector becoming more firm in not allowing his wife to enable Thomas's "delusions"- and the inescapable abuse from Hector, life seemed bleak for the eleven-year-old boy.
In order to cope with the bruises from his father, Thomas began to develop his own coping skills to deal with it. He'd begun to self-punish by inflicting his own harm on himself.
His logic was that if he hurt himself, the pain caused by his father wouldn't hurt him as badly.
The self-harming all started one morning after an argument with his father.
That morning started off like any other. Thomas's digital alarm clock would sound off at six A.M., as usual. He got up, brushed his teeth and got dressed, choosing to wear some jeans, sneakers and his comfort sweater- an oversized dark gray hoodie that concealed most of his body shape in a way that made him feel more comfortable in himself. A very boyish outfit that made him feel at ease with himself.
He then threw his backpack over one shoulder and stepped down the stairs, only to feel a firm hand on his shoulder stopping him in his tracks.
âYou think youâre going to go out in public looking like that?â Thomas' father spoke low, yet intimidatingly over the smaller boyâs shoulder.
Thomas didnât look up, not wanting his father to see the slight fear in his eyes. He was going to stand his ground.
âI can wear what I want. Iâm not dressed inappropriately.â Thomas tried to respond firmly.
That was a bad idea.
âDo not talk back to me, young lady.â Hector raised his voice.
He always misgendered Thomas or dead-named him whenever the twelve year-old did something he didnât like, or deemed as âbad behaviorâ.
Thomas took a deep breath.
âIâm not talking back. I just want to be able to choose my clothes for myself without you being on my back all the time. You already have enough control over me-â Thomas was cut off just as he could finish his sentence by a swift, hard slap to the face, the force of his fatherâs hand causing his head to be thrown back and hit the wall next to him.
âYouâll wear what I say is acceptable for you to wear, or Iâll make your life hell.â Hector practically growled.
As if he hadnât done that already...
Thomas looked to the floor, rubbing his sore head.
âWhatâs wrong with what Iâm wearing?â Thomas asked softly.
Hector placed a hand under the boyâs chin, forcefully grabbing his face and turning his head to face him and forcing him to make eye contact with his father.
âYouâre going to make this family look bad. You look like a little bitch dog. What do you think people are going to say if you walk around looking like that, hm?? Why canât you just be normal? Why canât you just be good, like your sister?â Hector yelled in Thomasâ face.
Thomas just stiffened up and nodded silently.
Hector put him down in response. âNow go change. I want you to wear your purple dress. The one with the long sleeves. Now.â
â...Yes sir.â Thomasâ voice shook.
He felt powerless as he walked back up the stairs. He cried the entire time as he changed, quietly enough so his father wouldnât hear him.
This was one of the first times he absolutely wished he wasnât alive. As he trudged down the stairs, he scratched at his forearm under his sleeve,avoiding every mirror or reflective surface like the plague. He couldnât stand to look at himself.
Hector smiled when he saw his child, ignoring the upset look on Thomasâ face. âThatâs much better. See, was that so hard?â He questioned, in a condescending tone.
Thomas didnât respond, as Hector suddenly grabbed him by the arms, leading him into the bathroom. He stopped in front of the mirror and forced Thomas to face his reflection.
âYou see that? You see how pretty you are?â He spoke, in an eerily gentler tone. âThatâs the real you. None of this stupid âboyâ shit. This is who you are. You canât change that.â
This happened rather often, and by this time, Thomas knew better than to talk back against him. He just nodded, while trying not to cry. He felt like a puppet on a string.
Hector then shoved Thomas out of the bathroom, handing him his backpack. âThatâs all. You may go now. Get to school, donât be late.â
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After suffering abuse at the hands of his father, experiencing a huge loss, and being thrown into foster care along with his younger sister,
OC Animatic - Things To Do - Alex G. | Lyle Springs (OC Series) | ODDLYSPOOKZ!!
This one is actually from a while ago so it's not exactly new, but it's still fairly recent and I'm still very proud of it and think more ppl should see it! (Besides it's a bit important to Thomas' lore.)
(Incoming Content Warnings: Mentions/ descriptions of abusive parenting, corporal punishment and narcissistic behavior)
Chapter One
It's a foggy, gray morning in a little-known small town in Nevada, called Lyle Springs. Twelve year-old Thomas Aguiar stares out the fogged window of the backseat in his social worker's car, watching trees and old brick apartment buildings swiftly pass by. His little sister, sitting next to him, is fast asleep. They are on their way to another foster home. The fourth one in a year.
How exactly does a scuffed-up teen boy and his little sister end up in foster care, in such a situation as this?
Well, let's start from the beginningâŠ
October 31st, 1999. A young girl was born, Tegan Aguiar. It was the best day of their lives for their first-time parents, Emilia and Hector Aguiar.
If you ever asked Hector what his dream family looked like, he'd tell you all he wanted was two daughters.
Girls are obedient, pretty and delicate. Easy to mold into anything you want... not as willing to fight back or rebel as a boy would... What he didn't know was his whole perfect little world would soon change, and he would be less than pleased with it.
Three years later, on December 22nd, 2002, the family was blessed with a second daughter, lovingly named Tamera Aguiar. Hector's dream of a perfect family, with two daughters, was complete.
The house was happy. Everything was perfect. Both girls were baptized into the Catholic Church at the age of 6 months. The family would go to church every Sunday, like clockwork. Tegan dressed in green, and Tamera dressed in purple.
Everyday was structured and strict. Totally controlled down to every last detail by Hector. Emilia practically had no say in much of anything except for how the house was cleaned and when dinner was cooked. Everyone had a role they had to follow strictly, and to the T. If Emilia ever tried to step out of line or didnât play along in his game of âHouseâ, thereâd be consequences.
Every morning started at six thirty, no earlier, no later. Emilia would have the girls up and fed by seven. Both girls would be dressed like little dolls, in cute little dresses, bows in their hair, and matching socks and shoes.
Their hair would be done everyday in two sweet pigtails, tied off with bows. Hector especially loved his youngest daughterâs hair. It was perfect, and straight. It always came out looking exactly how he wanted, and heâd sometimes even do her hair himself.
Tegan had gorgeous curly hair, but it took more maintenance and time to get it ârightâ, and it was more stubborn and frizzy. Hector hated her curly hair. While Emilia was perfectly patient with it, Hector hated her messy, âuglyâ curls. So heâd take a straightening iron to it every morning, to her motherâs dismay. Every morning, Tegan put up such a fight with it, that he one day no longer wanted to deal with her screaming and kicking, and finally gave up on straightening it. Instead, heâd tell her everyday how ugly and messy it looked, and the words hurt much more than the hot iron on her neck.
Tegan never really felt comfortable with all of this. She truly felt like she had no control of herself, like she was just a doll, here for everyone elseâs enjoyment. Her mother made her dress in itchy, fluffy bows and dresses everyday. Theyâd tell her when she was or wasnât allowed to speak, how to feel, and what she was or wasnât allowed to eat or do. If she said the wrong things, moved around too much, smiled wrong, or âtalked backâ, sheâd be faced with consequences.
Her fatherâs consequences depended on how mad Hector was, how âbadâ Tegan had been, and where they were at the time.
The first time Tegan could remember being subject to her fatherâs consequences was when she was four. They were supposed to be having family pictures taken. They had to be nice, perfect pictures, because the Aguiars were a nice, perfect family. The day started very early, so the girls could be pampered up extra nicely. Hector had spent a lot of money on fancy, specially made dresses for the girls to wear in the pictures. Heâd also paid a good bit on the photographer, so all the more reason that everything had to be pristine.
Unfortunately, due to the combination of waking up early, having to wear a big, heavy, itchy dress, and being forced to have her hair straightened, Tegan already wasnât having a good day, and with her whining and discomfort, Hector was already rather pissed with her. When smiling for the pictures, it turned out that smiling a big, wide smile with all her teeth was the wrong kind of smile, and she got the belt for it.
When she finally smiled âproperlyâ for the picture, Teganâs face was still red from also being slapped by her father.
The other punishments the four year-old would be subjected to ranged from a simple swift slap to the face, to harsh housework, such as scrubbing toilets, or cleaning the grout between all of the kitchen tiles with a toothbrush, which had to be done perfectly to her fatherâs exact standards, or sheâd face a worse punishment.
And then there was another thing Hector simply called âisolationâ. This was when Tegan would be made to sit in her room for however long her father felt was necessary, with the door locked to where she couldnât get out by herself, without any toys, and with no blanket, pillow or sheet on her bed. Just her and a bare, empty mattress. Those things were privileges, according to Hector.
All she could really do was either take a nap on the empty bed, or sit and stare at the walls until her father decided sheâd been in there long enough to learn her lesson. She also often wouldnât be allowed to come out and use the toilet, or have water or food until her time was up, which would sometimes be only a few minutes, a few hours, or almost an entire day, from afternoon to dinner time.
Her mother was unable to save her most of the time, as she was often busy caring for her sweet little baby sister Tamera, who was practically perfect compared to Tegan. Tamera was only a baby, afterall. She could do no wrong. She was the golden child. Tamera wouldnât have meltdowns because of itchy fabric or the brush pulling her hair. Tamera didnât cry at loud noises or whine and squirm when having to wear socks or wait to eat. Tamera was nice and quiet, and didnât talk all the damn time. Tamera was so good, and Tegan was the âdifficultâ child. Throughout everything, she felt like something, or someone, was trapped inside her. The outbursts sheâd have were like âitâ was trying to get out. Something felt wrong to her.
And nothing felt right to Tegan. Dresses didnât feel right. Long hair didnât feel right. Being âladylikeâ didnât feel right. Being in her body didnât feel right. Being herself didnât feel right.
Tegan simply felt âall wrongâ. Maybe like she was in the wrong body, even.
Finally when Tegan turned ten, she insisted on being who she really was. Who he really was. Taking back control of his own body and himself. He was a boy, and his name was Thomas.
Of course, this revelation didnât go over well with Hector. He couldnât accept that. Or his perfect family would be torn apart and ruined. Fortunately, Thomasâ sweet and caring mother, Emilia, cooled Hector down and convinced him to be at least respectful of the boy, and accept his son.
She lovingly cut Thomasâ hair when he asked, and started dressing him in clothes he actually felt comfortable and right in. Of course, this didnât mean there would be peace.
Not by a long shot.
Chapter Two
A year and a half passed by, to a rather gloomy afternoon on October 31st, 2010.
Thomas' eleventh birthday.
For most children, their birthday would be anything but gloomy, but it was not a happy day for Thomas.
Hector was the head of the household, and as much as Emilia accepted her son and believed his birthday deserved just as much celebration as anyone else's, Hector insisted on the idea that it was her birthday- Tegan's, and if he wanted to be Thomas, and "play pretend", than he didn't deserve a celebration of any sort. It was her day. Not his.
They didn't even celebrate Halloween, going trick-or-treating or dressing up like all the other kids in the neighborhood. Hector believed it was "The Devil's Holiday". So it was pretty much just another normal day. Another miserable day.
The young boy was simply sitting on the living room couch, staring out the window, with his face pressed against the glass.
"Tegan! You're getting the window all foggy and filthy putting your dirty face all over it, get down!" Hector's gruff, booming voice came from the kitchen.
Thomas jumped back, startled at the sudden loud noise. He cringed slightly at being dead-named by his father. It didn't sting any less, no matter how many times Hector did it.
"It's Thomas." He mumbled, only sort of wanting his father to hear him.
"Tegan." Hector just repeated, almost mockingly. Thomas' face fell. At least his mom would use his name. But she was out doing some shopping, or something. So he was left with his father.
"You have chores, get off your ass and get to it." Hector said, his tone no less forgiving. Thomas subtly nodded, and swiftly got up to get started.
... After about an hour, Thomas had finished most of his chores, which consisted of scrubbing the two bathroom's toilets, doing the dishes, and mopping the kitchen. Just as he'd put the mop away, Thomas heard the front door shut.
"I'm back, come help me put these groceries away." Emilia said from the front door. Thomas' face lit up as soon as he heard his mother's voice, and ran straight for the front door to hug her, followed by his little sister Tamera, who'd come trotting down the stairs from her room.
"MamĂ!! I missed you!" Thomas says brightly, wrapping his arms around her. Emilia leaned down a bit, and lovingly hugged him back.
"I missed you too, mi pequeño." She says softly into his ear, running her hand through his dark curly hair. She then reached down and gave little Tamera a hug too.
"Did you finish your chores?" Emilia asks, turning back toward Thomas.
"Mhm!", He nodded rapidly, his hair falling into his eyes.
"Good job, now come help me put these groceries away." Emilia said.
As they were putting away the groceries, Thomas vaguely glanced around and spotted a small box, wrapped in brown paper topped with a bow, tied with string. He was curious about it, but didn't dare say anything, not with his father standing right there helping with the groceries. He just continued on with it.
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After suffering abuse at the hands of his father, experiencing a huge loss, and being thrown into foster care along with his younger sister,
Hey guys !! I know I'm making an object show, but I also have another project I've been working on since I started high school. (I started in 2020 and graduated in 2023.) It's a graphic novel Slice-of-life emotional drama.
This is Lyle Springs.
Lyle Springs follows a group of teens growing up in a small town in Nevada, each who have their own individual struggles and each overcoming their own challenges, eventually finding each other, finding friendship and a place of belonging.
Lyle Springs takes place in the fictional desert town of Lyle Springs, Nevada, between the years of 2013 to 2017. It follows 6 teens from the start of their freshman year of high school, to their graduation.
