#When the Phone Rings 1x04 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mepuppy · 6 months ago

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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.

1x01 1x02 1x03

Word Count: 6.9k

1x04 - Phantom Traveler

Dean and y/n are each sleeping in a bed in a motel room the three hunters stopped to rest. The pull-out couch is set as a bed, but is empty. The door opens quietly, but is enough to awaken Dean. Then on the second click, of the door closing, makes y/n open her eyes but she doesn’t move. She was already facing the door and Dean, who who slips his hand under his pillow to grab a weapon. She can see a shadow of a man turning around, holding something. Her eyes meet with Dean’s and he starts to turn around slowly.

“Morning, sunshines” he says when he notices the other two looking at him.

“What time is it?” y/n asks closing her eyes again and placing an arm covering them.

“Uh, it's about five forty-five.” Sam replies.

“In the morning?” Dean asks incredulously while y/n groans and Sam replies with and ‘yup’ sitting on his ‘bed’/pull-out couch. “Where does the day go?” he sits up and stare at Sam “Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours.” the younger brother tells him looking at the coffees.

“Liar. 'Cause I was up at three, and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial.” y/n says taking the arm off her eyes and sitting up to.

“Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV.” he replies cheerfully.

“When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?” Dean asks knitting his eyebrows.

“I don't know, a little while, I guess. It's not a big deal.” he says looking at the older man.

“Yeah, it is.” y/n retorts

“Look, I appreciate your concern…” Sam starts but Dean interrupts.

“Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's your job to keep our asses alive, so we need you sharp.” he tells Sam, who just shrugs “Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?”

Sam hands a coffee cup to each of the other hunters. “Yeah. But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job. Man, it gets to you.” he looks down

“You can't let it.” Dean tells him “You can't bring it home like that.”

“So, what? All this it… never keeps you up at night?” he asks, y/n lower the cup as she finished a sip and Dean shakes his head. “Never? You're never afraid?” Sam doubts.

“No, not really.” Dean answers.

Y/n reaches under Dean's pillow to pull out a large hunting knife and holds it up as evidence. “Bullshit.”

Dean takes the knife back “That's not fear. That is precaution.” he explains raising his eyebrows.

“All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue.” Sam says leaning back on the wall. Dean's phone rings and he answers it.

“Hello?”

“Dean, it's, uh, it's Jerry Panowski. You, your dad and your sister helped me out a couple years back.” Sam and y/n get closer to hear it through the phone call as a man talks.

“Oh, right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing.” Dean says

“ It's not back, is it?” she asks concerned.

“No. No. Thank god, no. But it's something else, and...uh, I think it could be a lot worse.” he sounds anxious.

“What is it?” Dean asks.

“Can we talk in person?” the three hunters look at each other.

Inside the hangar of the airport. The three follow Jerry, the man from the fone call. “Thanks for making the trip so quick. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around.” he says sincerely “These two and your dad really helped me out, you know.” he turns to Sam.

“Yeah, they told me. It was a poltergeist?” Sam asks the man.

“Poltergeist? Man, I loved that movie.” Someone passing them says enthusiastically.

“Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking.” Jerry tells them annoyed “Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart.” he returns to Sam “Tell you something, if it wasn't for you two and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive.” Jerry looks to y/n and Dean “Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?” he looks back to Sam.

“Yeah, I was. I'm…taking some time off.” he replies with a small smile.

“Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time.” Jerry says and Sam looks at him with wide eyes while y/n looks down smiling thinking about her father figure.

“He did?” Sam asks looking at the man.

“Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?” The man ask the three hunters.

“He's, um, wrapped up in a job right now.” Dean replies

“Well, we're missing the old man, but we get Sam. Even trade, huh?” Jerry says playfully, making Dean and y/n laugh.

Sam smiles and replies “No, not by a long shot.”

“I got something I want you guys to hear.” Jerry says as they enter an office and Jerry goes behind the desk grabbing a cd player “Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours.” he says and presses play.

“Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! This is United Britania 2485… immediate instruction help! United Britanis 2485, I copy your message… May be experiencing some mechanical failure…” There is a loud whooshing sound.

“Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south. Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. Pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh… well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault.” Jerry explains the whole situation

“You don't think it was?” Sam asks, looking at the man.

“No, I don't.” he replies.

“Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, um, a list of survivors.” y/n counts on her fingers as she starts listing.

“All right.” is all the man says nodding.

“And, uh, any way we can take a look at the wreckage?” Dean questions, hopeful.

“The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage… fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance.” he answers apologetically.

Dean frowns before reassuring the man “No problem.”

They say goodbyes and leave the office and the airport, going straight to a Copy Jack. Dean goes inside. After a while he exits while y/n is laying on the back seat of the Impala and Sam is leaning on the door outside. They enter the car and Dean hands her Homeland Security badge. She grabs it looking it over “Wow, we’re on another level. This looks pretty good. Nice job.”

“Thanks.” he smiles at her smugly “All right, so, what do you got?”

“Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder.” Sam starts

“Yeah?” Dean asks when he pauses.

“Listen.” Sam nods hitting play on the tape recorder, which has been edited to pull out a scratchy voice.

No survivors!

“"No survivors"? What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors.” Dean interjects.

“Got us.” the woman tells him, sitting up.

“So, what are you thinking? A haunted flight?” he asks looking at her.

“There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers.” Sam tells him and Dean just nods agreeing.

“Or remember flight 401?” y/n asks him about a case from their teenagehood.

“Right. The one that crashed, the airline salvaged some of its parts, put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights.” Dean’s memory comes quickly.

“Right.” Sam agrees “So maybe we got a similar deal.”

“All right, so, survivors, which one do you want to talk to first?” Dean looks between the other two.

“Third on the list: Max Jaffey.” y/n shows him a piece of paper with a list of names.

“Why him?” he looks at her frowning.

“Well, for one, he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did.” she explains tilting her head.

“What makes you say that?” he asks.

“Well, we spoke to his mother. And she told me where to find him.” she motions to Sam with her head. Dean nods looking at Sam, then back to the road and starts the car. Since Sam’s the one on the front seat now he’s the one guiding Dean till they arrive at a psychiatric hospital. Dean parks and they head inside.

They enter the building and Sam shows a nurse the fake badge asking to speak to Max. She takes them to the courtyard. When they reach Max they introduce themselves.

They start walking together. “I don't understand. I already spoke with Homeland Security.” Max says looking between them.

“Right. Some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple questions…” Y/n starts.

“Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything...unusual?” Sam asks looking at the boy.

“Like what?” he questions confused.

“Strange lights, weird noises, maybe. Voices.” Dean tries to explain to him with some examples.

“No, nothing.” they get to a table.

“Mr. Joffey…” Dean says but max cuts him as they sit down.

“Jaffey.” he corrects, looking at Dean.

“Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right?” He asks and Max nods. “Can I ask why?” Sam and y/n sit opposite the two.

“I was a little stressed. I survived a plane crash.” he answers.

“Uh huh. And that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?” Dean inquiries him.

“I… I don't want to talk about this anymore.” the boy tries to brush them off.

“See, I think maybe you did see something up there. We need to know what.” Dean tries pointing at Sam and y/n with his eyes.

“No. No, I was...delusional. Seeing things.” Max looks down.

“He was seeing things.” Dean looks at Sam and y/n.

“It's okay. Then just tell us what you thought you saw, please.” she looks at the boy with understanding eyes.

“There was… this… man. And, uh, he had these… eyes… these, uh… black eyes. And I saw him… or I thought I saw him…” Max tried to explain it but couldn’t form any sentences.

“What?” she asks again

“He opened the emergency exit. But that's...that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There's something like two tons of pressure on that door.” Max looks deep in her eyes, she smiles and squeezes his arm trying to reassure him..

“Yeah.” Dean looks at both of them and then to her hand on the boy’s arm.

“This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage?” Sam asks and Max turns to look at him quickly.

“What are you, nuts?” he asks frowning. Sam tilts his head. “He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me.”

They all nod. “Okay. Thank you for your time and patience. Sorry for any inconvenience.” y/n says getting up.

“Have a nice day.” Sam tells him and they all leave.

Dean’s driving the impala, they are going to the house of one of the victims, to talk to their wife. “Hmm. Man, I don't care how strong you are.” he stops talking and follow the directions y/n gave him ��Even yoked up on PCP or something, no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight.”

“Not if you're human. But maybe this guy George was something else. Some kind of creature, maybe, in human form.” Sam says.

“So here we are. George Phelps, seat 20C.” y/n tells them when they arrive.

“Does that look like a creature's lair to you?” Dean looks over at Sam. Sam turns to look at the perfectly ordinary house.

They go to the front door and ring the bell. A woman answers the door.

Dean, y/n and Sam sit across from Mrs. Phelps. Sam is looking at a framed photograph.

“This is your late husband?” he asks, putting the photograph down.

“Yes, that was my George.” she looks fondly at the portrait.

“And you said he was a...dentist?” Dean asks her.

She nods “He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that…”the woman chokes on a sob.

“How long were you married?” y/n asks the woman.

“Thirteen years.”

“In all that time, did you ever notice anything...strange about him, anything out of the ordinary?” Sam questions the woman.

“Well...uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean.” she looks at Sam, frowning. The hunters look at each other.

After a few more questions and the goodbyes, as they are leaving Sam states “I mean it goes without saying. It just doesn't make any sense.”

“A middle-aged dentist with an ulcer is not exactly evil personified.” Dean replies annoyed.

“You know what we need to do is get inside that NTSB warehouse, check out the wreckage.” y/n says getting to the impala an opening the door.

“Okay. But if we're gonna go that route, we'd better look the part.” Sam guides Dean until they reach the main street and they find a suit rental shop. They go inside and each picks up a suit in their size.

Walking out of the store Dean starts complaining “Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers.”

Y/n shakes her head, but before she can say anything Sam starts ”No, you don't. You look more like a… seventh-grader at his first dance.”

Dean looks down at himself. “I hate this thing.”

“Nonsense, you look…” she takes a moment to admire him. Looking up and down. “I think you look nice.” She smiles at him “You both do.” she glances at Sam quickly before entering the front seat of the car.

“Hey. You want into that warehouse or not?” Sam asks once he’s already inside the car but Dean’s still on the sidewalk. The older brother goes to his side, starting the impala and heading to the warehouse.

As they enter the warehouse and show their badges to the security guard, who nods and lets them in. They walk among plane wreckage; Dean pulls out a device and puts earbuds in his ears.

“What is that?” Sam asks, looking at the thing in Dean’s hands.

“It's an EMF meter. Reads electromagnetic frequencies.” y/n answers before Dean can raise his head.

“Yeah, I know what an EMF meter is, but why does that one look like a busted-up walkman?” Sam keeps frowning looking at y/n who responded.

“'Cause that's what I made it out of. It's homemade.” Dean grins proudly, turning the device to face Sam.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Sam frowns with a disapproving look on his face. Dean's grin disappears and as he turns to run the EMF meter y/n comes from behind Sam and gives him a smack on the back of his head mouthing a ‘don’t be like that’ to him.

When the device on Dean’s hand goes over a piece of the wreckage with yellow dust on it and gets an audible spike. “Check out the emergency door handle.” he scratches at the yellow dust and gets some on his hand “What is this stuff?”

“One way to find out.” Sam replies, scraping some of the yellow dust off into a bag.

They start to go back to the front desk, but when they get close to the door they hear the front desk guard “Homeland Security? What, one team of you guys isn't enough?”

“What are you talking about?” a distinct, confused voice replies. The trio of hunters understand what’s going on and start running in the opposite direction.

They hide and when the guards pass they peer around a corner and walk out casually. An alarm blares, and they run to the gated exit. Pulling off his suit jacket, Dean throws it over the barbed wire at the top of the fence, and they climb over. On the other side Dean stops to grabs the jacket.

“Well, these monkey suits do come in handy.” Dean states quickly, running afterwards. Sam stares at Dean in disbelief for a second and then follows him. Y/n was already running, slower than usual because of the heels she had t put on. And they head back to meet with Jerry in his office.

Once there Sam hands the mand the little bag with the yellow dust. Jerry goes to look at the yellow stuff through a microscope; what the microscope sees is replicated on a screen.

“Huh. This stuff is covered in sulfur.” The older man says looking back at the three hunters.

“You're sure?” y/n asks.

“Take a look for yourself.” he says motioning to the microscope when a banging sounds from outside the office followed by someone shouting. “If you fellows will excuse me, I have an idiot to fire.”

As Jerry leaves, Dean goes over and looks into the microscope “Hmm. You know, there's not too many things that leave behind a sulfuric residue.” he says looking up again.

“Demonic possession?” Sam tries.

“It would explain how a mortal man would have the strength to open up an emergency hatch.” y/n looks at the screen that is showing the microscopic sulfur.

“If the guy was possessed, it's possible.” Sam looks at her.

“This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean it's one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire airplane?” Dean says shocked.

“You ever heard of something like this before?” Sam asks the two older hunters.

“Never.” Dean tells him while y/n shakes her head.

The trio is back at the motel in full research mode, with images and articles taped to the walls and strewn across the beds, and Sam is looking at something on the computer. Dean is reading something y/n is showing him on one bed while sitting on the other.

“So, every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it.” Sam starts

“Yeah, but none of them describe anything like this.” Dean tells him

“Well, that's not exactly true. You see, according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease.” he corrects his brother.

“And this one causes plane crashes?” y/n asks getting up and going to Sam

“All right, so, what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?” Dean follows y/n.

“Yeah. You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?” Sam asks and Dean snorts, turning away “What?”

“I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big. And I wish Dad was here.” he says turning back to the other two and raises his hand letting them fall again.

“Yeah. I know. Me too” y/n looks at him when his phone rings and he answers it.

“Hello?”

Dean, it's Jerry.

“Oh, hey, Jerry.” at this Sam and y/n go closer to him to hear the conversation.

My pilot friend...Chuck Lambert is dead.

“Wha… Jerry, I'm sorry. What happened?”

He and his buddy went up in a small twin about an hour ago. The plane went down.

“Where'd this happen?”

About sixty miles west of here, near Nazareth.

“I'll try to ignore the irony in that.” he looks up and meet the other two eyes.

I'm sorry?

“Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon.” Dean hangs up. “Alright. Let's go.”

“Where?” Sam and y/n look at him.

“Nazareth.” he simply replies and gathers his stuff.

The hunters are back at Jerry’s office while the older man is again looking through a microscope. Y/n and Sam have their heads together looking at a computer screen and talking quietly while Dean is looking at Jerry.

“Sulfur?” Dean asks and Jerry nods. “Well, that's great. All right, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him.”

“With all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be the good news.” Y/n says looking apologetically to Jerry.

“What's the bad news?” Dean frowns.

“Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into flight. And get this, so did flight 2485.” Sam explains looking at Dean.

“Forty minutes? What does that mean?” Jerry questions.

“It's biblical numerology. You know Noah's ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death.” Dean looks over his shoulder to Jerry.

“I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in.” Sam tells Dean.

“Any survivors?” Dean inquiries.

“No. Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason. On the cockpit voice recorder, remember what the EVP Said?” Y/n tells Dean.

"No survivors." He recalls. The oldest hunter pauses for a second “It's going after all the survivors. It's trying to finish the job.”

“Read our minds. So I guess now is trying to figure out which of the survivors are planning on flying any time soon.” She says as they start recollecting themselves to leave. They say goodbye to Jerry and head outside. It’s night out. They go to the impala and get in.

Dean starts driving. Sam and y/n are making phone calls to all the survivors.

“Really? Well, thank you for taking our survey, And if you do plan to fly, please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks.” Sam hangs up the last phone call they needed to do.

“All right. That takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon.” Y/n looks at him.

“So our only wildcard is the flight attendant Amanda Walker.” Dean states taking a quick glance at the paper in y/n’s lap with the names crossed.

“Right. Her sister Karen said her flight leaves Indianapolis at eight pm. It's her first night back on the job.” Y/n tells him

“That sounds like just our luck.” Dean rolls his eyes.

“Dean, this is a five-hour drive, man, even with you behind the wheel…” Sam starts but Dean interrupts.

“Call Amanda's cellphone again, see if we can't head her off at the pass.”

“I already left her three voice messages. She must have turned her cellphone off.” Sam tells him looking discouraged “God, we're never gonna make it.”

“We'll make it.” Dean and y/n say at the same time and look at each other.

The three rush into the airport and check the Departure board. “Right there. They're boarding in thirty minutes.” Sam points at the board.

“Okay. We still have some cards to play. We need to find a phone.” Dean says and goes to a courtesy phone when he spots one picking it up.

Airport Services.

“Hi. Gate thirteen.”

Who are you calling, sir?

“I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on flight, um...flight 4-2-4.” Dean says after trying to see the board again and y/n whispers the number to him

Please hold

“Come on.” After a clicking noise another voice talks through the phone

This is Amanda Walker.

“Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here.”

Karen?

“Nothing serious, just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so…”

Wa—wait, that's impossible. I just got off the phone with her.

Dean pauses. “You what?”

Five minutes ago. She's at her house, cramming for a final. Who is this?

“Uh, well...there must be some mistake.”

And how would you even know I was here?

Sam goes around Dean to try to hear what's going on.

Is this one of Vince's friends?

“Guilty as charged.” Y/n gets closer too, the three are basically hugging at this point.

Wow. This is unbelievable.

“He's really sorry.”

Well, you tell him to mind his own business and stay out of my life, okay?

“Yes, but… he really needs to see you tonight, so…”

No, I'm sorry. It's too late.

“Don't be like that. Come on. The guy's a mess. Really. It's pathetic.” Y/n rolls her eyes at Dean but stops when Amanda answers.

Really?

“Oh, yeah.” He smirks at her.

Look, I've got to go. Um… tell him to call me when I land.

Amanda hangs up. “No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda!” Dean tries one last time. “Damn it! So close.”

“All right, it's time for plan B. We're getting on that plane.” Sam turns around and heads to the counters.

“Whoa, whoa, now just hold on a second.” Dean says quickly, wide-eyed.

“Dean, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is gonna crash.” Sam says looking at him.

“I know.” Dean says exasperated.

“Okay. So we're getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You guys get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through the security. Meet me back here in five minutes.” Dean just looks at him anxiously.

“Look Dean, me and Sam can go, you can drive to Minneapolis and meet us there, it’s no big deal.” Y/n says, knowing what this is about.

“What? What do you mean? What's wrong?” Sam looks at the woman by his side.

“Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh…” Dean tries but don’t finish the sentence.

“He doesn’t like flying” she tells Sam.

“You're joking, right?” He looks at his older brother.

“Do I look like I'm joking? It just never came up before. Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?” He tells Sam looking annoyed and anxious.

“Alright, it’s no big deal.” Y/n takes a step forward and grabs Dean’s b the wrists forcing him to look at her “We’ll go. You meet us there at the arrival, okay?”

But Dean gets even more nervous “What? Are you nuts? You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash.”

“I know it’s weird and scary but we can do it together, or me and Sam can do this one by ourselves. I'm not seeing a third option here.” She is worried about her best friend and doesn’t want to force him into anything, but they need to save those people. Innocent people.

“Come on! Really?” he tries looking past her head at Sam, but he just shrugs his shoulders “Man…”

Dean, in the middle seat, is anxiously reading the safety card, with Sam in the aisle and y/n in the window seat looking at his brother.

“Just try to relax.” Sam tells him.

“Just try to shut up.” He answers folding the card again “And quit looking at me, both of you!” The plane takes off and Dean goes to grab the arm rests but grabs y/n hands on one side. He jumps at every rumble and sound making Sam smirk.

When the plane stabilizes Dean leans back, humming to himself. Y/n looks over, he let go of her hand after a while, even though she hadn’t complained. “You're humming Metallica?” She asks incredulously

“Calms me down.” He opens one eye and answers her.

“Look, cherry pie, I get you're nervous, all right? But you got to stay focused.” She tells him. “I mean, we got thirty-two minutes and counting to track this thing down, or whoever it's possessing, anyway, and perform a full-on exorcism.” She whispers the ending

“Yeah, on a crowded plane. That's gonna be easy.” Dean scoffs.

“ Let’s just take it one step at a time, all right? Now, who is it possessing?” Sam looks at both of them for theories.

“It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armor that the demon can worm through. Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress.” Dean remembers what he already read about the subject.

“Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash. If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up.” Sam says tilting his head a little.

When a flight attendant pass past them Sam stops her “Excuse me. Are you Amanda?”

“No, I'm not.” The woman smiles

“Oh, my mistake.” He excuses himself and she nods leaving.

Dean looks to the back of the plane to Amanda. “All right, well, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state.”

“What if she's already possessed?” Y/n questions him

“There's ways to test that.” He gives her a small smile and goes into his bag and comes out with a Virgin Mary-shaped bottle of water. “I brought holy water.”

“No.” Sam snatches the bottle and tucks it inside his hoodie. “I think we can go more subtle. If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God.”

“Oh. Nice.” He tells Sam and gets up passing Sam.

“Hey.” Y/n calls him

“What?”

“Say it in Latin.” She remembers him

“I know.” He tells her and turns around.

“Hey!” It’s Sam that calls him this time

“What?!” He comes back annoyed

“Uh, in Latin, it's "Christo".”

“Dude, I know! I'm not an idiot!” He makes his way to the back of the plane. When the plane shakes abruptly, he thumps a seat. Y/n grabs John’s journal from her bag and hands it to Sam, who start flipping through.

“Can I ask you a question?” Sam looks at y/n after a while reading.

“What sort of question is that? Of course you can.” She chuckles at him.

“How come you knew Dean was scared of flying?” He frowns a little.

She lets a small sigh escape “We’ll, I came along when you were five, Dean was nine. He was already taking care of you for so long. I think at some point he started to protect you the way a parent protects a child. Which is more than understandable and what was necessary at the time. But doing that, kind of made him hide some parts of himself, to be brave for you and to make your life…” she tries to find the word “I don’t know, less difficult!?” She chuckles lightly looking at her hands “Anyway, when John brought me to the motel he told Dean you guys needed to protect me, but I didn’t want that… burden on anyone else, I guess. So I did everything in my power to be on the same ‘level’ Dean was. Helping him with the same chores and proving that I could take care of the same things he did.”

She looks back at Sam “And it worked. We were confidants to each other. I would tell him everything that was going through my mind and vice versa. And these weird fears would just come up in the conversation every now and then, I guess.”

“Wow. I never thought about that.” Sam answers after a couple of seconds.

But before she could reply Dean came back and sat back down. “All right, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet.” He says raising his eyebrows.

“You said ‘Christo’?” Y/n asks.

“Yeah.”

“And?” Sam questions this time.

“There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her.”

“So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone. Anywhere.” Sam leans back on his seat.

The plane shakes, again. “Come on! That can't be normal!” Dean complains loudly.

“Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence.” The woman says holding his arm.

“Chip, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I'm friggin' four.” He knits his eyebrows at her whispering at her.

“You need to calm down.” She replies looking at Sam, looking for back up.

“Well, I'm sorry I can't.” He contorts

“Yes, you can.” Sam tries helping

“Dude, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap, it's not helping.” He’s getting more and more anxious.

“Alright listen, if you're panicked, you're wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down. Right now.” She holds his face between her palms forcing his eyes on hers and talking more sternly. He takes a long, slow breath.

“Okay. Now, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work. The Rituale Romanum.” Sam gives him the journal already opened on the page.

“What do we have to do?” He asks after a quick glance.

“It's two parts. The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful.” He starts explaining.

“More powerful?” Y/n raises her eyebrows worried.

“Yeah.”

“And why is that a good thing?” Dean asks him

“Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to hell once and for all.” Sam points at the page on Dean’s lap.

“First things first, we got to find it.” Y/n says looking at the brothers.

Dean walks slowly up the aisle with his EMF meter, getting odd looks but no readings. Y/n suddenly claps him on the shoulder, and he jumps.

“Ah! Don't do that.” He tells her and she smiles a little.

“Anything?”

“No, nothing. How much time we got?” He asks taking one earphone out.

“Fifteen minutes. Maybe we missed somebody.” Sam appears behind her.

“Maybe the thing's just not on the plane.” Dean raises his eyebrows.

“You believe that?” She asks him.

“Well, I will if you will.” He tries to pretend to be done with the whole thing. Dean looks down as the EMF meter spikes. The copilot exits the bathroom and heads towards the cockpit.

“What? What is it?” Sam asks over y/n’s shoulder.

Dean whispers “Christo.” The copilot turns slowly to face them, his eyes are black, and then heads into the cockpit. They all look at each other.

The trio heads to the back of the plane towards Amanda.

“She's not gonna believe this.” Y/n says

“Twelve minutes, dude.” Sam tells her.

“Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope.” Amanda smiles looking at Dean.

“Actually, that's kind of what we need to talk to you about.” She frowns at him. Sam closes the curtain.

“Um, okay. What can I do for you?” She sounds suspicious.

“All right, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole ‘the truth is out there’ speech right now.” Dean starts “We know you were on flight 2485.” Her smile disappears.

“Who are you guys?” She asks.

“Now, we've spoken to some of the other survivors. We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure.” Sam tells her trying to sound as honest as possible.

“We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again. Here. Now.” Y/n raises her eyebrows at her.

“I'm sorry, I… I'm very busy. I have to go back…” she tries to brush past Dean and y/n, but they stop her.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? But listen to me, uh… The pilot in 2485, Chuck Lambert. He's dead.” Dean tells her.

“Wait. What? What, Chuck is dead?”

“He died in a plane crash. Now, that's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?” Y/n continues Dean’s trail of thought

“Look, there was something wrong with 2485. Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too.” Dean keeps going.

“Amanda, you have to believe us.” Sam begs

“On… on 2485, there was this man. He… had these eyes.” She tries to put it into words.

“Yes. That's exactly what we're talking about.” Y/n exclaims relieved

“I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?” She looks between all the three hunters.

“Okay. The copilot, we need you to bring him back here.” Dean tells her.

“Why? What does he have to do with anything?” She looks exasperated.

“Don't have time to explain. We just need to talk to him. Okay?” Dean tries again:

“How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the copilot…”

“Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit.” Sam interrupts her.

“Do you know that I could lose my job if you…” she tries again but y/n cuts her off this time.

“Okay, well you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't help us out.”

The flight attendant hesitates. “Okay.” She leaves and goes to the cockpit. Knocking on the door and saying something inaudible to the copilot, who follows her back. Sam pulls out the holy water and the journal handing the latter to y/n, who opens it.

“Yeah, what's the problem?” The copilot asks as soon as he passes the curtain and Dean punches him in the face, knocking him down. He pins him down and puts duct tape over his mouth.

“Wait. What are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him.” The flight attendant asks panicked.

“We are gonna talk to him.” Dean says as Sam splashes holy water on his skin, which sizzles.

“Oh, my god. What's wrong with him?” Amanda starts to freak out.

“Look. We need you calm. We need you outside the curtain.” Y/n tells her while the other two try to contain the copilot.

“Well, I don't underst… I don't know…” she tries but can’t organize a sentence.

“Don't let anybody in, okay? Can you do that? Can you do that? Amanda?” She asks and Amanda nods leaving.

“Hurry up, y/n. I don't know how much longer I can hold him.” Dean speaks quickly

“Regna terrae, cantate Deo, psallite Domino…” she starts reading the exorcism.

The demon breaks free briefly and hits them both until Dean manages to subdue him again. Y/n keeps going. The demon knocks Dean off again and pulls the tape off his mouth. He grabs Sam by the collar and he hits the Journal, making it fly through the air.

“I know what happened to your girlfriend! She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!” He tells looking Adam in the eye.

Dean recovers and hits the demon as y/n recovers the journal and tries to find the page and Sam sits there, stunned.

“Sam!” Dean calls him. Sam recovers and begins restraining again.

“I got him.” Sam says and the demon exits the copilot’s body and disappears into a vent.

“Where did it go?” Y/n looks up and asks.

“It's in the plane. Hurry up. We got to finish it.” Dean yells. The plane suddenly dips and heaves violently. Y/n struggles to retrieve the book that fell again as Dean splays himself against the exit door, screaming, Sam holds himself down. She manages to grab the book and reads the rest of the exorcism. A bright electrical charge runs through the entire plane, which then levels out. Dean comes out from behind the curtain with Sam and y/n.

The passengers from the flight are disembarking to an area milling with uniformed agents (PARAMEDIC, FBI, FAA, etc). The copilot is seated in a wheelchair with a blanket wrapped around him, being questioned by an FAA agent and Amnda is being questioned by another agent when she spots the hunters mouthing a’ thank you’ at them. They nod smiling.

“Let's get out of here.” Dean says and they head for the exit.

“You two okay?” Y/n asks them. Dean nods but Sam stops and turns.

“Dean, it knew about Jessica.” He says.

“Sam, these things, they, they read minds. They lie. All right? That's all it was.” Dean tries to calm his brother.

“Yeah.”

“Come on.” Dean calls them.

When they encounter Jerry again he’s shaking their hands “Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed.” He smiles “Your dad's gonna be real proud.”

“We'll see you around, Jerry.” Y/n tells the man and they head out, but Dean stops and turn around.

“You know, Jerry.” He looks at the man “I meant to ask you, how did you get my cellphone number, anyway? I've only had it for like six months.”

“Your dad gave it to me.” Jerry explains and the three jaws facing him drop.

“What?” Sam inquires

“When did you talk to him?” Dean’s turn.

“I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call. Thanks again, guys.” He explains himself and leaves.

“This doesn't make any sense, man. I've called Dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service.” Sam tells the other two Dean dials a number. As the voice message begins, he turns it so they can hear too.

This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 785-555-0179. He can help.

Sam fumes and gets in the car. Dean and y/n follow, wondering.

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

@stillhere197

@lmhf1

@un-expectedly

#dean winchester #dean x reader #fanfic #imagine #john winchester #let it ride #sam winchester #season 1 #1x04 #Phantom Traveler #supernatural

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the-flaming-nightmare · 9 months ago

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Tagged by the wonderful @anewkindofme! ❤

Here's another snippet from my PSON agere fic where Malcolm regresses after the incident with Jessica in his loft in 1x04:

Malcolm reached into his pocket for his phone, struggling for a moment to grasp it with how much his hands were shaking and how hard he was crying. Finally, after what felt like an eternity later, Malcolm was able to get a firm grip on the device. He pulled it out and quickly found Gil's contact before setting it down next to him on the linoleum floor, unable to bring himself to get up despite the uncomfortable cold already beginning to seep into his bones. Since his mother practically ambushed him when he got home, he hadn't been able to turn on the loft's heater like he usually did after returning. And unfortunately, his bathroom had a tendency to reach especially high freezing temperatures when the heat wasn't on.

Well, he hopefully wouldn't be left in the cold for much longer, anyway. Daddy would be coming for him soon.

Malcolm hit the call button, attempting to choke back his sobs so he would be able to speak properly. It was all in vain, however, because as soon as Gil picked up after the fourth ring, Malcolm immediately began to openly sob again.

"D-d-da-daddy...!"

"Malcolm–hey, hey, what's going on, bug?! Are you hurt?"

Malcolm nodded, before remembering daddy couldn't see him.

"Uh–uh-huh."

"Are you still at the loft, sweetheart?"

"Y-yeah."

"Okay, I'm on my way, angel. Can you tell daddy where you're hurt?"

"M-my f-f-face."

"Was it an accident? Or did somebody hurt you, kiddo?"

"I-it was... um... was..."

Malcolm didn't know how he should respond. He didn't want to tell on his own mommy, but he also didn't want to lie to his daddy, either. And lying was a lot worse than telling on someone, especially when that someone did do something to hurt him.

"It's okay, little bear. You can tell me. You can always tell daddy when someone's hurt you."

"Um, it was mommy," Malcolm mumbled into the phone, wincing at his own admission.

Tagging (if you wanna): @angelique-of-the-volturi-guard, @nottapossum, @deevotee, @sinninghowlter, and anyone else who wants to join!

#tag game #wip wednesday #prodigal son #malcolm bright #gil arroyo #malcolm and gil #agere fandom #snippet #my wips

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howtosingit · 4 years ago

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Fic: shatter every window ‘til it’s all blown away

Carlos visits family in San Antonio while TK faces multiple storms in Austin.

Missing moments from 1x04.

2.1K | Also on AO3

- - - - - -

definitely just saw like 7 tornadoes

wtf

why exactly does this state want to kill me?

Carlos is sitting on his mother’s couch in San Antonio when he gets TK’s texts. It’s the first time he’s heard from the guy in a couple of days, since he left him on his front porch after their date. The silence hasn’t been terrible, if Carlos is being honest with himself. Sure, TK continues to take up space in his head every moment of every day, but the space seems to be getting smaller, or at least less centralized. He thinks that must count for something.

He glances up at the TV across the room, watching the meteorologist report on the major storm system wreaking havoc on Texas. Outside, rain pelts the windows of his mom’s one-story house, thunder roaring as lightning flashes. They’re a little too far south to be facing any tornadoes, but based on what he’s seeing, he can only imagine what kind of chaos Austin is experiencing at the center of the system.

Behind him, his mother and sisters flit around the kitchen preparing dinner, their conversation barely audible over the thunderstorm. He focuses on his phone again, thinking about how to respond.

Consider that a true Texas welcome?

Are you somewhere safe?

Carlos bites his bottom lip, watching as three dots appear at the bottom of his screen. He assumes that if TK is texting him he’s probably okay, but he’s sure this is the firefighter’s first tornado, so it doesn’t hurt to check. TK has been known to chase danger before.

yeah I’m at work

cowboy judd has us hunkered down until it clears

wbu?

Carlos looks back towards the TV, staring at the map that has taken over the screen. He sees numerous watches and warnings across the state, with a large concentration around Austin. The damage in certain areas is going to be catastrophic.

I’m in San Antonio, we’re just getting heavy rain here

There’s a pause following his text, long enough that he sets his phone down next to him, leaning forward on the couch to rub his temples. He’s already imagining the crazy workload awaiting him when he returns to town, not to mention all the loss. His heart clenches in his chest, knowing that it’s going to be a long road to recovery for his city.

His phone buzzes next to him.

I didn’t know you were out of town

but I’m glad you’re out of the worst of it

Carlos is already typing a response when another text comes through.

when are you back?

Carlos blinks, forcing himself not to read anything into TK’s messages. They’re friends now, or trying to be, and it’s super normal to ask these kinds of questions. TK’s just being curious, nothing more.

Tomorrow night, I’m working Monday

Just visiting family for a few days, it’s my sister’s birthday

He wonders if he needed to share that last bit. TK hadn’t asked for it, and he probably won’t care what reason he has for being out of town. Carlos sighs, wondering why he feels like he has to overthink every interaction with this man.

tell her happy birthday!

Judd says we’re probably going to lose service soon, it’s getting worse around the station

I’ll text you back when I can

Carlos sends a message telling him to be safe before tossing his phone to the other end of the couch, knowing that if he holds onto it he won’t do anything else until he hears from TK again. His mother finds him a few moments later, biting his fingernails as he stares at the continuous weather report. She runs her fingers through his curls, a surefire way to soothe him.

“I’m so glad you’re here and not in the middle of all of that, mijo,” she says, and he glances up to find her watching the report as well, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Are all of your friends safe?” she asks, looking down at him. He nods, his eyes closing as he feels her gentle touch on his scalp. He can feel anxiety rolling off of him in waves. “That’s good,” she says, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead. “Come help in the kitchen, nene. You need a distraction.”

Her voice is firm, leaving no room for argument. With a sigh, he pulls himself up from the couch, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they head into the other room, his phone left behind.

- - - -

He’s only about 20 minutes from Austin when his phone rings, the sound cutting through the music blasting in his car. Carlos glances over at his phone where it’s mounted on the dashboard, surprised to see TK’s name on his screen.

The firefighter had texted him once the storms had cleared, letting him know that everyone was safe and the station was still standing. Carlos wished him luck as the 126 headed out into the wreckage, honestly not expecting to hear from TK again before they saw each other at work.

He reaches out, swiping his finger across the screen to answer the unexpected call.

“TK?”

There’s a moment of silence before Carlos hears the other man take a deep breath, the sound traveling clearly through his car’s speakers.

“Hey, Carlos.”

Carlos feels his heart drop down into his stomach at the weak, broken tone of TK’s voice. His mind races with worst-case scenarios, wondering what could’ve possibly happened during his shift.

“Are you hurt?” he asks, trying to keep his voice calm. An image of a battered and bruised TK curled over his desk flashes through his mind, and he presses a little harder on the accelerator, wondering how quickly he can get back home.

“Not exactly. I just…”

TK trails off, hesitating, and Carlos rolls his eyes, frustrated that this conversation is happening over the phone and not in-person. He feels so helpless from so far away.

“Just talk to me, TK. I’m listening.”

There’s another pause, and Carlos swears that he’s about to scream in frustration. He has no idea what’s going on with TK right now, but in the entire time that he’s known him, he’s never heard the other man sound this shattered. Every heavy breath that Carlos hears through the phone feels like a punch straight to his chest.

“We lost someone on a call today,” TK starts, his voice blank. “A dad who wouldn’t let us treat him until we saved his kids. They were trapped in the house.”

Carlos bites his lip, his hands gripping tightly to the steering wheel as his eyes fill with tears. He knows what it’s like to have someone die in front of him, to feel like all he did was stand by and watch it happen. Those are the days where he feels completely useless, like there’s no point in him wearing the badge at all. He knows it’s impossible to save everyone all the time, but he can’t imagine not doing everything in his power to try.

“We got the kids out,” TK continues. “They all reunited, and then he just collapsed. Right in front of all of us. It felt so sudden, and there was n-nothing we c-could do.”

Carlos is shocked by the sound of TK crying over the phone, his breath stuttering over the last few words. He feels a tear of his own fall onto his cheek, his bottom lip quivering at the pain in the other man’s voice.

Doing what they do isn’t easy. It’s process and procedure and protocol. It’s assessing the situation, finding those who need the most help. It’s quick and sometimes callous, but it’s what they have to do, to be of any real use. It’s tunnel vision and quickest actions, all in the name of saving as many people as they can.

And it always hurts, when someone slips through the cracks; when someone’s pain goes undiscovered until it’s too late. Every time, it makes Carlos want to throw away the rule book, rethink the system, figure out how to make it better. He just wants to save everyone.

“I’m so sorry, Ty,” he says, the nickname slipping through for the first time. He tries to keep his voice calm and clear, for TK’s sake.

The other man doesn’t respond, but Carlos can hear him crying through the phone, quiet sobs rolling through the speakers. He’s just about to speak up, say something else, maybe offer a distraction, when TK’s voice cuts through.

“My dad has cancer,” he whispers, and of all the things that Carlos thought he might say, that revelation had not been anywhere on the list.

“What?” Carlos asks, the single syllable rattling through the air before he can stop it, his heart caught in a vice-like grip of terror for TK.

The man has already faced so much.

“I found some pills in his desk,” TK explains. “They’re prescribed for chemo patients.”

“Fuck, TK,” Carlos whispers, running his fingers through his curls as he takes his exit off I-35. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah,” TK says, letting out a breath. He doesn’t say anything else.

“Where are you right now?” Carlos asks, a new fear running through him.

“Home.”

“Is anyone with you?”

“No.”

“Do you need someone?” Carlos asks, making a decisive turn towards TK’s house. Just in case.

“I don’t know,” TK says weakly. “I… I don’t know, Carlos.”

“What are you thinking?” Carlos asks, trying to figure out TK’s state-of-mind. He seems a little all-over-the-place, and Carlos doesn’t even know where to begin.

“I can’t lose him, Carlos,” TK responds, and Carlos can hear the sob in the back of his throat. “He’s all I have here, I can’t lose him. I’m looking around and he’s everywhere and I can’t escape him or, or this image of him just collapsing right in front of me, without warning. Just like that dad did today. What if that had been my dad, and I missed it because I wasn’t paying attention? Because I was focused on everything else and not on the person who was really dying?”

Carlos makes another turn. “I understand that, TK, but it’s not going to happen, okay? It’s not. You know now, and nothing happened to your dad. I know it’s hard, but you can’t get trapped in the ‘what-ifs,’ you’ll drive yourself crazy,” he says, trying to be as soothing as possible.

“I don’t have anywhere to go that isn’t connected to him,” TK continues, “but I also don’t want to leave, because something could happen when I’m not here. I don’t know what to do, and I just keep pacing around the house.”

“Would it…” Carlos hesitates, wondering if he should even offer. “Would it help to have someone there with you, while you wait for him?”

“I…” TK starts, his voice cutting out. “I thought you were in San Antonio?”

“I just got back, I could be at your place in 10, if you want,” Carlos tells him, already mentally mapping the drive. He turns left, getting closer.

“Are you serious?”

“Of course I am,” Carlos states, his voice firm. “‘Not running away,’ remember?”

There’s a heavy silence following the reminder of their last face-to-face conversation. Carlos pulls up to a stop sign, holding his breath as he waits for TK to make a decision.

“Thank you, Carlos,” he finally says, and Carlos wonders if he’s imagining the lighter tone in his voice.

“I’m only a few minutes away, okay? Do you want to stay on the call?”

“Do you mind?”

“No, not at all,” Carlos says, his heart feeling a little bit lighter as TK voice strengthens on the other end of the line.

“How was your sister’s birthday?” TK asks suddenly, and Carlos hears the clear request for a distraction; one that he’s more than happy to provide.

He’s in the middle of sharing how he helped his mom with the cake when he knocks on the door to the Strand household. Seconds later, TK throws open the door, his eyes red and glassy as he drops his phone and pulls Carlos towards him. He wraps his arms around TK’s frame, pressing him against his chest as they stand in the doorway, letting TK’s tears soak the t-shirt he’s wearing as he gently strokes his back.

There’s no hesitation, no second-guessing. There’s just a desire to support and comfort and protect.

He can’t imagine being anywhere else.

#tarlos #tarlos fic #911 lone star #tk strand #carlos reyes #I wrote a thing #tarlos missing moments collection

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mantra4ia · 4 years ago

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NBC Debris, episodes 1-9: overview of high hopes and adjusted expectations

*Mild spoilers ahead*

I'm rooting for this show guys, really I am. The premise and the two main characters / actors are interesting, or at least try very hard to be. But this series has been slow off the ground despite my excitement during preseason teasers and here's why, in my view.

Pros:

An intercontinental alliance gives room / potential for some interesting spy craft, I just wish it was slightly more artful, less heavy handed.

Alien debris having potential to do good things is also a fantastic promise to expand on. George Jones talked about some terraforming level stuff (whether it goes right or wrong is another story), let's see more of that. Are tech giants fighting over the intellectual property rights to debris-based advances? How are money and favor between industry and the government changing hands (apart from a very literal briefcase full of cash on the black market when we first meet Influx)? How do different pieces of debris interact with one another, maybe it changes some of their properties in unpredictable ways.

Bryan and Finola have good amorphous lead chemistry. We aren't being force-fed where it is going to go, but we know it's a compelling relationship where they're both relying on each other to get through challenging emotional hurdles (marine special ops, family tragedy). And we see them together, riffing off each other from the beginning, and it works as both a personal and professional partnership.

Strongest debris-scifi-based episode was definitely 1x04 "In Universe" with the chlorine- respiration-based biome. To me it's the best of the season so far.

Strongest character episode so far is maybe 1x09 "Do You Know Icarus?" or 1x06 "Supernova"

Cons:

Episodic structure hampers the ramp of tension building. You don't get big payoff because you get short plot points. Yes there's the recurring "ball of light" and Influx references, but those are more phantom thread teasers than a long game of steadily developing insights.

No fully developed villain or antagonist to make the stakes seem tangible and priorities urgent or simmering: is it Influx, Maddox, Ferris, casually mentioned foreign government espionage, the guy who played Michael on The Vampire Diaries? I don't know, and worst of all nor do I really care because I don't feel their immenent threat or ideological purpose. I am more worried about the debris body count, but debris is a problem / quandary, not a viable adversary at this point. We've got a multi-front conflict, and 45 minutes with underwhelming writing complexity to try and meet the task. It's a struggle.

The ABCD action-based plot. I have to do this sequence in order to beat this level. Where's the character building?

Speaking of which, while I like Bryan and Finola's dynamic opposite each other, I can't say the same about their development as individual characters. Their depth and relationship to others has so far been terrible due to superficial telegraphing which tells us rather than a writing structure that shows us why we're supposed to care about them, their lives, or their relationships to others, like Finola and DeDe and George as a family unit, or Bryan and Maddox. Seeing an old family video of sisters dancing to a favorite song does nothing for me when I haven't seen them interact on anything more than a long distance phone call. Can we maybe get a flashback of them at George's memorial so that we can get a sense of how devastated the family was or see the consequences of DeDe's substance abuse habit as a crutch during an emotionally chaotic time in her life? No. We get hearsay. Maddox is supposedly so worthy of Bryan's trust, pulled him from the brink of a dark emotional abyss (1x07), but we get no sense of that bond off the clock like Bryan checking in on Maddox's family, or any sort of personal connection. Just a cold professional relationship with a few one liners.

Telegraphing to ambiguity ratio: certain things the audience gets explained to us, like alternate universes visible in the molecular imperfections of glass or how they damaged George's hippocampus and impaired his memory (like they're just throwing out words to sound sci-fi impressive), and yet some basic details that would help build this world lore and make it believable are left up to off-screen imagination? Come on now, we all know the season one is for world building. Hop to it! Debris falls from the sky, worldwide, and you're telling me no one knows about it and it doesn't impact public life / culture in any way, it doesn't make the news cycle, nothing? You're an Orbital agent, and you're able to fly around in laboratory equipped jets and land in whichever airspace you please, and no one bats an eye? Terrorists are using debris against civilians, and we don't see government restrictions, curfew, lockdowns, etc, we don't get any minor glimpses into ramifications on ordinary life? No, because the focus is always trained on our "field agents" but not the playing field. It's mundane, small stuff questions that keep us grounded, which is a refreshing and needed balance in sci-fi, but apart from a conversation about stale Peeps I don't see attention to daily details of life as we know it.

We are literally told in the pilot by a title card (talk about expedient) that "three years ago images were captured of a wrecked alien spacecraft moving through the solar system" and for 6 months debris has been falling. Has it smashed through any cities causing panic? How is it spun by the media, or how is Orbital keeping it out of public attention? Is there a political power struggle over research access, and what do those higher up agency meetings look like? Where and how is the recovered debris being cataloged and stored when it is not used in active research? Who has clearance to it, what is that clearance called/what does it entail, which government retains agency of debris pieces, or does that depend on where Orbital recovers it? This is like first-five-episode-arc lore building and we are nine hit or miss episodes into the season! I need this show to level up if it's taking the route of being clever and cerebral, which it appears to aim at by focusing on the scientific part of sci-fi. If it's goal is to be a small scale, partner ride along weekly mystery with heavy synthetic sound cues, then it needs to pick a tone that takes itself less seriously.

The dialogue is so lackluster and expository. Please get some of the writer's room to focus on making it sharper, quicker, smarter.

The science of debris: George Jones, as some genius mind behind Orbital tech, isn't believable. We don't get to see any part of his professional life in Orbital in the three year lead up to when we meet our characters, he doesn't even have any dialogue when Finola first finds him captive. We have "science-aesthetic" scribbles on a chalkboard and Finola's word that George is a workaholic research savant. It doesn't ring true and by extension some of the "rules" of this Orbital technology seem murky (not as in we learn alongside the characters, but as in the concept seems under developed). George's biggest contribution thus far is a levity critique of Bryan's driving speed. At this point he's a plot device to further Fin's journey, as is DeDe. That's base.

Lack of interest in supporting ensemble: why should I care about Maddox's family crisis, or DeDe's addiction or George's suicide after he was shut out of his own research at Orbital, etc? Again this ties back to previous points of show don't tell, and build a world, maybe use some flashbacks. Make it personal — why is George's research (apart from a generalized better world) so singularly important to him that it breaks his family, what compelled Brian to transition from military service to Orbital? How are different factions within Orbital — like the research team and the field agents — getting along, who's at the very bottom of the barrel or on the very top of the hierarchy?

I want this show to succeed, but I don't get a clear read on what genre they want to be or more importantly what the characters want. Please increase the focus on dialogue, get the basics of want-obstacle-action done right, and then the debris and the conflict it creates can have a bigger impact.

#nbc debris #new fandom #sci-fi #finola jones #bryan beneventi #renew Debris

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stahlop · 5 years ago

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Once Upon a Time 2x18 “Selfless, Brave, and True” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17

Yeah, so I’m not a huge fan of this episode. We have no recourse from last week’s episode whatsoever, plus I don’t feel like August got his rightful comeuppance for what he did to Emma. He basically got a do over for finally doing the right thing after a lifetime of not doing the right thing. Plus, the whole Tamara thing is very convoluted. She happened to run into the one person from the EF, and then ran into Neal because she saw him talking to August later on? Or did she suspect Neal was magical too? And she happens to know Greg? It’s a lot of either coincidence or convoluted plotting. Also, I realized why I didn’t remember this episode very well, this episode came out on March 24th, 2013, the day my middle daughter was born. So I was probably in the newborn haze when I got around to watching the episode.

Summary: We see August’s desperation when his leg starts turning back into wood and ends up stealing money from a sick Tamara to try and save himself. In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret discovers August hiding out in the woods and she, Emma, and Marco spend their time looking for him after he runs away.

Opening: Trailer

New Characters:

Tamara: So we finally, truly meet Neal’s fiance. We got a small glimpse of her when she was introduced at the end of The Queen is Dead, but now we get to see that she’s a lot more than she says she is. In the past, we see her in Hong Kong, seeking out The Dragon to cure her from cancer. She and August run into each other in a bar where she idiotically shows him her money (why is she carrying $10,000 in small bills in an envelope in her bag and taking it out for anyone to see?), then leaves it with him to go take a phone call. She seems too trusting, but I have no reason to believe she knows who August is at this point. Since she seems to just be interested in taking out The Dragon when the time comes. August steals her money, of course, but she catches up with him later after he uses her money to get the elixir to fix his leg. She chases him through the streets and eventually his leg hurts him too badly and he falls and drops the elixir, which Tamara rightfully takes. Tamara goes to see The Dragon again and she wants the truth from him. He accuses her of being dishonest because she doesn’t actually have cancer. She’s been looking for magic. She’s analyzed the contents of the elixir he gave August and can’t find a single element in it that’s from our world. They go back and forth about magic and how he’s helping people with afflictions that can’t be fixed by science, and she basically decides that no one else can find him, so (with a look of trepidation) she pulls out a taser. The Dragon starts smoking and possibly changing into his true form but before he can complete the transformation, Tamara tases him and kills him? I’m still debating on what kind of taser could kill a magical being or if maybe he just left the body that he was using as The Dragon with all that smoke before Tamara tased him. Tamara picks up the picture of her grandmother that she’d given The Dragon as her personal item (besides the money), and leaves. We then see an exchange between August and Neal that Tamara is watching through her compact. After August takes off on his bike, Tamara walks toward Neal and gets him to bump into her, facilitating their first meeting and how she became his fiance.

Tamara seems like the perfect, doting girlfriend when she arrives in Storybrooke. She tells the story of how she and Neal met when Henry asks. Neal ran into her and spilled her coffee all over her. He gave her his scarf to cover the stain and his number. She seems pretty okay with the fact that her fiance suddenly has a son he never knew about and that he’s now back in contact with his ex due to sudden fatherhood. She’s just very supportive all around. And that’s when Neal decides to tell her he’s from the Enchanted Forest. Tamara, of course, thinks Neal is insane. He gives her the storybook that Henry left, and Tamara is confused because it’s just a book of fairy tales. He shows her a picture of himself as a boy. Tamara thinks Neal is trying to break up with her for Emma. He tells her he is not, but Tamara doesn’t believe him. She tells him when he’s ready to be honest with her to come and find her. She plays the perfect girlfriend so well. Tamara overhears Mary Margaret telling Emma and Marco that she found August, that he’s completely wooden, and that he’s living in a trailer by the toll bridge. So she goes to pay him a visit. She mentions him being made of wood and August is surprised she can see him. And she says my thoughts exactly, she believed in The Dragon so of course she believes in magic. Tamara wants August to leave town, he owes her for what he did to her in Hong Kong. He wants her to explain how he found her, but she poses the more important questions, how is she there. August deduces the elixir worked for her cancer and Tamara says she has more in her apartment in New York, he just has to go get it. In return, he leaves Storybrooke and never return. Well, that’s not ominous or anything. August sees her engagement ring and realizes she’s Neal’s fiance. He accuses them of coming to Storybrooke to steal the magic, but Tamara says Neal has nothing to do with this (that should really be August’s first clue that Tamara isn’t on the up and up because what are the odds she met Neal randomly otherwise?). August again says he needs to know what she’s up to, but Tamara knows he’s all about self-preservation and gives him her car keys. August attempts to call Emma to warn her about Tamara, but she cuts the phone line. Tamara tells August she wanted him to save himself, and he tells her that’s what he’s trying to do. August basically tells her she won’t get away with what she’s doing, but he wastes too much time monologuing because she tases him. Tamara witnesses Mother Superior turning August back into a real boy and ‘realizes’ everything Neal told her is true. Neal gives her the out to go back to New York, but she says she wants to stay with him, and Neal thinks he’s so lucky to have met her. And then we find out that Tamara is the Her that Greg keeps calling and they make out in front of Greg’s open door at Granny’s.

The Dragon: We don’t really know much about him except that he’s magical, he’s not from this realm, he helps people that science has failed (as long as they pay), and no one has met the real him. He looks like he’s going to transform into something, but Tamara tases him before he can.

Character Observations:

August: In the past, we see how awful of a person August is. He seems to have wasted the $20,000 that he was supposed to give to Emma on moving to Thailand, drinking and living on the beach. He wakes up when his leg starts turning into wood. His girlfriend doesn’t see it. August decides he needs to see a doctor. And apparently he needs to go to Hong Kong to do it.The doctor thinks August is pulling his leg (ha!) when he tells him his leg is turning to wood, but then August decides stabbing his leg would prove his point. The doctor, clearly disturbed by his patient stabbing himself and not noticing that no blood came out of this stab wound, calls for security to take August to psych. August apparently didn’t think about the fact that if you’re not magically inclined no one can see you turning into wood and they will automatically think you’re crazy. So he runs off trying to escape from security. He’s grabbed from behind into a storage closet by Quon (as IMDB so helpfully told me, or Jianyu/Jason Mendoza from The Good Place), who heard him yelling about his situation and knows someone who can help him. August follows him to The Dragon’s waiting room, where he is a good Samaritan and picks up another patient’s phone, and it just so happens that patient is Tamara. August goes to see The Dragon and tries to test his abilities by showing him the wrong leg first. The Dragon knows it’s the other leg that ails him. August shows him the other leg and The Dragon sees that it’s turning to wood and calls him Pinocchio. August is unnerved that The Dragon knows who he is and asks if he’s from the Enchanted Forest. The Dragon never confirms, but tells him he’s asking the wrong questions. Which is, can The Dragon help him, and he can. But he needs a personal item and $10,000 dollars. For the personal item, he wants the necklace string August has around his neck. It’s from the strings Geppetto used to bring him to life when he was just an inanimate puppet. He gives him until that night to bring him the money. August at a market looking at the lack of funds in his wallet. He sees Tamara in a bar and she invites him over for a drink. He sees all her money just sitting in her bag. When she tells him she has cancer, you can see the internal conflict going on in his mind about whether he can steal the money and technically kill her. When she leaves to take a phone call and asks him to watch her bag, well, I can understand where he might think that’s a valid reason to take it. I mean, that’s pretty dumb on her part. August goes to The Dragon and pays him the money and gets the elixir, but not after The Dragon tells him the turning to wood is just a symptom of a bigger problem that only August can cure himself. Now, if he’d been smart, he would’ve drank it in the waiting room or even on the steps, but no. He decides to go down the stairs, with his bum leg, and take a drink when he gets to the bottom. But Tamara catches up with him before he can take a drink. She chases him through the streets and eventually, his leg trips him up and he falls and drops the elixir. She takes it and leaves crying manbaby, August, in the streets of Hong Kong (okay, I get that he’s really crying over his life choices, but seriously, he looks so pathetic in this scene). August goes back to The Dragon a few days later but finds him dead. We later see August talking to Neal in New York, he’s telling Neal he’s turning back into wood and he has to go to Storybrooke to get Emma to break the curse so he stops it from killing him. He says he’ll send Neal a postcard when the curse is broken.

In Storybrooke, Mary Margaret comes across a completely wooden August hiding out in an abandoned trailer in the middle of the woods. Mary Margaret is understandably confused since the curse broke. August explains that when it broke he went from not being able to move, having been consumed by the wood, to being able to move again. It’s his punishment for not following the rules set out for him. Mary Margaret tries to convince him to come to town because Emma and Marco miss him (I seriously doubt Emma is missing him), and that Henry’s father is now there. August is hopeful that Emma and Neal are back together, but Mary Margaret informs him they aren’t and that Neal is engaged. August looks regretful about this and goes on a tirade about how hope basically sucks and it hits too close to home for Mary Margaret who is looking for redemption herself. She tries to convince him that everyone deserves a second chance, but August isn’t buying it because she’s Snow White who has never done anything that needed forgiveness (Mary Margaret must be really sick of everyone thinking she can do no wrong). He doesn’t want to go back and tells Mary Margaret not to tell anyone she saw him. Later on, there is knocking on his trailer door and it’s Tamara! He’s surprised he can see that he’s made of wood, even though she believed in the magic of The Dragon. She tells him she wants him to leave town, no questions asked, because he owes her, and she has some of the elixir left and she’ll let him have it. August realizes she’s Neal’s fiance and wonders if she and Neal are there to take or get rid of magic. Tamara assures him that Neal has nothing to do with this. He takes her car and drives out of town, but then he hits a bump and the picture of Tamara and her grandmother, that she had given to The Dragon, falls down from the sun visor. August realizes that Tamara must have killed The Dragon. He heads to the police station, desperate to find Emma, but she’s out in the woods looking for him. He somehow manages to call her from the ancient rotary phone in the station but Tamara cuts the phone lines before he can tell Emma about Tamara. He tells her he knows what she did to The Dragon and then monologues a bit about how he hasn’t led a good life and only he can cure that, and he won’t let her get away with whatever she’s doing. Which, ugh, just get out of their August before she, oops, too late. She tased you. August makes it outside just as Emma and crew get there, but he doesn’t manage to tell her anything before he dies. Mother Superior comes and Marco begs her to save him, and they decide that this one last bit of bravery is enough to make up for all his past misdeeds (he had to save Geppetto from Monstro the whale when he was little puppet to get turned into a real boy, and dying to try and get info to Emma is what saves him this time, what the hell?) so she turns him into a real boy. Yes, he is no longer August but back to being child Pinocchio. So now he gets his second chance and all the harm he caused Emma has been reset, because he doesn’t remember anything from being August.

Mary Margaret: She’s still depressed and in bed. She overhears David and Emma arguing about her and she finally decides to get out of bed. She packs a bag and decides she needs some alone time. David wants to come with her but she reminds him that he’s working with Anton in the bean fields and they might have a crop soon. David thinks they can just go back to the Enchanted Forest and forget about being in Storybrooke, but Mary Margaret says going back there will not erase what she’s done. She is doing some target practice in the woods (and listening to some Joan Jett while doing so) when she hears something in the woods and finds August (complete with broken arrow sticking out of his leg) in a trailer. She is confused that he is still wood after the curse broke, but August explains about how it’s his own punishment. Mary Margaret tries to convince him to come back to town, and let’s him know that Emma and Marco miss him (I think Mary Margaret is assuming about Emma, because I don’t think she would miss the person who helped put her in jail). She also lets him know that Henry’s father is back. You can see the confusion on her face when August mentions Neal’s name and hopes that they’re back together (since she doesn’t know the connection between them). He then goes on about redemption and mistakes made and how some things you just don’t come back from and of course, since Mary Margaret is going through the whole killing Cora guilt, she takes it personally. She tells August everyone deserves a second chance, but he goes on about how she’s perfect Snow White and never has to worry about those things. August was seven when the curse hit, what the hell does he know about Snow White except she was the queen? Seriously, does he know anything about her past, because if he did, he wouldn’t say such bullshit and make her feel bad. She’s on the verge of tears and then she tells him he needs to stop feeling sorry for himself (herself) and face the people in the town. August tells her to leave and tell no one that she saw him. Of course, Mary Margaret goes straight to Granny’s to go tell Emma and Marco she found him (with a detour of running into Regina who bates her by telling her the fish special is blackened sole). She tells them he’s completely wooden and that hopefully, Mother Superior will be able to turn him back. Mother Superior can’t help him, because he hasn’t been selfless, brave, and true. Mary Margaret argues that he should get another chance because they’ve all done things they aren’t proud of and Mother Superior agrees that if he can do things he needs to get back on the right path then she can change him. Mary Margaret tells Marco there’s still hope for August. Mary Margaret, Marco, and Emma head toward the trailer and Marco laments that this is all his fault. Mary Margaret tells him their children make their own decisions, but Marco finally confesses about the whole two people could go in the wardrobe and he sent Pinocchio to care for Emma. Mary Margaret is, understandably, upset because she could have gone with Emma and raised her. Marco apologizes and Mary Margaret slaps him (go Mary Margaret, I’ve been waiting for this confrontation and it did not disappoint). Emma is appalled at Mary Margaret’s behavior because Marco apologized (so what, she has the right to her emotions), Marco feels he deserved it, but Mary Margaret feels like she wasn’t in control of her actions and apologizes to Marco. She understands and would have done the same for Emma (she kind of did with sending her with supposedly no protection at all). It seems like they’re going to say more, but Mary Margaret notices they’ve arrived at August’s trailer. He’s not there when they go in. On their way back, Emma gets a phone call from August and they hightail it back to the station (and pick up Henry and David on the way?). August comes out and ‘dies’ and Mary Margaret is heartbroken because he didn’t get his second chance (projecting much Mary Margaret?). Luckily, Mother Superior is able to turn him back into Pinocchio and Mary Margaret is so relieved that he’s getting his second chance. Which means she’ll get a second chance. Mary Margaret finally comes clean to David about going to Regina. David is upset because Mary Margaret could have died, and Mary Margaret matter-of-factly tells him that’s what she had intended. She tells him that Regina ripped out her heart and found the dark spot. David wants to know why she didn’t say anything. She felt it would make it real; she wanted to believe redemption was possible. David reminds her that August got redeemed, but Mary Margaret reminds David that it cost August everything to do so. David tells her she’s not August and she’s not Regina, so there are other ways to redeem herself. Mary Margaret doesn’t understand how he can be so sure, but he says he knows her heart better than anyone, so that’s how he’s sure.

Emma/Neal/Henry: Emma is pissed that David is still coddling Mary Margaret when he makes her breakfast in bed. She thinks they need to haul her ass out of bed and get her to start living again. Emma tells him that the only one who can help Mary Margaret is Mary Margaret. She and Henry leave to go so Neal. When Henry leaves to go get some hot chocolates, Neal informs Emma that Tamara went into the storage closet and Hook wasn’t there, and Tamara was in the storage closet because she was getting things to come to Storybrooke. Emma is concerned about bringing an outsider in. Neal says he needs her. Emma says he needs to tell her about who he is and where he’s from and to stop lying to her. Neal wants Emma to stay, but Emma really doesn’t want to and gives the excuse of needing to go to the Sheriff’s station. He convinces her to stay (with bagels, it’s always about food with Emma). Cue awkward silence when Tamara, Neal, Emma, and Henry are all eating bagels. Henry finally asks how Neal and Tamara met to break the ice. Neal seems like he doesn’t know what to say so Tamara takes the reins and tells it. Emma tells her it sounds like fate (and that’s actually cutting because we know how she feels about that). Neal even looks at her like he knows she’s kind of being bitchy. Emma has to take Henry to David’s (is Henry helping work in the bean fields?), and Henry tells Neal to keep the story book he’d brought over. Neal decides to tell Tamara the truth and she doesn’t react kindly to it. She thinks he wants to dump her for Emma. She tells him when he wants to be honest to come find her. The one time Neal is honest it blows up in his face. Still no sympathy for him. Mary Margaret asks Emma and Marco to meet her at the diner. I’m not sure if Emma is truly concerned for August, or just worried about the fact that he’s completely wooden. They go see Mother Superior who tells them that August did come to her after the curse to change him back. Emma wants to know why she didn’t, and she explains that August basically made himself the way he was by not adhering to the rules. Emma, Marco, and Mary Margaret go to the woods to find August and Marco confesses his wrongdoings concerning the wardrobe. Emma is saddened when she sees how hurt Mary Margaret that she could have gone with Emma through the wardrobe. Emma is pretty shocked though when Mary Margaret slaps Marco. Emma looks like she doesn’t know how to handle the situation even after both Mary Margaret and Marco apologize to each other. Emma is really concerned when August tries to call and warn her about something but is cut off. She, Mary Margaret, Marco, David, and Henry go to the station where August collapses in Marco’s arms. He tries to warn Emma again but ‘dies’ before he can. Neal walks up right at this moment and Emma is freaking out that someone killed August. Henry thinks that Mother Superior will be able to save him since he was doing a selfless, brave, and true act. August gets turned back into Pinocchio and Emma hopes he can give her the info he was trying to give before he was changed, but he can’t. Emma is worried because obviously, someone in town killed August. Now I know she doesn’t know everyone in town, but my two guesses would be either Greg or Tamara because they don’t belong there. Anyway, Neal witnesses this whole thing too, as does Tamara who finally ‘believes’. Neal can’t believe he got so lucky to find a woman like her. He wasn’t, Tamara orchestrated their meeting, but he’s oblivious because he’s in ‘love’. Ugh. Back at the loft, Emma finally apologizes for lying to Henry about Neal and promises never to lie again (then tell him what an ass Neal is! She’s still lying by omission if Henry ever finds out.). Henry says he won’t push her away anymore and they hug and make up.

Greg/Regina: These two meet in Granny’s while Greg is eating a piece of apple pie (appropriate). Regina wants to thank him for calling about Henry. He has a soft spot for little kids in trouble. Regina thinks he looks familiar and can’t figure out why. He jokes about her possibly having been in PA, but she hasn’t. She’s happier than we’ve ever seen her for just talking to a stranger. She tells him not to hesitate to ask her for anything during his visit. Regina goes to leave and runs into Mary Margaret who looks like a deer in headlights when they run into each other. Regina goes all devious looking when she suggests the fish special, blackened sole. Greg goes back to his room later and finds Regina there. She’s finally figured out that he’s Owen from all those years ago. She still has the lanyard he gave her from all those years ago. She’s admiring how grown up he is. She even tries to lovingly touch his face, but he backs away from that gesture, pretty disgusted. Greg comments how he recognized her right away, because she looks exactly the same. Regina plays it off as if she does juice cleanses. Right. She says he could have come to her and told him why he was there. Greg thinks she should know why he’s there, but Regina says she has no idea. Greg says he’s looking for his father. Regina seems shocked, she claims he left shortly after Greg did and she never saw him again. Greg doesn’t believe her, because that would mean his father abandoned him. Regina swears it’s the truth. He tells her people just don’t disappear (um, I think a lot of people with missing children and relatives would disagree with you on that, and that has nothing to do with a fantastical town), but Regina says little boys tend to have overactive imaginations. He gets defensive and tells her he’s not a little boy anymore and he’s not leaving without his father. Regina says he is and she’ll let Granny know he’s checking out tomorrow. Greg asks what happens if he doesn’t leave. Regina says that sometimes people do disappear. Later that night, Greg gets a call from Her and then a knock on his door. It’s Tamara, and she is Her. They don’t have much time because Neal is in the shower, so they start making out. Ew.

Questions:

How are the beans almost ready to harvest when it took them 100 years in the Enchanted Forest?

Why does August go to a doctor in Hong Kong when he’s in Thailand? They aren’t anywhere near each other. It’s a 7 hour flight from Phuket to Hong Kong.

Is Quon just hanging around hospitals listening in on private doctor/patient conversations in case he can send someone to The Dragon? Is that his job? Scrounging up sickly or dying people, who hopefully have money, so The Dragon can cure them?

Where did this trailer come from that August is staying in?

Is there any rhyme or reason to the story book? There’s a picture of the Mad Hatter, Hansel and Gretel, and then Bae all in a row.

Why is there a picture of young Bae in the storybook? Doesn’t the storybook only cover the fairy tales in the years directly preceding the curse?

Why was Tamara wearing a headscarf and sunglasses in the waiting room of The Dragon, but not later when August runs into her for a drink? I know, it was supposed to be so we didn’t recognize her, but it makes no sense that she’d be hiding her identity in an indoor room and not out in a public, outdoor bar.

Why does The Dragon need a personal item? Does that have something to do with the magic?

How the hell did Tamara find August’s trailer? I know she overheard it was near the toll bridge, but David got lost going there in The Shepherd and he’d been there before. How did Tamara find this area without asking anyone (or maybe Greg helped her out since he’d been hiking out there in Welcome to Storybrooke).

Why does The Dragon have Tamara’s photo of her and her grandmother sitting out on his table? He doesn’t have any other personal items out? Did he know August had stolen the money and had it out as a possible guilt trip to see if he’d do the right thing? Or was it just for plot purposes?

If Tamara drove to Storybrooke, how was she going to explain her car missing to Neal when she gave August her car keys and told him not to come back?

How is August getting food? Does he need to eat? There are food wrappers on his counter, so it seems like he does.

So, is Tamara a scientist of some sort? How does she have access to the most sophisticated techniques to analyze the elixir?

How high is the voltage on that taser that it kills a magical being? Or is it a magic taser? That would be ironic if she killed a magical being with a magical taser.

Any ideas on who The Dragon really is? (Spoiler alert: we never find out) I’m going with Mushu because of the red smoke.

Was The Dragon not seeing anyone the day Tamara tased him? Where were the people in the waiting room? Where was his assistant, the guy that brought August there in the first place?

How did Tamara know August came back to Storybrooke and was at the sheriff’s station? Was she tracking him somehow. Does she have a tracker on her car?

How did August find Neal in New York? Last time he saw him was in Canada. Or were they keeping in touch all this time in case the curse broke?

Also, why was Neal so surprised about Emma finding him when he a) knew the curse was starting to break, and b) had received a postcard from August once it had broken?

I have so many questions concerning Tamara and Neal’s meeting. Was she in New York to go after August but decided to go after Neal instead because they knew each other? Did she know Neal had a magical background and that’s why she orchestrated their meeting? Was she using Neal to get August but found a bigger gold mine instead? Did she know about Storybrooke and everyone in it since we know she and Greg are together?

Observations:

It’s October 24th when August’s leg turns back into wood, and the newspaper from Welcome to Storybrooke was dated October 23rd, meaning Emma’s birthday is definitely October 23rd. Which is when the Pilot aired.

August’s clock says 8:15 when his leg turns to wood. He is in Phuket, Thailand, which is 11 hours ahead of Maine. If it had been 8:15 at night when Emma decided to stay in Storybrooke, then it should have been 7:15 the next morning in Phuket, not 8:15. And also it should have been the 25th of October since it’s the following morning.

Neal and Tamara are looking at the picture of young Bae in the story book, but when they close the book it’s on the picture of Snow and Charming’s wedding.

Mary Margaret’s expression when she runs into Regina at Granny’s is the exact same expression she had in Welcome to Storybrooke when she would run into Regina on the street.

Wood doesn’t conduct electricity. Now, assuming August is completely wood and doesn’t have any water in him like most humans have, Tamara’s taser must be magical.

August tells Neal he’ll send him a postcard when this is all over. Neal had asked August to send him a postcard when things changed in Tallahassee and Neal actually received a postcard from August in Broken.

Oh, look, we went from August having dark brown hair and blue eyes to Pinocchio having red hair and brown eyes.

So, yeah. That was that episode. We finally found out what happened to August after the curse broke. We found out he really is a douchebag. I mean, he stole the $20,000 Neal gave him to give to Emma, and then he stole the $10,000 Tamara had for her cure (even if she wasn’t really sick). He is not brave, not truthful, and very selfish, and yet he gets to live his life over again. Whatever. We find out that Tamara is working with Greg and apparently wants magic in some way. Really, the only good thing about this episode was Mary Margaret getting out of her funk with target practice.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes @thisonesatellite @justbecauseyoubelievesomething @laschatzi @profdanglaisstuff @mariakov81 @lfh1226-linda

#once upon a time #once upon a time review #once upon a time rewatch #once upon a time 2x18 #once upon a time selfless brave and true

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academyofbrokenhearts · 1 month ago

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They are so insane for flirting like that on main in the middle of a goddamn job interview.

How did he catch it if he can't speak sign language? Like - how obsessive do you have to be to notice?

The way he goes !!! when he realizes she has watched every single one of his videos enough to be able to predict every word!

This man is gonna need a really cold shower.

This is a show of her arresting herself but also a cautious bridge. They are both learning about each other, aren't they? (Like later when she's in her father's room and realizes he moved him somewhere nicer aaaand visited. They don't really know each other tho they thought they did.)

#When the Phone Rings #When the Phone Rings 1x04 #K drama #Baek Sa-eon #Hong Hee-joo #screen caps #Yoo Yeon-seok #Chae Soo-bin #character analysis #meta

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setaripendragon · 5 years ago

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Trapped in the Amber - 1x04

Book 1 :: 01 - 02 - 03 - 04 So this has always been one of my favourite episodes. Charlie (SPN has such a problem with reusing names, oh well) is an amazing character, and she’s going to get a recurring role in this story, because I said so. Also, for once, I get to make the (dis)claimer that the opinions expressed herein by the characters (specifically about Charlie’s ‘secret’) are absolutely the views of the author, and I projected like hell all over this chapter ^^” (Some things really needed to be said outright and just weren’t in this episode and I’m still mad about it.)

Toledo, Ohio – Saturday 14th January 2006

“Now, the newspapers said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding.” Sam says.

“More than that.” The assistant replies with an indecent level of glee as he drew the sheet back away from the corpse. “They practically liquefied.”

Meira has to fight not to pull a face at the state the man’s face is in. If it weren’t for the lack of scorch marks, she would have thought… Well. There are no scorch marks. She’s honestly completely stumped by this, which doesn’t happen to her often. Angelic memory means she doesn’t really forget things, but unlike the angels that were created before time began, she does have to experience them first. And this? This is brand new to her.

“Any sign of a struggle? Like maybe somebody did it to him?” Dean asks.

“Nope. Besides the daughter he was all alone.” The assistant replies.

Which doesn’t really mean much when a good half of what they hunt is incorporeal, but it does at least rule out the other half. Maybe. She doesn’t think she’s going to be much help here. She lets the conversation about skulls full of blood and exploding eyeballs pass her by, and valiantly restrains a snort when the assistant makes them bribe him again.

She can’t really complain about his morals when their next stop is crashing a funeral. It’s the eeriest thing Meira’s ever seen, and she almost freezes in the doorway. She thought she was getting used to having her grace bound, to not being able to see people’s souls, to not knowing who they are, but this is just not something she’s prepared for. There’s no emotion here.

She knows there is, of course, knows that these people are feeling just as deeply as those at any other funeral she’s ever seen, but she can’t feel it, eddies of grief and sorrow heavy around her. It’s just air, hollow and empty and sickening. Swallowing hard, she follows Sam and Dean into the house, and then out back when a helpful old man points out the daughters. Meira hovers, watching Sam and Dean reassure the younger daughter that her father’s death wasn’t her fault.

Meira decides to stay downstairs while Sam and Dean go to poke around where the guy actually died. It’s a little easier for two people to be inconspicuous than three, after all, and she wants to talk to Donna and Lily a little more. She knows what it’s like to lose a parent suddenly, after all, even if hers aren’t dead. She coaxes Lily out of her guilt and gets her talking about school and her friends, and Donna gives her a painfully grateful look that Meira returns with an understanding smile.

Toledo, Ohio – Sunday 15th January 2006

Meira foregoes sleep to help with the research, but even after Sam passes out, they get nowhere. “Here’s something- Never mind.” Dean says. “Her name was Laura.” He rolls his eyes.

“Middle name?” Meira asks, because at this point, she’s grasping at straws.

Dean makes a thoughtful face and checks. “Middle name Nichole.” He reports, throwing the papers down with disgust. He stares at them for long enough that Meira goes back to ploughing through her own stack of records, so she’s startled when he asks “Hey, is Meira some sort of derivative of Mary?”

“No, actually.” Meira answers slowly, a little confused. “It’s Hebrew. It means ‘god’s light’ or ‘one who illuminates’. Mary is English, although it comes from the Hebrew name Miriam, which means ‘bitterness’.”

“Huh.” Dean grunts, and then, at her continuing look of confusion, shrugs. “Just curious. Never heard that name before.” He points out.

“Qaada picked it.” Meira tells him on impulse, and then wishes she’d just kept her mouth shut. She’s still not sure how much of her life she ought to share with him, really. It feels a little like she’s stealing from him somehow. One day, he’s going to be holding a baby in his arms, and he’s not going to tell Qaada to name her because it just feels like the right thing to do, he’s going to do it because he knows that’s how it’s supposed to happen.

Dean blinks. “Is Qaada Hebrew for ‘dad’ or something?” He asks.

“Close enough.” Meira agrees, which is as close as she can get to saying yes without outright lying.

Dean is distracted from questioning her further when Sam wakes up with a gasp. “Why’d you let me fall asleep?” He asks, voice raspy and hollowed out.

“Cause I’m an awesome brother.” Dean retorts. “So what’d you dream about?”

“Lollipops and candy canes.” Sam answers, completely flat.

Dean rolls his eyes. “Yeah. Sure.”

“You find anything?” Sam asks, when Dean doesn’t offer up an alternative topic of conversation. Dean catches him up on their complete lack of anything substantial, and Meira looks back down at her stack of papers.

“Whatever’s happening here, maybe it just ain’t Mary.” Dean suggests.

“Or maybe it’s new.” Meira offers, only to be interrupted by Sam’s phone ringing. Dean arches an eyebrow at her while Sam locates his phone, and Meira shrugs. “Look, you said yourself that this myth isn’t particularly rigid. There’s a lot of variations.” She points out as Sam answers his phone. Dean nods. “Well, then, maybe this is just another variation. Maybe her spirit went dormant for some reason, and we don’t have records far enough back? Maybe she’s not actually dead, she’s in a coma, or she’s a potential psychic with a fuck-tonne of issues?” Meira gestures vaguely in the air to indicate an entire world of possibilities, and Dean pulls a duck-face of annoyed acceptance.

“That was Charlie.” Sam says, flipping his phone closed. “She said there’s something she thinks we need to hear about.”

“Charlie?” Meira asks, although she’s already putting the records aside and grabbing up her coat.

“One of Donna’s friends.” Dean tells her, grabbing his keys and starting for the door. “She caught us checking out the bathroom and threatened to scream if we didn’t tell her the truth about who we are and what we were doing there.”

“Oh, awesome. I like her.” Meira announces in delight.

Dean snorts. “Yeah, she was pretty freaking ballsy.”

“I told her to call us if she saw or heard anything weird or unusual.” Sam adds as they climb into the Impala. “She sounded really freaked out on the phone.”

The meet Charlie on a public green, and she tells them about Jill’s death in between trying not to cry. About half way through the explanation, Meira gives in, sits down beside her, and puts an arm around her shoulders. Charlie glances at her, tries for a smile that doesn’t really work, and finishes up her explanation. “And they found her on the bathroom floor, and, uh- her- her eyes, they were- g-gone.”

“I’m sorry.” Sam murmurs.

“And she said it.” Charlie adds in a rush, as though pushing herself to get the words out before she falters. “I heard her say it. But it couldn’t be because of that. I’m- insane, right?” It’s almost a plea.

Meira remembers what happened last time she dropped that bomb on someone, and looks to Sam, eyebrows raised. This time, she’s leaving it up to him so he can’t bite her head off later. Sam looks back, lips pursed and resignation written all over his face.

“No, you’re not insane.” Dean says, when neither Meira or Sam move to actually reassure the girl.

“Oh, god.” Charlie breathes. “That makes me feel so much worse.”

Meira gives her a comforting squeeze. “At least now you know there is an explanation.” She points out, and Charlie looks at her with her brow all crumpled up in distress and confusion. “People aren’t just dropping dead for no reason. Something is doing this, and we can stop it.” Charlie does seem to take some comfort in that, sniffling and nodding.

“We could use your help with that.” Dean adds, and after a moment of wide-eyed staring, Charlie nods again.

Then she helps them break into a teenage girl’s room. A dead teenage girl’s room, but still. Ballsy as hell. Sam asks her how she managed to get the room to herself, and she explains the lie she spun for Jill’s mom. “I hate lying to her.” She mutters.

“But you’re good at it.” Meira comments, and Charlie shoots her a stricken look. Meira winces. “That was meant to be a compliment, I swear. You’re confident, not just ‘you know how to act confident’, but you knew what you needed to do, and you did it, no matter how distasteful. Takes a strong person to hold onto that sort of conviction.”

“Oh, I guess.” Charlie hedges, shrinking in on herself a little. “I just don’t want anybody else to get hurt, that’s all.” Meira gives her a pointed smile, and waits for her to realise all by herself exactly what she just said. Charlie blushes when she catches up.

“So I don’t get it.” Sam says suddenly while checking the mirror for ectoplasmic residue. “I mean, the first victim didn’t summon Mary, and the second victim did. How’s she choosing them?”

“Beats me.” Dean replies, then glances at Charlie. “I want to know why Jill said it in the first place.”

“It was just a joke.” Charlie says, uncomfortable and defensive.

“A joke?” Meira echoes incredulously.

Charlie looks at her and then away. “We were talking on the phone, and she- I don’t know, she thought it was funny that I was… that I thought it might have been something…” She trails off uncomfortably.

“She was mocking you.” Meira realises, unimpressed.

“No!” Charlie says at once, and then falters. “Well, maybe a little, but… God, it would have been kind of funny if it wasn’t real.” She complains, wrapping her arms around herself and looking miserable.

Meira has her doubts about that, but she doesn’t voice them. “Yeah, well,” Dean sounds sceptical too, but he doesn’t push the subject either, “somebody’s going to say it again, it’s just a matter of time.” He points out ominously.

“Hey.” Sam says, leaning out of the bathroom. “There’s a blacklight in the trunk, right?”

They get the blacklight, and find a name written on the back of the bathroom mirror. Meira’s going to go out on a limb here and say that’s probably a clue. So then it’s off to the library to research the name, and Charlie tags along. This turns out to be a good thing when she figures out the connection between Jill and the name Mary had written on the girl’s mirror.

“We need to go back to your friend Donna’s house.” Dean says, and off they go.

Finding the man’s wife’s name on the back of the mirror is kind of sickening, and Donna clearly doesn’t like the implications of their questions, either. “Yeah, Linda’s my mom, okay? And she overdosed on sleeping pills. It was an accident and that’s it.” She insists. The silence following that pronouncement is damning, and Donna can hear it too. “I think you should leave.”

“Do you really believe that?” Meira asks, before she can push the issue.

Donna rounds on her, furious and scared. “What are you trying to say?!”

“I’m saying that even if you’re right, and she took those pills herself, I’d really like to know why she was taking enough to risk an overdose.” Meira points out calmly.

Donna blanches. “No.” She insists. “No, stop it. My dad’s dead, and you-”

“Sins don’t get erased by death.” Meira counters. Donna lets out a choked sob, shaking her head in denial, but Meira holds her gaze and refuses to let her. After a brief struggle with herself, Donna breaks down into tears, and Meira carefully draws her into a hug, checking every step of the way that Donna wants the comfort.

After several awkward minutes, Dean clears his throat. “You gonna be okay here if we head back to the motel?” He asks Meira. “I think we’ve got some research to do.”

“Yeah.” Meira assures him. Dean and Sam linger awkwardly a moment longer, then go.

Meira and Charlie eventually manage to herd Donna into the living room, get her sitting down with a glass of water and some tissues, and let her cry it out. “My dad wouldn’t-!” comes out several times, followed by more tears. Meira doesn’t bother to point out that if Donna had been certain of that, she wouldn’t be this upset by the notion.

Eventually, she cries herself out, and Charlie suggests putting on a movie. Donna nods listlessly, so Charlie bounds up and sticks on a cartoon that Donna gives her a judging look for. Charlie looks away. “I didn’t think a rom-com would be the best idea right now.” She points out quietly, and Donna looks away, something caught between rage and grief on her face.

Five minutes into the movie, Donna curls up around a cushion and falls asleep, obviously worn out by her grief. Meira and Charlie share a look over her, and then stay right where they are. Donna’s alone enough already, they’re not going to leave her to wake up alone, too. Charlie goes to get a blanket, and Meira refills the glass of water, ready for when Donna wakes up.

The movie is almost over when Meira’s phone rings, and she fishes it out, expecting it to be Sam or Dean. It’s not, it’s Haley. Eyebrows rising, Meira answers. “Hey, what’s up?” She asks lightly.

“Hey.” Haley answers, weirdly hesitant. Meira’s just about to ask what’s wrong more seriously, when Haley abruptly blurts out “How do you tell if a house is haunted?”

Ah. Meira has to grin a little, and gets up to wander into the kitchen so that she’s not interrupting the movie for Charlie. “My first stop would be checking for EMF. Get a reader, scan the place, and if it goes off like you’re standing next to a wireless router when you’re not, you’ve probably got a ghost. Why?”

“A friend of mine, she’s just moved into this new house, and… things keep moving about on their own, and she keeps getting into accidents. She’s a gymnast, she’s not that clumsy.” Haley insists.

“Sounds like it could maybe be a poltergeist.” Meira tells her, grimacing.

“Poltergeist? That’s different from a ghost?” Haley asks, sounding a touch incredulous.

“Yeah. Ghosts are people who refused to move on for one reason or another, but since human souls aren’t meant to linger without a body to protect them, they tend to… degrade over time, even if they’re not vengeful to start with. Poltergeists are… accumulations of energy. Usually negative, but I did find a poltergeist in a hospital, once, that manifested because of a bunch of miraculous recoveries. It went around healing people.”

“Oh, wow.” Haley says, and she sounds like she’s smiling, just a little bit. “So, how do I tell the difference, and what do I do about it once I know?” She asks, getting back to the practical issues without missing a beat. Meira really wishes she’d gotten the chance to kiss her.

“It can be a bit hit and miss telling the difference.” Meira admits with a grimace. “If it’s a ghost, it’s probably someone who died there, or who lived there for a really long time. You’ll have to find out who, and then salt and burn their bones.”

There’s an indrawn breath, and then Haley lets the breath out slowly. “That’s disgusting.” She announces, sounding more matter-of-fact than outright disgusted.

Meira snorts. “Yeah, it is.” She agrees, then sobers up a little. “Look, we’re in the middle of a job right now, but if you want we can come by once we’ve sorted this out and see if we can help?” She offers.

“No. It’s fine.” Haley assures her. “There’s no reason I can’t do it myself. I’m not that squeamish.” She announces, and Meira’s fond grin is back. “So, if it’s a ghost, salt and burn the bones, but if it’s a poltergeist?” Haley challenges.

“Poltergeists are more difficult. You’ll need a purification ritual, or a hell of a lot of the exact opposite kind of metaphysical energy to cancel it out, but that’s basically impossible unless you have a psychic about to tell you what kind of poltergeist it is. If you’ve got a pen, I can give you a basic recipe.” She offers.

“Hang on a minute,” Haley says, and then, once she’s presumably found herself a pen, “go on.” So Meira does, listing out the herbs and other ingredients needed, and adding in the instructions of how to purify a house. “Okay, thanks.” Haley says once she’s done. “Now how do I figure out which it is?”

“Best guess?” Meira offers, and Haley makes an annoyed sound. “Uh, poltergeists don’t tend to cause cold spots. If you ever see a human-like apparition, it’s a ghost. If it is a poltergeist, and it’s already trying to hurt someone, there will be some sort of atrocity in the history of the place to cause it.”

“Alright.” Haley agrees. “I’ll figure it out.”

“You took on a wendigo. Poltergeists aren’t gonna phase you.” Meira reminds her fondly.

Haley laughs. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

They say quick goodbyes, and then Meira hangs up and turns to go back into the living room, only to find Charlie leaning in the doorway, her eyes a bit wide. “All that stuff is really out there, isn’t it?” Charlie asks, sounding dazed.

Meira nods. “Yeah. And a hell of a lot more, besides.”

“God.” Charlie breathes, closing her eyes. “That’s terrifying.”

“It’s the same world you were living in yesterday.” Meira reminds her. Charlie gives her a look, and Meira shrugs. “Look, if you want someone to pretend it’s all a ghost story and there’s no monsters under the bed, you’ve got the wrong girl. Try giving Sam a call.” She advises dryly.

“I don’t want that.” Charlie insists straight away, and then sighs. “It’s just scary, that’s all.”

“Yeah.” Meira agrees.

“And you just… go around looking for it?” Charlie asks abruptly, incredulous. Meira shrugs and nods, and Charlie gapes at her. “Why?”

It’s a good question. Meira’s never lived the true hunter lifestyle before. Sure, she’s gone on the occasional hunt with her dad, and she’s run into more than her fair share of monsters, but that wasn’t because she’d gone looking for them. They’d all come looking for her. And now she’s only tagging along with Sam and Dean because she has nowhere else in the world to belong. So instead of answering for herself, she thinks about some of the things her dad has said about why he hunts. “Because someone has to.” She settles on finally. “There are monsters out there, Charlie, and someone needs to stop them before they hurt any more people. Most people don’t even believe they’re real, and so they don’t know how to protect themselves. So we protect them.”

Charlie nods slowly, staring at the floor and chewing on her lower lip. Meira gives her the time she needs to process, and is impressed when she suddenly looks up, steel in her eyes. “Teach me.” She says. “That’s what you were doing, wasn’t it? With whoever was on the phone. Teaching them how to protect themselves. I don’t want to die because I didn’t know better than to avoid something.”

Meira beams at her, inordinately proud of her for even thinking of it, never mind outright asking. “Sure. I probably won’t be sticking around long enough to do more than give you the bare basics, but if you give me your number, you can text me any questions you have.” She offers, and Charlie nods. So they exchange numbers, and then they sit down to talk about the most basic protections, the most common supernatural problems, and what to do about them.

Toledo, Ohio – Monday 16th January 2006

They’re on the way back from Fort Wayne when Charlie calls Meira. She’s expecting questions about what they talked about yesterday, what she gets instead is a desperate sob and a whispered “Oh, God, she’s here,” that sends a chill down her spine.

“Charlie?” Meira calls, sitting bolt upright in the back seat.

“Bloody Mary, she’s- Donna said it, and- and she’s coming for me.” Charlie blurts out in a rush, voice shaking, followed by a whimper.

“What’s going on?” Dean demands.

“Okay, Charlie, here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to sit down, take a breath, and close your eyes.” Meira orders, keeping her voice as calm as she can. In the front, Dean swears, and floors the gas pedal. “Can you do that for me?”

“Y-yeah.” Charlie stammers.

“Good. Now, tell me where you are, and we’ll come get you.” Meira instructs.

“Outside school.” Charlie breathes. “I- I saw her in- she’s everywhere. In- in windows and the t-teacher’s glasses.”

Well, that’s not terrifying at all. Jesus. “That’s why you’re keeping your eyes closed, okay.” Meira soothes. “Now, are you somewhere public? Will other people see you and try to move you?”

“N-no. There’s a- an alley, between two of the houses across the street. No windows, so I-”

“Good, that was smart.” Meira compliments. “Do you think you can tell me how this happened? Why on earth did Donna say it?”

She hears Charlie take a deep, shuddering breath. “She- she was asking about… about why- why you guys were asking about- about her mom, and she- I tried to explain, but she got so mad, she said- said that you’d ‘made her think all that awful stuff’ for no reason, and how dare I go along with-” Charlie cuts off her explanation with a sob, and Meira murmurs a few soothing encouragements. “I told her it wasn’t for no reason, that- that she had gone after her dad instead of Lily for a reason, and she scoffed, and- and then she said it, like-”

“Like she was proving it wasn’t real.” Meira concludes, thinking, uncharitably, that Donna Shoemaker deserves a trickster’s attention for that. Grief or no grief, it’s a shitty thing to risk a friend’s life just to maintain your own blissfully ignorant illusion. And of course, they’re going to make damn sure Mary doesn’t kill Charlie, and so Donna is going to go on thinking she’s vindicated herself. Oh, yeah, Meira really wants to set Pabbi on her.

Biting back her anger, Meira puts her hand over the bottom of her phone to ask Dean “How long?”

“Fifteen minutes.” Dean says grimly.

Meira nods, and goes back to reassuring Charlie. She keeps her on the phone the whole time, talking her through the panic. Once they get back to Toledo, she alternates between reassurances to Charlie and directions to Dean. They pick Charlie up, and Meira guides her into the car while making sure she keeps her eyes closed. Then they take her back to the motel and do their best to cover up every reflective surface in Meira’s room.

Sam sits next to Charlie on the bed while Dean throws a towel over the TV, and Meira tacks up a sheet over the stupid frosted glass divider that serves absolutely no purpose but to be annoying in a situation like this. Meira honestly contemplated just smashing it. “Hey.” Sam says once Meira’s done. “Hey, it’s okay. You can open up your eyes, Charlie. It’s okay. Alright. Now listen. You’re going to stay right here, on this bed, and you’re not going to look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? Now, as long as you do that, she cannot get you.”

“But I can’t keep that up forever.” Charlie retorts, quiet but certain. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

“No.” Sam insists. “No, not anytime soon.”

Meira goes to sit next to Charlie, crawling right into the middle of the bed and putting an arm around her. “We’re going to stop her, Charlie.” She adds, and when Charlie looks at her imploringly, she gives her a reassuring smile. “Remember? This is what we do.” Swallowing hard, Charlie nods, and sits a little straighter.

“Alright, Charlie.” Dean says, perching on the end of the bed. “We need to know what happened.”

“We were in the bathroom, Donna said-” Charlie begins.

“That’s not what we’re talking about.” Dean interrupts. “Something happened, didn’t it? In your life. A secret. Someone got hurt.” Charlie blinks and sends tears cascading down onto her cheeks. Dean shares a look with Sam before pressing on, gentler than before. “Can you tell us about it?”

Charlie’s lip starts trembling, but when she starts talking, her voice is strong. “I had this boyfriend. I loved him, but he kinda scared me too, you know? And, one night, at his house, we got in this fight. And I broke up with him. And he got upset, and he said he needed me, and he loved me. And he said ‘Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I’m going to kill myself.’ And do you know what I said? I said ‘go ahead’ and I left.”

“Good.” Meira says it before she can stop herself, and is aware of everyone’s eyes snapping to her in shock. God, she’s actually a little glad, for once, that Jace isn’t here, because if she’s this angry, Jace probably would go and find Charlie’s ex’s soul, and if he isn’t there already, deliver him directly to Hell, personally.

“What?” Charlie breathes.

Meira looks at her, and sees all the pain and guilt she’s been carrying around because of some asshole who tried to make his own life and his own choices her responsibility. “Charlie, his life was not your responsibility, and he had no right to lay that on you.”

“But I-” Charlie begins, and then falters.

“No, listen to me.” Meira insists, kneeling up and turning Charlie to face her fully. “That was his choice to make, not yours. He tried to chain you to him by making you feel responsible for his life and his actions, and you were right to do what you needed to, to free yourself. Just because his threat was aimed at himself, instead of someone else you love, doesn’t make it any less a threat. The fact that he followed through because you didn’t give him what he wanted is on him, not on you.”

“I-” Charlie says again, and then her expression crumples, and she starts to cry in earnest. “I didn’t want him to die.” She says, desperate.

Meira pulls her into her arms. “I know. It’s not your fault.”

“She’s right, it’s not.” Dean adds. Then he clears his throat, a hard, almost angry look on his face, and gets up. “Right, let’s go gank this bitch already.” He says, and Sam gets up immediately. Dean glances at Meira when she doesn’t move. “Meira?”

“I’ll stay here with Charlie.” Meira replies. “Keep her safe.”

“No.” Charlie says quietly, voice ragged. “You should go. It’s not like there’s anything you can- can really do here, anyway.”

Meira looks at her, impressed again by the strength in her. “I can keep you company.” She points out. “That’s important, too. Sam and Dean can handle this bitch, no problem.” She points out, and Charlie almost manages a smile, ducking her head in a way that’s not quite a nod, but that Meira takes as agreement anyway. She’s not leaving Charlie to sit here, alone in a dark room, with nothing to do but contemplate her douchebag ex and her impending death. No way.

“Hell yeah we can.” Dean agrees before heading out the door with Sam on his heels.

Toledo, Ohio – Tuesday 17th January 2006

Once it’s all over, Meira takes Charlie shopping. She tells Sam and Dean she wants to do something nice for her after the last few days, and Sam and Dean agree to leave that evening, instead of in the morning. They don’t have another hunt lined up yet anyway, so there’s no trouble with taking a day of down-time. She doesn’t tell them that it’s not clothes they’re shopping for. Well, not just clothes. They do get Charlie a nice leather jacket and some jeans that are easier to move in than her usual.

They go to a jewellery store and commission an anti-possession charm. Charlie will have to pick it up herself in a couple of weeks time, but it’s on its way, and that seems to make her feel better. They buy meters and meters of plastic tubing and a giant bag of rock-salt from a hardware store, along with a pocket knife, and then go poking around a dozen antique stores until they find a pure iron fire poker and a sterling silver cutlery set. They also buy her a rosary, along with a bottle of water that Meira blesses for her.

“I thought you needed to be ordained to make holy water.” Charlie remarks as they’re leaving the store, considering her new rosary with a slightly pinched expression.

“You might.” Meira acknowledges with a shrug. She honestly has no idea if just her blessing, without her grace being able to reach out and touch Charlie’s soul, would be enough, but Charlie certainly has it. “But best to have a rosary on hand anyway, just in case. Besides, as long as you’re careful, that bottle could last you forever.” Charlie looks at the simple one litre bottle, and then arches a sceptical eyebrow at Meira. “No, really.” Meira assures her, grinning. “Add more water and it becomes holy water, too. As long as you have some left, you can make it last forever.”

While they’re searching thrift stores for a decent rug with a pentacle on it, Charlie’s phone rings. She takes one look at the display, and her expression closes off. “Who-?” Meira asks softly.

“Donna.” Charlie answers, then takes a breath, and answers it, but doesn’t speak first.

Meira unashamedly boosts her hearing to eavesdrop. “…Charlie?”

“Yeah?” Charlie answers, level, not cold, but not overly warm, either.

“Oh, thank god.” Donna sighs. “Your mom called, she said you didn’t come home last night, and I heard that you’d freaked out at school yesterday.” She explains. “You’re okay, right?” Charlie’s lips thin and her jaw works as she tries several times to speak, and fails each time. “Charlie?” Donna prompts, voice going high with worry.

“Why do you care?” Charlie suddenly bursts out.

“What?” Donna replies, and then, after a beat. “Oh my god, Charlie, just because we had a fight yesterday doesn’t mean I want you to- to have some sort of episode and throw yourself in front of a car or something! Jesus!”

“You nearly got me killed yesterday!” Charlie retorts loudly, and then casts an embarrassed look around. Thankfully, there’s no one else in the store except the clerk, and they’re studiously pretending not to be able to hear anything.

“No, I didn’t. It’s not real, Charlie.” Donna retorts scornfully.

“The only reason I’m not lying in a pool of my own blood with my eyes gouged out just like your dad-” Donna sucks in a sharp breath. “-is because those ‘freaks’ risked their lives to save me. You-” Charlie cuts herself off and closes her eyes.

Donna scoffs. “If that’s true, who did you kill?” She bites out.

Charlie flinches, like she was no doubt meant to. Meira puts a hand on her arm, and when Charlie’s eyes flick up to meet hers, she says quietly “It doesn’t need to be a secret. You didn’t do anything wrong. But you don’t owe her anything, either.”

Charlie nods once, takes a shaking breath, and says “Did you know that Mark threatened to kill himself if I broke up with him?” in a surprisingly even tone, even though her eyes have gone glassy with unshed tears. “I broke up with him anyway.”

Donna is silent for a very, very long time. “Wow, what a dick.” She says finally, and Charlie laughs like it’s been startled out of her. She sniffs once and wipes at her eyes. There’s another, shorter silence. “I suppose you think this means that Lily is to blame for our dad’s death, then, huh?” She asks, bitterly angry and scared underneath.

“Oh my god, Donna, no. Lily was playing a stupid game with her friends, she didn’t know it was dangerous.” There’s a pause, and then Charlie adds, viciously, “You did. I told you it was dangerous, and you did it anyway, even though you knew it wasn’t just your own life on the line.”

Another silence. “What do you want me to say?” Donna asks resentfully.

“That you’re sorry?!” Charlie bursts out. “That you won’t do it again?! That you understand that, oh my god, even if you still don’t believe me, I believe it, and it’s a shitty thing to do to scare me just to, what? I don’t even know. And that if I tell you ‘hey, maybe don’t do that, it’s dangerous’ again, next time, you’ll listen?!”

“Yeah. Okay.” Donna says quietly.

Charlie waits. Donna doesn’t say anything else. “Well?!” Charlie snaps.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry, okay?!” Donna snaps back.

Meira wonders if maybe now would be a good opportunity to test out manifesting her wings. Perhaps a little solid proof would go a long way to improving Donna’s attitude. She’s still debating whether it’s a good idea or not when Charlie sighs. “Yeah, okay.” She says tiredly. “See you Monday, Donna.”

“Yeah, see you.” Donna agrees, and then Charlie hangs up on her. She stands there, staring at her phone for several minutes, looking torn and upset.

“I could probably show her proof, if you want.” Meira offers.

Charlie visibly thinks about it, but then shakes her head. “No. I don’t know. She’s made it pretty clear she doesn’t want to know, hasn’t she?”

Meira tips her head in acknowledgement of that, and then lets the subject drop. “Come on, Buffy, we’ve got rugs to buy.” She says instead, and Charlie snorts at the nickname, but she looks pleased, too, and Meira takes that as a win.

#Supernatural #time travel #next generation #original character #supernatural retelling #SPN 1x05 #Bloody Mary #Trapped in the Amber #Meira Winchester #Dean Winchester #Sam Winchester #og Charlie #who will be Charlie Jenkins for the purposes of this fic #(virtual cookies to anyone who can figure out why I picked Jenkins)#so no one gets her confused with the other awesome Charlie #it probably doesn't come across in this but I actually really like Donna too

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magic-multicolored-miracle · 5 years ago

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Nancy Drew: 1x04: The Haunted Ring

Alright, let me tell you right now, this is the kind of shit I am here for. We’ve pretty solidly established our characters. We know our mystery. Now we’re getting into the good shit.

Every episode adds more nuance and raises new questions, but not in a way that annoys me. I’m not finding myself going “hurry up and get to the answers.” In fact, quite the opposite, I look forward to how they’re going to keep building things up.

Still more ghosts than I was expecting but you know what...it’s cool. This episode was a turning point where I kind of went: sure, ghosts and curses are real and an important part of this shit. Bring it. (As you will see below, the slow transition throughout the episode).

Free Range Commentary, no additives or context:

Dick move making your houseguest sleep on a bench, Nancy

Actually yes. Old houses are prone to odd electrical occurrences. And resulting fires…

Although not usually like that…or playing mysterious videos of a murder…

Ooh, Flashback!

Just take the money from your father woman. Just because you can buy your own pizza doesn’t mean you should.

A tragedy that conveniently lets your client inherit his wife’s estate when he otherwise couldn’t…

So Bess is not really a Marvin, just a con artist. Glad we covered that and can move on (also WHY?!)

Columbia. Because Harvard or Yale would be too pretentious and/or cliché

Why is that how you answer your phone and why do I kind of love it?

Ooh, history is probably romantic and the deal is probably “be a CI or go to jail” but what for? And is it really a CI when you’re just having him follow and spy on people? Is it bad that I want it to be sketchier and more salacious than that?

Not a question of food safety/sanitation, just a curse. And here I thought you were the practical one George -.-

Well, now that the ghost is physically affecting shit and it’s not going away, it’s going to be a lot harder to pretend it’s not real…

Really? We couldn’t show Girl Scout Cookies, so we had a little girls selling Gushers fruit snacks…right outside a supermarket…you know where you can easily buy those and not get scalped by an 8 year old…

I know you were ordered to do it, but it’s a little stalker-y Ace

Ah good, calling him out. I kinda love her already.

Why were they going to get a divorce? And why tell her to suck it up and not do that? Public image, or something worse?

Oh lord, I just thought of the high potential for ‘she was pregnant when she died!’ plot twist (don’t get a divorce, you’ll be a single mother and that’s the Worst Thing EverTM) and if they go that way, I will crave death

You are, I think, doing the opposite of what the cops want you to do. Get info not give it dummy

No one with that kind of secret would really keep it in such a public place, or somewhere you go in and out of often enough to have a high likelihood of dropping damning evidence of it…

Thank you for the info dump Ms. Fan

But also it was largely Ryan’s fault because he is a scummy scummy douchebag. Like good on you for taking responsibility George, but let’s not forget that part

Stop snooping in your father’s files; you’re going to get him disbarred! Or at least disciplined

You father is right. A lawyer’s job is to be single-mindedly loyal/focused on their client unless to do so is to put someone in serious imminent danger or is in furtherance of an ongoing or future crime. This is none of those things.

Low blow Nancy. I’m like 90% sure Carson took Ryan on as a client for the info/access to keep an eye on the case and make sure it wouldn’t be Nancy taking the fall, rather than for the money of it. But I can’t prove it.

Ace, looming on a balcony at a funeral is…super weird

Translation: fuck you Everett

Succinct. I like it George.

Oh, actually go fuck yourself Everett. With a cactus or a hot iron or something else incredibly painful you massive douche

Wait…did he actually care about her…I mean obviously he was cheating and therefore a dick, but maybe a little bit of caring? That might be the biggest twist in the show so far

Oh ok. Not a con artist. Just delusional?

Honey, I appreciate you standing up for truth/justice for your sister, but you have just put a MASSIVE target on your back

I completely believe Ace that he didn’t steal the tape…

Go away Karen. Clearly she doesn’t want to talk to you/about it

That was a much better apology George. Proud of you.

What was that creepy smoke?

Oh. That makes a lot of sense now.

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

Is this Nancy’s first visit to her mother’s grave? Because that’s pretty heartbreaking

Ghosts are only for violent deaths and unfinished business. Unfortunately, that’s usually not just ‘wants to still be there for her family’

Carson what are you doing?! Like I’m glad you’ve stepped up, but…

Was that a threat, Everett?

Aw, I kinda wanted to believe he actually didn’t do it.

Poor, heartbroken baby. I wanna give him a hug. She had better not hurt him.

Shit. Someone broke into Ned’s. That puts him in Danger.

That’s a different angle than the one Nancy recorded, so where did the video come from?

Okay, that’s clever. I didn’t even notice that the cracks were identical. That’s the kind of detailing I love/was hoping for.

So the sister broke in. And also had a flashdrive. Was that the 911 call or something else?

Oh good. I’m glad I have a reason now not to trust Karen…

We’ve gone so far as actual, honest-to-god possession…sigh

Trailer: I can’t hide from the ghost thing anymore. I surrender. Also these trailers move so fast I can hardly tell who people are, let alone what’s happening, so I might give up on them.

4 weeks, still no real/full name for Ace

#Nancy Drew #CW Nancy Drew #Nancy Drew 2019 #Nancy Drew tv show #episode 4 #semi-liveblogging #or at least it was when I was watching it #but then I forgot to post again so it's like a week past being 'live'#Its not what I would have expected from a Nancy Drew show #but I like it #overall positive feelings #when will Ace get a real name though?#still weirded out by the Ned/Nick thing and bad at correcting it in my internal monologue

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okaywhateverokayyes · 6 years ago

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To Always Forgive Me

Prompt: Isobel asks Alex to stop Michael from doing something rash, because of course he is. (Post 1x04); includes flashbacks in Alex’s POV

Alex rubs behind Toby’s ears, an easy smile settles on his face as the dog kneels bemusedly beside him, laying against his thigh as he ran his hand down his back. He leans over to press his lips against the paw resting on the sole of his shoe, gentle as he sets his foot down.

A jeep pulls into his driveway, a familiar army surplus. Isobel is swift as she slams the door, striding in his direction, offering a smile as an afterthought rather than out of convention.

“You need to stop Michael.”

Alex blinks.

Alex stands up hastily, his knee buckling from under him as a result of his swiftness. He winces as he shoves his crane into the soot, gawkily kneeling on one foot whilst he rests his elbow on the other.

Isobel was at his side, gripping him as she bolsters his weight as he moves to the timber porch post and rests against them. He was haggard as he caught his breath.

“Thanks.” He says, responsively.

She flicks her wrist, off-handedly. Isobel fixates on him, naturally, yet it does nothing but make Alex answer her glance with an apologetic smile.

“Is he leaving town?” He inquires.

Isobel shakes her head, pursing her lips as if what he had said was preferable to what Michael was about to do. “Something stupider. Unnecessary. Dangerous.” She adds, drawing her brows inward. “So, stop him.”

Alex’s apologetic smile fades into a slightly uncertain one.

“What do you think I can-?”

Isobel adopts a slightly altered pose, crossing her arms briskly across her chest. “Alex.” She says, impatiently, “We don’t have time to go back and forth.”

“Isobel, you and I both know that when he sets his mind onto something, he’s going to go through with it.” He snaps, wanting to add ‘Whether we like it or not’ but settles against it.

Isobel considers this. “You and I both know that’s not true,” she says with a familiarity that precluded Alex, “Please, do me this favor.”

If he was being honest, he didn’t need to be impelled. The thought of Michael having done something out of sheer indignation was emblematic of Guerin.

Alex accedes deferentially.

He ends up at Crashdown café, Isobel paying for his roast beef sandwich as consolation- as if he needed any; just to consume time, as needed, she ordered a fudge-blast off, orbit rings and a shower malt. When the order came in, Isobel had taken a bite of each, a cursory sip and dunked the ring into hot fudge.

Alex begrudgingly takes a bite of his sandwich. It tasted insipid. Or, maybe the flavor was unable to be savored by his parched mouth and numb tongue. His thoughts wavered nervously, fingers trembling as he pressed them in between his legs. His chest throbbed.

Shit. The idea that Guerin was about to do something shortsighted, inflamed him. Because, shit. Why did he decide it upon himself to be crucified and vilified?

No, he decides, Guerin probably thought it over a thousand-and-one timesbefore considering doing anything that put himself, Isobel or Max at risk. He was just that thorough with his decisions. When the past itches to resurface, Alex clears his throat.

Isobel scrunches up her nose, batting away at the waitress-Madeline- who appears by their table to refill their water. Alex offers an apologetic smile in return as she stilts on her heel to turn, rattled.

The thudof a glass slamming against the table has Alex whisk his head in that direction. “Are you-“

“There’s not enough acetone in this god forsaken world for my headache,” she rubs at her temple. “Never enough.” She’s gruff as she scoops a spoon of the malt, only to pause momentarily when her eyes catch onto something-not her particular choice of word which has Alex drawing his brows inwards-but someone.

Isobel waves her hand distinctly, flicking her wrist as to get their attention.

“You shouldn’t have. An exodus bash, for me?” Guerin’s voice cuts through the unspoken uneasiness stretching between the table separating the two. Isobel hisses condemningly, eyes wavering from Michael to where Alex crouched, urgent.

Michael stills, abruptly. Alex doesn’t have to look up to see the grin falling off of his face. Two clenched fists are jabbed to his sides as he adjusts his tone, his attention elsewhere. “What did you do, Izzy?” It’s sharp, furious, on the verge of sounding irritated.

He feels secluded, unwelcome.

Alex bristles where he sat.

“I’ll leave you to it.” There’s a warning intonation. Isobel mouths ‘thank you’ in Alex’s direction, gripping Michael’s shoulder as she makes a beeline towards the crowded entrance.

Michael doesn’t move. There’s tenseness that settles in his posture. “Whatever she said to make you come here, forget it. She won’t hold it against you.” He says, his voice low and rough with restlessness.

Alex thumbs at the ham sticking out, biting his lip. His mouth begins to prickle with microscopic thorns that has him reaching for the glass of water. He takes a quiet sip, gulping, only to have the thistles penetrate outwards, his nerves ignited to the point where he jabs his curled hand into his thigh.

Cool hands are pressed against his. Alex flickers his eyes open, which he hadn’t noticed he had shut close. He watches as Michael sits across him. His gaze moves to their bridged hands near the empty glass. Ostensibly, he feels the air leave out the room yet he lets out a freeing exhale he doesn’t realize he’s holding in, until Michael pulls back.

“Sorry.” He whispers, face clipped as he settles into the booth, leans against the side towards the wall, a habit by now.

They hold each other’s gaze. Alex struggles to think of how to initiate, opens his mouth but clamps it back down. It’s almost unsettling how even after all this time, the thought of dissuading Guerin seemed not only impossible, but unwarranted. Unwelcoming.

The uncertainty of where Alex stood in their friendshiphad him reminiscing of his second tour. When he woke up, both panicked and dopey with painkillers, a terrible combination that lead to him flailing sideways off the hospital bed, unable to speak with his numb, heavy tongue. It took a solid ten minutes for the medics to convince him that he wasn’t dead, that he was on bay, that he was alive.

Just his leg, they heed to mention. The loss of his limb had him at first, dazed becausesurely, this must be a dream. When he first reached to ram his bruised fingers into the sheet of where his shin would have been, only to press into the mattress, he bit down on his tongue to repress the sob clamped in his throat.

Dead, he surely must be dead.

Everything afterwards was a blur. Sensibly present, inherently absent. Removed. Uninhabited. Gone. Two tours later, he wasn’t convinced that the torture he had slighted in the abyss of his mind had ever left.

He was sure he was a word away from disintegrating.

“Don’t go.” Alex blurts forcefully, takes a deep breath and says, a little shakily, “Just, don’t go anywhere.” His lower lip trembles. He quickly bites it harshly.

Utter confusion met his comment. “What?”

“Idon’t want you to go,” he repeats, emphasizing the distinctive ‘I’ to make it evident that this was him, out of his own volition, saying it.

Michael reacts as if he is slapped. Because, ten years ago, he was the one to say that to Alex. It occurs to Alex that the tables have turned, the words are incendiary and suggestive of the manner in which they had fallen on deaf ears, his ears, back then.

“That’s not fair.” He grunts, drawing a sharp breath in. “Fuck you.”

Cold fear seizes Alex. He knows he’s being hypocritical. He knows that he has lost his agency, his right to ask Michael of something. It dawns upon him that it’s the only way he knows how to make him reconsider.

He bites the proverbial bullet as he recounts what needs to be said, “I felt too much pride back then to listen to you,” he answers a question that’s not asked but heavily weighing on the both of them, “I didn’t know-didn’t think that I could do what I wanted back then.”

Guerin is rigid, immobile, eyes glazed as he glares right into him. He says nothing, in return. It dawns upon Alex that the memories were all-too-clear and the numerous questions, all-left-unanswered.

“I didn’t tell you what happened that night because I didn’t want to hurt you anymore than I already had.”

Prom. He shows up empty-handed because he cancels last minute. Can’t go through with it. Hates how self-righteous his father feels as he takes a picture, that Alex was doing the right thing, by bringing someone, a girl,to the dance. He spurns when his father engages in a jovial chit-chat with her, as if she’s his saving grace. As if she’s fixing something, him, that needed to be fixed.

Alex lets her know in the parking lot of the school that he’s tired, not really interestedand tells her that he’s sorrybefore he asks her to get out, rigidly.

He hopes Michael does the same. Anger looms within him when he notices the blonde beside Guerin the entire night. She’s laughing at something he says, links their elbows together. Michael’s grinning ear to ear. It impales Alex. He leaves abruptly before the second song even plays. Doesn’t even realize that he has over 11 missed calls, from himthat night, until the day after, when he’s at the army reserve handing in his filled-out application.

He doesn’t check his voice-mail, not when he’s having his premature sendoff-get-together with his brothers and others, in the military personnel, people he wouldn’t have even known if it weren’t for his dad. Not when he received his order to mobilize at an operating base in Herat. Not when he takes the day off to say his goodbyes, to everyone but him. Not when he removes the sim from his phone and slips it behind the casing of a photo-frame.

He says things out of anger when Michael slips in through his window the day before he’s set to leave. Everything, forgotten, mostly burnt from his mind so he doesn’t have over 800 words that if unveiled, would have disintegrated him on the spot.

A pang goes through Alex. He knows that Michael hasn’t forgotten a single thing. It’s the way in which he grits down on his jaw, the jowls of his chin protruding out from under his skin. Michael stabs his fingers into the soles of his palms, his flesh turning white in the surrounding area. His face is void of any color. The blood rushes out and seeps under the fabric of his jacket.

The thing about Michael was, he never forgets. Even if he wanted to, it was impossible for him to. His worst burden, Alex notes. He has probably etched the words into the matrix of his bones, scorching it into his mind only to replay it repeatedly, distastefully-

Alex had the luxury of drawing a blank. It took years of practice but he was adept at it.

“I’m sorry, Michael.” He starts with, feeling immediately overcome by how long it’s taken him to even say it, “I’m sorry for everything.” Hopes it’s inherent that everything meant absolutely every. Single. Thing.

Michael is bitter as he scoffs, emotion making his voice tight. “You can’t do this.” He’s mostly speaking to himself. He rubs at his face as he laments into the palms of his hand. There’s defeat wearing thin on his shoulders; As if he’s imagined this exact conversation countless times but never concocted an outcome that would be sufficive enough to mitigate years of absolute agony he endured.

“You can’t do this,” he’s breathless as he repeats. He looks disoriented, reaches for the other glass of water and quaffs it down in futility. It doesn’t help. Alex reaches instinctively towards Michael, recognizes the conflict, far-too familiar with it himself-but stills when Michael gets on his feet abruptly.

The sound cuts through raucous room, everyone’s head whipped in the direction of the thud.

“I need air,” Michael is tight with fury and hurt; wistful eyes meet his, albeit for a second, before Guerin strides out the dinner, his torment puncturing into every stomp he made.

Alex tosses his head back, lips pressed in a thin, exasperated line; Alex owed Michael a lot. He owed Michael so much more than a mere apology. He owed him his time, his space and him.

Alex felt the familiar light-headedness, knows what’s to come. The detachment, the inhibition, the folds enclosing the locked void in his mind, threatening to unfold.

He reaches into his pocket, throws two bills of twenty, somehow makes it into his truck, drives out of town, into his driveway, into his room. He goes to close the blinds, removes the comforter off of his bed and kicks off his shoes.

Toby is scratching on the door to his room. He’s locked out. The scratching is incessant but not painful to Alex’s heightened hearing. He settles furthest away from the window, curls up on the wood floor with a blanket and his elbow, to support his head.

He has his phone beside him, has it on silent but watches the screen keenly. His eyes are heavy, lids looming lower. Alex presses his nose to the floor, breathes in the musk and concentrates on the splinters in the footboard slat.

It’s only when Isobel sends him a wordy ‘thank you, thank you, thank you…’ message does Alex succumb to his exhaustion.

#Alex's POV #rose well new mexico #Alex manes #Michael guerin #malex #fic #angst #post-canon #Isobel evans #pent up frustration #flashbacks #forgiveness

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supermysteriouscat · 2 years ago

Note

I... may have just checked this for you.

There are obviously a lot of 'jesus'es in the show in general, but there's only 5 of patty saying “jesus allison” to allison (there's a bonus one of her saying it to tammy when she thinks its allison at the door in 1x04). (so far)

there's one in 1x01 when they're talking about kevin having drained their account

there's one in 1x04 when allison's phone rings in the drug den

there’s two in 1x08, one at the beginning of the ep and one at the end

and there’s one in 2x04 at the surprise party

Do with this information what you will but if someone were to make a gifset... :D

that ‘im fine’ allison gifset was so great, thanks for reccing it!!

of course!! i would love to do a "all the times patty says jesus allison" counter set but i feel like it's a lot lol

#kcfh #obviously not counting all the times patty says 'jesus' to allison #this is a gifset i would love to see but that is simply not within my skillset #i tried gifs like 3 times and it is simply not my thing #i will offer fandom the skills I do have which is relentless hyperfixation etc #but i hope we can teamwork this one

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tomeandflickcorner · 4 years ago

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Umbrella Academy Recap 2x03

1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10

2x01 2x02

The Hargreeves Siblings are still more-or-less scattered in 1963 Dallas, but they’re slowly starting to come together. Number 5 and Diego are now teamed up, with a new ally named Lila. While Luther has been contacted by Number 5, he’s currently adamant against joining his brother in restoring the timeline and preventing an apocalypse from occurring. Vanya’s current location has also been discovered by Luther, but he has seemingly decided to leave her be in light of her amnesia (although her memories seem to be starting to come back). As for Allison and Klaus, while they’re currently still on their own, last episode showed Allison learning of Klaus’ whereabouts, so a reunion between them seems imminent.

But first, a flashback of what Klaus got up to after he and Ben wound up in 1960. After getting thrown out of a diner for not being able to pay for his meal, he immediately gets taken in by a wealthy old woman who felt pity for him. In time, this somehow results in him gaining a cult following. It’s not exactly clear how this happened, though. However, we see that Klaus would sometimes wow the old woman’s social circle by forming parlor tricks and seemingly levitating himself off the ground when he was actually being lifted up by Ben (whom nobody else could see on account of him being a ghost). We then see Klaus in the company of a group of hippies. Not sure how he went from rubbing elbows with rich old ladies to hanging around with hippies, though. I guess we’re supposed to conclude that they started to believe Klaus was the next messiah or something because of his supposed ability to levitate himself. Of course, Klaus eventually got a bit sick of being glommed onto by his legion of followers, as he managed to give them the slip one day, leaving them behind in a field somewhere while he and Ben made a getaway in a nearby car. Which probably brings us full circle to where we found him in 2x01.

We then jump into where the last episode left off. It turns out Lila had secretly followed Diego and Number 5 when they went off to meet up with the Reginald Hargreeves of 1963, a meeting that didn’t go well as it resulted in 1963 Reginald stabbing Diego and leaving him to bleed to death. Upon discovering the injured Diego, Lila dragged him back to Elliot's apartment and managed to cauterize his wound with a curling iron, thereby saving his life. Which was rather resourceful, though I’m not sure how sanitary that would be. Number 5 eventually returns as well, nursing the less-severe wound he got from Baby Pogo. And poor Elliot is still tied up.

Elsewhere, Vanya is driving along aimlessly, having left the farmhouse when she was unable to sleep due to her memories starting to resurface again. Unfortunately for her, this gives the three white-haired temporal assassins from The Commission the opportunity to corner her. Because it seems The Commission sent them orders to take her out. In an effort to evade them, Vanya runs out into a nearby corn field and the temporal assassins pursue her. But when one of them catches up to her and attempts to shoot her, Vanya’s powers emerge, disintegrating the bullet in midair and throwing the assassin backwards. Vanya, not pausing to react to this, takes the opportunity to escape.

Of course, this doesn’t go unnoticed. Back at Elliot’s place, Elliot has finally been untied and is now helping Number 5 in monitoring a bunch of machines he’s set up. When one of them, the atmospheric radar, starts going off, Number 5 is pleased, as he’d been using the atmospheric radar to track sound waves. He naturally concludes that Vanya had been the one to set off the atmospheric radar, and he teleports off to investigate. Number 5 eventually makes it to the cornfield where Vanya has been hiding out all night and quickly locates her. He tells her that she’d better come with him unless she wants the white-haired temporal assassins to find her. Vanya is understandably confused as her memories haven’t completely returned, but she nevertheless consents to follow Number 5, who comments that it’s nice to see her powers are still intact. And as he says this, they make their way through a crop circle that Vanya unwittingly made.

Meanwhile, Allison, having followed the lead she got from Keechie, makes it to the mansion where Klaus is staying. When she gets no answer after ringing the front doorbell, she decides to look around herself. As such, she finds Klaus lounging around in the pool out back. They are visibly excited to see each other again and take the time to catch up on what they’ve been doing the past few years. In the process, Klaus learns that the man he briefly met in jail was Allison’s husband, Raymond. Allison vents to Klaus how Raymond was arrested on a jumped up charge. He asks her why she didn’t simply rumor him out, and Allison states she hadn’t used her powers since that disastrous moment when her attempts to use them to calm an enraged Vanya down resulted in her vocal cords getting damaged. It took her a year before her vocal cords had healed enough for her to speak, but in that time, she’d built a life for herself. And Allison likes the feeling that comes with knowing she’s actually earned the things she has now.

As for Luther, we catch up to him while he’s out for an early morning run. Which is something he seems to do regularly, as a group of little boys seem excited to see him. Of course, Luther is thrown for a loop when he just happens to jog by a woman he briefly mistakes for Allison. Of course, it’s not actually her, so he sheepishly continues on his way. Although he’s still a bit shaken when he returns to Mr. Ruby’s place. Mr. Ruby is quick to take notice of Luther’s mood, so, not wanting his prize fighter to wander around like a sad puppy, he offers to use his connections to locate Allison for Luther. Mr. Ruby eventually does manage to locate Allison in South Dallas, passing Luther her address during dinner.

Oh, and The Handler is also lurking around. Not sure how she managed to travel to 1963 as she’s now supposed to be working a desk job at The Commission, but I’m sure that will be explained eventually. Anyway, we see her interacting with a little boy in a pet store. When he refuses to stop tapping on fish tanks despite The Handler telling him not to, she whispers something in his ear that frightens him enough to wet himself, and he runs off.

Since Raymond is still in jail, the Black community of Dallas is questioning what to do in regards to the planned sit-in. It seems Raymond was one of the prominent leaders of their group, so many of the people in the civil rights organisation feel it wouldn’t be right to hold the sit-in without him, and that it might be best to postpone it. Allison, however, disagrees with this, stating that President Kennedy is to arrive in 5 days, so it’s imperative that they not wait. She suggests putting the matter up to a vote. However, some of the members of the movement insist that they can’t vote on this, as that’s not how this works. But one of the women, whose name is apparently Odessea, overrules this sentiment, asking them if they’re really going to decide how things work in the beauty parlor that she runs. In the end, thanks to a passionate speech from Allison, the vote is held in favor of holding the sit-in as planned, with or without Raymond.

Of course, it looks as if Raymond might be able to make the sit-in after all. Now that Klaus knows that man he met in jail was Allison’s husband, he manages to convince Ben to help get him out of prison. To accomplish this, Ben takes advantage of his status as a ghost to frighten the desk into letting Raymond out with typical haunted house shenanigans. Upon being released, Raymond is greeted by Klaus, who takes credit for getting him out by reminding him that he’d previously claimed to have friends in high places. Klaus then reveals that they’re brothers-in-law. Raymond, as you might expect, responds to this news with realistic bemusement.

We then return to Number 5 and Vanya, who have convened to a diner somewhere. There, Number 5, realizing that Vanya really doesn’t remember anything before she landed in that Dallas alleyway a year ago, gives her an abridged version of her own history, about how she was bought by an eccentric billionaire as a baby and was raised alongside six other siblings, each with extraordinarily powers. Until the year 2019, when they jumped into a time vortex to prevent the apocalypse but got scattered throughout the 1960s. Vanya takes this surprisingly well. She doesn’t even remark on how crazy this sounds. She does, however, ask what caused the apocalypse. To this, Number 5 simply tells her it was an asteroid impact, deciding to gloss over the part Vanya played in the whole matter. Though he does tell Vanya that the apocalypse ended up following them through time, and that in 8 days, the world will end in a nuclear doomsday. Upon learning of this, Vanya panics and immediately heads over to a nearby payphone to call the farmhouse, where Harlan is having a particularly bad meltdown because of a record player breaking. Sissy, in spite of her need to try and calm her son, manages to reach the phone in time. Vanya tries to explain that she’s sorry she took Sissy’s car, but that she found her younger brother and will be back to help take care of Harlan as soon as she can. But the phone call is brought to an abrupt end when Number 5 shoves the phone cradle down, much to Vanya’s annoyance. Ignoring her irritation, Number 5 tells her that there’s no time for her to worry about her friend, as the men who attacked her in the corn field are still coming after them. He goes on to say that, whoever it is that Vanya was talking to, they can’t be more important than stopping the end of the world. After a brief hesitation, Vanya relents and hangs up the phone.

Back at Elliot’s place, Diego is trying to head back out to go after 1963 Reginald again, convinced that he has something to do with President Kennedy’s upcoming assassination, which Diego still wants to prevent. However, Lila stops him by jabbing his bandaged injury with a broom handle, demonstrating that he’s in no condition to do anything right now. They then seem to have a moment, with Lila admitting that when she found Diego lying injured, it made her remember how she also found her parents dead in their living room when she was four. It turns out that Lila’s parents were the victims of a home invasion. Lila then asks if it’s okay if she doesn’t hate Diego the way she hates most people. Diego insists it’s okay with him. But then, when he moves in for a kiss, Lila slaps him across the face. However, they then proceed to make out with each other anyway before progressing to having sex, while Elliot works at garnishing his tuna mold in the other room.

Elsewhere, Luther has made his way over to the address he’d gotten from Mr. Ruby. But instead of seeing Allison, he meets with Raymond, who is just arriving home after being released from jail. Luther is shocked to learn that Raymond is married to Allison. Immediately, they cut to the kitchen, where Luther and Raymond continue to interact. Raymond says that Allison never mentioned having a brother. Especially not a brother who looked like him. Of course, Raymond has to head out at this point to join the others at the sit-in, but he asks Luther if he wants to pass on a message to Allison. Luther simply states that he wants to talk to Allison, and Ray agrees to let her know. We then see the sit-in taking place, with Allison and the other members of the civil rights movement entering a ‘Whites-Only’ diner and insisting on being served. Needless to say, their presence is not appreciated by the staff and patrons, but they refuse to leave.

Across town, Klaus makes his way into a hardware store. While his reasons for doing so aren’t clear right away, it becomes obvious when it’s revealed that Dave, the man he fell in love with during the Vietnam War, works there. Klaus is visibly elated to see him. Ben, on the other hand, makes it clear that he doesn’t approve of this, telling Klaus that this is his dumbest idea yet. Which isn’t exactly unwarranted, considering this is pre-Vietnam War Dave. And while it is sweet that Klaus still is deeply in love with Dave, it’s arguably creepy that Klaus is seeking out someone who hasn’t met him yet. Still, Klaus, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why he came into the hardware store (because telling Dave that they met and fell in love in the middle of a war that hasn’t even happened yet probably wouldn’t go very well), claims he’s redoing his bathroom and is looking for some paint. When Dave activates the paint mixing machine, Klaus has a flashback to how Dave will die in the war. (I suppose they put this flashback in as a reminder to the viewers who may have forgotten about who Dave was to Klaus.) To his credit, Klaus is able to hold it together until he’s able to return to his car. Immediately after he does so, however, Ben doesn’t hesitate to lay into him. He tells Klaus that he’s being selfish in seeking out Dave in 1963, and that he’ll only end up confusing him. In response to this, Klaus tells Ben that, while they were on leave in Saigon, Dave had told him that he’d enlisted in the army on the same day President Kennedy was assassinated. Klaus is hoping that he can convince Dave to not sign up for the Vietnam War. Because if Dave doesn’t go off to war, then he won’t die on the battlefield and his life would be spared. Upon hearing Klaus’ motivation, Ben eases up on him. He asks Klaus to promise him that he can handle this. Klaus insists he can.

At that moment, however, he and Ben spot police cars going by, their sirens wailing. Immediately, Klaus realizes they’re responding to Allison's sit-in. As you might imagine, it’s getting quite the response from the angry White patrons. But the protesters take everything in stride, especially when Ray finally is able to join them. As the protest continues, Allison notices that Ray seems distracted by something. When she asks him about it, he tells her about his encounters with Klaus and Luther, who both claimed to be Allison’s brother. Allison is shocked by Ray’s description of Luther, realizing for the first time that he’s also around. Unfortunately, while she’s distracted, one of the staff at the diner takes the opportunity to dump a cup of hot coffee onto Allison’s lap. Allison reacts by reflexively jumping up, which gives one of the cops the opportunity to grab her. And this sets off a chain reaction that results in the cops dragging off the dozens of Black protesters in handcuffs. Amidst the confusion, Ray is dragged out of the diner and a cop proceeds to violently beat him. A frantic Allison runs out after her husband and, after a suspenseful moment, she grabs onto the cop’s arm. When he turns to face her, Allison declares ‘I heard a rumor that you walked away.’ So the cop proceeds to head off with a dazed look on his face, much to Ray’s confusion. His confusion quickly gives way to fear. Because no White cop would simply walk away just because a Black woman told him to. Allison tries to tell him that she’ll explain everything later once they’ve gotten out of there, but Ray is too shaken up and backs away from her in fear. Before Allison can even try to smooth things over, Klaus appears on the scene, dragging her away from the turmoil that’s still raging. (Well, you sure took your time to get here, Klaus! It was still sunny out when you saw the police cars driving past, and now it’s nighttime.)

Meanwhile, Luther is in the middle of his underground fight, which Number 5 and Vanya have snuck in to watch. But his concentration is broken when he remembers how Allison got married to Raymond. This leads to him giving up and throwing the fight, allowing himself to get beaten up, much to Mr. Ruby’s annoyance. The implication is that he wanted his physical pain to match his internal pain, I guess. Before long, Luther is lying beaten on the ground. But he seems happy about it as his vantage point allows him a clear view of the moon.

As the episode wraps up, Lila slips out of the bed where she and Diego had sex, leaving Diego sleeping. She makes her way to the same pet store we saw earlier in the episode. As she looks around, she reaches into a fish tank and pulls out one of those bubble treasure chests. Inside, she finds a motel room key that she makes off with. With this key in hand, she makes her way to the motel in question, using it to enter Room 217. As she enters, she announces she knows she’s late and proceeds to make herself at home. After a few moments, The Handler emerges from the bathroom. And Lila addresses her as ‘Mum.’

Closing thoughts/questions:

Wait, what? Lila is The Handler’s daughter? Does that mean she’s actually an enemy of the Hargreeves Siblings? And was that story about her parents dying in the middle of a home invasion made up?

If she is an enemy, that stinks big-time for Diego. And I was actually starting to like their dynamic. I’d be very upset for him if she was playing him the whole time.

Speaking of which, I guess Diego is completely over Detective Patch now. Granted they weren’t together for a while, but it was clear Diego still cared for her. Of course, I guess it’s possible the fact that he allowed Cha-Cha to live was him moving on from her.

Well, that’s rather unfortunate that Ray reacted like that upon seeing Allison’s power in action for the first time. Still, I can’t really blame him. He was already in an emotional turmoil over the revelation that the woman he’d been married to for almost a year suddenly had two White brothers she’d never even mentioned, which suggested there might have been other things she’d kept from him. Now all of a sudden, she’s somehow able to make a White cop stand down in the middle of a racially charged situation? It’s only natural that he’d respond poorly. I’m sure that, once he’s had a chance to collect himself, he’ll be wiling to hear Allison out.

I personally think this might have marked a breakthrough for Allison in regards to her powers. While it was admirable that she was refraining from using them and actually earning the things she wanted the right way instead of obtaining them through manipulative ways, it doesn’t mean she had to completely bury away that part of herself. And the situation that arose in this episode was a good example of how her powers could be used for good. Because it’s very possible that Ray might have been beaten to death if she hadn’t used her powers on that cop.

On the other hand, Luther continues to frustrate me. Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. Allison went and married someone else. Get over it! Sorry, not sorry. Luther should not be having any sort of romantic feelings for Allison. She’s his sister, for crying out loud! Did he react like this when she married Patrick, too?

While it might seem like a strange thing to focus on, I rather liked how Number 5 and Vanya are grouped together now. While it’s been a while since we were last reminded of this, I do remember it was implied that Number 5 and Vanya had been particularly close as children.

I’m once again getting the impression that Harlan is meant to be autistic. While it’s great that they’re including an autistic character, there’s also a part of me that’s wondering if the way they’re handling him is a good representation of actual autistic people. Because autism can display itself in various ways. And I’m wondering if it might actually be damaging to have the autistic character be portrayed in a potentially stereotyped manner.

Klaus’ mission of trying to keep Dave alive is also interesting. While there are some similarities to Diego’s quest at preventing the assassination of President Kennedy, their motives are as different as night and day. Diego is motivated by an obvious hero complex while Klaus simply doesn’t want the man he loves to die so violently. And while it could be said that Klaus and Dave would probably never meet if Dave never enlisted and fought in the Vietnam War, perhaps Klaus already knows that. If so, it suggests he’d be fine with never actually meeting Dave, as long as he’s alive and safe. If that’s the case, then that’s very noble of Klaus. Still, the question of whether or not he can pull this off remains to be seen.

#umbrella acedmy #umbrella academy 2x03 #tua

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violetbeachpod · 7 years ago

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TRANSCRIPT: 1x04 - Phone Call

hello! it’s me. here’s today’s transcript. enjoy!

ROBIN:

I shouldn’t be doing this, right now, I should be writing, I have--no offense, folks, but I have better things to do than this. I have a wedding to plan, a book to write, a--

Whatever. Whatever. And I’m not editing that out, Benji. It’s early in the morning and I woke up to record this, so, hey, guess what, I can say what I want.

It’s--it’s not me trying to offend you guys, you know I love all of you, it’s just--this is exhausting. And I forgot how good caffeine was, even though I’m trying to limit intake, so, uh, I’ve only had one cup of coffee so far, so, like, yeah, I’m kinda grouchy. Sorry. Anyway!

So. Hi! I’m Robin, uh, DaBank. No. That’s not my last name. That’s a--that’s a dumb joke that I haven’t told since I was fifteen, um. My last name’s Harper. I don’t know why I opened with that. I’m twenty-four years old, I’m engaged to the coolest, smartest, best woman on earth, and, uh. Both of us have been seeing some weird shit these last few weeks. So, uh, as that implies, I can confirm that some weird things have been happening in my hometown lately.

I--I haven’t been here, for a few years, I, uh, moved to DC for college and I didn’t really think I’d come back, but, uh, my folks said that they wanted me to have the old house cuz they’re moving to the lake house in Maine for some weird reason, and, uh. DC rent’s crazy, and--our plan to travel the world has unfortunately been delayed by how goddamn expensive weddings are, so, uh, Lane and I moved out here. And it’s kinda sweet. Very romantic, to live in a big house by the beach, watch the sunset every night--but. Point is, I haven’t been here for a while, but when I grew up here? Nothing ever happened that was out of the ordinary. It was a pretty boring town. As has been stated before. Like—we have ghost stories, obviously. A few murders, a few freak incidents, y’know, the—the usual small town stuff. But--

Now it’s different. Now it’s like—it’s full time. It’s everywhere. I’ll be walking, and I’ll catch a flash of purple in the sky—stalking me. And unless Lane or one of you guys is with me, it’s—it’s like, I’m the only one who notices. Everyone, everything else freezes. That—that thing, that kept messing with Ben’s recording, it interrupted NPR the other day, like, halfway through this really interesting piece on urban farming greenhouses that also serve as senior dog sanctuaries, it—I found the full piece on their site, but, like—I missed a full two minutes of it because some robot wants to talk to me about where and how I’ll die.

Um.

I was catching up with a friend the other day—uh, Penelope Scott, the Dean’s daughter, who graduated from Corielli in my class, and, uh, I mentioned, casually, that I was thinking about going to the next board meeting to catch up on that hot parental gossip. You know. Cuz—I babysat a lot of current students there when they were kids, so it’s fairly reasonable, not the worst lie I’ve ever told.

“What board?” she asked, and she sounded genuine, “We never had one, right? It was--it was student council, no parent liaisons. Because we’re independent.” Or something like that.

And I can’t remember either way--like, I assume there was a parent board. It was awhile ago. I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, much less-it was hummus. It was hummus. I had hummus for lunch yesterday. It wasn’t great. Like--I can do better. I need to buy chickpeas, uh--I’ll text Lane after this and tell her to pick some up.

Or. Now.

[Beat]

So. Anyway. The board maybe doesn’t exist, kind of sort of? Who knows! Not me!

I wrote fifteen hundred words today, of the--of the thing. Of the book, and then I deleted all of them. Because I was so caught up in thinking about this, y’know, like--there’s no room for a Great American Novel when you’re potentially being haunted by ghosts or aliens. Is it even “great” or “American,” though? I--I dunno. I take umbrage with the, like--with the idea of the Great American Novel. But that’s not relevant! At all, it’s--it’s not like anybody’s stayed on topic in their tapes, but, uh. I’m an adult. I--aw, whatever.

There’s something about the beach--this beach, the one I’m recording on, all--all desolate and wintery, all--you know. No one’s here, not even the college kids, cuz they’re scared of it. Cuz it’s probably haunted. Cuz--the boardwalks are worn down, splintery and sand-eroded, and--Lane and I hung a hammock here when we moved in, and we have it all to ourselves and also Douglas. Grumpy old man. Deserves a little cat-sized hammock all to himself. So he can sunbathe without having to jump and hurt those poor hips of his, ugh.

But there’s something about the beach. Something so isolated from the rest of the world, y’know? Not--not, like, when you’re at Ocean City in the middle of August, no, I mean--when you’re alone, and it’s maybe forty degrees out, middle of January, and you’re--maybe you’re listening to some acoustic cover of your favorite 2004 pop song, as is my wont, and--you just feel something. And it’s tugging at you, like, maybe the beach itself is the siren song from folklore. Maybe the beach is telling you to go--to go home, even if you and the beach have different definitions of the word. My definition is--uh. The house. With Elaine and Douglas and the hammock and the fireplace and the messy bedroom and the--the wholeness of it all. And the beach’s definition is the ocean, and the abyss, and what have you.

Except--no. That’s bland high-school level faux-existentialism, and I’m better than that. I promise you. I’m better than that.

But there’s something about the beach. Y’know? Just--just. There’s something. And I think it’s important to all of this, I--Look. Listen. Maybe I was homesick and I didn’t even know it before I came back. I think that’s the thing. I think it’s just delayed homesickness and exhaustion.

Lane and I can’t agree on napkin colors. We argued--not argued, that’s too strong of a verb--about that on the hammock the other night, is--is why that thought comes to mind, and how dumb is that, that we’re worried about that right now? It’s--it’s a lot. It’s--

[phone ringing]

Sorry, uh. Oh, hi, uh--Angie. God, I can’t get used to calling you that, I’m so used to Angela, it’s--nevermind. What’s--

[whispering]

What do you mean?

I’m recording my thing right now. No, you’re--My mic’s not picking you up, I can--is she--? How do you just--and then, poof?

That’s--Look, Laney has the car, right now, so I’ll have to walk or--or u--I’ll do something, It’ll--It won’t be the fastest, but I’ll be there ASAP, okay? As soon as I’m done with this. recording, and I will be soon, I swear, hon, okay? Okay, I got you, just. Just--explain the situation as best as you know it, and. I’ll repeat it into the mic. Piece by piece. For science.

[long beat. heavy, nervous breathing. measured, but nervous. whispers.]

Teresa went missing this morning, uh. Angie heard her get up around five AM.

[another long beat]

She went to the beach, she left a note that said she’d be back by nine. She has a class at nine.

[another beat]

Um. Oh God, um. Benji was up, he, uh--he texted Angie that he saw her by the beach around six. And AJ, who was on his way to SAT prep, uh, he--oh God, he’s so old now, what the hell, saw her knee-deep in the water at six-thirty. He yelled across to her, and she, uh--she didn’t respond. She just kept staring ahead, unmoving. Like she was--like she was hypnotized.

[guess what? it’s a beat]

Angie, hon, I need you to breathe--and they say that she just vanished at seven. In a flash of that dumb--that terrible, terrible light, that--an orb of it.

It’s eight-twelve, right now, and she isn’t back, and--Charlotte already knows, Lane still needs a call, but--

Um.

Angie hung up. Which I get. I--she’s hyperventilating, she’s--I should go over and check on her, I think I can get a rideshare to campus, but--

Oh my God. Oh my God--I--I just, I don’t--

Is she--

I thought the worst it would get was gonna be Charlotte--a baby--getting grabbed, and--roughed up a little bit. And that’s--that’s terrible, that’s terrifying, that’s--

But it’s--it’s not entirely impossible that that would happen to any of us anyway. We’re all--it’s more likely, more understandable to get attacked physically than to get bamfed away in an orb of light, y’know? Like--I’m sure, once this is over, she’ll never shut up about it--when I was, like, thirteen, I was babysitting her, and she made me watch Twin Peaks, like--girl was seven? I think, and making me watch her parents’ Twin Peaks season two boxset with her. What a--

She’s gotta come back, if only for the story of it. Sell her memoir to David Lynch, or whatever. She’ll come back, if only to do that. Love that kid. Hate Twin Peaks season two, but. Love that kid.

God. I’m--I don’t know how to--

I have to go. Uh. AJ’s turn is next week, so--he’ll give updates, but, just--oh my God. I’m sorry. I--I have to go help everybody, I’m--

Goodbye, I guess.

#transcripts #season 1 #robin #violet beach #violet beach podcast

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