#How much it’s gonna kill lockwood

[monsterbananatv]

I’m not responsible for the person I become when I see the hollow boy adapted on scene…

The introduction of Holly

Jessica

Aickmere’s

The fetch

“Come off it, you know I’d die for you”

In the show there’s so many scenes where Lockwood is begging Lucy to stay, scared she is going to leave him, and finally she does

Yes I know it’s to keep him safe, but it still hurts my heart every time, and to see it on scene…

[websterss]

TILL DEATH DO US PART — ANTHONY LOCKWOOD

REQUEST: okay so i’ve thought about sending requests your way and my mind came up blank except for a reversed-roles kinda thing for lockwood & co, in which that scene from the last episode where lucy goes to george to save him from the crazy lady (forgot her name) with the bone mirror, instead it’s reader but she doesn’t handle it as well as lucy and pass out or something (your choice, i just want angst) and although lockwood has been shot in the shoulder, he doesn’t care. all he cares about is if reader is gonna be okay 👀 (i just want some good ol’ angst written by you so i can die a little bit inside but also thrive in reading your writing 🥺🫶🏼)

WARNING(S): angst, some fluff at the end

WORD COUNT: 4,214

PAIRING: Anthony Lockwood x fem!Reader    

A/N: Hope you enjoy it! Feedback is always welcomed!

MASTERLIST

You didn’t quite know how you three had managed to end up locked in an underground cellar with Pamela. You couldn’t so much as put the fault onto George. He had put his sole faith and trust into their supposed friendship. He was too swayed by what he thought were good intentions, only to realize they were nothing but sick twisted purposes. Purposes that were going to put so many others at risk. 

“Please!” George begged. “Lucy, don't he’ll kill you.”

“Don’t you dare look, and whatever happens this wasn’t your fault. This was my choice.”

“Lucy, don't you dare.” You groan after having been jostled and shoved to the ground as George had. 

Lucy just turned to you, her features softening as she whispered with pure sincerity and concern in her voice. Her soft-as-the-sky eyes glowed in the darkness like twin lanterns and with a little sigh she replied, “…I have to.”

"No. You don't. We all get to make choices, and I'm making mine now." You walk up to her and hit her with the hilt of your rapier.  You hold your breath as she falls unconscious. You're quick to drag her over to George where he remains on the ground. "S-Shield her eyes, and whatever happens...don't look." You nod firmly at George.

George didn’t hesitate, shielding Lucy from the horror unfolding before them, but couldn’t help looking back to you. He seemed both concerned and terrified at the same time. “Lockwood won't like this!"

"He'll get over it!" You take your place in front of the mirror. Eyes flickering back and forth between Pamela and the covered mirror.

The air around you feels thick and oppressive. You feel sick and dizzy as the sense of impending doom and horror fills your body with a paralyzing chill. You look at the mirror, at Pamela, and the thought of what is to come sears across your mind.

You take a deep breath. With shaking hands, you await her response. “Tell me everything you see, what you feel, and what you hear.” She yanks a pin out from her hair. Then points the recorder towards you. “Every detail.” She says as a final word, then yanks back the cloth. You turn around immediately, feeling a rush of air and suction claw on the back of your hair and shoulders. “Look, look, look. Damn you, look!” Pamela exclaims.

You gasp as you reach forward, grabbing the silver-glass jar, the skull, and hold it out behind you to look at the mirror in your place.

"If you can talk to it, tell me what it says.”

You groan, closing your eyes tightly, trying to fight off the urge to look into the horrid mirror. You growl as you yell back to the damned skull. "Talk...Take it all in and tell your master what you see." Lockwood and George, even Lucy had been astonished when you all discovered that you could also communicate and hear the type three ghost. Your heart plummets as you hear the skull begin to wail.

“No, no, no, this isn’t right! Something’s changed!” Your breath shudders upon the information he has given you. “They’re trapped!”

“What? What? What is he saying? Speak, girl Speak!” Pamela grips her recorder tighter.

“It says something is wrong!”

“More!”

“It’s a trap. We have to destroy it!” You begin to whimper as it all grows to be too much for you to handle. You hold your breath as glimpses of your past flash in your mind. Stills of your parents before your tenth birthday. Finding them ghost-locked after coming home from Fittes. Horrid wretched flashes and faces of previous visitors you and the boys were called on to take a job about. Being pinned by a type two. Your breath grows cold upon being nearly ghost-locked yourself. But the one vision that struck you the most, that made you lose your grip on making it through this was seeing yourself hold Anthony in your arms as his eyes were milky, his brown irises glazed over white and still. You could see yourself crying and begging him to come back to you. Your eyes shot upon with a startle. You could feel yourself loosen your hold on the jar before you took it down with you to the ground. All you could hear was a faint yell of your name before you slipped into the dark void that clouded your mind.

“Y/n!” George hadn’t even hesitated to get onto his feet to tackle down the stand holding the mirror. 

“No!” Pamela cries out. George ran back over to where you lay unconscious. His hands were still tied behind his back but he still attempted to check for your pulse. He visibly relaxed as he came to feel your pulse thump against his skin. 

“You’re alright, you’re alright now...Lockwood will come soon and it’ll all be over soon.” He flinched, looking over his shoulder as he heard shuffling to his right. Lucy groaned, clutching at her head as she pushed herself off the ground. 

“Blood hell...” She complained, but one look at your unmoving body had her scooting closer to the two of you. She reached forward, brushing a few strands out from your face. Her palm resting against your cheek. “Is she...” She raised a brow at George. Thinking the worst of the worst. Your death at the hands of Pamela.

“No. She’s alright. Assumed the mirror struck her energy a bit. It was too much for her to handle.” 

“Lockwood is gonna-”

“Kill us.”

“I was going to say put her on house arrest but sure let’s assume the worst reactions possible. 

“Before we arrived. He practically begged her to run off and call DEPRAC. She was top priority...” Lucy muttered to herself thinking back on what Lockwood debriefed before they came to face Pamela. 

“Top priority?” George questioned. “Y/n?”

“Before we left, he mentioned how the mirror came close to being our second priority. I asked him out of curiosity what the first priority was. He didn’t answer me.” Lucy looks down at you with a new sense of understanding. The bond you and Lockwood shared was one like no other. Two souls brought together by unfathomable circumstances. Orphaned from the same cause, the same path that lead your loved ones to be unalive. To halves that made a whole. Who understood what was put at risk every day you stepped out into London’s busy and haunted streets. You both knew the sacrifices that were the hardest to make, but you both took them on over Lucy and George having to. The little family you both found yourselves, you put your whole lives and trust into. You were everything to one another, and that was a risk in itself. “Lockwood is going to have our heads...” She breathed out in realization.

“I think he knows that already.”

“What?” George gestured behind her with a grimace. Lockwood was standing a few feet away, clutching his shoulder. His eyes rotated from Lucy and George and onto your unmoving form. 

“Shit...” Lucy swallowed nervously as he let his rapier clatter to the floor. 

“Is she?” Lockwood swallowed his words down, not having the stomach to contemplate whether you remained with them or if you had finally joined alongside your parents and his. Lockwood took a few more agonizing steps towards your motionless form, his expression looking both exhausted and afraid. His fingers reach out but fall back down to his sides. He was only thankful you couldn’t see him tremble, as he held back on the urge to break down crying.  

“She’s okay...swear it.” Lucy nodded, a timid smile on her face as her eyes watered. 

Lockwood's eyes began to water from the sight. For an agent, death would be nothing more than a common occurrence. However, this was a different scenario, as a few tears streamed down his face. Before he could take another step forward, George finally free from his zip ties, carefully lifted you in a gentle motion, trying to prop you upwards. Lockwood hurried forward then, hands trembling as he grabbed your shoulders and pulled you into a seating position. Your head lulling sideways at an uncomfortable angle. Lockwood's eyes darted all across your form, desperately hoping to find some kind of response from you.

"She took on the mirror...It was too much for her to handle. She fainted from it." George filled him in on what occurred.

Lockwood's breaths grew out of rhythm as he kept your body in place, trying to keep his hands from shaking. His fingers trembled at a furious pace as he placed his hand against your neck, needing to feel for himself for a pulse. To reassure him that you weren’t taken from him. It was a moment that felt like hours had passed. He spoke. “Did she look at it?” They could hear the panic in his voice.

"N-No. She used the skull." Anthony glanced over to where the type three ghost swirled around, displaying its very much livelihood. He wished the same for your state.

Lockwood's sigh of relief was palpable in the atmosphere. He withdrew his head from your shoulder and pressed his head gently against yours, his eyes closing shut. The only thing keeping him from losing it was the slight thump against his fingertips on your neck, it had his entire demeanor relaxing. Though it didn't calm his nerves. "She'll be alright," he promised George, who seemed to be on the verge of panic himself. "She'll be quite alright." He muttered softly as though the tiniest change in his tone would cause him to fall apart. 

Lucy was at a crossroads, her instincts screaming at her how badly she wanted to rush into Lockwood's arms to comfort him at this moment, but she had her priorities straight. You had taken her place. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for you and it angered Lockwood because you never stopped putting yourself before others.

"She knocked me out and took my place. I wouldn't have let her if I knew-" Anthony retracted from you and looked over to Lucy, having her own breakdown.

Knowing of your bond, she knew what losing you would do to him. The last thing she wanted was to add any more stress to his plate and his already heavy heart. “I know. It’s alright Luce...” Lockwood gave her a firm nod. He then turned back to you. Lockwood was staring at what you referred to as your imperfections, a freckle here, a scar against your temple there, and the crease in your brows, to him they were what made you simply perfect in his eyes. He couldn’t help the frown on his lips, the frown on your own lips not sitting well with him. Had you fainted in pain? Were you still in pain? It didn’t shake him as badly as your closed eyes did. He wanted nothing more than to peer into them again. Find a home in them once more. He willed and hoped them to finally open so that he could see that you were alright. 

He lied, your pulse hadn’t been enough, he needed to see you awaken for him to even function correctly. He needed his mind to think about anything else, something else so he asked.

“What marvelous object did she acquire this time...” He scoffed. “My first encounter with her was with the end of an umbrella.”

"The butt of her rapier," Lucy said. "Shit hurt..." She rubbed against the side of her temple.

“A rapier?” He breathed a small laugh. “I see you weren’t quite original this time...” A small smile appeared in Lockwood's eyes as he leaned forward again. His hand lowered to wrap around your fingers, all the while as he carefully placed your head upon his shoulder. His other hand brushed against your cheek, making note of your temperature. “Her hands are getting cold.”

"Is that bad?"

“Y/n. Can you hear me?” He lifted your head from his shoulder. “Her circulation is slowing. Our time frame for waking her up is shrinking.” It's always an internal struggle for him to remain composed, but he had to be strong for the lot of them.

"Where did Pamela go?" George began panicking. He grew weary seeing her hunched over the broken mirror.      

“Leave her, George!" Lockwood let out his frustration at the situation. “She’s not our priority right now.”

“You stupid boy. You broke it!” Pamela whined.

Lockwood turned to look back at Pamela, who was whining about the broken mirror as Lucy’s attempts to bring you back to consciousness were becoming more futile. Lockwood’s patience was wearing thin, and Pamela’s words were doing nothing but adding fuel to the flames.

“We need to go! Now!” Lockwood urged the two of them. As he was already attempting to pick you up, especially with his bad shoulder still bleeding out. The exhaustion hadn’t yet reached him, his adrenaline running rampant. 

Lockwood's words were cut short as he stumbled, dropping you to the ground. His bad shoulder had given way to the exhaustion that now began to consume him. He was losing his grip on everything. “Lucy...” he was pleading now. 

“We’ve got her, let’s go!” Lucy assured his panic, and swung your arm over her shoulder, George taking your other arm.

“Don’t drop her…” Lockwood barked out, as he struggled to maintain a standing position. The exhaustion finally started to take hold of him as his knees buckled beneath him. With his body starting to tremble and lose its grasp, he let out a deep groan, his breath shallowing from the physical exertion.

"Go!" Lucy ordered out of frustration. She admired his concern and care about you but not when their lives were currently on the line and a crazy bitch was staring into the mirror she tried forcing them to look into.

He didn’t want to allow any room for arguing.

-

Anthony had fallen unconscious as the lift back up. His body lay next to yours as George, Lucy, and Kipps adjusted the both of you. The last thing Anthony recalls was lightly pressing his hand on top of yours before he succumbed to the exhaustion that ransacked his body. He felt as though a train drove right into him, though at least now he could say he’s faced down the barrel of a gun and lived to tell the tale. You’d find it humorous. You always thought highly of his jokes and gave him a laugh when most never bothered. He’d give anything to hear you bubble out of joy. See you double over from the loss of air in your chest. He’d give anything...everything.

After the paramedics patched him up and reduced him to an arm sling, he hung back as you lay on the gurney behind him. He twisted in his seat, keeping a watchful eye on you, waiting, willing the universe to spare him and have your fingers twitch, or have you shift around. He needed some peace of mind.

Though the universe was not kind, your body remained lifeless in a state of deep slumber. Lockwood’s heartbeat grew heavier the longer he waited on the back of the ambulance, his mind flooded with the worst-case scenarios. That this would be the last time, that that smile of yours that could charm anyone with ease would be lost. If he was to lose you, then he had nothing left. Nothing and no one. His hand continued to shake as he felt himself become more and more of a wreck. He couldn’t breathe...he wouldn't be able to breathe...and he knew he’d whole himself in his room if you didn’t-

“Will the Mrs live to see another day?”

Anthony looked over at Inspector Barnes. He gestured to your stilified state. He had hoped his joke would upturn the tension but if presumed he hadn’t after Lockwood scoffed and rolled his eyes, adverting his gaze away and back where they longed to remain, solely on you.

“What’d the paramedics say?” He asked again.

“She’s alright...Nothing we couldn’t figure out ourselves. The pressure from the mirror exhausted her to the point of fainting. She’s stable...she’s surpassed every checkup they ministered with flying colors...”

“Yet...” Barnes trailed off.

“They don’t have the slightest clue as to why she won’t wake up. They already tried to but...” Lockwood didn’t want to say it out loud, but speaking it into existence confirmed his worst fears, that even though your vitals were good, and your body reacted well to the fluids they gave you, something was seriously wrong, if not physically, then mentally and that scared him more than anything else. “I have this inclining...”

"Lockwood-" Barnes began.

“I know what you’re going to say. Have hope. Remain optimistic as we’ll continue to observe her, monitor her vitals, hell test her blood. But what good will that do when we’ve done it already…” He paused, the exhaustion growing with every passing moment. “What if she never wakes up?” Lockwood’s breath shudders.

“You both know of the risks–“ Barnes tries to reason.

“We’ve been in the business of risk exposure for years. We don’t expect ourselves to survive from the first encounter. But this–this feeling...” Lockwood’s voice was breaking. He couldn’t keep himself contained any longer. “I’m aware!” Lockwood snaps, his voice breaking, his eyes reddening. “All too aware, but if I’d known this would happen I’d…” His thoughts trail off, unsure of what to say anymore. His eyes kept darting back and forth between you and Barnes. He’d succumb to begging. He would. Just to see you move a little. Any kind of movement. Just one would be enough to quell his panic. 

“Taken her place?” A small knowing smile reached Barnes's brows.

Lockwood couldn’t bring himself to deny it. He took a deep breath, as he spoke in a hushed and gentle tone “I would hand myself over to death without question. Any given day.” He didn’t hesitate. “I’d rather she lose me, than I her. So yes, I’d have taken her place.” Barnes's eyes slowly flickered past his shoulder with an easing smile. He looked down to the rubble. 

“Over my dead body-” Anthony had never turned his head faster. He instantly froze. The relief that had started to wash over him at seeing you had given way to embarrassment. His own injury was forgotten. You sat up and your eyes landed on him. “Hand yourself over to death, or you mad- What the hell happened to your shoulder?” 

“That would be my leave...” Barnes pointed to his left and swiftly left the two of you.

“My shoulder? Oh, it…I was shot.” He answered as simple as that, it contained no other details, nothing to ease your concern, which led you right into interrogating him.

“Shot?” You were taken aback by his nonchalant reply. “What do you mean, shot?” You exclaim. 

“Nothing worth troubling yourself about. How do you feel?” There was an air of tension between the two of you, where everything had become so fragile. After everything that had happened, a simple statement or action would break the illusion. You were awake and animated, and giving him a piece of your mind. It didn’t feel real in the slightest.

“I…” A wave of exhaustion was still coursing through your body, a result of the exhausting ordeal that you had just undergone. The ordeal had exhausted your body so much that your brain shut down. But your physical exhaustion also masked the emotional exhaustion you were feeling. You felt out of your element; overwhelmed by everything that was now around you. Everything felt unfamiliar to you, as though you had been transported into an unknown dimension, one where your mind felt trapped. Anthony’s ghost locked body in your arms. “I don’t know...I couldn’t wake up.”

"I know- The paramedics tried everything and-"

It was impossible to say what you did and didn't remember. But from what you recall, the events of the evening were a blur. "The mirror..." You attempted to scoot closer to him. Your hands grazed against Anthony's hair. Your eyes caught sight of his shoulder, wrapped in bandages and the sling that secured it together. Was it bleeding? But it wasn’t your primary focus. You just needed to feel him. “There were so many faces, so many faces.” You breathe out a gasp. Your eyes watering. “I saw you...”

“Me?”

"You were ghost-locked. I had lost you..." Your breath hitched.

"It wasn't real. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. It wasn't real." Anthony reassured, pressing kisses against your temple.

"But what if it was...What if what the mirror showed me becomes true?"

He paused, taking a moment to contemplate your concerns. Anthony had already spent the evening playing out the worst-case scenarios, but to hear you state them verbally had somehow made them more palpable. However, a small part of him was curious whether you saw your future by the mirrors doing, or if it was just an illusion to break you mentally.

"Then I'll make sure that doesn't happen." He whispered. His voice was tinged with emotion. His hands reached for yours and intertwined his fingers with yours. A sign of his promise to you.

“You can’t promise that-”

Anthony looked down at your hands, his eyes flickering between them as he attempted to focus on anything other than the overwhelming amount of emotions swirling within him, the emotions threatening to consume him whole. So he focused instead on your hands being intertwined with his, and the sight warmed him in a pleasant way he hadn't felt in many months, as the thought of possibly losing you had him filled with dread.

He leaned over and kissed your knuckles. “Did you not hear my declaration of my love for you?”

“Oh, the one where you give yourself to death- Like hell!” You yank your hand out of his with a scoff.

“Hand myself over–” He corrected you. “I’d hand myself over to death.” He continued.

“I’m about to hand you a right hook.” You throw a playful punch to his bad shoulder, forgetting his injury and rippling with regret instantly. “Oh!”

“Ow.” He groaned. “What’s the big issue?” He laughed softly. “What’s wrong with giving up my life for yours?” He teased. “You know I’d die for you.”

"You don't have my permission." You mutter softly. Bringing a hand up to brush back his hair.

As your hand brushed back his hair, Anthony couldn’t help but smile at the small gesture. He grabbed the hand you used to brush back his hair and lightly kissed the back of your hand again. “If I wanted to I would give myself over to death this very instant. I’d do just about anything for you, you know.” He replied. His gaze was now fully on you. His eyes were a deep amber, shining like two gemstones.

"And that's what scares me the most." You hum.

“It shouldn’t.” He scoffed with a smile. “Besides, I thought you valued my loyalty.” He raised a brow playfully.

"Yes. When I'm not there to defend my word. That’s when I put my whole faith in your loyalty to me...but when death comes knocking. I don't want it." Your eyes soften.

He looked away briefly, then back at you with a teasing smile. “I wouldn’t give my life to save just anyone, you know.”

"Oh, I'm aware." You fight back an amused smile. He noticed it though, he caught the smile that you attempted to mask. You were never able to conceal much around him, and that was all right. He liked seeing your emotions on full display. You were your truest self when you let your guard down around him. It made you all the more adorable that way. “And you?” He asked. “Would you give yourself to death for me?” He teased, but you knew he was serious.

Your smile widened for a moment before you caught yourself, and answered without taking a beat. You would allow him to know your fears, for the fear of seeing him suffer on your behalf was the worst feeling one could endure. That was something you hated the thought of. You didn’t quite see yourself as the more vulnerable one out of the two of you. Deep down Anthony conquered his inner demons through you, shared his past, his troubles, and confessed his deepest fears to you. You’d help him without any hesitation. You would do anything for the bloke, even if that meant going as far as sacrificing your own life for the sake of him getting to keep his, you would do it, and you’d do it in a heartbeat no less.

“Any given day.” One glance into your eyes and Anthony knew. He knew you would keep that promise till death tethered on whose hand to take. When? Well, you’d never truly know for sure.

Content with your answer, he leans in and kisses your cheek softly. You relax into his touch, your lashes brushing down on top of your under-eyes. He pulls away with a stupid grin. His eyes filled with want and mischief, your favorite combination.

[gardenschedule]

Paul wrangling John

Brian Epstein made the Beatles PR conscious: he would say, ‘Don’t smoke on stage’ and things like that. I was very pleased that they stopped smoking on stage as I didn’t like it myself. He had no difficulty persuading Paul as he knew instinctively how a band should behave on stage, but John was a rebel and George could be difficult.

Bob Wooler, c/o Spencer Leigh, The Best of Fellas: The Story of Bob Wooler. (2002)

JOHN: The truth about the separation was she kicked me out . . . so I (laughter) was adrift at sea . . . and there was nobody to protect me from myself which is fine. I should be able to look after myself but I never had, and there was Epstein or Paul to cover up for me. I’m not putting Paul down and I’m not putting Brian down. They’d done a good job in containing my personality from not causing too much trouble.

Barbara Graustark, “The Real John Lennon.” Newsweek (September 1980)

JOHN (with mock horror): My “lost weekend”? It lasted for eighteen months. I was like an elephant in zoo, aware that it’s trapped but not able to get out. It’s an extension of the craziness that I’d been doing with the Beatles in Hamburg in Liverpool, but it had been covered up by the people surrounding us. So when I freaked out, there would be Paul or Epstein to say “What he really means is he’s just a normal boy from a normal family who likes to shear sheep.” And the machinery around us would take care of the business. By the time we got to America, we were old hands at it. But if you look back at the Beatles’ first national press coverage, it was because I sent a guy to the hospital for calling me a fag, saying I slept with Brian Epstein.

Barbara Graustark, “The Real John Lennon.” Newsweek (September 1980)

“But all the time Paul, and Brian Epstein we’re always trying to kill me from saying anything. But because I was in so much pain, I’d always get drunk or drugged, and I’d always say something that didn’t suit them. And so always, I would leave a piece of shit amongst the Beatles image. But all the time they tried to kill me and kill me and bring me down to be a Beatle, to be a nice boy, be a Beatle. But if you look from the career of the Beatles, the first national news the Beatles ever got in the English newspapers was when I nearly killed somebody at Paul’s party. So all the famous news the Beatles ever got besides being Go–angels, was when I did something terrible through being in so much pain. So they could never keep me down.”

Oct 1971 - John and Yoko interviewed during John’s 31st birthday celebration by reporter Takahiro Imura

"I constantly saw Lennon and McCartney together because Paul came along to see that I wasn't rude to John - who I can't say I got on with. Paul didn't want me to upset John."

Sir Joseph Lockwood - Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire, Brian Southall, 2008

Sometimes, though, I certainly thought John was being a complete idiot. Even though I was younger, I would try to explain to him why he was being stupid and why something he’d done was so unlike him. I remember him saying things to me like, ‘You know, Paul, I worry about how people are gonna remember me when I die.’ Thoughts like that shocked me, and I’d reply, ‘Hold on; just hold it right there. People are going to think you were great, and you’ve already done enough work to demonstrate that.’ I often felt like I was his priest and would have to say, ‘My son, you’re great. Just don’t worry about that.’

Paul McCartney, in The Lyrics (2021).

It came as a welcome relief that John and Paul, along with Neil Aspinall, planned a quick trip to New York on May 11, where several press events had been scheduled to announce Apple Records in the States. Friends agreed that getting John away might do him a world of good; being alone, with just Paul to steady him, might have a calming influence. Paul was grappling with his own set of anxieties. “We wanted a grand launch,” Paul said, “but I had a strange feeling and was very nervous.” Drugs, he later admitted, may have been at the root of his problem

Bob Spitz, The Beatles: The Biography, 2005

“The setting is the Blue Angel and Paul McCartney is upstairs talking to some press people, while in the basement is John Lennon shooting his mouth off, well away with the drink or whatever. He said, “Hitler should have finished the job”, meaning that the gas ovens should have been more active than they were. His manager was Jewish and I prevailed upon him to be quiet because the press were upstairs, but he didn’t take any notice of me. I told Paul that John was shooting his mouth off and that the press must not get wind of it. ”

Bob Wooler, c/o Spencer Leigh, Best of the Beatles: The Sacking of Pete Best. (2015)

“The party was at Auntie Gin’s house in Huyton. By now, Paul could afford a marquee in the garden.This is inside the house, where my comedy group, Scaffold, are performing for the guests. John Gorman and Roger McGough are onstage, and I’m photographing reactions to the act. The jokes are going well with Paul, his girlfriend Jane Asher, and an old school chum, Ivan Vaughn, but John Lennon was so pissed he kept shouting, ‘That’s not funny’ (until Paul told him to ‘Shhh!,’ which he did)…” -

Mike McCartney

[After John pours a beer on Chris Montez' head and starts a brawl] Everyone settled down in their seats. Paul McCartney tried to make peace with Chris. Chris said, “Paul sat by me and said, ‘Come on, Chris, let’s be friends….’ “I said, ‘Paul, just get away from me, I don’t want nothing to do with you guys. You know, you pissed me off!” As for Lennon, Chris recalled, “John? I guess he was a wise guy. But I got the sense that, I shouldn’t say this, that he was jealous of who I was or what I did. I don’t know what his problem was, but I didn’t like it too much.”

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE BRAWL BETWEEN JOHN LENNON AND CHRIS MONTEZ IN 1963! EXCLUSIVE!

JOHN: I used to try to get George to rebel with me. I’d say to him, “Look, we don’t need these fuckin’ suits. Let’s chuck them out of the window.” My little rebellion was to have my tie loose with the top button of my shirt undone. Paul’d always come up to me and put it straight.

John

PAUL: There’s a story that I used to straighten John’s tie before we went on stage. That seems to have become a symbol of what my attitude was supposed to have been. I’ve never straightened anyone’s tie in my life, except perhaps affectionately.

The Times Profile of Paul McCartney – 1982

I spoke to Paul about this night many years later, and he confirmed that he and George had been shaken rigid when they found out we were up on the roof. They knew John was having a what you might call a bad trip. John didn’t go back to Weybridge that night; Paul took him home to his place, in nearby Cavendish Road. They were intensely close, remember, and Paul would do almost anything for John. So, once they were safe inside, Paul took a tablet of LSD for the first time, 'So I could get with John’ as he put it- be with him in his misery and fear.

George Martin, With a Little Help from My Friends: The Making of Sgt. Pepper

AW: Isn’t he? Well, you know, of all the people, he comes through a lot of stick. Or a lot of people think he comes through a lot of stick in my book. But that’s the way John behaved. He behaved really outrageously. And Paul used to pour the oil on the troubled waters, as it were. But of all the people, only John, out of all the Beatles, have said that my book is the only book that gives a true insight to what it was to be an early Beatle. I admire him for that.

All You Need Is Love – Peter Brown & Steven Gaines

“We were in a daydream till he came along. We had no idea what we were doing. Seeing our marching orders on paper made it all official. Brian was trying to clean our image up, but, at the same time, he didn’t want us suddenly looking square. He would tell us jeans were not particularly smart and could we possibly manage to wear proper trousers. He literally fuckin’ cleaned us up! There were great fights between him and me, over me not wanting to dress up, and he and Paul wanting me to dress up. In fact, he and Paul had some kind of collusion to keep me straight.

The Beatles Off the Record (Keith Badman)

[locklyle1kanij]

I’m gonna make a list of my fav Lockwood and co fics in the hope that someone will see this list then reblog it and say “wow good choices! You should really check out this fic!”

(PLEASE I NEED FICS) (Warning these are basically all mainly Locklyle fics just letting you know)

(okay obviously we need Policy 8 on this list!)

“Policy 8” written by by: The_Biscuit_Agreement

Ongoing

Plot Summary :

Policy 8 was established in the hope of encouraging the birth of increasingly powerful agents. All agents 18 and over must accept the marriages DEPRAC assigns them. Agents between the ages of 16-18 can volunteer to enter the programme or else be forced into it due to minor illegal behaviour.
Lucy Carlyle volunteered. Anthony Lockwood was forced. In an effort to protect the two teenagers from being turned into pawns in the games of the rich and powerful, Barnes ensures Lucy and Lockwood are married. But just because they aren't stuck as pawns, doesn't mean the teenagers aren't forced into the same dangerous games.

“As London Burns” written by: ScienceFantasy93

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

An AU About locklyle in the middle of world war two with Lockwood fighting as a RAF pilot and with Lucy as a news reporter. (very angsty) (idk what else to say about it tbh… BUT I LOVE THIS FIC!)

“The bones of our past written” by: moon2pluto

Finished (but has a sequel that’s ongoing)

Plot Summary:

Just a few months after the destruction of the bone mirror, the team of Lockwood & Co. has another big case to tackle:
When Lucy gets a letter from her little sister, begging her to come back and help her with a haunting doomed to kill them, she doesn't need long to make a decision, and neither George nor Lockwood are going to let her face this alone. To not get any unwanted attention in her hometown, Lucy and Lockwood agree to take a closer look disguised as a couple while George is busy researching. But when the haunting turns out to run much deeper and wilder than any of them thought, and other players enter the game, one question arises: Will Lockwood & Co. also make it out of this case unscathed?

(This one’s my all time favourite)

“The hidden archive” written by: BrooklynBooks

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Ghost possession doesn't happen often, but fatality rates are high. Even if an agent does survive, there are the aftereffects to worry about. After surviving a possession, Lucy Carlyle struggles with recovery, delving ever deeper into the memories of Visitors and, in the process, stumbling into the world of blackmarket Sources. Meanwhile, George Karim races to learn the truth behind ghost possession in order to protect Lucy and save future agents. And Anthony Lockwood must face his own past with the London underworld if he wants to save his friends and himself.

“Connections” written by: The_Biscuit_Agreement (I’m sorry i’m so obsessed with their fics lol)

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Lockwood forms a psychic link with a dead young agent and the group try to use it to work out how the agent died with disastrous consequences.

“Crushed” written by: itripandfallalot, Salvoirfaire

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

A bad case and broken leg leave Lucy no choice but to return to Portland Row until she recovers. Lockwood is definitely not using this as an opportunity to persuade her to come back for good, because that would be unfair. And he never plays dirty.

“Because everything is the same until, very suddenly, it isn’t” written by: Netflixcapricorn

Finished

Plot Summary:

What happens when the only way out of this mess is a fake marriage?

(Here’s a warning, extremely angsty)

“Lucy takes the long way home” written by: agents_cxrter

Finished

Plot Summary:

Lucy might have left Lockwood and Co, but she can't get Lockwood out of her system.

(So many annoying emotions in this one like WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!!?!)

“This is going to end badly” written by: The_Biscuit_Agreement

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

When Fittes Agent Lucy Carlyle is cornered by relic-men alone in the woods, she is rescued by an unlikely source: Anthony Lockwood, run-away and relic-man. When Fittes gets tasked with trying to track the young man down, Lucy finds herself in an interesting position.

“Perfectly Incandescently Happy” written by: OceanSpray5

Finished

Plot Summary:

After the death of her best friend, Ms Lucy Carlyle is given the opportunity to be sponsored for the 1815 London season by Norrie's aunt. Instantly compared to the Diamond due to their astonishingly similar looks, she befriends Lord Lockwood quite unexpectedly yet is left wondering if she was a fool for believing he'd look twice at a mere country girl.

(This fic is literally the cutest thing to exist… if you exclude the angst lollll)

“No One Cares About The Nightwatch” Written by: Nomolosk

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Lucy Carlyle is a Listener, a failed agent, a runaway, and now works the nightwatch in London. One might think her life a failure from start to last- but Lucy has goals. She will get a grade four certificate, and reapply to all the best agencies, and her life will get immeasurably better.

However, firsthand experience of the treatment most people give the nightwatch, and a chance encounter with Lockwood and Co. have her reevaluating those goals... maybe she can do some good before she moves on...

“The Injury of Finally Knowing You” written by: booknerds_unite

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Anthony Lockwood, the only surviving male monarch from the Lockwood line, has six months to find a wife or Parliament will make a case to keep him from the throne. Lucy Carlyle has just arrived at the palace to work as a maid and to escape her horrific mother. They were never supposed to meet.
On the night of Lockwood's birthday celebration, their paths cross and nothing will ever be the same.

“What lies between the lines” written by: The_Biscuit_Agreement

Ongoing

Plot Summary

When she arrived in London, Lucy Carlyle took up a job at the British Archives, spending her days determining which love letters, suicide notes and other collected paperwork could one day produce a visitor. It's a taxing job, made easier by king archivists and the presence of young agents doing research nearby. As Lucy becomes close with some of these young agents, she starts to receive love letters herself and finds herself using her under-utilised talents to try to work out who might be behind the notes.

(at this point just go through all of The_Biscuit_Agreement fics tbh… There all perfection)

(okay i’ve read a ton more really good Lockwood and Co fics but i feel lazy now so maybe i’ll post a part two of fic recs later)

[ngray192]

Ok, Chaos Theory came out and I watched ALL OF IT.

So, I'm gonna share every thought I had while watching, with no context whatsoever!

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!!

• Brooklyn is already dead ig

• The animation is beautiful

• Darius to the rescue!!

• He's so grown up

• Hes still so Darius

• Sammy would be proud

• This animation is gorgeous omg

• He took mannerisms from his friends omg

• Allosaurus killed Brooklyn!!!?!?

• Omg this show is darker than the first

• His groceries are gonna fly out

• Curse, I know you want to

• Is it a gun gun or tranq gun?

• Omg is he leaving voicemails to Dead Brooklyn??

• Did they get Jenna Ortega back or no?

• He's got a little cabin

• Wtf is that gun??

• Brand!!

• He's like 20 rn?

• CAMP FAM

• Kenji and Darius had a falling out??

• AAAA NEWS VIDEOS

• I miss them

• Someone do the "despite everything it's still you"

• Ok he slayed that electric staff whip tho

• BEN

• He's anxious af

• HES STILL WEARING A FANNY PACK

• God this is so sad wtf

• Ofc there's a site caller Dark Jurassic

• I saw this scene in the clip already

• Teamwork

• That was the whole episode?!

2

• "Aw crud"

• Someone broke the fence

• Why did you park so far away??

• Ofc he drives a van

• The eyessss

• Lockwood Estate mentioned

• Always the logical one

• He wrote down his theories

• Boyfriends??

• "Dork pouch"

• BUMPY DRAEN ON THE WHITEBOARD

• NO HESITATION LMAO

• He's so goofy I love him

• Facial expressions on point

• SHE SENDS CARE PACKAGES

• "Yee-haw"

• Do they only have one picture of them all?

• It's a female voice??

• Oh it was Brooklyn

• They didn't even try to make her sound the same

• I don't like her hair

• She's still Brooklyn

• Isn't that the plot of someone's fanfic on the Discord??

• Someone's gonna read that scene as romantic

• Ben is a reckless driver god damn

• Where are they that they can drive to Texas easily?

• Move dino move!!

• No rear view mirror doesn't sound safe

• Let this boy pee

• BENJAMIN

• He's so done with him

• Hes giving season 4 episode 2

• Boyfriends??

• NERDS

• OMG FIRE

• Hero Ben!!

• Ew the face

• Camp fammmmm

• THE HEAT WAVES this animation is everything

• We get different end-credits every ep??

3

• Cows!

• "Chip me"

• He's so happy to see the ranch

• The ranch is so Sammy

• Awww she's so Farm Girl

• She's STRONG

• She got tall lmao

• Bessie had a calf?!?

• Do Yaz and Sammy usually live together?!!

• "Ding-dong"

• NO FUCKING WAY

• ITS BUMPY!!!!!!

• THE PUPILS

• THIS IS EVERYTHING

• Is Mantah Corp back??

• KILL HIM BUMPY

• Boooo Sammy

• Fuck Carl

• She's an herbivore tf

• Me and Ben on the same wavelength fr

• Tell him, Sammy

• Let this girl have her pie

• She's Sammy, but she's grown up a lot

• She still has her jacketttt

• What happened to her???

• She's so saddd

• Why aren't her parents talking to her??

• NOT YAZ PULLING AWAY

• Don't split up!!

• Omg Carl

• Communication through hand signalsss

• That shot with the raptor and the moon tho

• We haven't had many cute moments yet, it's really about survival now, they've really grown up

• Not the pieeee

• The genuine fear in her eyes holy shit

• BUMPY

• No more Beanie Ben

• So now he has a rear view mirror

• This reminds me a lot of Jurassic Park 2

4

• This episode is titled Brothers

• Season 3 episode 7 vibes

• I love how Ben loves Bumpy

• Their faces are so close

• BENJAMIN

• HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND

• Fucking liar lmao

• Does Kenji blame him???

• THEY STILL GLOW

• God I cannot get over the animation

• Poor boy kenji???

• The kick lmao

• He almost sounds like Ryan Porter

• He's not the tallest anymoreeee

• Benji???

• He doesn't act like Kenji 100% but it's still there

• I miss Ryan Porter

• Another framed photo!!

• They use the words "death" and "dead" a lot, but not "died" or "killed"

• DANIEL KON?!??!

• Yes, go get your girl

• Ok but Sammy and Ben are so Mom and Dad

• Good thing he just had spare gear???

• Oh it's probably for Brooklyn

• That shot he looked so much like Little Darius

• Oh no they broke up, so sad 😐

• Woah

• Valid reason to break up

• He's completely valid for being mad idc

• NOOO DONT GET BUMPY

5

• COMPIES

• Ofc he loves this kind of music

• You guys are supposed to be family tho

• DAMN THATS COLD

• EVERY WEEK I love Kenji

• "Love you" awwww

• She's so sassy I love her

• The head sway omgggg

• The carobbbb

• These background characters are way too hyped for this

• Bobby Nublar?

• Awww poor baby dino

• Free the dinos!!

• Oh he got OLD

• Damn straight in there

• She's so hurt :(

• He only thought Sammy was suspicious

• Creepy ass big ass forehead bitch

• Daniel Kon is a LIAR

• We should've gotten Kenji speaking Japanese in JWCC

• Love sassy Kenji

• "Yeah ok, I'll get my violin" GIRL

• Omg he almost punched Ben

• Yesss Sammy beat the shit out of him

• Those are the smallest corn dogs ever

• You're a shit dad

• What?! Brooklyn would never

• Kenji and I are on the same wavelength

• Different? Was it her voice?

• Are those lillies?

• These bitches are everywhere

• Kill Daniel

• He's old af hes about to have a heart attack anyway

• DAWG WHO TF ARE YOU

• CREEPY ASS BITCH

• Shitttt Daniel tackled that raptor

• Holy shit they killed Kenji's dad

• She's so fucking creepy omg

• I hope she's not from Dominion cause I haven't watched that

• Who's driving the car???!

6

• YAZ

• She's coping!!

• She wants to make it work!!!

• Ok but the crop top on Yaz???

• THE PICTURE ON HER PHONE

• Ben is everything this season

• "Love you too" AWWWW

• Where is there an island in Wyoming??

• She's so nervous/excited

• They're perfect together

• "Fadoula"

• She's happy here. Writers, let her be happy

• "Benny-boy"

• She's so geeky

• "Your favorite"

• They're all the same but so grown up

• Ben's scream lmao

• BENS SO SUPPORTIVE

• So Brooklyn has been dead less that 14 months

• They're both valid in this argument

• Ok but Ben and Yaz friendshipppp

• Is Ben actually dating someone??

• Ooo that's a cool dino

• Omg this show is darker than the og

• How did she walk so far??

• Yaz holding Ben's arm is cute tho

• Girlfriendssss

• BIG BEN

• Dumbass DPW

• Wtf??

• Omg

7

• Therapy girlfriend to the rescue

• Omg I forgot about Darius and Kenji

• Noooo baby boy Kenji

• Wow 2 major deaths already

• God I love Ben

• I feel like they should've drowned by now

• They held hands while swimming up

• Aw he has a daughter

• He lowkey sounds like Ryan Porter

• Idc about this Brooklyn death backstory

• Sammy looks fucking crazy in their one picture of the 6

• Ben 3rd wheeling just like all of season 5

• Their heads SLAMMED together

• He's so weird about this car lmao

• The car scene is funny

• They're in Colorado now??

• This hill is STEEP

• He's been waiting to throw those phones for DAYS

• Why tf would he be coming with you?

• Why did I believe the voicemail?? I saw her phone get ruined

• Darius CALM DOWN let kenji have at least something about Brooklyn DAMN

• Dude this mystery is DEEP

8

• Reminds me of Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom

• Gonna barf because of this "bwookie bear" scene

• He always has been a bad liar

• Sammy is physically fight for EVERYBODY'S lives

• Omg we're actually doing the Darius×Brooklyn plot??

• So that means no Ben×Darius plot???

• BUMPY (again)

• What did they do to you, Bumps???

• "Oh heyyyy" "boo" I LOVE THEM

• I love a good chase scene

• If a car can just drive through it, that fence was shit

• Nobody does a stampede like this show does

• Lots of death (even if they're all cutaways)

9

• God I'm flying through this show

• The heartbeating is EVERYTHING

• Anxious girlfriends

• More good camerawork and angles

• Ofc they'd be good at charades

• Are there still no male dinosaurs?

• Big Eatie mentioned

• "Ok I get it, you're a climber"

• Oh are Camp Fam at the same place?

• She's sick???

• If Bumpy dies I'll kms

• Why is he just carrying a stick?

• GIRL STOP KICKING THINGS

• I love reunions

• No cause why am I sad

• Did he call her "MICROBANGS"

• They're still the same kids from the island and I love that

• Once again, they're so Mom and Dad

• Is she in labor?!?!?!

• YOU CANNOT SCARE US LIKE THAT

• What're they gonna name the egg?!??!

10

• Last episodeeee

• Oh shit we used the word "killed"

• His hat is so tall

• Omg he shocked Ben

• Benji?

• We have so much to wrap up in 23 minutes

• This is lowkey scary

• This is so suspenseful

• She looks familiar

• THE FIRST PERSON SHOTS IN THISSSS

• Is she just dead then???

• Toro!!

• THE EXPLOSION BEHIND THE T-REX IM SORRY THAT WAS AWESOME

• THEY'RE ADORABLE

• The slow-motion scene is so cool

• Coolest dino fight ever

• FUCKING CREEPY BITCH

• Awww she's bonding? with her guard-raptors? I don't care

• Wait is that it??

• They better make another season

• Everyone's so happy for Darius being in love

• She didn't feel the same?! THATS why he didn't show???

• I fucking knew she was still alive

• SHE LOST AN ARM?!

• Her hair got even worse

• So we're getting another season???

[ghostlystyles]

𝐃𝐀𝐙𝐙𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆

anthony lockwood x gn!reader

lockwood is really just a lovesick teenager

request: Could you do a Lockwood X reader where they are getting ready for the gala at Fittes and Lockwood sees reader in the dress for the first time?

tessa’s notes: this was the fic that i didn’t save properly when i was nearly done, but it turned out alright so we vibe

warnings: honestly just pure fluff + lucy and reader are close friends :D, comment if i missed any <3

word count: 0,9k

—“OKAY, LUCE, WHAT do you think of this?” you asked, turning around to face the girl who was reading a book on her bed. “That definitely looks like you’re going to a funeral,” she replied. You turned back around to look in the mirror and sighed frustratedly, “well, considering what we’re about to do, I might be in a few days. I agree, though, it looked fine in the shop but this is terrible.”

“Well, you have one more, don’t you? Try that on,” Lucy suggested, looking up from her book. “Good call, give me a second,” you spoke, walking back to your wardrobe and pulling out the other dress. It was a red silk dress that reached your ankles and the woman in the shop had specifically told you it would look great on you, so you had high hopes.

You slipped into it and turned around to face Lucy again. “What about this?” you questioned as you twirled around. “Oh my god. You look so good!” Lucy gasped, throwing her book to the side and jumping off the bed. You looked in the mirror and tugged on the dress to get it in place. Lucy was right, you looked undeniably beautiful. “Yeah, this is definitely better than the funeral dress.”

“Can I do your makeup now? Please?” Lucy asked, as she held up her basket of makeup products. “As long as you don’t stab out my eyes or make me look like a total idiot, sure, go ahead,” you replied, sitting down at Lucy’s desk chair and she got to work. She put some eyeliner on you, stuck a line of gems alongside it and finished it off with a bit of highlighter and a tinted lip balm. “There. You look so pretty.”

“Wow, Luce! I’m impressed, thank you!” you exclaimed happily, as you tilted your face to look in the mirror from a different angle. “You’re welcome,” Lucy said in a singsong voice, while you grabbed the stuff you needed to do your hair. “Are you nervous?” asked Lucy. “‘Course I am. We’re stealing this extremely rare book from Fittes’s library, which, knowing us, may very well get us killed, and we’re supposed to act ‘casual’ around the other people, of which I’m sure there are going to be lots. Also, those people are going to treat us as a couple, because why else would two people go to a ridiculously fancy gala together? So yes, I am a tad nervous,” you ranted quickly.

“Yeah, all of those are very valid. But why does it bother you so much that people are gonna treat you like a couple on a date?”

“Well, it’s not a date, is it? Do you know how hard it is to act like and be treated like a couple with someone who you have genuine feelings for but aren’t actually dating?”

“I think you’re allowed to treat it like a date. At least a little bit. He asked you to go with him, no? He could’ve asked me or George, but he asked you.”

“Luce, that was literally a 1 out of 3. I was probably the best option for the occasion or whatever.”

“No, N/N, he already called me an asset and I think he still feels guilty for that. He wouldn’t do something like that again.”

“Okay, fair enough, but still. Just because I could hypothetically treat it like a date, doesn’t mean he is. It’s bloody embarrassing if it’s one-sided.”

“Y/N!” Lockwood called from downstairs, “are you almost done? I’m pretty sure our taxi is gonna be here in a few minutes!”

“Yeah, just a second!” you responded, as you took one final glance at yourself in the mirror. “Do I pass as a posh person who genuinely has business being at the Fittes gala?” you questioned. “Definitely. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were rich and probably a part of Penelope Fittes’s inner circle without a doubt,” Lucy reassured you. “Okay, great. Well, wish me luck, then,” Lucy gave you a quick hug and you then walked downstairs.

Lockwood was waiting for you by the front door and he looked star-struck when you descended the stairs. “Wow, Y/N— you look—”

“Stunning? Gorgeous? Charming?” you joked and Lockwood laughed softly. “Dazzling, honestly,” he finished his sentence, making you feel warm and fuzzy inside. “Why, thank you. You look very pretty yourself,” you replied with a smile. “I really wish I could kiss you right now,” Lockwood whispered. Your stomach flipped upside down and you did a double take. “Did you just say what I think you said?” you questioned with your eyes wide open, “because if you did, I really wish the same.”

Lockwood wasted no more time and he grabbed your face between his hands, pulling you close. He placed his lips onto yours into a soft kiss which made your insides completely melt. You pulled apart far too quickly for your liking and you both broke out into a huge grin. “Hey, that’s half your worries gone! Now all you have to do is steal the book, it’s gonna be a breeze!” Lucy yelled from halfway up the stairs. “Okay, Luce, that is enough stalker behaviour for today. We’re leaving,” Lockwood deadpanned, as he entwined his fingers with yours and dashed out the door. “Good luck, lovebirds!” you heard Lucy laugh before pulling the front door shut.

[neewtmas]

hi!! i was wondering whether i could request a george x reader with she/her pronouns? maybe the reader is an assistant at lockwood and co and george is really protective over her bc she’s super sweet. maybe after the joplin incident she keeps having nightmares and george goes and comforts her, and lots of cute fluffy stuff :)

Nightmares

A/N: first off, thank you so much for your request! I had such a great time writing it. I hope you don't mind that I expanded on your idea a little, it just inspired me a lot. There is quite a lot of angstiness in the first half, but I made sure to include lots of fluff in the second half :)

I hope you enjoy it because personally I think this is one of the best things I've written so far and I'm very proud of it <3

pairing: george karim x fem!reader

word count: 3.2k

masterlist

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

You had just finished the first chapter of your newly acquired book that you had gotten from the library this morning when it knocked at the door and Lockwood stuck his head in. "We're leaving now," he said. You put your book aside and followed him out into the hallway. Lucy was waiting at the door in a beautiful royal blue dress. "Where's George?" you asked.

Lockwood gave you a tightlipped smile. "He's staying here. Says he's not done with the research yet."

"Is that Joplin woman still here?"

You grimaced at his nod. A part of you felt bad because you were genuinely happy for George. He seemed to have found someone who shared his passion for research, but at the same time, you couldn't help but be creeped out by this woman. Something about her just didn't sit right with you. When you had brought it up to George one time, he had just dismissed it with a 'researchers are just a little weird, I mean, look at me'. You didn't agree at all but decided to just let the topic go.

After Lockwood and Lucy left, you weighed your options. Either you could go back into the living room and continue your book, or you could join George in the kitchen. Usually, the answer would have been obvious: join George in the kitchen with your book. But with Joplin in there… You sighed, walking back and resuming your place in the armchair.

The next time you put your book aside was when you heard a commotion from the kitchen and then a door closing. "Is she gone?" you asked, stepping into the hallway. George turned around. He seemed exhausted, pale and with dark circles under his eyes. "Yes, she, unfortunately, had to leave already", he said, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. You didn't say anything, but apparently, your expression said enough. "I know you don't like her, y/n, but she just … cares a lot." A moment of silence. "You wouldn't understand." Your chest tightened at his words. If he just knew how much you cared.

You smiled weakly, not wanting to argue with him. In the kitchen, the entire table was covered in books. Some were opened, others piling up. Pieces of paper scribbled full of notes and diagrams and timelines were scattered all over. George cleared the table of the tea cups and brought them over to the sink. You noticed a packed duffel bag next to the door. "Are you leaving now?" you asked. "Yeah, meet-up time with Flo is in twenty minutes," he said after a look at the clock. You watched him gather his things and put on his shoes and jacket until he was standing by the door, ready to go.

You went up to him and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around you, and you stayed embraced like that for a while before he gently pushed you away. "I have to go now." "Please be careful, okay?", you whispered, and he nodded. "No George, you need to promise me. That you're gonna be careful" you repeated, your tone urgent. He smiled down at you. "I promise, y/n."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

The next few hours you alternated between reading a few pages, and then pacing around the house when you couldn't concentrate longer than a few minutes before the anxiety was too bad. You knew how dangerous their mission was, and it killed you inside that you couldn't help them. But you also knew that Lockwood was right when I told you that you wouldn't be of much use, seeing as you currently didn't have much practice with a rapier. So you had no other choice but to stay home and wait for them to return, hopefully, all in one piece.

It was several hours past midnight when the sound of a key turning in a lock made you jump. You had nodded off at the kitchen table, too tired to keep your eyes open after a while. The kitchen door flew open and Lockwood and Lucy came in, both dripping wet. Lockwood had a cut on his temple, face all bloody. You rose from your seat.

"Where's George? What happened? Are you okay?" Frantically you hurried around the table, quickly checking to see if they had any other injuries, but they seemed to be fine. "George should be back in a while, he went to drop off the mirror", Lockwood said tiredly, taking one of the biscuits off the plate you had prepared for their return. You could feel yourself relaxing a little. All was well, they got the mirror and it was probably already safe with DEPRAC. "And we took a little bath in the Thames." Lockwood didn't smile, and the comment didn't roll off his tongue as effortlessly as usual. You could tell he was still tense. Lucy had been quiet, water dripping from her hair down her dress and making a puddle on the floor. "You two should take a shower," you said. "I'll wait here for George."

Soon you were alone in the kitchen again, but now any trace of tiredness was long gone. The tight knot of anxiety in your stomach had returned quickly, tugging on your insides. You knew it was part of the plan that George didn't arrive here with Lockwood and Lucy, but you couldn't help that your mind was running a million miles a minute, imagining every possible way something could have gone wrong.

You busied yourself with preparing a fresh kettle of tea and some sandwiches, and when you were done, you sat back at the table. That's when your eyes fell onto a thin, black book that was lying across from you, completely unassuming. You immediately knew that this was what your colleagues had risked their life for tonight. You picked it up, inspecting it from all sides. It had a simple black cover, and when you opened it, the pages were thin, almost brittle to the touch, and yellow at the edges. You quickly flicked through it and scanned over the pages before you froze. There was a picture of a man holding a mirror into a woman's face. That seemed promising. You hurried to read the text that accompanied the illustration, almost stumbling over the words in your head.

Yes, I killed him. Shot him with my father's pistol, sealed him with iron, buried him deep. Yet I still see him when I close my eyes, swathed in his velvet cloak, performing his rituals. I shall claim an act of self-defence, a bid to save my soul.

So Mary Dulac killed Bickerstaff. But why? You kept reading.

His cunning servant trapped me. The doctor held the glass before me. One glimpse and I felt my sanity shake loose. For this looking glass was not a mirror after all, it was a window. Only one glimpse, and I am damned. All I want to see is more.

You read over that paragraph again. A window? To where? What did she mean? You inspected the illustration once more, this time more closely. It didn't take long for you to discover the swirling shape inside the mirror, and at once you could feel a wave of cold dread wash over you. You knew that symbol. You knew it very well. With shaking hands you pushed away one of the mugs on the table and revealed what was underneath. The same swirling shape, etched in there by a black pen. The very pen you had gifted George a while back.

You felt your throat close up, the anxiety you had been feeling turning into a full-blown panic searing through your entire body. George must have looked into the glass. And if Mary Dulac was telling the truth, that meant he probably hadn't dropped it off at DEPRAC.

"LOCKWOOD! LUCY!" You wanted to scream, but your voice gave out on you. Wasting no time, you sprinted upstairs, colliding full force with Lockwood who was on his way downstairs.

"Woah, y/n" He caught your wrist, furrowing his eyebrows at your dishevelled state. "What's the matter?" "The mirror is not a mirror and George looked into it and now he's obsessed and he -" You stumbled over your words, unable to form a clear sentence.

Lockwood brought you back down into the kitchen and Lucy managed to calm you down enough so that you could explain to them what you discovered. "We need to go back to Bickerstaff's grave" decided Lucy, already starting to throw chains into a duffle bag. You jumped up from your chair. "I'm coming with you."

Lockwood looked at you as if you just suggested you throw yourself down the staircase. "Absolutely not," he said firmly. "But I have to! George is in danger!" Your voice was high-pitched, and you were still shaking. How could Lockwood possibly think that you would just stay here when George - your George - was in a situation like that?

Lockwood grabbed you, fingers digging into your arms, forcing you to stand still as he looked at you with a grim expression that you had never seen on him before. "y/n, listen to me. Yes, he is in danger. And no, you're not coming with us." "But -" "No buts. George would rip me to pieces if I were to let you in harm's way so carelessly. He would quite literally kill me and probably put up my head next to those ghost masks in the hallway. And he would be right to do so. You are not trained right now, and as your employer I'm telling you right now, you're staying back."

You were stunned. Lucy pushed Lockwood aside, embracing you tightly. "It's gonna be fine, y/n. He's gonna be fine. And you know that he would never want you to risk your life for him."

You knew she was right, but you also knew that George would not hesitate a single second to go save you if the roles were reversed.

"I can't just stay here and do nothing," you said weakly, voice wavering. "You're not doing nothing", Lockwood reassured you. "You can make preparations for when we come back. George's probably gonna be out of it. And if things go south and we're not back in the morning, you call DEPRAC and send them after us."

You decided not to argue with him over the fact that if they were not back by morning, they were probably all dead anyways. You knew that Lockwood would not change his mind.

The next few hours were the most agonizing in your life. If you thought you had been anxious before, that was nothing compared to how you felt now. Your whole body felt stiff and weak at the same time, and you could not stop your hands from shaking. After accidentally dropping a mug (it was one of Lockwood's favourites, but you decided it didn't matter after the way he dismissed you earlier), you just left the kitchen and curled up in George's favourite armchair in the library, staring at the ceiling and willing for the minutes and hours to go by faster.

Finally, after what felt like several eternities, the sound of the doorbell rang through the house. You scrambled to get up, getting caught in the blanket you had thrown over yourself and almost crashing into one of the bookshelves before regaining balance and dashing to the door.

You ripped it open, and as you saw George standing in front of you, looking tired but unharmed, you collapsed into his arms with a sob. He caught you and wrapped his arms around you so tightly that for a moment, you couldn't breathe. But you did not care. He was alive, and that was all that mattered. 

"Let's get inside", he said softly, and you reluctantly let go of him. Suddenly you felt exhausted, all the tension from the night falling off you at once, making room for relief. Silent tears were streaming down your cheeks, and you made no effort to stop them. George's gaze softened as he looked at you and he gently wiped away some tears before hugging you again and placing a kiss on top of your head. "I'm okay, y/n. You don't need to cry."

That night, or rather morning, you fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. The next day was spent recovering, and Lockwood, George and Lucy filling you in about what exactly happened last night. Knowing how they narrowly avoided death several times made you feel horrible, especially because you still felt so useless. While they were out there, risking their life for each other, you had just sat at home, doing nothing but panicking. George had assured you multiple times that you did the right thing, and that all he wanted was for you to be safe, but you couldn't quite shake the feeling.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

That was when the nightmares began. It started with you jerking awake in the middle of the night, tangled up in your blanket, your hair a mess and your shirt sticking to your sweaty skin. Your heart was racing so fast you thought it might explode in your chest, but you could not remember what you dreamt about. All you knew was that you were filled with a great sense of terror every time you woke. But every night, the dreams would get clearer, and worse. Each one featured George, dying a more gruesome death every single time. Shot by Joplin, suffocated by the vengeful ghost of old Bickerstaff, driven into madness by the bone glass.

It didn't take George long to notice the dark circles under your eyes. One morning, a few days after the incident, he stopped you on the staircase. "y/n, what is going on with you?", he asked, taking your hand and squeezing it gently. "You look like you haven't slept in days." You smiled at him, trying hard to not appear as tired as you were. "I'm doing fine. Just not sleeping very well." You didn't want to tell him that you weren't sleeping well because you saw him die in your dreams every night. Knowing George, he would blame himself, and that was the last thing you needed him to do after everything he went through.

That night, you went to bed and fell asleep almost immediately. Next thing you knew, you were awake, the scream that woke you up still on your lips, shaking worse than any night before. You gasped for air, taking deep, long breaths trying to calm your racing heart. Your fingers were gripping the blanket so tightly it hurt, and you willed yourself to release them before getting up slowly. You were weak in the knees, but after a few seconds, you felt steady enough to make your way downstairs. With your mouth feeling dry like sandpaper, you wanted nothing more than a glass of cold water. You slowly took one step after the other, careful to avoid the ones that creaked when you stepped on them.

The staircase was dark, only illuminated by a few beams of moonlight cutting through the darkness, so you did not see George standing at the door to his room. "Where are you going, y/n?" You flinched, clasping your hand on your mouth to stop the startled yelp. "I just want something to drink." Your voice was as raspy as if you hadn't talked in days. George extended his hand. "I have something in my room." You didn't have the energy to argue, and if you were honest with yourself, in this moment there was nothing you wanted more than to be with George. Just to know that he was alive and well and all your dreams were truly just that: dreams.

You took his hand and he lead you into his room, to his bed, where you sat down. He poured you a glass of water from the carafe on the bedside table and handed it over to you. While you were sipping, he shuffled around somewhat awkwardly, before sitting down next to you. "Can you please just tell me what's going on with you, Y/N? You're worrying me. You've barely eaten the last few days and you look so tired." You didn't reply. "Plus I heard you screaming just now", he added quietly.

Something about the way he said it, the way he sounded so sad, made all your resolve crumble. You tried to blink away the tears that threatened to spill over your lashes, looking away from him so that he didn't see your tears.

George gently took the glass out of your hands, put it down on the nightstand and then wrapped his arms around you without saying a word. You buried your face in his chest, finally allowing the tears to fall freely and the sobs to wrack your body. He gently caressed your back, not letting go until your sobs slowly subsided.

When you sat back up, your eyes were puffy, but you already felt better. You hadn't realised what toll it had taken on you to bottle your feelings up like this. George's hand rested on your thigh, where his thumb was rubbing soothing little circles while you drank the rest of the water.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"I've been having nightmares", you quietly said. "About you and the bone glass." George let out a long, drawn-out breath, his grip on your thigh tightening. "I'm sorry, Y/N", he finally says, and you shake your head softly. "It's not your fault, Georgie. I just wish I could have helped."

"Y/N. Do you have any idea how relieved I was when Lockwood and Lucy appeared in that catacomb and you were nowhere to be seen? You know how much it helped me, knowing that you are here and that no matter what happens, you'll be safe? You'll be okay?"

Warmth spreads in your chest at the sincerity of his words. "But that's the thing, George. I would not have been okay. If something had happened to you…" you trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought. George took a deep breath, then he cupped your cheeks and gently turned your face towards him. Suddenly your heart was beating rapidly again, but this time not because of panic. "But that didn't happen", he said, his left thumb wiping away a few stray tears from your cheek. "I am here, and I am okay, and you have nothing to worry about. Okay?" "Okay."

He smiled at you, and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "Let's sleep."

"Can I stay here tonight?"

"You can stay here every night, you know that."

He laid down, leaving enough space for you and you cuddled into him. His arms wrapped around you, and suddenly you were surrounded by his scent and his warmth and you just closed your eyes. "Good night, Y/N." was the last thing you heard before drifting off to sleep. 

And this time, there was no nightmare.

[wordsarelife]

DAY 4: UNDER THE MISTLETOE

pairing: quill kills x fem!reader

summary: you and your boyfriend get caught under the mistletoe

warning: just kissing and a lot of fluff

notes: i hope you guys like this! so sorry for only posting now, but i got home pretty late!! tomorrow is gonna be a longer one (finally)!!

the air was warm and your cheeks were red from similing so much. this was one of the best christmases you had in a long time. all thanks to your boyfriend and his (now also your) friends.

it was quite funny that you were spending the holidays with people quill would never refer to as friends, while he treated them like family in the next second.

you were amazed how two people, meaning quill and lockwood could be so obviously brothers that they didn't even notice it.

when you had first met quill you actually had thought that lockwood was his younger brother. they acted like it at least.

well mostly they would fight, but there were times you would all stay at portland row and quill and lockwood would stand up from the table sooner, to talk about some things or to watch football.

the funniest thing about it all was, that lockwood was absolutely obssessed with your relationship and quill didn't even seem to mind. he was just too in love with you, to even notice lockwood jumping in the air when you expressed any kind of loving gesture.

over the time you had known them, lucy had also grown into the little sister you had always wanted.

and it was easy to read from her face how much she longed to have a female friend. so you became like her older sister instead.

and if george wasn't the literal definition of an annoying younger brother, you weren't sure what he was.

“would you look at that!” lockwood said jokingly. you and quill looked up at the same time, a mistletoe hanging over your heads.

“that seems random” quill noted sarcastically

“yes” you nodded “absolutely untargeted you could say”

“exactly” lockwood nodded, allowing no further discussion. He sat down on the armchair beside lucy, both of them facing the wrong way so they could keep a look on you

“can you just kiss already?” george asked from the other couch.

you were leaning against the doorframe, unsure what do to, so quill wouldn’t get uncomfortable, but he just shrugged. you smiled, leaning forward so your mouths could interlock

“ahh” made lockwood and lucy at the same time, wearing similar smiles of contentment, while sinking further down in the chair

“eww” said george

“you ruined it!” lucy complained after you and quill had broken the kiss because of george’s interference

lockwood, who wouldn’t accept any bad moods tonight, thought quickly. “oh look! a mistletoe” he pointed at the exact one you were already standing under “and you’re standing right under it” he gushed. lucy giggled, a sound one could rarely hear coming from her.

“what a coincidence” you smiled up at quill

“yeah, absolutely” he nodded

“now it does feel targeted”

“ehh” quill made a throwaway gesture “i don’t care as long as i just get to kiss you”

the kiss lasted way longer and was much more intense than the one before and this time george kept silent, because he didn’t want to find out what you guys would do if lockwood would point out the mistletoe for a third time. he couldn’t afford any more trauma.

taglist: @twistedhistory @bakingintheshire @mqstermindswift @taygrls @athenalikethegoddess

[ynbabe]

Lockwood & Co. X Fem!Reader:- Incorrect quotes pt.2

Y/n: Die. Lucy: Please don't die! Y/n: DIE! Lucy: PLEASE DON'T DIE! George, confused: Why are they yelling at a plant? Anthony, watching while eating popcorn: They bought it cause I told them to stop fighting and Lucy wants Y/n to accept it as their kid. George: ... Anthony: Y/n wants to co-parent.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: You know guys, sometimes I feel like Lucy doesn't like me much. Anthony: "Like"? George: "much"? Y/n: George: Change that to 'at all' and we'll talk.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

George: Why did you kidnap Lucy!?!?! Anthony: Ah- um- well- the reason for that is, uhh... Y/n: Sometimes, we must work together towards a common goal. George: NOT TO KIDNAP PEOPLE FROM DEPRAC!

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

*Everyone is playing a board game together* Anthony: I will put 'A' down to make 'A'. Y/n: I will add onto your 'A' to make 'AT'. Lucy: I will add onto your 'AT' to make 'RAT'. George: I will add onto your 'RAT' to make 'BIOSTRATAGRAPHIC'. Lucy: *flips the board*

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Lucy: What is it called when you kill a friend? George: Homicide. Anthony: Murder. Y/n: Homiecide.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: Subs are so fun to play with. All you have to do is hint at what you might do, back them into a corner with a look, or grab their wrist in a certain way and they're a wide-eyed mess. Anthony, professional denier: What the fuck kind of Subway are you going to? Lucy, did not the dots yet: Substitute teachers deal with so much shit. George, brain cell haver: Guys.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

*In a horror movie situation* Anthony: I've got no service in my phone here. Lucy: Shoot, I don't have a phone. Y/n: Sorry guys, I just broke my phone with a rapier. George: Guys, my phone is a book.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. Lucy : That's deep. Y/n: That means that ketchup is a smoothie. Lucy : That's deeper. George: ...You guys are idiots.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n on the phone after going missing for a year: Hey, I'm gonna come there, kick Anthony’s door in, and let him know that I'm baaack. George: That ain’t the way we do things here. You may have to go in there and run a con, apologise, and do the smooth-talking. Y/n: Okay, you come in with me, you do the smooth-talking, let’s go. George: No, we can’t go in there and kick down the door, that's how I introduced the two of you. We need a plan. Y/n: Well who makes the plans? George: Me. Y/n: Okay, what's the plan? George: You are gonna come here, kick Anthony’s door in, and FUCKING APOLOGISE FOR DISAPPEARING, YOU PSYCHOPATH.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony: What's the most efficient way to burn calories? Lucy: Exercise more Y/N: Set yourself on fire! George: There are two kinds of people.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony: Everyone synchronise your watches. Lucy: I don't know how to do that. George: I don't wear a watch. Y/n: Time is a construct.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

George, trying to get them to stop fighting: You know, We give Lucy flowers when she's down. Y/n: Okay. *Later* Y/n, see's Lucy laughing: *Reminds her of all the bad things* *gives Lucy flowers* Lucy, hyperventilating: ??? Y/n: I don't know, I'm confused as well.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony: I told Y/n to grab snacks for everyone. Lucy, looking through the options: Why did you grab fruit snacks? Are you five? Who even likes Fruit Snacks? *Anthony, Y/n, and George raise their hands*

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

George: You’re just being paranoid. Again. Y/n: When have I been paranoid? George: Um, when you first met Anthony you thought he was a murderer…? Y/n: No one falls in love with me without having problems, I thought he was trying to lull me into a false sense of security! George: And last week you were sure Lucy was in a fight club! Y/n: She keeps trying to fight me! COINCIDENCE?! George: YOU THREW DAGGERS AT HER WHEN YOU FIRST MET *Later, when Y/n’s theory is proven wrong* George: Do you have anything to say for yourself? Y/n: I still think Lucy is in a fight club.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Anthony, about to do something stupid, points to George and Lucy: Distract them! I'll be right back! *leaves* Y/n, suggested the something: Okay! *five minutes later* Anthony: *returns and sees George and Lucy unconscious on the ground* What did you do? I said distract them, not knock them out! Y/n: There's just no pleasing you sometimes.

[fandomscraziness22]

20 Questions for Writers

tagged by @legolasghosty thank you friend!!!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

88!! that's crazy!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

257,528 which is also freaking insane

3. What fandoms do you write for?

lots of different ones! i have the most for julie and the phantoms, but also lockwood and co, the bright sessions, and jurassic world: camp cretaceous/chaos theory. i do have ones for leverage, the flash, the 100, and a few others i think

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

love came crashing in (lco)

Butterflies and Glitter (jatp)

it's like this heart is defenseless (lco)

watching is worse (the second time around) (jatp)

stand up when it's all crashing down (pjo)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! i used to be much better at always responding, but now i can't always muster up the energy to do it

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

literally all of them???? uhhhhh for jatp i've killed just about everyone but the most unmentionable ones are learn to live with the unimaginable (carlos) and i miss the days when (luke survives). for lockwood it's probs but the wolves came and went (and we're still standing) aka my torture fic. one of my personal favs is my flash fic, Betrayal (Or, how he finds out) ALSO ALMOST FORGOT i thought i was innocent (but there is blood all on my hands) for bright sessions!!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i do happen to have some fluff fics!!! you are alive. is one of my favs of my jatp ones, and what a glorious feeling (i'm happy again) for lockwood. also shoutout to i need you like water for my happy green boys kissing in the rain

8. Do you get hate on fics?

nope! i think i maybe sorta did once, but i just screenshotted it to share with my friends and laugh about it lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

no, but im not opposed to someday doing it. the closest i've gotten is i hate you i love you (i hate that i want you) for bright sessions or what a glorious feeling for locklyle

10. Do you write crossovers?

i sorta did once, but that fic is abandoned. i tend to do more of aus "just the one scene" combining my fav things, but not really crossovers

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, though i wouldn't be opposed!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! me and @anthonyjlockwood have our club au series for jatp, and then our green boys fluff come meet me at the end of the (cereal) aisle

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

oh i cannot ever pick!!! percabeth is a childhood fav, elias/laia from an ember in the ashes (my favorite book of all time), bellarke (i refuse to believe rothenburg on that), juke and locklyle and green boys and nahri/ali from the daveabad trilogy (i love them)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

joan helps caleb actually!!! i wanted to change how college tapes went, but idk if it's gonna happen. i just want joan to set caleb straight lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

physical injuries/angst is what i'm best at! also comign up with teh most niche of au ideas but only for one scene and nothing else lol

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i wish i could write flowery language and amazing metaphors, but alas, i cannot

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i've only really done it for jatp which i feel like was what everyone was doing in that era? idk, i try not to do it too often. tho i do still really want to include sign language into a fic because i actually know that

19. First fandom you wrote for?

the 100, though i wrote some of my own stuff for Lost and Narnia before that

20. Favorite fic you've written?

can't pick, and i've mentioned a lot fo my favs already. i'll give a shoutout to i know where i belong, my leverage parker happy feels fic, and i keep getting better at slowly getting worse my habor crest fic for caleb and mark!

tagging @sabetha and @anthonyjlockwood and anyone else who wants to do it!

[hurtcomfortficstilltheend]

Sometimes it's just better (not to know).

Chapter two: Killed by uncertainty

Lucy Carlyle x gn! Reader

Summary: Is this supposed to be the calm before the storm?

Warnings: not much, maybe a nap that lasts too long lmao

Word Count: 950

Your boots are too tight. You don’t like them one bit, but you had made the decision to buy new ones for cold winter nights -with equally cold Visitors-, and now you have to live with rock solid shoes, at least until they soften a little with use.

Your rapier is in place in your belt, and so are your salt bombs and greek flares. You had -against Anthony’s wishes for the team to take a week-long break- decided to take back your verdict on the Geralds case.

You had just gotten out of the library, a while after the reading that ruined your morning (and maybe your life too), all puffy eyes and incoming migraine, when you bumped into George. 

-

“Have you already called the client?” 

There was a frown forming on his face, “I was just about to do that.” He held up the folder where you assume he must have had the contact number. He seemed impatient and irritated, you didn’t blame him.

“Don’t bother, we are going tonight, as scheduled.”

His grimace was replaced by a look of surprise, but he covered it quickly and turned around to head to the basement.

You went right up the stairs and flopped on your bed. You didn’t notice Lucy in the corner of the room until you heard her speak (for a second there you thought she would actually be feeding Skull biscuits, just out of spite). “What was all that about?”

Startled, you turned around and held your body up in your elbows.

“Nothing. I was wrong. We’ll do the Geralds’ case tonight, as planned, so we better start preparing in a little bit.” 

“You sound like you’ve been crying.” She stated, simply.

“Allergies, you know how much dust there is in the library. I was just talking to Lockwood about a new brand of salt bombs that seems to be more effective in dissipating ectoplasm.”

“Love, we make our own salt bombs.” She caught up on your bullshit too fast.

“Did I say salt bombs? I ment flares- greek fires. Remember the other day and how that cold maiden didn’t react to our usual ones?” 

Lucy walked closer to the bed, she kneeled beside it to be the same height as your face. Her calloused fingers found their way to your cheeks. “You know you can talk to me. About anything.” 

You leaned into the touch, closed your eyes, and tried to enjoy the moment. “I know. I’m gonna take a 30 minute nap, and then help you with the chains.” You took her hands in yours, pulled her a little bit. “Wanna join me?”

She rolled her eyes but laid down with you until you fell asleep.

-

“Should I go wake them? There is only a few hours till sundown.” 

“No, let them rest. I’ll get their chores, what was it? Snack packing?”

“Chain oiling.” The pair headed to the office to get the duffel bags prepared. “What happened today? They were so out of themselves, I’ve never seen them like this.”

“It was just a rough night. Believe me, this happens more than you’d think. A beauty nap is all it takes for them to get back to normal.” Even as Lockwood said this, he didn’t seem convinced. “That is assuming we don’t get their post-nap grumpy mood. I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.” He chuckled lightly.

Lucy’s lips twitched, right about to form a smile, but she noticed her friend was avoiding answering the question. She knew how closed off you Lockwoods’ could be; after all, it took a year for Anthony to show her the room on the landing, and two years and a half for you to admit your feelings for her, but she wished it wasn’t so difficult to get some actual information. The team was founded on trust, and survival depended on how well you communicated with each other goddammit.

-

What was supposed to be a half hour nap turned into an I-have-only-forty-minutes-left-to-prepare-for-the-case-’cause-I-slept-six-hours-non-stop nap, which was quite inconvenient. Still, you managed to get ready, apologize for the lack of help on the iron chain department, and chug up half a liter of water on one go, before getting into the waiting night cab.

This is fine, and your boots don’t bother you, and neither does the little tag on the neck of your shirt that you forgot to cut out (again), or the judgy stares you are receiving from George, or the worried ones from your cousin, or the feeling that very soon everything will end. You are perfectly fine, and this is just another day on the job.

From the moment you get to the house, to the moment you emerge from it, everything goes smoothly. The source is easy enough to find, and the Visitor turns out to be a weak type one, not the type two you were expecting. The client paid full price anyway, and the team got back safe and sound.

It was all perfect. And that was alright. More than alright, actually, it was marvelous, but something felt wrong. You knew there was something about to happen. You wouldn’t admit it, but you wish it had been a rawbones or an impromptu cluster, the Geralds’ case that is. It would have been a pain in the ass, that’s for sure, but you had already gotten out alive from situations like that, and such a vile set of apparitions would have fulfilled the readings’ prophecy. Maybe. 

The anticipation that had started in your chest was unbearable. You wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, but still, you felt it wasn’t going to be that easy. It never was.

Taglist: @myownpainintheass @superpositvecloudshipper @carpinchodetecta

A/N: I would love to hear (read) what you think! Hope you enjoyed :)

This story is lowkey stuck, but just because I finished The Creeping Shadow like a month ago, and I haven't started The Empty Grave cause I'm in denial, I don't want to finish the series T-T

[kiss-my-freckle]

Full Episode Commentary

1x18: Under Control

"I like my life here in Mystic Falls. Starting to feel like home again."

This is a long one.

This episode opens with Stefan working out. He's trying to distract himself from the blood. Damon offers him blood from a blood bag just as Lexi did back in 1x8. He tells Damon to get it away from him, but doesn't tell him why. "I don't get it. You know, you don't have to kill to survive. That's what blood banks are for." Damon is being completely honest here. He truly doesn't get it. Stefan gets cocky with him when he admits he hasn't hunted human in a long time. "Oh, I'm impressed." Damon's diet is self-serving, and he has no problem admitting when he's being self-serving. He's trying to get the founding families off the trail of vampires, and there's still 19 tomb vampires out in the world. Stefan asks what they're gonna do about those 19 vampires while refusing to drink human blood and ignoring the fact that Frederick nearly killed him. He might as well ask what Damon is gonna do about those 19 vampires lol. Damon continues to question Stefan's issue with blood bags because he has no idea. "Well, what are those holier-than-thou reasons? You know, we never actually discussed this. You know, I'd - I'd love to hear this story." Stefan refuses to tell Damon why he won't drink from blood bags, but had no problem telling Lexi in 1x8. Had he told Damon what he told Lexi, Damon would've dropped the issue and made sure Stefan didn't drink human blood. He just got done telling Stefan that he's trying to get the founding families off the trail of vampires. The last thing he needs is Stefan gorging on human blood. Rather than tell Damon the truth, Stefan lies to his face. "I hate to break it to you Damon, but I actually have it under complete control." As I often say, people tend to pay when Stefan lies.

Damon responds accordingly because he has his own self-control issues. "Well, then you should just carry on, making the rest of us vampires look bad." He leaves his glass of blood behind, then comes back to get it. He's enticing Stefan because he wants to know his issue with blood bags.

This is John's introduction episode. He shows up at the Gilbert residence because he knows the tomb vampires are free. He stays to talk to Jenna about the apothecary office. She wants to sell it to Pearl, but John won't let her. Jeremy and Elena are still minors at this point, so they have no say in the matter. Matt and Elena are at their lockers, talking about John. Hilarious because it's as if they're talking about Damon, that's how much they have in common.

Lasagna seems to be the go-to for grief. Caroline in this episode, Damon after he turns Abby in season 3. Tyler and Jeremy start to connect over their shared loss of Vicki. Jeremy is smart like Damon, so he asks the right questions. The founding families are claiming VIcki's death was an overdose, but no one bothers to bury an overdose. Damon shows up to the council meeting. As I mentioned before, the Salvatores are one of the founding families, and he conned his way in by helping Liz. He arrived in time for Mayor Lockwood to introduce John. Damon's entire response to John is hilarious because you can see just how emotional he gets with the founding families. He questions Liz to get the basics. "Elena's uncle. His name is John, but I call him Jackass." John has Damon worried because, as Damon told Stefan, he's trying to get the founding families off the trail of vampires. Now John is informing the founding families there are vampires within a 75-mile radius of Mystic Falls. Blood banks, break-ins, people gone missing. Mayor Lockwood tells them not to worry. Liz holds the same belief as John... that the vampires are in Mystic Falls. "You think all of your problems are over but I'm here to tell you, nothing's been solved." This was the last thing Damon needed to hear out of John's mouth.

Alaric talks to Elena about Jeremy's extra credit report on vampires. I have a big problem with Elena believing she's protecting her loved ones by keeping their vampire secret. Her own experiences since the pilot episode should've been her biggest clue, but apparently not. Clear to me that she wants Jeremy inviting another vampire into their house because they totally deliver pizza. Lies don't protect people, the truth does. Elena invited vampires into Jeremy's life by having them in her life, no different than Stefan inviting Damon into Elena's life by entering her life. Ah, to be young and naive. Alaric is trying to gauge Elena. "It's not safe for them to know the truth." She's now spitting Stefan's lie. It's safe for her loved ones to know just as it was safe for her to know. Damon and Stefan are the only ones at risk. Alaric drops a truth for the sake of warning her. "I think Stefan is a good guy. But at the end of the day, he's still a vampire." Elena dismisses his warning, which is sad. She's painting Stefan as this special vampire, different from other vampires. One that would never do anything to hurt her. She has it backwards. Stefan is a special vampire, a ripper vampire, and she's gonna find out just how bad he can hurt her. This scene is epic, considering Alaric warns her, and Stefan is the reason she ends up training with him. "Look, I get why you're here. Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again." Alaric's like… what? lol

Elena's naivete is only half the problem. Stefan's secrets and lies are the other half. She wouldn't be this blind otherwise. She's not afraid of Stefan because she loves him blindly. She's terrified of Damon because she loves him with eyes wide open. This is how Elena parallels Rebekah in 3x8.

John is talking to Jeremy about the Founders' Day Kick-off Party. What he's truly working towards, is getting Jeremy to take over the family business of killing vampires. That's what he means by "certain obligations." John has no idea that Jeremy just did an extra credit report on vampires, and he's been hanging out with one. "We used to sleep together." I believe his comment about Jenna is the reason she says what she does to Damon at her barbecue in season 2. "You've never dated you. I have dated many you's." I say this because Damon and John have a lot in common.

This scene Elena has with Stefan gives me certain vibes. She's not protecting her loved ones by keeping their vampire secret. She's protecting Stefan by keeping their vampire secret, and in doing so, she's choosing him over all of her loved ones. It's so refreshing when she starts dating Damon, when her loved ones are able to choose how they protect themselves in knowing their secret. "I'm not saying you should tell him everything, but at least try to find out what he does know and be prepared for it." This is how Stefan continues to lie and keep secrets from Elena, and he's now telling her to do the same with Jeremy. It sickens me that Stefan turned Elena into this thing that would lie to Tyler, Jeremy, and Matt about Vicki's death... and all to protect his vampire secret.

I can't stop laughing over Stelena's makeout scene. I'm quite certain this is why Stefan and Elena lack in the sex department. Not all of Damon's scenes are... solo scenes. Some are written in combination with others to show how the brothers are written opposite each other. Such is the case with the dream Damon gave to Elena in 1x3. Damon is feeding off it.

Stefan is the dangerous vampire that Elena invited into her bedroom. This is what will become of Stelena. That's why Stefan rips into Elena in 3x5.

Damon has yet to fall in love with Elena. imo, what you see in their bedroom scene is his natural, flirtatious personality. A big difference when he actually falls for her. Not only in the way he acts around her, but in the way he looks at her. If he were in love with Elena in this scene, he would've stayed in her bedroom as long as he could for the sake of her company.

"You ask, I come. I'm easy like that." Damon is such a slut for Elena, even before he falls in love with her, and I'm all for it. "No, Elena, I will not go to your bedroom with you." This comment is similar to 3x19. He wants it to be known that Elena invited him into her bedroom, he didn't invite himself. For the same reason he wanted it to be known Elena wanted the motel room. "For the record, she's the one who wanted to stay in a motel, not me." It's her choice, so it's up to Stefan to confront her about it or deal with it.

When he speaks to Elena about John hanging out with the council, he's being a total girl and speaking like a gossip. lt's... adorable. He asks what happened to the corner of her bedroom. imo, it's not that he doesn't know, its that he's hoping she'll tell him. Knowing what happened and hearing it from her mouth are two different things. Like 3x2, he already knows what changed her mind, but he wants to hear her say it. This is one of the ways in which he changes Elena. He gets her comfortable enough to talk about uncomfortable subjects.

"Ah, just like I remember." Damon admits to Elena that he's been in her bedroom before, that's how honest he is with her. Like I said, he feeds off the dream he gave her in 1x3. Click for larger view...

The teddy bear.

The bra.

The photo.

"Well, he doesn't want to be me."

"That doesn't mean that deep down that he's not."

Most of their dialogues fit to both brothers, but fans need to view tthem in the opposite AND accept the realites they show in their opposites. It's Stefan's vamiprism vs Damon's humanity, the better vampire vs the better man.

"Well, maybe his problem is that he has spent too long not being himself."

Damon is being honest. Stefan spent too long not drinking human blood when it's their basic nature, so he spent too long not being himself. Damon hasn't been himself since 1864 because loving Katherine ruined him.

"It is what it is, Elena. The Stefan you know was Good Behavior Stefan. Rein It In Stefan. Fight Against His Nature To An Annoying Excessive Level Stefan. But if you think there isn't another part to this, then you have not been paying attention."

The Damon you know was Bad Behavior Damon. Lashing Out Damon. Give Into His Nature Because He's A Monster Damon. But if you think there isn't another part to this, then you have not been paying attention. This has its parallel in 1x19...

Elena: He's not you, not even close. Damon: Well, he doesn't want to be me. That doesn't mean that deep down that he's not.

Damon doesn't want to be Stefan. That doesn't mean that deep down that he's not. You see Damon's side of this play out in their 3x4 argument.

Elena: I guess I wish that you didn't have to act like one! Damon: I am not Stefan. How about you stop trying to turn me into him?

Elena is so blind, she won't see the whole of them until season 3. Even then, she's still blind to certain aspects. That's one of the good things about Elena becoming a vampire. It opens her eyes and allows her to see things she never would've seen had she remained human. Experiencing the bloodlust, the magnified emotions, the loss of control for herself… stepping into their shoes is the best way for Elena to see them.

"That doesn't mean that deep down that he's not."

"Somewhere deep down in that part of you where Elena is still buried."

The heart of me. This scene is best viewed alongside Delena's Miss Mystic Falls dance. 1x18 is Stefan's heart, 1x19 is Damon's haert. Damon doesn't just talk and listen. He's a snooper, and very tactile. I consider this entire scene a "near touch" scene that goes along with their "near touch" dance. "Men snoop too, you know." He's not only getting to know Elena by snooping, he's connecting to her on a different level. He's touching her without touching her by touching things that belong to her.

Damon is always intentional with intimate distance. Whenever he gets close to someone like he does in this scene, it's best to listen to what he says because he's a "show and tell" person. He shows with his body and tells with his words. That's why Elena looks down at his heart in both scenes. In 1x18, he's showing her that Stefan is just like him. In 1x19, he's showing her that he is just like Stefan. Paying attention is important in communication. Intimate distance helps in that regard. Damon gets so close to Elena that she has no choice but pay attention. The sum of all this needs to be carried over into 1x19 because the dance isn't just Damon's signature moment, it's also the moment he knows he can take Elena away from Stefan.

Stefan is still trying to distract himself from the blood. He pulls a book off the shelf, then tosses it back on the shelf. This insane struggle he's going through, he's going through because he lied to Damon and he's trying to deal on his own... alone. He reaches for alohol, which helps them curb the cravings. Lexi admitted this to Elena in 1x8. "But makes for a lot of lushy vamps."

Elena decides to take Jeremy for a walk for the sake of pulling a dual conversation. She tells him that she was adopted. A beautiful moment because adoption shouldn't change how people feel about each other. Jeremy is still her brother and Elena is still his sister. She then shifts to the extra credit report Jeremy wrote for Alaric. She's checking to see what he knows about vampires. The Salvatores show up at the founders' party, and you can actually feel the difference in Damon. "Come on, don't be a downer. It's a party for the founding families, that would be us. It would be rude to skip it." This is what Damon feeling at home sounds like. "We are who we are Stefan." This is what Damon meant when he told Elena, "It is what it is." They can't change who they are, and they are what they are. Damon tells Stefan it's inevitable that he'll give into his blood cravings. Because it is. Damon falls off the blood bag diet too, but he's different in the fact that he can feed without killing. This is something Sage helped him with. Kelly is like Vicki in the fact that people treat them like trash, so they never felt like part of the community. Matt and Tyler take off to get drunk because they're mourning Vicki, while Stefan is still drinking to curb his cravings for human blood. This scene is what "lushy" looks like.

The saddest reality I've ever heard, Elena needing to beg Stefan to dance with her. Elena knows that Stefan is using compulsion to change the music. Her comment to Kelly shows she's a quick study. She's using alternate meanings, which is something she picked up from Damon. Stefan is not fun, and they make this clear with repetition. Damon is the fun brother. Stefan having fun means that no one is safe. Best to listen to Klaus and Rebekah talk about how much fun they had with him in the 20s. Trust the concept. Stefan is boring because he needs to be. Boring Stefan is safe Stefan. That's what it means for Damon to be the fun brother and Stefan to be the safe brother. This concept continues even in their dress scene in 4x7. Wear the red because blue is safe and safe is boring. Damon is smiling his ass off because it's been a while since he's seen Stefan truly have fun. "Eventually. One way or another." This comment works in combination with his previous comment. There are two sides to Stefan. He's gonna be fine whether he's Stefan or Ripper Stefan. Damon won't let anything happen to his brother. Matt pulls Elena on the floor to dance, while Damon speaks to Liz. He loves seeing her outside of her sheriff's uniform. "I like my life here in Mystic Falls. Starting to feel like home again." He's being honest here, that's why he has a problem with Pearl. Jeremy interrupts their conversation with questions about Vicki's death. The same "smart" questions he was asking Tyler. As I said before, he's smart like Damon, so Damon feels threatened by his questions. It certainly doesn't help that Damon is the one that buried Vicki's body lol. He has no idea that Jeremy knows about vampires because of Anna, so he's just as blind as Elena is. Stefan gets rough with a guy on the dance floor because he was rude to Elena. He compels him to apologize to her. I feel it's important to note that I don't like this scene for the same reason I didn't like Stefan verbally attacking Mr. Tanner. Stefan is treating Elena like this fragile little thing that's incapable of taking care of herself. The man got rude with her, so what. Elena can totally speak up for herself. Then Stefan's like, "You alright?" Uhm… what?! He acts like the man physically assaulted her.

Damon and Elena join up for a beautiful rose scene. View this in combination with 1x7 as she wears blood red lipstick. Damon is venting his fear of Jeremy's questions, which pushes the issue further because Elena already talked to Jeremy about his extra credit report on vampires.

Damon kills John and attacks Bill in 3x4 because the Forbes and the Gilberts are founding families, and founding families are vampire killers. Humanity… Damon is just as much driven by fear as he is by rage, love, and every other emotion you can think of. And yes, his emotions make him impulsive. While the Salvatores are founding family, Damon and Stefan are vampires. It's one thing for a vampire killer to admit knowing they're vampires, and another for a vampire killer to admit knowing they're vampires and have no problem with them staying in Mystic Falls. Damon just got done telling Liz that Mystic Falls is starting to feel like home again, now he has reason to fear John taking that from him AND taking his life. But this isn't just about Damon, this is about Stefan. Damon won't let anything happen to his brother, and he just got done watching Stefan have fun... dancing his drunk ass off. That's why you get this impulsive kill. It's out of fear. Damon knew he couldn't compel John because they're not only privy to vervain and its use, Damon has been supplying the council with it... so killing John it is.

"Whatever it was, she's gone now." Elena slips up while talking to Jeremy because she's not a liar like Stefan. "Why aren't you looking at me?" Again, she's not a liar like Stefan. "The truth is the only thing that's gonna help people to move on." The truth is everything. Not just Vicki's truth, all truths. Lies and secrets rip people apart, and they're extremely dangerous in a supernatural world. "That's what I hate… is I can't make any of it right." Refer to Stefan in 1x5, and you'll see his parallel with Tyler. Matt and Elena catch Tyler and Kelly making out. Tyler is literally making out with his best friend's mother. They start fighting and Kelly goes flying. It's to the extent that Alaric has to intervene. Don't get me wrong, fighting is normal, but Alaric has Damon-like intuition in this scene. He's picking up on something more with Tyler. He sees an uncontrollable rage. The same kind of uncontrollable rage you see with Damon. Mayor Lockwood interrupts as Alaric is questioning Tyler. The werewolf gene runs in the men in their family, so Mayor Lockwood is interrupting to keep their secret.

"You ask, I come. I'm easy like that."

"Do you want to hear how the council is back in vampire mode, or how I just killed Uncle John Gilbert? Great party by the way, huh?" Again, this is what Damon feeling at home sounds like lol. Damon turns and walks away. Stefan starts to chase after him to get more information, but lol… Kelly's blood makes him do a full-stop, like it's calling for him to come. He's then listening to her heart pumping blood. This scene is best viewed alongside Stefan's scene with Elena in 3x5… in that moment when he tells Elena he can hear her heart pumping blood and she's bleeding just like Kelly is. "I ruined it, I always ruin it. What is wrong with me?" Ruin is an ongoing theme in the show. "When I'm with him, it just consumes me." Physical heart for Stefan, written in blood. He's fingering Kelly's forehead, then licking her blood from his fingers. Emotional heart for Damon, so you see the truth of his women. For Elena, it's her love. For Kelly, it's her lust. So... Ripper Stefan or man-slut Damon?

Damon's face goes white when John walks back into the party. One thing I've noticed about Damon… he's quick to pick up on jewelry. Vervain in Elena's necklace in 1x3. Jeremy not wearing his vervain bracelet in 3x10. In this episode, I think he knows John is wearing a Gilbert ring before he even sees it. "Who gave birth to Elena, under the medical care of the esteemed DR Grayson Gilbert, John's brother." Damon realizes John's connection, no need for a DNA test. Elena is adopted and Isobel is her mother. This line plays out in 1x21.

Stefan runs into the guy he got rough with on the dance floor. When he compelled the man to apologize, he wasn't specific. He didn't compel the man to apologize to Elena, he simply compelled him to apologize. That's why the man is apologizing over and over again. I honesty believe he's been apologizing to people all night, and he's annoyed at this point, so he purposefully bumps into Stefan. "No girl to show off for now? I see how this is." Now there's some honesty lol… Stefan did the same thing with Mr. Tanner. He acts like Elena can't speak up for herself, which is controlling and fosters dependence. The man tries to punch him, but Stefan catches his fist and breaks it. You can literally hear his bones crunching. Jeremy sneaks into Elena's room and reads her journal. Stefan is standing over the man when Elena walks outside. He vamp-speeds away before she can talk to him. Mayor Lockwood slaps the hell out of Tyler. This is a difficult situation to comment. Mayor Lockwood hasn't triggered his werewolf gene, so he's just as violent and full of rage as Tyler. It's in this werewolf violence that it's domestic violence. Tyler has no idea that he and his father are werewolves, and his father is hitting him without explanation. "Because you knowing this is dangerous for so many reasons. You can hate me, but I need you to trust me." This is a comment best suited for Tyler, not Elena. That's why Tyler hates his father, and admits this in 2x1. Matt is packing his mother's things. Making out with Tyler was the last straw for him. "Mom! Don't you get it? I'm better off without you." Lexi said the same about Damon… that Stefan is better off without him. Had Elena given up on Damon, he'd probably be dead just like Matt's mother. Far better to be patient and understanding.

Damon and Alaric confront John because he's wearing a Gilbert ring, so they know he's connected to Isobel. John isn't afraid of Damon because he put protocols in place. Damon basically drains every bit of information he can from John. Information is leverage that can be used at any time. Such is the case with his knowledge that John is Elena's father. That's why Damon is asking, asking, asking. He wants to know everything he can.

Stefan is so dishonest that he compounds his lies. Even his omissions, which are lies. He only tells Elena about the man in the parking lot because he knows Elena saw him. If not for Elena seeing him, he would've kept that from her. "I'm sorry that I ran off earlier." He then lies by omission by skipping over what he did to the blood on his hand, and he does this by shifting to the man in the parking lot. He then speaks of the man and completely disregards Kelly even though he wanted to feed on her all the same. Elena asks if he did, and he says no. This is another lie by omission. Elena has no idea that Stefan was so desperate to taste human blood that he fingered Kelly's bloody forehead, then took off to taste her blood in secret. It's all about the man in the parking lot, Elena. "And all I keep thinking about is how I promised that I would never keep anything from you, and so I'm telling you this." This is what compounding a lie looks like. He'd never keep anything from her, and yet, she still has no idea that he licked Kelly's blood from his fingers. "But I don't want you to see me like this, I don't want you to know that this side of me exists." This is another dialogue that works for both brothers. Damon hides his humanity because it's a vampire's greatest weakness. "I have this hunger inside of me that I've never felt before in my entire life." This comment of Stefan's is Damon's 6x22 soundtrack. The one he and Elena dance to. Damon is back by the fire, mourning Katherine because John just told him he's the one who sent Isobel.

Physical heart, emotional heart... Stefan vs Damon.

"It's different this time, isn't it? The need is too strong. Of course it would be after all these years."

Damon's signature moment. 1x19 is gonna be so much fun.

[robynator]

since we're talking about renewing lockwood & co, here's a list of things i personally want to see in season 2. there is honestly so much stuff in the hollow boy, that im only adding stuff from that book

spoilers, obviously

first and foremost, HOLLY MUNRO my beloved. she's incredible and i love her. im looking less forward to the portrayal of lucy's internalized misogyny but the angst will be great

LOCKWOOD'S PAST!!!!! obviously i want to see how they handle the room but the whole story will be great to see on screen. also lucy snooping, both in the library and the part where she goes to the room to spy, seeing the picture and eventually using her talents

lucy and holly's fight at the end. the poltergeist, holly mentioning that she knows that lucy spied on lockwood, bobby vernon trying to get them to stop and them finally putting away their differences once they know they fucked up

(chronologically) the lavender lodge, with the tentacles and all. also the whole "there were times we were perfectly in sync as a team... this was not one of those times" scene, which will be absolutely hilarious

lucy experimenting with her talents

the skull being the pettiest motherfucker, always suggesting murder

THE WINTERGARDEN HOUSE

the footprints, the chase between ghosts, lucy realising she got it all wrong, the blood running down the ghost's hands, lockwood knocking himself out trying to save lucy, holly (who was terrified at being in the field) actually being the one to save her

lucy feeling guilty about everything and struggling with the fact holly saved her life

lucy and lockwood's fight

barnes seeing lockwood in his pyjamas and bloody headwear

the whole visual of the carnival

how they're going to change that scene with leopold

steve rotwell

lockwood meeting sir rupert gale, recognizing the man who tried to kill him multiple times. the added context of sir rupert actually having shot him will make this so much more fun

the assassination attempt, the ghosts, the chaos, steve rotwell straight up killing one of the assassins

the balloon chase?? like i genuinely find it so difficult to picture, i can't wait to see what they do with it

lucy and lockwood having a moment only for sir rupert gale to drop in with "i hope im not interrupting anything"

the passive aggressive snipes between lockwood and sir rupert gale. "i almost want him to get away" "well i imagine it's pretty difficult to get away from you, only the best must manage it" and (after that man fell into the thames from 30ft up) "well, he's dead and drowned, i suppose" "yeah, you'd assume that but we all know better don't we?"

sir rupert gale trying to casually kill lockwood and lockwood blocking a strike that would have pierced his heart otherwise (can you tell i love sir rupert gale?)

i actually want them to have a mini duel in that scene before george and the others interrupt them, unlike in the book

that picture of lockwood in the newspapers

"im gonna put that picture in the album" "if you have to, put the one from the guardian, that one has lucy's knee in it"

the chelsea outbreak

george's maps

lockwood & co and the kipps team teaming up

that fucking tree at aickmere's

"don't mess with the tree" "okay" *the group proceeds to tear up the entire shop, including the tree*

lucy and holly being grouped together

"lucy, are you talking to yourself?"

the skull being as unhelpful as always

finding bobby vernon in the elevator

the others' perspective on what happened

holly's past in the field

again, the fucking poltergeist

lockwood almost getting lucy in the iron circle before being thrown away, lucy falling down the hole in the ground

lucy talking with the ghosts

the whole scene with the hollow boy

"sometimes it's the future that's being shown instead"

lockwood slicing the ghost in half

lucy admitting to lockwood that she spied on him

aickmere's being absolutely trashed beyond recognition

"i hope you're not the cleaning staff"

george's fight with the rotwell agents

lucy and holly finally getting along while the skull is still telling her to kill her

lucy leaving.

after all that time spent setting up the trauma and abandonment issues of lockwood, i really want to see how this affects him. in a potential third season id love to see him becoming even more reckless and suicidal than before, to the point where even george is concerned. i want to see lockwood being on the front page, with his trademark grin in place, while he's actually dying inside

(all the quotes are obviously paraphrased)

[mumfordanddaughters]

absolutely devastated by the loss of Lockwood and Co on netflix... This show clearly means so much to SO MANY of us, and it was legitimately one of the best works of screenwriting, acting, and cinematography that I have seen in a long time. Like, really crazy impressive stuff -- the soundtrack, the little details, the cozy British vibes, the dialogue. All of it so well done, so tight, so snappy. And these are young actors getting breakthrough roles and absolutely smashing it out of the park... and this is how we repay them?? Idk man. That’s upsetting. I had never even HEARD of the books until I stumbled on the show, binged it all in two days, and could *not get enough* -- so I went and devoured the first 4 books (the final one is on my nightstand now) and the entire time I was reading the books I kept thinking “they are going to do this so well! i am so excited to see THIS SCENE onscreen! cameron is gonna kill this! ruby will be amazing at portraying this! ali is gonna make this hilarious!” and I’m just... so saddened to think that I won’t ever get those awesome scenes? We won’t get the hollow boy? We won’t get to find out what’s behind the door? We won’t get the redemption arc for Kipps? We won’t get to meet Holly? Dang. I’m so sad. 

[kmze]

Hey.How much do you think actor's race played into the writing for Tyler Lockwood, him getting sidelined and eventually killed off so unceremoniously? I have heard Trevino is Hispanic but I'm not sure about Tyler.His mom was caucasian as far as I remember.Also, do you think Joseph Morgan's popularity as Klaus and of course 'Klaroline' factored into Tyler's disappointing arc?

Oh I definitely think it played into it and shows you how deep the showrunners' racism is because the character is white but the actor is not (Trevino is Mexican). I think what happened is JP and Dries (I'll omit KW since he was gone before Tyler's SL picked up a lot) lost their enthusiasm for Tyler once he had served the purpose of being Caroline's LI and his storyline really started to suffer. I think the death blow was when they de-powered him back into a human with an un-triggered werewolf curse at the end of S5. Getting de-powered in this 'verse as a man is a death sentence for how much the writers are gonna care about you, look at Stefan in S8. Even Tyler's writing in S6 went against a lot of his character traits from earlier season like him willing to let Bonnie die in the prison world for Liv.

As for Klaroline/Klaus affecting Tyler my feelings are a bit complicated. I think it played a part for sure but I think it was more KC/Klaus elevated Caroline into a higher tier because the way women survive and thrive on this show depends on how many high tier (usually white powerful vampire/hybrid) men love them. The problem for Tyler was Klaus moving Caroline into "it girl" status meant the writers wanted to give her more high tier men, so their attention turned back to Stefan for her. If Tyler was white he probably would have been used in a love triangle with Stefan in S5/6 (which would have been so easy because there's pre-established animosity sigh). Instead the writers used Enzo as a Klaus-lite until S7. And Tyler had even less of a shot in S6 because he was human again and that's probably the reason Trevino didn't sign on after that season (he could feel the lack of enthusiasm in the scripts I bet). Then he shows up for like random plot stuff until he was UNCEREMONIOUSLY MURDERED FOR NO REASON and basically no one cared! As opposed to when Enzo died and it was the most awful thing ever even though he was the biggest NPC ever on this show (no I'm not bitter or anything).

So for me it's more Klaus' popularity helped Caroline and that hurt Tyler more indirectly. Without Klaus I think Tyler and Caroline still would have broken up eventually but it would have taken longer. I also think Caroline would have been used as a prop for SE instead of Stefan being Caroline's love interest (and LBR a prop to her story in the end lol). It's possible that Tyler and Caroline would have gotten back together after Caroline was used to bring SE back together but IDK because that storyline could have really hurt her, like I can't guarantee she wouldn't have just been killed off. If you watched Arrow I have a bad feeling it would have been like when Laurel was killed off and she told Oliver he was the love of her life but she knew she wasn't his with her dying breath. Tyler was probably screwed either way, but yeah I definitely think the direction his storyline ended up going in had to do with the showrunners' not being enthusiastic enough about him. Because he's not white and they have severe internalized racism.

[longtimewish]

Ok I'm half wat through the Lockwood and co show and I have Opinions. I've read the first four books of the saga (gonna start the final one after I finish my current reading) and I loved them so I do have a bias against changes in the adaptation, I won't deny it. Still, I had hopes for the show since the books are very adaptation friendly. So here are my thoughts on the first four episodes. Spoilers ahead!

Episodes 1-3 aka The Screaming Staircase adaptation

- Ok the guy who plays Lockwood? Literally perfect casting. He's EXACTLY how I imagine him when I read the books: acting all charming and mature, always trying to be in control and yet you look at him and you can tell that he's just a teen boy. He completely nailed the character.

- First disappointment: how the ghosts look like. Stroud created a lore with dozens of different looking ghosts and they went with CGI transparent smokey shadows??? Personally I would've love if they used make up and practical effects for the ghost, with CGI only for the action parts.

- The first Big Adaptation Change: Lucy's backstory. I have encountered feelings with this one. I understand why they thought the changes were needed, but I feel that these changes also unavoidably change Lucy's entire characterization. She was mostly just distant towards her mother and sisters in the books, here she has a physically and emotionally abusive mother. She had a borderline irrational dislikeness towards girls in the books, here she has a female best friend. And here is the thing: I wasn't crazy about Lucy in the first book. I thought she was a good protagonist and I was rooting for her, but her Not Like The Other Girls moments were both annoying and frustrating. So as I said, I understand why they thought that it was better to change that aspect of Lucy's character, I didn't like it either. But this will also take away seeing Lucy grow up as a person and leave this mentality behind, which we obviously won't have in the show. I just have no idea what to think of Lucy here, because she feels like a brand new character.

- Speaking of Lucy's characterization, I'm not a fan either of her wearing make up and nice outfits. My girl is a mess who only sometimes brushes her hair and proudly dresses like a 2005 Disney sitcom star. Also the make up ages up Ruby Stokes and it becomes a bit hard to suspend my disbelief and buy that she's sixteen.

- Why did they cut out that Lockwood got ghost-touched in the first mission? I actually went back to read that part because I couldn't believe it didn't make it to the show. What better way to show us why ghosts are dangerous and how they can kill people than that?

-My feelings towards George are way less conflicted. I love that he's played by an actor of color (love the books but they def need a bit more of diversity), I love that he is very neurodivergent-coded, and I love that neither of this things make him drastically different to his book counterpart. He is still the sarcastic, intelectual boy that loves researching and experimenting (though we don't actually see any of his experiments on screen, sadly). But George is described as being fat more than once in the books. It's like producers think that there's some sort of limit to diversity, like yes you can have a poc George but he can't also be fat, that's just too much. Which I just find frustrating. Still I like the actor and I think he nailed the role too.

- I find it SO WEIRD that they curse here. On the one hand it took me by surprise because they never do so in the books, but on the other hand well given the life threatening situations they live daily why wouldn't they curse? Anyway let George say fuck.

- Same goes with the drinking why they have beers my kids only drink tea!!

- Speaking of kids, where are the night watch kids? Actually, where are the kids at all? I'm writing this four episodes into the show and no child has appeared, which is odd given that adults using and putting at risk the lives of literal children, many which are in need, is a huge theme in the story.

- Ok so here's the thing: at some point while I was reading the books I realized that I'm weirdly in love with Kipps, probably a combination of him being the only character of my age in the whole saga and his midlife crisis being kinda relatable. So all that is to say that I approve the casting choice and that I watch his scenes very respectfully.

- It annoys me that the characters are so open and argue all the time, specially Lucy and Lockwood. It feels ooc, they're too emotionally repressed for that in the books lol, they just bottled up their feeling and never talk about it until they're in literal danger of dying.

- I think that overall the first two episodes adapted the book pretty nicely in terms of pacing (even if I wasn't crazy about some choices) but they kinda dropped the ball hard on the third one. Like in the book the whole sequence of them in the house is quite creepy and you genuinely fear for their lives - even when you know that this is only the first installment and obviously nothing bad will happen to them. But I just wasn't feeling it in the show? Like there was no build up to the mystery! No emotion in the reveal! The conflict with DEPRAC was portrayed as being more threatening than Fairfax literally trying to kill them!! It all just happened super fast. My guess is that they just wanted to get done with the first book quickly so they could move on to the more character driven plot lines of the second book but honestly it was disappointing.

- I feel that someone on Netflix should go to jail for cutting out the scene at the end of The Screaming Staircase of Lucy hearing Lockwood's laugh from the kitchen and suddenly feeling sad because she wasn't in the room laughing with him.

Episode 4 aka first episode of The Whispering Skull adaptation

- So they're not doing the half-year time skip of the book. Good decision, it would be bothersome for the audience to suddenly have a huge batch of time off-screened not even half-way into the show.

- Seriously WHERE ARE THE KIDS??? I was looking forward the rude night watch boy and he was nowhere to be seen.

- You know I was conflicted about the changes so far but none of them made me actually mad. Untill the scene Lucy tells Lockwood and George that the Skull talked to her. That scene made me angry. Lockwood and George would NEVER treat Lucy as if she was insane. They would NEVER call her a liar. This is how Lockwood and George reacted: "Lockwood and George, when I told them about my encounter, had reacted at first with vast excitement. They raced to the basement, took out the jar and swung the lever; the face in the jar said nothing." They immediately believed her and trusted her. They all tried to make the Skull talk again right away. That whole argument was so out of character for everyone that I had to fight the urge to skip the scene altogether.

- But then they immediately give me Lockwood tenderly treating Lucy's wounds and I can't be mad any longer. Lowkey jealous of show only folks that get this kind of moment so early into the story, we book readers had to go through literal hundred of pages of the slowest of burns to get to the "we held hands longer than necessary and now we are embarrased and can't even look in the eye despite the fact that deep down we want to continue holding hands" awkward moment.

- Kipps having beef with literal teenagers is so funny like sir what are you doing you're in your twenties!! He's so pathetic I love him.

I know I focused too much on the negatives but so far I do not think this is a bad adaptation, in fact it's better than others that have come out recently (Netflix's The Empress gave me unreparable damage). I think the leads have great chemistry, I love how many scenes are straight out of the book, I love how well they captured the vibe of the world building. The team behind the show seems to have real respect for the source material, something that sadly is lacking in more popular adaptations. I'm being picky, I know it. If I had to boil down my criticism my main problem is that the adaptation seems to be lacking of the subtlety of the books. It really does annoy me that the character talk about their feelings all the time. We know what the characters are going through not because we can deduce it from their actions, but because they explicitly tells us what they feel. And they tell this to each other! Which changes a lot the early dynamic of the group, and the main conflict of Lockwood being a mystery because he doesn't want to open up about what he feels. I don't want Lockwood to say that he doesn't want to talk about his past because it's hard for him, I want Lockwood actively avoiding at all cost to talk about his past. I just don't like being explained everything word by word as if I wouldn't be able to understand what's going on with the characters otherwise.

My second problem would be Whatever Is Going On with Lucy's characterization, but I'm going to finish the show first before giving a final verdict on this.

All in all it was a solid 7/10 for me, I had fun watching it and I think there is potential for the show to be even better, even if some of the adaptation decisions were frustrating and made me want to shake one or two Netflix producers.