#and then... he just disappears... for 20 episodes...

[onesidedradiostatic]

I'm thinking about the stupid fucking parasocial dynamic between sir pentious and alastor. I have questions

the fact that sir pentious says "again" in the pilot and him saying they'd done battle "like 20 times" in episode 2, was this just like. a regular thing he did even prior to alastor's disappearance. where he would just come in every other week to attack alastor while he was casually doing stuff and alastor just forgot each and every time.

also keep in mind sir pentious is from the VICTORIAN ERA, he arrived in hell before alastor. how. how long has he known him. how long had he been DOING this.

sir pentious being one of the chronologically oldest major characters really makes you think about how much he has seen or knows about LMAO

also the fact that he says "for when I've slain you the almighty vees will finally acknowledge me as their equal" was he just thinking of alastor just being generally powerful that it'd be cool if he defeated him or did he know the specific significance of alastor in the context of the vees. I also find it funny that he found out about alastor's return BEFORE vox, yeah if he delivered a dead alastor to the vees after 7 years I'm sure that would've been one fucking hell of a shock

[akihikosanada]

finished the boys s3 last night and i have a lot of questions but not none of them are particularly good

[tangledinink]

Donnie is okay!!!!!! He’s safe!!! Now they just need to bring him home and help him recover from whatever magical residue stuff lingers. Please say he’s gonna remember everything when he wakes up!

(P.S. where is Odette? And Odile? Surely they don’t just disappear?)

odile was made to hunt odette, and no other reason. the magick that created her dictated that so long as odette still lived, so must she.

now, it's time for both of them to rest.

credit to @dryad-druid for inspiration for odile's black swan/ballerina form.

[ swanatello ] [ prev episode ] [ next episode ]

(the next 20+ pages are already up on patreon!)

[eponymous-rose]

A little thing I'm also really appreciating in this rewatch of TNG is something that seems to have all but disappeared in the age of tightly plotted, entirely serialized eight-episode miniseries TV: little slice-of-life moments that don't serve any driving plot purpose except to flesh out the world a little bit.

The scene with Picard's hairdresser earnestly telling him how he should better have handled diplomatic relations with the Romulans doesn't serve a deep narrative purpose in the sense of echoing the themes of the episode or foreshadowing some important moment with that hairdresser. It's there to share a little picture of the world - yes, there are still hairdressers in the future, yes, there's still awkward small-talk with said hairdressers. There's also the nice little reminder in all these domestic scenes that normal life is happening aboard the Enterprise, families and all, which adds to the sense of danger when the ship's in peril and paints the moments of war and conflict as uncomfortable juxtapositions. It's not there to serve the plot, it's there to build the world. And the characters! Picard's mostly-polite demurs, the reveal that Riker has been 100% humoring this guy like "oh man, we should've thought of that, you're so right". There's no reason to include it beyond reveling in the world.

I really miss that about a lot of modern TV - we get these needle-sharp hard dives through a world, coherent and concise and often quite lovely, but trying to take in the scope of the world around that plot is like watching out the window of a fast-moving train: you're getting nothing more than vague impressions at a remove. It's the difference between a guided tour of a museum and a self-guided tour: sometimes, at some museums, you just want to meander around a bit at your own pace and let it wash over you.

Given the choice, I'll almost always fall deeper in love with a show that's criticized for "filler" or "monster of the week" because I know it'll give its characters and its universe time to grow. That's what drew me to TV in the first place - I adore movies, but there's only so much you can do with character and world in 2-3 hours. Lately a lot of TV seems to be seen as a rather long movie with the odd break where you get up to make popcorn midway through. I think there's something unique about the format of television that's being lost in this attempt to emulate the structure of a movie, in the same way that some novels feel like they might as well just have been novellas or short stories. It's not just a longer version of the same thing. It has the potential to be something entirely different.

Give me the bloated 20-odd-episode seasons of the 90s and 00s, where characters grew and changed slowly, by inches, and we had the time to change along with them. I love the new stuff, don't get me wrong, but I sure miss that specific brand of mess.

[mothellie]

I think the Duffer Brothers' history with racism in their show goes a lot deeper than a lot of people realize.

Lucas as a character has three distinct B plot stories that get assigned to him: being a minor antagonist to Eleven in season one, being a good friend to the rest of the Party, and being in love with his girlfriend. While Mike's plot is directly centered around two of the most pivotal characters of the show, Dustin is given two different role model characters that shape his arc and is overall the genius that helps the rest of the cast get out of several difficult situations, Will still being connected to the Upside Down after his disappearance in 1983 and that playing into several major plots, Max having a multitude of centric storylines especially in season four and Eleven literally being THE main character- Lucas is only ever given plots that help serve and uplift the other (white) characters. Unless you count him... playing basketball and being friends with Jason. I guess?

Erica is similar to Lucas, but to a much larger degree. I'd like you reading this to think of any single Erica standalone plot in the show that has nothing to do with/does not predominantly or solely benefit the white characters around her. I'll wait.

The Sinclair parents are only touched on in brief sections for the sake of filling the episodes, only ever playing a more major role in Season Four. If you could call it that. I'm sure most of you couldn't even tell me their names off of the top of your heads. (It's Charles and Sue, by the way.)

Argyle was the first somewhat major character of color to be introduced to the show after Erica played her part in season three. I could say similar things about his role in the season overall that I can about Lucas and Erica. Except they set him up to play a bigger role in the next season at the end of season four, going as far as to show him in Hawkins and have Jancy verbally allude to him sticking around, only for the show heads to ghost Eduardo Franco and let him find out he wasn't being brought back through an official social media cast photo.

Kali was a former subject from the same lab El came from, having escaped and subsequently began to lead a vigilante life of enacting revenge on those who played a hand in her suffering. She was the first subject El ever met after leaving the lab, shown to be incredibly powerful and strong-willed. Her and El had an immediate connection, calling themselves sisters right after meeting. But after El was finished with her self-discovery period on the S.S. Kali Gang for one (1) often-forgotten and poorly-written episode, Kali was quite literally abandoned both in spirit and on screen, never to be seen or even mentioned again.

All other characters of color are either killed violently (Patrick), have like ten minutes of screentime total (Jeff and Calvin Powell), or are just straight up background only and may not even have names.

They can dedicate an entire section of season four's plot to Suzie's family, but not to genuine character development for Erica or for Kali to return. They can make room for a whole pointless predatory plot between Billy and Karen, but not to give a more important role to the Sinclair parents. They have room to include a whole plot about El getting bullied in school, but not for Lucas to have a more meaningful story outside of his white friends and girlfriend. They can platform three known white zionists while Palestine currently undergoes a gruesome genocide even as I type this, but they don't have room for Argyle in season five (or even the decency to give Eduardo a fucking phone call).

Not only do the Duffers constantly write themselves into holes because they keep adding unnecessary fodder to the plot, and refuse to kill ANY of their main characters in favor of just creating new characters for the sake of killing them off in mediocre ways despite the fact that they're trying to fit 20+ B plots into 8-9 40-50 minute episodes per season and wondering why half their show doesn't make sense- The time they DO dedicate to character-specific B plots and character arc progression visibly favor the white characters.

If I watch S5, and that's a huge if, I will be sailing the high seas. Between all of this, the fact that they filmed part of season four in an old Nazi prison and tried to turn it into a fucking AirBNB, and the fact that at least four people who play major roles in the show actively support the current genocide of Palestine- I won't be giving them (or Netflix for that matter) another cent of my money.

While you're here, please do your completely free daily click to send aid to Palestine, and here's a list of other resources for how to help more directly.

[dragon-kazansky]

When the raven calls

Morpheus x Female Reader

You, his raven, die protecting Jessamy while rescuing the Dream Lord. When Morpheus returns to his realm, he mourns your loss, only to find a stranger waiting for him in his throne room. The stranger claims to be you, now in human form. He doesn't understand, but his raven will always watch over him.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Notes: This chapter is very episode heavy in some places.

Chapter Ten - Trust fall

☆☆☆

You hear Lucienne and Morpheus talking as you pass the throne room. You poke your head in and find Dream sitting on the steps with his coat sprawled out behind him. In his hand was a book. Lucienne was talking to him as he went through it.

You enter quietly and make your way over to them. Morpheus lifts his head when you enter, and he looks pleased. Not only are you still in human form, but you've returned to his side again.

This pleases him greatly.

"Is something wrong?" You ask.

"Jed Walker is missing." Lucienne tells you.

"Jed Walker?"

Morpheus realises there is a lot he hasn't told you about. He brings you up to speed on Rose Walker and her mission to find her brother. How Jed Walker can't even be found in the Dreaming, as if something or someone was keeping him out.

"Jed Walker is still in the realm of the living, but I cannot find him." Morpheus says. "All humans are connected to the Dreaming. They spend a third of their life here. Breaking that connection would require knowledge. And power."

"Then it may interest you to know that the last nightmare Jed Walker had before he disappeared was of Gault," Lucienne states.

You look up at the window where she is still depicted. "Interesting."

"You think she severed him from the Dreaming?" Morpheus asks her.

"I do."

"Why?"

"Because he's not just any child, is he? He's Rose Walker's brother. She is the vortex."

You had begun to connect all the dots now.

"Excuse me."

You all turn to see a young woman enter from here you had just come from. You find yourself moving to stand beside Morpheus as she walks closer.

"I'm Rose Walker. What do you know about my brother?" She asks.

Morpheus stands up and faces her. "You are welcome here, Rose Walker."

"Who are you?"

"You have somehow dreamed your way into an audience with Lord Morpheus." Lucienne explains. "The King of Dreams. And you must go."

"Lucienne." Morpheus speaks her name.

"She shouldn't be here."

You look at Rose. She could only be 20 something tops. She looks confused but also interested in what's happening. She doesn't really look at you as she listens to Morpheus and Lucienne talk.

"No, but I should like her to stay."

"What is this place?" She asks.

"You're in the Dreaming, the place where people come when they sleep."

"So, I'm asleep right now? I'm dreaming?"

"Yes, and I should like to know how it is you found me." Morpheus says.

"I heard you talking about my brother. Is he here?"

"No." Morpheus steps down from the stairs and walls over to Rose. He comes to stand beside her.

"Do you know where he is?" She asks.

"No. But I think he might be with one of my missing Nightmares." He tells her as they look up at the window.

"She's a nightmare? What would she want with Jed?"

"I don't know. But I have a feeling it has something to do with you." Morpheus looks at her curiously.

"Me? Why? What did I do?"

"It is not what you did. It is what you are." He tells her.

"I'm sorry. I don't understand any of this."

"No. Dream vortexes are largely incomprehensible."

"What's a dream vortex?"

"You are."

You roll your eyes. That doesn't really explain anything to her. Morpheus was hopeless sometimes.

"Once every few thousand years, a mortal is born with a Dreaming ability so powerful, she can travel through the dreams of others." You explain, coming over to join the two.

Morpheus looks at you.

"Apperantly, all the way to my throne room." He says, returning his gaze back to Rose.

"I was just looking for my brother." She speaks softly.

"If you can find me in The Dreaming, you can find your brother." Morpheus tells her. "No matter where Gaukt has hidden him."

"How? How do I do that?"

"For now, keep looking for your brother in the waking world. Matthew will watch over you there."

"I could do it," you say.

"No." Morpheus looks at you instantly.

Rose looks between the pair of you and then at Matthew. She feels the tension building.

"At your service, Rose." Matthew bows his head at her.

"When he is with you, I am with you." Morpheus tells Rose. "Then tonight, when you sleep, you and I will go in search for Gault and your brother together. In your dreams."

"She's just a nightmare, right? She can't hurt him, can she?"

You look down at the ground. Morpheus can see you in the corner of his eye.

Rose Walker wakes. She disappears from the Dreaming.

Lucienne takes her leave for now, as does Matthew. Morpheus looks at you. You avoid his eyes as you slowly try to walk away.

"Wait."

You stop and wait.

"Look at me."

You lift your head and meet his eyes reluctantly. He stares at you silently for a few moments before he speaks. "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"No?'

You sigh. "Do you not trust me?" You ask.

"Of course I do. Why would I not?"

"You were so quick to send Matthew to help Rose."

"Yes?" He regards you curiously. He really doesn't see what the issue is.

"I'm right here. I can do things, too. I still have my raven form, remember?"

"I do."

"So, send me. Let me be your raven again," you plead.

He says your name softly. "It is not that I do not trust you. I just..."

"What?" You urge.

"I don't want you to leave my side."

You frown. "That's not a good enough reason."

Morpheus falls quiet again.

"I'm going for a walk... or better yet, I fly around the palace..." As you take a step, you turn into a raven and fly out of there.

Morpheus watches you go.

☆☆☆

Lucienne walks through the library and spots Morpheus going through the books. She approaches him quickly.

"My lord, may I help?"

"Is this everything we have on Rose Walker?" He asks her.

"And Jed Walker. But I shouldn't think there's anything in those you don't already know. Except perhaps-"

"Exceot perhaps why she was able to wander into my throne room." He finishes for her. "What do you think? Why did Gault target her brother and not her?"

"Did you read about Unity Kinkaid?" Lucidnne asks. "The day you were imprisoned, there were people all over the world who fell asleep and could not wake up. Unity Kinkaid is the sole survivor of what they called the Sleepy Sickness. The day you reutneed, she woke up. Rose Walker is her great-granddaughter."

"Which would seem to suggest that my absence caused the birth of a vortex." Morpheus says.

"Is that not a possibility?"

"Vortxes are naturally occurring phenomena. No one knows why they happen. Not even I know. But I do know they are not caused or created. They simply happen." He explains.

"Then this is all a coincidence? And not am imminent threat?"

"My instinct says no, but tonight when Rose Walker sleeps, I shall see it more clearly. May I?" He takes the book with him as he leaves.

You watch from the book shelf you had been sitting on. Lucienne looks up and stares at you. You say nothing and fly out.

☆☆☆

"You do know I can sense you as a raven? We are connected, after all."

You sigh and land on the table in front of him. He looks at you silently.

"I wanted to know more about Rose." You say.

"You could have just asked."

"I didn't think you would tell me," you sigh.

"Now who doesn't trust who?"

You ruffle your feathers and sigh. It's easier to talk to him as a raven. This way, he can't see you get flustered when he looks at you.

"I'm not trying to fall out with you. Maybe I'm jealous that Matthew gets to be the top raven these days. That used to be my job."

Morpheus is surprised to hear you say that.

"Matthew is new to the job. He needs all the experience he can get."

"Your excuses are becoming boring."

Morpheus feels bad. He is making up excuses. He simply doesn't want you to leave his side at the moment, now while you have him feeling the way he is.

"Come with me tonight."

You look up at him. "Huh?"

"Come with me to see Rose."

"You mean it?" You ask, excitedly.

"Yes."

Your head perks up as you look up at him. He can sense your happiness. He smiles softly.

"However, I have one condition."

"Okay..."

"You can only accompany me in your human form."

"Why?" You cock your head to the side.

"Because I want you to."

You know that's the best you're going to get out of him. You sigh. "Fine."

"I'll call for you when Rose enters the Dreaming again."

"Okay." You fly off.

Morpheus watches you go, wishing you would stay.

☆☆☆

When Rose falls asleep, Morpheus knows. He calls for you as soon as he feels her presence in the Dreaming. You fly to him quickly.

"My condition." He says.

You sigh and flap your wings, turning into your human form. You look up at him and sigh again. "Better?"

"Yes."

Morpheus takes your hand gently and then guides you through the Dreaming.

Currently, Rose is walking through the dreams of her friends.

You both find her through the dream of Chantel, her friend. You follow his gaze as he turns to look at Rose. He says nothing as he grasps your hand and pulls you through the door.

Rose ends up outside on a street where she sees Barbie in an expensive car and Ken, naked, trying to talk to her. Looks like he was having a bad dream.

You stand on the other side of the street with Morpheus, watching Rose. She turns and sees you both.

"Why is this happening? I thought we were looking for Jed." She says.

"We are." Morpheus replies.

"Then why am I in my friends' dreams?"

"Because yo uare drawing the dreams of others to you." He tells her. "Just be careful not to lose yourself in them. Take a moment. Find your path."

Rose's gaze shifts over his shoulder. You both turn to see a poster on a gate. It's one of her missing posters for Jed. Rose walks over to it and pushes it open, going through.

Now you're standing out in the open, watching Princess Barbara on her quest to save the land.

"So, what is a dream vortex? What is it for? What does it do?"

I confess, there are some questions to whichever I do not have an answer." Morpheus admits. "But I can tell you that a vortex has the power to dream entire worlds or destroy them."

Rose walks off in the same direction Barbie headed. Morpheus and you follow her.

A graveyard. A young girl skipping past the graves as she sings to herself.

"Is that...?"

"Zelda. When she was your brother's age."

Rose follows the young Zelda through the cemetery as she talks to herself.

"Is she lost?"

"She's at home here," Morpheus explains. "That is what most people seek when they dream."

"Home?"

"Do you know where that is for Jed?"

Zelda enters one of he crypts close by. Rose follows her. On the door is another poster. Rose takes it and goes through the door. Morpheus and you follow her.

You're standing on a street. Quiet. Homely looking. Other than the three of you, there doesn't seem to be anyone around.

"You know this place?"

"That was our house growing up. Look." She shows you the photo on the poster. You smile at her as you take the poster from her hand and take a closer look.

"You've done it." Morpheus smiles. "You've found your brother's dream. Now we find Gault."

You look around. It's so quiet here.

It doesn't stay quiet for long. You watch in interest and confusion as sand swirls around and a young boy, dressed like a superhero from a comic, appears. There's what appears to be a ruby on his costume too.

The sand. The ruby. You chuckles softly.

"Halt, King of Nightmares, or I'll send you both to Dreamland."

"Jed?" Rose asks.

"I am the Guardian of Sleepers. I am Lord of the Dream Domain. I am the Sandman."

You giggle softly.

Morpheus smiles. "You are the Sandman? Is that what she told you?"

Jed gets defensive.

"Where is she? Your master."

"Stay back."

"Jed, we're not here to hurt you." Rose tells him.

A woman comes up behind Jed and places her hand on his shoulder. You look at her curiously. The woman looks just like their mother.

Gault.

"It's me you want. Not him."

"Oh my God. Mom?"

"That is not your mother, Rose." Morpheus tells her, stopping her from getting close.

"Rose?" Jed removes his mask.

You watch the siblings hug.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." Rose tells him.

"Mom, it's Rose. She's all grown up."

"I'm sorry, Jed." Morpheus removes Gault's disguise.

"What did you do to her?" Jed yells.

Rose makes Jed look at her as she talks to him. Rose explains to him what is happening and then asks where he is.

"I'm right here."

"No, Jeddy, this is a dream. When you wake up, where will you be?" She asks.

"Uncle Barnaby said he's gonna break every bone in my body." Jed says, getting upset.

You frown. What are they doing to this poor boy in the waking world?

"Who's Barnaby?"

"Aunt Clarice won't be able to stop him."

"Where are they, Jed? Where are Aunt Clarice and Uncle Barnaby?"

"They're home. They're in Homeland." Jed says.

"Where is that? Where is Home Land?"

"Come, Gault. We must go." Morpheus says.

Gault crouches near Jed and looks at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Sandman."

"It's time to wake up, Jed." Morpheus states.

"Wait!" You try and stop him.

"Goodbye, Rose Walker."

Rose tries to get more answers from Jed, but Morpheus ends the dream.

You're now standing in the throne room. Morpheus is there. Lucienne, too. Gault stands there looking at Morpheus with disdain. You sit on the steps slowly.

"Do you have any idea what his life is like in the waking world?" Gault asks.

"Humans cannot live in dreams. As long as he stayed there, the child had no life nor the chance for one."

"The boy is being abused. He's suffering." Gault tells him.

"You abused that suffering to build a Dreaming you could rule."

"I had no wish to rule. I merely wished to be a Dream and not a Nightmare." Gault says to him. "To inspire rather than to frighten."

Your gaze softens as you look at her.

"The choice is not yours to make. We do not choose to be created. Nor do we choose how we are made."

You gaze down quietly. Dream has always been so particular about things, but do you not prove change is possible? You are different now from how he made you, and yet he leaves you be.

It doesn't seem fair.

"That is true." Gault agrees with him. "But we can change." Her gaze looks at you. It's like she read your mind.

"No." Morpheus says. "We are, each of us, born with responsibilities. Even I am not free to choose to be other than I am. Nor is anyone."

"Is that were true, why did all the other Dreams and Nightmares choose to leave this place when you had gone away?"

"Not all of us chose to leave and nearly all have returned." Lucienne chimed in.

"Do you think they came back out of love?" Gaulat asked her. "Or because they were afraid of what you wouldndo to them if they did not?" She addresses Morpheus. "Because I'm not afraid."

You hear Morpheus move behind you. The room grows tense.

"You should be."

You look up at him over your shoulder, but he does not move his gaze from Gault.

"A Nightmares purpose is to reveal a dreamer's fears that they may face them."

His shadow descends the stairs past you and toward Gault. You know what he's going to do.

You can't take it any more. You get up and you leave the room.

Morpheus sees you go. Lucienne watches you. Gault does not move her gaze from Dream.

It's only when you're halfway down the hall that you realise you're crying. You reach up and touch your cheek. Your fingers come away wet.

"Oh..."

Now you really do feel human.

You head to your room to be alone.

Lucienne comes by to check on you. She feels for you when she hears you crying softly. She hugs you gently, holding you to her. She's never known you to be so emotional before.

"How can he do that?" You ask.

"I don't know..."

"It's not fair. He's not fair."

Lucienne says nothing as she holds you. You cling to her for comfort. You've never felt more human than you do now.

☆☆☆

@missdreamofendless - @kpopgirlbtssvt - @sitkafay - @snowsatsu - @ladyofdreaming - @thoughtsfromlayla - @modest-irish-goddess - @mystic-mara -

[hangingslothcentral]

looking for a new audio drama?

If you like weird philosophical sci-fi and cyborgs, and hate AI and capitalism, check out Clockwork Bird!! it's the first show I ever made so it's a bit rough around the edges but it's an exploration about the rights of the dead, the limits of science, and the nature of personhood. it's all told through scattered 'found footage' recordings as listened to by Shelly Croft as she looks for her missing journalist girlfriend, Alice, who disappeared whilst she was investigating the welfare of Robin Jaeger, the posterchild for advanced synthetic limbs who may be more, and less, than he seems.

Clockwork Bird as 30 episodes, each 10-25 minutes long.

If you like spooky stories with a lot of heart, long series with lots of moving parts and character arcs, check out Spirit Box Radio! This show has a ton of original music and an accordian cast which grows as the show goes on, topping out at about 27 VAs. Sam Enfield is the happy-go-lucky host of Spirit Box Radio's Enlightenment Segment in the absence of its previous host, but something fishy is going on, and Sam's actually at the centre of a plot with apocalyptic stakes. SBR is a show about grief, storytelling, and what happens when a people pleaser has potentially unlimited magical powers. Find it @spiritboxradio.

Spirit Box Radio has 93 episodes, each 15-30 minutes long, with season finales that are up to 50 minutes long.

Do you like vampires? Gay vampires? Gay vampires that suck (blood. and other, uh, things)? Not Quite Dead may be the show for you. Join Alfie, a former A&E nurse who's knee deep in horrors because of his boyfriend, Casper, who is a vampire. Cas is missing with no indication of when he will return, but without his blood, Alfie is going to die. As time runs out, Alfie records everything he can remember about the months leading up to this moment. This show is gory and horny. Season Two has a tiny blonde guy who sounds French but who is older than the concept of France. This love story bites, viciously, multiple times, for fun and profit. Find it at @notquitedeadpod.

Not Quite Dead has 40 episodes, each 20-40 minutes long. The final season will be out early 2025.

Are you into mysteries and characters who eat hot chip and lie? Do you enjoy listening to shows as they air? Are you a person who likes to have conspiracy-board-level theories about the media you engage with? My new show, Remnants, might be just up your alley. Remnants follows the Apprentice as he learns how to read the objects that come to the First and Last Place. He's watched over by Sir, but Sir isn't much help. Thier purpose is strange and confusing, and the more remnants the Apprentice reads, the more he wonders at what the meaning of it all is, and if there might be some connection he's been missing... Find it at @remnantspod.

Remnants will have 30 episodes of about 30 minutes each in Season One, which starts airing with a double episode drop of episodes 1 & 2 on 15 July 2024.

[dianawinchester03]

Season 1, Episode 2 -Wendigo

Series Masterlist

Third Person POV

Making their way just outside of Grand Junction. Sam and Dean are in the Impala. Dean driving of course. They're heading over to Blackwater Ridge, Colorado.

Y/N is following behind the boys in her bike, Dean glances in the rear view mirror, checking in on her every so often, rock music blasting from Baby's deck, while his brother is asleep in the passenger seat.

Sam jumps awake, gasping for air. Seemingly from a nightmare. This startles Dean a bit. All week his brother has been jumpy since Jessica's death. He has also noticed that Y/N seems a bit jumpy too but not as much as Sam. His girlfriend did just die the same way their mother did so it's only fair.

Sam's rubbing his eyes "You okay?" Dean asks him. He breaths in deeply. "Yeah I'm fine" he lies terribly. "Another nightmare?" Dean asks his brother knowingly. Clearing his throat, Sam doesn't answer. "You wanna drive for a while?" Dean instead asks, leaving Sam amused looking at his older brother in disbelief.

"Dean, your whole life, you never once asked me that" Sam says matter of factly. Dean rolls his eyes. "Just thought you might want to. Never mind" He says sounding kinda offended.

"Look man. You're worried about me. I see the way you and Y/N look at me when you think I'm not looking, I get it. And thank you but I'm perfectly okay" Sam fails to assure Dean. "Uh huh" Dean hums, not convinced because he knows his little brother.

Sighing, Sam grabs the map asking where they are. Dean tells him they're just outside of Grand Junction. Sam says they shouldn't have left Stanford so soon but Dean reminds him that they stayed for a week. Dug around looking for what killed his girlfriend but came up empty.

"If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica..." Dean starts "...we gotta find dad first" Sam finishes. "Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after 20 years...it's no coincidence. Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do" Dean says.

A thought runs through Sam's head, Dean notices the look on his brothers face. "What?" He asks. "I just....I think I know who we can call to help us find dad. Or at least find the thing that killed Jess" Sam says giving his brother a knowing look. Dean catches on "Absolutely not!" He instantly says.

"Come on Dean. It's her father. They've been talking more and more since she's been with us. They seem to be getting along just fine" Sam tries to reason but Dean shakes his head.

"That's a conversation we need to have with Y/N and you already know what the answer will be" Dean defends. "She left for a reason and we need to respect that. Going behind her back would be a clear violation of her privacy and I certainly do not wanna face her wrath" Dean concludes. That girl can be vicious when necessary.

Sam smiles slightly at Deans need to defend Y/N. Dropping it he sighs mumbling, "You're right, if she decides to ask for his help we won't deny it though." Sam says. "Fat chance" Dean says snorting. Going back to the previous subject while looking at the map.

"It's weird, man. These coordinates dad left us, this Blackwater Ridge" Sam says. "Yeah what about it?" Dean asks. "There's nothing there. It's just woods." Sam explains putting the map down. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?" Sam questions his fathers order as per usual and Dean just looks at his brother and continues driving, Glancing back outside at Y/N momentarily.

The Impala and Harley approaches a large black and white sign saying "Welcome to Lost Creek Colorado. National Forest"

________________________________

Y/N's POV

After coming up short on the hunt for the monster that killed Jessica, I really considered calling my father for help with Jess' killer and the search for John. He too hasn't heard from him in a while.

Part of me knows he'll come without hesitation but I also know that eventually when we do clash heads and argue. He'll throw the fact that I called him for help after I left back in my face. To boast his ego and bruise mine. I went against it with my better instincts and stuck by the boys side after Sam's tragic loss.

My head hurts just thinking about it, I can already feel the splitting migraine forming in my forehead. I really need to get some proper sleep.

The boys and I are now at the Ranger Station on the Lost Creek Trail in Colorado. "So Blackwater Ridge is a pretty remote. It's cut off by these cannons here" Sam explains to us, leaning on the table with the 3D model of the caves.

"Rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." He further elaborates. But me and Dean are too intrigued by the gigantic bear in the picture across the room. "Dude check out the size of this frigging bear" Dean says impressed while I nod.

I look over at Sam with a goofy grin on my face. Pointing to the bear with my thumb. His head pans over to us with a 'really?' look on his face. I just shrug. He walks over to me and Dean, his arms crossed over his chest. "And a dozen or more grizzlies in the areas" Sam says.

"Jesus, ain't no nature hike. That's for sure" I say in disbelief. "You kids aren't planning to go out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" The Ranger behind us who let us into the station inquires. "Oh no sir. We're environmental study majors are UC Boulder. Just working on a paper" I pull the first lie that came to my head out.

Sam and Dean nod agreeing. "Recycle man" Dean says enthusiastically, pumping his fist in the air chuckling as Sam and I smile and nod. "Bull" the ranger calls my lie out. The boys and I now have a panicked look on our faces. "You're friends with that Haley girl right?" The ranger says, pointing his coffee mug our way thinking he's spot on and we just go along with it.

"Yes. Yes we are...Ranger Wilkinson" Dean says, the three of us walking towards the ranger. "Well I will tell you exactly what I told her" The Ranger says. "Her brother filled out a back country permit. Saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the 24th. So it's not exactly a missing persons, now, is it?" Ranger Wilkinson states matter of factly, shrugging.

Dean shakes his head, agreeing with the Ranger. "Tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brothers just fine" The Ranger concludes. "We will sir" I say, nodding. Dean smirks saying "That Haley girls quite a pistol huh"

"That's putting it mildly" the sheriff says nonchalantly. "Actually. You know what would help us if I could how her a copy of that back country permit. You know, so she could see her brothers return date" Dean persuades the Ranger into giving us a copy of the permit.

Dean chuckles mischievously while we walk out of the station, I have an inkling why Dean wanted that girls address. "What are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam asks his brother, annoyed. "What do you mean?" Dean follows up his question with a question.

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge. What are we waiting for?. Let's just go find Dad." Sam says obviously. "I mean, why even talk to this girl?" Sam says, still annoyed. "It wouldn't kill to look Sammy, maybe we should know what we're waking into before we actually walk into it" I defend. Dean shakes his head and we look at Sam like 'what the hell is wrong with you man?'

"What?" Sam asks, still annoyed "Since when are you all 'shoot first, ask questions later' anyways?" I ask Sam, crossing my arms over my chest. "Since now" he says bluntly. "Oh really?" Dean says looking slightly proud but I sigh shaking my head at him and Dean just shrugs.

________________________________

We park across of Haley girls house, pulling Quinn in besides Baby. Walking up to the door, I know three times and a very attractive girl opens the door eying us suspiciously. "You must be Haley Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam and y/n" Dean introduces us. "We're rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy" I say to her, hoping she'll let us in.

"Let me see some ID" she says plainly and Dean pulls his fake Ranger badge out and shows it to her. Looking it over, she hesitantly opens the screen door that was separating us and let's us in. She notices my Harley parked across the road.

"That yours?" She asks Dean. "Mine actually" I interject waving. "Nice bike" she smiles at me, I nod accepting the compliment. "Nice car too" She says eyeing Dean up and down. As Dean walks in he mouths "Oh my..." to me and Sam gawking Haley. I roll my eyes. I was checking her out too but Dean is not subtle whatsoever.

"So if Tommy's not due back for a while. How do you know something's wrong?" Sam asks Haley as we walk in. Haley walks out from the kitchen with a bowl in her hand, resting it on the table preparing for dinner "He checks in everyday by cell. He emails photos, stupid little videos. But we haven't heard anything in over three days now" She explains while mixing the bowl of food.

"Well maybe he can't get cell reception" Sam reasons plainly. "He's got a satellite phone too" Haley tells us. "Could he forget to check in?" Dean asks. "He wouldn't do that" Haley's other brother, Ben, speaks up before going back to eating his food. "Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other" Haley describes her home situation to us. Hmmm. Sounds familiar.

Sam clamps his hands in a gun formation, pointing to Haley's computer "Can I see the pictures he sent you?" He asks "Yeah sure". Haley then walks over to the computer, us following behind.

"That's Tommy" She goes into photos and shows us a picture of her brother, flipping through a couple. She lands on a video of Tommy. She starts the video for us to watch.

"Hey Haley. Day six. We're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine. Keeping safe. So don't worry okay? Talk to you tomorrow"

I could've swore I saw shadow moves for a split second in the background of the video right before it ends. I look at Sam, seeing a skeptical look on his face. Maybe he noticed it too. The video ends with Tommy reassuring his sister he's fine.

"Well, we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge, first thing" Dean says smiling at Haley. "Then maybe I'll see you there" Haley says and me and the boys share a look.

"Look, I can't sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning and I'm gonna find Tommy myself" She's determined alright. "I think I know how you feel" Dean relates to Haley's pending desire to protect her brother. His eyes trailing her up and down with admiration.

I feel a burn in my chest from seeing the way he looks at her but I ignore it.

"Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?" I change the subject.

________________________________

After leaving Haley's house, the boys and I decided we needed a beer before we go hiking so we stopped at a local dive bar. At a booth, me and Dean are sitting next to each other and Sam is sitting across from up

"So" Sam starts. "Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing there and they were never found" Sam explains, opening a case file handing it to me.

"Any before that?" Dean asks me, leaning in closer to look at the files. "Yeah. In 1982, eight different people all vanished the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack" Sam continues, pulling out the newspaper clip from the file, showing it to us.

I pull his laptop out of his bag and log into my email to review the video of Tommy that Haley was showing us.

"And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936. Every 23 years. Just like clockwork." Dean takes the newspaper from him as Sam rambles on.

"Okay fellas, watch this. Here's the clincher" I say turning the laptop for them to see. "I told Haley to send me that video of Tommy to my email. Check this out"

I show them three frames of the video where the shadow appears and disappears. "Do it again" Dean orders. Per his request, I show them again. "That's three frames. It's a fraction of a second. Whatever that this is, it can move" I explain, showing them the three frames over and over.

Dean nudges Sam's chest over the table. "Told you something weird going on" He retorts to his brother. Sam huffs saying "Yeah, I got one more thing. In '59, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive" Sam explains and my heart grieves for the poor kid. Dealt a tough hand, damn.

"Is there a name?" I ask, looking at the file.

________________________________

Using the public records we found an address for the survivor. It wasn't too far from the bar actually.

"Look Rangers, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a- " Mr. Shaw, the kid who survived the attack in '59. Now in his 50's. He starts to go over the events before Sam cuts him off.

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Sam asks as if he already knew the answer. Shaw hesitates, taking a long drag from his cigarette. He turns around nodding. "The other people that went missing that year...those bear attacks too?" Dean queries as steps forward.

"What about all the people that went missing this year?? Same thing?" I ask, stepping forward, pressing on Deans question. The cigarette still in Shaws mouth, he doesn't answer "If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it" Dean says trying to sway Shaw into talking.

"I seriously doubt that" Shaw says, doubting us. "Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did." Shaw continues somberly, sitting on his couch. All I see is a broken old man who witnessed something so young, he couldn't understand what it was.

"Mr Shaw...." Sam steps forward, taking a seat next to Shaw "...what did you see?" He asks, flashing him his classic puppy dog eyes that could sway anyone. "Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it though. A roar. Like, no man or animal I ever heard" Shaw breathes pausing with each sentence

"Did it come at night sir?" I ask Shaw gently, taking a seat next to Sam. "Outside your tent?" I add and he looks up. "It got inside our cabin" He says. "I was sleeping infront of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door....it unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that?" He asks the last part rhetorically. "I didn't even wake up until I heard my parents screaming"

"It killed them?" I ask. "Dragged them off into the night. Why it left me alive.....been asking myself that ever since" He says, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Did leave me this though" Pulling down his shirt by the collar, he shows us an old scar, like claw marks on his left shoulder.

Me and Sam pull back a bit after seeing it, shocked by the amount of damage. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon" Shaw says.

________________________________

"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors if they want inside. They just go through the wall" Dean says as we're walking out of Shaws house and towards our vehicles. "So it's probably something else, something corporeal" Sam says and Dean looks at him like 'huh?'.

" 'Corporeal'. Excuse me professor" I snort. "Shut up" He says. "So what do you guys think?" Sam asks the both of us. "The claws, the speed that it moves...could be a Skinwalker" Dean spitballs. "Maybe a black dog?" I add.

"Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it" Dean mocks Sam's words earlier and he rolls his eyes.

We head over to Baby, digging through trunk. I hear something move behind me. Dean heard it too. Turning around we saw nothing so just shrugged in unison. Sam walks back and helps us fix the weapons. "We cannot let that Haley girl go out there" Sam says leaning down

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? She can't go because of a big scary monster?" Dean puts sarcastically, loading a gun handing it to me. "Yeah" Sam says and we look at him shocked. "Her brothers missing Sam. She's not just gonna sit this out. If we go with her, we can protect her and keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend" I try to reason with him but he just narrows his eyes at Metz

"So finding dads not enough?" He says annoyed, turning to Dean and slamming down the Impalas trunk to close it. "Now we gotta babysit too?" He scoffs and I'm taken back by his attitude, so is Dean. "What?" He asks us again, still annoying. I just scoff shaking my head and walk back to Quinn so we can head back to the motel. "Nothing" Dean cuts the conversation, dashing the duffel bag in Sam's chest.

________________________________

The next morning we head up to the woods. I left my bike back at the motel, partially to save gas but also because I didn't feel like driving her through the woods and then having to clean her after. I'll just pick her back up after the hunt is over.

Approaching our destination we see Haley, her other brother Ben and a man we don't recognize, an automatic gun in his hand, with them. This should be interesting. Dean parks his car along the path and we jump out. I throw my duffel bag over my shoulder.

My weapons are on my person but Dean has the appetite of a near-labour pregnant woman. So I made sure to pack snacks for all of us.

"You guys got room for three more?" Dean says as we jump out of the car and Haley seems surprised. "Wait, you wanna come with us?" She asks shocked. "Who're these guys?" The man with the gun asks. "Apparently, this is all the Park Service could muster up for the search and rescue" She says sarcastically, turning back to us.

"You're rangers?" The man asks, his eyes trailing over me, not convinced but I keep a confident look on my face. "That's right sir" I say confidently. "And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Haley asks, looking at our attire judgmentally.

I feel sorta underdressed now, me and Dean look down at our clothes while Sam walks forward. "Well, sweetheart I don't do shorts" he says cockily and I snicker. We walk past the group.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" The man says annoyed as we walk by. "It's dangerous backcountry out there. Her brother might be hurt" he continues. "Believe me sir, I know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help her find her brother, that's all" I say and we all begin walking.

Couple hours in walking through the woods, I decide to make conversation with the group. "So Roy, you said you did a little hunting" I ask the man who had the gun earlier, who later introduced himself as Roy. "Yeah, more than a little" he says cockily. "Uh-huh" I respond unimpressed.

"What kinda furry critters do you hunt?" I ask. "Mostly bucks, sometimes bears" He says nonchalantly. "Tell me, Bambi and Yogi ever hunt you back?" Dean asks sarcastically and Roy grabs me suddenly, pulling me back. Dean goes to step in but I put my hand up stopping him. Indicating I'm fine and he holts in place

"Watcha doing Roy?" I ask him calmly, face to face with him. He bends down, taking up a stick and runs it into the ground sharply. A bear trap clamps up and he looks back up at me smirking. "You should watch where you're stepping lady-ranger" he says. I purse my lips and smile ironically. "It was a bear trap" I say turning back to the group and then I continue walking as they follow.

"You didn't pack any provisions. She's carrying a duffel bag" Haley points out talking to Dean. "You're not rangers, so who the hell are you people?" She says hastily, grabbing Dean by his arm and turning him around. Me and Sam look at him, facially asking him if he's gonna give her the talk, and he nods. We walk past him.

"Sam and I are brothers. Y/N's our best friend. And we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know" He vaguely puts it. "I just figured that you and me, we're on the same boat"

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Haley calms down. "Well I'm telling you now" He says shrugging. "Besides, that's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman...ever. So we okay?" He adds and I roll my eyes. "Yeah. Okay" Haley hesitates but decides to trust him

"And what do you mean we didn't pack provisions?" I say smiling, pulling a bag of m&ms out of my bag handing it to Dean who looks excited like a child. He takes it, opens it and walks away eating it. Haley shakes her head smiling.

Later we're walking up a path. "This is it. Blackwater Ridge" Roy says. "What coordinates are we at?" Sam asks and Roy pulls out a GPS. "Thirty five at minus one eleven." Roy says. I walk up closer to Sam and Dean follows behind.

"You hear that?" Dean asks us. I nod and Sam says "Yeah. Not even crickets". "I'm gonna go take a look around" Roy says. "You shouldn't go off by yourself" I warn him. "That's sweet, cutie. Don't worry about me" He says cockily. I see Dean shift in his feet and his face tenses, glaring at Roy as he walks past us.

"Alright everybody stays together. Let's go" Dean orders.

"Haley! Over here!" We hear Roy yell from a little distance. We all run towards his voice and stumble upon a ransacked campsite. Blood on the tent. "Oh my god!" Haley exclaims. "Looks like a grizzly" Roy says. We investigate the site, claw marks on the tents.

Haley starts yelling her brothers name but Sam runs over, shushing her. She questions him why and he says. "Something might still be out there". We hear Dean calling for us and we follow his voice. We find him kneeling near a track of drag marks that randomly stop.

"The bodies were dragged from the campsite" Dean says quietly. "But here, the tracks just vanish. It's weird" he says getting back up looking around. "I'll tell you what...it's no Skinwalker or Black Dog" I tell them, headed back to the group.

Haley picks up a phone on the ground covered in blood. Dean walks closer to her. "Hey, he could still be alive" He tries to reassure him. We hear what sounds like a man screaming "HELLPPPP!" Alerting us all, we look towards the direction it was coming from. We all drop all our bags and burst into the direction where the man was screaming.

Weapons in hand, the screaming stops and no one is around. "It seemed like it was coming from around here, didnt it?" Haley asks the group. We all look around cautiously, now on edge. Something about that scream. It seemed weird. It didn't sound human.

"Everybody back to camp" Sam ordered and we all followed him back to where we dropped our stuff only to find its gone. "Our packs" Haley says. "So much for my GPS and satellite phone" Roy mutters, looking at the empty ground where our stuff was. Oh shit. I think I know what we're dealing with.

"What the hell is going on?" Haley asks, now frustrated. "It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help" Sam explains but Roy butts in "You mean someone, some nut job out there, just stole all our gear" Roy says.

"I need to speak with you two, in private" I say when walk over to Sam and Dean. We go a little distance out of earshot. "Okay, let me see your dad's journal" I say and John gives me John's journal. I open it and flip to the page where I knew I saw a creature called a "Wendigo". It's profile almost exactly like what we could be dealing with.

"Alright, check this out fellas" I give them the book with the drawing of a Wendigo, showing it to them. "Oh come on" Dean scoffs, not believing it. "Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west" he says but Sam agrees with me.

"No she's got a point, think about it Dean. The claws, the way it can mimic a human voice..." Sam defends me. "Great. Well then this is useless" Dean says, holding up his gun. I hand him back his dad's journal. I sigh, walking back to the campsite, "We gotta get these people to safety" Sam tells us.

"Alright, listen up. It's time to go. Things have gotten more complicated" Sam orders. "What?" Haley asks but Roy, once again, butts in. "Kid don't worry, whatever's out there. I think we can handle it"

"It's not me I'm worried about, if you shoot this thing you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now." Sam says, getting agitated at Roy's failure to comply. "One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders" Roy retorts.

"Relax!" "Chill out!" Me and Dean bark at Roy simultaneously. "We never should've let you come out here in the first place alright. I'm trying to protect you" Sam argues back. "You? Protect me?!" Roy says in disbelief. "I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight" He gets up in Sam's face.

"Oh yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you. And it's gonna hunt you down unless you get your stupid sorry ass outta here" Sam says and Roy just laughs in his face thumping his chest. "You know you're crazy right" Roy says laughing in his face.

Sam snaps "Yeah!? You ever hunt a Wen-" before he could finish his sentence, me and Dean push him back from Roy before he could say anything else. "Chill out!" Dean calms his brother down. I've had enough, I turn to Roy gritting my teeth.

"You know you're a measly cocky old son of a bitch!" I yell in his face. He smirks at me and Dean pulls me back before I could put my hands on him and Haley yells. "Guys! Stop. Everybody just stop!" We all simmer down a bit.

"Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." She says determinate. Dean looks at us before saying "It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day...but an unbelievable one at night. We'll never beat it. Not in the dark" He walks past Haley "We need to settle in and protect ourselves" and she asks "How?"

The sun has set. We gave the group the talk about monsters and explained the Wendigo situation. Now Dean and I are drawing Anasazi symbols for protection on the ground.

"One more that that's...?" Haley asks me while I'm drawing the symbol. "Anasazi symbols.. it's for protection. The Wendigo can't cross over them" I explain and Roy being the jackass he is just laughs. "Nobody like a skeptic Roy" I narrow my eyes at him, getting up from the ground.

Me and Dean go over to Sam sitting on a log. "You wanna tell us what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" He asks his little brother. "Guys-" Sam starts but I cut him off. "No, you're not fine" I cross my arms over my chest. "You're like a powder keg man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" Dean adds.

"Dads not here" Sam says almost disappointed. "I mean that much we know for sure right. He would've left us a message, a sigh. Right?"

"Yeah you're probably right" Dean agrees and I nod. "To tell you the truth, I don't think Dads ever been to Lost Creek" Dean says honestly. "Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find dad. I mean why are we still here?" Sam says agitated, throwing a stick on the ground angrily.

Dean gets up and sits in-front of Sam, next to y/n. "This is why" he places his hand on his father journal. Pointing at it while he talks. "This book. This is Dads single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it onto us. I think he wants to pick up where he left off." Dean lectures. "You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business"

Sam shakes his head. "Im sorry Dean but It makes no sense. Why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants? Tell us where he is?" I interject. "I don't know. But the way I see it...Dads given us a job to do and I intend to do it" Dean says.

"Dean. No. We gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer.....it's the only thing I can think about" Sam says shaking his head, tears welling up in his eyes and my heart yearns for him. "Alright Sam, we'll find them, I promise" I say gently, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while. And all that anger...you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you" Dean advises his younger brother. "You gotta have patience man" I add.

"How do you guys do it? How does dad do it?" He asks us. Dean looks over to Haley and Ben. Well, for one, them. I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little more bareable" Dean says. "I'll tell you what helps me" I say, taking my hand off his shoulder. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches i possibly can" I say and Dean smirks at me. "Damn straight" he says, nudging my shoulder with his.

"Help meeee!!" Screams a voice in the distance. We all get up, cocking our guns. "Please!!!" It yells again. "Helllpppp!!" It sounds more strained this time. "It's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool. Stay put" Dean warns the group.

"Inside the magic circle" Roy says in a mocking tone. "Shut it Roy" I huff. "Help!!!" It screams again. "Help me!!! Plea-AHHHH" it cuts off and we hear a roar before it starts screaming. "Okay that's no grizzly" Roy says, now on board. "Ya think" I snap at him.

Haley reassures her little brother he'll be alright but they're scared, which is valid. We hear a growling behind us and a shadow moves. Haley screams at this.

"It's here" I say. Roy tries shooting. We hear it scream. "I hit it" He says, thinking he killed it, he runs out the circle. "Roy no! Roy!" I yell after him but he doesn't listen. "Stay here!" Dean tells Haley and Ben. Me and the boys run behind Roy. But he's nowhere to be found.

It's sunrise and we're all sitting by the abandoned campsite. Dean is checking out the claw marks left behind by the Wendigo on the trees. "I don't...I mean these types of things. They aren't supposed to be real" Haley says, skeptical.

"I wish I could tell you different" Dean says walking over and sitting next to me. "How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Haley asks. "We don't. But we're safe for now" I say honestly. "How do you guys know about this stuff?" She asks us. "Kinda runs in the family" Dean says.

"Hey, so we've got half a chance in the daylight" Sam says, walking back to the campsite. "And I for one...wanna kill this evil son of a bitch" He says. Me and Dean nod smirking. "Well hell you know we're in"

We go through John's journal and explain what a Wendigo is.

"Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours' " Sam reads from the journal. "They're also hundreds of years old and each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, other times a frontiersman, or a miner, or a hunter." Dean continues.

"How does a man turn into one of these things?" Haley asks. "During some harsh winter, a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. He becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp" I explain. "Like the Donner Party" Haley's brother says.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities: speed, strength, immortality.." Sam adds. "If you eat enough of it, over years you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry" I say.

"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Haley asks. The boys and I share a worried look. Dean says "You're not gonna like it". "Tell me" Haley insists. "More than anything, a Wendigo knows how to last longe winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time. When it's awake, it keeps its victims alive...it stores them. So it can feed whenever it wants" Dean explains.

"Look hon, if your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden and safe. And we gotta track it back there" I say. "And then how do we stop it?" She asks. "Well, guns are useless. So are knives" Dean says. "Basically.." I say, holding up a liquor bottle, lighter and a cloth. "...we gotta torch the sucker" I say, handing the Molotov cocktail over to Dean.

We make our way through the woods with Dean leading the way. "Dean. Y/N" Sam calls us, looking up at the claw marks on the trees. "What is it?" I ask. We look around at the marks on the trees. They're too...perfect. Somethings not right.

"You know, I was thinking that those claw prints, so clear and distinct...they were almost too easy to follow" Sam says superstitiously. All of a sudden we hear growling, the bushes rustle around us. And then Haley screams, what looks like a body falls on the ground next to her. Roy's body.

Sam goes to check on her. Dean and I rush over to Roy's body to check if he's somewhat alive. "Dean, his necks broken" I say and the growling won't stop. "Okay run run run! Go go go!" We all run always from the area, deeper into the woods. Ben trips and falls so Sam and I run back to help him up. "It's okay kid, I got you" He help him up and then run to catch up with Haley and Dean.

We hear Haley scream again. "Haley!!" Her brother yells. Sam finds the my lighter that I gave Dean on the ground, showing it to me "DEAN!!!!" I yell.

________________________________

Hours again of walking, no sign of Dean or Haley. I'm worried something happened to Dean...and Haley obviously. "So it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy" Ben asks us.

"Honestly, I think cuz Roy shot at it. He pissed it off" Sam said. "They went this way" Ben said suddenly. "How do you know?" I ask approaching him and he hand me an M&M. I chuckle a bit and show Sam. Dean, you slimy motherfucker. He smiles a bit, sighing relieved, "It's better then breadcrumbs" I say throwing the candy aside and we all follow the trail.

The candy trail led to a tunnel opening labeled 'Warning! Danger! Do Not Enter! Extremely Toxic Material!'

Sam, Ben and I enter it, flashing our lights along the tunnel. We hear the growling again, Sam and I pull Ben to the side. We see the Wendigo walking out through the tunnel, Ben whimpers terrified and I place my hand over his mouth shushing him.

We walk deeper into the tunnel side by side. Not realizing we stepped on a wooden opening, it creaks a bit before caving in and the three of us all through into a pit. Ben jumps back into my arms after seeing the skulls of....well....the Wendigos menu. "It's okay, it's okay" I comfort him, calming him down.

We look over to see Dean and Haley tied to the wall. Sam and I instantly rush over to Dean instantly while Ben runs over to Haley. "Dean?? Hey Dean wake up" I say shaking him. "Come on Dean" Sam shakes his brother. And he grunts, cringing in pain.

"You okay?" I place my hands on his face, gently shaking him again. "Yeah" he forces out, still in pain.  "Haley. Haley. Wake up. Wake up" Ben calls out shaking his sister to wake up. I pull out my butterfly knife in my combat boots, cutting Dean down while Sam supports his weight. "Gotcha" Sam says, helping Dean down.

I place one of Deans arm around my shoulder and Sam takes his other, holding him up. "I thought it killed you" Sam said as we rest Dean down, still grunting in pain. "Are you sure you're alright charming??" I ask him, my heart hurting to see him in pain. "Yeah princess I'm fine. Where is it?" He asks about the Wendigo. "It's gone for now" Sam says.

We didn't notice until Haley went into a corner and started sobbing. Then we see, Tommy in a dark corner tied up just like Dean and Haley were. "Tommy....Tommy" Haley sobs. She puts her hands on his face and he gasps for air surprising us all. "Cut him down" She says. She holds him up supporting his weight and I flip my butterfly knife open, rushing over to cut him down.

The three siblings share a tearful reconciliation. "Check it out" Dean says smirking, holding up three flare guns. "Those'll work." Sam and I say in unison smiling a bit as Dean twirls one of guns in his fingers.

We all make our way through the tunnel. Haley and Ben holding up a weak Tommy. The flare guns in our possession. The Wendigo growls, the sound coming nearer and nearer. The boys and I cock our guns at the direction of the growls. "Looks like someone's home for supper" Dean says. "We'll never outrun it." Haley says. The boys and I look at each other, a silent conversation with our eyes.

"You fellas thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask them. "Yeah I think so" Sam says and Dean nods. "Alright listen to me. Stay with Sam and Y/N, they're gonna get you out of here" Dean orders them. "No I'm coming with you" I insist. "Over my dead body. Stay with Sam" He instructs me and I narrow my eyes at him.

"Order me like that again and I'll kill you before the Wendigo does us. Now can it and move your butt" I stand my ground. He smirks at me, obliging.

"What're you gonna do?" Haley asks Dean and he winks at her. I feel a thump in my chest but I ignore it.

Dean's POV

(A/N: just giving a tiny insight of Deans mind😉)

"No I'm coming with you" Y/N insists. "Over my dead body. Stay with Sam" I instruct her, praying she'll listen for once but she just narrows her eyes at me and I internally sigh. This woman will be the death of me one day I swear.

"Order me like that again and I'll kill you before the Wendigo does us. Now can it and move your butt" She whisper yells at me in a commanding tone, standing her ground. God she's so hot when she's all business no play. Wait. What? Not the time Dean!

Smirking I oblige. "What're you gonna do?" Haley asks. I turn to her and wink attempting to reassure her. Me and Y/N split from the group to lure the Wendigo out.

"It's chow time, you freaky bastard!!" I yell. "Yeah that's right! Bring it on baby! I taste good!!" Y/N yells as we go deeper into the tunnel. Oh I bet she does. Stop it Dean!

We move along the path and I yell. "Hey! Hey, you want some white meat bitch!"

"I'm right here sexy! Come and get me!! You know you want me!!" Y/N yells.

Third Person POV

Meanwhile Y/N and Dean are baiting the Wendigo. Sam, Haley, Ben and Tommy hear the growling. Realizing they need to make use of their time and get out, Sam tells Haley "Get them out of here"

"Sam, no" She goes to protest but he cuts her off. "Go. Go!" He commands them and they hesitantly go. Sam moves towards the growling, hiding behind a wall. "Come on...come on." He whispers thinking the Wendigo is on the opposite side, only to hear footsteps next to him.

He turns his head and the Wendigo roars in his face. He fires his flare gun at him, missing, hitting the wall. He runs towards the direction the group headed. Haley hears the shot fired and yells "Sam!!!"

"Come on. Hurry. Hurry! Hurry! Let's go!" He rushes them to get out but the Wendigo gains on them. It ends up cornering them. "No! Damn it! Get behind me" Sam uses his body as a human shield to protect them.

The Wendigo approaches them, an animalistic roar leaving his inhumane mouth. "Hey!" Dean and Y/N appear behind it. Both firing at it. It screams in agony before bursting into flames infront of all their eyes. Dropping dead on the floor.

"Not bad huh" Dean says cockily, making Sam and Haley smile.

________________________________

Back at the Ranger Station, paramedics and deputies are outside, paramedics loading Tommy up. While Ben gets questioned by the cops. Y/N and Sam next to him. "So the bear came back again after you yelled at it?" Ranger Wilkinson asked. Using the mental script Y/N told him to say to the cops.

"That's when it circled the campsite. The grizzly must've weighed 800-900 pounds" Ben says fluidly. "We'll go after it at first light" The cop half promises. Y/N looks over to see Dean and Haley walking together besides the cars. They're out of earshot so she can't hear their conversation.

"So really, I don't know how to thank you" Haley says to Dean. He gives her his classic shit eating grin and Haley scoffs. "Must you cheapen the moment" she says. "Yeah" Dean says smiling, giving her a flirtatious look.

Looking at the body language, Y/N assumed Dean made a pass at Haley and just turned back. The smile Dean gave Haley made her melt a bit but it wasn't directed to her.

Ben, Sam and Y/N walk over to them after the cops are done with their questions. Haley leans over and kisses Dean on his cheek. Y/N turns her head away trying not to look. She felt her stomach flip but doing what her stubborn ass always does. She ignored it.

"I hope you find your father" Haley says sincerely. She turns and wraps her arm around the back of Bens neck from the side. "Thanks Sam. Thanks Y/N" she says gratefully and they nod.

The trio lean against the hood of the Impala, looking on as the load up onto the ambulance. "Man I hate camping" Y/N grumbles. "Me too" Sam seconds. "Damn straight" Dean also agrees. Dean turns to his brother and best friend. "You guys know we're gonna find Dad right?"

"Yeah, I know" Sam says not convinced. Y/N just nods, frowning a bit. "But in the meantime....I'm driving" Sam says smirking. Y/N snickers at Deans hesitant face looking down at his keys. He throws it up in the air for Sam to catch but Y/N jumps up catching it.

"Hey!" Sam exclaims amused. Dangling the keys in the air, Y/N says. "It's my shift boys, you can take over when we get back to the motel and I get my bike Sammy" She winks at them, strutting over to the drivers seat. Dean laughs hysterically at this, partially due to Sam's face.

He looks like a 5 year old who just got his candy stolen. Dean doesn't mind her driving his car though. She thought him and Sam how to drive Quinn after her dad thought her how to. The trio get into Baby, Dean sitting shotgun and Sam taking the backseat, pouting. Y/N starts Baby's engine, revving it, she looks over at Dean smirking and he winks at her. Putting the car in gear and they're off.

Authors Note:

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!

Hi hello! So I forgot to mention that Y/N's mom and dad were childhood friends. I added it to the prologue. You can reread it, it's in the flashback of her leaving and going off on her own. Please excuse my lack of planning, I'm fairly new to this and just learning as I go.

Xoxo

[respectthepetty]

Petty, I respect you.

I do.

However.

DONT BE QUITE ABOUT THE COLOURS IN ON1Y 1 BECAUSE I WILL READ A FULL THESIS ON IT, 20 PAGES!!!! 50 PAGES!!!!

PLEASEEEE Give

It

To

Meeeeeeeee 🥹

Anon,

You've opened a floodgate.

Because I always notice the colors, but just because I see colors doesn't mean I know why they are significant. Even if I see there is a pattern, it doesn't mean I understand its importance. And I don't think y'all should be subject to me screaming about Jiang Tian's paper bookmarks being yellow and pink in a book of (love?) poems where he has highlighted that "a girl's shyness is like a tender cherry under the sunlight" and "16- and 17-year-olds are like fruits in the morning sun, sparkling."

Sheng Wang asks who this is about, but we know who this is about. The colors mean things.

And more importantly, I actually didn't write weekly or episodic posts about shows until 2022. I used to wait until a show was over to write about the colors or background noise, and, mostly, I only did it when people would ask me about it. Big Dragon was the first show that I felt compelled to write weekly about the colors and background noise because it was so amazing, so 2024 is still an odd space for me to be in sometimes because as much as I love colors, I'm ALWAYS surprised how much y'all want to know about them . . . weekly . . . per episode . . . for all the shows.

I write for myself, but sometimes I think y'all don't need to witness me losing my shit every week for sixteen weeks over obviously color-coded characters in The Loyal Pin.

And sometimes I think y'all don't want to witness me losing my shit over colors that I can't completely understand like the grays in 4 Minutes.

And then other times I think y'all shouldn't have to witness me losing my shit over colors that I'm not sure are colors until I've watched enough episodes to feel sure that the colors are, in fact, coloring; then, the series, The Trainee, actually tells me the colors were coloring the entire time like I thought.

And that's why I try to be quiet about shows because I'm figuring them out in my head, or I'm waiting for enough information to feel confident about them, and I don't want to hog up the tag with my ramblings. I need to sit in it a bit to figure out what the colors mean.

Kiseki: Dear to Me was the perfect example. I didn't mention anything about colors until prompted by others because it took me until the third episode to feel certain that Chen Yi and Ai Di matched colors, then it took me close to the end of the series to realize all the cameo couples ALSO matched colors.

It took me until the end of My Love Mix-Up to realize Aoki's color had evolved.

It took me two seasons (and a movie) to feel secure that Kiyoi was a Heavenly Human in My Beautiful Man.

And it took me until midway through Semantic Error to figure out why the red disappeared.

That's how The On1y One is for me. I knew yellow/orange and blue would play some part in the story based on the posters, but I wasn't sure how until I started seeing more visuals appear.

Because even though I saw a yellow container of food for Sheng Wang in the first episode,

I didn't realize he mostly ate color-coded food until episode four.

It's such a tiny detail, so I could have easily missed it, but because I know that he is a picky eater, I feel like it's not simply a coincidence, and I quickly noticed it in the eighth episode.

But I needed to collect more images before I could state that. I needed to let the story develop before I realized it. I needed to settle into it. And that's why I wrote my halfway point post after a few people asked if I noticed.

Because I know I seem like a magician who shouts a lot, but I'm not. Sometimes, I have to be patient and let the colors sneak up on me while I'm simply enjoying the moment, like Sheng Wang's orange alarm clock nestled into the corner of his bed while he falls asleep on his light yellow pillow in his light yellow shirt.

I know not all visuals can be a literal bright yellow sign hanging from the color-coded boy's room, ya know?

I'm not Jenny who cannot grasp that she keeps taking food and drinks meant for Benny even when he realized if she could figure out the mug was about gay rights without realizing he was gay then someone smarter will along and piece the dots together . . .

Because like, girl, he's gay.

But it does take me time to collect images and get my thoughts in order, so until then, I'm going to be quiet.

Or as quiet as a loud ass like me can be.

[iambicpentameterhamster]

Every umbrella academy character ranked (seasons 1-4)

After that shitshow of a fourth season, i felt it necessary to redo this.

#36 -The Sparrows (Jayme, Alphonso, Fae etc.)

The show had no clue what to do with these characters. They sit around being evil for a little while only to promptly die within four episodes. Also one of them is a fucking cube?!? Whats up with that?

#35 - Sloane

How come she disappears in season 4 but not sparrow Ben? So much of this makes no sense.

#34 -Sparrow Ben

I hate this character with my whole being. He goes around calling people emo as if HE DOESNT WAKE UP EVERY MORNING WITH A SCOWL ON HIS STUPID FACE AND EMO HAIR ON HIS STUPID FOREHEAD. He's so rude and awful and i'm given no reason by the show to give a shit where he ends up.

#33 -Carl Cooper

This one speaks for itself.

#32 -Reggie's wife

The two of them annoyed me so much.

#31 -Viktor

Moochy emo sod. Elliott Page's acting got progressively worse throughout the series (and i like Elliott Page, but this wasnt his best work.)- season 1 Vanya was tolerable, beyond that i couldn't stand this character. All his jokes land flat and he has the charisma of a piece of cardboard.

#30 -Season 4 Five

For the sake of this ranking, i am treating seasons 1-3 Five and season 4 Five as seperate characters. Seems like the writers were doing the same. What the fuck, guys? How do you bulldoze a character this badly?

Season 4 Five was unfunny, selfish, cowardly, and most of all on a different plane of being from the Five we all knew and loved. Screw you, season 4 Five, you're not canon.

#29 -Season 4 Lila

I'm treating Lila the same way. Season 4 Lila was an injustice to seasons 2-3 Lila.

#28 -Harlan

Couldn't care less about him. He represents to me when the umbrella academy started going to shit in season 3.

#27 -Jennifer

Again, we are given no reason to care about her.

#26 -Pogo

He was just there for the exposition. They never explained why Reggie was doing experiments on monkeys??

#25 -Reggie

He was quite a good villain but i still hate him. Really goofy at times, too.

#24 -Jean and Gene

They were quite good actually. If season 4 wasn't a dumpster fire, i reckon they'd have been able to really shine.

#23 -Cha Cha

This is getting into better territory. I liked Cha Cha, she was badass, but not well developed.

#22 -Detective Patch

Again, i liked her, but she wasn't given much time to develop as a character.

#21 -The Swedes

They were funny, whimsical villains that were fun to watch on screen. Funny and whimsical are two adjectives that TUA used to embody.

#20 -Elliott

My guy just wanted to eat fish and be a conspiracy theorist 😔

#19 -Sissy

Welcome back, Sheldon's mum.

In all seriousness, she was well acted despite Viktor's actor giving her nothing to work with, so props to her.

#18 -Dave

WE GOT ZERO MENTIONS OF DAVE IN SEASONS 3-4?!? DESPITE HIM BEING A HUGE PART OF KLAUS'S CHARACTER?!?! WHEN I CATCH YOU WRITERS-

#17 -Destiny's children

I am in fact an active member

#16 -Luther

I have bumped Luther up my list because in seasons 3-4 he sort of embraces his goofiness, but in seasons 1-2 he is an insufferable, incestuous moron. He is up here for good character development and i wished he could have ended up with Sloane.

#15 -Agnes

She was really cute and sweet, i liked her a lot. RIP season 1, you were peak.

#14 -Herb and Dot

They were sweet and funny too, and i miss the whole idea of the time commission.

#13 -Kenny's mum

An honourable mention

#12 -Grace

Grace was super well performed and poignant. I have no issues with Grace.

#11 -Stan

Live, laugh, love Stan. I hate that the trauma of losing him was never mentioned in season 4 for Diego or Lila.

My top 10

#10 -Lenoard Peabody/ Harold Jenkins

I stand by him being one of the best-acted and most cleverly written villains of all time. He is not only a well-executed surprise villain, but a scarily accurate one, and the actor plays him to perfection. We even start to like him before the cracks show. Also he looks like a creepy version of Lin Manuel Miranda.

#9 -Ray

Season 4 did Ray DIRTY. It was completely out of character for him to just walk out. They could have at least have him die in a tragic accident or something. Season 2 Ray is the perfect, most charismatic, ideal man and i hold him in my heart forever and in my head Alison and Ray ended up together.

#8 -Hazel

He had one of the best arcs on the show, period. Continues to represent everything good about the first two seasons of TUA. He was flawed, he was human, he was loveable.

#7 -Umbrella Ben

He seemed like he could have been a brilliant character with more screen time. His sacrifice in season 2 was a genuinely moving moment. The backstreet boys moment is SO FUNNY and his and Klaus's dynamic is something i really miss.

#6 -The Handler

We don't appreciate The Handler enough. The show started rolling downhill as soon as The Handler was gone. She was the glue that held the show together, one of the best villains/antagonists in TV history.

#5 -Allison

Yes, season 3 Allison made some stupid choices and did some terrible things, but a lot of it came from grief and she redeemed herself in season 4 imo. Seasons 1-2 Allison was one of the most charismatic, endearing and empathetic characters on the show.

#4 -Seasons 1-2 Lila

I love you. I miss you. Come back to me.

#3 -Diego

Bumped up the list for being a CONSISTENTLY good character who is flawdd but still extremely loveable and hilarious.

#2 -Seasons 1-3 Five

Seasons 1-3 Five would shoot season 4 Five in the face. He is the daddy here, and season 4 Five is the creepy uncle.

Original Five is a masterfully crafted, hilarious, unique, intelligent character and i will not let season 4 ruin it for me.

#1 -Klaus

This needs no justification.

What do you think? How far do you agree?

[whoopsyeahokay]

October Sun

summary: Xavier had been tormented by many things since Maddie's disappearance, Simon's distrust and hostility at the top of the list. but there'd been other things that'd kept him up at night as well, and for a much longer time. I know we don't talk about it, he'd said, but maybe we should...

pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader

warnings: eventual smutty smut smut. and mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence. very involved, very dense plot.

bon reading, frens

___________________________💀

OCTOBER SUN pt.20

Xavier stood in front of the closed door, wary, unsure if he was allowed to open it. He knew what was behind it, knew you were in there because you hadn't been in your room when he'd gone to check on you after he'd heard the pipes shudder and the water stop.

He'd spent the last thirty minutes with Abigail—your grandmother—in the kitchen, their conversation skirting around the topic of your panic attack as if admitting what had caused it would conjure another episode. Abigail had fed him cookies and chocolate milk like he was still the little boy she'd been introduced to years ago, all scraped knees and peach-fuzz hair, adult teeth too big for his smile.

A massive tupperware of spaghetti and meatballs waited for him on the bench in the foyer where he'd kicked off his shoes and hung his jacket upon entering the house. Abigail always fretted over him. Hugged him and held him like her own. Xavier adored her. Adored your whole family, really; profoundly grateful to be accepted as part of it. Especially after his own had dissolved into something he couldn't hold together no matter how much he'd tried.

Still, being accepted into your family didn't mean Xavier had access to every corner and cranny. Some things were off-limits, private, For Our Eyes Only, and the room he lingered outside of was one of them. But, fuck it, he'd already missed his Bio test; had skipped last period to get you home safe, and he needed to make sure you were okay before he left.

With a grounding breath, Xavier summoned the courage and opened the door.

The room was daytime-dark, curtains drawn, the stars tacked on the ceiling glowing an eerie, phosphorous green. He could easily make out the child-height furniture. The shelves of picture books and action figures. Spiderman sheets, sleeves of Pokémon cards, and a stack of VHS tapes Aurora had insisted on playing whenever she'd been forced to babysit—"This sucks, Rory, we want Netflix!"—"Shut up. This is so much better!"

The air smelt stale, stuffy, and there was a thick film of dust on every surface but the bed. A shrine untouched in the years between Then and Now.

Xavier's eyes fell to where you sat on the floor, knees up, head tipped back to rest on the low, single bed. He wanted to turn around. Leave. Being there felt intrusive. But, you didn't yell at him. Didn't tell him to fuck off. Didn't throw something at his head. You barely acknowledged him apart from patting the ground beside you in behest.

He dropped down easily; accepted your weight when you slumped into his side, head on his shoulder, damp hair soaking a wet patch into the collar of his shirt. He rested his elbows on his knees, hand clasped around opposite wrist, and pressed his cheek into the top of your head. Glancing down the length of you, he noticed the stuffed lion in your arms. A long, gangly thing with a round face and button eyes, features sewn in black thread on a corduroy canvas.

Aidan had toted that thing around like a limb, Xavier remembered.

It hurt everywhere to think of the little boy who'd inserted himself into the sleepovers and hangouts you'd had in elementary school. Afternoons and evenings spent shooing him away only to give in within minutes because neither you nor Xavier or Hana had the heart to say no to him.

"Sissy~, I want to play, too!"

A lump formed in Xavier's throat, pressure behind his eyes that he ignored to ask, "Are you okay?" He kept his voice just above a whisper, the way people spoke in church. Afraid to disturb the spectral peace that pervaded the room.

After several beats, you finally admitted, "I don't think so," and held the lion tighter.

Xavier didn't know how to respond, the agreement you'd both made six years ago—no questions asked—weighing his conscience down. He wanted to respect the promise. Had always respected it just as you had done for him. However, things felt too heavy not to at least broach the subject.

On a shaky exhale, Xavier ventured, "I know we don't talk about it, but...maybe we should."

"Zav..."

"No, listen, you freaked the fuck out back there and it scared the shit out of me. I haven't seen you that bad in years." He nudged you off his shoulder with a minute shrug, shifting to prop his head against the bed. You studied him, thick lashes starred from your shower, and eyes glassy. The misery miring your expression was visible enough through the dark that Xavier felt guilty for saying anything. He said anyway, "Please don't shut me out."

His mother had very little interest in him; his dad treated him like an unbroken animal. And Maddie...he'd fucked that up so much that, even if she came back, he wouldn't be able to look her in the eye. And yes, yeah, he'd done it to himself, okay? He knew that. He'd always made sure not to let himself get too comfortable. Kept people at arm's length because, if he didn't, it would hurt so much worse when they eventually left.

But you were different. You'd been there since he'd pushed Harrison Levi out of the sandbox in kindergarten and split the kid's eyebrow open. The only one in the class who hadn't been afraid of Xavier after that, and had shared your crayons and glue during crafts period.

Xavier needed you like a lifeline, the one person in the whole damn world who saw him for who he was and hadn't left him in the past. You'd stayed through the angst of his parents' separation; through a childhood filled with inappropriate humor and distasteful comments. Through above-average forgetfulness and outbursts he couldn't control.

He felt the warmth of your breath on his cheeks, smelt peppermint toothpaste and vanilla shampoo; faces close, sides pressed together in a soft line. An intimate bubble of privacy and safety.

"I saw Ms. Chung in the hallway before class." You said at last, as if that explained everything, and okay, sure, Xavier could work with that.

Kind of. "Who?"

"The grief counselor that Principal Hartman brought in on Monday." You elaborated. "She, uhm...She was the counselor I saw after..."

Xavier understood what you couldn't say. Nodded and smiled gratefully at you for having shared that much. He filled in some blanks himself, "And, I guess, this whole thing with Maddie is hitting pretty close to home, huh?"

You snorted, "Yeah, it definitely has the whole 'someone you think you can trust ends up betraying you' thing going for it."

Xavier's blood ran cold.

It would occur to him later that he didn't fully understand how your comment related to your trauma. It was the one police file his dad had ensured Xavier couldn't get his hands on and snoop through.

For now, he was blindsided by fear. Because who the fuck else had Maddie been meant to trust and was instead betrayed by? Sandra, perhaps, but you didn't know that. Did you? Had you also been to see her? No, that would be weird as hell. You and Maddie were friends-by-extension. Xavier didn't think you even knew where Maddie lived. Thus, as far as Xavier knew, he was the only one who fit the profile, which meant that, oh God no, you knew about Claire and this was the moment you banished Xavier from your life forever. He wasn't ready. He wasn't ready to be entirely alone, not yet, please, not yet—

"What does that mean?" He fished, tone even, though inwardly he was losing his shit.

Your focus went distant as you seemed to think carefully about what you wanted to say. With his heart in his throat, Xavier listened as you told him, "Simon and I think Mr. Anderson had something to do with Maddie's disappearance."

And he almost cried in relief. Until a certain part of your statement sunk in.

"You and Simon?"

You leaned back, looking at Xavier like you were mentally fitting him for a dunce cap. "Really? That's what you're concerned about? Zav, you went on an adventure with his only other best friend yesterday. He didn't have anyone else to talk to, so yeah, I'm happy to help him follow whatever leads he finds."

"At least Nicole doesn't hate me." Xavier hissed, "Simon dead-ass accused me of hurting Maddie in front of everyone."

"Okay, a) I made sure to get it through his skull that you're innocent. And, b) Simon doesn't hate you." You stopped, appearing somewhat hesitant to continue before you went on in sympathy, "He's just obviously in love with Maddie and you're the guy she chose instead."

As if Xavier hadn't been painfully aware of Simon's big, fat crush on Maddie since the fledgling days of their relationship. Simon had been a looming presence; had viscerally attempted to hold back glaring daggers at Xavier across the lunch table or over your and Mathilda's heads at shows, or movies, or tailgates.

"We're all trying to figure out where Maddie is." You said, bringing the situation to order. "And it seems like we've all been doing a better job than the cops because you and Nicole found boot prints and a ticket, and Simon found a stash of cash in Mr. Anderson's classroom. Plus, after talking about it last night—"

"You saw Simon last night?"

You talked over Xavier, the volume of your voice rising marginally, "—he and I think he's hiding something in the theater, too."

Xavier hung his head, cracked his neck, and rolled his shoulders, trying to calm the wave of conflicting emotion cresting inside him. You were his best friend. Yet, you'd buddied off with Simon Creepy Possessive Elroy to—

"Wait. Anderson has money in his classroom?"

You rolled your eyes, sporting a sardonic smile, "Yes, Officer Baxter, welcome back to the point. You done being weird?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Xavier apologized sincerely, ducking to catch your eye. He swiveled to rest his side against the bed and face you more easily. "That was a lot of information to digest. I didn't mean to get weird about you and Simon being close all of a sudden."

You playfully shoved a hand into Xavier's face, "Aw, Zav, don't worry, I'm still all yours," and winked before dissolving into a merry cackle.

Xavier reached across the narrow space between you both and slung an arm around your neck, dragging you close to ruffle your hair. It didn't have the same effect as when your hair was dry, tangling and teasing it into an 80s starburst, but it was close enough. You squealed and giggled, laid Aidan's lion on the bed, and then wrestled Xavier off you. In retaliation, he banded his arms around your torso and pulled you into his chest, fingers dancing along your sides.

It was fun, silly, something neither of you had been in what Xavier felt had been forever. Your laughter brightened the room, pushed the melancholy shadows into the corners, and made way for a cheerful lightness that hadn't existed in the space for too long.

"You're an ass." You wheezed, squirming out of Xavier's grasp and settling back against the bed, one leg held close and chin propped on your knee.

"Yeah, but you love me," Xavier teased.

He was loathe to ruin the moment—you beaming at him with dimpled cheeks and crinkled eyes—but his phone started to buzz in his front pocket. He dug it out, saw who was calling and glanced at you for confirmation that he should answer.

At your nod, he accepted the call, "Hey Tilda, sorry for not calling before, but—"

"SIMON, DON'T SAY A FUCKING WORD UNTIL MY MOM GETS THERE!" Mathilda shrieked on the other end of the line and then, into the phone, "What the fuck, Xavier, I tried calling you three times already!"

She had? Xavier hadn't felt his phone vibrate before then...Of course, when he was hyper-focused on something, everything else fell away, muffled by the void until he poked his head out of whatever rabbit hole he'd tumbled down. And, when it came to taking care of you, nothing else penetrated until he'd exhausted himself putting a smile back on your face.

Something he'd just succeeding in doing, damn it.

You pounced forward, grabbing Xavier's phone out of his hand and putting the call on speaker, "What's going on?"

"The cops just dragged Simon out of the school." Mathilda relayed, harried, clearly on the move. "I called my mom, but she won't be in town for another hour!" You and Xavier shared a look before Mathilda pulled attention back to what was unfolding on her end, "They're putting him in the back seat! That's bad, right!? XAVIER!? Is that bad!? What the heLL IS GOING ON!?"

"It's fine, Tilda," Xavier reassured firmly, eyes fixed on yours. "Unless he's in handcuffs, they aren't arresting him. They probably just want his statement on the record."

"His statement for what?" Mathilda sounded ready to go to battle, "They already asked us about Friday!"

Oh shit, you mouthed, the money.

Xavier muted the call to ask you, "Would Simon call the cops on Anderson?"

"I mean, he stole the man's phone. If he found something, he definitely wouldn't wait."

"Simon stole his phone?" Xavier almost clutched his proverbial pearls like a maiden aunt. The unhinged act of devotion to Maddie made him reconsider what it meant to care.

Simon was on the warpath, no fucks left to give, ready and willing to throw himself on the sword if necessary. Was that the kind of love Xavier had been meant to summon for Maddie? He had a lot of big feelings for her, most of them overshadowed by guilt now that she'd taken off without a backward glance, but none of them had inspired him to burn the world down in pursuit of her. There were—maybe—only two people he'd ever felt that kind of feral protectiveness over, and one of them was dead. The other...

He glanced up at you carefully, saw the distress in your eyes as you worried over Simon. "If they're taking him in," Xavier said, putting a hand on your knee for comfort, "they didn't find the money in Anderson's class."

"Then Anderson moved it." You choked. "Simon wasn't lying, Zav. If you'd seen how Mr. Anderson was acting last night, you'd know it was true, too."

"Hello!? Are you still there? Xavier!"

Xavier unmuted the call, both you and he chiming, "Yep, here!"

"Can't you call your dad?" Mathilda demanded and Xavier could picture her perfectly with her hand on her hip, brows furrowed, eyes ablaze, about to scold him like a mother hen. "He's the Sheriff! He could make them let Simon go!"

"Not necessarily, Tils. What if Simon knows something we don't?"

"Like what? He was at the APEX with us last week when Maddie took off. I saw him with my own eyeballs, Bax, he didn't know anything." Mathilda argued.

"Guess she's not pissed at him anymore," You commented quietly, more to a general audience than Xavier specifically.

"Alright, how's this. I'll go see what I can get out of my dad. You've already called your mom, she's on her way," He stated in a measured cadence, "There's nothing else we can do."

Begrudgingly, Mathilda agreed, closing the call with a semi-threatening, "Call me immediately, babes! I want to know why you weren't in Bio," directed to you, and then, "Love you both~!"

"I wasn't in Bio, either," Xavier grumbled, pouting at the white call-ended screen, "I don't count?"

You didn't indulge him, instead asking, "What should I do?"

"What should you do about what?"

"Tilly called her mom, you're going to sniff around your dad's office. What should I do? I can head back to the school and see if there's anything in the theater."

Immediately Xavier was on edge. The idea of you going back to the school and getting caught—possibly by Mr. Anderson who was, if as guilty as you inferred, absolutely going to be on alert now that the police had been called—didn't sit well with him. Not after what had happened to you earlier.

"No." He said, authoritative, stiff, "That's...no."

"I have to do something. What if Mr. Anderson hurt Maddie, huh? What if that money ties him to her somehow? And now he's going to get away with it because the police are focused on Simon."

Xavier grabbed you by the back of the head, angled your face so you had to look at him when he told you in no uncertain terms, "You're not going back there, kiddo. Not without me, okay? You've been through enough today, you need to rest."

"But—"

"How about this," He reasoned and dropped his hand to your shoulder, "We go in tomorrow morning before class and take a look around. Together."

You deflated, "And what about Simon?"

"There's literally nothing we can do about that right now, okay?"

An unhappy silence followed as you chewed over the alternatives Xavier offered. He was gearing up to sling you over his shoulder, carry you back to your bedroom, and lock you in your closet until he came to get you in the morning. Completely dismissing that you had a whole family who would hear you trying to escape and then very likely sneak you into the school themselves just for shits and giggles.

Color him surprised when you actually seemed to acquiesce.

"Fine." You said, audibly pissed that you were being benched, but, hey, Xavier was being sensible for once, the least you could do was humor him for one night. "But you'd better be here at dawn, Xavier."

Xavier traced an X over his heart, "I promise."

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Of course, Xavier really should've had you promise to do as he'd said because, as soon as the coast was clear, you snuck out of the house, donning a pair of sleep shorts and your Uncle Andrew's hoodie.

💀___________________________

PART NINETEEN - PART TWENTY-ONE

also available on AO3!

MASTERLIST

[wafflesandd1ck]

Okay, so can we all agree that the episode "How Long Is Forever?" of Teen Titans is one of the best of the series, even though the ending is kinda dark?

In the timeline without starfire:

Cyborg becomes obsolete. He burnt out his last power cell during the battle with warp and becomes permanently bound to the tower in order to keep his cybernetic body functional. Essentially being a hermit for 20 years.

Beastboy tries to be a solo hero and gets his butt kicked A LOT. Becoming the laughing stock of jump city. He then joins the circus, trying to find some kind of positive to his powers.

Raven, either willingly or by force, goes to an insane asylum, and for years, we can assume that's where she stays. Her mind becomes lost. She's hallucinating and talks herself through her mental state. We find out through her dialog that she has hallucinations of starfire or her friends very frequently. "It's just another figment. Don't even look. " she feels safe in the asylum because the building is run down and decaying. Her room is coated in thick white energy. Raven is wearing her white cloak, signifying that she has also reached her power limit.

It's always been my headcanon that she went insane trying to find where starfire went, but she was outside of the timeline. Raven, being an empath, could feel that starfire wasn't dead. Just gone. I think the false hope of "one day, any day. Maybe today, starfire will come home." Is the exact mentality that drove Raven insane. Like a beep, you can faintly hear but can't see or figure out where it's coming from.

And finally, nightwing..dude basically becomes batman. Through the dialog with future cyborg, it's implied that nightwing left the team not long after starfire disappeared.

I don't think Robin became obsessed like Raven did. I think Robin tried to rush his grieving process. Tried to get back to "work as usual," but EVERYTHING made him angry. I think he transformed every ounce of his pain and depression into being ANGRY. I think he started taking things too far with criminals, and either he got kicked from the team in an argument, or they argued because he wanted to quit willingly and go solo. Staying in the tower and with these friends that he..that she loved. Walking past her empty bedroom every day. not hearing her cheery voice every morning. It was too much.

Anyway I give a little recap BECAUSE. I was rereading the teen titans. Go! Comics and in issue 31, we actually get to see future nightwing again.

It's really cute. Anyway, warp has messed with Robin's timeline and basically steps in after Robin's parents died and becomes his new mentor, but he's being trained to use his nepotism for evil.

It's a really good comic, and the open flirting between starfire and nightwing is really cute. Think sophomore lightly flirting with senior crush.

I'm not complaining. This entire mini arc thing was GREAT. My only issue though..

DID STARFIRE COME BACK IN THE FUTURE TIMELINE????

IS RAVEN STILL NUTS??

IS BEASTBOY STILL MORBIDLY DEPRESSED AND WORKING AT THE CIRCUS?

IS CYBORG STILL A FORCED HERMIT??

Give me one. Just one scene of future night wing going back to his timeline, walking right into future Titans tower. You don't even have to show the team. Show ravens tea cup on the counter. Show beastboys video games splayed across the living room. Show a fully charged portable power cell on the kitchen table!

Show nightwing walking out of the portal and directly into the living room in the middle of the night, with starfire asleep on the couch, waiting for him to come home from patrols.

Bonus points! Have nightwing take his gloves off. He gently moves starfires hair out of her face, and we see a wedding ring!

I was so hoping that for the 20th anniversary of Teen Titans, we would get SOMETHING to close at least THIS plotline.

[yumeka-sxf]

A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 20

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

----------

After Yor meets Yuri on the train, she's reminded of the fact that he's "all grown up" and doesn't need her to take care of him anymore.

As I described in Part 8, earning enough money to support Yuri was the main reason Yor became an assassin. Since she didn't have the luxury to pursue anything worthwhile for herself, taking care of and being useful to others became her main focus in life. But since Loid and Anya don't benefit from her assassin work, and now Yuri doesn't either, she begins wondering why she needs to continue doing it. This question is reinforced a few times later: first, when they're on the train and she realizes how much she enjoys being with Loid and Anya as a family, without having to worry about work. And again, during her initial meeting with Olka.

When Olka tells her that she wants to get away from the dangerous life of a gangster to a peaceful, quiet life, Yor takes a moment to reflect on those words, as they were the same thoughts she had on the train earlier – thoughts of what it would be like to live a normal life with your family without all the fears and dangers that come along with being involved in the underworld.

Olka asks Yor why she's so worried about her family discovering her identity since they're just a cover-up family, which leads to a softly emphasized scene of Yor with a noticeably sad expression, as she reluctantly admits that, yes, they are a family just for show.

We know from previous episodes, like the cooking lesson and post-Fiona date, that Yor has since realized that being in the Forger family makes her happy, despite the fact that they're a "fake" family. However, she doesn't know if Loid and Anya feel the same way, especially Loid. For all she knows, he's letting her live with him as his wife more as a favor to her, and because it's convenient for their front at Eden, and not because he personally finds happiness in the arrangement. While he did tell her during their previous date that he wants her to continue playing the role of Anya's mother and his wife, Yor doesn't know whether he feels the same happiness being together as a family like she does.

Yor becomes even more motivated to help Olka when the latter mentions that she's left so much of her old life behind her now.

Perhaps her eagerness to help Olka comes from her sad resignation to the fact that she herself can't attain the kind of life Olka is heading towards, so at the very least, she wants to make sure Olka can attain it.

Meanwhile, we see just how much Twilight's spy work has "traumatized" him, to the point of being on total high alert on the ship even though Sylvia specifically ordered him to relax. Not only was he immediately suspicious of the lottery for the cruise ticket, but even after he's on the ship, his ever-calculating mind can't help but imagine the worst scenarios. He begins looking out for any signs of terrorism and dubious behavior, much to Anya's dismay.

However, thanks to her coaxing, he catches himself and makes a conscious effort to turn off the "spy mode" in his brain (as much as he can anyway).

Later, we see Yor being nervous when having dinner with the executives, obviously not comfortable in such a formal situation and still afraid that she'll be spotted by Loid and Anya. However, when given a task she knows best – assassination work – we get to see a side of Yor that has yet to be fully highlighted in the series…a side that's serious and confident, without her usual doubts and hesitations.

Her social awkwardness and uncertainties disappear as she takes on a total "in-charge" demeanor when guiding Olka and company back to the room. But Olka has spent enough time with the underworld crowd to see that, while Yor is very good at her work, it doesn't suit the sweet, gentle person that she really is. Even before the real danger starts, Olka tells her that she doesn't seem like the underworld type, and even suggests that she spend time with her family when the ship stops at the resort. Olka must have sensed from Yor's hesitation and sad expression in their previous conversation that she truly cares about them.

It's unfortunate that Yor doesn't have a permanent confidant like Olka – someone who not only knows her true identity as an assassin, but also senses that she has real feelings for what should be a "fake" family…and is supportive of that in her own subtle way. Twilight has Franky, and Sylvia somewhat, as people who know him as both a spy and as a (fake) family man. But even though they're not openly supportive of the fact that he's catching feelings for his family, they're still people he can not only confide in without having to hide his true identity, but they care about Anya's well being too. Yor doesn't have anyone like that. While Shopkeeper and McMahon know her true identity, her relationship with them seems to be strictly business. So, as brief as her time with Olka is, it was good for Yor to finally converse with someone who understands her inner feelings that she herself is having trouble realizing.

While Anya and Twilight are having dinner later, Anya mentions that it's been a while since they've eaten dinner without Yor, to which Twilight comments that it does seem lonely without her. He could have replied with any number of less melancholic responses ("It does feel weird" or "She must be very busy" to name a few). So the fact that his first thought was how lonely it felt does seem to indicate a momentary lapse in his spy facade, to which Anya rightfully calls him out and he immediately tries to deny it (with a slight but telling blush).

When they visit the gift shop, we see that Twilight is still having trouble learning how to find enjoyment on the trip, despite the fact that Sylvia made it an official mission. It's tragic to think that even when given orders to have a relaxing family vacation, he simply can't turn off the suspicions and anxiety in his mind. But his anxiousness about people potentially eavesdropping on him soon changes to concern about Anya's mental health. Similar to when he took her to work and had her play in the sandbox, he completely misinterprets her actions as displays of emotional trauma.

I love the interpretation from @sunfoxfic about this side of Twilight's character, to quote:

"His trauma really grounds every action he takes - everything he does is to protect others from experiencing the same trauma. Loid is a highly pragmatic and sympathetic man, and in that way, he's unwaveringly kind to everyone but himself."

Just like the sandbox incident, the scene with Anya at the gift shop is a prime example of Twilight's empathetic side that he keeps hidden from everyone else. Only we as the audience know how much he agonizes about the well-being of those who may have experienced similar trauma as he did. Since Anya's reactions make no sense to him, he can't help but conclude that she has her own share of deep-rooted trauma as well. And, as I've reiterated many times before, rather than express anger or blame her for anything, he puts responsibility on himself to do a better job at trying to understand her. And all of this relates back to what he told Desmond during their first encounter…that he won't stop trying to understand others.

While Yor is keeping watch that night, she has plenty of time to reflect on what happened the day before. As she sits there for hours in silence, we see that her expression has taken on the "robotic" look she had at the very beginning of the series "pre-family," back when her assassination work was all she focused on in her life. This is probably the longest amount of time she's had to continually concentrate on work since meeting Loid and Anya, so it makes sense that her eyes would start to harden like that.

However, when she realizes that she never tried to contact them, her eyes immediately light up as she imagines a scenario where she meets up with them on the ship.

She then starts to wonder why she was hesitating so much when fighting Barnaby. She thinks it could be because she was afraid, not of death or pain, but the fact that if she had gotten seriously injured, she may have had to leave the Forger family. This makes her think back to when Olka asked her why she was so concerned about them since they're just a cover-up family. As I've previously mentioned, Yor has come to realize that being with Loid and Anya makes her happy, but she's also resigned herself to the fact that that happiness can be taken away from her at any minute. So far the biggest threat to her place in the Forgers has been Fiona, but she was able to remedy that by talking with Loid. But this time the threat comes from something where talking isn't an option: an important job from Garden. This is why she tells herself that she needs to keep her priorities straight – as far as she's concerned, her personal happiness is secondary compared to the importance of the job at hand. As she continues to think about the people whose happiness she strives for – Yuri, Loid, and Anya – the same thought she had upon meeting Yuri on the train comes back to her…if none of the people she loves benefit from her assassin work, then why does she need to keep it up?

Continue to Part 21 ->

<- Return to Part 19

[fantastic-nonsense]

obviously I'd be thrilled to just get the whole PJO series adapted and then end it there. However: Heroes of Olympus as a story can be cleaned up sooooooo much in a way that PJO just doesn't need to be, and a tv adaptation offers the perfect opportunity to do so

like honestly my hottake is that I think Disney could solve both the problem of adapting a long, convoluted sequel series and a lot of the problems HOO as a story has if they a) do The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune in the same season and b) deliberately wait until the PJO actors are in their 20s to do it

Just thinking about this a bit more:

three 12-14 episode seasons, with TLH/SoN in S1, a modified MoA in S2 that deals with some of the Argo crews' HoH subplots, and then HoH/BoO in S3

Percy and Annabeth are in their 20s and newly engaged when he disappears. This sets up the arc of Percy dreaming about settling down with Annabeth in New Rome in a more organic, functional way and also gives us as viewers a chance to see that the aftermath of the Titan War has resulted in tangible, lasting change for the demigods of Camp Half-Blood

Grover replaces Coach Hedge as the Seven's collective Protector+chaperone, which solves the series' problem of Grover's absence and the absence of the PJO Trio's friendship

the whole show/story takes place over ~6 months instead of the year it did in the books, and Percy+Jason's individual quests happen concurrently (simply not letting Percy sleep for 8 months and making an episode where he establishes himself at the Roman camp for awhile before he's forced on the quest with Frank and Hazel would solve about half of the problems on the Roman side of the series)

Season-wise, things mostly sort themselves out:

The first season starts off introducing the Lost Hero trio and we find out that Percy's missing at the end of the first episode. The second episode opens with Percy waking up at the Wolf House and starting his journey to New Rome. We get one episode entirely devoted to amnesiac Jason and Percy integrating into the new camps, making friends, and learning about their missing counterpart before the quest plots start up.

The season then alternates between Jason, Piper, and Leo's "Find Hera" quest and Percy, Hazel, and Frank's Alaska quest, with intermittent jumps to the Greek and Roman efforts to find Percy and Jason. It ends with Percy and Jason regaining their memories and each camp realizing their leader is on the other side of the country in "enemy" territory.

The second season opens around a month later as the Argo II docks in New Rome. Percy and Jason have both been given time to make friends, integrate themselves into the opposing camp, and become adjusted to a different way of life with all of their memories intact. They haven't physically returned to their home camps as they've both independently come to the conclusion that Hera switched them to initiate inter-camp unity and are wary of doing anything that would disrupt that goal. However, Percy and Jason have both managed to get messages to Annabeth and Reyna respectively at some point in that month, so everyone knows everyone is safe when the Greeks finally arrive in New Rome.

Cue MoA's various plotlines, which would be cleaned up and streamlined significantly while also integrating in some of the HoH arcs like Hazel learning how to manipulate the Mist, Frank learning how to use his shapeshifting powers, Piper coming into her own as a daughter of Aphrodite, Leo's seventh wheel arc and the Calypso subplot, Jason struggling to figure out what his place is, the Jason-Nico friendship, etc. Also set up the Greek v. Roman dispute and Reyna following them to Greece. Season ends with the Annabeth-Arachne confrontation and Tartarus fall.

The third season combines HoH and BOO; the season alternates between Percy and Annabeth's journey through Tartarus while the rest of the Seven finish their various character arcs via gathering the elements for the Physicians' Cure and journeying to the Doors of Death. After they rescue Percy and Annabeth and close the Doors, they plan to head straight to Athens to take on Gaea. Reyna reaches them just after, and Annabeth sends her and Nico off with the Athena Parthenos with Grover as their Protector.

The final battle switches between The Seven+Gods vs. Gaea+The Giants at the Acropolis and the Greeks vs. Romans at Camp Half-Blood. The Gaea plotline is resolved at the Acropolis, the Greek-Roman plotline is resolved as Nico and Reyna triumphantly arrive at Camp Half-Blood with the statue, a functional Greek-Roman working relationship, and the gods' blessing. This helps streamline the mess that was Blood of Olympus and actually provides a workable story resolution.

We get a final aftermath/epilogue episode that sorts out and ties up all remaining plot threads, teases Solangelo, and ends with Percy returning home to see his mom and planning out how to move to New Rome after he and Annabeth get married.

Obviously this is the roughest possible sketch of how it could be done, but I genuinely believe doing something like that could fix some of the biggest issues HOO has conceptually while streamlining all of the quest bloat. It'd be interesting to see them try, anyway.

[rainiishowers]

Obey Me Incorrect Quotes

A/N: I started playing Nightbringer again so that will be reflected lmao ---- Simeon, entering MC's room: ..Solomon did it again. MC: Peace disturbance? Simeon: What no- MC: Arson..? Simeon: No?!! MC: Uh….Attempted murder? Simeon: NO??? He attempted to cook?! What the f- ---- Lucifer: I just had a long talk with Mammon and Levi about hitting and now they are yelling “it’s my turn to perpetuate the cycle of violence” before hitting each other. ----

Asmodeus: Hey do you wanna hang out this weekend? Leviathan: Generic excuse. Asmodeus: I can’t believe you said that out loud, to my face. ---- Mammon, holding in his laughter: Hey, how do you ask a glass of water what it’s doing? Satan: A glass of water is an inanimate object. Therefore, it's incapable of having a thought process or understanding basic human language. Mammon: Mammon: Water you doing? ---- MC: I wasn't hurt that badly. The doctor said all my bleeding was internal, that's where the blood's supposed to be! ----

MC: I'm going to go with Simeon to find Luke MC: If you two can manage to not kill each other while we are gone. Solomon: Oh, please. We're not children. MC leaves Barbatos, casually: …Eat shit and die. Solomon, also casually: Yes, fuck you. ----

Mammon: Why do you act like we’re three year olds? MC, exasperated: WHY?!? MC, to Mammon: YOU TRIED TO HYJACK A CAR! MC, to Satan: YOU NEARLY JUMPED 20 FEET OFF A CARPARK! MC, to Beel: AND YOU ATE MULTIPLE DRIED LEAVES AND ROCKS OFF THE GROUND! MC: AND YOU ASK ME WHY???? ---- MC: I'm a witch. I mixed some herbs and crystals together and now the cat Satan brought into the house knows the f-word. ----

Mephisto: Ladies, gentlemen and MC, I want to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld! MC: A llama? Mephisto: No. Mammon: A baby llama? Mephisto: No! Luke: A baby llama with a little hat on? Mephisto: NO! ---- MC, on a random band name generator: Oooo! They Might Be Depressed Horses! That about sums up my friend group. Asmodeus: H o w ? ---- Purgatory Hall Trio using an Ouija board Luke: Tell us… Is there a spirit in this house? Spirit, through the board: YES. Solomon: Great! Rent is due on the first of the month. Solomon: Oh, and movie night is on Friday if you want to hang out. Spirit: WAIT, WHAT— ---- Computer: Please enter a password. MC: types in Mammon Computer: Your password is too weak. MC: How fucking DARE YOU-

---- Lucifer: Are you having another depressive episode? Belphegor: A depressive episode? Belphegor: I'm having a depressive series and we're just on season one. ---- Beelzebub: MC, can you help me? All of my clothes keep disappearing for some reason. MC, wearing a hoodie that's 5 times bigger than their size: Spooky.

[narcjsistx]

Hello ! Say, my country's national celebration was yesterday and I got to see fireworks again. It had been SOOO long since I hadn't seen some that I forgot just how much I loved it, how much it made me return to the childlike wonder of "THERE'S SO MANY COLORFUL SPARKLES IN THE SKY !! oOo"

I know from friends of mine that it shows on my face how much I love it when I watch them, completely taken in it and looking up and smiling like a little girl sooooo... It got me thinking, how would some of our TR boy be like when going to see fireworks with you, and most especially what do they think when they look at you watching the fireworks ?

Any of our boys will do, whichever one inspires you, but I just really want to know how Rindou will be about this ! (ma bb (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠))

🎆🎆🎆

Thank you if you decide to answer this ! Don't forget to drink water and take care of yourself !

(⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Thanks for the idea! I really like fireworks but I don't have much chance of seeing them, where I live it's quite rare... but maybe I'll see them there at the end of the summer :) I HOPE

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

— Rindou Haitani watching the fireworks with you HCS ᡣ𐭩

I see Rindou as someone who, as a child, was extremely afraid of fireworks, perhaps because of the noise or because he simply didn't like the feeling of being "in danger" if the fireworks malfunctioned. As he grew up, the fear disappeared because he realized it was stupid, but when he happens to witness a fireworks display he thinks of him as a child

His idea of ​​a date wasn't exactly to watch fireworks with you, but as long as you're happy... . He would simply have preferred to spend the evening somewhere else, like at home or locked inside an arcade, but evidently your next date will be like this and not this one

You could walk through the illuminated streets, the shop windows reflect your passage. Suddenly, a burst of color surprises you both, and you stop in the middle of the street, surrounded by other people looking up. Seeing you unable to hold back an exclamation of joy, he makes fun of you a little but in a sweet way

He knew he had made the right decision when he saw you so happy at the first firework. He's not a big fan and doesn't understand your hype, but the feeling of seeing you so happy for him is priceless

Maybe he would laugh softly, finding it sweet how you are mesmerized by simple fireworks. At that moment, he may come closer and hold you close, amazed at the power of small things to make you so happy

For a second the idea crossed his mind to take some fireworks himself and set them off in his garden to surprise you

I imagine a possible chat with Ran like this: "Ran" "What is it Rin?" “I need some fireworks by next week” “Rindou, I don't think they're legal to have for fun” “Are you seriously having legal issues considering what we do? Damn Ran, we rule Roppongi” “You're right. On Amazon they're €20 a pack"

When you find out about the surprise a week later, it's not exactly pleasant. You found the two brothers in their garden completely black with soot, with about thirty broken fireworks on the grass in their garden. Rindou was completely embarrassed, Ran was simply amused by your shocked reaction (I don't know why but this reminds me of an episode of Gumball...)