–LAKE CARLTON
FULL NAME: Lake Shamus Carlton AGE: 35 DATE OF BIRTH (ZODIAC): feburary 10th (aquarius) GENDER IDENTIFICATION: he / him. SEXUAL ORIENTATION: heterosexual RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single NEIGHBORHOOD: outpost OCCUPATION: sheriff POSITIVE TRAITS: dedicated, resourceful, honorable, charming, faithful NEGATIVE TRAITS: cunning, broody, devious, callous, reactive PLACE OF BIRTH: Iron River, Georgia LENGTH OF TIME IN IRON RIVER: on and off for 35 years
SUMMARY:
Third eldest of the 6 Carlton siblings, Lake Carlton had two choices - follow in his parents footsteps, or make something of himself. The eldest sister, Maddox, had taken off from Iron River at first opportunity, his older brother, River, and then his younger brother, Forest following his father's footsteps to jail. A job on Ironbend Ranch got him moving in the right direction, and after a stint in the US Navy, Lake Carlton is now a sheriff, whose only goal is keeping his remaining younger siblings, Knox and Maverick, out of jail.
AESTHETIC:
cowboy hats, whiskey on the rocks, hand written letters, bloody knuckles, war hero, untucked flannel shirts, muddy boats, messed up family, ripped jeans, holes in walls, bullet wounds, juvenile record, calloused hands, multiple cups of coffee, fighting outside bars, open fields, six point badge, changing one uniform for another, classic bad boy, sneaking out, empty beer bottles, restless nights, motorcycles, tattoos, wearing sunglasses inside, seeing red, mugshots, picking locks, camping in tents, hitchhiking the way home, wearing sunglasses to hide a hangover, chapped lips, dog tags
BIOGRAPHY:
Just because the family had a prestigious surname like Carlton, they were anything but. The family of eight was ran by a waitress and a drug lord in the Mines. There were too many mouths to feed and too little money coming in. Lake grew up in dangerous situations and never knowing when it would be the next time he actually ate a decent meal. It was his two older siblings that were the authority figures. Their mother constantly pulling extra shifts at one of the three restaurants she worked at and their father always seemingly disappearing or ending up in prison. It was the two eldest that made sure there was some kind of meal on the four younger siblings plate. And, the moment all of them were old enough, they started working around town.
Lake might have been the middle child of the Carlton family. One of the older kids that had to take over running the family when his two older siblings left for something better. He was just thirteen when he started learning what it was like to fend for the family. It was when the sweet boy turned into someone that many couldn’t recognize. It was then he learned how to be conniving, stealthy, and use his looks and age to his advantage. By the age of sixteen, Lake had gotten arrested five times, suspended four, and almost expelled. He had racked up a record trying to survive and keep his family alive. They all thought it was better than being forced to split up in the foster care system. The Carlton siblings wanted to sick together, even if other circumstance might have been better for them.
The moment Lake was able to get his working papers and start a job, he did. The family needed the money with their father in prison for the sixth time in his life. It seemed as though he was never getting out this time. The job that he was qualified for was working on Ironbend Ranch. The manual labor changed the perspective that the teenager had on life. It was where he had been taught everything his parents should have taught him growing up. The owner actually giving a shit about him and his future. Surprisingly, after getting the job at the Ironbend Ranch, Lake tried his best to change his was. Mostly because if he screwed up, he would be fired as fast as the news traveled around Iron River.
Lake spent the next two years with mostly a clean record. Only getting into a small amount of trouble here and there. Or, at least trouble that the Dixon family wouldn’t hear about. And, it did help that some of his younger siblings were of the age to actually get into the work force. After graduating high school, Lake had no idea what he wanted to do. He knew that going to college wasn’t an option. He didn’t have the best grades and even though he played baseball, he wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship. In reality, he needed to continue making money for the family. He couldn’t let his contribution stop flowing in. There were three others that still needed to reach the age of eighteen before they were capable of making any kind of decision. In his mind he only had two options. Continue working at the ranch or joining the military. It was after a long conversation that Lake decided to enlist.
Joining the US Navy was the best decision that Lake could have ever made for himself. What his own parents couldn’t teach him or the Dixon family, he learned from them. He was able to take everything he worked towards at the ranch and apply it to his training. He also had enough incoming coming in that he was still able to send back to his family. It wasn’t like he actually needed it right then. Plus, he wasn’t planning on leaving this new career any time soon. The only way he was going to be was through a casket. He truly didn’t believe he had any other options in his life. He figured that it would be either this, the ranch, or following in his father’s footsteps. That was something that everyone expected him to do. Follow in the patriarchs footsteps and end up in prison. It’s how everyone looked at him growing up. It was how they looked at all the Carlton boys. But, it was Lake that wanted to make a new name for himself.
In the Navy, Lake found himself a life that he could get used to. He loved every second of it. The work was hard, leaving him to tired at night to be affected by what happened during the day. He had worked his way up through the ranks. Starting off as a low man on the totem pole to making it into the Navy SEALS three years later. It was a long shot, only 10% of cadets making it through BUDS. But hard work and perseverance was something that Lake was used to. Becoming a SEAL opened up so many doors for Lake within the Navy. He spent years going through specialized trainings and deployments.
Lake spent another eleven years as a SEAL, a total of fourteen years of service until he finally discharged. Not because he wanted to be, but because it was medically necessary. The only place that he could think of going was Iron River. It was home to him despite the majority of his family no longer being there. He still had the his younger siblings and the Dixon Family, that was what mattered. For a year, Lake did everything he could to figure out his next steps and going through rehabilitation. It was probably the worst year of his life, but he was able to get through it while also being elected as on of Iron River’s Sheriffs. Changing one uniform for another was comforting for him. Now, Lake lived simply in town, protecting the town from people like his father and brothers.
HEADCANNONS:
MUSE INSPO: Alex Karev (Grey’s Anatomy), Luke Danes (Gilmore Girls), The Gallagher Family (Shameless), Ty Borden (Heartland), Rick Grimes (The Walking Dead)
Total of six (6) Carlton children. Maddox, River, Lake, Knox, Forest, and Maverick.
Father (Matthew) and River were arrested together, currently 17 years into a 40 year sentence. Both ended up with the max sentence since this was a big bust and they had prior history and they were distributing Schedule I drugs (heroin), they had possession charges before this but not distribution charges since they didn’t have a huge stash at the time/got tipped off and disposed of stuff
Forest was arrested a year ago with Lake as the sheriff on the scene. Was sentence to 30 years.
Mother (Lonnie Mae / Code Red) fell off when dad got arrested. She currently hops between Atlanta and out of state lines (Alabama); lives with a bad dude that they all hate. Lake randomly gets updates from her.
Drives a 2019 Iron 883 Harley Davidson when he is not in his sheriff cruiser.
Worked for the Dixon family from the age of 16 on and was taken under their wing. This caused some familial issues due to the special treatment Lake was given by the family.
