#1x02 Out of the Past

[brinleyparke]

Semi-Formal Outfit Inspired by Mick St. John

Inspired by Mick's semi-formal outfit in 1x02 "Out of the Past". The shoes are Jimmy Choo, and the purse is Michael Kors. The jewelry is vintage white gold.

[brinleyparke]

Same about the whole Mick calling himself a monster thing. He does it in eps 1 and 3, too.

I love Mick 70s-80s style, too. I like his how he dressed in present-day (present at the time it was filmed), too:

I also wish we had more Bobby scenes.

I had the same thought about the 25 year old bottle.

I never noticed the lemons and apples, or at least I never acknowledged them. But he does have a coffee maker and coffee because he makes some for Beth and Josh. I also assumed it was for clients.

Lee Jay is the worst.

I love Josef's casual style, too. It's not a far cry from Mick's casual style. (See gifs above).

Now that I think about it, it is pretty funny that Beth barely knows Mick but trusts him anyway and is willing to risk everything for him.

I also assumed he robbed a blood bank. Or he maybe he had emergency packs in his car or something.

I have a headcanon that he called Josef after Beth presumably runs off after finding out he's a vampire.

Mick in that final scene made my heart physically hurt. The way he is hunched over himself and staggering out of the elevator shows the agony that he must be in. The scene made me hurt not just because of his obvious physical pain but also because of the shame in his body language and his voice when Beth came into the room. Alex's acting here is 💯 Oscar worthy.

I love Josef's protectiveness and tough love in this episode.

There is a goof in the scene where Lee Jay shoots Mick. We see Mick get shot in the front of one shoulder, but when he turns and falls onto his front, the holes are on the opposite shoulder.

Moonlight rewatch for millionth time

Episode 2 random thoughts and feelings I had while rewatching again: cause I’m bored and have nothing else to do or watch. And I love this show

Mick: monsters don’t get happy ever after. Me: Stop saying you’re a monster! Stop it now

I like Mick’s early 80’s look, it had a 1970ish vibe to it

I know Mick probably panicked but he should have just snapped Lee Jays neck before running off

I like how Beth’s like talk about my feelings? No I’d rather get to work bye lol same girl

I think I’ve said it before but I think Beth purposely picked out a 25 year old single malt to maybe catch Mick in a lie or maybe get some sort of reaction from him

I wish we got more Bobby scenes

My head canon is that Logan and Mick met over World or Warcraft and Mick beat Logan who then threatened Mick (think end game with Thor) and Mick was like oh okay I’m so scared then Logan hacked him and went to his place and was like oh shit my bad uh friends? When he realized Mick was also a vampire

I love him but Mick really needs to think things through before he acts

Ilene deserved better I’m glad she gets justice in the end

Lee Jay in fact did not understand

Mick says vampires don’t have a club house that they hang out at and yet we have this episode where we have vampires at a club that has freshies then several episodes later another club where they all play pool. So what’s the difference?

I never noticed this before but Mick had random lemons in his fridge

There’s like four or five of them in there. It’s most likely for clients that come over but he also has green apples in there too.

Lee Jay is the worst

I like Josef’s casual style in the way that something about it still feels very expensive and true to Josef’s personality

I like how Beth is a ride or die when it comes to Mick. She’s only known him a week but she’s already willing to break the law and go against her boyfriend and friend to help prove his innocence

I wonder what happened to Julia after this episode, I’m sure she went to therapy for everything that happened but it’s just strange we never see her again especially when Josh died

Is it bad that when Mick is running and jumping on the rooftop that StarWars bad lip reading of Yoda singing “now run jump” etc etc was playing in my head? Lol

Where did Mick get that blood packet from and why didn’t he get help for the silver buckshots in his body? Did he just rob a blood bank ? Because I highly doubt Guillermo would let his friend go off on his own in such a vulnerable situation

I like how they didn’t drag out the vampire secret for very long. Sometimes I feel like when writers and directors drag things out like that for too long it becomes a bit stale once things are actually revealed

[becoach-a]

actually wait i'm not sure where beard lives in relation to ted, and i have no idea where the pub is in relation to ted

[waltricia]

3x03 — Forces of Nature

“Call Me Simon” has been my favorite piece of scoring from the show. I’ve listened to it on repeat sooooo many times, particularly during the past few months. It plays in 1x02 while Simon watches Daphne dance with other men. As Bridgerton scoring goes, I think this piece sticks out. There’s something very mystical and haunting about it. There are elements of it that sound like a clock, tick-tocking and then striking midnight. And I think that makes sense for that season 1 episode because it’s Simon’s flashback episode, and that scene leads into the final flashback.

Although the thought crossed my mind that this song could possibly be brought back, I was really not expecting it to. So when it came up for this Polin scene, I bounced around my apartment for ten minutes.

And it fits so well, especially considering the clock aspect because time is beginning to run out for Colin.

Not only was it brought back, and not only does it fit for the scene, it was mixed beautifully. During the close-up shots of Pen’s lips and Colin’s eyes, my favorite sound effect, the heartbeat, is layered onto the scoring. Those sounds bring us in closer to the moment. And when Debling takes Pen’s hand, the song goes hollow and spins out in a way that makes my blood run cold and gives me full-body shivers.

And then it’s followed by the Happier Than Ever cover- another haunting song that I think pairs perfectly with it.

10/10. Brilliant.

[raayllum]

The way as soon as Callum brings up their separation for the first time since... ever, honestly, to her, Rayla apologizes for the first thing she can think of that also feels safe. She can't Apologize for leaving because that's too loaded, and she was trying to protect him, but... A little callback to "You know you can't sneak up on me?" (1x02) as well.

And then the very next thing out of his mouth, which again is very neutral overall, gets another apology. "I know my leaving hurt you" / "I know, I'm sorry". She clearly would've apologized for every word that came out of his mouth no matter how minor or heartfelt. But Callum's decided that what's past is past, and that Rayla - realistically - was always going to leave, but what they can do is move forward together now that she's always going to do everything in her power to come back (and not leave again, either).

So that's exactly what they're going to do.

With plenty of heart eyes of course

[amuseoffyre]

Just had a little epiphany about why Stede reacted so intensely the way he did on Calypso's birthday night.

We know from his past experience that he's been deeply unhappy for a long, long time. He has a habit of removing himself from a situation when he's upset/distressed, so he can hide away alone rather than face the scorn of others, which is cemented by the fact he was emotionally abused by his father for showing negative/'weak' emotions and bullied by the Badmintons for crying.

Mary said herself that she thought she had heard him crying sometimes when he was alone at night. Specifically it was in the past tense - she'd heard him and only approached him about it later.

Alone is the key part here.

He's always been on his own. He's never had people really show concern or check in with him when he was having a hard time. More often than not, they would laugh or belittle him for it, so he's become used to squashing down the emotions and taking them somewhere to hunker down and let himself have his grief and distress in isolation: after Jack upsets him, when Ed's shaved in the academy, after they escape from Zheng.

The crew had to help out in 1x01 but even then it was out of necessity and obligation. The closest we really came to anyone intervening before Ed was in 1x02 when he has a complete breakdown in front of everyone, so they don't have a choice but to stop and Olu explains what happened to the chief.

The only time someone actively comes looking for him when he was upset is at the academy. Ed finds him on the beach and says, relieved, "there you are" and we know how that scene ended.

No wonder Stede reacts the way he does at Calypso's Birthday - the scenes really do run parallel from start to finish:

Stede is distressed and runs. Ed watches him go, hesitates, then goes after him. Stede marinades in guilt/grief and seems surprised when Ed shows up. Ed reassures him and offers his emotional support and assurance that he'll be all right. Kisses.

Stede is distressed but he's no longer alone. He can be upset and someone will care enough to come after him and comfort him and love him enough to make sure he's all right. No wonder he got caught up in it, knowing that someone cares and cherishes him despite everything. And no wonder Ed reciprocated, seeing such a tangible expression of passion from Stede.

[allamericansbitch]

Hi everyone! Here’s the newest addition to my Creator Shoutout Series (august 25- september 1)! I want to appreciate editors and their creations that i love from the past week. To track this series or look at previous shoutouts, please check out the tag on my blog *creatorshoutouts.

halsey: lonely is the muse graphic by @nsidereus

longlegs gifset by @celine-song

maisie peters: the band and i gifset by @antoniosvivaldi

chappell roan: hot to go gifset by @chappellnchill

longlegs gifset by @swrots

sabrina carpenter: short n sweet gifset by @james-beaufort

succession: shiv roy gifset by @jakeyp

samia: the baby gifset by @killherfreakout

yellowjackets: taissa turner gifset by @fadeintoyou1993

sabrina carpenter: taste music video gifset by @skainatblida

longlegs gifset by @uservillanelle

halsey: the great impersonator gifset by @illusionisle

yellowjackets: jackie taylor in 1x02 gifset by @sydneyadmu

bottoms: josie gifset by @buffysummcrs

succession gifset by @kvtnisseverdeen

paramore: you first graphic by @cellphonehippie

parks and recreation: the fight gifset by @bellamysgriffin

yellowjackets: natalie scatorccio gifset by @chappelroans

halsey: favorite lyrics gifset by @dieincalifornia

maxxxine gifset by @gettingscrazy

heartstopper anniversary gifset by @charliexspring

maisie peters: there it goes gifset by @entertainmentpdf

sabrina carpenter: taste graphic by @piecesintoplaces

paramore: hayley williams eras outfits gifset by @userparamore

yellowjackets: shauna and jackie gifset by @miwtual

daisy jones & the six: outfits gifset by @robbstakr

scream 1996 gifset by @ghost-face

yellowjackets: taissa turner gifset by @taiturner

[my-coven-is-claudia]

Daniel, Louis and their “strange alliance”

this quote from eric from a pre-season 2 interview has been rattling inside my brain for far too long so i want to break down a scene from season 1 that has gained some newly-found importance.

in 1x02 daniel and louis sit down to have dinner as louis recounts an experience of attending the opera with lestat and its bloody end. what’s most interesting about this sequence is less so to do with what happened at loustat’s opera date but more so this surprisingly touching moment between louis and daniel.

it starts off with louis mentioning how the dessert served for him and daniel is taken from a off-handed remark in daniel’s memoir.

this suggests A LOT. it seems to imply that louis has attentively read daniel’s memoir and likely has a genuine vested interest in daniel as a person outside of what he can do for him in relation to rejigging his jumbled memories. you can’t tell from this screenshot but he almost seems embarrassed that he went to such lengths with making sure to serve up this exact dessert that daniel mentioned. and the fact that it was an “offhanded remark” also drives me insane. he either read through daniel’s memoir and specifically noted down this mention about the dessert or realised that he wanted to share a meal with daniel and proceeded to scour his memoir in order to find mentions of food he likes. there is also the possibility that he asked one of his servants to read through the book again but we know for sure that louis read daniel’s memoir himself at some point. whatever the case louis went to the effort of making sure daniel would get to eat something familiar and that he most definitely liked. he did that to make daniel feel comfortable.

this is especially significant as louis chooses to eat this dessert alongside daniel, despite the fact that it tastes like “paste” to him. he is actively choosing to eat something that tastes like gruel to him essentially and for what?? to appear less monstrous? to comfort daniel? maybe show that he still has some humanity left in him. it’s important to mention that this is in the aftermath of daniel confronting louis about how human readers likely won’t be sympathetic to louis and lestat’s need for blood to survive. however, it doesn’t come across as a calculated move to appear more appeasing to potential readers. this seems wholly for daniel’s sake.

louis - for whatever reason - is intentionally presenting himself as approachable and human to daniel.

this is followed up by daniel seemingly picking up on louis’s offer for connection and opening up about the woman that’s on everyone’s mind currently: alice.

daniel details how he proposed to alice in paris in a cafe (which lines up with the story he tells in 2x02) and names the street that it was located on. louis recognises this and verbalises it.

this is yet another grasp for connection, of understanding, between louis and daniel. louis wants to show daniel that he’s genuinely interested in his story, in him as a person by showing that’s he actively listening to him.

now, what we’ve all been waiting for.

this moment is the whole reason why i want to tear this scene apart!! this is probably up there with daniel offering louis a break in 2x01 as one of the most sincere and vulnerable moments we’ve gotten from daniel, a typically cold and sarcastic character. whatever you think about the alice-armand parallels and who exactly he is truly talking about here, daniel is fondly speaking of someone now estranged from him. he remembers the little details about her, an insecurity that she was ashamed of that he completely adored! he loved her for who she was, imperfections and all.

and to top this all off daniel closes his laptop! he ends the session! he likely does this out of a mixture of embarrassment that he’s rambled about his ex-wife live on tape but also maybe a sign to louis that he’s taking this seriously. that he’s appreciative of him trying to meet him on his level. that this moment was real. by stripping away the symbol of the supposedly strictly professional nature of this reunion he may be signalling that this conversation is indeed important to him.

and the fact that daniel is able to even have this vulnerable moment with louis at all, reminiscing over his lost love (whilst louis is doing something very similar with lestat) is so intriguing! obviously louis and daniel are most definitely not strangers to one another but they aren’t best friends either. they haven’t seen each other in decades and for daniel especially this has been a very abrupt reunion. whether he likes it not, daniel likely relates on some level to louis’s complex feelings towards lestat, his lover. like louis, daniel may not miss his relationship with alice in relation to the toxic dynamic they shared (slight guess here but the revelation that she initially rejected his proposal suggests to me that their relationship was a bit rocky at least) but he most definitely misses her as a person and the memory of their time together.

finally, what closes off this scene is this… odd expression from louis. not entirely sure if i’m being too optimistic when i say that louis may be sympathising with daniel here but admittedly he does seem a little confused as well. but if this truly is meant to be a look of contempt i feel like it would’ve been more akin to louis’s more obviously disgusted reaction to the coven’s play in 2x02. instead, in this scene, i think louis simply did not expect daniel to so openly accept his offer of connection and is just stunned to hear this bristly old man reflect his own feelings so accurately. he’s finally found someone who understands his situation with lestat. someone who understands this dichotomy of longing and anguish all at the same time. obviously, their situations are not a 1:1 but this scene has always stood out to me as a parallel between daniel and louis’s previous relationships.

a key part about this whole daniel and louis form a “strange alliance” thing is that it seems to stem from the two men realising that they have a lot more in common than they initially believed. that’s why it’s “strange”: because it’s unexpected.

although in recent episodes they’re definitely at odds with each other, this scene combined with other sprinklings of subtle moments of connection suggest to me that daniel might become a genuine friend to louis. it is a strange friendship but they both want to get to the bottom of louis’s memories. no one else in dubai is able to tell louis how it really is and is able to actually push him to question the lies he’s been fed (and that he’s fed himself). intentionally or not, daniel is looking out for louis and is indirectly helping him to accept his past mistakes. maybe he sometimes pushes him too hard or says some stuff he probably shouldn’t but ultimately daniel is the catalyst for louis actually remembering the truth. without him louis would not have come as far as he as over the course of the series

[goodwhump-temp]

Jake Green Whump | Jericho (2006)

IM BACK. 1x01 Pilot - Emotional, car crash, leg injury, bleeding, limp, weak, ambulancia 1x02 Fallout - Climbing/leg pain cont., limp, shot at 1x03 Four Horsemen - Limp cont. 1x04 Walls of Jericho - Slight limp 1x05 Federal Response - Confronted by Eric, mysterious knowledge, begins to talk about past 1x06 9:02 - Mitch lore, angry, knocked unconscious, punched, thrown, held back 1x07 Long Live the Mayor - Jonah lore (🥵), manhandled 1x08 Rogue River - Shot at, flashbanged, held at gunpoint, Iraq lore, hospital invaded 1x09 Crossroads - Spaced out (beginning), shot at, suicidal 1x12 The Day Before - Flashback; Afghan/Iraq/Contractor lore, wanted, friend dying, 1x13 Black Jack - Voluntold LOL (04:50), shoved, gut-punched w/ stick, pain 1x14 Heart of Winter - Truck flipped, leg pinned, bleeding, pain, slowly freezing to death, hypothermia, tired x3, comforted, guilt, confesses PTSD, emotional pain (+dad bonding), crying 1x15 Semper Fidelis - Hypothermia recovery, limp, betrayed, confrontation, held at gunpoint, knocked unconscious 1x16 Winter's End - Limping 1x17 One Man's Terrorist - Held at gunpoint, hostage 1x18 A.K.A. - Pinned, held at gunpoint 1x19 Casus Belli - Angry, worried, arrested 1x20 One if by Land - Hostage, interrogated, knife put to throat, shot at/surrounded 1x22 Why We Fight - (Flashback; POS/family drama), shot at, sobbing x2

2x01 Reconstruction - Manhandled, angry 2x02 Condor - Tackled, scared, angry 2x03 Jennings & Rall - Aggravated, more Jake lore! 2x06 Sedition - Surrenders, manhandled, [tortured; restrained, isolated, sleep deprived, heat exhaustion, dehydrated], coughing, hallucinating, weak, jolted awake

[veryloudbrain]

walter + henry "masterpost" (canon)

season 1

1x01 they sit together at dinner(?). before wille grabs their attention, they seem deep in conversation and HENRY GLANCES AT WALTER’S LIPS (im delulu ..but not really). this is their first canon interaction. i cannot make this shit up. i’m losing my mind. they sit together in class. they stick close (walter is fucking leaning on henry) at the very first party (after wille’s initiation). they’re both drinking. walter is spotted without henry for like a literal millisecond (idk where his mans went). walter and henry hang with stella and felice (at least until felice runs off to throw up lol) when wille is like,, crowdsurfing (using that term loosely) walter is not with henry mans lost him where is he.. (probably throwing up somewhere idk)

1x02 simon sits between them at lunch.

they sit together in class (on monday? the party was friday.. i assume)

math tests are handed out. they sit close and show their grades to eachother. (comparing results maybe ?)

wille mentions they take private lessons.. together ? over the weekend ? bro i cant defend them. (not that i want to)

henry joins rowing practice. they’re wearing MATCHING SHIRTS. i cannot make this shit up.

they’re both attending rowing practice still when august.. kisses simon (LMAO)

they debatably sit together at the movie night. they’re social distancing for some reason but no one is between them. henry looks over at walter (i’m delulu, he was probably looking at august) after The Jumpscare

1x03 the week after the horror movie (exact day unknown) henry sits with wille in class, but walter is in the seat literally next to him just,, with a space lol

(same week) they work out on the SAME GODDAMN MAT in p.e (either that or their mats are placed so close they don’t show a space.. idk which is gayer tbh)

they stick together during the parents day, but sit in different rows in church (..for some reason?)

after church neither of them are spotted interacting with any adult or even eachother in the background. they went ~poof~

i think you see walter entering his dorm? but it could be a different background actor honestly i don't know

for breakfast the day after: henry mentions to walter that his dad recognized his surname.

“no, i know” “how long have you known?” “i know because my… my dad recognized your surname”

this convo confirms to me that they didn’t know eachother before hillerska.

note: the convo was very light-hearted and henry was smiling (this has lead to theories about their parents having dated in the past, i also heard that uno, walter's actor, confirmed this but i haven't seen this for myself so i'm not sure)

1x04 they sit together while watching erik’s funeral on TV the Society "meeting". henry is never technically explicitly shown to drink or take pills but he seems inebriated and picks up a pack of pills from the table so i'm gonna assume he did both (so much fanfic potential i'm clawing at the walls)

1x05 they’re not sitting together in class, both having 2 desks by themselves until wille joins henry. walter is in the seat directly behind him. (side note: henry is wearing the same goddamn sweater he was at the Society meeting. was it washed or does he just stink of booze in class ? LMAO)

plot explained why they aren’t sitting together !! walter was meant to do a presentation with alexander and therefore left the seat for him.

they sit together again in class. this would be the week after the class they didn’t.

henry attends another Society “emergency meeting” (alexander was caught with the drugs) (this isn't walty but idc)

henry looks stressed/conflicted after the 2nd Society emergency meeting, but walks out with wille. (probably hard for him cause he can tell something’s going on between wille and simon, but pinning it on alexander is also a shitty thing to do)

they(walty) stand together outside before the whole lucia thing starts.

walter is fiddling with something with his left hand. it doesn’t show up in the shot, but henry is right there on his left. (they were obviously having a thumb war /j)

they’re both talking with wille after the lucia thing, but they’re so caught up in their conversations they don’t even bat an eye when wille’s whole life falls apart (it's not funny but it's really fucking funny)

1x06 at breakfast sometime after the video got out. henry and walter are talking abt how wilmon sat together at the movie night and that they talked abt it after.

h “remember the movie night?” w “yeah” h “when they sat next to eachother” w “exactly!” h “we talked abt that” w “yeah we talked abt that!”

(as if they weren’t also sitting next to eachother)

in class sometime that week (tuesday or later) they sit separate in class again. walter is gossiping (or just talking tbh idk) with some other students while henry sits alone. wille sits next to henry and henry attempts small talk with wille to cut the tension) (walty are once again only separated by the aisle lol)

they sit together in church on christmas day (or eve ? i’m not sure honestly)

they also talk together (+vincent och nils) outside church after. henry quickly noticed wilmon hugging (gay noticing gay frfr)

[i need it to be known this was initially written by me right after season 2 came out and i rewatched everything]

[jellybeanium124]

garlic soup (goop) ranked by how awkward they're all going to be about this new relationship dynamic from least to most awkward:

archie. archie is the rare type of autistic who's socially oblivious yet aware in exactly the right amounts (with a heaping dose of unending good vibes and nonchalance) to always come off as charming and affable instead of awkward. even when she's saying things that should by all rights be awkward and weird it never feels awkward. I think awkward archie is a rare sight to behold. she flirts with jim and basically stumbles ass backwards into dating the Nicest Man In The Entire World and the Badass Pirate Queen. she's ecstatic. she's thrilled. she's having a great time. she is not catching that this situation could be awkward.

jim. jim is dtf. they're best friends with olu and they clearly really like archie and flirts a little with zheng. jim was probably playing the intermediary role already, helping olu and archie get to know each other better, so adding zheng to the mix is easy peasy lemon squeezy. and jim doesn't mind a bit of awkwardness. did they handle visiting their nana in the best way? perhaps not, but while the awkwardness bothered them a little, they weren't that awkward.

olu. olu, bless his heart, can absolutely get awkward when romance is involved. let me point you to 1x02 and how he responds to the older man suggesting he's in love. olu absolutely has an awkward streak in him that comes out when relationships are involved. olu knows zheng has a very different personality from jim and archie. archie has never repressed a single thing in her life, and while jim can be repressed and secretive, they've opened up quite a bit. zheng is still repressed and archie and jim's loud and open approach to relationships could freak her out for many reasons (she doesn't have control of the situation, feelings are embarrassing), so he's going to be stressing a little at the beginning before everything's settled yet. he's going to be the one reminding the three of them about a little tool called "communication."

zheng. I love zheng with my whole heart and I love how awkward she also gets when it comes to her own feelings. I love how olu turns her into a teenage girl, almost. she's spent her entire life repressing her own emotions to come off as a badass, so they kinda didn't get a chance to develop past her teenage years, most likely. she's never had one good partner, let alone three, and it's absolutely going to be overwhelming. she's absolutely going to be freezing up and fumbling and being awkward until things settle.

[bloatedandalone04]

It’s Not Love

➪the one where you’re ‘with’ shane but fall in love with rick. (requested)

Warnings: the walking dead themed topics, near death, blood, death, descriptions of blood, descriptions of death, Merle (enough said), angst, unrequited love (twice, ouch), self deprecating thoughts, this takes place in 1x02 and 1x03 {I wrote this within 2 days, which is super quick for me, sorry if it’s not the best <3}

Word Count: 5.5k | Part 2

If you were to ask your past self, where do you see yourself in five years?

  This definitely wouldn’t have been your answer. 

  Trying to survive the ending of the world, is the only reasonable answer to that question, as bizarre as that sounds. 

  A month ago, you were ready to go back to being a full time nurse, but that all went to hell, literally, as the dead were seeming to be walking the earth. It was a movie you’ve seen countless times, but that still didn’t prepare you for the post-apocalyptic world you were currently living in. What could?

  You were off work for about half a year, due to your mothers illness that ultimately ended in her death, and were counting down the days until you were able to return to your beloved job as a nurse. The distraction was needed badly, but the universe had other plans.

  A few days before your scheduled return, you received a phone call from your close friend and coworker. She told you to come over and be quick about it, but you weren’t quick enough. When you pushed open the blood splattered door to her house, you saw something you’ve never seen outside an operating room. Blood, body parts and guts were strewn all over the living room, your friends lifeless eyes staring coldly back at you as your eyes blew wide in fear and horror. The person-like being that made a meal out of her slowly stood up, it’s attention fully on you now. 

  You turned and tripped over the coffee table, your head harshly smacking off the armrest of the couch as you fell to the floor. Your arms caught your body and you tried to stand up, but the hand on your leg kept you on the carpet covered ground. Screams flooded through your mouth as the thing crawled on top of you, its strength a bit surprising as its body was frail and decomposing. 

  Your head turned as its teeth came snapping towards you, the destination being your neck. Before it could take a bite out of you, its head was blown open, blood splattering on you as well as the already blood covered wall.

  A hand clamps down on your shoulder and easily pulls you to your feet. Standing before you was a man, an attractive one at that. His other hand was on his gun that was holstered to his belt, an expressionless look on his face. “Are you okay?” He asked and you couldn’t seem to form any words. You looked to your right, your eyes tearing up at the sight of your dead friend. 

  Trembling, all you could let out were quiet whimpers. 

That didn’t seem to sit well with the stranger as his grip tightened on his gun and his hand held a strong hold on your shoulder. “Use your words,” he muttered, though you could still hear him quite clearly. “Are you okay?”

  The words were more spaced out, and as his gun was about to be brought up, your mouth released a quick sob. “What’s going on?”

  It was hardly audible, and the man wasn’t expecting you to ask that as his brows furrowed and he stepped away. He looked back and it was then that you realised he wasn’t alone. In the doorway stood a woman and a boy, who you could only assume is her child. He looked no older than ten, and the way the woman held his body behind hers showed how protective she was of him. 

  The three eyed you cautiously as the man released his grip on his gun. “I need you to listen to me very carefully,” he said, his voice low and steady, his calmness making your frantic panting look crazy. Keeping one hand on your shoulder, he pointed to the side without looking over, his brown eyes continuing to stare into yours. “Did it bite you?”

  You were beyond confused at this point, and not to mention in shock. “What?” 

  The man was patient, surprising you as his cold exterior was anything but nice. “Did it bite you? Are you hurt?” 

  Looking over at the thing, you felt sick. You shake your head, swallowing the bile. “No,” you answer, learning your lesson from before and speaking when you were asked a question. “What is going on?”

  He glanced behind him again, the two adults talking with their eyes. “Do you know what’s been happening at all?” He asked, much softer this time.

  “No,” you say quickly. “I’ve noticed that it’s been quiet lately, and the streets are less busy than usual….I don’t know what the hell is going on.”

  He nodded, taking his hand off your shoulder and stepping away from you. “Do you have anywhere to go? Family? Friends?”

  “No,” you look over at your friend again, your heart breaking at the state of her. “She was all I had.” You’re sure you look as broken as you sound. 

  The man and woman whisper back and forth for a few seconds before he turns back to you. “You can come with us,” he offers, smiling at you for a second. “If you have no one else.”

  You look back at the kid and feel your heart fall at his strong expression, masking the scared look in his eyes. “Is it safe?”

  “I’ll look out for you,” the man said, holding his hand out to you. “My name is Shane.”

  And look out for you he did. 

  Shane was like your personal protector. He kept a close eye on you every time you went out for supplies, stayed up with you when it was your turn on watch, and has even given you small gifts like your beloved necklace you were currently wearing. 

  He was also who you went to when you needed to relieve stress or frustration, and you were who he went to. 

  However, recently, you found yourself needing him less and less. He was usually the one to start the intimate moments with you, while you just went along with it. Shane was a good guy, at least he was to you, but there was someone else. 

  Lori. 

  She was the woman who stood with her son, behind Shane, the day you met him. The day he saved your life. 

  Maybe that was why you felt like you owed him, maybe it wasn’t.

  Either way, you were tired of competing with Lori. He was seeing both of you, and that was why he has yet to make things official with you. Both you and Lori were his ‘secrets’, though she seemed to have no problem with it. 

  You wished you could say the same. 

  You were collecting sticks with Carl when Shane pulled you away from the group and into woods beside where the camp was set up. You hid your sigh as you had a sneaking suspicion as to where this was going. 

  When you were a good distance away, you stopped and leaned against a tree, your hands pressed to Shane’s chest while his fingers played with your necklace. “What’s the matter?” You ask when he didn’t move in to kiss you or try to slip your shirt off.

  “Just thinkin’,”

  “About your friend?” Before all of this, Shane had a best friend. You didn’t know his name, just that they were fellow officers and partners and saw each other pretty much everyday. His friend was shot just over a month ago, and didn’t make it when the walkers came. Shane said he looked for him, and found him dead in the hospital. 

  Every now and then, he talks to you about him, something you’ve noticed he doesn’t do with Lori. “Yeah,”

  “You miss him?” You run your hands up and down his chest, trying to ease his nerves.

  He sighed and nodded. “Yeah,”

  “I’m sorry,” you say, taking his hand in yours and kissing the back of it. “I wish I could’ve met him. He sounded like a really good guy.”

  “The best,” Shane mumbled, shaking his head afterwards.

  You choose your next words carefully, knowing that Shane can easily take them the wrong way. “Do you think that maybe he’s still out there? That you saw someone else in the hospital and mistook them for him?”

  Shane shook his head, again, his hand gripping your waist tightly. “I’m sure it was him. I know it,” he said, his voice low. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you that some of the group is heading to Atlanta tomorrow.”

  “Atlanta?” Your ears perk up at that. “Really?”

  “Yeah, we need to get more supplies,”

  “Are you going?”

  “No,” he answered. “I’m gonna stay back, keep an eye on things.”

  “Of course you are,” you tease, trailing your free hand up to grip the back of his neck. “You should take a break from being everyone’s hero.”

  “I will when I stop breathin’,” you roll your eyes at that. “You should go.”

  You furrow your brows, standing up straighter. “You think I should go?”

  “Why not,” he shrugged, this time pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. “Glenn’s going, Andrea’s going. You should go, too. Get a change of scenery.”

  That surprised you. He wanted you to go without him, when he usually kept you glued to his side whenever you left for town. You couldn’t count the number of times he refused to let you go alone or with another member of the group without him being there with you.

  Maybe this will prove your worth to him.

  “Okay,” you nod before he could change his mind. “I’ll go, but just because you begged.”

  Shane scoffed. “I didn’t beg for nothin’,” he said, leaning down and closing the gap between the two of you. Like always, his lips on yours made you forget about your surroundings, something that could be quite lethal in this new world, and you wrap your arms around his neck as he easily picks you up.

  You’re sure your back is scratched from the tree by the time you make your way back to the group a little while later. Shane cuts off and heads over to Lori and Carl, not giving you a second glance as he did so. 

  You shake off the feeling of being completely used and down right worthless as you walk off to find Glenn and go over the plan for the following day.

-

It wasn’t love with Shane, that much was obvious. He didn’t feel the same way about you that you did him, and you weren’t sure how much more you could take. It was hard being the girl on the side in the old world, but being the girl on the side in an apocalypse was down right humiliating. 

  You try to take your mind off Shane as you stare at your surroundings, attempting to enjoy the new scenery, like he said you should.

  Enough.

  When did you become so man crazy? After a bit more thought put into that one, you decide to ignore the question. 

  The group decided to take shelter in a store that lined one of the many streets in Atlanta. Glenn had split off and gone to the roof of another building when he heard the sound of the walkers getting excited about something. That was a while ago, and he still wasn’t back yet.

  Just when you nudged T-Dog in hopes he’d go with you to get him, the radio broke the silence. “I’m back. Got a guest, plus four geeks in the alley,”

  You let out a sigh of relief.

  It was only a few seconds later when Glenn and his guest came barreling into the room from the back door. Almost instantly, Andrea’s hand was on her gun, her other hand shoving the stranger into the boxes as she pointed it at him. “You son of a bitch, we ought to kill you,” she seethed.

  “Just chill out, Andrea,” Morales said as he threw off his protective gear. “Back off.”

  “Come on, ease up,” Jacqui joined in on defending the new guy.

  “Ease up? You’re kidding me, right?” Andrea asked, not giving up as she continued to point the gun at the man. “We’re dead because of this stupid asshole.”

  “Andrea,” Morales said sternly, walking up next to her while glancing at her would be victim. “I said back the hell off.”

  The man didn’t look scared, which was weird seeing as he had a gun pointed at his face. No, he just looked confused, and over the situation.

  When she still didn’t move, Morales shrugged. “Well, pull the trigger,”

  That seemed to have snapped her out of her own thoughts, and she pulled away from him, her eyes squinting as she held back tears. “We’re dead. All of us,” she shook her head. “Because of you.”

  “I don’t understand,” the man said, and it was then when you realised he sounded as attractive as he looked. You had a hard time taking your eyes off him, but Morales helped you out by grabbing him by the arm and leading him away.

  “Look,” he muttered while you and Glenn walked behind them, keeping up with their pace easily. “We came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving. You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it’s the O.K. Corral.”

  When you reached the front of the store, the man paused in front of the glass. “Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds,” T-Dog said as he walked past him.

  Andrea stood a few feet behind the new guy. “You just rang the dinner bell,”

  You all look at the front, the groans of walkers being muffled by the doors they were currently pushing up against. There were hundreds, unlike ten minutes ago when they didn’t even know you were in there. “Get the picture now?”

  The glass was cracking by the second, the piercing sound growing louder with every bang against it. When one of the walkers started banging a rock against the glass, you all stepped away, and your hand instinctively held onto Glenn’s arm. 

  “What the hell were you doing out there, anyway?” Andrea asked as she kept her eyes on the doors.

  “Trying to flag the helicopter,” the man huffed.

  “Helicopter?” T-Dog scoffed. “Man, that’s crap. Ain’t no damn helicopter.”

  “Did you hit your head out there?” You ask, making him look over at you for the first time. He stopped his uneasy swaying for a second as you made eye contact, his eyes looking from yours to the hand you had on Glenn’s arm.

  “You were chasing a hallucination,” Jacqui tried telling him, taking his attention away from you. “Imagining things, it happens.”

  “I saw it,” he said sternly. 

  You and Glenn shared a look and you were about to ask him if he also saw a helicopter when Morales spoke up again. “Hey, T-Dog, try that C.B,” he said. “Can you contact the others?”

  “Others?” The guest asked, looking away from the glass again to look at Morales. “The refugee center?”

  “Yeah, the refugee center,” Jacqui said sarcastically. “They’ve got biscuits waiting in the oven for us.”

  “Hey,” you said, making her look over at you. You gave her a look, seeming to be the only one, other than Glenn, who realised that this guy really didn’t know much about what was going on in the world.

  When you looked back over at him, your shoulders tensed up when you saw that he was already looking at you. “Got no signal, maybe the roof,” T-Dog suggested, making you break eye contact with the handsome stranger. 

  Just as he said that, a gun shot was heard from the roof. “Oh, no,” Andrea sighed, frustration lacing her voice. “Is that Dixon?”

  At the mention of the last name, you all groaned and began making your way to the stairs. “What is that maniac doing?” Morales seethed, pushing past Glenn as he stormed towards the front of the group. 

  “I knew we shouldn’t have let him come with us,” you muttered, pulling away from Glenn and running after Andrea. 

  “Come on,” Glenn said to his guest, waving him towards the stairs. “Let’s go.”

  Morales pushed the door open and ran out onto the roof, shouting, “Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?!” 

  Merle laughed from his stance near the edge of the roof, firing off another shot. 

  “Oh, Jeez,” Andrea sighed again.

  “Are you out of your friggin mind?” You ask angrily, feeling Glenn’s hand grab your shoulder as he pulls you away from the madman.

  “Hey,” Dixon said. “Y’all be more polite to a man with a gun, huh?” 

  He jumped down from the platform, landing on his feet as he began walking towards the group. 

  “Only common sense,”

  “Man, you wasting bullets we ain’t even got!” T-Dog was fuming as he jumped down the stairs, coming face to face with Merle. “And you’re bringing even more of them down on our ass, man, just chill!”

  “Hey! Bad enough I’ve got this taco-bender on my ass all day, now I gotta take orders from you?” His words made you close your eyes as you tried to calm yourself down. Man, you really couldn’t stand this guy. “I don’t think so, bro. That’ll be the day.”

  “‘That’ll be the day’? You got something you want to tell me?”

   “Hey, T-Dog, man, just leave it,” Morales tried deescalating the growing argument, but to no avail. “It ain’t worth it.”

  “No,” T-Dog said, holding his hand up to his friend while he faced Merle.

  “Merle,” Morales tried again. “Just relax, okay? We’ve got enough trouble.”

  Off to the side, you stood behind Glenn, a worried look on your face that matched his. “This is bad,” your quiet voice caught the attention of the stranger, his eyes flickering between you and your best friend.

  Glenn shook his head at the man, seeming to know that he wanted to step in and involve himself in the fight that was about to break out. 

  “You want to know the day?” Merle asked, being met with a ‘yeah’ from T-Dog. “I’ll tell you the day, Mr. Yo. It’s the day I take orders from a-”

  Your eyes widened at the slur, as did Glenn’s, and before you knew it, T-Dog was swinging at the taller man, who easily dodged it and instead hit him with his gun. “Hey, come on, that’s enough,” the stranger said, ignoring Glenn’s silent pleas as he lunged forward. 

  The second he got closer to Dixon, he was met with his fist that sent him tumbling backwards, close to where you and Glenn were standing once again. The fight grew bigger, Merle very clearly being the one with the upper hand, and you crouched down to help the man up as Glenn took off towards Merle. 

  T-Dog’s face hit the metal pole and he fell to the ground. “Stop it, Dixon! Get off him!” Andrea yelled. “Dixon, you’re going to hurt him!” 

  You tune out the sounds of punching and kicking as you pull the man up to a kneeling position. His hand went to his face, making you instantly look for any blood, your inner nurse coming out. When you concluded that there was none, you helped him to his feet, watching as Dixon delivered a quick punch to Morales’ gut.

  In a second, Merle had his gun out and pointed directly at T-Dog’s face, making your heart drop as you ran up to them, dodging the stranger’s outstretched arm as he tried to keep you next to him and away from the man with the weapon. “Dixon, don’t!”

  “No no no, please,” Andrea nearly whimpered as she stood next to Jacqui. 

  Everyone was panting in fear and adrenaline as Merle angrily spit on T-Dog’s chest. “Yeah. Alright!” He shouted in his hoarse voice as he stood up, the gun still pointed downwards. “We’re gonna have ourselves a little powwow, huh?”

  He looked at the group, making Glenn grip your arm when Merle’s eyes landed on you.

  “Talk about who’s in charge. I vote me. Anybody else?”

  You wrap your arm around Morales as Glenn, Andrea and Jacqui pull T-Dog away from the aggressive man. 

  “Huh? Democracy time, y’all,” Dixon continued. “Show of hands, huh? All in favor? Huh? Come on, let’s see ‘em.”

  From beside you, Morales hesitantly raised his hand, his other one resting on yours that was pressed to his lower stomach. “Oh, come on,” Andrea begged. 

  “All in favor?” Merle asked again, making Jacqui and Glenn raise their hands as well, Jacqui’s middle finger sticking up. “Yeah. That’s good.” He said once Andrea and you raised your hands. 

  You didn’t want to, but what else was there to do? Merle was crazy, and he had been since the day you met him.

  “Now, that means I’m the boss, right? Anybody else? Hm? Anybody?”

  It seemed as though Merle forgot there was a new guy in the group as he got his unexpected answer to his endless questions. “Yeah,” and just like that, the man knocked Merle to the ground with his own gun. He immediately got to work, handcuffing the winded man to the nearest pole, tugged him upwards and making him sit against it. 

  “Who the hell are you, man?!”

  “Officer friendly,” the man muttered and you worried yourself when you felt your body get turned on by his words. 

  Not the time, but also, you know, the time.

  “Look here, Merle. Things are different now,” the man said, taking the gun that was a few feet away and emptying it. He threw the slur back in his face, making Merle squint his eyes in anger. “There are no dumb as shit, inbred white-trash fools, either. Only dark meat and white meat. There’s us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart.”

  “Screw you, man,” Merle muttered, not seeming to realise the seriousness of the situation. 

  The man’s eyes met yours again, and you tried to hide the heat that rushed to your face by pressing your cheek to Morales’ shoulder. “I can see you make a habit of missing the point,”

  “Yeah? Well, screw you twice,”

  In a second, Merle’s gun was pressed to the side of his head. “You ought to be polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense,”

  Oh, yeah, this man was too attractive to put into words. 

  You tried to hide your grin as you helped Morales steady himself, your hand leaving his lower abdomen.

  “You wouldn’t. You’re a cop,”

  “All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and his son,” he said slowly. “And anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I’ll give you a moment to think about that.”

  Before he stood up, the man patted down Merle, finding his powder in his pocket. 

  He flicked his nose as he stood up. “You got some on your nose, there,”

  “What are you gonna do? Arrest me?” Merle laughed. The smirk was wiped clean off his face when the police officer threw the container off the side of the roof. “Hey! What are you doing, man?! That’s my stuff!”

-

A little while later, Glenn assigned you and Jacqui to keep watch over the entrance to the basement, Andrea and the guest to watch over the store, while he and Morales scoped out the sewer. 

  You were sitting against the wall, your legs stretched out in front of you with your right one crossed over your left. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” Jacqui asked after sitting in silence for about ten minutes. 

  “Nothing, really,” you mumbled, glancing into the hole beside you.

  “You sure about that? Don’t act I didn’t see the way you were eyeing officer friendly up on that roof,” she teased from her seated position across from you.

  You shake your head, trying to wipe the smile from your lips. “He’s got a wife,” was all you said.

  “So be his friend,” she offered. “Better yet, be his ally.”

  “I was a nurse,” you mumble, not wanting to go into too much detail about your past life. “I have no training in fighting or….protecting people.. I can’t even protect myself.”

  “That’s not true,” she bumped your foot with hers. “I’ve seen you out there. Sure, you could be a bit quicker, but we all can learn from each other. Learn from him. Borrow his strength. Lord knows we all can use some of it. We just met him and he’s already shown us that he’s got a better handle on things than most of us do.”

  You nod, looking up at her. “I don’t even know his name,”

  “Well, don’t let that stop you,” she teased again, making you laugh. “You deserve someone that will cherish you, honey. One day, you’ll find that person.”

  Your smile faltered at her words, and you realised that you had wasted a lot of your time with Shane, who hid you from the others, who didn’t cherish you like you deserved. Finally, you realised it was time to move on. He saved your life, and you would be forever grateful for that, but you spent the last month owing him. It was time to let go.

  Later, Glenn, Morales, Jacqui and yourself were met with the sound of glass breaking as you met back up with Andrea and the officer. The first set of doors to the building had shattered, leaving only one barrier between you and the undead. “What did you find down there?” The man asked.

  “Not a way out,” Morales answered. 

  “We need to find a way,” Andrea said.

  “And soon,” Jacqui added, her hand grabbing yours as you stood next to her. 

  “We should get back up to the roof,” you suggest. “Check on things up there.”

  The group agreed and that’s where you are now, trying to figure out a way out of the store. You were standing a few feet away, down to do anything they came up with to escape, and admired the view you got from this high up.

  If it weren’t for the walkers and their grunts and groans, this place would actually be pretty peaceful. It was a few minutes later when the stranger you were quickly becoming fond of broke away from the group and stood next to you, a mere five inches between the two of you. “Have you thought of something yet?”

  “Gettin’ there,” he answered, glancing between you and the crowded streets below. “Listen, I don’t mean to get all nosey, but I noticed how quick you were in aiding me when that piece of shit Merle took a swing at me. I wanted to say thank you.”

  His words caught you off guard and you looked over at him, shrugging slightly. “It’s no big deal. It’s kinda in my nature,”

  “What is?”

  “Helping people,” you say, looking up at the tall buildings that made up the city. “I was a nurse before all this.”

  This time your words surprised him. “You seem very young to be a nurse,”

  You laughed. “I’m twenty six. If I’m right, within the next few days I’ll be twenty seven,” you trail off. “I’ve kinda lost track of the days since, you know.”

  “Well, happy birthday, then,”

  “Thank you,” you grin up at him, your heart skipping a beat when he matches your smile. “I also wanted to say thank you for standing up to Merle. A lot of us have been waiting for the day he got what was coming to him and met his match. So thank you.”

  The police officer shrugged, taking his eyes off you to glance back at the man himself, still cuffed to the pole. “I’ve dealt with men like Merle for most of my career. It’s no problem,”

  “Yeah,” you nod. “I guess you would’ve, huh?”

  You stand in silence for a few seconds before you look over at him again.

  “You know, we just had a whole conversation and I still don’t know your name,”

  That made him laugh, his head tilting upwards. “Rick Grimes,”

  “Y/n,” you smile at him again.

  He smiles back before Glenn calls the two of you back over to the rest of the group.

-

You considered it a miracle when you heard the sound of the box truck through the store’s cargo doors. Jacqui grabbed a hold of your hand and pulled you with her to the truck. “Y/n, get up front with Rick, the rest of us will hold them off while he gets us out of here,” Morales said as he jumped into the open back of the truck. 

  Opening the passenger side door, you take Rick’s outstretched hand and allow him to pull you up and beside him. It took one glance in the back for you to quickly ask, “Where’s Glenn?” Rick glanced at you before he took off, making your eyes widen in dread.

  As soon as you were about to ask again, the sound of a car alarm going off, followed by the screeching tires of a red Dodge Challenger was heard and you quickly looked in the mirror. You sighed out in relief, slumping back against the seat as the car quickly passed the truck. 

  Ten minutes into the drive, while the group in the back talked about how they left Merle and how pissed Daryl was going to be, you stared forward, your eyes on the red car as you absentmindedly played with your necklace. 

  Rick glanced over at you before looking back at the road. “That’s a pretty necklace,”

  You hummed, looking at him then at the charm. “Oh, yeah,” you trailed off. “My friend gave it to me.”

  Rick shook his head, a smile playing on his lips as he looked in the rearview mirror and at the group. “Is this friend’s name Glenn?”

  Your eyes widened at that and you quickly looked over at him. “Oh, no,” you say, but notice how he didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Glenn has sorta become my best friend. He looks out for me, I look out for him. We’ve bonded during all this.”

  Rick nodded, seeming to believe your words. 

  “We’re just friends,” you say, mentally kicking yourself at how unbelievably single you just made yourself sound. “The guy who gave it to me, his name is Shane.”

  “I have a friend named Shane,” Rick says quietly. 

  Your brows furrow at that, your heart skipping a beat. There was no way that the man beside you was Shane’s friend, right? He told you he saw him in the hospital, dead. He wouldn’t have lied to you, right?

  You brushed it off as a coincidence just as Morales nudged Rick with his hand. “Turn right up here and go all the way,” 

  Within minutes, the familiar camp came into view. Glenn had beaten you home, though that was obvious from the start. The truck stopped, and while the others eagerly got out from the back, you stayed in the front, watching as Rick looked around. “It’s not much,” you say quietly. “But it’s home.”

  With that, you exit the truck and walk past the hugging sisters and towards the tents. You were barely a few feet past them when Shane made his way to you, wrapping his arms around your body. “You were gone so long,”

  “I’m sorry,” you mumbled, not being able to bring yourself to fully return the hug. “We got stuck and this man, Rick-” 

  Your words were cut off when the man himself got out of the truck, his eyes meeting the ones of Carl. It was then that you realized that the “coincidence” wasn’t a coincidence at all. Shane looked at him, as well, his eyes widening. 

  The tearful yell of the word “dad” was all that was heard before Carl was sprinting out of his mother’s arms and towards Rick. The scene brought tears to your eyes for two reasons, one; the fact that this man was lucky enough to find his son and wife in a world like this, and two; because it was true. Shane lied to you. For weeks. 

  Rick’s arms were around his son within seconds, the crying father falling to the ground for a moment before standing back up. In the midst of things, Shane’s hand slipped into yours, knowing that he had been caught in a lie, but not knowing how to face it. You couldn’t even bring yourself to look at him at this point. 

  Carl was carried back over to Lori, where the two adults shared a kiss before embracing their son. 

  Now you knew why he hid you from Lori and the others. Finally, it made sense. 

   “You lied,” you muttered as you backed away, pulling your hand from Shane’s. He tried calling out to you but you turned around, leaving him behind as you walked into the woods, the air drying the tears that formed in your eyes as you left the safety of the camp.  

[guardian-angle22]

Tag Game Tuesday: 911 Lone Star Fandom Edition

Thank you for the tags! @thisbuildinghasfeelings @rmd-writes & @goldenskykaysani

When did you first start watching Lone Star? Who or what introduced you to the show?

I first started watching LS around the 2nd or 3rd episode of season 1 after seeing some adorable gifs of Owen & TK floating around on my tumblr feed.

I wish I could find out who patient zero was that first brought them to my attention from my follow list, but I think it must've been someone from the Skam fandom? maybe?

Which season is your favorite?

Season 3, baby!! and ngl, I highly doubt anything will top it at this point just based off where the plots have gone since.

Who is your favorite character? (Bonus: If you answered TK or Carlos, who is your favorite besides them?)

I mean - y'all knew what the answer would be to this one, right? Obviously Paul is my favorite. I do also really love TK. I know I have a reputation for loving Paul because I get very animated about him LOL... but I would like to put TK in my pocket and keep him safe forever, thank you.

Top five episodes. Go!

3.13

2.09

3.08

2.08

3.04

If you could pick any character to be given a "begins" episode, who would it be and what would that episode look like?

Paul. One hundred percent, I need it from Paul. I know everyone and their brother is going to or has answered Carlos for this and that tracks for a tarlos based fandom... but my unpopular opinion is that we've gotten quite a bit of character backstory for him this past season compared to some others like Nancy, Paul, and Marj. I feel like Paul has been part of the core group since the beginning but hasn't seen the amount of meaty plots as some of the others have. He's due!

What is a scenario or storyline that you would like to see in season 5?

Okay, I have two ideas for this: - an episode in which some of the characters who rarely interact are somehow trapped together due to some kind of emergency/disaster/storm and must navigate their way out together while the rest of the team helps from the outside. There are a few groupings we could use for it, but I personally would have the potential pairings be one of the following (or all three at once??): Paul & Tommy... TK & Grace... Judd & Carlos. I feel like these 3 pairings are people we don't get to see interact one-on-one often (or at all) and it would be super fun! - a true HEAT WAVE. they very briefly had that heat thing happen in 4x01 but I want a whole episode about a temperature heat wave and how first responders have to deal with them. this is TEXAS, c'mon. Plus the theme of heat throughout the episode could pop up in various character's stories. Tarlos = sexy heat. One of the firefighters = heat in the form of pressure in their job like a promotion of some kind. etc.

What do you think is going on in this still?

I have absolutely no fucking clue 😂 So I will instead direct you to this wonderful little spec fic by @littlemissmarianna As much as I hate everything to do with the Gabriel plot and tbh am not excited to see its continuation... if they manage to pull something off like that fic, I might actually enjoy some of it!

We all know about the elusive 5x05 spicy scene that has been teased, so what is your prediction for how it could possibly top 1x02?

... soooooooo I must confess something here...

*whispers* I don't actually know all about the elusive 5.05 spicy scene. someone needs to fill me in. I have not been paying attention to spoilers & speculation as much this time around since last season's speculation went so terribly for me 🤭🤣

Where was the Tarlos honeymoon in your mind?

Something about Carlos "getting homesick after a weekend in Branson" just tickles me. and the sarcastic way TK talks about the idea of Carlos wanting to travel the world also just amuses me to no end...

so this paired with the way the wedding went down, I think TK wouldn't want to make Carlos travel very far. or leave his mother so soon. I think TK wants his husband to feel as safe and comfortable as possible and so they spend a weekend at a nice spa/resort near Austin. Some place like this: Miraval Austin and then spend the rest of their honeymoon week bundled up together at home.

Shoutout one of your favorite fan creations.

for fics, I'm gonna be a little lazy here and link some of my previous themed fic rec lists:

but truly there are some wonderful fics in those lists!!! For some fanart: - this one by @whatsintheboxmh is one of my faves. ankle grab my beloved. 🥺🥰 - this one of s5 TK by @fitzherbertssmolder is so adorable! - this one of BUTTERCUP! by @greentealycheejelly is absolutely precious. - this one of Paul & Marjan!! by @heartstringsduet is amazingggg. give me all the paul fanart - this one of Grace by @yorit1 is stunning.

I'm not sure who has already done this, but I'm gonna tag some mutuals that I don't think I've seen it from yet (no pressure though!!) @lemonlyman-dotcom @herefortarlos @tkstrandreyes @three-drink-amy @littlemissmarianna @mikibwrites @alrightbuckaroo

[mepuppy]

Let It Ride - Supernatural rewrite

A.N.: I do not own the characters, nor the storylines. I'm simply adding a twist to the episodes. Please feel free to help me out with constructive criticism on the story or the writing. Sorry for the mistakes, not proofread and english is not my first language. Here's the secon episode, I hope you like it.

1x01 1x02

Word Count: 8k

1x03 - Dead in the Water 

The Impala is parked in front of a building with a sign that says THE Lynnwood INN, with the Harley next to it. Inside the restaurant Dean is sitting with a basically empty plate in front of him while he circles obituaries in a newspaper.

“Hey, look at this one” he turns the paper and shows Y/n the one circled saying: CARLTON, SOPHIE - The Carlton family is sad to announce the death of their beloved daughter in a tragic swimming accident. Sophie Carlton, 18, was having her [...] Lake Manitoc WI, an [...] suddenly [...] 

The girl tries to think where she heard about Lake Manitoc before, because the name sounds familiar. “Where did I hear this name befo…” She starts but a waitress approaches.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asks, looking only at Dean who looks up and grins around the pen he's chewing on. But before anyone can say anything Sam comes over and sits down.

“Just the check, please.” He says and the waitress nods and walks away, once she’s out of earshot Dean drops his head, then looks at Sam.

“You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while.” As Dean points to Wendy walking away; she's wearing short shorts, y/n gets up and grabs her crossbody bag. “That's fun.”

Sam looks at him then at y/n, who hands him the newspaper rolling her eyes. “Dean found something.” She turns around and heads outside. Dean follows her with his eyes before turning to Sam.

“Here, take a look at this,” he says with the situation passing right over his head “I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago.” he explains handing the waitress the credit card when she approaches.

“A funeral?” Sam asks when she leaves again.

“Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever.” Dean makes a face and looks through the window seeing y/n getting on her bike with the helmet still in her hands.

“Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean.” he looks up to his brother 

“Other people just stop looking for them.” he raises one eyebrow.

“Something you want to say to me?” he asks when the waitress brings the receipt back and they head outside to meet with y/n.

“The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day.” Sam looks at Dean like he doesn’t understand english.

“Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?” the older brother asks, looking at the Impala next to the Harley.

“I don't know. Something. Anything.” he throws his hands in the air as they approach the girl waiting for them.

“You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I wanna find Dad as much as you do?” he turns to the youngest and his brows come together.

“Yeah, I know you do, it's just… ” he starts but Dean continues.

“I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies…”

“We will find John, okay? But until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Right?” Y/n cuts Dean off and looks at the two men with her helmet in the air, halfway to putting it on. “C’mon. Wisconsin, right?” she asks and puts the helmet on. Sam rolls his eyes. “How far?” she turns to them as they get in. 

The Impala drives past a sign that reads ‘Welcome to Lake Manitoc, WI’. Dean puts his arm out the window and points at the sign, and the girl holds a thumbs up.

They drive until reaching the Carlton house. The engines stop and they get out of their vehicles. Dean knocks on the door and a young man opens it.

“Will Carlton?” Dean asks 

“Yeah, that's right.” Will answers nodding his head.

“I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill and Agent Clover. We're with the US Wildlife Service.” Dean holds up an ID. “Can we ask you some questions?”

“Uhm, sure.” Will says and closes the door behind him heading to the lake. Bill Carlton, the father, is sitting on a bench on the dock. Will brings the trio around to see him. “So I guess you want to hear the story, right?” he looks at Sam who nods. “She was about a hundred yards out. That's where she got dragged down.”

“And you're sure she didn't just drown?” y/n asked.

“Yeah. She was a varsity swimmer.” Will says with a sad chuckle “She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as in her own bathtub.”

“So no splashing? No signs of distress?” Sam asked him and he looked over at the tallest man.

“No, that's what I'm telling you.”

“Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?” y/n stepped around Sam to look at Will.

“No. Again, she was really far out there.”

“‘You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?” Dean tries.

“No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?” he whips his head to Dean and asks worried.

“We'll let you know as soon as we do.” y/n tells him and turns around. She and Dean started head back to the car.

“What about your father?” Sam asks, pointing with his head at the older man. The other two stop and turn back. “Can we talk to him?” 

Will turns to look at Bill, then turns back. “Look, if you don't mind, I mean...he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot.”

“We understand.” Sam nods and turns around heading to the car. 

“So, now what? Police station?” Dean asks.

“I think is our best option right now.” y/s says, mounting her bike again.

Inside the police station the Sheriff is talking to them. “Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?” he sounds confused.

“You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister.” Sam explains to the sheriff what was told to them.

“Like what?” They walk into the Sheriff's office, he motions to chairs in front of his desk “Here, sit, please. There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake.” They all seat “There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster.”

Dean looks at his brother and best friend, but then scoffs to the sheriff “Yeah.” He laughs. “Right.” the two glance at Dean

“Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still…” Sheriff Jake sits down. “We dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there.”

“That's weird, though,” y/n starts “I mean, that's, that's the third missing body this year.” she says, tilting her head.

“I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about.” he tells looking at her and she nods. “Anyway…” Jake sighs and leans back “All this...it won't be a problem much longer.”

“What do you mean?” Dean asks, getting confused.

“Well, the dam, of course.” the sheriff looks at Dean. Sam nods.

“Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it sprung a leak.” Dean tries to save looking at y/n and back at the sheriff.

“It's falling apart,” Dean nods “and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that.” he looks between the three hunters.

“Exactly.” Sam nods.

There’s a tap on the door and a young woman enters. “Sorry, am I interrupting?” The trio stand up.”I can come back later.”

“Gentlemen, Madam, this is my daughter.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean.” Dean shakes Andrea’s hand.

“Andrea Barr. Hi.”

“Hi.” y/n says waving at her with a tight smile. Ans Sam raises his hand to give her a little wave too.

“They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake.” Jake tells his daughter and she nods with an understanding in her face. A boy walks in, around Andrea.

“Oh, hey there. What's your name?” Dean crouches to be at the little boy’s height. He walks away without speaking and Andrea follows.

“His name is Lucas.” the sheriff says looking at Lucas and Andrea as she gives him some crayons out of a box e he starts drawing.

“Is he okay?” y/n asks the officer looking at them too.

“My grandson's been through a lot. We all have.” he stands and goes to the office door. “Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know.” They all leave the office

“Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?” Dean asks looking more at Andrea than the sheriff as he asks

“Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south.” she says smiling and pointing in the direction.

“Two—would you mind showing us?” he asks, pretending to be confused, Andrea laughs.

“You want me to walk you two blocks?” she retorts, resting one hand on her hip.

“Not if it's any trouble.” he tries one last time, smiling charmingly. Sam looks at y/n from the corner of his eye and sees her rolling her eyes softly.

“I'm headed that way anyway.” Dean’s smile spread even wider. She turns to Lucas placing a kiss on the top of his head, looking at her father and saying “I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three.” then looking at the boy again “We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?”

“Thanks again.” Sam says following Dean and Andrea. Y/n smile and go after them.

Andrea is leading them through the street, with Dean by her side and the other two following behind. The car and bike left around the station. “So, cute kid.” Dean says smiling at her.

“Thanks.” she answers as they cross a street.

“Kids are the best, huh?” he throws back at her. Sam and y/n look at each other. Andrea glances at him and ignores him. They keep walking, until stopping in front of a building that says LAKEFRONT MOTEL.

“There it is. Like I said, two blocks.” she motions to the building.

“Thanks.” Sam says and she looks form Dean to Sam smiling, then looking back.

“Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line.” she leaves, calling back over her shoulder “Enjoy your stay!”

“'Kids are the best'?” y/n asks looking at the older man with a mockingly smile on her face.

“You don't even like kids.” Sam continues.

“I love kids.” Dean retorts back

“Name three children that you even know.” Sam teases 

Dean thinks and comes up empty. Sam waves a hand and walks into the motel with a laughing y/n following him. Dean scratches his head. “I'm thinking!” he follows the other two.

Inside the motel room, y/n gets out of the bathroom drying her hair in a towel, wearing a tanktop and some jeans, while Dean goes through his clothing. Sam works on his laptop. “So there's the three drowning victims this year.” he says changing tabs.

“Any before that?” Dean asks, grabbing a shirt and smelling it.

“Uh, yeah.” he skims through the article he has opened  “Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace.”

Dean tosses a pair of pants onto a bed together with the shirt he separated before. Y/n goes behind Sam to look at the screen. “So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?”

“This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me.” Sam shakes his head as he says it. Dean comes over to read over Sam's shoulder standing next y/n.

“Why?” she asks looking at the back of Sam’s head.

“Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing.” Sam looks at the Tribune homepage “Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it.” he scrolls to the comments section of an article. 

Dean points at something. “Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?”

Sam reads from the page. “Christopher Barr, the victim in May.” he clicks a link, opening a new page. 

The trio read the article: LOCAL MAN IN TRAGIC ACCIDENT. The picture loads: it shows a police officer with Lucas.

“Oh. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father.” y/n says leaning over Sam’s shoulder to look at the man on the screen, her bare shoulder pressed against Dean’s, that looked in her direction and encountered the low neckline of her tank top.

“Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued.” Sam skims through and clicks the picture for a better look, then scratches his head. “Maybe we have an eyewitness after all.”

“No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over.” y/n say looking back at Dean, who hurries to meet her eyes, swallowing.

“Okay, let me just hit the shower and we can go to the park and meet them, what do you say?” he asks her and Sam who nods.

Kids are laughing and playing. Andrea sits on a bench and watches Lucas, who is at another bench coloring and playing with toy soldiers. “Can we join you?” Sam asks, looking at her.

She looks up at the trio. “I'm here with my son.” she answers.

Dean looks over at Lucas. “Oh. Mind if I say hi?” he doesn't wait for an answer and goes over to Lucas.

“Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me.” Sam sits next to Andrea, while y/n walks a bit and stops looking at the other kids, closer to Dean than to Sam.

“How's it going?” Dean kneels down next to the bench where Lucas is coloring; when the boy doesn't even look up, Dean picks up one of the toy soldiers. “Oh, I used to love these things.” He imitates guns and explosions, then tosses the toy soldier down when the boy still doesn’t look at him. “So crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists.” y/n smiles and shakes her head looking down.

Lucas has a pile of drawings on the bench. Dean takes a look. The top one is of a big black swirl; the second one is of a red bicycle. Dean holds the bicycle one up “Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while?” he picks up a crayon “I'm not so bad myself.”

Dean sits on the bench, picks up a pad of paper, and starts drawing. “You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk.” he glances quickly at the boy “I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something.” he pauses “Anyway. Well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or, uh...or believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake.” he stops drawing and looks at Lucas “Okay, no problem. This is for you.”

Dean holds out to Lucas the picture of stick figures he drew. “This is my family. That's my dad. That's my mom.” Dean chokes a little when showing the woman in the drawing which makes y/n look at them “That's my geek brother. That’s my weird best friend, and that's me.” he says pointing at each figure as he speaks. after a pause he continues “All right, so I'm a sucky artist. I'll see you around, Lucas.”

Dean heads back to y/n.  “You okay?” she asks putting one hand on his arm and he nods, motioning for her so they can go back to Sam and Andrea.

As they approach Andrea and Sam they hear Andrea speaking “Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident.”

“Yeah, we heard. Sorry.” Sam answers her and she nods.

“What are the doctors saying?” y/n asks curiously.

“That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress.” as the woman answers y/n sees Lucas looking at the picture Dean drew for him.

“That can't be easy. For either of you.” Sam looks at her.

“We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…” She trails off

“Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with.” Dean says, trying to comfort her, and his eyes meet y/n’s for a second. She turns her head and sees Lucas leaving the bench and heading for the group.

“You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish…” she stops short when Lucas walks up, carrying a picture. “Hey sweetie.” But Lucas doesn’t look at her, instead he hands Dean a picture.

“Thanks” Dean looks over and y/n and Sam, then back to Lucas. “Thanks, Lucas.” It's a picture of a house, and the boy heads back to the bench.

Inside the motel room again, y/n is crossed leg sitting on a bed cleaning up guns and Dean on the edge of the same bed putting the clean parts together again when Sam opens the door and comes in, making the other two look at him. “So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie.”

“What do you mean?” the girl asks him. He sits next to them.

“I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead.”

“He drowned?” Dean frowns

“Yep. In the sink.” Sam explains making y/n widen her eyes.

“What the hell?” she asks shifting in the bed “So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else.” she shakes her head looking at the youngest.

“Yeah, but what?” he turns his body to her who gets up and starts pacing in front of the bed.

“I don’t know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water…” Dean tries to elaborate. After a short pause realization hits Sam and y/n at the same time Dean continues “Water that comes from the same source.”

“The lake.” “Yeah.” the girl and Sam say at the same time. “Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months.” Sam finishes his trail of thought

“Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time.” y/n looks at both the men sitting in front of her. “And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere.” 

Dean stands up. “This is gonna happen again” he goes to the chair close to the door and sits down to put his shoes on. “soon.” Y/n gets closer to him and he hands her one of her boots between putting his on.

“And we do know one other thing for sure. We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton.” Sam says, looking at them.

“Yeah, it took both his kids.” Dean hands y/n her other boot and goes back to the bed to grab the gun they were cleaning.

“And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris—Bill Carlton's godson.” he follows his older brother with his eyes.

“Alright. Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit.” y/n grabs the door handle and looks back at them. They head to the Impala and get on.

Arriving at the lake they head to the dock, where Bill is sitting with his back to them. “Mr. Carlton?” y/n says softly. The older man looks up. 

“We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind.” Sam asks tilting his head

“We're from the, the Department—” Dean starts but Bill cuts him off.

“I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today.” he looks back at the lake, looking tired.

“Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever see anything out there?” y/n tries looking at the man with a worried expression, Dean looks over at her.

“Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death… we think there might be a connection to you or your family.” Sam continues

“My children are gone. It's...it's worse than dying. Go away. Please.” Bill says, choking on the words.

The trio respect the man and head back to the car, knowing they won’t be able to get much from him.

“What do you think?” Sam looks back at the other two.

“Aw, I think the poor guy's been through hell.” She says looking in the distance to the man sitting on the lake “I also think he's not telling us something.” she turns back to them

“So now what?” He leans on the Impala.

Dean passes his hands through his hair turning around and goes still facing the Carlton house.

“What is it?” the girl asks him.

“Huh.” he tilts his head and pulls something from his back pocket. “Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something.” He unfolds a piece of paper and shows her the picture Lucas brought him at the park. The Carlton house is drawn. Dean looks at her when she turns to examine the house and Sam comes over to see the drawing.

“Okay then. To Andrea’s house.” she looks back at him and meets his eyes. After a couple of seconds she turns and heads to the car. The two men follow her to their respective seats.

On the way to Andrea’s house, the boys dropped y/n back at the motel. She went into their room and sat at the small table on the corner opening up the laptop to do some research. She typed and while the page loaded she grabbed one of her packages of chocolate chip cookies to snack on. She struggled a little to focus on the articles about post-traumatic stress on children that popped up, skimming through the abstracts that were showing and opening some every now and then.

“What is happening to you?” she asks out loud thinking about Lucas, what he's been through, and what he was, still, experiencing with his drawings. She thought about what she went through when she lost her parents for that nest of vampires when John saved her. She though about how she could always talk to Dean and Sam about everything, including when the grief and sadness were suffocating, and how, Dean especially, understood a little what she was feeling.

The older man was always her rock, and she tried to be the same for him. She could always see how John left all the responsibility of Sam safety on his shoulders, and when she arrived in the small family he instantly took her safety in his own hands too, so she would do everything in her power to help him with Samand their chores. They both had to grow up so fast and not too long after he started trusting that she would everything to protect Sam from harm's way and from the truth.

When her phone rang and Sam’s name flashed on the screen, pulling her out of her thoughts about the man that was the main character in her thoughts for so long and the family she found after losing her own.

“Shoot, Sammy.” she says after answering the call.

“I already told you two. Sammy is 12. It’s Sam now.” he retorts and girl can picture the younger man rolling his eyes.

“Dream on, Sammy.” She smiles “Did you already leave Andrea’s?”

Sam sighs “Yeah, so Lucas gave Dean another drawing.” 

“The kid draw another house.” y/n heard the other brother’s voice in the distance. “Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died.” 

“I was doing some research.” she gets up and goes to her boots to put them on “There are cases… going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions,” she puts the phone between her shoulder and her ear, putting her right boot on “psychic tendencies.”

“Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns.” Dean’s voice sounds anxious.

“All right, we got another house to find.” Sam says into the phone and describes the drawing to her “He drew a yellow house with a red bike in the front. With a white tall church by the side.”

“The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone.” Dean replies quickly

“Yeah, but see this church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here.”

“Okay, yellow house, red bike and tall white church, right?” y/n jumps into the conversation again but doesn’t wait for an answer “I’m leaving the motel going north, whoever finds it first calls the other. Bye.” and she hangs up, not wasting any more time.

After some 30 minutes driving her Harley, looking for the house Sam described her phone rings with a message.

Found it, come find us.

And another one with an address followed. She asked the woman that had just passed her the directions and headed the way the latter pointed.

She spotted Sam and Dean approaching a white church while Dean held up a drawing and looked at it. Dismounting the bike, she whistled making the two brothers turn to look at her. After catching up to them she holds her hand to Dean grabbing the picture he hands her. And the church is exactly the same.

“Nice job!” She smiles at him, looking at Sam before heading to the house with the two following her. Sam knocks at the door and a elderly woman opens up.

“We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we’re with the newspaper, writing a story about local kids. Does a little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle.” Dean asks the oddly specific question.

“No, sir. Not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now.” the lady knits her eyebrows at the trio, and after a pause goes back inside leaving the door open and they follow her. There’s a picture of a little boy on the table by the entrance. “The police never… I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared.” She stops at the living room and turns back to them. 

Y/n takes a look at the room and nudes Dean showing the toy soldiers on the coffee table. “Losing him—you know, it's...it's worse than dying.”

They all glance at each other remembering Bill’s words from earlier.

“Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?” Sam asks the older lady.

“He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up.” she answers

Dean walks over to a wall and picks a picture off the mirror. There are two boys in the picture, one with a bicycle. He shows the back of the picture, that reads: Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, nineteen seventy.

They thank the woman and head straight to Bill Carlton’s house. Inside the Impala y/n reassess the basic points. “Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow.”

“Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?” Dean says sternly.

“And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished.” Sam half ignores his brother

“So what if Bill did something to Peter?” Y/n looks through the rear view mirror to Sam

“What if Bill killed him?” He answers her question with another question

“Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible.” Dean states making a turn.

Arriving at the Carlton house, Dean pulls up. The trio go to the house but stop short hearing an engine on the back. Turning around they see Bill Carlton going out on the lake in his boat. They start running to the end of the dock, yelling at the same time.

“Mr. Carlton! You need to come back!” “Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!” “Mr. Carlton!” But Bill ignores them and keeps going. The water rises up and flips the boat over. And both the man and the boat vanish, making the three stop. 

They head straight to the police station, needing to talk to the sheriff. Inside Lucas is sitting in a chair, rocking back and forth. Andre is sitting next to him, holding a paper bag and a plastic container in one hand and letting the other hand rest on her son’s back. When the two brothers and the girl entered the stations she looks over

“Sam, Dean, y/n.” she stands up leaving the container and bag on her chair “I didn't expect to see you here.”

“So now you're on a first-name basis. What are you doing here?” the sheriff comes from his office.

“I brought you dinner.”  Andrea turns and grabs the container handing it to her father.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have the time.” he says taking the container anyway.

“I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?” she says, lowering her voice.

“Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home.” he looks from his daughter to his grandson with worry in his eyes.

Lucas looks up and whines, looking stricken; he jumps up and grabs Dean's arm. “Lucas, hey, what is it?” he tries to hold the boy’s hands “Lucas.” his mother goes and tries to pull him from Dean but his hold is tight “Lucas, it's okay. It's okay. Hey, Lucas, it's okay. It's okay.” 

Andrea manages to pull Lucas away from Dean and leads him outside. The boy doesn't look away from Dean. Jake throws down his jacket and goes into his office. The three hunters follow. “Okay, just so I'm clear, you see...something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill—who is a very good swimmer, by the way—into the drink, and you never see him again?”

Dean glances between Sam and y/n. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

“And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?” y/n opens her mouth surprised but doesn’t say anything. “That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you two.”

“See, now, we can explain that.” Dean starts but Jake raises one hand.

“Enough. Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again.”

“Door number two sounds good.” Sam says while y/n narrows her eyes

“That's the one I'd pick.” Jake answers and turns around. The trio leave.

They leave the station and head for the Impala. Dean begins driving, and y/n sees him trapped in his own thoughts. They go straight to the motel and start gathering their stuff. “I need a ride to go get the Harley.” Y/n gets out of the bathroom with a case that holds her toiletry things and looks at Dean.

“Sure, let’s go. We’ll be right back.” he says looking over his shoulder at Sam.

Once in the impala she turns her head to look at him. “You know, what Sam said yesterday yesterday. About you not liking kids. You have to know I can see right through that bullshit, right?” she smiles playfully at him.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” he replies but she can see the tiny smile trying to break his features.

“Yeah, right.” she turns back to the street and after a pause continues “I don’t like how this case ended. I don’t know…”

“I know. Me too.” he steals a glance at her “It just still feels weird.” he stops the car right by her bike and she gets off.

“Thanks” she mounts her bike and he follows her back to the motel. After loading everything on the vehicles the moon was already high on the sky and they took off. Getting to an intersection, Dean stops by a traffic light and y/n comes up to the drivers side and stops there. There’s a sign that says I-43 North to Milwaukee is to the left. When the light turns green after a few moments, and the car doesn’t move the biker honks at him “Green.” Y/n looks at Dean.

“What?” The man blinks and frowns at her.

“Light's green.” She repeats and points to the traffic light.

Dean starts driving and turns right. Y/n chuckles a little and follows him.

“Uh, the interstate is the other way.” Sam says looking at his brother.

“I know.” He replies 

“Dean, this job, I think it's over.” Sam’s eyebrows pull together trying to understand his brother.

“I'm not so sure.” He tells the youngest

“If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest.”

“All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?” Dean looks over at Sam quickly.

“But why would you think that?” Sam frowns confused.

“Because Lucas was really scared.” He tilts his head a little “Look, I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay.” He tells his brother, and steals a glance from the bike behind them.

“Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?” Sam asks, a playful tone in his voice.

Dean looks at Sam through his mirror again and rolls his eyes. “Shut up.”

When they arrive at the house Sam asks one more time as they walk to the door. “Are you sure about this?”

“It is pretty late, cherry pie.” Y/n looks him in the eye. He rings the doorbell. A heartbeat later, Lucas opens the door, desperately afraid.

“Lucas? Lucas!” He tries but the kid runs back inside with the three hunters following him.

Water is pouring out from under the bathroom door and down the stairs. Lucas starts pounding on the bathroom door. Dean pushes him over to y/n and kicks in the door. The boy grabs Dean, so Sam runs into the bathroom and sticks his arms in the tub, trying to pull Andrea, who’s submerged completely in a dark water, out. She is pulled back under, but y/n helps Sam pull until Andrea is all the way out. She starts coughing up water.

Y/n grabs a towel and covers the woman when she starts panting. Sam and Dean take Lucas to the living room and y/n helps Andrea up, holding her by her arms to steady her. They go to her room and the hunter looks at the woman one more time “You okay?” When she nods y/n turns and steps through the door, stopping in the hallway “I’m right here, alright?”

After a couple of minutes, Andre meets her in the hallway and they go to the living room, where the others are. “Honey!” Andrea goes and hugs Lucas, who was standing by Dean’s side. Y/n gets closer to the other two hunters looking between them. 

“What now?” she whispers, frowning. The two brothers look at her “We can’t leave them here. This thing is clearly still after something.” she continues. 

Andrea takes Lucas to another room to put him to bed. The hunters try to speculate on theories but can’t come up with much and after a while the mother comes back and sits down at the table sighing. Sam goes to sit by her side. Y/n and Dean look at each other and she asks the mother. “Do you mind if we take a look around?” she asks getting closer to the table and looking at Andrea.

“No, go ahead.” she looks up at the girl and answers. Dawn is breaking outside. 

“Can you tell me?” Sam looks at her when his brother and best friend start looking around the things on 

“No.” she shakes her head looking at her hands. The other two start  looking through notebooks on bookshelves “It doesn't make any sense.” the woman started crying “I'm going crazy.” She puts her face in her hands.

“No, you're not. Tell me what happened. Everything.” Sam reassures her

“I heard...I thought I heard...there was this voice.” she starts unsure.

“What did it say?” he asks, curiously. Y/n taps Dean and shows him some scrapbooks on the side.

“It said...it said 'come play with me'.” she sobs “What's happening?”

Dean pulls out a scrapbook that says "Jake – 12 years old" and opens it, flipping pages while she looks at it with him. When he turns the page she spots a lot of kids and points at it. He closes it again and they go to Sam and Andrea; he puts the book down in front of the woman, open to the picture of the boys. 

“Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?” he asks her.

“What? Um, um, no.” she looks quickly through the page “I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures.” she shows one of the kids in the corner. Moving her finger over to another picture of Jake as a child, one where; he is standing next to Peter. Dean looks at the other hunters.

“Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff.” he states.

“Bill and the sheriff… they were both involved with Peter.” y/n points out.

“What about Chris? My dad… what are you talking about?” the woman looks concerned.

Dean looks sideways and spots Lucas in his pajamas looking out the window. “Lucas?” he turns around to look at the boy and so does the rest. “Lucas, what is it?” the boy opens the door and walks outside. Everyone follows.

“Lucas, honey?” Andrea tries to get his attention but the boy only stops after a couple of seconds. He then stops and looks at the ground, then at Dean.

“You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?” Andrea pulls Lucas back to the house. Sam goes back to the impala and fetches some shovels from the Impala, before they start digging. Y/n's shovel clanks against something. They dig with their hands.

“Peter's bike.” the girl says when Dean pulls out a red bicycle form the ground.

“Who are you?” they hear a voice and turn around to find Jake, pointing a gun a them.

“Put the gun down, Jake.” Sam says carefully. Dea drops the bicycle.

“How did you know that was there?” he asks eyeing the bike on the floor.

“What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike?” Dean starts narrowing his eyes.

“You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried.” Y/n tells him when Andrea starts coming in their direction.

“I don't know what the hell you're talking about.” he looks between the two and shifts the gun in her direction. Dean takes a tiny step in her direction.

“You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago.” Dean accuses the sheriff “That's what the hell I'm talking about.” he says when Andrea gets to them.

“Dad!” she exclaims.

“And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit.” Dean finishes his train of thought.

“It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them.” y/n tries to explain to the man. “And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does.” 

“Yeah, and how do you know that?” he narrows his eyes and tilts his head.

“Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton.” Sam tells him and he looks back at the youngest.

“Listen to yourselves. All of you. You're insane.” he looks exasperated.

“I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us.” Dean starts and and y/n hear the annoyance in his voice.

“And if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust.” she explains trying to give Dean time to calm down.

But Dean didn’t chill and started again “Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake.” 

“Dad, is any of this true?” Andrea looks at her dad worried.

“No. Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous.” he doesn’t take his eyes off of the hunters.

“Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me.” she comes closer to the older man and Jake finally looks at her “Tell me you… you didn't kill anyone.” Jake looks away and doesn't answer “Oh my God.” she turns around.

“Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank.” he explains looking between the hunters and his daughter. “Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational.”

“All right, listen to me, all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now.” Dean starts and y/n looks at the lake, spotting Lucas going down to the lake. She gasps and starts running.

“Lucas!” she yells. They all run up to the dock. Lucas is leaning over the side, reaching for a toy soldier in the water.

“Come play with me.” a voice of a little boy echoes through the lake.

“Lucas!” Dean exclaims when he comes closer to y/n.

“Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!” Andrea tries yelling. Then Lucas gets pulled into the water.  Y/n reaches the edge of the lake and jumps in the water. Jake stops when he sees Peter’s head visible above the water. Dean and Sam keep running to the end of the dock and dive in after y/n. “Oh my God!” She takes off her jacket to jump in.

“Andrea, stay there!” Sam tells her when he sees her preparing to dive. Y/n comes up again to catch some air and goes under again. Andrea prepares to argue but Sam continues “We'll get him! Just stay on the dock!” Sam dives under again. Dean comes up. A minute later, so do the other two.

“Sam?” the woman asks and he shakes his head. “Dean?” he does too looking around the water.

“Lucas, where are you?” Andrea asks desperate while Jake takes off his jacket as the other three dive back down. Jake wades in and Andrea looks over.

“Peter, if you can hear me...please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so… I'm so sorry.” He starts looking at the water as he goes in.

“Daddy, no!” Andrea screams at him.

“Peter. Lucas… he's, he's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me.” the older man cries. Y/n, Dean and Sam come up for air again.

“Jake, no!” Dean yells at the man entering the water. Peter surfaces.

“Just let it be over!” he begs the little boy and Jake is dragged down.

“Daddy! Daddy! No!” Andrea yells and the trio dive down again. “No!” Sam comes up shaking his head and Andrea mouths another 'no!'

Dean comes up, holding Lucas, who isn't moving. Y/n comes up after a minute and looks at Lucas in Dean’s arms. 

The three hunters leave the motel room that they went back to take a shower. Dean opens the car door and Sam tosses a duffel in. 

“Look, we're not gonna save everybody.” Sam tells them when he sees both their expressions

“I know.” “Yeah.” they answer.

“Sam, Dean, y/n.” They turn around and spot Andrea walking up with Lucas.

“Hey.” the trio says to them.

“We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road.” She tells them and Lucas is carrying a tray of sandwiches and hands them it. “Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself.”

“Can I give it to them now?” Lucas asks his mother and the hunters widen their eyes.

“Of course.” Andrea smiles and kisses the boy’s head.

“Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car.” he says taking the boy back to the impala.

“How you holding up?” y/n ask Andrea, still looking at the two.

“It's just gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?” she answers looking at the girl’s profile.

Y/n nods, looks at her and gives a tight smile resting a hand on her elbow before turning and heading to the Harley to put her bag on the back seat. Sam sighs. “Andrea, I'm sorry.” he tells them and she shakes her head.

“You saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that.” she says going to the car with Sam. 

They hear Dean talking to Lucas when they get close “All right, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it one more time.”

“Zeppelin rules!” the boy say, and his mom smiles.

“That's right. Up high.” Dean holds his hand up for a high-five and the boy obliges, grinning. “You take care of your mom, okay?”

“All right.” the boy says looking at his mom and y/n turns and leans against her bike.

Andrea goes closer and kisses Dean. Y/n’s stomach drops, but she holds her stance. “Thank you.”

Dean’s expression is stunned, he thinks a minute, then scratches his head and goes around the car stealing a glance at y/n’s direction, who’s already mounted on her bike looking at the display. He can see her sighing.

“Sam, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road.” he tells his little brother and gets in the car, followed by Sam. They start the engine and follow the Harley that’s already leaving honking when she passes the mom and son. Sam and Dean smile at Andrea and Lucas waving goodbye. They all drive away.

Taglist: let me know if you want to be added or removed.

@stillhere197 @lmhf1 @un-expectedly

[nathanmillers]

welcome back to my creator appreciation series! here are some of my favorite creations i’ve reblogged this past week ( aug 25 — sept 1 ) and their creators.

be sure to check out the tag *creatorappreciation on my blog for the previous installments! also, a friendly reminder that i track the tag #userkristyn if you want to tag me in your edits/fanart/whatever :)

(p.s.: marvel content is reblogged on my sideblog @petersthwip)

minor “the 100” characters gifset by @okmcintyre

bellamy blake in 1x04 gifset by @scarringstars

wade wilson in x-men origins: wolverine gifset by @unhingedbrothers

teen wolf 2x02 gifset by @kvtnisseverdeen

agatha harkness gifset by @ewans-mitchell

spider-man: no way home gifset by @proudestof

hozier “nobody’s soldier” mv gifset by @hoziergifsdaily

parks and rec gifset by @usersitcom

april ludgate gifset by @benjiwyatt

teen wolf 3x10 gifset by @braedenhales

chappell roan fanart by @b1odeuwed

louis tomlinson gifset by @sunkissedlouis

shadowhunters 1x02 gifset by @supfag

taste edit by @skainatblida

nancy wheeler in 1x07 gifset by @nataliasource

shadowhunters 1x10 gifset by @louisbxne

eleven in 3x05 gifset by @munsonseds

teen wolf 4x04 gifset by @braedenhales

[raayllum]

Dark Magic, a Brief Dissection

There are four scenes in the series I think best embody the pitfalls of dark magic from an ideological standpoint, even if you don't touch on the fact it's just a malevolent magic system + the harm it does to the user. Two are in season two, and two are in season six.

The first is the infamous reservation from Sarai in 2x05 that dark magic is too ideologically easy, because it is always easier to dehumanize and to strip away the fact that someone or something might be a person than it is to recognize it. The "you keep calling it a monster" and "there's no shortcut" are things that other episodes echo as well (6x05, 1x02), highlighting key take aways. The biggest one, though, is the idea that

We see this directly happen with Viren even before the events of 2x05, as we see him go from necessary horror to necessary horror in order to save Soren. He coins Kpp'Ar to get the staff, yes, but also to preserve his status; doing so alters his appearance both literally and emotionally in the eyes of his wife; when she's frightened and denies him her tears, he takes them by force; and then when she leaves, he blames the son he saved. He thought dark magic would give more than it would take, and when confronted with the opposite that Harrow had also learned ("We may not pay now but we will pay the bloodprice eventually"), he couldn't handle its lesson of accountability, because it's usually easier to blame others rather than yourself.

Viren fell down that slope in quick succession, climbed the mountainous Storm Spire twice, and it took falling off that mountain for him to get his head back on straight, to realize that rather than having no choice, he was continually making bad, harmful choices. This likewise ties back into 1) using his wife as spell parts leading to the dissolution of their marriage, because being treated as a thing is not something you can come back from and 2) rejecting using Soren as spell parts, and instead using himself in S6. And also ties into what S6 makes plain for Claudia in terms of the mindset that dark magic encourages:

I don't know if there's much to say about this aspect that the screencap (and earlier paragraphs) don't already say on its own tbh. Dark magic "shattered" her family forever (6x06) and Claudia refuses to "let anything break" them apart further (3x09). She treats dark magic as a glue to hold things or people together, but in doing so treats everything around her as parts, including herself (her blood, hair, leg, and even her body taking on more animalistic forms through spell consumption). And that leads you to breaking things, including yourself, your relationships, even without necessarily realizing it. (Doesn't mean that it can't be put back together in some true form, though.)

But if dark magic is so bad, then why do it? I think Callum's arc answers this perfectly in terms of what it offers and why people (at their best and operating best they can under terrible circumstances) take it:

Dark magic offers unlimited power with the promise of control and desire, but this agency is an illusion. It took time for Callum to learn the truth and other characters (Viren, Claudia) didn't/don't know how tangibly true it is, but dark magic robs you of your agency by making you vulnerable to Aaravos. The Startouch elf didn't have to possess Claudia to make her do what he wanted, and doing so might've thrown a wrench in needing her to perform the quasar diamond spell with love if she wasn't on board with him as is. Viren, despite having no knowledge that Aaravos can possess him, is terrified of being used again (6x05) and mandates that saying no to Aaravos and dark magic is "the path of freedom" (as opposed to fate).

Callum of course gets this promise of power ripped out entirely from under him even after he rejects it (2x08) as he learns the full extent it lets Aaravos control him (4x04), and continues to engage with dark magic under duress even past that point (5x08). It's one of the ways arc 2 and him as a character recognizes false binaries and reconciles dualities: the choice isn't between "powerless human" or "powerful dark mage," but that you can become a powerless human by being a dark mage.

At the same time, 6x08 finally makes it truly, clearly explicit that dark magic can be used morally under extreme circumstances and through self-sacrificial methods (particularly for a character with a very complicated relationship towards sacrifice). This is doubly so considering that it required using the Staff of Ziard, which others have thought was extremely dangerous (Ibis, Kpp'Ar) and worth sacrificing for (Ibis killing Claudia, Kpp'Ar being willing to let Soren die), and it was still seen as the right thing to do, not only for Viren. Whether we'll see another instance of dark magic use in this way is unknown, but I could see perhaps Callum being allowed to have it in his back pocket (light and dark inside him and all that, and idk if they'd clean slate him again) as continued proof. If anyone can navigate the pitfalls appropriately (and same with primal magic), I think he's in the best position to do so.