#pre-apocalyptic

[lucy4242564]

.cowboy like me.

Chapter 1.

~oh damn, never seen that color blue~

~forever is the sweetest con~

Lilah Cabot was excited to spend the summer in Georgia with her best friend before she started college in the fall. Becoming familiar with a new area before it became a semi-permanent home.

In any other circumstance she would’ve never paid a second glance at him. Meeting a man that undeniably read her better than she read herself was nothing she was expecting though. Then again..

~takes one to know one~

How Lilah found herself circling around a trailer park in Georgia was beyond her, but here she was. Riding shotgun next to her best friend Brittany as she tried reading faded numbers on mailboxes.

“I do!” Brittany defended. “Kind of.” She grumbled out.

They had been looking for her boyfriend’s new place. Lilah was half tempted to ask someone for help, but the new environment made her a little too uneasy to be talking to strangers.

The car halted abruptly and Lilah had never been so thankful for a seat belt before.

“Jesus Christ!” Brittany yelled, slamming her palm on the horn. A lanky man tumbled over in laughter on the hood of the Sonata. “Fucking dick!” She yelled again and backed up harshly, causing the man to trip onto the pavement.

“Please tell me you know him.” Lilah stated in disbelief.

“That’s fucking Paul.” The brunette driver bit out and pulled into the grassy area in front of the trailer.

Following lead, Lilah unbuckled her seat belt and opened the car door. At least they made it to their destination. She noticed immediately that there were four other vehicles parked around them. Three trucks and another car.

There was nothing wrong with parties, but Lilah was in new territory. The only person she knew in the entire state was grabbing her purse from the backseat. That, and if she was being completely honest with herself, this trailer park looked dingy. Not the kind of place she’d hang around regularly.

“Was wonderin’ how many more times you were gonna pass it up.” The guy, Paul, laughed while approaching the two girls.

He was tall and skinny. Dark brown hair that had grown out from being a ‘clean cut’, and she couldn’t tell if it was oily or just the Georgia heat making it glisten in the sun. Brittany’s pace quickened, throwing her arms up she softly shoved him. “Jackass.” She shot before spinning around and flashing a smile in Lilah’s direction.

They fit together — Brittany and Paul. Lilah knew Paul was a few years older, but he had a childish charm that radiated off of him. It matched Brittany. Whether it was generic niceties or seeing her best friend glowing next to the man, Lilah wasn’t sure, but she smiled at them brightly. “Yer Lilah!” Paul acknowledged, his tone almost giddy. “Brit’s told me all about you. Ever since y’all started talkin’ about spending the summer with’er she ain’t shut up.”

Lilah couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at his heavy accent. She’d heard southern accents before, but never so loud and direct.

“I’ve been excited! We haven’t had a real sleep over since before I moved here.” Brittany rolled her eyes and started walking towards the trailer. “I didn’t know you invited everybody over. We could’ve came sooner.” She directed to her boyfriend.

Chewing the inside of her lip, Lilah followed them up the stairs and through the aluminum door. She began scanning the room.

She immediately clocked two men sitting on a couch, directly in front of her. To their right was a couple on a love seat. The group had been paying attention to a boxy television on the floor, but looked up at the intrusion. Not necessarily trying to be noticed right away, Lilah made a point not to make eye contact and continued surveying. It was an open concept and she could see directly in the kitchen where another girl stood in front of the sink. After taking in each person, the bottles of beer caught her eye. Along with the heavy smell of smoke.

“Hey! I brought that bathing suit I told you about. It’s in Paul’s room.” The girl from the loveseat said, smiling towards Brittany and catching Lilah’s attention. Her hair was a honey brown color, and despite it being scrunched, still had a lot of length to it. She had a dazzling smile and her tone was so vibrant, it instantly made Lilah’s nerves relax. She loved girls like her. Ones that effortlessly made her feel safe. The man beside her was bigger than Paul, only by a little though. He had a barely their mustache and curly blonde hair. Nothing stood out.

“Ahh! I forgot about that, thank you!” Brittany responded, in her typical bright voice. She stepped forward and her hand reached back to grab Lilah’s, pulling her forward. An awkward smile played on the new girl’s lips now that she was the center of attention. “Lilah, this is Amy and Matt.” She pointed towards the couple on the loveseat. Moving on to the couch her finger directed at the two men sitting there. “That’s Kenny and Miles.” Not directing which is which. “Then Lauren is in the kitchen. She’s our age.” Brittany finished.

“You say that like we’re thirty years older than you.” One of the guys on the couch said. A hat covered his head, but Lilah could tell he didn’t have much hair.

He didn’t seem that much older. Paul actually seemed to be the oldest in the room, but she knew he was only 28. “Five years is still older.” Brittany teased in a sing-song voice.

“Be right back.” Paul muttered, nudging past us and walking through a door connected to the living room.

Five others. Not too many.

Lilah couldn’t do anything but follow her friend around like a lost puppy dog. She hated it. Before today, she’d been having the time of her life. Finally linking back up with her best friend, exploring, shopping, but the homesickness was starting to set in. Being surrounded by unknown faces in an unknown place is the easiest way to become lonely.

She vaguely listened to the conversation happening in front of her. Something about an argument that Brittany had missed out on due to being busy with her other friend. Busy with Lilah. After that she zoned out and began scanning over the room again, not wanting to think too much on being a problem.

She remembered that Brittany had said Paul had just moved in. The overwhelming scent of pinesol confirmed it. It was the cleanest, dirty, home she think she’d ever been in. The walls were yellowed, clearly due to smoking inside and the only thing adorning them were dirt marks in random places. The carpet in the living room was the ugliest color green she could think of. There were a few stains on it as well.

Despite the worn look of the trailer, It had character and she appreciated it.

The creaking of a door brought her out of her daze, but the man that stepped out made her pay attention. He wasn’t particularly tall, nor was there anything overtly significant about his appearance. Blood was just gushing out of his forehead and leaking down his face.

“Jesus fuck, what did Paul do to you!” Brittany’s mouth gaped open and she walked over to the man that was coming from the door attached to the living room.

“Dropped a fuckin’ fan on me!” The man said, not quite in a yell but with bite. Behind him came Paul with wide eyes.

She’d miscalculated. Six people. One too many.

The man brushed past Brittany and into the kitchen, right to the sink. Lilah tried eyeing the man’s forehead from where she was, but failed miserably. His back was to her and profanities spewed from his mouth as he rinsed the wound with water.

She began to fidget, waiting for him to turn around. After being in the field, it was a little sick how interested she got into other peoples injuries.

The water was turned off with one hand while the other reached for a paper towel. She watched as he rubbed it along his face before turning around and tossing it in the trash. After scanning the wound, her face twisted in confusion.

Was he just going to leave it like that?

“That fan ain’t goin on that ceiling. It’s too heavy, gonna mess it up.” The man stated casually as if he didn’t have an open gash on his face.

Lilah was a people person, but never went out of her way to talk to strangers. At least until now. “Hey, I have a med kit in the car. I can clean that up.” She said, catching the room’s attention. This is exactly why she shouldn’t talk to strangers.

The man turned back and made eye contact with her.

Had she ever seen that color blue before?

A short pause before.

“Nah. I’m alright.”

That was the first exchange she had with him and it left her feeling stupid.

“I can clean that up?!” Lilah mocked herself on the ride home.

They’d spent a few hours at the trailer and she was so excited to be alone with her friend again.

“At least he responded to you!” Her friend shouted back with a laugh. “He is a man of very few words.”

“I am so done.” She rolled her eyes and sunk into the seat as much as she could.

That is exactly why she was also a man of few words. She’d embarrassed herself and was really missing her own bed right now.

Chapter 2.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I lived in a narrowly pre-apocalyptic America that existed in a state of Cold War-type political tension, and Roman Catholic nuns were held in general suspicion of involvement with Soviet conspiracies.

[winterofherdiscontent]

. 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕯𝖗𝖚𝖎𝖉

...wishing everyone a merry festive season 🎄

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

Zombie Stomp

Prologue: Fade To Black

I’m an attention whore, so any thoughts from anyone are greatly appreciated :)

Ao3 Link

Eddie moves his body awkwardly to his Uncle’s old boombox. His palms sweat as his fingers slide over the buttons, a soft clicking noise leaving when he presses down.

Behind him, on his bed was one of the first breathtaking boys he’s seen in a while. Eddie’s standards may be low as Robert was the new line cook at Benny’s. Eddie couldn’t be picky. He was a gay man in Hawkins, Indiana. It wasn’t every day you saw an out-and-proud queer walking down the street. Or have one that isn’t out in your bed possibly leaving a grease stain on your mattress and your record.

The Gays flocked out of Hawkin’s faster than they came. Eddie would too if his Uncle didn’t live here.

Uncle Wayne was currently on an overnight shift, thank god. The stars seemed to be aligning for Eddie to get laid, finally. At twenty he was going to lose his virginity. Thank Fuck. ‘86 was going to be his year. He was sure of it.

Turning away from the box he starts to go through his cassettes. In the movies, they normally had music playing in the background. Even in the limited amount of porn Eddie’s seen, there was some tune on.

With that knowledge, Eddie doesn’t think he has a good cassette for this setting. That was a strange realization for him as his music normally fit everything he did. So unless Robert could get it up to Black Sabbath he was out of luck in the music department.

“You like Black Sabbath?” Eddie asks, his voice scratchy from nerves.

Eddie was sure he was going to somehow fuck this up like everything else he did. He turns his body at a slight angle to look at Robert, trying to distract himself from overthinking.

The other man was tilting his head around inspecting his room. Eddie rarely had anyone in here. He was nervous the mess would disgust Robert.

“Uh… who’s that?” Robert asks in a tone that almost turns Eddie off.

Eddie bites his tongue, holding back a sassy remark. He didn’t want to be a dick to what may be his only opportunity with another man. This was his shot to lose his virginity before he was legally able to enter a gay bar. He wanted a little experience under his belt before he had anything else underneath him.

“Um- It’s a uh…” Eddie’s voice cracks. He clears his throat before beginning again. “It’s a band from the seventies. You may have heard of the lead singer. Ozzy Osbourne? That guy who bit a bat’s head off,” Eddie rambles.

“Never heard of her,” Robert admits, beginning to chew on his gum obnoxiously. Eddies suspicions that the other wasn’t listening to him were proven correct.

The longer Eddie spent time with Robert the more annoyed he got. The guy didn’t seem all that interested in Eddie. Not like he had been at the restaurant.

“Hey man, I don’t care what you put on. It’s not like I’m listening to it anyway,” He snorts slightly.

Eddie was starting to think that Robert might be one of the most unattractive men he’s ever met.

“Yeah, alright- alright, yeah, no. No music should be fine then. Silence is probably better than what I have here.” He jokes, cringing at himself feeling like he just disrespected the metal gods. He just wanted to break the awkward tension that was slowly beginning to fall over them.

Eddie moves away from his cassettes, still fidgety and unable to stand put. He knows his nerves made the antsy feeling that never let him sit still worse. Normally he would smoke a joint, but his gut told him that he shouldn’t get high right now. Not with this man who could barely pay attention long enough to get Ozzy’s pronouns right.

Robert responds with a soft grunting noise. Eddie’s body tenses up. He was slowly starting to think that Robert didn’t want to be here. It had been his idea in the first place, now he was acting like Eddie’s pulling his teeth.

“Robert, do you even-” Eddie starts as Robert speaks.

“Why don’t we get this show on the road, huh?” Robert hums out, unbothered that he interrupted Eddie. He doesn’t apologize or wait to hear what Eddie has to say.

That doesn’t sit well with Eddie. If he wasn’t such a chicken shit he would stop this entire thing. He couldn’t. Not while Robert was giving him that look. The same one that led them here after closing Benny’s, and was beginning to spark Eddie’s interest again. Despite all the warning signs pointing to a terrible first time.

The other man begins to pat his lap suggestively. Eddie’s unsure whether he was feeling uncomfortable, or realizing this was all a phase. He did know he wasn’t enjoying himself like he thought he would. He also knew that the voice telling him to get this over with was the devil on his shoulder. He pictured a little demonic queer on his right and a perfectly straight angel on his left.

He moves forward, carefully placing himself in Robert’s lap. He begins to chuckle awkwardly as he realizes he doesn’t know what to do with his limbs, expecting instruction. Instead, Robert moves forward beginning to mess with Eddie’s belt silently. The only noise was the gentle clinking from Robert struggling to get his belt undone.

This is when Eddie realizes that he isn’t hard. He had been earlier when Robert pulled him behind his van to whisper about what he wanted to do to him. Now, his Dick wasn’t responding and Eddie doesn’t think it could be brought back to life. Not even with mouth-to-mouth.

Robert doesn’t seem to be bothered by this, he just begins to kiss up Eddie’s neck. Eddie scrunches his nose up in disgust at how sloppy the other was being. Plus he didn’t see Robert pull his gum out. That made Eddie uncomfortable, worried that the other might get gum in his hair.

After a moment of hyping himself up, Eddie opens his mouth to speak. Robert interrupts him again.

“Gotta relax baby.” A soft chuckle tickles Eddie’s neck before Eddie begins to feel the other’s tongue.

Ok, Eddie thinks he might throw up.

He pushes back with the other still stuck to his neck like a leech. As if he was trying to suck the fruitiness out of Eddie, he was currently succeeding. Not in a good way.

Eddie’s about to rip Robert a new one or consider setting him on fire when his door flies open.

“Eddie pack your shit we-” His Uncle was now in his doorway looking distressed.

Eddie freezes in Robert’s lap. He's starting to believe that God put a curse on him. First, he’s a gay man trapped in the middle of bum fuck nowhere. Second, he couldn’t even find a decent gay to fuck around with. To top it all off his Uncle, who was supposed to be at work, was currently standing in his doorway seeing him in all his faggot glory.

Eddie’s eyes are wide. His heart beats fast in his chest, possibly skipping a few. He can’t bring himself to move from Robert. It was like his limbs were frozen.

Robert on the other hand doesn’t waste a second. He shoves Eddie onto his ass and to the floor. He buckles his belt, which Eddie didn’t realize was undone, before frantically pushing past Wayne. The front door softly shuts behind him.

Wayne doesn’t break eye contact. Eddie’s ears begin to ring. His head went light as his hands shook. All he was able to process was, “...Pack your shit…”

Eddie Munson was getting kicked out, again. You would think he would be a pro at this. But no, he sat there on his ass having a panic attack.

Only if his father could see him now. Probably would call him a little bitch like he had when he kicked Eddie out.

His body goes on autopilot, suddenly standing up and picking clothes off the floor. Eddie doesn’t know when he grabbed his duffle bag, the one he saved for this exact purpose, but he was now stuffing clothes inside it.

Eddie had always expected this to happen when Wayne found out. What he didn’t predict was how hurt he was going to feel. He promised himself after his father that he wasn’t going to let anyone see him like this ever again. Yet here he was, crying like a little bitch.

Eddie could barely feel the tears running down his face. Nor did he feel Wayne’s hands move to his shoulders until they lightly squeezed. A feeble attempt to grab Eddie’s attention.

“Eddie,” Wayne’s voice was soft. Whatever he came in so distressed about was forgotten for just a second.

Eddie’s shoulders tense, and he clenches his jaw preparing to hear his Uncle become a bigot right behind him. His hands stopped doing what they were doing. He digs his nails into the palms of his hands in hopes that it hurts more than this.

He doesn’t turn his head around, not wanting a black eye if that's what Wayne wants to give him. His snot rolls down his face and pools above his lip. He sniffles loudly, wiping the snot from his face into his sleeve.

Eddie was a wet mess. Not in the way he had expected or wanted.

“I- Uh,” Wayne pauses to clear his throat. “I love you, Eds.” The words come out awkwardly and foreign.

Eddie flinches expecting to hear something else. Furrowing his eyebrows confused he turns his head to look at his Uncle. Within the time he has lived in this trailer, Wayne has never spoken those words to him. They knew they loved each other. It was left unspoken and in a grey area, they avoided.

“You.. you what?” Eddie asks stunned. His eyes were wide and puffy as he blinked slowly, feeling as if he was hallucinating. Was this entire scenario just him having a psychotic break? Or was he having a sick nightmare in some conversion camp right now?

“I love you, Eddie,” Wayne speaks, his voice growing more confident as he says it. “And I don’t care who you’re uh,” He pauses awkwardly.

“Who yer romantically involved with. Just as long as you wrap it, and I don’t hear you doing your thing.” Wayne coughs a little. His face was going a light pink, the color reaching to the top of his head.

“You don’t care that I’m a faggot?” Eddie asks in disbelief. “A raging homo, a queer, a fairy, a…” he begins to ramble out. He wants it to be clear what he is to his Uncle. He may have not enjoyed Robert like he had thought he would, but he still got pretty worked up over Ozzy’s chest hair. There was fruitiness a foot and inside Eddie.

“Boy,” Wayne’s voice raises to what Eddie thought it would when he first found him. “If I ever hear you talk about yourself like that ever again, I’ll - I’ll make sure to - well I don’t know what I’ll do, but I’ll make sure you won’t be talking like that ever again.” Wayne huffs out.

A determination in his eye that Eddie hasn’t seen since he first moved in. Wayne had sat him down all of those years ago. Looked him in the eye like he was now and told him he was never going back to his father. Not if he was still breathing and around to have any say about it.

Eddie opens his mouth, feeling like a goldfish trapped in a bowl. Nowhere to go or hide.

“Now, you do need to pack your shit,” Wayne says seriously. “That thing making people turn on each other is in Hawkins. And people already give you enough shit for DnD. Don’t need you getting eaten alive just because they think you’re the devil reincarnated.”

Wayne pulls his hands off Eddie’s shoulders. Then moves calmly to his bedroom door, though something is still off with him. As if he knew something Eddie didn’t.

Eddie just nods his head dumbly, not questioning it. He didn’t want to push the limited amount of luck he had. He was grateful that he wasn’t covered in bruises and on the side of the road again.

****

The man’s face had been covered in so much blood that there was no way of identifying him. Eddie had been carrying the last of their packed bags out to his van when he saw him. The man walked around like it was normal to be covered in blood, nothing frantic in the way he moved. That was the first alarm bell that should have gone off to Eddie.

Eddie was too focused on trying to recognize who it was, so he could ask him if he was alright. It could be Jim, from two trailers down; a man who used to babysit Eddie. Though going off from the limited amount of hair it was more likely George, a middle aged man who was always walking his dogs Or Liam, a police officer that lived closer to the entrance of the trailer park and once busted Eddie for dealing.

Eddie shakily breathes, feeling as if his chest was going to explode. His ears were ringing, his head was foggy and for some reason all he could see were the man’s eyes. They were bloodshot, as if he had or was still crying. His eyes were wide, afraid of something. Of what Eddie hadn’t known. The red was slowly beginning to leak into the man’s iris. Eddie wondered how he was able to see.

Eddie felt his bones ache, reminded of the sound the man’s jaw had made. The loud cracking noise as if it was dislocating itself. The bottom jaw had moved and fell open, the man having no control of it. Though at the same time it looked like he was trying to speak. His face pinched up as a pained groan left him.

From where Eddie stood he could see bits of meat stuck in between the man's teeth as his mouth opened further. Blood slowly dripped down his chin. Instead of words a soft clicking noise came out. Eddie was slowly starting to panic. There was something off about this man. It didn’t seem like he was trying to come over to recieve help.

“Eddie.”

The more Eddie watched him, the more suspicious the other was becoming. From how he walked something didn’t seem right, as if the man hadn’t been a human a day in his life.

Eddie doesn’t believe in skinwalkers. He’s heard a tale or two from his uncle warning him how people could be possessed by one but he never believed him. Now, watching this man he can’t help but believe that this may be a skinwalker. It was irrational and not logical but there was nothing rational with how this man walked.

The bones in his legs were visibly sliding through his skin. The more Eddie observed that’s when he catches the huge chunk of meat slowly sliding behind him. How he hadn’t noticed sooner was odd.

“Boy,”

How could anyone not notice that they were leaving a bloody snail trail behind them? What was scarier than the leg was the noises he made.

The more he moves the louder the groans become. Each time the man tilted his head a soft clicking noise would follow and his eyes would begin to squint.

Eddie took a step back from the van, hearing the trailer door opening with a loud creak as this man or thing came towards him.

“Eddie!”

Eddie could hear his Uncle yelling as the man started to stumble forward faster. As if he was finally processing Eddie was there.

A sudden bang echoed in the trailer park. Eddie doesn’t get enough time to even process that his Uncle was the one who shot the man thing before the loud ringing began. It’s so loud it makes his eyes go foggy and he isn’t even sure he’s really in the trailer park anymore, or if he even had been. Time was moving slowly and then fast forwarding on repeat.

It seems like forever before Eddie’s eyes slowly begin to focus again. The ringing stops. The only sound he could hear was loud breathing. He barely recognizes that it was coming from him.

“Ed’s?” Wayne was leaning over the van. His hand was awkwardly floating an inch above Eddie’s shoulder as if he were afraid to touch him.

Eddie blinks confused. He wasn’t sure what just happened or how he got in the passenger of the van. He had been outside of their trailer just a second ago. Watching as someone’s head gets blown off by Wayne’s shotgun.

He glances around, looking out the window, trying to place where he was.

They were now pulled to the side of the road, right in front of the ‘leaving Hawkins’ sign. It was as if Eddie lost a portion of time. Where it went he was unsure. What he did know was he needed to get out of this van.

Before his Uncle could stop him he’s standing on the side of the road. Dropping to his knees, not caring how bad the pavement hurt. Crouching forward he aims for the grass before he begins to throw up. Tears fell down his face as his throat began to burn. It was painful enough that he had to cough in between small breaks, before he was hurling more.

He lets out a pathetic whine before he vomits each time. Feeling his hair being pulled back with a slight tug. A hand, which he assumes is Wayne’s, begins to rub gently at the knots of his now tense shoulders.

When he’s finished he’s pretty worn out. He could barely keep his eyes open. He leans back, scrunching his nose up before he’s moving to stand. Stumbling into Wayne, before pushing himself away from the other.

He opens his mouth, his hair falling back down his shoulders. Eddie’s looking at his Uncle and he doesn’t know what to say. He just watched his Uncle kill someone and he doesn’t know how to react.

“Wayne,” Eddie’s voice cracks. Tears were rolling down his face. He was having some difficulty breathing or getting words out.

Trying to compose himself he takes a deep shaky breath that hurts his chest.

“You killed him.”

“Eddie-” Wayne starts, hands moving in the air in an ‘Everything is alright’ gesture. He tries to speak but Eddie doesn’t let him.

“No Wayne, you killed that man. What if he had children?” Eddie hisses out. Stumbling back a little more. He felt drunk with how bad his balance was.

“Kid, will you listen to me.” Wayne pleads, “That wasn’t no man anymore. You’ve heard the radio talking about people going nuts. How they’re biting chunks out of people.”

Eddie listens. He has no choice but to. He thinks back to that guy's mouth. How it was covered in blood, mixed with fresh and dried. The way he barely reacted to a piece of his leg dragging behind him. Not only that but for a split moment Eddie had thought the man was a skinwalker. Something that Eddie has been arguing wasn’t real to his uncle for years.

Everything Wayne was bringing up was making since, as Eddie did hear those news reports. Even heard stories from kids in school.

Eddie’s speechless. He doesn’t know what to say. His mouth opens, trying to make a small attempt before it closes. A moment of uncertainty falls over the two of them before Eddie decides he believes his Uncle.

He moves forward without thinking, not afraid to bury himself in his Uncle's arms. Both of them have tears rolling down their faces. Neither of them would ever mention it. Instead, Eddie focuses on the soft, warm breaths that tickle the top of his head. How his arms wrapped tightly around Wayne’s middle. The way Wayne returns the hug, holding Eddie tightly as if he were afraid Eddie was going to disappear.

Eddie squeezes the other gently, as a reminder that he was there and very much real. When they finally separate Eddie looks his Uncle in the eyes. He may not know much right now, but does know he can’t ever lose Wayne. No matter what.

[frontlinebicepsoftheninth]

i so badly want to do a group cosplay of pre-resurrection dios apate like right after john got the powers. just running around a con in character frantically arguing over geopolitics in negotiation strategy and which streaming platform will garner the widest audience for a God Reveal™ without getting us shadowbanned

[jj3628]

Amazing Comic by @somerandomdudelmao and amazing animation by @tapakah0

Song is Nothing's New by Rio Romeo

Donnie and Leo hold each other all the time, nothing new

SERIOUSLY THOUGH this update made me emotional which isn't a shocker. It was beautiful and it killed me and then Tapa's animation was so breathtaking, it buried me in the ground.

I wonder what Leo's first words are gonna be when he wakes up!

Thank you to Cass for all your hard work and thank you to Tapa for all your hard work!!

[thebirdqueen]

Thinking about Vincent and being all happy about him then BAM! I'm hit with the realization that he will live forever. He will outlive the gang. See them in all their stages of life and leave their mark on not only the planet, but on him as well as he lives on. Yet it makes sense when considering Chaos. Chaos being a Waepon of sorts and ultimately playing the role of an end-all entity. Of course he sees all those who return to the planet. Of course.......

[tatiejosie]

Invincible parallel universe but it's just these suspiciously familiar boys trying to survive and there are no sane adults in sight

recently i learned that you can technically use an M16 with one hand

[lycankeyy]

Gonna go to bed but my Final Message. I do think abt cyborg!bf in the rgbfverse a lot (lets call him Cyber in this context) and honestly it would be hard to write anything until I 100% iron out his Deal but the idea of him latching onto YS as a big brother figure makes me. Very happy. For both of them LMAO

[its-wabby-stuff]

So I personally have a really BIG problem with the day the krang invaded in the original bad end timeline, because it kind of doesn’t make any sense.

Here’s the BIG problem. Casey’s poem.

We know from watching the movie, without any interference thus far, that the foot clan were planning to release the krang at their base on the island. Which doesn’t line up with Casey’s poem at all which SPECIFICALLY mentions the technodrome coming down from atop the tallest tower in New York.

So there must have been some interference even without Casey’s arrival.

The opening of the portal sent a massive beam of light into the air I can’t help but believe would alert the boys, but by then the krang are out. Alas, SONETHING had to happen in that encounter that left the boys struck with feeling like they couldn’t win right then and there. I like to think whatever it was made them focus on evacuation and protecting PEOPLE over fighting the krang themselves.

BUT if the turtles were there they would most definitely know about the key, right? And because the technodrome was released atop metro tower, and not over the island, they must’ve gotten the key back too. At least for a bit. Cause in the movie it didn’t seem the krang had any interest in making a dramatic reveal with the technodrome over the city, they just wanted all of it out.

So why DID they switch locations? What reason? Unless they got the key in the other timeline too. But then how? Cause a lot of things that DIDNT happen in the of timeline happened in the movie. Like Raph getting taken. Even them getting the key seems surprising to Casey.

I think the real shift was Leo stepping up. That’s what changed the timeline the most and let them win. And that had everything to do with Casey telling him off.

[strawberrystarcake]

the residents of hyrule cant have nice things at all

[greensaplinggrace]

just looked up horror playlists and got hit with a bunch of fucking pop songs. girl where's your sense of ambiance

[sito-rp]

☀ the beginning of the end.

[lucy4242564]

.cowboy like me.

Epilogue

Family that I chose

Final chapter! If you couldn’t tell by the fun little mood board, we get to see officer friendly!

August 2007. 10 months pre-breakup.

-

“Hey.” A small voice said from behind Lilah.

 

She turned around to find a child, probably 8 or so, standing behind her with a worksheet. “Hi.” She smiled.

 

“Can you help me with my homework?” He started. “I wanna go play with my friends when I go home, but mom won’t let me if it’s not done.”

 

Lilah’s eyebrows scrunched before she started looking around the room. The boy was the only one there. “Uh, sure. Where is your mom though?”

 

“Probably talking to my dad. He works here. It’s fractions, you good at those?”

 

She nodded, walking over and kneeling in front of the coffee table where his book bag was. Lilah spent the next half hour working on homework with a kid she didn’t even know. He didn’t really need her help all that much, just with a few problems. Even then he caught on real quick.

 

“Carl, honey.” A woman said, walking down the hallway. “I’m so sorry he bothered you.” The lady, which Lilah had assumed was his mom, apologized.

 

“No, it’s fine. I miss when my homework was that easy.”

 

Not far behind the woman came one of the nicer officers. Rick Grimes

 

She liked Rick. He was friendly.

 

—

 November 2007 7 months pre-break up

—

Lilah was running later than usual to pick up Carl from school and nobody was answering their phones. He wasn’t even her kid. Then again, this was almost the only thing she actually looked forward to doing lately. Tuesday afternoons when she got the 9 year old for a couple hours was her escape. It was her time to be a kid again.

 

When they did homework and played until Rick or Lori got home; Lilah was free. She wasn’t in college, or at work, or planning a wedding, or arguing with her fiancé.

 

After a month of her helping Carl with homework at the station and getting to have a few conversations with Lori, she offered to babysit once a week to give Lori some time to herself in the evening. After the first day, Lilah realized it was kind of a win-win situation. At the same time though, she did feel pathetic that the only time she was relaxed was playing with Lego bricks or remote control cars.

 

-

January 2008 5 months pre-breakup

-

“Hey Lilah, you got a minute?” Rick asked, poking his head through the evidence room door.

 

Lilah closed the drawer she’d just opened and nodded. “What’s up?”

 

“You got plans after you leave the house Tuesday?”

 

“Nope.” She popped her ‘p’. “Just home and sleep.”

 

“Well, Lori and I were wonderin’ if you’d think about keepin’ Carl that night. I’m off on Wednesday and was gonna take her out if we could find a sitter. We got a guest room and I don’t mind payin’ yo-“

 

With the shake of her head, she responded, “You don’t have to pay me Richard. I don’t mind.”

 

“Ya know, Shane might be a better option.” The curly haired man said sarcastically.

 

He hated his full name and Lilah used it every opportunity she got. He tried teasing her with the name ‘Delilah’, but it didn’t bother her. It wasn’t her name after all.

 

Shane calling her Polly Pocket though, that was just foul.

 

-

 March 2008 3 months pre-breakup

-

Lilah finally told her friends at the station that she was looking for a placement in a station further north. She needed professional references.

 

Nobody was particularly enthusiastic about her leaving, but deputies Grimes and Walsh were giving her a harder time than most. That checked out though. Becoming Carl’s unofficial babysitter had her roped in closer to them two. When she initially offered to watch Carl on Tuesday’s, it was really a branch she was holding out to become friends with Lori. She missed having friends to do things with, or just to even talk to. A part of her believed if she could find a piece of friendship, it might’ve helped her sense of self.

 

Lilah hadn’t even considered the boy’s father in her plan. Maybe that was why fate decided to stick its nose into the plan and change things up.

 

She got what she wanted— technically. She just didn’t get the female companionship she’d hoped for. Instead, Rick became a surrogate brother to her. The Grimes family, that definitely included Shane, had become a part of her. Now she was trying to leave a place she’d come to love. It was necessary though; it was for Daryl. It was for her future. They understood, but they weren’t happy about it.

 

-

June 2008 3 hours post-breakup

-

If she would’ve been in her right mind Lilah might have called; Lilah wasn’t in her right mind though.

 

She’d just turned a 2 hour drive into an almost 4 hour one because she had to pull over multiple times to throw up. Her entire world was ending and there was no clarity for miles.

 

So now she was banging on the Grimes’ door like a madwoman. When Lori opened it, the first thing she did was pull Lilah into a hug. She gave hugs that reminded her of home and it was much needed.

 

That day broke Lilah in ways she didn’t know she could be broken. Daryl wasn’t her first love or her first heartbreak, but she truly thought he was going to be her last. It was nobody’s fault but her own that she was so miserable though. She left him, not the other way around. The more she thought on that, the harder it was for her to not get in her car and drive right back to his house in the woods.

 

Lilah’s entire existence felt pointless.

 

-

September 2008 3 months post break up

-

Lilah had known Rick and Lori Grimes for a little over a year now, but it still shocked her how utterly wonderful they were. Not even necessarily as a family, but just as people.

 

They were both good people.

 

They were her safe haven over the past three months. Without so much as a glimmer in her eye, Lori moved Lilah into the room that once was for guests and unpacked her belongings to make it hers. Rick saw her off to work as if she was a child being sent to the school bus. And Carl— Carl gave her a dose of reality that only children could get away with.

 

Then there was Shane. Shane did all of the dirty work that Lilah couldn’t bring herself to do. He got her number changed, broke her lease for her, packed up all her past memories, and kept tabs on all of her old friends. Just in case.

 

For so long, Lilah saw herself as an independent woman. It wasn’t until she walked away from Daryl that she truly was independent. In leaving Daryl, she left the only familiarity of Georgia she knew. Her parents believed she’d been making a huge mistake, her dad even threatening to move her back to New Jersey. Out of pure stubbornness, Lilah gave herself the opportunity to be self-sufficient.

 

She knew she was still in a very lucky situation with the group of people she’d come to know as family, but she was doing things her own way.

[hypothewes]

[andimthedad]

Apocalyptic Fire Squid

Beth: [age 15] "Do you think I could make a living painting post-apocalyptic landscapes?" Me: "Uh... Are you any good? It's been a while since you painted anything." Beth: "I just discovered a painting I did in 7th grade. It's a fire squid living in a cave after the end of the world." Me: "You just discovered it?" Beth: "I re-discovered it. We were supposed to paint animals. Everyone else in the class did a dog or a cat. I wonder what the teacher thought flipping through all the paintings: dog, dog, cat, dog, cat, flaming post-apocalyptic squid, dog...." Me: "What exactly makes the squid flaming and post-apocalyptic?" Beth: "It lives in a cave at the beach alongside a barren landscape of smoking ruins as far as the eye can see, and It's constantly on fire, even when it's in the water." Me: "Well, naturally. Why would I even ask? Of course, you are welcome to paint more fire squids. I think we still have some oil paint and a couple of blank canvases, and you can always paint over old canvases you don't like anymore." Beth: "I think I might. The fire octopus has really been on my mind." Me: "On your mind in what way? You think one is going to show up?" Beth: "They're already here, just hiding out, waiting." Me: "So there are currently pre-apocalyptic fire squids lurking around somewhere?" Beth: "Shhhh. Not too loudly. You don't want to attract one." Me: "Hmm. If you don't paint, you should write."