the long walk is happening every day. i graduated high school in 2014. four boys i graduated with enlisted in the military. two of them died before their 21st birthday while in active duty. one of them was injured in an ied explosion and honorably discharged in 2018. he took his own life a year later leaving behind his wife and newborn daughter. the fourth served until 2021 when the last of the us troops where pulled from afghanistan. he had pretty intense ptsd and had devolved into alcoholism to cope. two years ago, he was driving under the influence and crashed his car into a transformer. he died en route to the hospital. none of them made it to thirty.
i come from a small town in alabama. there are approximately two mental health facilities not including the ward at the hospital. there are five separate military recruitment centers. every now and then we get a boy lucky enough to make it to college football but most of the boys in this town become cops, mechanics, drug dealers, part time workers or they enlist in the military.
king wrote the long walk as an allegory for vietnam and the way it affected the young men and culture of the time. well, i didn't grow up during vietnam. i grew up during the wars in iraq and afghanistan. that is the lens through which i view this story and as someone who attended the funerals of all four of those boys i can assure you the long walk is happening every day.
Summary: Slice of life 70s college au with two female ocs, Julie and Angela. This chapter follows the characters through a house party hosted by the musketeers.
Wordcount: 1722
The cold air seeped through the fabric of Ray’s jacket, despite his best attempts at pulling it tighter. It was only November, but the temperature had significantly dropped since last week. “How aren’t you cold, man? This weather has been shit lately.” A blonde man looked up, confused whether or not Ray’s remark was directed at him. He looked around before responding to confirm his suspicion, “Oh, I guess it has been,” he gave as a disinterested response. “How have you been?” Stebbins was confused about the overtly friendly tone this guy was taking with him, “I’ve been alright.” He didn’t bother to ask Ray the same; they weren’t friends. “Oh yeah? That’s good, I’m glad.” Stebbins only nodded in response.
“How have your classes been going, man?” Ray attempted to continue the conversation. Stebbins paused before offering a response, still confused as to why Ray was speaking to him in the first place, “good.” “You got any plans tonight?” Ray continued. It was a Saturday, and Stebbins had a pattern of spending his Saturday nights alone. “Me and the other guys were gonna have some people over tonight if you wanted to swing by,” Ray said before Stebbins had a chance to answer the initial question. He did not know who the other guys were that Ray had referred to, or what swinging by even entailed. “Oh, yeah, sure.”
Both Ray and Stebbins were not completely sure what that meant. The conversation came to an awkward pause. “Well, I'll see you around, man,” Ray said before resuming his pace in his initial direction. Stebbins paused in his confusion, skeptical as to why he was suddenly being included in his neighbours’ social life, before returning to whatever he was originally setting out to do.
“Hey, sorry I'm late,” Julie said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “You’re always late,” her friend said. “Okay, okay, sorry, Ange,” she said, tying her apron around her waist. “You can make it up to me by taking that table, that guy is such a prick,” Angela gestured to a man across the restaurant, “Oh and you can take out the trash when we get home, it’s your turn anyways,” she added in mock annoyance. “Deal,” Julie rolled her eyes and put on another cup of coffee.
An awkward-looking boy made his way across the diner and climbed onto a barstool. Julie lit up from her usual irritated demeanour, “Rank,” she beamed, “how are you doing, hun?” “aww, my favourite customer is here,” Angela exclaimed as she made her way over to her friends. “Do you mind if I get a coffee?” Rank asked the girls, “I'm just so damn tired lately.” “Of course, cream and sugar too, right?” Angela was already grabbing the fresh pot. “First year getting to you, kid?” Julie asked. Rank shook his head, “no, just not sleeping much lately, I guess.” Angela slid the mug across the bar. “Of course, smarty pants isn’t struggling with school. Didn’t this kid skip the third grade or something?” Rank blushed into his milky coffee. “Are you coming over to the boys’ house tonight?” Julie asked, leaning over the counter. “As long as you two are,” Rank lazily stirred the spoon in this coffee. “Well, we will see you then.”
“Check out table 4,” Julie tilted her head in the direction of a man in the corner. “What about him?” Angela was only half paying attention. “Well, isn’t he kinda cute?” her friend asked. Angela paused wiping the counter, and looked up, “not my type.” “You’re clearly blind then,” Julie rolled her eyes. Angela looked up again to see what she must be missing, “That’s Stebbins, the guy who lives in the complex down the road from Ray and the other guys. He’s kinda a loner, I guess, and Ray was telling me he felt bad for him, so he invited him to the party tonight.” Angela explained, “I guess it’s your lucky day.”
After the end of their shift, the girls walked home to their apartment. They wouldn’t have a lot of time to get ready but it was enough to change out of their food-stained clothes and wash the day of their tired faces. It didn’t matter, regardless, this was only a casual thing.
“Holy shit, are you ready yet?” Julie yelled from the kitchen. “Yes, yes, just give me a sec,” Angela called back from her bedroom, changing her shirt for the second time. “Finally ready?” Julie asked as her roommate made her way to the front door. “Obviously,” she responded in mock annoyance, and spun in a circle, gesturing to her appearance.
The girls were finally heading out, on their way to the party. It was just a few blocks away, but they still found things to complain about: the cold air and blisters on their feet. “Do you think that Stebbins kid will show?” Julie asked, not bothering to look over at her friend in the dark. “Why, do you have some crush on him?” the warmth of her breath visible in the cold air as she dragged out each word in a sing-song-y tone. “I’m not saying that. I was just wondering,” Julie kept her eyes forward. Angela jokingly shoved her shoulder against her friend’s, causing the both of them to stumble a few steps.
The pair made their way up the creaking front steps of the house. The exterior’s dark red paint was weathered and had begun chipping, but the warm glow from the windows made up for what it lacked outside. They could hear the hum of laughter and music from outside as they reached for the doorknob. They didn’t bother knocking; it was always unlocked and they were always welcome.
Pete was the first to approach Julie, and they quickly began their usual banter. “How's your lady friend?” she asked, already knowing the answer. “Which one,” Pete’s eyes glimmered with coyness. “The one you brought into my place of work, remember? Lisa or Linda or whatever. I can’t keep up with all of them.” Pete smiled at the floor and rubbed the back of his head in mock embarrassment, “oh, you know I don't like to mix business and pleasure.” Julie cocked her head, “Pete, what business, you don't even have a job. It’s just pleasure and pleasure,” she pointed out. “I guess you’re right, Jules.”
In the kitchen, Angela sat with few of the others at the nook. Ray was shuffling around the kitchen grabbing drinks for each of them. “Let me help you,” Angela said, coming up behind Ray. “No, no, you sit,” he gave her a smile, “You were at work all day, just hang out, alright?” She sat back down next to Olson. “How was work anyway?” Ray asked, handing her a rye and Coke. Angela exaggerated a shrug of her shoulders, “It was alright without you guys coming in to harass us.” Olson elbowed her in her side, “sounds pretty fucking boring then.”
The living room was much more crowded. Stebbins, whom Ray had invited, was standing pensively in the corner. He wore purple pants and a thoughtful expression on his face. There was far too much noise and excitement for anyone else to notice how out of place he looked, except for Julie. She made her way across the room, for some reason drawn to him, like she had been earlier – whether it was simple attraction or something else entirely, she was unsure.
“Hi.” He stared at her a moment before responding, “Hey.” The conversation, or lack thereof, was nothing short of awkward but Julie couldn’t pull herself to just walk away, besides, Angela was busy talking to Ray and the others. “You live on this street, right?” she asked, already knowing the answer was yes, Angela had told her earlier, and Ray had told Angela before that. “Yeah,” that was all he said.
It wasn’t that he seemed disinterested in her necessarily, he more so couldn’t quite focus on an individual thing at a time. He kept looking past her, evaluating or analyzing anyone who walked past the periphery of the living room.
Angela, after her second drink, stood up, “I’m gonna head out for a smoke real quick.” Ray followed, despite not being a smoker himself. They stood side by side on the back porch, cigarette smoke and each other’s breath visible against the dark. The porch light flickered a bit and a couple moths lingered near the warm glow. They stood there quietly for a moment.
The two had become friends in their first year of college and had gravitated to each other in groups soon thereafter. The group of friends all got along quite well, despite the occasional bickering between Julie and Olson; everything was done in good fun.
Angela walked through the kitchen into the crowded living room, searching for her friend. She preferred to spend her time in the kitchen, where it was quieter, and usually Julie spent her time by her side, but not tonight. She found her next to the lonely boy from earlier, and decided not to interrupt. She figured they both could use the socialization. Angela couldn’t quite decipher the tone of the conversation she was witnessing. Julie looked somewhat annoyed, but she always looked annoyed, especially when talking to men. Her hands gestured excitedly or out of frustration, but Stebbins appeared mostly unfazed. The two spent most of their time in the corner. Rank, who had been bouncing around between groups all night, joined Angela in her speculation of Julie and Stebbins’ dynamic. The two onlookers not concealing their judgment in any capacity, but the other pair were too engrossed in their conversation to even notice they were being watched.
By her fifth drink, Angela had begun resting her head on Ray’s shoulder, which was a usual occurrence that he did not mind. She was an emotional drunk, habitually yammering on about her love for her friends and how much she appreciated them. This was around the time Julie would pull her out the door, and Angela would give a sappy goodbye to each of the musketeers. But Julie wasn’t there to babysit her drunk roommate, and so she spent the next hour leaning on Ray and laughing too loudly at Olson’s dumb jokes.
the spectrum of to what degree the long walk boys moan just dropped !!!!
barko - top of the list. so he definitely moans even when hes alone but somehow it still feels performative and forced. definitely gets off on his own noises tbh. practically yelps
ray - physically cant keep quiet (not faking like some people). Just a big ol moaner here. kinda pathetic (but i like that). i think other people on here have said he moans from eating it - yapgirl tm supports that message
harkness - also a pathetic man (positive). not as much as ray and barkobitch but a little whimperer nonetheless
collie - moans a little but most of his noise comes from dirty talk tbh. chronic "you like that?" sayer. will grunt or moan here and there but hes more of a heavy breather
pete - similar to collie but more of a moaner. less dirty talk BUT when he does dirty talk its wayyyy better than collie. this man is good with his words alright. quality > quantity
hank - does not really moan and not a big dirty talker to make up for it either. you could have sex with him and it be just breathing noises tbh not awkward if ur into that ig
art - might grunt ig or moan a little but nothing crazy. not into freaky dirty talk but might say sweet things to you. lowkey says "i love you" a lot during sex. lots of passion, not a lot of noise
back from my temporary hiatus. who has the best thrust game, you ask?
Pete: lays it downnnn. very sensual, passionate, and intuitive. sweet sweet love making
collie: not as good as pete tbh but its still fire. def his strong suit, as previously discussed, he doesnt rlly eat it crazy, but the stroke game is tea
ray: his stroke game isnt his strong suit but it doesnt even matter because he eats it soo good (see past posts) also am i crazy to say that the finger game fire too??
art: just medium good ol thrusting. not too crazy but like would def listen to feedback but doesnt just inuitively know - fair anyways communication is key
harkness : like my good friend ray i feel like he really excels in other areas. thrust game is alright and would take feedback well like art
olson: i mean he pokes, speaks for itself. i dont know from experience im sorry not super detailed i just dont know him like that ig
stebs: so do you remember CBAT? my pal stebs has a very specific thrust pattern that he follows ALWAYS very meticulous and precise. sometimes its a hit, sometimes its a miss. does not change the pace EVER.
barkovitch: as previously mentioned, i do not care to find out. Some of you may dedicate yourself to the science of this research and appreciate it. let me know your findings. my hypothesis is that it sucks tho.. sorry.
here it is, the long awaited post: manbush headcannons
barkovitch - pretty self explainable, more bush than dick. does he have a small dick or a lot of bush? i dont want to be the one to find out personally.
ray - very nice tasteful man bush right here. very classy. carpets dont match the drapes here, it is a bit darker than his hair but not pitch black or anything. does trim (not the shortest setting - happy medium) and has good hygiene about it. ALSO hella happy trail #yum also he makes fun of stebbins for shaving it and says its creepy to want to look prepubescent. also, likes bush on the ladies too. it's mutual. did i mention happy trail yum dot com
olson - so i couldn't put him in his own category, but his man bush is NOT tasteful. It is scraggly and he doesn't trim, but its not very long because it just physically doesn't grow like that - thats why hes not in barko territory. lowkey unhygienic about it and i repeat NOT tasteful. also stick straight type A1 hair, very patchy. lowkey gets weird if you have any bush yourself - is a massive hypocrite
pete - has never taken a razor to the balls but very regularly trims with the shortest guard. keeps it fresh. good job pete.
harkness - keeps that jungle tamed. pretty regular about it but hes too scared to use a razor down there...
art - pretty normal about it too. uses the shortest guard for the trimmer as well. wouldn't have an aversion to body hair on his parter, just doesn't like the sensory experience of hair on his balls.
stebbins - shaves every couple of days and is repulsed by body hair tbh he wants to look like a mannequin. has really bad razor burn and makes fun of ray back for his ginger bush (its not rlly that ginger as i mentioned earlier) - believes body hair is unhygienic even if you shower lots. probably would invest in lazer hair removal. if he got waxed he wouldn't even blink - no reaction to the excruciating pain of having his pubes ripped out (dare i say he kinda likes it because its the only time he can feel anything?)
collie - grass dont grow on a playground. shaves that shit regularly. is a massive hoe tbh and thinks about his dick a lot - i support, live your truth collie. wants to appeal to the broadest categories of ladies so he casts a pretty wide net by just keeping the balls bald - no one complains.
