GIVE YOURSELF A REASON @splitrivers - Tumblr Blog

ALL LIGHTS TURNED OFF #splitrivers : independent, low-activity multi-muse blog featuring original & canon muses from school spirits. written by cat ( she / her, 29 ). CAN BE TURNED ON.

#&; ooc ── pinned post.

berryinnit

t-shirt with the words “high-functioning corpse” printed on it

#&; maddie ── thoughts.#s3 maddie #(and s1 and s2)

for a swimmer, matt is skilled at the art of parrying. it brings tess enough pause that she reconsiders her point altogether. in the broad swaths of time they've spent together, their deaths aren't an uncommon topic. if anything they'd land on them with quite a bit of regularity. it doesn't hurt anymore. but like some discordant musical chord, it never fails to stall her momentum.

"riddle me this," she rolls her eyes, though the fondness that peeks through is indisputable, "you've died, and i've died, but would you say we've stopped growing ?" she wouldn't go so far as to root up a flower for her example, but she continued nonetheless. "plenty of plants go dormant in the winter. bits of them die, and you prune them off, but that doesn't mean there isn't something still beneath the surface, ready to spring back, right ?"

fingers reach to brush the hollow of her ear. she reaches up to gingerly assess her new accessory, then leans forward to plant chin on her palm. "you won't have to visit them, you know. but wouldn't you want to try to find eric ?" at that, her answer comes easily. "maybe i'd finally pitch it west and see if joan was still out there."

@yearnstarved continued from here.

#&; tess ── threads.#two replies in one night !! who is she !!

"the threat of maybe still dying is what makes it better ?" question's cloaked in incredulous laughter, and the sensation makes her chest ache, like the feeling has struck something just right in her ribcage. normal. right. both deeply, irrevocably alive. she tests it once more — or at least uses the sliver of doubt left in her as an excuse to swipe the next fry from his hand.

still alive. and the bite of salt and acid on her tongue confirms that she's still there, too.

"does that mean that you're going to turn a new leaf and become a priest now ?"

@yearnstarved continued from here.

#&; maddie ── threads.#we can give em a little joy as a treat

gldngrrls

At Gemma's comment about it not being a threat, Chrissy bit her lip. Truthfully, she wasn't sure what to call what she and Wally had. They had never truly put a label on it. What did you call decades of spending your afterlife together after one of you dies on a football field before the dance you were supposed to attend together? She had waited for him, even before she herself died. After Wally had died, Chrissy refused to date any other guy, and there had been many offers. But then she died and he was the first face she had seen. It had always been the two of them, and that was what was comfortable.

Truthfully, Chrissy wanted to hate Maddie. But she couldn't, didn't have it in her. Maddie was everything Chrissy wasn't. Confident, effortless, the person all the ghosts seemed to like. Shaking her head again, Chrissy dove under the water to avoid Gemma's eyes. When she surfaced, she shrugged. "Maybe...."

splitrivers

"maybe what ?" gemma bobbed beneath the surface to pop up within the center of an inner tube. ( charley's ? someone had pilfered it from the closet. ) leaning chin upon folded arms, she eyed chrissy. in no world was she particularly invested in any of them; maddie had attempted to run laps with her exactly once in her doc martins, each heavy-footed step threatening to scuff the track. clark ? he was another sports kid. they all orbited one another, kept a respectful distance as they wove through the loops of their respective practices with the exception of field day. at best, she considered him a weird sort of peer mentor. at worst, they were barely acquaintances.

still, the interaction strikes flint on something — solidarity, maybe, — and gemma paused on the implications rising to the surface. "are you trying to get with him ?" considering all the time they had to fleetwood mac with each other, she shouldn't be so scandalized. but he seemed so smitten with maddie that it lowkey gave her a toothache. "because i'll do a lot of things, but i'm not out here trying to break girl code."

#&; gemma ── threads.

new lizzy mc.alpine album ?? oh we are so back

#&; ooc ── thoughts.

splitrivers

you've heard of a d&d au and a glee au but if i were to sit down and put together a desc.endants au...........

splitrivers

gemma's father is a car

#&; ooc ── thoughts.#gemma song-mcqueen you're real 2 me

wallyclarkmemorial

“ don't i know it, ” his reply is easy. everything about being around maddie has been, except for maybe when he accidentally puts his foot in his mouth, saying something stupid. or unlocking a tragic backstory like her pb&j hotdogs. wally breathes out, watching the way his warm not-breath from his dead not-lungs permeates the air.

after a moment, as he settles at her side with his face tilted upward to catch the rain, he runs his fingers through his hair, tugging on the longer ends at the nape of his neck. as if psyching himself up. he clears his throat, then, shimmying out of his letterman jacket and holding it open for her. “ but if you're gonna try to catch your death, i gotta insist, maddie. ”

splitrivers

"right." she adds, acknowledgement of the obvious a sheepish footnote between his comments ; cabin fever goes crazy after a few weeks. it's probably hellish after a few decades. maybe she'd find it out for herself if they didn't figure all of this out. the time slips through the proverbial hourglass like raindrops down the bridge of her nose.

gaze flickers quickly — outstretched arm to layerless torso to open expression on wally's face. lips twist as her brain catches over what was surely an unintentional freudian slip, and maddie reaches for the jacket if only out of polite acknowledgement of his gesture. "i figured i'd already tried blunt force trauma," she muses, pausing for a long moment to consider her options before slipping into the jacket. it dwarfs her. she doesn't hate it, nor the security that settles across her shoulders as the rain batters the thick leather instead of her bare skin. "what if i wanted to dabble in a different death ? something that could take out a victorian child ?"

#the mullet is not referenced in this reply but trust that it is here in both maddie's mind and in her spirit #&; maddie ── threads.

you've heard of a d&d au and a glee au but if i were to sit down and put together a desc.endants au...........

#&; ooc ── thoughts.#gotta hit that cringe trifecta #i wouldn't even write in it. it would just exist. setting it out into the universe like a little note in a bottle.

mad3lyncline

𝑳𝑶𝑳𝑨 𝑻𝑼𝑵𝑮 . Via Tiktok ( x ) .

#&; gemma ── visuals / fc.#rip gemma you would've LOVED the y2k revival of the 2020s

gldngrrls

@splitrivers sent “i was just trying to help you." for chrissy from gemma!!!

Chrissy looked over at Gemma, a sad smile on her face. The group had decided it was too warm in the library and had headed downstairs for a bit of fun. Since school was out for the summer, they had the entire campus to themselves, including the pool. Will and Sydney had been discussing…..something only the two of them could understand, Chrissy was lounging by the edge and dangling her feet in, and she wasn’t sure what the others were doing.

What she did know was that her eyes kept going over to Wally. Things had been different between them since Maddie had arrived and while they weren’t necessarily bad, they were just different. Gemma had suggested she talk to to Wally alone, but Chrissy shook her head. “I’m not brave like that.” Chrissy said softly. “Plus, he looks so happy with her. I can’t threaten that, right?” Sighing, she shook her head again and slid into the pool, laying on her back.

splitrivers

gemma hums in acknowledgement. she drifts a few feet away, eyes trained on the sterile, tiled ceiling of the split river natatorium, as chrissy talks. the question posed piques her interest, and she swings arms in a lazy backstroke to steer herself back to the edge of the pool. elizabeth had been the patient one in the family — level-headed enough to manage the song family's chaos and insightful enough to crack it in law school, she was the one most equipped to provide meaningful advice. gemma, not so much. "the way i see it," she huffs, "you have two choices. if this is important enough to you to take up so much of your brain space, you talk with clark and hash things out. that isn't a threat unless you're trying to get back together with him." maybe she was. that was outside of gemma's purview and far past the amount of skin she had in this game. "or you keep it to yourself and figure out a way to cope with it." dark eyes glance over to chrissy, gauging how her words land. "wally's a big softie. it's not like he has feelings for another girl on purpose just to hurt you."

#&; gemma ── threads.

cheerlcd

WE ARE THE TIGERS, MIGHTY MIGHTY TIGERS!!

# CHEERLCD — a low - activity indie chrissy cunningham rp blog. oc & crossover friendly. heavily headcanon based. iconless + mutuals only. established 2025. rules. info.

#&; ooc ── promo.#love love love lizzie and chrissy <3

"i just wanted to make sure you were okay." hardly the first time maddie's heard that in the last few months. definitely won't be the last. still, she flinches — sign of a nerve too raw to be touched. scar tissue has formed over the most vulnerable places, but here, now, with that question, @sorevivals strikes it in just the right way to bring her pause. but she doesn't dare look away from her vantage point. autumn threatens its exit, lighting all the trees in split river ablaze with color. from the top of the water tower, she can see all the way out to the county line; she's always liked how from up here, everything looked small. for a few hours, her problems could all be small, too. the distance is harder to replicate the older she gets. her problems becoming much more difficult to outpace. it's worth a shot, though. besides, every mental health professional on the internet touts the benefits of fresh air. "i'm alive." an answer with a hundred interpretations: humor, cynicism, earnestness. her tone betrays none of these. ( maybe it's all three at once. ) but it isn't unkind, doesn't mean to discourage amelia away. if anything, she nods to the empty space next to her for amelia to share in the view. "when i told you i used to hang out up here, i didn't think you'd actually come."

#&; maddie ── threads.#i was thinking after canon BUT we could get so funky and say it's pre-canon too sldkjsl dealer's choice #i do think in the right circumstances amelia and maddie could be friends :( even pre-canon w/o maddie knowing who wally is

mcflymemes

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" PROMPTS * assorted dialogue for both sides of the argument, adjust as necessary.

for the "i don't need your help" one

you can get lost.

i thought i told you i had this under control.

you never listen to me.

i was taking care of it.

leave me alone.

are you happy now?

you just stepped in and ruined it for me.

that was completely unnecessary and you know it.

i had it under control.

you didn't need to show up.

can't you let me handle my own shit?

i would have appreciated it if you asked first.

i had it handled!

you didn't need to do all that!

what part of "i don't need help" do you not understand?

they were about to give it to me before you showed up!

i had something going and you ruined it!

what, you mean you don't trust me to handle it myself?

you trained me better than this.

you can't just show up every time and save me.

what's the point in putting me out here if you're not going to let me do it on my own?

i thought you trusted me to take care of this by myself.

you taught me this.

i'm never going to forgive you for this.

that was uncalled for.

what happens when you're not here one day and i have to take care of things on my own?

how am i ever going to learn if you keep stepping in?

i'm not you.

for the "i'm just trying to help you" one

i heard you struggling.

i was just trying to help you.

and this is the thanks i get for trying to help?

things were getting out of hand. i had to step in.

you never would have done that by yourself.

it's okay to ask for help.

it's not that i don't trust you. i don't trust [them].

a minute longer and you'd be dead in there.

i had to make sure you were okay.

of course i trust you. this was never about trust.

i'm not going to risk your life like that!

i should have been there sooner.

if i'd only reached you faster.

a simple "thank you" would suffice.

you could thank me for saving your ass back there.

sure didn't seem like you had it under control.

things were getting out of hand, and i stepped in.

i'm in charge here, not you.

i'm not going to put your life at risk like that again.

we're done here.

i'm not arguing with you.

i saved your life, and this is how you repay me?

i just wanted to make sure you were okay.

maybe i crossed a line back there, sure, but i did it for you.

it's because i care about you.

of course you're capable. that was never up for debate.

you're not ready.

next time, let me handle it.

clearly you need more time before i let you do that alone.

we'll try again tomorrow.

#go stupid go crazy #&; ooc ── inbox memes.#now that we're doin the rewatch.......we're so back babies

the rain is still cold against her skin. the chill doesn't seep into maddie's bones anymore, not in the way it did when she was still alive, but it still soaks through flannel, plasters the hair to her forehead, trickles across skin in a way that draws goosebumps to the surface. the limits of a ghostly body still elude her. no fresh blood, yes pain, yes cold. it's a small blessing, the sting of it. a bone thrown to her from the universe. an easy way to bring her back to her senses in the foggy glow of the streetlights. the means to do so feel fewer and farther between the further she spirals down. the percussion of rain against grass and asphalt masks @wallyclarkmemorial 's footsteps. seconds ( or maybe minutes — time has gone weird this side of the afterlife ) pass, and she has half the sense to glance over a shoulder. "i'm okay. just needed some air, i guess. the cabin fever gets to you after a while."

#wallyclarkmemorial #&; maddie ── threads.#no canonical context we die like men (maddie perpetually needs a break)#all we need to know is it's before they sleep together and wally has a mullet now

death is different than she imagined. only its guest for now, maddie treads carefully in this world between worlds. watches the rhythms of its long-term tenants. does what she can to keep a firm grip on whatever tether she still had to the living. the teacher's lounge couch is lumpy and has probably never been cleaned. not for the first time, the discomfort and the silence leave her restless, and she sets off on her own. or maybe, not quite on her own. footsteps behind her send a chill down her spine, and she spins to catch them. they technically don't have an advantage anymore; they're all just haunting one another. "jesus ! do you even sleep ?" then, "does anyone else around here sleep ?"