WTD fandom is not talking enough about the depiction of racism and colonialism. Mentions of lynching and then the red balloon appears in a tree in the Hanlon’s front yard. It appearing to Charlotte as a white police officer, and as a priest to the natives. A creature that mimics people’s worst fears showing the horrors of humanity.
don't have much to say but im only like 70 percent ashamed of myself
part two is here!
“THERE goes Miss Rose’s van.” Your mother looked out from the living room window. “I was wondering when she was gonna deliver those things.”
You perked up from your place on the couch, adjusting the skirt of your blue dress. About a week earlier, your mother had dragged you to Miss Rose’s shop to buy some decor for the house—Shopping was something you mostly hated, but there was one good thing about going there.
You were hoping the good thing had come with the van. When the doorbell rang you sprang towards the door.
“Miss Rose!” You smiled politely. “I didn’t know you were in the habit of delivering.”
Miss Rose chuckled, turning slightly to look back at the van. Taniel was there, begrudgingly unloading all the lamps, rugs, and whatever else your mother thought suited the house. He paused, looking over to you with a ghost of a smile. You felt your face get hot almost immediately.
“Now, it's not something I typically do but—.” She said as your eyes stayed trained behind her. “I figured I could make a special exception for Charlotte.”
Opening the door further, you let Miss Rose in. She went past the doorframe before turning once more.
“Taniel? Can you bring all of that inside? I’m gonna talk to Charlotte for a second.”
You heard Taniel grumble something out but he nodded anyway, picking up one of the boxes. Shutting the screened door you went down the steps to him.
“Your aunts' got you doing all the heavy lifting, I see.” You crossed your arms in amusement.
“Nobody else would do it.” He said, hiking the box up further into his arms. Taniel’s dark brows furrowed in slight annoyance, but you’ve learned better by now.
“Well.” You looked down at what he was holding. “All of that stuff goes to my room.”
“It does?” Taniel asked. You nodded.
“C’mon.”
Taniel followed you into the living room, passing by Charlotte and Rose. They were sitting on the couch having tea.
“Oh!” Your mother gasped. “Taniel, is that box not heavy?”
“I’m fine,” Taniel said broodily.
“He volunteered to carry it up to my room.” You said. “Isn’t that nice?”
“Is my daughter holding you hostage?” Charlotte’s gaze kept towards him.
“No ma'am." Taniel responded.
Because in reality, he was exactly right where he wanted to be. With you.
Walking upstairs to your room, you leaned up against one of the walls and waited, hearing the clunks of items coming up. Taniel was in soon after.
“Where'd you want this?” He asked. You just shrugged.
“That corner is fine.” You pointed over to a few more halfway unpacked boxes.
“These boxes were here last time I was.” Taniel muttered, setting the box down. His long, dark hair fell into his face and you almost felt shame for how swiftly you walked over to him.
“Two weeks ago.” You confirmed. “Are you trying to ditch me?”
“No.” Taniel stood up. “I’ve just been busy.”
“Busy?” You couldn’t help but wrap your arms around his broad shoulders—He didn’t stop you. “Doing what?”
Taniel looked down at you, your eyes were teasing mostly, but genuinely curious. He hated having to dip out on you at times; however, monitoring the army base was supposed to be a secret.
“Stuff.” He shrugged softly. You made a face.
“Stuff.” You mocked him, dropping your hands. “Ugh! You can be so icy sometimes. Do you even like me?”
Taniel, you watched you with careful dark eyes as you threw your mini tantrum. Reaching out, he grabbed your wrist and pulled you right back to him, chest pressing up against yours.
“You know how I feel about you.” Taniel said, saying your name with a low voice that forced you to stand still. “So stop being like that.”
Before you could give a retort, he leaned down to kiss you, capturing your mouth in a searing kiss. Folding almost immediately, your arms flew back around his arms as he walked your body back against the wall.
You gasped into his mouth slightly, the curls of your hair ruined by the friction of the wall. Instinctively, your leg lifted, curving around his waist.
“Eagar?” Taniel pulled back briefly. There was a stupidly smug smirk on his face. Your hand smacked her chest.
“Don’t be an asshole.” You mutter. “Acting like you didn’t kiss me first.”
“Aw.” Taniel frowned half mockingly, “I hurt your feelings or something?”
“Yes, actually.” You huffed. His eyes just darkened a bit more at the sound of your voice.
“I’m sorry baby.” Taniel brought one hand down to secure your thigh to his waist while the other was busy brushing the side of your face. He kissed you again and your hands played at the long strands of his hair, giving it a light tug—He groaned in response.
The skirt of your dress brushed over his hand as he slid it up further, gracing the warm skin of your thighs. Dropping it, he wrapped both arms around your waist and carried you to your bed.
You bounced once before he was right on you again, dragging his hands under your skirt. They weren’t exactly in unfamiliar territory.
“Hey.” You said,moving your head to the side as he went for the sensitive skin on your neck. “I realized something just now.”
You moaned softly at the sensation of his teeth grazing your throat before sitting back up a bit.
“What?” Taniel looked annoyed that you interrupted his process.
“This is your first time using my front door.” You giggled. “Or the door to my room, for that matter. Windows were your thing for a while there.”
All the times Taniel came over was mostly at night, climbing through your window that you’d leave open for him all the time. Sometimes, you could be sworn he enjoyed it.
“What’s next then?” Taniel smiled at the sound of your laugh. “Do we tell your parents now?”
You rolled your eyes but you had given it some thought—You were an adult now, but the hassle of properly introducing Taniel to your father wasn’t something you were rushing to do.
“My mom, maybe.” You sat up, pushing Taniel onto his back. You crawled onto him, thighs bracketing either side of his hips. “My dad uh—Let’s do a raincheck.”
“Sure.” Taniel agreed, his large hands gripped your hips as if you’d ever dare get off of him. It wouldn't be by choice if you did anyway.
“My aunt knows about us, I think.”
You leaned down to him, lips skimming over his neck, leaving behind various bites and kisses that caused the tiniest groan from him.
“That lady knows everything.” You mumbled into his neck. “What excuse are we gonna come up with when we go back down there?”
Taniel’s hands fell lower to the fat of your ass, giving it a small squeeze.
“We can worry about that later.” Taniel said.
You smiled into the next kiss as you felt him flip up your skirt, his hands now meeting skin. You let your weight completely fall onto him with a heavy pat.
That earned you a louder groan, exactly what you preferred to hear from him.
“Duuno why you act so damn nonchalant.” You said quietly. You rolled your hips into his a couple of times. Taniel sighed at the feeling.
“What was that?” You lean down to tease him further. Tanel wrapped his arms around your waist, jerking his hips upwards into the shallow maneuvering of yours. The gentlest yet heated moan left your lips.
“Hm.” Taniel ate up your expression. “You talk so much shit.”
“I–I do.” You admit, falling back into him, kissing him once more. You felt him move again as he forced you down on him, making you feel it.
In the back of your mind, you considered getting rid of the stupid dress all together, you tried to calculate how much more time you could get away with before you would be interrupted. Those thoughts became hazy as the constant pressure Taniel was giving to you made it hard to think straight.
Taniel swallowed up your moans into the kiss, tilting his head to get impossibly deeper into your mouth.
Your hands wandered down to his belt, your finger clumsily fiddling with the heavy metal.
Then you heard your mother call your name from downstairs. You fought to ignore it once but…
“Y/N!” Charlotte called.
“Fuck.” Taniel cursed as you sat up on him. You blinked the daze of him away before the panic of self preservation set in.
“Shit!” You curse sharply, your legs were shaky as you stood up from the bed, adjusting your dress best as you could.
Glancing at your mirror, your hair was a mess and your lips were kiss swollen. You patted the curls down until you thought they looked explainable.
“How do I look?” You turned to Taniel. He grinned at you as his eyes traced over your body. “You're gorgeous.”
“I’ll smack the shit—.” You opened your room door. “Quit playing with me and come on.”
You could hear his laugh behind you as you walked down the steps, praying to everything that nobody would notice.
“Momma?” You said in a breath, as if you did a marathon. “What happened?”
Charlotte placed her teacup on the table. “There's other stuff to move, you know. It took that long for one box?”
“Uh.” Your lips pressed together awkwardly.
“She was making me move stuff around.” Taniel's voice emerged from behind you. “Being real bossy.”
You wanted to sink into the floor. Miss Rose scanned both of you before smiling into her cup.
“There's more stuff in there.” She said, “Maybe you can show him where the rest goes?”
“Of course I can.” You sped walked to the door, not breathing until you were back near the van. Taniel walked up, hands in the pockets of his jeans, and way too calm.
“You think it was obvious? You turned to him.
Taniel’s eyes fell to a darkening bruise that peaked out from the collar of your dress.
“Nah.” Taniel said. “You were subtle as hell.”
You narrowed your eyes at him. It was hard to tell if he was being honest or sarcastic.
“Whatever just—.” You turned back to the van, sliding down a box. Taniel wrapped an arm around your waist.
“We didn’t get to finish.” Taniel practically was purring. “So keep that window open tonight.”
“Sure—Yeah.” You looked towards the house. “Don’t strand me again.”
“I won’t.” Taniel assured you, placing a gentle kiss to your neck before pulling away.
“Good.” You gestured towards the remaining things in the van. “Now get to work, there's more heavy lifting for you to do.”
Dating Taniel means riding around in his Autie’s car, delivering furniture to customers. He opens up the van door for you always and offers his hand to help you up. If the window is down, of course he’ll give you a chaste kiss before getting in the car himself. He always lets you pick the radio stations or cassette tapes to play while he drives. And he never lets you step foot out of the van to carry in heavy furniture (he knows you can but wants to do all the heavy lifting for you).
Dating Taniel means him stealing glances at you all day. He looks at you with soft eyes and a warm smile on his face when he picks you up for dates. His eyes wander over your face and soft curves of your body. He loves studying your features in the sunlight, moonlight, and streetlamps.
Dating Taniel means he comes to your place late at night, tapping on the window to deliver little gifts and trinkets to you. His Auntie would get new donations and he instinctively looks for things that he knows would catch your eye. He brings you bracelets, rings, hair barrattes, trinket boxes, ceramic animals, and even tea sets. He absolutely loves it when he comes to deliver another gift and he sees your radiant smile and all the other gifts he brought around your room.
Dating Taniel means wearing his button ups to go to work or errands. While he may see, annoyed when he can’t find one of his shirts, he secretly loves it. As much as he dislikes driving around town for his Auntie (when you're not there of course), he always drives past your work or house to see if you are wearing one of his shirts. Bonus points if you wear one of his tees to bed when he comes knocking on your window at night.
Dating Taniel means braiding each others’ hair. He braids yours when it’s hot out, before you go to work, or when you're sick. He always wants an excuse to be close to you and show you his culture. It’s something that calms him down more than you. And after he teaches you about how his hair connects him to nature and his ancestors, he lets you touch and play with his hair. Whenever he’s stressed or has a bad day, he comes to you for comfort, reassurance, and to have his hair braided.
Dating Taniel means his love language is all of them. He loves giving you gifts and trinkets, opening doors for you, and holding your hand. But the one that tops them all is quality time. He yearns for you when he cannot see you. Because of the evil that lives in Derry, he never knows the next time he’ll get to see you. He wants to constantly be near you whether it’s going on dates, cooking a meal together, or just being in the same room as each other.
