#lincoln!analysis

[toxicanonymity]

I’m curious to know: what makes Lincoln!Joel so bad? Worse than the others?

if you really wanna know. . .in addition to an answer there is a little bit of pt. 5 smut below the cut as an example of his sneakier toxicity.

he's obsessive. he needs you to need him and would do ANYTHING to have you to himself. he's strategic or "organized" and deceptive in this pursuit. as opposed to someone like slasher or raider being impulsive or "disorganized" and brazen in their actions.

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also, he really fucks with your head and you might not even realize it. this is from pt. 5 when you go get in his bed during a very bad storm, and you're scared. :

. . .But you were also a little shy about how needy you felt. . . The moment you started overthinking it, Joel noticed and pulled back.   He experimentally grinded his cock against your front. He leaned his temple against yours and whispered, “Just ‘cause it's there don’t mean ya gotta do anything with it.”  You breathed an internal sigh of appreciation, even though you were salivating to have it in your mouth again. To have it anywhere, everywhere.  

He cupped your cheek and stroked it with his thumb.  “I just wanna make ya feel good.  Can I do that?” You nodded “mm-hm,” and his hand returned between your legs, ghosting your clit through the fabric.  “Cause I don’t have to,” he went on.  “Won’t hurt my feelings if ya go back to your bed, okay?”  You nodded.  “We’ll just do what you want,” he said. Except for what I want most, you thought to yourself.   

A lot going on here, but maybe the least obvious - when he says it won't hurt his feelings if you go back to your bed, he's denying you the options of just lying in his bed or being held by him. Acting like those options don't even exist. Like let me edge you to death or go back to your room.

[toxicanonymity]

not to make lincoln joel even scarier than he already is but jumping off the other anon asking about if he’s delulu about his own mortality… i kinda see him as taking peaches with him when it’s his time to go if you know what i mean…

WARNING ULTRA DARK

your thought has some basis in his own words (generally speaking, not about what will happen within the story itself)

from pt. 4, Apple Blossom:

. . .Abe couldn't possibly have packed up and left. This didn't explain anything at all.  You'd have to see it to believe it.   "No. He wouldn't just leave," you said and got de ja vu. You were quiet. Nothing felt right.  You spent the whole afternoon scared and alone, and now this? "Sorry, peaches. Didn't know you were close." "We weren't. I just - I'm surprised. He didn't say anything this week, did he?" "Sure didn't."  "Just like Jesse,” you whispered.  Joel inhaled through his nose as though calming himself.  “I don't understand it," you said.  Joel was quiet for a moment.  "People leave, darlin'. But I promise you I won't.  Not ever."  You mustered half a grateful smile and indulged him. “Promise?” "Never.”  He looked gravely serious.  “Not unless I take you with me,” he said softer. 

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So, you combine that last line with whatever you think 'leaving" means in this context, and yeah. Tbh there are a lot of really dark subtleties in things he says 🫣.

[toxicanonymity]

Hey :)

About Lincoln, I listened to the 4 The White stripes songs, and the first thing I wanted to tell you was that the atmosphere suited the Lincoln series perfectly it's insane. I don't know if the music influenced you or if the series came to you and you then created the playlist, but I find it incredible that it fits so well in terms of atmosphere !

About the songs

Screwdriver - Of course got me with the Tommy line. I don't know if he'll be part of the final, hard to say, and would it be for asking his help ? (by Lincoln ? by reader ?)

Forever for her - I wonder if it's his thoughts, hurt by the fact she would left him (kill him ?) Or him wondering how he could stay with her, without being caught up by what he did ? So they would go elsewhere ?

A martyr for my love for you - Is he gonna leave her ? Let her go ? Kill himself to free her ?

You've got her in your pocket - Well this one is the opposite (thanks for the rollercoaster lol) and i'm wondering if he's gonna kill her ? Consider it to keep her for himself ?

Keep wondering how this will end. It took me so much times to see red flags in this series. It's interesting to see how people have different "keys" that creates red flags or not - The green/red flags of other readers you posted were quite telling !

Thank you for the songs and the playlist, i discovered cool ones !

Ask from August 10 - Milla had asked for the next chapter title, which at the time was supposed to be the finale. Instead, I narrowed it down to 4 songs, each of which have some relevance , even if it's a tiny detail or in a dif context than you'd expext. The title songs aren't always good clues but have at least some minor tie-in. (Forever for her was the next chapter)

⚠️ This answer may have references through pt. 7

Left in Lincoln Master List

Consciously, the story came first, then the music hit me after pt. 1 and I started including little details from the songs. I originally named pt. 1 "the Protector" in reference to the end of the chapter:

You thought about Bill and Frank's attempt at "the Talk" – how precious you were and that you could love anyone, but needed to protect yourself. Especially from men. Joel seemed like the protector. Not someone you'd need protection from.

I kept thinking, I could've sworn there was a song, but I couldn't find it. Then, days after posting the the first chapter, the song This Protector randomly got stuck in my head after not hearing it for years. It was never one of my favorites of theirs, but when I listened to the full song, it gave me chills how perfect it was, and not just the title.

You thought you heard a sound, there's no one else around, Looking at the door, it's coming through the floor

I ret-conned the pt. 1 title, changing "the" to "this," and decided to make the rest of the chapters White Stripes songs because they have enough songs with the right atmosphere and creepiness. Even certain motifs like apples, which were already in the story. Even the age gap factor, I mean look at Passive Manipulation, which of course was way too on the nose to use as a title lol:

Take a step back, take a look at one another You need to know the difference between a father and a lover

And In the Cold, Cold Night (sung by Meg)

You make me feel a little older, like a full grown woman might.

Anyway, there's a lot of good stuff. Screwdriver even has a Tommy in it as Milla mentioned.

Before this one, I had never made a story playlist before. I kinda lucked out on this. I overplayed the White Stripes so much in my formative years that I still know all the words to an alarming number of songs two decades later, for some of them.

As for the theories, I wouldn't feel right about killing reader or Joel in this story even though either of those could totally be realistic outcomes in different genres like straight horror or even true crime.

There are also some great songs on the reader-curated Lincoln Joel playlist.