#coda 4x08 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

princeescaluswords · 2 years

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I wish you would write a fic where Scott and his dad had that conversation about what was going on.

Believe me, I've tried, but I found it more difficult than you might think. I give it my best shot in Clarion Call, but the revelation happens mostly off screen. Ultimately, it seems to me that given canon characterizations any discussion between Rafael and Scott about the supernatural and the events in Beacon Hills would have to be a season-long arc. I don't think I would be satisfied with a 3000-word story.

The problem I have arises out of Rafael McCall's canon personality and Scott's reaction to it. In my perspective, Canon Rafael is not passively neglectful. He doesn't exclude himself from Scott's life because he is fundamentally uninterested in other people, or even because he is irredeemably selfish. He didn't stay away because he could care less about what happened to Scott or Melissa. He's shown to care a lot about the behavior of other people; he's certainly not a live-and-let-live person. With him, it's about control.

Rafael avoids any situation where he's not the person in charge. I feel he didn't leave the house when Melissa ordered him to out of remorse because he doesn't seem at all that remorseful when he's emotionally ambushing Scott with the story; I feel he left it because he was uncomfortable with not being the one to call the shots. In almost every scene, he positions himself as an authority. In this first appearance, he stands above Stiles in The Overlooked (3x10) and then drags him into a classroom in Alpha Pact (3x11). In Lunar Ellipse (3x12), he waits for Scott, Isaac, and Allison to come to him and reminds them he can hold them there all night. In 3B, he wants to repair his relationship with Scott, but he can't just come out and ask -- he uses the impeachment of Sheriff Stilinski as justification for being there. He attempts to flee Beacon Hills when, during his conversation in Insatiable (3x23), Scott takes control of the outcome. While he's a federal agent who has undoubtedly had crisis training, he panics when he doesn't understand what's happening in The Divine Move (3x24) with the hospital massacre and reflexively resorts to trying to order a medical worker around.

Even in his arc in Season 4 (which is not much of a redemption arc) he tries to hold Scott to their agreement as a way of forcing a father-son relationship. Though he does take his first real steps: when he takes the full blame about not being at the lacrosse match in I.E.D. (4x05), when he delivers the message to Stiles from Melissa without insisting on knowing what it means Weaponized (4x07), and, most importantly, when he allows himself to be vulnerable -- to surrender control -- at the beginning of Time of Death (4x08).

I would argue that what makes his appearance in 6B so unsatisfying is that he's not given any scenes to demonstrate where he is as a father. Mostly, he serves as exposition and a deus ex machina. Even in Pressure Test (6x15), his attempt to justify shipping the pack out is annoyingly brief.

Another complication in approaching this subject is the tactic that Scott has developed to deal with his father's need for control and his own anger about it. Scott, in contrast to Rafael, does become passive -- or, to be more accurate, passive-aggressive. He resists the urge to fight with his father for dominance of their relationship; he simply refuses to engage. In the Season 3A coda, in Alpha Pact (3x11) in Silverfinger (3x17), at the beginning of the discussion in Insatiable, Scott tries to shut down the conversation. It's not healthy but it's the only way he knows how to deal with his father: "I didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't come up with anything, But what you did, that was awesome." While Scott softens toward Rafael in Season 4 because Rafael makes an effort to be there, and he even looks in Time of Death ready to let him in on the secret, by Pressure Test he's back to the same old passive-aggressive tactics which I can't help but wonder isn't due to the Elias Stilinski bombshell in Sundowning (6x03).

This avoidance is very important, because a lot of Scott's attempts to handle Peter's and Derek's attempts to control his life in the first season echo this tactic toward his father. But it doesn't work, because while Rafael responds to a lack of control by withdrawing, Peter and Derek cannot afford to let that tactic succeed and Scott realizes he cannot allow them to act unimpeded. He must be active, and that is what powers the entire narrative.

It's one of the reasons that Deucalion unsettles Scott so much, aside from the Demon Wolf's undeniable power and savagery. His approach to Scott is based around not exerting control. As Deucalion wryly observes to Derek in Unleashed (3x04), he's not interested in making the decisions, but discovering new talents. In Frayed (3x05), Deucalion not only portrays the elevator scene as a chance meeting, and he is willing to meet and talk peace with Scott at the abandoned mall. In Currents (3x07), he offers to give Scott information he wants, if Scott can demonstrate control over him by snatching his cane from his hand. His manipulations against Scott are based on offering Scott control of the situation, especially in The Overlooked (3x10) and Scott doesn't have any resources to handle that.

There's a lot of work to be done with the father-son relationship and the revelation of the supernatural could have been a fertile field to which to explore (or even to permanently end) it. But, in true Teen Wolf style, they did it off screen. It was big enough that it could have been a primary plotline of 6B, but why would they decide to focus the final season on something as fundamentally important as the lead protagonist's relationship with his father?

#scott mccall #rafael mccall #deucalion #teen wolf meta #teen wolf fanfiction

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twdmusicboxmystery · 2 years

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TWD 11x20: What’s Been Lost

Okay, how did everyone like episode 11x20, What’s Been Lost? I liked it a lot. I’ll just talk about some broad themes today and will get more into details over the next couple of days. I will say this felt a little bit like a transitional episode, so I’ll have less to say about overall than I did last week's episode. That doesn't mean there aren't some super interesting things in it.

***As always, spoilers abound below for this episode. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

One thing that has become abundantly clear, both in this episode and next week’s, is that we are seeing a retelling of 4B. In fact, it's probably been going on since 11c started, but I just didn't entirely register until now.

You could say the Daryl killing Leah was a bit like the governor being killed om 4x08. While there aren’t a lot of terribly obvious parallels between Leah and the Governor, I did think of one. Actually, it wasn't Rick that killed the Governor. He didn't finish him off. It was Lily who did. And Lily was in a romantic, albeit somewhat toxic, relationship with the Governor. Similarly, Daryl killed Leah after having been in a romantic but toxic relationship with her.

But I digress.

Everything seemed okay when Carol made a deal with Pamela, but that got shot all to hell when Sebastian died. As soon as that happened, our characters all got split up, just like in 4B. We have Daryl and Carol in one place, the kids and the rest of the group in other places. We'll see more of that in next week's episode.

I saw a lot of callbacks to both alone and 4x15, Us in this episode. @galadrieljones pointed out a lot of callbacks to Coda as well. I'll save her notes for tomorrow. But the point is, there's a lot of callbacks to various episodes in 4B, and we can relate most of them directly to Beth.

Early on, Carol walks in to find Daryl fighting with one of the CW troopers. I felt like the scene was significant in some way. It was too purposely done not to mean something, but I couldn't put my finger on what. @galadrieljones finally nailed it down for me. She said it was a callback to Slabtown, specifically where Gorman dies. And I think she's right about that. Especially if you look at the way the guy dies. After Daryl gets out from under him, and other dead person in the room reanimated and bit him. That's exactly what happened in Slabtown. Joan reanimated and bit Gorman. It also made me think of the scene in 5x07 where Daryl fights with Licari, one of the Grady cops, out in the city. He almost doesn't win. In that case, it's Rick that comes back and helps him. So just saying, lots of Beth callbacks.

Daryl then says, "they took the kids." To which Carol replies, "they took everyone." I just have to point out that we've been saying for months that we think the kids are going to get taken. This may be more of a precursor than anything else. They were taken in kind of a short-term way, but still. I felt like this was a lot of validation. Daryl even says they, "took Dog." And Dog has always been a proxy for Beth. So, there's that as well.

I will skip over some of the details, such as in the Yumiko storyline. The gist of that is simply that Pamela wants her to prosecute Eugene, but she ends up defending him instead. She talks to Connie, and then we learned later that Connie was found by Pamela's people and taken away.

Daryl and Carol go to get Lance out of prison. One random detail here is that he has a radio frequency monitor on his ankle. When Daryl tries to cut it off, he says that Daryl would have to cut off his foot to get it off. Now, I'm not sure if Lance is being truthful about that, but Daryl evidently believes him because he doesn't try to cut it off again.

I watched a couple of times trying to figure out how necessary this detail was. It really wasn't at all. It's true that when they left the cell, and alarm went off, which brought troopers down on them. In that sense, it was part of the plot. But even so, if the writers had wanted to do it differently, they could have just had some guards passing by who happened to see them trying to get away. And given that Lance didn't lose his leg and they all got away from the troopers in the end, the ankle monitor really was an unnecessary detail. I think the writers were just throwing in a missing foot/leg reference. And we definitely had one of those and 4B, in Inmates, when Beth and Daryl see the children's shoes at the—ahem—train tracks. More on that in a minute.

Then we have the one that jumped out most to me as being a Beth callback. When they were under fire from the troopers, Daryl tells her Carol to go without him. She immediately responds, "not without you." Daryl says, "I'll figure it out. Go."

(P.S. Sorry some of these are kinda blurry. There’s a lot of action in this epiosde and it makes it hard to get decent screenshots.)

So obviously I'm connecting that to Beth, saying, "I’m not gonna leave you." But even Daryl's line, "I'll figure it out," is something Maggie said to Sasha and Bob at the prison, just before they all left together. So again, lots of callbacks to 4B.

The other thing that jumps out about the scene to me is that after Carol leaves, just for a moment, Daryl hangs his head. It’s an odd thing to do in the middle of the gunfight. The camera focuses on him doing this. I'm not entirely sure what they're going for here. Is he sad that she left him? Probably not. Is he afraid that either he or Carol is going to die? Again, it's Daryl, so probably not. The only thing I can think of here is that, in this moment, he was reminded so heavily of Beth, and it took his breath away for a second.

The next thing we have is Carol and Lance going through a dark tunnel together. It’s very similar to what we saw in 4B with the tunnel that Maggie and Glenn reunited in. We didn't actually see what happened there. Glenn and Tara came in after all the action. They said something about walkers showing up and they fired their guns into the ceiling which created cave-in.

Here, things are slightly re-mixed. We didn't actually see cave-in, but Lance mentions cave-ins just before they go in, saying that it was too unstable and therefore it was abandoned as an infrastructure project. When they go in, walkers inevitably show up and Carol has to take out her gun and shoot them all.

While we didn't get a reunion inside the tunnel like we did with Maggie and Glenn, Daryl did show up once they got to the other side. Obviously, it's not the reunion of a romantic relationship, but it is a reunion.

The other thing this reminded us of is when Beth and Noah tried to escape from Grady through the basement. It was very dark there and they had to shoot walkers in the dark then as well. So again, lots of Beth related callbacks.

And now back to Daryl showing up on the other side of the tunnel. This is something that I've noticed a lot in these episodes. Again, I'm not sure I entirely put together until today, but were seeing a lot of callbacks to previous things, both Beth related things and other things, and a suggestion that TF made some mistakes in the past or the last time this happened, but they're doing better and now, putting things right, and not making the same mistakes again.

I'm sure that I've seen this in previous episodes, but would have to go back and watch to find specific examples. But they do it in a big obvious way in the next episode, 21. Here, we just see a representation of it.

Because Daryl found a way to get back to Carol. They really did meet up down the road a ways. It was good that he got there when he did, because if he hadn't, the troopers were just going to kill Carol and Lance. So, I'm seeing this as a contrast to what happened in Alone with Beth. Beth said “I'm not gonna leave you.” Then she went out the window. By the time Daryl got to where she’d been up the road, she’d met with some bad people, and they'd already taken her away.

In this episode, Carol said, “not without you.” Then she left, and Daryl met her up the roadways. She'd met with some bad people (the troopers who wanted to kill her) but Daryl got there in time and gunned them down so she wasn't harmed. So, strong parallels, but the outcome was different than what happened with Beth. And we’re seeing that a lot. Them going through things they've gone through before, but they've learned from their mistakes, figured things out, and it's better this time around.

This will fit right in with Beth and Daryl getting a second chance, and things going differently and better this time around.

There was also something strange when Lance and Carol were going through the tunnel, where they saw some skin. Apparently, it smelled pretty bad. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. Did someone take the skin off intentionally? I actually don't think so. When Carol is fighting one of the walkers, just because she's fighting it, pulling on it, etc., all the skin slides right off into her hands. So, it seems to me that skin they saw before might have been there because a walker just got caught on something and it got pulled off.

What does it mean? No idea yet. But this is way too specific a detail not to mean anything. I was thinking maybe there's some strange disease going on with the walkers here. I don't know, leprosy or something? And it’s making their skins fall off. But I'm sure this will come back around in some way. As I said, much too specific detail to not mean anything.

And then there's the train. This is really the clincher for me in terms of this being a retelling of 4B. Lance shows Daryl and Carol a train platform and they learn the Commonwealth has a working train. So much like in 4B, there are train tracks involved, and they will have to follow those tracks find their family. I'm assuming that the end of those tracks, TF will all be reunited, much like they were terminus. See what I mean? Definitely retelling a 4B.

When they learned about the train, Lance says that it is to connect communities all the way to the sea. Boy, is that a loaded line. Carol asked him if he means connect or conquer (title of 5x16 = Conquer), but I especially like that. It talks about connecting things all the way to the sea. Oceans/water reference, and callbacks the things that we've seen and pointed out in conjunction with Oceanside.

Of course they kill Lance, which wasn't exactly shocking.

In the final scene, we see Ezekiel and others on a bus being driven somewhere in the night. They're being injected with something that clearly causes them to pass out. So, more of the bus symbol as well. We don't know where they’re being taken, but it's all super interesting.

At the end, when Angela Kang talked about the episode, it jumped out at me that she said the kids were with Daryl when those two guys jumped him at the beginning. It's just interesting that we didn't see the kids disappear. They were just suddenly gone.

I will stop there for today. I'll have more details and some of the conversation from my fellow theorists over the next couple of days. What did everyone think of the episode?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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babysdrivers · 2 years

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hello there hi hello please can you tell me your favourite criminal minds episodes?

hello! sorry i didn't see this i was sleeping 💔

anyways my fave eps are (long list incoming):

the boogeyman (2x06)

sex birth death (2x11)

profiler profiled (2x12)

jones (2x18)

doubt (3x01)

seven seconds (3x05)

lucky (3x08)

mayhem (4x01)

masterpiece (4x08)

52 pickup (4x09)

omnivore (4x18)

a shade of grey (4x21)

amplification (4x24)

to hell... and back (4x25 + 4x26)

100 (5x09)

the uncanny valley (5x12)

risky business (5x13)

safe haven (6x05)

corazon (6x12)

coda (6x16)

it takes a village (7x01)

proof (7x02)

painless (7x04)

self fulfilling prophecy (7x09)

true genius (7x11)

unknown subject (7x12)

profiling 101 (7x22)

hit and run (7x23 + 7x24)

mr scratch (10x21)

entropy (11x11)

as u can tell my fave seasons are s4 + s7 and i don't really care for many eps after that (supernatural is the same its weird)

would love to know your faves too! am always open to talk about cm it's my fave

#anon #💌#I probably missed a few bc i was quickly scanning the eps but my all time faves are def on here

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janfraiser · 1 year

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tagged by @aveyssalutes to post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips

I have soooo many WIPs, but working titles for the ones I'm actively writing are--

cuasher baby fic ft. will halstead (which has two chapters posted!)

LS 4x08 Coda ~ Buckley-Han Road Trip

hits a nerve and lights you up like dynamite (the ONLY one on this list with an actual title)

werewolf smut (don't. don't ask)

tagging @someonefantastic @quantumdawnia @crockettmarcel and @swiftiebuckleys !

#tag meme

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datleggy · 3 years

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Missing Scene 4x08 9-1-1 fox

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT FOR “BREAKING POINT”

By the time he manages to grab his keys, jump into his truck, drive halfway across town and find parking in Buck’s neighborhood, Eddie is a mess of nerves as he makes his way across the threshold and into the loft. “Buck, where’s--”

Buck shushes him immediately, pointing upstairs to where his bedroom is. “He’s exhausted. He ate one of those oven ready mac n’ cheese meals in my fridge and practically fell asleep on my couch; I carried him up to bed a few minutes ago. He’s knocked out up there.”

Eddie sighs, the relief he feels is staggering.

He quietly makes his way upstairs and lingers at the top step, watching his kid sleep soundly, his chest moving up and down rhythmically with every breath he takes. Eddie stands there and simply takes in the sight for a handful of minutes before slowly making his way back down and to the kitchen, where Buck is leaning back against his counter sipping on a beer.

There’s another one on the table waiting for him and he gratefully grabs it, taking a long gulp before sitting it back down and letting out a deep sigh.

“So uh, what exactly happened?” Buck asks, and there’s something about his tone Eddie can’t decipher, but he knows it’s not good.

“I told you already, he found out I started dating someone and clearly he didn’t take it so well.” Eddie takes another swig of his beer, huffing in frustration.

Buck places his drink down on the counter and folds his arms, “Yeah, I know that part, what I don’t get is how Christopher managed to literally run away from home with you in the house? What were you doing when he took your phone, used it to call an Uber and had some stranger drive him here in the middle of the night?”

Accusatory. That’s what that tone is, Eddie finally identifies. “Are you serious right now?” he slams his beer bottle down with unnecessary force and Buck gives him a warning look.

He half whispers, half yells, when he says, “No shit I’m serious. Answer the question.”

Eddie blinks, surprised and equal parts irritated by the ire he’s receiving from Buck of all people. Lawsuit aside, Buck has never not been on Eddie’s side; this entire confrontation feels wrong and foreign to him. “I was on a video call with Ana, I had my headphones in, I knew Christopher was upset about the news, but I didn’t think he would--”

“This? What happened tonight? This was the best case scenario, and I know damn well you know that. Christopher got into some strangers car tonight. Eddie, what if I hadn’t been home? He didn’t have a phone with him or anything, he didn’t even take your copy of my key with him, just in case Albert and I weren’t here. What the hell would he have done then? Hung out in the hallway or God forbid roamed the streets and waited for someone to notice an unattended nine year old?” Buck’s been angry before, but nothing compares to the wrath brewing somewhere deep in the pit of his belly right now.

Eddie goes on the defense, glaring at Buck from across the table in the half light. “It’s so easy for you to stand there and judge me when you’re not a parent yourself, Buck. What do you expect from me? I can’t keep an eye on Christopher twenty four seven--how the hell was I supposed to know he’d leave like that?!”

Buck glares at him right back, matching his intensity, times ten. “First of all, keep your voice down--he’s sleeping.” Buck plows on, even as Eddie tries to talk over him. “And secondly, I don’t need to be a parent to know you fucked up tonight the same way I don’t need to be a pilot to know that if the plane went down something’s wrong. How could you not hear him leaving? Were you two watching a goddamn movie over skype, is that why you didn’t hear the damn door open and shut? Christopher’s a lot of things, but stealthy isn’t one of ‘em Eddie.”

“What the fuck is your problem right now? What? You think I don’t feel shitty enough already? You wanna add insult to injury on top of everything?” Eddie scoffs, aggravated and hurt and on the attack. “I don’t need you to lecture me on how to take care of my kid. He’s mine, not yours, in case you forgot.”

Buck takes a step back, like he’s been dealt a harsh blow. “That’s not--I’m not saying--” he stammers, his face crumpling into despair. “I was scared.” he hides his face in his palms, exhaling fully. “Jesus Christ Eddie, I saw him standing outside my building in the cold, trying to work the handle, and he was alone and when I brought him inside and he told me everything, about the phone and the Uber ride I instantly thought about every single little thing that could have gone so horribly wrong, how it was a miracle he made it all the way here and that he was safe--” his voice cracks on the last word and he turns his back to Eddie, his shoulders shaking.

Fear. Fear is what Eddie had felt. Instant hot white fear and an overwhelming panic, for those few brief awful moments wherein he’d had no idea where Christopher had run off to.

“Shit.” Eddie lets out an audible breath.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that--you’re a good dad, I just--all I can think about right now is the tsunami, about how I lost Christopher, about how I couldn’t breathe until--”

“You found him.” Eddie finishes softly. He makes his way to Buck and settles a hand on his shoulder, his thumb brushing the nape of his neck. “I know the feeling. Trust me. Every parents worst nightmare.”

Buck turns around, his eyes wide and wet with unshed tears. “I know I’m not Christopher’s dad, I swear that’s not what I was trying to--”

Eddie shakes his head. “That wasn’t fair, what I said. I know everyone sees me and thinks, ‘single dad’, but I don’t know if I would have survived this whole parenting thing without you by my side, Buck. And that’s the hard truth. I mean, hell, we get into an argument and the first person Christopher turns to is you. You know that’s gotta count for something, don’t you?”

Buck swipes at his face when a stray tear rolls down his cheek. “Sorry...about what I said. I think I was just projecting.”

Eddie gulps, “No. You weren’t.” he admits, pressing his lips together. “I did fuck up tonight. Big time. I should have been in Christopher’s room, talking to him about everything, trying to explain to him that nothing about our relationship is going to change, just because I’m dating, and that no one could replace his mother, I should have been in there, making sure he understood--especially after how volatile his reaction was and then the whole storming off after. Instead I decided to spend an hour on skype talking to Ana about it.” He sighs. “Christopher’s been my first and main priority for so long, I guess I’m not used to splitting my attention between two people. I uh, I need to work on that...”

“Bucky?”

Eddie and Buck both whip their heads up to where Christopher is leaning against the railing, peeking down at the both of them.

“Hey bud, you ok?” Buck hastily tries to turn his expression into something more neutral.

“Had a bad dream.” Christopher looks at the two men pleadingly. “Can you guys come sleep with me?”

Eddie turns to Buck and they communicate silently, with only a couple of looks, ultimately deciding that it is, in fact, bedtime.

“We’ll be right up.” Eddie tells him.

#911 fox spoilers #coda 4x08 #im gonna write at least TWELVE more iterations of how i wanted this scene to go bc I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS FOR THIS MISSING SCENE #so be on the lookout for more drama lmao #buddie #christopher diaz #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buck #fic #writing #next one is a rewrite of the buck and christopher talk where instead of calling buck a good friend christopher calls him dad #bc it is what I NEED in order to survive the next six weeks

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reyesstrand · 1 year

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tried and true blue

tarlos/owen & tk - 2.9k - teen+

"She knows," Owen says, his eyes almost too sincere for TK to handle. He clamps his molars together and just stares at his father, because if he lets himself think too hard about all the ways his mom is still here, somehow, he'll probably burst into tears. Owen gives him a sad smile. "She does, TK. She used to talk about when you'd get married all the time." There's a pause, and TK curls his fingers tighter around his mug, letting everything simmer between them. "When I got married," TK quietly repeats. "Not if?"

(a 4x08 coda.)

It feels oddly familiar—kind of like he's been thrown back in time, really—to sit back and share space like this with his father, just the two of them.

TK slides one mug across the counter to Owen, smiling a little to himself when his dad takes an appreciative sip. He focuses on tossing a new tea bag and adding fresh water to his own cup, glancing up when his dad pulls one of the several magazines stacked by the coffee machine closer. Owen flips through a few pages before taking another sip of tea, making a content noise and slowly drifting back toward the couch. He moves comfortably around the loft, but it doesn't stop him from taking it all in like he always does, a proud little smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Resting the kettle back on the stovetop, TK wipes his hands with a dishtowel and leans back against the island, watching as his dad takes in the little details of his and Carlos' home he always seems to focus on.

It throws him back to those first couple of weeks after TK moved in, when Owen would come by with glass bottles of fresh-pressed green juice or various essential oils he swore by for aroma therapy. Even though TK couldn't think of anything he wanted less right after coming out of a coma, he knew his dad wasn't the best when it came to finding the right words, and this was him trying, and so TK happily indulged in him. TK had divided the soup Andrea brought over between two bowls and sat back, happily watching his dad wave a spoon around while discussing the slow but steady process of rebuilding the firehouse. His dad would come by again and again, and he'd always get caught up in seeing TK in his new element; in seeing TK so happy.

And now, Owen's eyes fall on the same things as always as he drops back into the spot he'd chosen before. Their books, their framed photos, their eclectic mix of art and family heirlooms. Everything that's come together as their lives continue to intertwine. TK knows Owen would never say it, but it chokes his dad up more than he lets on that TK's okay. That after everything, he's taken his life by the reins; that he's found a home in more ways than one.

continue on ao3!

#tarlos #911 lone star #tarlos fic #lone star fic #my fic

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theghostofashton · 6 months

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five under 500

thank you for the tag @lemonlyman-dotcom!

rules: list five of your fics with less than 500 kudos

you saw the truth in me

tk is an actor coming back to the industry five years after a very public cancellation, and carlos is the personal trainer hired to get him into shape for his new movie.

made up of a thousand scars

following his time in rehab in 2017, tk books a plane ticket to austin instead of heading back to new york. three months to press pause and regroup before going back to his life turns out to be much more than he bargained for, as he ponders what his life is supposed to look like and learns that most people don't have it quite figured out.

tell me how

a 4x18 coda, where carlos learns to hold space for joy alongside his grief

until we laugh again

a 4x14 coda, where tk has feelings about losing the people in his life and learns that all he can do is treasure the time they have together

now and forever

a 4x08 coda, where andrea takes carlos for dinner and they have a much-needed conversation

gonna leave an open tag since i'm pretty late to this!

#my fic #five under 500 #911 lone star

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sparkandwolf · 4 years

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Share Your Weakness

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale Rating: Teen Summary: “You ready to tell me the truth now?” Stiles asked, not unkindly. Derek didn’t push him away like he had expected. He held a hand over his side and stared at Stiles who saw more than pain in his eyes. There was confusion, concern, helplessness. It hurt Stiles to see.

_____________________

Stiles was entirely too aware of the lack of Derek in their most recent battles and he didn’t like it one bit. He knew that Derek had gotten hurt during their last fight, but that shouldn’t have pushed him away for that long. Stiles was pretty sure that Derek had a magnetic attraction to danger anyways, so he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t around. He also couldn’t be sure why he seemed to miss his presence either.

The first thing he saw when he entered the loft was Derek’s sleeping form on the couch. Stiles had stomped up the stairs and he wasn’t quiet with his incessant knocking on the door. Derek should have heard him or, at the very least, he should have woken up. Stiles rushed over to him, tripping over a discarded 50-pound weight before reaching Derek. He raised his hand, ready to shake Derek awake when his wrist was grabbed tightly and Derek’s eyes shot open.

“Did you ever consider that I was ignoring you?” Derek asked before Stiles had a chance to react. He closed his eyes and tugged his wrist out of Derek’s grip. He couldn’t ignore how easy it was to pull his hand away or the way Derek flinched in pain as he stood up. His hand shot to his side and Stiles raised an eyebrow at him.

“What’s going on, Derek?” Stiles was smart, at least, that’s what everyone always told him. He had great deductive reasoning skills and he had a way of picking up even the smallest of details that others couldn’t. No matter what Derek said, Stiles knew he didn’t hear him coming up the stairs and wasn't ready for him until he was only a few feet away. He knew that Derek was hurt a few days ago and while the wound was deep, it wasn’t the deepest Derek had ever gotten. And Stiles knew that Derek was avoiding the other wolves who would know immediately that something was wrong.

read the rest on ao3 or under the cut

As if Derek could hear the wheels turning in Stiles’ head, he sighed heavily. “Can you turn off your brain, please?” Derek asked, not unkindly. Stiles thought he seemed tired; there were dark circles under his eyes that Stiles hadn’t seen before and his skin was almost sickly pale.

“Why aren’t you healing?” Stiles took a stab in the dark, reaching out to the hem of Derek’s shirt and lifting it up. Derek smacked his arm away, but Stiles still saw the bandages, reddened with blood. “Knew it,” Stiles said smugly as he crossed his arms over his chest. He tried to push back the anxiety he felt seeing Derek hurt, not immediately healing like he had seen so many times before.

“I’m fine, Stil--” Stiles scoffed and threw his hands up in disbelief.

“Seriously?” Stiles asked. He heard Derek growl low in his chest and sighed. “Show me your eyes,” Stiles demanded, narrowing his own at Derek. Derek widened his naturally green ones and Stiles’ seemed to roll to the back of his head. “Your eyes, Derek,” Stiles asked again, a sternness in his voice that was unfamiliar even to him.

“Why are you here?” Derek asked, turning away from Stiles and busying himself with a few maps on the table next to them. Derek knew that the maps were an almost perfect distraction, but Stiles wasn’t going to let him get away without an answer. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to know what the maps were about, even if he found himself glancing over at them anyway.

“I’m here to beat you in an arm wrestle,” Stiles said, hoping the cockiness in his tone would piss Derek off enough that he would accept the challenge. Derek rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, accentuating the muscles that he still had, werewolf or not. Stiles tried not to focus on them, opting instead to lean down to the table, resting his elbow on the hard surface and flexing his hand out. He glanced from Derek’s eyes to his hand, raising his eyebrows. Derek scoffed and took a step forward, leaning into Stiles’ eye level.

“You could have werewolf strength and still not come close to beating me, Stiles,” Derek said with a soft chuckle. He let his elbow rest on the table and pressed his palm to Stiles’, his fingers wrapping slowly around the back of Stiles’ hand. Stiles felt his heartbeat quicken at how close Derek was, but if Derek heard it, he gave no indication. He just smirked at Stiles and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“On the count of three,” Stiles said. Derek nodded as Stiles took a deep breath in. “One, two…” Derek should have seen it coming, that Stiles was going to use his whatever strength he had before he hit number three, but Stiles pressed Derek’s arm back and it moved too easily. Derek let out a howl as he ripped his hand away from Stiles’.

“Stop!” He pleaded as Stiles held onto his hand tightly. He thought he might have been in shock from either actually beating Derek or from the pain in Derek’s voice. He let go when his brain caught back up and rushed toward Derek, resting a gentle hand on his upper arm. Derek’s eyes flashed at him, gold instead of the usual blue, and Stiles’ breath caught in his throat.

“You ready to tell me the truth now?” Stiles asked, not unkindly. Derek didn’t push him away like he had expected. He held a hand over his side and stared at Stiles who saw more than pain in his eyes. There was confusion, concern, helplessness. It hurt Stiles to see. He moved closer to Derek and lifted up his shirt again, seeing the bandages practically soaked through.

“I can’t tell you anything, Stiles,” Derek said softly. Stiles went to speak, to yell at Derek for closing off again, but Derek silenced him with a glare. “I can’t tell you anything because I don’t know what’s going on,” Derek whispered. Stiles thought he sounded like he had lost all hope and he felt his heart crack at the words.

“Symptoms?” Stiles asked. He sounded like Deaton, always trying to put the pieces together to help out the werewolf population. Stiles wasn’t Deaton, but this was Derek. He had to do everything in his power to help him. He had no choice.

Derek sighed and closed his eyes like he was willing them back to their natural color. When he opened them, they were back to normal and Stiles gazed into them as he waited for an answer. “Decreased strength, inability to control my eyes, my healing ability is shot,” Derek said as he gestured toward his wound. Stiles nodded and let go of his shirt, placing a gentle hand over the cut like it could soothe the pain Derek felt. It seemed to work even a little as Derek’s face softened and his hand covered Stiles’. “I can’t shift, at least, not fully. I think… I think I’m--” Stiles shook his head and rested a hand on Derek’s cheek to stop him from thinking the worst. Stiles knew that Derek was just like him in the way that his thoughts would go to the worst possible outcome. Stiles wouldn’t let himself believe that was what was happening until he knew.

“Obviously it’s something that Kate did to you. It has to be. But why would she…?” He trailed off when Derek leaned into his touch and closed his eyes. Derek breathed in deeply and leaned down to rest his forehead against Stiles’, his breath catching in his throat at the small gesture. Stiles pushed up on his toes and into the touch, smiling softly at Derek. “We’ll figure this out, okay? We can go to Deaton or find that crazy Mexican lady? I’m sure she would have some answers,” Stiles said as he pulled away.

Derek chuckled and shook his head before walking to the couch and sitting down. He reached for the bandages on the table before pulling off his shirt. “Help me with this?” Derek asked. Stiles could hear the vulnerability in his voice and if his heart wasn’t already shattered, it would have been in pieces at the tone. He rushed over and kneeled in front of Derek, pulling off the dirty bandages slowly, trying to ignore the pain on Derek’s face.

“Sorry,” Stiles said lamely, grabbing the cloth from the counter to wipe away the dried blood. He focused on the task at hand, wiping at the wound before covering it with clean gauze and meticulously taping the edges before looking back up at Derek. He was watching Stiles, tilting his head like he had just made some big realization. Stiles raised his eyebrows at him and moved to sit next to him on the couch, pushing his shoulder against Derek’s softly.

“You’re good at that,” Derek commented, sounding a bit surprised and impressed. Stiles glanced at him and laughed softly, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

“Human,” Stiles said as if it was obvious. “With no special werewolf healing powers, I’ve had to patch myself up a number of times.” Derek grumbled low in his chest and Stiles couldn’t help but smirk at the sound. “Relax, Sourwolf. It comes with the territory. I’ve learned a few tips and tricks on how to defend myself now, though,” Stiles said proudly. Derek seemed to think for a moment before standing up and moving the coffee table off to the side.

“Show me,” Derek demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. Stiles gulped and looked around, before standing up and gesturing around the loft.

“I usually have a bat,” Stiles commented. Derek huffed and rolled his eyes before walking over to the side of the couch and tossing him a crowbar. “This works, too. Do I want to know why you have this?” Stiles asked as he passed the makeshift weapon from hand to hand.

Derek crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at Stiles. “Did you miss the part where I’m losing my powers?” Derek asked, a teasing lilt to his tone that had Stiles gaping at him. He composed himself and nodded quickly before taking a few steps toward Derek. Derek held up his hands, widening his stance like he was preparing for the fight. Stiles tilted his head and smirked, licking his lips slowly.

“Well, you may be losing your wolf, but you sure look like you could kick my ass,” Stiles noted with a wink. Derek rolled his eyes and lunged forward, his hand reaching for the crowbar. Stiles pulled it back just in time and Derek tumbled past him, planting his feet firmly on the floor before turning toward Stiles. He thought he saw the flash of his gold eyes, but said nothing as he beckoned Derek over with his free hand, curling his fingers as he narrowed his eyes in challenge.

“I can kick your ass, werewolf or not,” Derek said through his teeth as he surged toward Stiles again. He grabbed Stiles’ wrist that had the crowbar and held it high before Stiles could swing down. They were face to face, Stiles noticing the few inches Derek had on him more than he ever had before. He looked up at his hand and then back at Derek, both of them frozen with their chests pressed together.

“A lot of talk from someone who left himself completely open,” Stiles said as he lifted his knee directly into Derek’s groin. Derek’s eyes widened as he let go of Stiles’ wrist, his hands holding the front of his jeans as he grimaced. “Rule number one, everyone has a weakness. Find it and extort it,” Stiles said conversationally as he tapped the crowbar in the palm of his hand. His smirk widened as Derek stood up straight and glared at him.

“You have these rules written somewhere?” Derek asked, slightly out of breath. Stiles felt a pang in his heart at the sound, not having heard Derek quite so vulnerable before.

“Have you met me?” Stiles asked, cocking his eyebrow. Derek tilted his head in agreement and cracked his knuckles like he was trying to intimidate Stiles. Stiles rolled his eyes overdramatically and crossed his arms over his chest as Derek eyed him up and down. “Are you looking for my weakness? Cause you’ll find about fifty of th--” Derek rushed him before he could finish, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ waist and pushing him backward with so much force, the crowbar flew out of his hands.

“What’s rule number two?” Derek asked as he pinned Stiles to the pillar behind them. Stiles swallowed, entirely too aware that it might have been the closest he had ever been to Derek while he could move his body. He gulped audibly and leaned his head away from Derek to try to compose himself.

“Figure out how to disarm your opponent?” Stiles said, feeling breathless as he felt Derek’s nose brush against the pulse point in his neck. Derek was gone in a moment and Stiles breathed in like his lungs were begging for air.

“Do you know how to disarm a werewolf?” Stiles laughed and he thought it sounded broken. He tried to stop himself from missing Derek’s warmth against him, but it answered a lot of questions he had running through his head throughout the last few weeks.

“If I knew how to disarm a werewolf, I wouldn’t need the bat,” Stiles retorted as he ran a hand through his hair. The chuckle that left Derek’s lips was surprising to Stiles, unused to hearing Derek carefree enough to let any sounds of joy escape him. Stiles couldn’t say he didn’t like it, though.

“Wanna learn?” Derek asked, his voice soft. Stiles took a step closer to him and narrowed his eyes.

“Aren’t I supposed to be teaching you how to be human?” Stiles asked with a raise of his eyebrow. Derek rolled his eyes, but Stiles didn’t see the usual annoyance. He tried to think back to when he and Derek had started this casual friendship and when Stiles had started to want more but was interrupted by Derek’s hand grasping his wrist. Instead of pulling away as he would have even weeks ago, Stiles stood up a little straighter.

“Werewolves are still human, Stiles. Which means they have human weaknesses,” Derek started. He squeezed the skin on either side of Stiles’ thumb with his own index finger and thumb and Stiles cried out, pulling his hand to his chest and staring up at Derek offendedly.

“What the hell, Derek!” He exclaimed as he rubbed his palm.

Derek just smirked at him. “That’s a pressure point for both humans and wolves. Press it and their claws will retract.” Stiles stared at him, bewildered. He would have never thought of something that simple. He hummed for a moment and then stepped back toward Derek again.

“What else?” Stiles asked. Almost the minute his sentence ended, Derek’s hand slid around his neck. Stiles felt his breath catch in his throat as Derek’s thumb pressed against the rapidly beating pulse in his neck.

“That’s the carotid. Wolves instinctually aim for it with their teeth or claws. Once you’ve solved the claw problem…” Derek’s thumb pressed harder against his neck, the rest of his fingers gentle against his exposed skin in a way that had Stiles’ skin prickling with excitement. “Press as hard as you can. Necks are a werewolves Achilles heel. No matter how much or how little strength you have, they’re powerless against it,” Derek said softly as he lessened the pressure on Stiles’ neck. Stiles resisted the urge to hold his hand in place as Derek pulled away.

“Necks,” Stiles said dumbfounded. “Who would have thought?” He asked as a dry huff of laughter escaped his breathless lungs. He held his hand over his chest, grateful that Derek might not be able to hear its erratic beat in his chest.

“Wolves don’t often trust humans with our greatest weaknesses,” Derek admitted as he sat back down on the couch. Stiles noticed a small amount of blood seeping from his bandages and cursed to himself before taking a few steps toward Derek. He stopped when Derek lifted his hand and shook his head. “I got this one. Isaac will be here any minute so you should probably…” Derek motioned toward the door and if Stiles didn’t know any better, he would have thought he saw reluctance in the gesture.

Stiles sighed as he glanced over at the awaiting door, feeling his own reluctance to leave. “I’m gonna figure this out,” he promised, nodding slowly at Derek as he backed toward the door. Derek smiled softly at him and nodded back.

“If anyone can, it’s you.”

#sterek #sterek fic #stiles stilinski #derek hale #derek x stiles #stiles x derek #my writing #4x08 coda #scene rewrite #i hope you all like this!!#its filled with so many emotions im sorry #aksdjfals;df #ENJOY!!!!!

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