Sequel, Chapter One

As my secretary silently added yet another file to my overflowing collection, I yearned for a time where my biggest annoyance of the day was a cheat or a thief overplaying their hand. I ached for a confrontation, especially one that might have involved Lily, some arm twisting, and a healthy score.

Or did I? Staring at the ever-growing heap of paperwork gave me ample time to think, and it made me wonder, had I ever really enjoyed those things, or had they just disrupted the monotony enough to seem some semblance of the word ‘fun’?

My eyes flicked to the tall, beige filing cabinet in the corner, behind which I had hidden the collage frame Miriam left me, filled with the smiles of women I’d never see again. Though all I could see of it from where I sat was the peeking of the frame’s corner, the women haunted me still, and I found myself glancing that direction nearly hourly.

For now, all I could do was grab the new file at the top of the mountain in front of me. Though I began reading, I quickly devolved to skimming, the format of the letter the same monotony as the rest. It was a familiar request, a regular refrain during our meetings:

The Nightmare Coalition of District whatever, Precinct 13 requests the addition of 1-2 Sandmen, in accordance with Policy No. blah-blah, as a necessary step toward improving our efficacy in the modern era.

What could it hurt? I’d been listening to these guys bellyaching about being handicapped over this for years now, and their precinct was a few demons short for the first time in a long time. I stamped the request with my approval, then signed along the dated line.

“Marcy,” I called to my secretary, who appeared nearly instantly in my doorway, quickly closing the distance to my desk. “Can you get this to the appropriate people? We’ll be inviting a Sandman to the Weston District.”

The cusp-of-30, black-haired woman glanced to the folder, then me. As an unsure grin overtook her face, she narrowed her heavily-lined eyes. “You want me to do it?”

I stalled as I processed her implication, trying to remember the arbitrary step I must be missing in between. “As opposed to?”

Marcy swallowed her grin with a clear of her throat as she crossed her skirted legs at the ankles, her wrists behind her back. “Sir, I facilitate communication between you and your precincts, not you and Our Lord.”

Though I hadn’t yet adjusted to Marcy’s fanaticism or formality, I tried not to show my disdain at her expression. She was nice enough, if not a bit of a groupie, and she made her work seem effortless. I could hardly hold it against a human for getting sucked into our lore.

Still, between the black as night, thigh-length skirt; the matching, opaque, laced hosiery underneath; the studded belt; the boots; the long-sleeved, black-and-white striped blouse; the raven updo; and the face full of heavy, intricate makeup, Marcy was simultaneously her own person and every woman I’d known like her over the last century. There was a formula for them, tweaked as it was through time, and when humans infiltrated our society, more often than not, they looked like her.

“Got it,” I pushed through the process blindly, but when Marcy remained standing before me, looking expectant, I lowered my bluff. “So now it goes to…?”

“Roger,” she recited carefully, and I dismissed my memory lapse with a wave of my hand.

“Roger, of course,” I feigned, trying to connect the dots myself. I struggled to link the name with a face in my mind but couldn’t; he was as generic a courier demon as any, and I’d met dozens over the last few months.

As if she knew my question before I’d even asked it, a fresh smirk creeped across Marcy’s face.

“Can you call Roger to come pick this up?” I finally asked, but she was already shaking her head before I’d finished. I leaned back in my chair, frustrated as I waited for the explanation of how this, too, was more complicated than it needed to be.

“Roger comes on—”

“Thursdays,” we said together, and Marcy gave me a nod of affirmation. I brought my fingers to my temple, and she relaxed into the chair across from me as I dropped the folder to my desk.

“It’ll get easier,” she assured me, and I hoped that was true. I had spent the first three months of my inauguration shadowing elsewhere entirely, and the following three had been seemingly infinite paper pushing, only for each little approval to seem to have its own individual routing system, depending on what exactly was being done.

I was as responsible for decision-making as I was for facilitating and enacting those decisions, and it seemed endless. I envied my predecessor’s ability to do all of that, as well as be involved in the community and carry out a social, and even romantic, life of his own. I wondered with every addition to my pile how he managed to do anything else at all.

Marcy had been here through it all, closing my gaps where she could, expertly stalling couriers and guests I hadn’t anticipated, and alerting me of my missteps before my feet even had a chance to reach the ground. She was a pro, and I again found myself grateful for an adept woman.

“I’m lucky to have you,” I confided as I again sized up the largest pile on my desk, Terry’s remaining to-do.

Marcy’s smile was comforting, even as her head cocked with empathetic pity. “It’s nearly time for your lunch with Lily,” she reminded me. I was grateful for the excuse to shift gears.

“Business?” I remembered to ask as I tried not to get lost in the opportunity to do literally anything but work.

“Let’s see,” Marcy excused as she pulled a sleek, thin device from her pocket. It was unusual for her to not have the answers effortlessly at the top of her mind, but if ever she didn’t, her phone was quickly at hand, filled with what I was sure were the most meticulous of notes.

Part of me admired her ability to be so efficient while the other longed for the analog of Miriam’s handwritten records and instructions. I’d been without the extraordinary succubus now for half as long as I’d known her at all, but still, she remained a vice grip on my mind and was a factor in every choice I made.

“Weekly ‘get Collin the fuck out of there,’ with a small appendix of ‘community leader shit,’ her appointment so colorfully states.” And as Marcy returned the phone to its home in her pocket, I mused at what wasn’t her lack of memory, but her desire to portray Lily’s wishes just as she had originally conveyed them. Marcy was good at that, conveying voices, and it was no wonder she had been at the archdemon’s office for nearly a decade, regardless of her mortality.

Despite my relief, I found myself already exasperated with the lycanthrope community update I was sure to receive. Though I’d have liked to think things had improved since the elimination of Stew and Jinn, they had largely lapsed for the lycans. Though no longer being abducted and killed, they had taken the brunt of the blame by the precinct for the incident, and no amount of explanation or insistence had assuaged that blame.

The demon spin had declared Terry a weak link in the security of our kind, a lycanthrope-turned-demon abomination that had compromised the entire system with his lycanthropic susceptibility that no sensible demon could possibly have. Despite it all, we continued to other them, especially with black market sales.

Now, not only had we cut off their supply of goods and food, but also any camouflaging agents that might help them blend better with the humans and otherwise source their supplies. We’d left them to fend for themselves, the majority now looking a mix of human and dog, and the repercussions had been astounding. They were in the middle of a famine, in this day and age, exclusively because they had been the victim of a demon-orchestrated crime. And there was nothing I could do about it without the precinct behind me.

“I don’t know if I can deal with Lily today,” I finally managed through the barrage of thoughts in my mind, as if escaping lunch would somehow escape the issue, as if my roommate wouldn’t just be waiting to fill me in at home instead.

“Well, get ready,” Marcy whispered, and she reached forward to drum her long fingernails on the corner of my desk. The clicking pattern disrupted my thoughts and demanded my attention, an intentional act per her self-assured look. “Because I just heard the door.”

Marcy stood fluidly, each pose intentional and deliberately considered, and disappeared out the office doorway. I stared at the impression she’d left in the chair’s cushion as it reinflated, and I fought to mentally prepare for my friend. With our misaligned sleep schedules, and my new inclination to live amongst my paperwork for days at a time, we barely saw one another. So, weekly, we’d touch base, an event carved perpetually into my schedule, when I would have to hear everything she had to say. She had embraced her new position with fervor, and rarely did she spare a grumble in my direction about anything else.

And now, here she was, looking her final form in a dark, fitted suit, traditional except for the lack of tie and the topmost buttons of her white shirt left open. Her breadth took up the doorway as she juggled our lunch in her arms, and I quickly realized we weren’t leaving at all.

“Do you have a break room or something, asshole?” She growled, angry at me for her lack of planning.

“We’re supposed to be ‘getting the fuck out of here,’ Lee,” I responded in kind, trying to gauge my friend’s true mood as I attempted to discern the food in her arms. “What’s all this?”

“I need to talk to you about some shit, don’t be like that,” she feigned hurt as she instead turned to Marcy behind her as my secretary tried to guide her further down the hall.

“This way, Sir,” my assistant invited, and the corner of Lily’s mouth twinged her approval. Marcy flicked her eyes back to me in an assured glance before she escorted Lily past my doorway; she’d buy me whatever time I needed.

But what time did I need? Did I have a point in delaying the inevitable with a person who trusted me? I knew what she’d want: better support, end the embargo, facilitate normalcy for lycans who could no longer pass in the human world—none of which I could do without precinct support. Yet, here she was, asking anyway. I had to think of something to say.

Finally, I rose, and as I eyed the space on my desk for completed workloads, I lamented how small it was compared to the other piles, how small it always was compared to the other piles.

“Come on, prick, some of us work!” I heard better through the air vent than from down the hall, but the point was the same—I couldn’t avoid her forever.

So, I wouldn’t.

Instead, I reached beneath my desk to retrieve a box of lycanthrope paperwork, pocketed my best pen, and made my way to the pair.

Lily had covered the conference table with a hearty spread of meat-heavy dishes and an assortment of smaller, filled containers of all sorts of savory-smelling delights.

“Come on,” she insisted again, and as I placed the box of files to the side, I watched my friend, never one to shy away from the first bite, deliberately avoid the feast as she waited for me.

“What’s up?” I finally asked, hesitant of the disruption to our routine, where we’d escape somewhere dark, drink, and bitch about bureaucracy or whatever else until we had to return to our new obligations.

“Come on, stop asking. Just eat,” Lily insisted, remaining standing next to the opposite side of the table while I sat. Marcy lingered at one end, attempting to disguise her uncertainty by casually leaning against it as if she were bored, though her eyes scanned between Lily and me, ever-attentive.

“You too,” Lily snapped at Marcy, and my secretary quickly moved to sit next to me.

When we both waited, neither reaching for food, Lily sighed exasperatingly and made our two plates herself, squeezing on as many individual bites of the variety as she could manage. Then, as she slid the plates toward us, she perched into a squat on the chair behind her and stared.

“Seriously, what am I saying that’s confusing? Eat, please.”

Finally, I took a bite, and Marcy quickly followed suit. As I chewed, I returned my friend’s intense stare, waiting for the explanation that didn’t come. Instead, Marcy melted next to me with an emphatic moan.

“What is this?” she gushed, and Lily’s attention was lost from me as she found her approval elsewhere.

“It’s fucking good, right?” Lily professed, and as Marcy returned to her plate with a nod, my friend’s eyes flicked to me, if only for a moment.

“Why aren’t you eating?” I challenged needlessly, and Lily’s eyes rolled as quickly as I’d asked. As I assessed her awkward perch, I tried to get a read on her, to find her secrets before she was willing to tell me, but she waved me off. Still, something wasn’t right about her.

“Don’t be stupid. How is it?”

“Absolutely divine,” Marcy managed around her mouthful, and I remembered to taste with the next bite I took.

“It’s good,” I conceded, and it was, but my friend’s unusual behavior had me nervous. “What’s up, though?”

“Like, how good?” Lily prodded, and I found myself quickly exasperated with her.

“Lee—”

“Stop, why are you like this? How good is it though?”

“It’s fucking good,” I snapped back, and Marcy quickly nodded her agreement through eager bites. “Now what the fuck do you want?”

“Okay, so it’s good,” she emphasized, and I closed my eyes to rub their lids with my forefingers.

“Yes, Lily,” I groaned, but she ignored me as she dove into her pitch.

“So, hear me out, this absolute feast is like $30. It used to be $20 before meat prices surged, and this could feed a whole family, easily,” she rushed, though not at the expense of her naturally persuasive cadence. “Little Mom and Pop place, out here trying to serve the community through this embargo bullshit, and they’ve run themselves into the ground. Literally, they’re out here about to shut down because they won’t charge people more than they can afford. Their life fucking savings they made off this place, they’ve recycled right back into the people. If we can get them a grant or something, provide them money, or even supplies, I know they’d make sure everyone was fed, at least to maintenance levels. You wouldn’t have to frame it as lycan support. You can frame it as a small business bailout, a personal grant, an exception, whatever.”

I returned my fork to the table, and Marcy eyed me hesitantly, reluctant to do the same. After two additional quick bites, though, she tucked her fork neatly next to her plate in anguished solidarity.

“We’ve talked about this, Lee,” I attempted, but before I could, Lily was already out of her chair, pacing, eyes avoidant but posture confident.

“No,” she quickly corrected. “We’ve talked about you assholes enacting an artificial, bullshit embargo because you would rather starve us out than recognize that any one of you can be just as fucked up as anyone else. We’ve talked about how, despite the fact that you are top of the fucking food chain in this territory, your little demon hands are tied.” She continued to pace, not leaving so much as a breath of space between her thoughts.

“We’ve talked about how my whole fucking species got retconned from your little hero story. It’s bullshit, asshole, and you know it. What was the point of doing anything to stop those fucking psychopath pricks if you were just going to let the rest of them kill us in the end anyway?”

My friend stopped abruptly and darted her eyes to me, freshly incensed. “Or was it all just show for Miriam?”

Marcy’s eyes widened at the goad she didn’t wholly understand, and when I stood, pushing my chair out behind me, she startled to her feet as well.

“You should go,” I told Marcy as my eyes fixated on Lily, and I wondered what would come next. I didn’t see Marcy’s look to Lily, but I did see Lily’s nod that sufficiently dismissed my secretary from the room. And as she exited, I wasn’t sure if guilt or resentment would consume me first.

“Go ahead,” Lily baited instead, cool in demeanor once more as she took a backward step into her former perch on her chair.

But I had no words. Jinn and Stew weren’t responsible for the lycanthrope segregation, and their removal hadn’t been the end of it. As I assessed my friend, sharply dressed and confident as she was, totally in her element, advocating for her people, my heart stilled.

“I’ve done my best to be transparent with you,” I attempted, and though Lily hadn’t yet interrupted me, I saw her head cock in anticipation of her turn to speak. “My people don’t give a damn, Lee. The lycans have never been our responsibility. They’ll never buy it.”

“Then you’re selling it wrong,” she stated simply with a shrug. “Forget the other fucks for a minute. They’ve never given a shit.” Lily stood once more, rounding the table as she closed the distance between us with purpose. She pushed Marcy’s plate aside and moved to sit on the edge of the table closest to me.

“Forget the sell,” she begged me as she planted her feet in Marcy’s former seat, and I leaned back in mine.

As she loomed over me, I was finally able to place what I couldn’t before—was she thinner?

“Look at me,” my friend demanded, and I complied, folding my hands on the table in front of me as I sat straighter in my chair. “Tell me, honestly, asshole. Do you think it’s right that my people are starving to death?”

When I averted my eyes, Lily slapped the table beneath her to restore my attention. “Do you? Honestly, save us both the time. If you think it’s fine, I won’t bother you about it again. Just say that, and we’ll be done.”

“Of course I don’t,” I conceded. Lily’s intense exhale seemed to surprise us both, but she recovered quickly and was instantly to her feet again.

“Then give me an inch,” she begged, her pacing resumed. “If you can find a way, any way, to help us, I’ll deal with the PR spin. My people will work that out for you, some real Kumbaya shit. I just need you to let us eat.”

“Sirs,” Marcy announced as she returned to our battleground. “I might have found something useful.”

As my secretary settled back into the spot she’d left, she slid a file folder into my lap, quickly reaching for her unfinished bounty instead. I flipped through the pages while Lily watched us both. And after a brief interlude, Marcy rested her fork once again to speak.

“There’s a resource,” she resumed around her mouthful, careful to speak only out of the corner of her lips, “specifically for a generic category of community support. It’s been used in the past to pay disgruntled human complainants, to relocate nuisance groups, just generally improve the experiences of those affected by demonic presence in their area.”

We fell into a brief silence as Marcy again returned to her plate, then parted from it once more. “Honestly, if there was ever a more qualified grievance to access these funds, I’d be surprised. And nothing in the statute specifies that payments must go to humans. It could theoretically reimburse the lycanthropes for the ramifications of the whole shebang.”

As the folder closed in my hands, I felt both trapped and freed by this loophole. Marcy resumed her meal, suddenly silent as if another peep would see her again shoo’d from it.

When my gaze rose to Lily’s, hers was already anxiously on me. What could I say?

“Is she right?” Lily finally asked, an almost imperceptible waver in her voice. I looked to Marcy, who blatantly avoided my eyes; then to the folder, still closed in my hands; then, finally, back to my friend.

“Lee—”

“Don’t do that. Don’t ‘Lee,’ me, asshole. Is she fucking right?”

“She’s right,” I started, and Lily’s sigh of relief resonated through her frame. She reached for the table to steady herself, but never did she take her eyes off me. “But—”

“Asshole,” my friend quickly interrupted, slumping into the nearest chair to her with a fresh exhale. “Don’t give me the ‘but’s right now, okay? I really don’t give a shit.”

Finally, she was elsewhere, her eyes closed as she relaxed for the first time in who knows how long. And as I moved the damned folder aside and picked up my fork to resume our lunch, Marcy gently elbowed me with a pleased smile. As I returned it, I tried not to notice the doubt swelling within me. Instead, I attempted to appreciate Lily’s offering, as loaded as it had been.

“Hey,” I eventually said, and both women turned their attention to me. “I’ll do what I can.”

Lily nodded but didn’t seem to care. I had given her her inch of hope, and that was all she needed for now. It was more than I’d been able to manage before, and she wasn’t about to jinx it with the details. That would all come later. For now, there was an end in sight for the first time in a long time.

“Are you going to eat?” I eventually prodded as I approached the end of my plate, and Marcy had long ago gone for seconds.

My friend looked at the food for the first time since she’d served it, and though her eyes betrayed her interest, she shook her head. “Nah, not this time.”

Instead, we sat in relative silence, the weight of that folder thick between the three of us. Could it really be so simple? And as Lily departed, as Marcy packed up the  leftovers, as I remained in the conference room with that folder, I wondered if, for once, it could be.

“Marcy,” I called down the hall, and she quickly appeared in the doorway.

“Sir?”

“Can you look through the past successful applications to the program and draft a proposal for this?”

Marcy nodded and reached for the folder as I extended it toward her, but as her fingers cradled the edge, mine held firm.

“But, please,” I stressed as I rose, the folder frozen in its transition between us. “Avoid using the word ‘lycanthrope’ at all costs.”

“Understood,” Marcy responded quickly with a small nod, and I finally released the folder to her care.

The thought of bringing this pitch to the table—any table—made my stomach knot. It was easier thinking there was nothing I could do.

Now, despite Lily’s well-intentioned offer, I’d have to figure out how to spin a lycanthrope support plan to those below me, not to mention those above. And in a time where I was desperate to find my footing, the last thing I wanted to do was make waves.

But here we were. It mattered to Lily, and as far as I was removed, it needed to matter to me.

It was the right thing to do.

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I yearned for a time where my biggest annoyance of the day was a cheat or a thief overplaying their hand. I ached for a confrontation, especially one that might have involved Lily, some arm twisting, and a healthy score.

Already, I’m feeling the exhaustive boredom that Col is. Poor fucking Col. He resolves the conflict of the prior story, and here he is, bored as hell, in an office where he’s suddenly just as plain as we (and he) could never fathom him being. Sure, he was a whiner. Sure, he had lots of pitfalls, but damn, he was never this stale. And you know what, how could he not be stale without Mir? But that’s a scab I’m not going to pick just yet. *wink.



Also, sidenote, it’s funny to me how the first mention of someone from his not-so-distant past is Lily and not Mir. I suppose this is because Lil is closer to the scenarios he’s detailing, but still, no mention of Mir yet? Damn, I thought he’d be crying about her from the start. Not literally, but at least a mention. I know our boy has grown. He ain’t all about self-loathing anymore, or is he? We shall find out.

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had I ever really enjoyed those things, or had they just disrupted the monotony enough to seem some semblance of the word ‘fun’?

Hmm, that is a fair question. I mean, I can see how both scenarios would work out. He was so et’ up with himself in the original that those “visits” were great distractions. Now he’s sitting here, wallowing in the nostalgia of it all and wondering if it was truly enjoyment he derived. On the other hand, could he have enjoyed that line of work? I mean, he’s a rather seedy bastard at times. But alas, I’m going with no. I think what he enjoyed was the company of Lily, then Miriam, and the thrill. I don’t think he enjoyed the work (see Chapter One of Glow), because we know our boy has a conscience if he has anything at all (see relationship with Char).

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My eyes flicked to the tall, beige filing cabinet in the corner, behind which I had hidden the collage frame Miriam left me, filled with the smiles of women I’d never see again. Though all I could see of it from where I sat was the peeking of the frame’s corner, the women haunted me still, and I found myself glancing that direction nearly hourly.

OH COME ON! WHY’D YOU DO THIS?! FUCK ME!

Okay, now I have to break this down. So, here we are with “grown” Col. Grown, right? Hmm. I venture to think otherwise. He’s hidden the collage that Mir left him (great idea to draw us back to her btw), because he can’t even face the women who made him a better man. Their smiles remind him of the joy he felt with them, joy he can’t feel now that they’re gone, especially not now that life is so mundane. This paragraph haunts us just the same as it haunts him. The fact that it’s not COMPLETELY hidden speaks so much to his character. He doesn’t want to see it, but he doesn’t want to forget that it’s there, or forget it in general. He wants to be able to garner the sentiment it inflicts him with, but he doesn’t want to “face” it. Interesting how he, even still, is torturing himself with the women he’s loved and lost.

Also, I have to note how beautiful the last sentence is, but I also have to point out tha the says, “women I’d never see again.” Hol up. Hol up right now. I know this is his unreliable narration and not you telling me that he’s never going to see our beautiful Queen again?! Goddamn. Don’t worry Col, I’m just as et’ up as you imagining all the photos of your beautiful, gracious women in that collage, especially Sophie <3.

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For now, all I could do was grab the new file at the top of the mountain in front of me.

I think the metaphor here is such a profound one. Not only is he sitting behind this mountain of work that he’s possibly neglected, but he’s sitting behind his metaphorical future. It feels so daunting to him because, IMO, he has no one to help weed through it with. It overwhelms him, this colossal stack of responsibility. Does he really want this responsibility? Does he think he can HANDLE this responsibility? So much of him is tied up in the relationships where he leeched off of women who were arguably very pure. Makes me wonder, does he know himself at all? Did he really learn anything with Mir? Does he have the desire to move ahead without her, Sophie or even Lily? I’m sure you said Lily was here, but what is it that Mir and Sophie gave him that Lily doesn’t? I think our boy is still stuck behind his mountain of self-pity, just not in such an obvious manner this time around. Can’t say I blame him though, I would be too if my love had FLOWN TO FUCKING CHINA AND LEFT ME ALONE TO BE A MAN WITH NO WOMAN AT HIS SIDE. Fuck. This time around, it’s only fair he feels sorry for himself, as well as we feel sorry for him. Why you doing this to our boy? He deserves better.

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The Nightmare Coalition of District whatever, Precinct 13 requests the addition of 1-2 Sandmen, in accordance with Policy No. blah-blah, as a necessary step toward improving our efficacy in the modern era.

This sounds very official and believable and all of that, but I’m chuckling at his inner thoughts mixed in. Especially the part where he says, “No. blah-blah.” Man, our boy really don’t give af. Know who would care, Mir would care. <3

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I stamped the request with my approval, then signed along the dated line.

At least he approved it, despite not caring.

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“Marcy,” I called to my secretary, who appeared nearly instantly in my doorway, quickly closing the distance to my desk

Slow down, Honey. You ain’t Mir, okay? Don’t be running to his desk. Right now, I can’t distinguish if you’re just apt, or if your trying to please. Either way, tred carefully. We don’t need another love interest in Col’s story. There’s one out there that still exists. Plus, we don’t care for Marcys on this side of the globe, so tred carefully, Sweatheart.

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The cusp-of-30, black-haired woman glanced to the folder, then me. As an unsure grin overtook her face, she narrowed her heavily-lined eyes. “You want me to do it?”

Don’t be coy, Honey. Just do what the man said. But okay, Queen, strut your stuff.

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I stalled as I processed her implication, trying to remember the arbitrary step I must be missing in between. “As opposed to?”

Ugh, this gave me shivers. Fuck, Col. I know you weren’t trying to be hot, but you were.

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Marcy swallowed her grin with a clear of her throat as she crossed her skirted legs at the ankles, her wrists behind her back. “Sir, I facilitate communication between you and your precincts, not you and Our Lord.”

Aside from how beautifully detailed this is, this is a nice way to skirt in some dynamics of not only how the world works, but also just what exactly Col’s job is now. Damn son, he gets to talk directly to Satan? That’s intense, but I guess he is a Archdemon now, so man up, Sis, cause you got some ‘splainin to do.

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Though I hadn’t yet adjusted to Marcy’s fanaticism or formality, I tried not to show my disdain at her expression. She was nice enough, if not a bit of a groupie, and she made her work seem effortless. I could hardly hold it against a human for getting sucked into our lore.

Oooo, this makes things interesting. Marcy is but a mortal. I love that. And I love that he is annoyed by her “fanaticism.” I mean, to him, this is just life. To her, it’s “romantic” in a sense, and I can certainly see how that would get old to him. I like that he’s automatically annoyed with her, that seems so true to who Col is, and not to mention, perfectly (SO PERFECTLY) mirrors his disdain for Mir at the beginning of the original, though we know that was for other reasons. I love how he uses the word “groupie” to describe her. The vibe that sets is just so fucking perfect. But damn, does she have some drawbacks to Mir with his detailing her further, “she made her work seem effortless.” That’s too much. My heart can’t take it. Stay out of her panties, Col, because if this were my story, you’d be in them eventually, if not only because she reminds you of <3 Mir <3.

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Marcy was simultaneously her own person and every woman I’d known like her over the last century. There was a formula for them, tweaked as it was through time, and when humans infiltrated our society, more often than not, they looked like her.

Goddamn, I love this. So, basically Col, you’re telling me she’s,



So, this is where we belonged in HS (and arguably still do). I rather enjoy how he delivers her introduction as if she’s merely a stereotype. He says she’s unique to herself, but also not. That she carries herself the same as he expects a human who’s infiltrated his world. I just adore this description and how relatable it is for us (humans) reading this book about a world where we are secondary.  The second line is particularly fucking great. He’s detailing her, saying she is and is not what he expects, but goes onto to tell us how there’s a formula that changes through time, but it’s still discernible to him, and likely all of his world. Beautiful. And you say you’re descriptions are clunky. How fucking dare you.

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“Got it,” I pushed through the process blindly, but when Marcy remained standing before me, looking expectant, I lowered my bluff. “So now it goes to…?”

LOL (insert macho vibes, but drop them immediately). Damn, that was an easy fold, and if they were playing poker, he’d get his ass whipped. Come on, Col, she’s not even immortal. But also, this is super hot to me for some reason. I think I missed our boy a little too much. <3



Can we take a moment to appreciate Ms. Jennifer Tilly and how hot she is. Please, a moment of silence for a literal Queen. . . . . . . . Also, babe knows what she’s doing with them tits out.

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“Roger,” she recited carefully, and I dismissed my memory lapse with a wave of my hand.

“Roger, of course,” I feigned, trying to connect the dots myself. 

I do love how nonchalant this is. It’s not an interaction we haven’t seen before, but that’s what makes it so endearing. Of course Col is struggling to keep his head in the game. He’s without his other half, and he’s fucking bored as all get out. Marcy is cute. I like Marcy, but I also love Col, and I missed him. This new, nonchalant demeanor is rather fitting on him though. I’m just waiting for the facade to crack, though I love how pleasant he is here in spite of his lack of interest.

Quote :

As if she knew my question before I’d even asked it, a fresh smirk creeped across Marcy’s face.

Stop it, Marcy. Gawl, I want him in her panties already. I know she’s not being coy, she just doesn’t want to “teach” him, as to not step on his toes, but it’s so glaringly obvious he doesn’t care, nor does he care to learn to care lol. I love it. <3

Quote :

I waited for the explanation of how this, too, was more complicated than it needed to be.

There’s the Col we know and love. He’s got this outstanding position, and he can’t even be bothered to give two rips about it. He just finds it convoluted. He’s uninterested, and he’s making me miss the grimy days of glow exchange. *Sigh, poor Col. But tell me, why is everything he is doing in this position of “power,” like leaning back in his chair, frustrated, so begetting and hot? Idk, maybe something’s wrong with me today.

Quote :

“Thursdays,” we said together, and Marcy gave me a nod of affirmation.

I do love this. Gawl, Col, can’t you care even a little bit. No, and that’s okay. I wouldn’t either. Where’s Mir?!

Quote :

“It’ll get easier,” she assured me, and I hoped that was true.

This is cute, but also funny, because like, does she know more about his job as a mortal than he does?! That’s hilarious. Look at him, having another woman hold his hand through something. Some things never change, and it’s comfy here.

Quote :

as I was for facilitating and enacting those decisions, 

I’m excited to see what this means, and I hope it excites him, even if it’s just a little.

Quote :

I envied my predecessor’s ability to do all of that, as well as be involved in the community and carry out a social, and even romantic, life of his own. I wondered with every addition to my pile how he managed to do anything else at all.

Ask yourself, Col: Could be because he gave two shits about it? Could it be because he actually wanted to do the job? Not be tangled in Mir’s sheets for the rest of his life? Could it be because he cared about others? Could it be because he was a full-blown man who had the best interests of others in his heart? Could it be because he wasn’t you? Not to dawg on you, boy, but you so obviously haven’t grown as much as this position requires. He’s still very much stuck in 6 months ago, and I can’t blame him. I’m going to fucking explode if something doesn’t save him from this.

But also, this predecessor sounds interesting. I’d like to know him, even if he’s dead now. Teehee, not to put the pressure on, but also, put it on. He was never of interest until Col became him. Now, I want to know him.

Quote :

She was a pro, and I again found myself grateful for an adept woman.

The fucking mirror image of Mir right now? JFC, how is this man even coming to the office day in and day out? Goddamn. Why are you doing this to our boy? Again, he deserves better. He’s been put in another situation where he CAN use a woman as a crutch, and I’ll be fucking damned if he isn’t. Goddamnit, Col. Why haven’t you learned yet.

This makes me so curious about what the plot is going to be? Are we going to see another duplicate of the last plot, character-based growth, or is some conflict going to fly out of left-field and smack me in the face. Obviously, Col is going to have to experience more growth no matter, but I really can’t see his story without Mir in it. And obviously, neither can he, as here is her predecessor; here to ruin/save his day.

Quote :

“I’m lucky to have you,”

Okay, so he has grown. I’ll give him this one.

Quote :

Part of me admired her ability to be so efficient while the other longed for the analog of Miriam’s handwritten records and instructions. I’d been without the extraordinary succubus now for half as long as I’d known her at all, but still, she remained a vice grip on my mind and was a factor in every choice I made.

Okay, here we go, the part I was waiting for: further mention of Mir. Of course he’s going to miss the details that set Mir apart from this new secretary. Of course he is, and now, so do we. We long with him for a simpler time. We long for a companionship where things were actually terribly convoluted, but somehow still so simple. And also, it’s insane to me that he didn’t actually know Mir all that long. I never thought about that, because well, it seemed that he’d known her ~ forever ~. Of fucking course he can’t make a decision on his own, not even still. She’s still there, making up his mind even when she’s not actually there to coax him along. Goddamnit, Col. How did you let this happen? Of course, it’s growth for you to be able to make a decision with her rationale in mind, but also, stop reminding us she exists, and therefore, stop reminding yourself. You’re breaking all of our hearts and I don’t want to feel this way!

Quote :

“Weekly ‘get Collin the fuck out of there,’ with a small appendix of ‘community leader shit,’ her appointment so colorfully states.”

OMFG, now I know only Lily would have said that exactly that way! At least there is still someone familiar in this world, though I’ve already grown quite fond of Marcy, despite telling her off at the beginning.

Quote :

Marcy was good at that, conveying voices, and it was no wonder she had been at the archdemon’s office for nearly a decade, regardless of her mortality.

I love the way this is said. Also, damn, I was thinking she was quite young in my head. Is she really running around looking all goth and possibly in her 30s? Hmm. Well, that’s okay too. I still love her.

Sorry, coming back to say that you said she was on the cusp of her 30s. So, not old, but not fresh either. I’m dumb, forgive me. I had supper in the middle of this and apparently lost that detail. Also, shut up me. You’re fucking 30, and you still dress all in black. Goddamn, when did I think 30 was old? Fuck. Discard the above, but I’m leaving it because I’m sure it’ll make you chuckle.

Also, also, if I’m imaging her as Jennifer Tilly, then her description is perf. Fucking perf. (PS. You haven’t yet made it to that comment where I claim this, but you will.)

Quote :

though no longer being abducted and killed, they had taken the brunt of the blame by the precinct for the incident, and no amount of explanation or insistence had assuaged that blame.

Wow, that’s fucking harsh. So, I see a plot starting to form here. I’m automatically jumping to all sorts of conclusions. Part of me is thinking Lily is going to feel betrayed again, possibly turn on Col. Part of me mirrors the old plot to this, thinking, “Dang, is Marcy going to be saving the world with Col this time.” But I swear to god, you better not. Only Mir can save the world with Col, you hear me? Only Mir.

Quote :

The demon spin had declared Terry a weak link in the security of our kind, a lycanthrope-turned-demon abomination that had compromised the entire system with his lycanthropic susceptibility that no sensible demon could possibly have.

Even more wow. How dare they blame Terry. JFC, it’s like their all demons and that must mean they have no fucking hearts?! Like, come on, what the fuck did Terry do to make you guys all turn on him? Col just told us how great he was at his job, yet here we see everyone just fucking dog piled him even in death. Dicks. Sounds to me like the lycans are on their way to extinction in this world. Obviously, no one wants them around. Makes me curious as to all the conflicts that could arise between Lily and Col, as mentioned above. Will Col have the balls to defend her (her kind) once again, because obviously, they are in need of defending. JFC, makes me wonder why he cares so little when Lily’s kind is being flushed down the fucking toilet. Wtf Col, you’re lucky she’s having lunch with you at all. I can’t believe he’s in this job, he so doesn’t want the responsibility or the headache. Sheeit, can’t say I blame him. Sounds like a job for Mir, if I’m being honest.

Quote :

They were in the middle of a famine, in this day and age, exclusively because they had been the victim of a demon-orchestrated crime. And there was nothing I could do about it without the precinct behind me.

So he says, but doesn’t sound like to me he really cares to. He seems very burdened by all of this, and even lunch with Lily, because he knows she’s going to bring it up. Goddamnit Col. This just isn’t the job for you. Now I wish you were back out on the streets wheeling and dealing dirty like you used to. Fuck. I miss those days.

Quote :

as if escaping lunch would somehow escape the issue, as if my roommate wouldn’t just be waiting to fill me in at home instead.

As we know Lily would, will and has. He’s not escaping her, and this is starting to make me tense given all the plot setup you’ve detailed thus far. I can just feel this rumbling fracture growing between them. It’s going to erupt, or at least, I feel it’s going to. I’m scared, sad and intrigued. But goddamnit, where the fuck is Mir. She’s the only one who can fix this. She should be Archdemon, not Col. He should be a stay at home boyfriend. He’d be good at that.

Quote :

“Well, get ready,” Marcy whispered, and she reached forward to drum her long fingernails on the corner of my desk. The clicking pattern disrupted my thoughts and demanded my attention, an intentional act per her self-assured look. “Because I just heard the door.”

Goddamn, I love this. Such a beautiful, true-to-life detail. I love Marcy. She’s great. I’m going to imagine her as Jennifer Tilly now. Thanks. But oh fuck, here’s Lily, no doubt ready to drop another figurative stack of mountainous shit on his head.

Quote :

Marcy stood fluidly, each pose intentional and deliberately considered, and disappeared out the office doorway.

Are you doing this on purpose, because I FULLY believe that you are. This might as well be Mir, in fact, I KNOW he said something very similar about her in original Glow. Hol up. BRB.



Ahh, here it is!

Chapter Six - V2
“For the moments before I followed her, I watched her. Every movement of her body was fluid and intentional.”

See, you know what the FUCK you are doing, and you’re trying to stab my heart out and I don’t appreciate it. If this is going to go this way, and you’re trying to set me up for something I dare not speak, I’ll fucking die.

I suppose, however, that he can’t help but draw these parallels. I believe he would, as her position and expertise would certainly put him back with Mir. And while I can appreciate that he would draw comfort from that, he also can draw many other things. One would certainly be longing. The other might even be attraction that he shall not act upon, or I’ll just lose it.

Quote :

 and rarely did she spare a grumble in my direction about anything else.

I like how you used “grumble” here, very clever. I mean, it’s so Lily too. Of course she’s always grumbling at Col, and of course, it’s always about this. But here we are again, he obviously doesn’t care to care, and that is just making me so fucking tense.

Quote :

“Do you have a break room or something, asshole?” She growled, angry at me for her lack of planning.

Angry at ME for HER lack of planning. It’s both telling and endearing, but also ominous in the sense of the inevitable fracture I believe is forming. Lily is fucking abrasive, and we know that doesn’t work well with Col, at least, not in a serious manner. Sure, he can take the banter as friends, but I feel this banter is going to push him to his edge given how she’s going to continue to harp on him about the lycan situation. And don’t get me wrong, she has every right, but our boy just isn’t in the game.

Quote :

“We’re supposed to be ‘getting the fuck out of here,’ Lee,” I responded in kind, trying to gauge my friend’s true mood

Aw, I love that he calls her Lee. I love how, in my mind, he is diffusing the situation in his own mind by mocking her and calling her this moniker. He’s concerned that she’s upset. He doesn’t want her to be upset, because then it falls back on him, and God forbid, he have to be responsible for any of the misfortunes with her kind. I mean, sure, he says there’s nothing he can do, but is there really NOTHING he can do? That’s the Col attitude tho. Shame to see he hasn’t fully grown out of it, even when his friend’s life is on the line with those of the rest of her kind.

Quote :

“This way, Sir,” my assistant invited, and the corner of Lily’s mouth twinged her approval.

Ah, I see. She is dressed rather dapper, and I’m sure, twelve times more stunning than a man right now.

Quote :

none of which I could do without precinct support. Yet, here she was, asking anyway. I had to think of something to say.

This boy is just full of excuses. Why doesn’t he just say he doesn’t care? At least, that’s how it comes off. He should care about Lily enough to push for all the things the lycans deserve, but here he is, “I can’t do it without the precinct.” Bitch, was the precinct behind you when you defeated Jinn and Stew? I don’t fucking think so. Know who was, Mir. Know who would be behind you in the continuing lycan crisis, fucking Lil. Just stop being so defeated before you’ve ever begun to fight. UGH! I swear to God, if Mir was here, she’d be so disappointed.

Quote :

“Come on, prick, some of us work!” I heard better through the air vent than from down the hall,

This is such a clever detail, and also, I love how she speaks out his thought just prior: that he has more to-do work than work-completed.

Quote :

I watched my friend, never one to shy away from the first bite, deliberately avoid the feast as she waited for me.

See, fuck. This is so important to her that she’s not even chowing like she should be. And fucking Col, all listless about getting the paperwork and his pen, only going because he knows he can’t avoid her forever. He’s already frustrating me, GF, as if you couldn’t tell. Why is he like this? Already so defeated here at the start of Chapter One. Ugh. I still love him, but I’m looking down on him rn.

Quote :

Marcy lingered at one end, attempting to disguise her uncertainty by casually leaning against it as if she were bored, though her eyes scanned between Lily and me, ever-attentive.

This is the tension I was talking about, and you detailed it out so perfectly here, using Marcy as the gateway instead of Lil or Col. I mean, yes, we have Lil hesitating to eat, but we see here that Marcy is ever-aware of the tension lifting between the two. She’s certainly adept to this world, despite having been in it for but a minuscule fraction of the time these demons have, and certainly, she’s read Col up and down, as detailed by the way she speaks with him at the beginning of the chapter. Marcy is going to be a key character, and I’m living for her, Marcy Tilly. But I will say, that if she and Col have a “thing,” I’m getting the sense that it would be very fleeting, and that she would be the one “dominating” him. Maybe that’s just what he needs to complete his 180. He needs someone more domineering. Someone who isn’t going to hold his hand. Someone who will “beat” some sense into him in a profane way, maybe? Ugh, chills jus thinking about it.

Quote :

“You too,” Lily snapped at Marcy, and my secretary quickly moved to sit next to me.

“Yes, Sir.” *wink

Also, don’t talk to Ms. Tilly like that.

Quote :

Then, as she slid the plates toward us, she perched into a squat on the chair behind her and stared.

Why is this simultaneously funny and tense? Gawl. I love that.

Vibes right now:



I don’t know if she realizes how intense she’s being, and that makes it all the better. Beautiful comic relief without truly breaking the tension.

Quote :

Instead, Marcy melted next to me with an emphatic moan.

“What is this?” she gushed, and Lily’s attention was lost from me as she found her approval elsewhere.

This fucking Queen. I swear to God, Sis knows what she’s doing here. She knows how to read a room, she knows what to do to cut the tension. She’s perfect. I love her.

Quote :

I tried to get a read on her, to find her secrets before she was willing to tell me, but she waved me off. Still, something wasn’t right about her.

God the tension. I swear. It’s fucking killing me. But I’m sitting here waiting on her to say it’s lycan meat or some shit. She’s being really fucked right now. Like, what is going on with this food?! She’s hiding something, and she’s trying to kill everyone in the room with suspense, including me.

Quote :

and I remembered to taste with the next bite I took.

I love how he’s so caught up, as we are, that he doesn’t even realize he’s not tasting the food. Perfect Detail to keep us suspended in the tension you’re so masterfully crafting.

Quote :

“Like, how good?” Lily prodded, and I found myself quickly exasperated with her.

What the fuck are they eating rn?! It’s fucking making me queasy just thinking what it might be!

Quote :

“Stop, why are you like this? How good is it though?”

“Why are you like this?” OMFG, I’m DED. Not the thing me and Jon say to each other CONSTANTLY! Goddamn, I’m cackling! But fuck is she being weird.

Quote :

and I closed my eyes to rub their lids with my forefingers.

Perfect Detail

Quote :

You wouldn’t have to frame it as lycan support. You can frame it as a small business bailout, a personal grant, an exception, whatever.”

Ugh, this is so sad. I’m upset, but also, relieved that their not eating lycans. LOL I cannot believe my mind jumped to that, but fam, you had to know you were steering me in that direction?! I’m relieved now. Some of the tension is gone, but not really, just my own make-believe shit.

Quote :

I returned my fork to the table, and Marcy eyed me hesitantly, reluctant to do the same. After two additional quick bites, though, she tucked her fork neatly next to her plate in anguished solidarity.

I’m simultaneously in love with his ability to keep up his asshole facade while being totally hot about it, but also, at Marcy Tilly’s following in his every move. Like, I feel like Mir would almost do that, but not from need to conform, more so as a supporting gesture. But this is tearing down this pretend facade I have for Marcy Tilly, that she’s a badass bitch. But maybe her compliance here can be sacrificed elsewhere, if you catch my drift.

BTW, the fork details are Perfect Detail

Quote :

despite the fact that you are top of the fucking food chain in this territory, your little demon hands are tied.” She continued to pace, not leaving so much as a breath of space between her thoughts.

I’m with her. I wouldn’t leave a space for him to rebut either. Tell him, Lil. Tell him how his “little demon hands” are tied. Tell him he’s ridiculous and so are they. Tell him how he learned nothing from the last book. Tell him how his kind (therfore him) owes you better. You fucking tell him that despite how you vary, you’re all from the same fucking place.

Also, I need to say how I love the succession of “we’ve talked about . . .” It’s very effective in communicating both her passion and her message. It’s beautiful.

Quote :

What was the point of doing anything to stop those fucking psychopath pricks if you were just going to let the rest of them kill us in the end anyway?

Quote :

My friend stopped abruptly and darted her eyes to me, freshly incensed. “Or was it all just show for Miriam?”

OH GOOD FUCKING GOD! Okay, calm down. Calm down.

Despite how she had every fucking right to say this, all the same, she didn’t. She already insulted him with “little hero story,” but the here, she knows exactly what she’s doing. And while I can certainly sympathize with her rage when it comes to this issue, damn was that a hard blow. I have to admit, my eyes kept going after this moment, and goddamn, I’m DED. Everything is just too fucking good following this. So, off to talk about that! ----->

Quote :

Marcy’s eyes widened at the goad she didn’t wholly understand, and when I stood, pushing my chair out behind me, she startled to her feet as well

Ugh, I just love this. For two reasons though. One, is because it’s the just reaction to what was said. He has every right to be upset by this. I mean, he sacrificed himself, Mir and Char to save her kind in the last book, and here she is, stomping all over that. I’ll give it to Lil, though, that doesn’t warrant his negligence of the issue now. But moving on. Two, because it’s so refreshing (and sexy) to see Col actually “stand up.” To see him rise to his figurative stature. To see him not lay the fuck down and take a beating. I know Lily’s his friend, and I know we are most comfortable coming undone on those we love, but damn, I wish this was the Col he was around the clock. This is the Col I want to see. This is the Col that Mir wanted him to be. This is the Col that he needs himself to be, but something is still holding him down, in that figurative chair where he was just sitting.

Quote :

“You should go,” I told Marcy as my eyes fixated on Lily, and I wondered what would come next. I didn’t see Marcy’s look to Lily, but I did see Lily’s nod that sufficiently dismissed my secretary from the room. And as she exited, I wasn’t sure if guilt or resentment would consume me first.

Oooo, I love the agreeing nod here that can me easily passed off as a power play. Yes, Col said you should go, but I’m telling you you “can” or also that you “should” go. Okay, Lil, with your suit and your foul mouth, out her being ten-times the man a man should be. But listen, I was enjoying Col’s stand, so don’t stifle it for me. But goddamn, could you cut the tension with a fucking knife here. It’s so good. I love it so much. I’m living for this.

His inner conflict at the end of the paragraph says everything we have deduced about him thus far. Of course, he’s going to feel guilt, as he should. But the fact that he gives himself space to feel resentment, well, that’s old Col. He knows why Lily said what she said, can even sympathize with why she said it, but here he is being all kinds of out of sorts that she did knowing full and well that she had every right. I can’t believe he’s letting his “little demon hands” be tied with this. I can’t believe he’s being a coward, and the only time he has the courage to stand up against someone, is with those who are support to his framework. He did this constantly with Mir, and here is doing it with Lil. It’s like he’s trying to bomb his own castle. He’s such a dope, but damn, do I love him standing against her.

Quote :

As I assessed my friend, sharply dressed and confident as she was, totally in her element, advocating for her people, my heart stilled.

Perfect Detail

Omg though, is he fixing to back down?

Quote :

“I’ve done my best to be transparent with you,” I attempted, and though Lily hadn’t yet interrupted me, I saw her head cock in anticipation of her turn to speak. “My people don’t give a damn, Lee. The lycans have never been our responsibility. They’ll never buy it.”

Okay, I feel like I can breathe. They aren’t going to rip each other in two, so that’s good. But I do accept this explanation. For whatever reason, maybe it’s the way he spoke it. It felt terribly honest, but I also know that it isn’t “good enough.” Also, he continues to use her moniker to pacify her, good call on his part.

Quote :

As she loomed over me, I was finally able to place what I couldn’t before—was she thinner?

See there Col, this suddenly became personal for you, didn’t it? Lily is LITERALY starving, and here you are, not caring and living under excuses not to help the lycans. Damn, that cuts deep, doesn’t it?

Quote :

She pushed Marcy’s plate aside and moved to sit on the edge of the table closest to me. . . she planted her feet in Marcy’s former seat, and I leaned back in mine.

Back tracking just to say I love this pose that they are in. She move’s Marcy’s plate, Marcy being a symbol of submission, and and she’s looming over him, still so confident in her posture. He’s her “pupil,” waiting to be told how best to handle a situation that he didn’t care to be bothered with until he realized she was “thinner.” Also, I just love the image it puts in my head. I can see him looking up at her, almost infantile, but not. Waiting for a woman to tell him what the fuck to do, even if she is a sharp-dressed-man now.

Quote :

some real Kumbaya shit. I just need you to let us eat.

I was just going to quote the last half of the first sentence, cause it was funny, and despite her seriousness, she’s always able to pull the rabbit out of the hate. But the second sentence gripped my heart. It’s so depraved, so honest, there’s just no way you can’t feel sympathy for her here, even if her demeanor makes you want to feel anything but.

Quote :

“Sirs,” Marcy announced as she returned to our battleground.

Okay, good job with the comic relief here. <3

Quote :

she resumed around her mouthful, careful to speak only out of the corner of her lips,

Perfect Detail

And what a fucking contrast she is to Lily, but such a stark reflection of Mir (IN SOME WAYS). Goddamn. She’s proper. She’s punctual. She’s, dare I say, brilliant. She comes in with the plan at just the right moment, goddamn, she might as well be Mir. And just tell me, GF. How the fuck does Col keep finding himself in the middle of these supportive women who continue to reach out and save him no matter how many times he slips off the ledge? JFC, he’s killing me, and so is Marcy Tilly.

Quote :

Marcy resumed her meal, suddenly silent as if another peep would see her again shoo’d from it.

God, I love her. Marcy “Mir” Tilly.

Quote :

“Is she right?” Lily finally asked, an almost imperceptible waver in her voice. I looked to Marcy, who blatantly avoided my eyes; then to the folder, still closed in my hands; then, finally, back to my friend.

“Lee—”

“Don’t do that. Don’t ‘Lee,’ me, asshole. Is she fucking right?”

I have to take this moment to just harp on how “real” all of this is. How, despite the first story, this could stand alone. How, despite how far removed we’ve been from Mir, that this still has such structure. How, despite just getting to know Marcy, she feels like a staple that was always there. You’ve done this all so perfectly. It’s so fluid and seamless. The plot draws from the old plot, but is thickened with all these intricacies we didn’t recognize to this extent before. This is the perfect opener. You have no idea <3.

But I quoted this to say that the dialogue is just as “real.” This feels so real. We saw a conflict simmer from the beginning, we saw it begin, then we seen it climax, then somewhat resolve, all in so little time, but felt just. Everything they’ve said has felt so honest to this world they live in, to themselves and the relationships they foster. Everything is just perfect here. Just like with Glow One Original, you’ve managed to open the story in such an intriguing way, that even if I didn’t know the story prior, I’d be consumed.

Quote :

Marcy gently elbowed me with a pleased smile

MIR! GODDAMN IT! SHE IS MIR! This is either going to be really good, or really, really good for us. I can’t fucking wait to see where it goes. I hope you are drawing these parallels on purpose. I hope she’s going to be as important as she already is to me. <3

Quote :

Instead, I attempted to appreciate Lily’s offering, as loaded as it had been.

This is said just so fucking well, and he’s not even wrong, though this isn’t the right mindset. I can see why he has conflict with this, but also, it’s for the best. He needs to champion the causes he should, because that will lead him to be the man we know he can be.

Quote :

and though her eyes betrayed her interest, she shook her head. “Nah, not this time.”

Ugh, fuck. Why? I have to ask. I can only imagine it’s because she physically can’t. It makes her ill to even think of indulging when so many of her kind can’t. She won’t eat until they can eat. Goddamn, for such an abrasive exterior, she sure is such a noble creature.

Quote :

and I finally released the folder to her care.

The language he uses here is just so implicit of Mir. He trusts this woman, sure. He details how experienced she is at the beginning, but he releases it to her “care.” Not just to her, but to her “care.” Ugh, he’s drawing these parallels in his mind whether he realizes it or not, and I’m living for when we see what comes of this! But I’ll never forget Mir. I’ll never let her go.

Quote :

The thought of bringing this pitch to the table—any table—made my stomach knot. It was easier thinking there was nothing I could do.

See, that’s Col. That’s the Col we know and love. But I have to be respectful here. Of course it would. He has every right to feel anxious about it as Lily does enraged. He doesn’t want things to get more fucked than they are. He doesn’t want to fuck himself either. But homie is so afraid to face things head on. He’s so afraid to stand up, like he did to Lily earlier, and that just keeps us yearning for him to do so. It keeps us on his hook, on his ass, and hanging onto every word of his story. We want so badly for him to do the right thing, I just wonder if it’s going to take someone else to coax him through it, or if he’s going to stand up on his own. I mean, I know Mir isn’t there to pitch it with him, and that he will, but I can only foresee it going awry, then I wonder what comes next. But moreso, how Marcy Tilly plays in all of this, cause I know she does.

Quote :

But here we were. It mattered to Lily, and as far as I was removed, it needed to matter to me.

It was the right thing to do.

“Needed,” key word, “needed.” See, he DOESN’T actually care. He wants to care, he even needs to care, but he doesn’t actually CARE. There’s that selfish interior we were expecting once we scrubbed away all the shine of his prior heroism. Goddamnit, Col. Please don’t disappoint me like this. Please. I’m glad you know it’s the right thing to do, but fuck, don’t you WANT to do the right thing because it’s the right thing? Don’t you WANT to help Lil because you love her? Don’t you want to do anything besides wallow?! Fuck, you’re killing me, and just like a woman, I’m still over here holding out hope for you. Know why, Col? Cause I love you. That’s why. I know you can do better, and you must. <3

----------------------

Ugh, Chapter One has closed, leaving me with all sorts of emotions. I’ve over here mourning Mir, being heavily conflicted with Col, LOVING Marcy Tilly, and needing to hug Lily. Goddamnit, where is all that growth he was supposed to have had in the original? Where did it go? He’s still so listless, but without the proper things to hold him down this time. Why the fuck is he like this, and why the fuck am I still holding out hope for him? IDK, but I can tell you that I’m just as engrossed in this as in Sophie’s story. Goddamn. I can’t wait to see where this is going. Honestly.

Everything here feels so tight and manicured. You have no idea. The scene, the dialogue, the characters, the plot introduction, even Col carrying over from his “heroism” to here, where he’s so lackluster and so “bored.” It’s so solid. It’s exactly what I expected of Chapter One - Sequel. You always outdo yourself, even if you think not. Please, give me chapter two before I die. I’m so dying to know where Marcy is going, how the tension between Lil and Col over this is going to unfurl, and how Col is going to handle the inevitable denial once whomever gets wind that this proposal is for the lycans. I’m just so hooked, but mostly for Marcy, I can’t deny. But just the same, don’t you ever fucking forget how much I miss Mir. Don’t you do it.



Love,
Boyfriend

BF <3 GF
CT <3 SE