#(first in general was Sarah TWDG)

[angeltannis]

Fun Baph Fact: Aveline from Dragon Age II was the first adult character I ever hc’d as autistic

[chmydarling]

“ hey, kiddo. how do you feel? “

❛ i think my arms are gonna fall off. ❜

he winces at the tender, trembling muscles in question. they bothered him more than the grazes on his face and chin; he'd earned these battle scars after having his legs kicked out from beneath him. because one of the men- perhaps guard would be more accurate and/or fitting- had recently taken a particular dislike to him. the reason? they didn't like his face. they really, really didn't like his face. the shoves and the random punches and kicks hurt, sure. but maybe not as much as the knowledge that he was a target for them, that they were singling him out specifically. that unnerving information often silenced any jokes or comments or challenges that arose within him.

because it was the thought, the t h r e a t, of an audience with h i m. in that office, in that chair. that was what kept him awake most nights in line. relatively.

today, he'd been tasked with lugging around what he was certain had to be bowling balls. it sure felt like that, anyway. maybe it was rocks. or bricks or something? he wasn't sure anymore. he didn't care. anymore. although days at howe's dragged by agonisingly, they often bled into one another. they strived or struggled for the same goal, day after day; carver was hell-bent on forever strengthening, expanding and fortifying the place. his kingdom. whilst simultaneously destroying, weakening and sometimes even obliterating entirely the morale, faith and health of the inhabitants of their community.

❛ i better look like freaking popeye by the time this is done, man. ❜ he follows up weakly.

if it ever would be.

sometimes, most days, it felt like he was never going to see or know anything but these walls. and this place.

sometimes, he felt like taking his chances out there. he thought and dreamt about it often. of the opportunity to do so. but maybe that was all it could be. a dream. an impossible one, at that.

❛ how about you? tough day at the office? ❜

[zombtismonmain]

Clementine HC's -> S1 - S4

reminder, these have no basis in canon, i simply like the character and have hc's for either my own writing, fun or comfort. minus the bisexual part, given clem is canonically bisexual and that makes me. so very happy.

This will contain obvious spoilers for TWDG S1-S4

Character Related

Clementine is autistic and sometimes struggles with tone, and taking things literally.

Clementine has a special interest in walkie-talkies and other devices, often dismantling them to see how they work - similar to her father whose an engineer.

Prior to being attacked by Sam the dog in season 2, Clementine has a phobia of dogs already, specifically big dogs. She did have a cat that she found in her yard one day and talked her parents into keeping him.

While not a special interest, Clementine enjoys cars and vehicles.

Clementines hat is a comfort item in the same vein a teddy bear might be for young children.

During season 1, Clementine had a small crush on Duck, during Season 2, she had a somewhat crush on Sarah but didn't know the word for it but also a deep friendship, Season 3-4 is when she's officially come to terms with her bisexuality (and polyamory because she has two hands she can have both Louis and Violet. Okay? Okay.)

Clementine mimics Lee alot when taking care of AJ.

Relationships - Familial / Friends

Clementine and Lee develop a deep father-daughter like bond with Lee making sure Clementine is safe long after his death - this is something she uses with AJ and mimics a lot of Lee's behaviors with those around her.

During Season 1, while not super close, Clementine developed a somewhat older sister figure in Lilly. This died along with Carley when Lilly killed her.

Prior to Marlon's demise and betrayal, Clementine enjoyed his company and considered him a friend.

As mentioned prior, Clementine was very close to Sarah during Season 2 (at least in my game, because she reminded me so much of my own sister) and the two act as a support system with Clementine trying to understand her anxiety and teaching her how to defend herself. The two made matching flower rings and Clementine keeps hers in a pocket despite it now becoming withered and dead.

Clementine has a few people that she considers actual family, this being; Lee, Christa, Omid, Kenny and AJ. While he closest friends would of been: Duck, Sarah, Luke, Jane, Marlon, Ruby and Javier (at least in my game)

Relationships - Romantic

Polycule situation between Louis, Clem and Violet, the three often act as a family with Clementine being in the middle - similar to Lee, her priority is AJ's safety and her partners respect that.

Clementine had small crushes on a few people, nothing ever serious for various reasons, but personally I feel like Clementine falls harder for people (Louis and Violet) and is very sentimental when it comes down to people shes in a relationship with.

Very protective of her partners - and just generally people she's close to. She's lost enough people.

Louis fell first, Violet fell harder than Clementine did and it took Violet a while to warm up to Clementine romantically due to what happened with Minnie.

Also, if you'd like the Clementine Clem icons i've made, I'll put them at the bottom for you to use or save <3 they are in order from season 1 to season 4.

[bizlybebo]

I AM ASKING YOU ABOUT YOUR ZOMBIE AUS 🤲🤲🤲🤲 I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THEM !!!!!!!!!!!! i looooove a good zombie au

HOORAYYY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

okok so both my riptide and pd one are heavily inspired by two different zombapoc video games,, being telltale's walking dead video games and the last of us. buuut i've put a lot of original thoughts and ideas into them and i. love them so much ^__^

the riptide one is pretty messy but the PD one is the one im prouder of :D (both AUs have heavy spoilers for both campaigns)

Riptide

-basically, this AU is inspired by the dynamic of Lee and Clementine from the first walking dead game, but it's branched out a lot further than that.

-at the start of the zombie apocalypse, Arlin teamed up w/Drey and Finn under Captain Rose, and they all formed a lil survivor group (rest of the black rose pirate are there too-- minus chip.)

-when the trio's scavenging through a neighborhood, Chip manages to steal from them, and Arlin's the first one to catch him. Chip, being himself, thinks Arlin is insanely cool and basically makes him adopt him.

-essentially the entire AU follows Arlin trying to find Chip's parents, while Rose is moving the group north through the city to reunite with his lover (and external evidence points to Chip's parents potentially being up North too, in one of the big survivor bases).

-all is fine until, yk. zombies attack them. but these are more distorted, creepier zombies, and they work in more of a coordinated spooky hivemind instead of being the typical braindead zombies as is typical of twd/twd-inspired stuff.

-rest of it vaguely follows the plot of the hole in the sea but. zombies.

-essentially, ten or so years later, Chip appears in Featherbrooke, a navy-ran (the navy still exists here don't ask) base that Jay lives in. And then it's like Origins but. zombies.

-Chip convinces Jay to join him on the road while also talking big about how he's out searching for the old Black Rose group, and is also convinced that Finn Tidestrider could create a cure for the zombies.

-gillion fucking Shows Up.

-etcetc. stuff happens.

-basically, the dynamics here are heavily inspired by the TWDG series, but grew and branched out etc. Chip and Arlin are kind of inspired by Clementine and Lee,, Chip and Ollie are kind of like Clementine and AJ,, etc.

-also. Drey is immune. He gets bit the last time that Chip ever sees him which is why Chip thinks that he's dead, but. nope ^__^ this is also why he's kept in prison by the navy, but also kept largely a secret.

-The Ferins in general in this au are all entirely fucked up and have weird connections to immunity/resistance against. becoming zombies.

^^^- Jay got sent out with Chip as a spy because he kept talking about Finn and finding a cure (+ Jayson also has the knowledge of Drey, etc.) and basically, Jayson thinks that finding a cure could help cure Ava, who died to a zombie bite around 5 years ago.

PD

I ACTUALLY HAVE A LONGFIC OF THIS ONE IN THE WORKS. BUT IT'S TAKING ME A SECOND. it's inspired by TLOU but my TLOU knowledge is actually pretty lackluster </3

-basically, the barebones of this AU is that it's TLOU. Mark is like Joel, Dakota is like Ellie, and Ashe is like Sarah.

-Instead of straight up zombies, it's demons.

-Superpowers and superheroes still exist in this AU, but they are definitely pretty different.

-The apocalypse started when Ashe summoned the trickster, killing their mother etc., but wasn't able to push the trickster back. The chaos zone opened which caused the world to fall to ruin.

-People live in safe zones put together by WATCH, and are all heavily discouraged from leaving due to the. yknow. posessions.

-William is "dead" at the modern day of the AU. He and Ashe were friends before the end of the world, but William was killed by Ashe/The Trickster.

-The closer parallel to Riley is Katori/"rooftop girl",, this part of Dakota's backstory is still pretty similar.

-The AU actually starts when Mark is tasked by Overlord to smuggle "cargo" across Prime, said cargo being Dakota.

- The Overlord is doing all that weird human experimentation shit like in canon, but this time is trying to combine human and demon DNA for the purpose of finding a "cure"/ a way for people to resist being posessed.

-Here's my favorite part of this AU. Dakota is immune to being possessed by demons cause he literally just fucking eats them. This is only possible because of fucking Fartbo i hate it here

-Anyways, William suddenly wakes up alive after being dead for 20 years at the start of the AU. He sees a wisp guiding him and follows it.

-Around the same time, Vyncent still got isekai'd. As one does. Cantrip robbed him on his first day in Prime because I think that's funny.

-Tide is a hero in the Rockfall safe zone, who adopts and mentors Vyncent and William when they first show up.

^^ okok i have. more of the AU planned out from here but since i plan on turning it into a fic pretty soon i dont want to talk more about it past this point cause. i have a really cool plot idea that i dont wanna spoil ^__^

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Hey CJ, you mentioned that you disagree with a lot of your old TWDG opinions, any that stand out you wanna share? Also i agree with what you said about wanting to play the series for the first time again with no prior knowledge - i would love to meet louis character for the first time again.

Yeah, some opinions have changed with time and moving on from being a hardcore, active fan in the fandom. I'm pretty sure I've talked about some of them more recently, like how I used to not like Jane but now I've become something of a "Jane apologist," if you will.

I was also super vocal about hating the Clementine comics when the 12-page comic dropped, and I'm pretty sure I was shitty about Tillie Walden... which I look back on now and feel embarrassed. In fact, I specifically remember calling attention to the fact that Skybound turned off comments on the first book trailer and on their instagram, twitter, etc. and being like, "look at these COWARDS! they know we hate the comic and that Tillie's a bad artist, they're trying to shut us up!" ........but then I heard they turned them off because Tillie was getting threats, and it caused me to dig around and see the vile shit fans were saying.... It gave me pause to think things through and I feel very differently about it all now.

I've also changed my mind on Minerva. Like Jane, there was a loooong period of time where I didn't like her, but now? I think she's great. A real tragedy.

In fact, real talk, I think my perspective on most of the female characters in TWDG has shifted dramatically. I've done a lot of thinking on this just in general; I'm much harder on female characters than male characters. I can pretend like noooooo I was always soooo fair... but no, not always. I'm sure it's from some deep-rooted, internalized misogyny I have that I'm working on, but I also think the games sometimes neglect those characters, too. Which makes it easier to brush them off as just "poorly-written" and "bad characters" if I don't like them when that's not always the case.

Or let's be real, we all know how this goes; the games give us a flawed male character and fans are like "he's my blorbo, here's a 50k essay about why he deserved better and a list of my headcanons and the twenty AUs I've written for them-" but then a female character's just as flawed and fans are like "lol she's poorly written, here's an essay on why-"

Don't look at me like that. I know I'm guilty of this. I know y'all remember Mitch. Back in the day, Mitch was my boy and I used to write about him all the time but like... god forbid I put that much effort into writing about Violet or Minerva, right?

Or even look at Kate, for example. Past CJ would've talked about how much she doesn't like Kate and she hates the forced romance with Javi, she's just there as a way to make David and Javi fight, etc. But you ask me about Kate now and I'm like, "Girl, ANF did you so dirty, you didn't deserve this."

Or how about Bonnie in S2? We all love to hate on Bonnie, but like... she's such an interesting character?? She's a recovering drug addict so desperate for a place, and you can see Carver's manipulation at play in the way she talks about him to Clementine. It takes seeing him physically beat Kenny within an inch of his life before she's like "Yeah no, fuck this, we're leaving tonight." And we give her shit about Luke's death and being mean to Clementine but frankly? Yeah, she's mean to Clementine and that's fine.

What, it's okay for Kenny to lash out and call her a stupid kid when Sarita dies because he's your poor meow meow and it makes his character soooo morally gray and complex? But Bonnie lashes out about Luke's death and suddenly she's just a massive piece of shit? No complexities or anything? There's no grey morality? No underlying motive or emotions behind the choice to abandon the group with Mike and Arvo?? She's just a bitch??

And do I even need to talk about Sarah? Hmm? We all know how Sarah was received and how fans still talk about her. Again, Sarah has a complete meltdown over losing her father and people get hurt, and fans wish death upon her... but Kenny has a meltdown and brutally beats up Arvo or threatens to smack Clementine or a number of things.... "that's fine, he's just really upset, he lost his family, y'know? everyone keeps trying to GASLIGHT me that he's bad but if you really think about it, Arvo totally deserved to be abused and it's actually Clementine's fault Kenny hit her because she tried to stop him-"

I just... the lengths we go to justify and defend this violent, toxic character but then act like Jane is the worst, I can't-

It's so funny to me whenever I see someone in the fandom complain about wanting more morally grey, flawed female characters because like... y'all couldn't even handle Jane. Or Lilly. Or Sarah. Or Bonnie. Rebecca. Eleanor. Christa. Minerva and Violet, in a lot of cases. So like... what do you actually want?

Note that I'm guilty of this, too, and I've asked myself that question... haven't fully worked out the answer yet.

That's the major thing that comes to mind about opinions I had that I've changed my mind about. I think a big factor in that is letting twdg go and getting invested in other fandoms, doing a lot more reading, getting back into writing, etc. Obviously I've really gotten into the Dragon Age fandom and that's what triggered this "journey of self-reflection~" when it comes to how I perceive female characters. Like, you want flawed, morally-grey ladies? That's your series... assuming you can actually handle it.

But I also recently finished a playthrough of Fallout New Vegas and remembered my love for Veronica Santangelo, like... I don't care that the game doesn't technically have romance, that's my girlfriend, I love her. Then the other night I finished my first playthrough of Life is Strange True Colors [I know, where the fuck have I been, right?] and I spent 40% of the time looking at flowers, 10% being sad about Gabe, and the other 50% trying to figure out who I liked more, Steph or Ryan.

I've also been reading a lot of wlw novels which is just..... THAT'S a whole mess I won't get into because this is already long enough and you didn't ask. Just know that's also another factor in this reflection.

And to answer the other part of your ask: I miss Louis. I would love to play TFS again for the first time again, that was a fun time.

[adoredmarigold]

Questions!! Yay!!!!!! I've got a lot to ask about, I'm sorry

1. What are your favorite ships other than david and lingard (tbh in some way that ship reminds me of kirk x bones, not sure if youre into star trek tho xd)

2. Ava or Tripp?

3. Favorite S2 characters? Do you have any S2 ships?

4. What do you think are the best possible and your favorite endings of S2, S3 and S4??

5. And of course, I wanted to ask, whats your opinion on Bonnie.

I feel like I've been asking you some questions before but I dont remember excstly what it waasszzzzzzddsdszs if I already asked some of these questions IM SO SORRY but I cant say no to asking twdg questions

hello :) 1. VIOLENTINE!!!! It's such a lovely ship I will defend it with my life, istg Violentine haters have yet to bring up a valid point as to why they don't like it. I have some crack ships like Eleanor x Kate or Eleanor x Ava, I don't have much to say about them I'm just gay and wanna ship my girls together lmao. hmmm, I've been seeing some Mark x Lee stuff to and that looks pretty cute. Ermmm this is making me realize I actually don't ship much in twdg lmao, I guess I also ship Clouis and Gabentine Clouis is sweet and has good moments but I just don't find them as compelling as Violentine (sorry Clouis shippers). As for Gabentine I guess I would say I ship it, but more so in a "first crush/puppy love" kinda of way, The relationship never becomes anything serious they're just kids with a crush on each other and honestly I don't need them to become anything more than that. aaaannnd I know nothing about Star Trek but you're gonna make me look into Kirk x Bones now, thanks. 2. Well if we're just talking about the characters in general then Ava, she's so underrated imo. BUT, if we're talking about whether I choose to "save" Tripp or Ava during the execution, I always choose to let Tripp live. I'd rather have Ava die here than get that stupid fucking death she gets in ep 5, Tripps death in ep 5 is a lot better cinematically and writing-wise. 3. Sarah :) She's been my fav season 2 character since the season first came out and I will never forgive the writers/fandom at the time for how they treated her, SHE DID NOTHING WRONG. As for ships I guess I don't really have any for season 2, I mean Alvin x Rebecca I suppose though I'm not particularly invested in either character. Never been a Nick x Luke fan, I get the appeal but it ain't for me. 4. I can't really say which ending for each season is the best cause it's all pretty subjective, but I will give you my favs :) I guess I don't really have a fav ending for season 2? I choose the alone ending each time just cause I can't deal with Jane and Kenny's bs, don't hate either character but Clem doesn't deserve to put up with their bullshit anymore, she's the main character it's fine let's just ignore the logistics of an 11-year-old going off alone with a newborn. I also like the Wellington ending alot though! Not only because it's the best location for Clem and AJ to end up at but it also gives a satisfying conclusion to Kenny's character imo. Kenny spent all of season 2 trying to keep Clem and in the end AJ by his side for ultimately selfish reasons and he became extremely violent and unhinged in the process. So to see Kenny finally be selfless and be willing to give them both up to ensure their health and safety really redeems him for me. Kenny loves Clem and AJ but I really don't think he's fit to take care of them, this is the best possible Kenny ending for me. 5. Bonnies cool. It's been awhile since I've played season 2 and 400 days so I am in a desperate refresh of her character, but from what I remember she was interesting. I def think the fandom goes WAY too hard on hating her, from what I remember she's not really any worse or better than any of the other adults in season 2, she's extremely flawed but hell who isn't in The Walking Dead. I get being frustrated with her but the lengths people go to shit all over her character is kinda insane to me. So overall I guess I don't have much of a strong opinion on Bonnie, she's an interesting character with alot of flaws but I don't think she's evil or cruel. I hope her and Mike where able to get away and join a community or something. Also, I distinctly remember her being my fav 400 Days character and having a crush on her when I was a kid lmao. wowie okay that's all I gotta say, and don't worry you're all good! If you (or anybody really) send me a question and I don't reply it's probably just cause I forgot to or I'm stumped on what to say. CRIES

[unculturedswine69]

WAIT HELP I READ TOO FAST 😭😭

omg but who are your favs in the twdg games... 😳😳😳

OH HFHGFHJ ITS FINE I DO THAT ALL THE TIME TOO BUT YEAH AS YOU KNOW I LOVE THE GAMES AND SHOW AND ALSO THE COMIC!! BUT FOR THE GAMES UHMMM..omg this is SUCH a tough question honestly?? like, i feel very complicated about basically every character in this series so its hard to just pick one fave....

hmm i will say tho i have ALWAYS loved Lee and Clementine (obviously,who doesnt hehe) i just love them sm 😭the first game just makes me so emotional FRFR in the first game i also loved Ben,Chuck, Omid and Christa and Molly!! id also include Kenny but...i have a sorta love/hate relationship with that guy 😭😭😭😭hes such a good character tho!! in general i think the first game was just so good😌😌

for the other games im less familiar with them since ive only played the other seasons once each so my memory is probably a little off,but i remember really liking Sarah ,Nick,Luke and Jane from the 2nd season,but again i think some of these characters are like. love/hate with me currently,i think s2 is so turbulent that its kinda hard to pick faves really (for me atleast) with the 3rd season i remember LOVING that Tripp guy and also Javier,but its been years since i last played the game so i probably have a bunch of different opinions on everything now😭😭in general i just dont remember too much from that game,i definitely have to replay it eventually..for s4 tho?? hmm honestly,i think i loved like,90% of the cast in that LMAO but i think i liked uhhm AJ the most.and also i think his name was Asim (or aasim) and Ruby,i liked them alot i think,and louis and violet too 😌😌😌also the dog?? does the dog count??? in general i just thought the characters were pretty interesting in that game,but again i think ima just have to replay all of these again to see how i REALLY feel

ANYWAYS THANKS FOR THE QUESTION AURA!!! i would LOVE to know your faves too😈😈😈😈😈😈

[morballs]

Write a 10 page APA format essay on the TWDG character that you hate the most.

You have until Friday to submit this 🙌🏾

professor Everett i'm paralyzed on my deathbed i cannot do this!!! anyways, sorry to the three Jane fans that exist, but I DO NOT LIKE HER!! AT ALL!!!! Maybe this is biased given my very normal attitude regarding Kenny, but you can obviously see that her role as a character was extremely rushed in the last episode; I don't even think she was supposed to survive! Outside of budget problems or interpersonal bullshit happening in TTG, I just genuinely fucking hated her in the last episode. ANNNDDD IM GONNA RANT ABBOUT ITT GRAAAAAGHHH!!!!

When Jane's introduced to the story she's intriguing, and in general a character that I really wanted to see develop in my first playthrough; She KNEW what she was doing on a completely different level compared to every other character then introduced in the season 2 roster, because as opposed to let's say Kenny or Luke, she's been treading in the shoes of a walker for roughly two years at that point, she knows the enemy in a way that only Clementine (and Lee (LMAO)) knows, if that makes sense. You can see her as an ally in some strange form only based on shared experience. Her character is a bit intense, but she carries herself like she's more important and above the others, extremely self assured and all that bullshit, which is quite the comparison with Nick, Alvie and Luke where they prefer to keep themselves at ground level, and in a way that's more personal and opens their character and personality up for us to explore. It makes her somewhat like a big sister stand-in for Clementine, and its extremely obvious that she see's all her own flaws inside Clem and tries to snuff it out before she makes the same mistakes she did (Any scene revolving around Sarah, and how she was trying to convince Clem to leave her alone to get eaten alive and then SULKING when she doesn't). It's interesting, and I wont deny I deeply enjoyed the scenes where she's teaching Clementine some of her survival tricks! But it all really falls apart by the last leg of episode 4, with the whole Luke thing. It's strange, their entire dynamic and relationship is strange because frankly by the second time they interact they're already mapping eachothers insides dawg... completely fucking shocked me man... Her "leaving" the group didn't really create any swell of emotions inside me (neither did her returning), if anything I felt relieved and neutral as her character had mostly served its purpose in Clementines' story; but that's where the problem begins, she's exhausted her use as a character.

In episode 5 her character is dull and useless until she slowly tries to convince Clem that Kenny is a liability, in which yes, she's not WRONG but if she opened her two eyes and compared to his one functioning fucking eye she'd realize that "Hey the kid that he's beating the FUCK out of and the reason why my little fuck-buddy died was because I STOLE A BAG OF SUPPLIES THAT?? ULTIMATELY?? DIDN'T EVEN MATTER IN THE END??"

I have to accept the fact that actions in the ttg series often don't matter at all. Like NADA. NUH UH. And alot of shit doesn't get mentioned ever again despite the fact that it was a serious part of the story (Omid and Christa, Ben dying, Carlos/Sarah/Nick dying, ETC), But to have shit like that be ignored? completely? no one held her against herself for stealing the bag? ever? like ever ever? Clementine steals the pills, which would've been enough in the first fucking place. (bag is never seen again after that btw). But that part does also show us how deceptively selfish Jane is, in a way that is almost fucking messed up; because it isn't petty, it's straight up murder in some cases (Arvo's group, Luke/Bonnie, Kenny/herself, ALMOST AJ.)

But the part that drove me up the wall with her was the final scenes, where she manages to corrupt an 11 year old's brain into thinking, "WOW Kenny's going off the deep end and MIGHT theoretically KILL ME all because this FREAKY white woman told me so!" Fuck man, her hiding AJ while not even being SURE that she'd live to tell them where she hid him? Her witnessing Kenny getting beat up until a part of his skull got crushed for his adoptive kid and then being able to look Clem in the eye and go "he's a selfish monster"? when her selfish actions is what caused the ENTIRETY of the ep5 events? (sans Rebecca dying) She got into that fight not because she WANTED Clem to be safe but because she WANTED to be proven RIGHT!! ARRGHHH!!!!! (SHE COULD'VE CALLED IT OFF TOO BUT SHE JUST WANTED SO BADLY TO BE THE "SAVIOUR")

Don't get me started on her shitty "ending" either...

ANYWAYS, kenny dickrider alert... wow i got heated bruh ion fw this mf at all anyways thanks for the ask, russ!!! appreciate it :)

[puppypawprince]

some more examples below cut but specifically from my stim side blog but yknow I babble

example one

this is one of my most recent boards! the formatting is a little different due to it representing two different people. it’s troy and abed from community bcs I like them a lot. the icon in the middle is a picture of the two of em together. the corner gifs I labeled “gif” are gifs of their handshake. the ones labeled “1” are supposed to represent abed (camera due to him making films and dvds bcs of him liking to watch films). the ones labeled “2” represent troy (football due to him being a football player and dancing to him… dancing. idk how to explain this but you know the dancing episode if you’ve seen it.) the corners labeled “3” are type three and they’re both blanket forts due to that being a rlly important part of troy and abed’s relationship if you’ve seen the show (the whole battle thing.. I did my best. they didn’t have any gifs of other things that might be good to represent them. we 👏 need 👏 pillow 👏 fight 👏 gifs. that’s not the point.

example two

ok so this is a chase stimboard I made bcs i liked those gifs of him… as always the icon in the middle is the character (chase) that I edited the word autism onto but it’s also on fire. there are once again gifs of the character in the corners (him destroying technology). 1 is chewing gifs, 2 is breaking beakers, 3 is fire. matching the types again. im starting to get tired but I have to finish this.

example three

heres my stimboard of luke from the twdg. the icon is an image i got from his wiki page. there are gifs of him in the corner (I didn’t expect there to be much gif content of the game but I was so excited to see some and I knew immediately I wanted to make a stimboard… I wanted to make one of sarah but I couldn’t find enough appropriate gifs it was even hard to find stuff for luke… that’s not the point!!! sorry.)

anyways starting a new paragraph to continue. the first type (labeled “1”) are just general gifs, im not sure what to call it. it’s scratched hands and brown hair, kinda representing physical characteristics. (it’s also my hair there’s a limited amount of hair gifs that fit what I want. you didn’t need to know that though) the second type (labeled “2”) are just zombies (*cough cough* walkers) bcs yknow… the walking dead… and the third type (labeled “3”) are art restoration gifs due to his art history degree.

example four

so this is the first request on this examples thing… last example for now. idk anything about cats (also the requester has my main blog blocked lol. whatever)

the icon in the middle is the character as always. gifs labeled “gif” in the corners are from one of those “this character stimming” compilation. those are the physical stims I used (I assumed the requester meant body stims but idk). type 1 are soft things (fur and some makeup brushes on a wall.) type 2 is glittery things (glitter jar and glitter coming off a brush… I couldn’t find another fitting glitter jar that looked good). type three is just straight up glitter not glitter in things just glitter.

I forgot to talk about colors but in this it’s obviously a darker color scheme. Luke has more of a brown color scheme. etc etc.

anyways hope this made sense it probably wasn’t helpful but at least I hope it was coherent

edit: why are you reblogging this.

me trying to explain one of my methods of making stimboards

[blair-the-juggalho]

TWDG Masterlist

Platonic:

TWDG S4 characters when a bubbly Y/N is sad

Smoking the devils lettuce with Mitch (TWDG)

TWDG Sarah with a cold hearted, sister! Reader after Carlos died

TWDG season 1 group reacting to Lily shooting (but not killing!) a preteen!reader

Twdg Season 1 group with an reader who’s looking after a kid

TWDG Ericsson kids with a reader who’s a good drawer

TWDG Ericsson gang with the reader taking care of a child

Doing chores with the ericsson kids

Ericssons kids thoughts on you when you first show up

Ericsson kids with a reader who has anger issues

Twdg gang with a very attractive reader

Ericsson gang reaction to reader who’s scary when mad

TWDG kids with a very attractive parental figure reader

Ericsson kids with a reader that’s tattooed and has scars

Romantic:

Twdg Ericsson gang with a reader who’s energetic but gets burnt out

TWDG Aasim and Ben with an S/O who’s only giddy when they’re around

TWDG Marlon with an S/O who is terrified of dogs

TWDG Ericsson gang reaction when a new person flirts with their S/O but their S/O blanks them

TWDG Ben and Louis with an S/O who’s protective

TWDG nick x Wife!reader who’s the daughter of Carlos (who doesn’t approve of their marriage)

TWDG Ben and Louis with an S/O who’s taller than them

Ericsson gang x reader who can sing

Ericsson kids with a 6’0 , tall, stong reader with muscles

TWDG Ericsson gang plus clem with an S/O who bites to show affection

TWDG Ericsson gang with an S/O feeling lonely

TWDG gang with an S/O who’s a hip hop dancer

Twdg Ericsson gang with an S/O who has a deep but smooth voice

Twdg with a multilingual S/O

TWDG Ericsson gang + clem walking in on their S/O working out

TWDG Ericsson gang with an S/O who has a prosthetic arm and they can attach knives too it

Twdg Ericsson gang with a chubby S/O

TWDG Ericsson gang with an S/O that can drive

TWDG Ericsson gang with an S/O that says out of pocket shit

TWDG Ericsson gang with an S/O who plays sports

TWDG Ericsson gang with an S/O who has an NY accent

TWDG Ericsson’s gang and clems way of showing affection to the reader

TWDG Ericsson kids x reader who is a leader of their own survival group

Ericsson gang with an S/O with really long hair

TWDG Ericsson’s gang with an S/O who play fights them, kisses them, then acts like newts happened

Ericsson kids with an S/O with anxiety

Ericsson kids with an S/O who has a plushy collection!

Ericsson kids with an S/O who’s really strong and picks them up

Ericsson kids with a smooth talker S/O

Ericsson kids x reader with tattoos, scars and has recently dyed their hair

TWDG Ericsson kids with an attractive S/O

Ericsson kids with an S/O and friend who’s hella chill

Ericsson kids with an S/O who always does a victory dance

Twdg with an S/O that’s a a few months older than them

Ericsson kids with an S/O who fights like a ninja

Ericsson kids with an S/O who the raiders fear very much

General:

TWDG Ben dating headcanons

TWDG Dating Mitch head canons

TWDG dating Aasim head canons

Twdg Marlon dating headcanons

TWDG Ericsson gang when they have a crush

General Louis headcanons

Oneshots

Special treatment - Marlon x reader

[ziracona]

T2 was okay and it could have been really good—had some real moments. But it needed more script iterations, and it was too goofy. Goofy is fine in general, but Terminator works best as a sci-fi action-drama-horror mesh. That’s the peak atmosphere. Also just, they gave their new Terminator scary powers to keep him relevant, but there’s just...no way to really make anyone on screen look like a threat to Arnold Schwarzenegger you know? And they never overcame that and it throws off the whole underdog atmosphere. He just. Wasn’t scary. Not when he was trying to kill heckin Arnold the brick house.

I’m not gonna talk about T3 bc I feel like I don’t need to and I think I have a lot of support for that in the fandom, and I’m not gonna talk any Genysis bc no one ever should, and I know I have support there.

Dark Fate was fine, but I felt like they really didn’t have to kill off their Kyle expy like at this point the surprising thing and interesting one would be /not/ to kill him. That role has died in /every/ other film. Like we get it. But plot rehashes are only good if you have some kind of spin. Mostly though I just...would have liked T800 man’s personality in another context but you couldn’t ever sell me on him after watching him gun down a 10 year old in the open. Like what, he found a soul by being...bored? If you want to convince me of fundamental change in a person, you /gotta/ motivate it better. Show me. Don’t tell me and expect me to take your word. And there just wasn’t enough meet in some spots. I wanted more firm lore and a little less action. Like I’m not even a science-heavy leaning sci-fi fan but it still wasn’t enough. I liked it more than most of the others but it just wasn’t quite...meaty enough. Sarah still a queen. But T800 man didn’t sell and that was a real weak spot, and so was expecting us and Sarah to just...like and forgive him bc he had accrued a family. But also like. I enjoyed having a new protag, but feeling like so much, no, /all/ of the work and suffering of everyone in other Terminator films was for nothing bc it’s not even Skynet anymore it’s some other robots?? It kind just...didn’t really work. It makes everything more hollow like it’s not even Terminator anymore there’s no more Terminators. They should have just had it be Skynet but a different rebel leader, or more. Sarah goes on to mentor Dani instead since John is dead, /something/ to make it more the same franchise and not so hollow. Or if it’s gonna be gutted, go all the way and let us feel that, don’t blip it as a plot point once and keep rolling. There’s decades of character attachment for fans; either make that matter, or make it mourned because it’s dead. Don’t skim it and make it cheap. Also on a meta level it was kind of weird how they handled time travel compared to the norm for the franchise but I’m not going into that.

BUT. The Terminator? A cinematic classic. It’s just...such a good film. The characters work is solid the whole movie, and Reese and Sarah are both truly excellent protagonists also given ample time to explore and exhibit that. There’s so much you get in moments that show tiny things about them. The way Sarah handles getting canceled on and goofing with Ginger, her having a pet iguana she loves to cuddle, talking to the statue at work? And she’s smart and normal (I mean normal in a very complimentary way). Kyle is introduced almost immediately running from the cops, but even in the middle of a chase scene, he’s stealing clothes in a mall while evading flashlights, and little things like hopping while he runs to check shoe sizes give you so much right away. He’s clearly out of his depth but he’s smart and methodical and he holes up in a car he hotwires and has a ptsd moment waking up from a dream because of some heavy construction machinery. You don’t have him say much about himself at all but you get him taking a second to be nice to the kids and guard dog on his way back before a T800 attacks. Even though if you’re watching it classic, you have no spoken goal for Reese and all you know is he’s armed and /also/ looking for Sarah, like the man who has killed three people already is, you kind of aren’t very scared of him by the time he’s creepily following her into a night club. That scene is iconic too damn. Anyway. Her reactions to everything are so great. Only film I ever saw where I 100% felt the person on screen was reacting like anyone would to almost being killed and then getting kidnap-saved by some other guy claiming to be from the future like I’d bite him too, but you know, I’d also be pretty happy he saved me and also decide he was crazy and not like, dangerous, and try to keep the cops from killing him. It’s so cute he thinks anyone is going to believe him like hang in there Kyle baby, king. Love as soon as the Terminator hits the police station, he breaks out and goes to find Sarah, and she’s immediately like ‘so fuck this actually’ and looking for him too. The deleted scene in the motel woods. The slow character build. Him falling in love with her because of the picture where she always looked a little sad and he wondered what she was thinking about and you don’t find out till the last scene it’s him she was thinking about in that picture. A family can be two complete trauma disasters making pipe bombs in a motel. The top 5 cinema shots moment where you think they won and they think they won and they’re both injured and stagger to each other and collapse laughing and crying and hugging and it holds for like ten seconds before that fucking thing gets up and you see the rubble in the fire shift and Kyle sees it first. And the hopelessness and despair. Sarah just screaming no in rage because it’s so unfair. The little scaffolding fight?? Kyle doing what he does? Sarah winning with a broken leg? The picture? The heartbreak? A work of art.

Also just. They’re both attractive but like, they are not remotely airbrushed Hollywood pretty. Kyle’s got that big scar on his lip and they’re both sweaty and bloody and dirty and gross the whole film??? God yeah.

Terminator Salvation? Also a classic. You have a film not about the core cast exactly, but it’s very ensemble. You get early days war. And it’s from the very open a solid narrative about second chances and what it means to be human and they really do explore that the whole runtime. Markus dies and comes back more confused than you are in the apocalypse. Baby Reese is absolutely perfect. You get formerly executed for murder Markus somehow adopting like 20 year old Reese and 13 year old kid Star and they’re amazing. Rebellion drama, lore reveals. Reese’s devout faith in the cause and how fast he looks up to Markus and starts learning and Markus is like :[ but then he’s like ... :] because he god assigned two family members now. The tag team fights—how incredibly talented Star is. Guilt trip on a look to dropping cars, she’s super effective. Tbh Markus is just O_O to >:-[ the whole movie as soon as Reese and Star are taken and I feel it. You’ve got a guy who was killed for straying too far from human, come back as a machine, but he doesn’t know it, wondering if he deserves another chance and if he can change, and it’s really neat the way it unfolds. Even after losing so many friends to Terminators that look human, Blair refuses to believe he isn’t a human even if he’s also a machine and risks her life to save him, when they barely know each other. Markus getting like, tortured by the rebels, and still choosing to help them and be who he has decided he wants to be this time, even towards John. Even with better alternatives. And you have Star never having a moment of doubt, or Reese, and him getting to save them both, and them trying to help the other humans in line for extermination before he arrives. The hand hold with Star when his hands just metal. And he decides to die for someone he doesn’t even /like/ and who has personally hurt him a lot of times, because he knows the rebels need him to win. Anyway death row to death row but completely different people in the same body facing that same death differently are amazing if done well (see TWDG I mean ow) and it was a very simple core theme to latch to and very enjoyable executed and it got snubbed by fans when it’s the best sequel Terminator ever had.

[spacedlexi]

Hello! I like your TWDG art and I'm curious if the Final Season was your first exposure to TWDG series? What do you think of the series overall, if you've played them? Any favourite characters outside of S4? I personally stopped playing the games after S2 left me severely disappointed, I think S1 will always be the best of them.

oooo cool questions. and thank you!!

my first exposure to twdg was actually when the demo dropped for the first season!! yea ive secretly been here the Whole Time lmao i didnt play it myself tho i watched my friend play. it was the first time i had been exposed to the telltale choice game kind of format and i didnt really know how to feel about it so i didnt pick it up for myself i just watched others play. it took me a while to catch up and i didnt finish the first season until after s2 ended

the end of season one, like with most people, left me like.....really super heart broken and emotional like man i was Empty inside ahah that ending still and always will get me just Right in the fuckin heart meat. so, feeling as empty as i did and wanting to know where clems story went i jumped Right into season 2 ............ and that left me even More fuckin empty and sad than season 1 lmao fuckin season 2 is probably The most depressing season imo i didnt think i could feel worse than the end of s1 but s2 took it as a challenge

i Hated s2 and was really suffering through it but when kenny showed up i was like OH THANK GOD a familiar face (even tho he really tested my patience in S1) because i capital H Hated the new cast. sarah was fine and luke was Generally ok for the most part but the adults pissed me the Fuck off and still do for how they treated clem (an 11 year old!!) like a whole ass adult and personal therapist. but then kenny got Real scary after the whole sarita thing and jane was pissin me off for not only constantly pushing kenny (a man who was desperately holding onto a very thin thread) but for trying to convince clem that she didnt need anyone and that she’d be better off on her own (AN 11 YEAR OLD!! in the zombie apocalypse!! even tho yea the s2 cast were shit to be around). looking at s2 in hindsight the only good thing about it was AJ..bby boy...

and then about a year or so later the trailer for s3 dropped and i was like YES look at clem fuckin badass fuckin shotgun fuckin take no shit Yes but then i was soooooooooo so disappointed when i found out you were gonna be playing as some fuckin Nobody new character i was like fuck off i just want clem back. season 3 was just....pretty boring in my opinion and the only saving grace was whenever clem was around and the whole “wheres aj” plot that i wish the game focused on instead. out of the s3 cast (minus clem/aj) i only really cared for javi and mari...and well.....we all kno what happens to mari and how fast l o l rip. eps 1-3 (generously) were ok and interesting but the final eps just... ehhh. also jesus was ok but hes also a part of the comics/show whatever so he doesnt rack up points for telltale. javi flirting with him was pretty cool tho. both protags are bisexual you love to see it. bi rights hell yeah

AND THEN....SEASON 4. i immediately fell in love with the entire cast (even when vi was mean to her when they first spoke cuz i was like “yeah yeah i know you dont mean it i saw the way you were lookin at her from the wall i KNOW youre gonna be a romance option”). the whole troubled youth boarding school was such a great choice finally clem was around people her fuckin age no more adults looking to her for guidance or to parent. and she was Top Dog these kids had no real experience and i knew it was only a matter of time before she slipped into the role as their leader. i was NOT expecting it to be because of how ep 1 ends like omfg the end of the 1st ep is just.....Real Good. the ep itself was pretty slow getting you introduced to everyone but my god shit gets Real the moment clem walks into that basement and from then on out the ep is just Wild and ends with a (literal) bang.

E2 started testing my patience with a few characters (lookin at you louis specifically (even tho i still like you) because i will never get over how now AJ was the one being treated like an adult (A 5 YEAR OLD WHO ONLY KNOWS KILL MONSTERS TO SURVIVE and has never been in a group setting that he can remember))(its why my clem could never romance louis sorry dude) but violet was 💕💕 amazing standing up for clem and aj against the whole group and she takes on the role as leader cuz “no one else stepped the fuck up” i love her.... and then lily shows up and the whole drama with the raiders AGH love it

up until this point i was still just watching others play since the seasons were either too depressing or boring for me to want to pick it up for myself

but then telltale shut down. and i was like.....oh my god....clems story is gonna get cut right at the end?? i loved this new cast and i dont get to see how it ends??? im not gonna get to play it for myself!??!?! so when skybound stepped in and saved it i bought it up IMMEDIATELY i was like “that was TOO CLOSE im gonna finish this series for myself Dammit” and i did and it was great i played eps 3 and 4 when they dropped at midnight im so glad i got to experience the ending for myself on my own. i cried ahhaha so fuckin hard and i still do CLEEEEMMMM you did it bitch i love you

season 1 and 4 are really the only ones i like. and for me s4 ranks higher than s1 because of the cast and the found family trope and how its just..not as fuckin desperate and depressing and hopeless. it really just comes down to preference but s4 wins for me with s1 close second. i only ever go through seasons 2 and 3 for the sake of setting up s4 like its just formality aha. plus getting ajs plot established makes it worth it. and knowing how clems story ends makes the depressing parts easier to get through

SO YEAH OOF SORRY for the long answer i talk way too much ahah but i do really love this game. seasons 1 and 4 now reside snugly in a little corner of my heart where they will stay until i die lmao. if you havent i definitely recommend at least going through s4!!

[creamybeemovie69]

Some things I noticed about TWDG

Favourite quotes, small details and interesting plot points from somebody whose watched every episode up until season 6, read all ten comics and played all the games because I notice things like this.

SPOILERS FOR THE GAME, SHOW AND COMICS

The little bits of backstory we get on some characters from the show (Glenn, Hershall, Jesus, Etc.)

The ending they went with was incredible. It was predictable and everyone saw it coming because it was the most effective ending they could’ve gone with, but they still managed to make it so heart breaking so well done to Telltale/Skybound

Lee

Just in general, his character is absolutely amazing and I’m gonna have to make a whole other post on why

The fact that Christa was never seen again was interesting because we expected her to turn up eventually, but realistically she probably never would’ve been found. It’s just nice to see a game so realistic while the whole plot is fantasy based

The humour is amazing:

Clem: “it’s called a salt lick, but don’t lick it” Lee: “did you lick it?” Clem: “I dunno.”

Game: Duck thinks your super cool

I can’t remember it exactly, but that conversation between Clem and Lee about how some guy tried to break in but couldn’t get through the door despite the fact that it was open

Christa: “who’s interested in American history anyway, apart from old white guys?” Lee: *slowly raises hand*

In the end, your choices barely matter. I know a lot of people think this is lazy on the Dev’s part, but I think it’s really interesting because it’s another element to the game that shows the reality surrounding the fantasy plot. You can save Doug, but Carly dies anyway. You can chop Lee’s arm off, but it makes no difference. You can make Sarah listen to you in the caravan, but she falls with the balcony a few minutes later

Clementine’s first period. Again, realism.

Rosie. That dog is too good for that world.

Lily’s return was cool, especially how she might even get away again

The impact of lacking resources on a group throughout. It drove Lily near enough insane, Mark was only let in because he had food and in the game, show and comics people have resorted to eating eachother

Clementine’s sexuality and more specifically her lack of consideration of it. She doesn’t care whether she likes girls, boys or anyone else because she doesn’t know any different

LEE’S RETURN FUCK. That scene broke my heart and it was so nice to see just how much Clem still puts Lee above all the other people she’s ever been in a group with (apart from AJ of course) and how much she still cares/thinks about him

The way the apocalypse effected different people. Lori ended up sleeping with her husband’s best friend, Sarah couldn’t wrap her head around it 4 years later, both Javi and Lee immediately took on the role of caretaker because it was their way of coping, but neither actually had to. Javi’s family could look after themselves and Lee could’ve just left Clem there and never thought about it again, but he didn’t, and eventually that’s all their lives revolved around

Marlon was the most amazing villain of all time. He knows what he did was wrong, but he thought he was doing the right thing. He even said he’d be happy to leave and never come back after the things he did. He never actually meant to hurt anyone. It hind sight, he was barely a villain at all

AJ’s development. He’s the same age in season 4 as Clem was in season 1 but he acts so different because that’s how she raised him.

On that note, it’s cool how she raised him the way Lee taught her (rules on specific things, how to shoot a gun, etc.)

There’s so much more, but these stood out the most

[EDIT]

I don’t know how I forgot this, but you never play as a white character at all through all the games and I can’t think of another game that does this

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I Need to Talk About “Problematic Faves” within TWDG [1/?]

You know what I love about TWDG and its characters...? 

How flawed they all are.

I’m not talking that they’re flawed in the stupid “My biggest problem is that I love too gosh darn much!” or “My defining character flaw is that I’m super clumsy lolz!” I mean that practically every single character we’ve met across these games has done at least one terribly awful thing. 

That includes all of our favorite characters. 

It doesn’t matter who your favorite character is. They have done at least one terrible thing within these games, if not many. 

This can include theft, murder, assault, using racist slurs/being racist in general, different acts of violence using weapons, verbal abuse, lying, sacrificing others for themselves, property damage, assisting in suicide, abandonment, and many other things that potentially result in the harm of others or themselves. 

We don’t like to think that our favorite character could ever do any of these things, or if they did, they have an excuse for why they did it.

Take Clementine for example. We all love Clementine. We’ve all been with her since the beginning, we’ve all watched her grow, and we’ve all morphed her into the person she is by the time s4 ends. 

But when you look at Clementine, as well as some of her actions and behaviors across the series, through a completely unbiased lens, it’s not hard to throw a certain overused word at her. 

“Problematic”

Clementine has killed several people. Most of them were in defense, but there are certain kills that are hard to defend or justify. 

My favorite example to use is when she shot the asshole who traded her bad bullets then asked Javi to lie for her. It’s easy to say, “Well, she didn’t mean to do it! She thought the bullets wouldn’t fire! Besides, that guy WAS the asshole who sold her the bad batteries and attacked her!”

Okay, fine. But that doesn’t mean diddly squat. 

Clementine knows better than to point a gun at someone she doesn’t have any intention of shooting. That was one of the first lessons Lee taught her, and it’s even a lesson she taught Sarah in s2. Clementine pointed the gun at him and fired anyway, which is WHY he got up and ended up attacking Javi. Then, Clementine shot the gun again, but this time it actually fired and killed him. She knew she fucked up, but the deed was done and she murdered that man. 

Clementine is just one of many characters who we could throw that phrase “Problematic Fave” at. At the end of the day, I could argue that every single favorite character within TWDG would fall into this category at some level, whether it be low or high. 

Even characters who we baby like “Oh precious child who has never done anything wrong in their life!” have an argument that can be made against them. 

Well, okay, except Rosie.

Rosie is the one exception I’ll allow. Even though she’s not a person, she’s a dog, but I still consider her a character. 

But, Clementine’s different. She’s our protagonist, therefore, it’s much easier to explain her actions or make excuses for what she does. Hell, a good chunk of her actions are made by us, so if she does something “wrong,” then we’re to blame for making that choice as her, further developing her character with the use of that choice. 

What about the characters who aren’t our playable protagonists? 

What about the major and side characters who have made poor decisions? The characters that we’ve thrown this label of “Problematic Fave” at more than others? The characters we’d consider “villains,” or in the very least “antagonistic.” 

What about the characters under those labels that we end up loving, and even defending, despite the terrible things they’ve done or said? Despite groups of others in the community saying that it’s wrong to like these characters?

Today I want to talk about those characters who are higher on the “Problematic Fave” tier list, and get to the bottom of WHY we love them. 

It’s not wrong for us to like these characters. 

Let’s get that out of the way right off the bat.

It’s not wrong to enjoy or love an antagonist, or a morally complex/gray character. I argue that everyone has an antagonist that they love, whether it be within the twdg universe or otherwise. 

I’m not here to shame anyone for liking a character who happened to be labeled under this “Problematic Fave” term by others who like to throw it around to start fights. 

If anything, I’m letting know that it’s totally okay to love these characters as long as you’re being safe about it. As in, you’re not excusing these bad behaviors while acting like these unhealthy things are okay when they’re clearly not.

Now... maybe you’re wondering WHY this is something that I feel I NEED to talk about. What brought this up and whatnot. 

I need to talk about this because I have a problematic fave and it’s bothered me for a long time. 

Before I get started, we should all be on the same page of what defines a “Problematic Fave,” since it’s a phrase that I’ll use throughout this whole thing.

 If you go to Google and search this term, this is the definition it’ll bring up: 

Very vague. And when I asked you guys:

It’s an easy enough term to understand. We all get the general idea. 

The problem is, like I mentioned before, every single character within this TWDG universe is problematic at some point. They’ve all said hurtful things, they’ve done hurtful things.... it’s the apocalypse! 

But there are a handful of characters who end up getting this thrown at them WAY more than any other characters. Not just “villain” characters either, like the St. Johns or Lilly, but characters who seem to have more gray coloring to them, those who are more antagonistic, who make more poor decisions, who get others killed or hurt, who display unhealthy behaviors. Those who we can’t quite put our fingers on if they are “good” or “bad.”

I’m sure that at least one character has popped in your brain as you’ve read thus far.

Let’s talk about the popular ones:

Kenny 

In my opinion, Kenny is... well, he's problematic. Whether you love or hate him, you have to admit that a lot of his actions over the course of seasons 1 and 2, though mostly 2, are harmful. 

I’m one of those people who don’t love or hate him. I’m more on the dislike side when it comes to s2 Kenny, but I can see why someone would love or hate him overall. 

On one hand, he IS an interesting character to take the time to study. His character tells us a lot about what happens to a normal, nice family man thrown into the apocalypse who loses everyone he’s ever loved, including his only child, his wife, and what happens when that family man has to keep going with the world trying to beat him down. 

He has his kind moments. He clearly cares about Clementine and AJ, but his behavior and actions, if not kept under control, could lead to disaster. They DO lead to disaster, since no one can stand to be around him, leading to everyone abandoning him, and in turn, abandoning Clementine and AJ. 

All of the weight of what’s happened to him has left him angry and violent. He lashes out at Clementine after Sarita’s death, going as far as to BLAME Clementine for it regardless of her choices. He isolates her from the group, becomes possessive the moment they meet back up again, and picks fights when he shouldn’t, which result in harm to her and others. He beats the shit out of Arvo in front of everyone as if he’s right in physically harming this disabled kid because of the situation they all find themselves in. 

In the end, if you actually have Clementine shoot him, he tells her and the player that “you made the right choice,” as if he knows he’s been such an antagonistic character that it’s only right that he die. 

The end to every good story has the so-called “bad guy” die... right?

Kenny is an obvious example of a favorite character being problematic, if not THE most obvious. He has so many people who love him, and just as many who hate him. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard or witnessed arguments about Kenny and this phrase was thrown around with other words like “toxic” and “abusive” yada yada. 

It makes sense to me that someone would question why Kenny would be another’s favorite character just as it makes sense that someone would love him. 

It all depends on how you see him and if you’re mature enough to accept and understand his trauma, unhealthy behaviors, and overall character [the good and the bad] for what it is. He’s a broken man, but it doesn’t give him an excuse to lash out at those he’s supposed to love and protect. 

What really gets me is that Kenny is loved by so many people and they’re vocal about it, probably even more vocal than those who hate him. And I’m not shaming you. 

The kind, mature Kenny stans of our community aren’t afraid to express their love for this character. They know who he is, and they’re willing to discuss him with others who love him, as well as with those who don’t in a calm manner. This is something I highly respect and thought deserved acknowledgment.

I have a point to mentioning this, because with my problematic fave, I have never openly admitted to how much I like this character because I was always scared of the potential hate that could be thrown my way. I mean, whenever I search this character, there’s a lot of shade being thrown around. 

Then times changed, my blog grew bigger and I became more confident in sharing my opinions and views, as well as discussing several positive and negative aspects of TWDG with all of you. 

Now, this isn’t just applicable to Kenny, either.

Of the characters who fall higher on this “Problematic Fave” tier list we’ve somehow acquired, there are a lot of people who absolutely adore Minerva. 

Marlon-

Even Lilly has people who love her-

Hell, there are people who SWEAR by 400 Days’ Nate. 

^THIS crazy bastard! 

I was even shocked to see there are a handful of people who really like Arvo, too!

Before we continue, I do want to reiterate that I’m not coming for anyone who likes Kenny, Minerva, or any of the other characters mentioned above. I want to make that clear in case I say something pertaining to these characters that you take offense to. Well all know how easy it is to be offended on here. Besides, I’m not one to judge given that I have my own problem character that I love and y’all are gonna judge me anyway, so let’s just chill. 

This whole idea of why we love these characters is fascinating. 

If we ever met these people in real life, we wouldn’t be so quick to love them and we know it. But, because they’re fictional and put out there for us to analyze and talk about with one another, we find ourselves attached to them.

I simply want to understand why. 

Now that we have a list of the more popular characters who fall into this tier, I’ll be using them as examples throughout the rest of these posts. 

However... before we get into that, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t told you who MY problematic fave is and why. 

Well, allow me to enlighten you because, even though I’m using Kenny, Minerva, ect. as examples, this character will be my MAIN example. 

Time to come out and admit it. 

...

...

...

It’s David.

I really like David.

I even dare admit that I.... kind of love him?

Why, you ask....?

David is a character I’ve rarely talked about.

The only time he ever seems to come up is when we’re talking about Livid, and we all know how that one goes. 

Even when we talk about ANF as a whole, it’s usually a discussion about Emo Clementine or how Gabe should’ve had a better character arc or just how gosh darn gorgeous Javi is or how Conrad is actually the best character and totally should’ve been a romance option because Javrad is the true OTP of ANF.

But that’s a topic y’all aren’t ready for.

Anyway.

I know that there are those out there who, like me, like David for what he is and his character development throughout ANF. I’m not going to act like I’m the one person in the world who likes him because I can’t be. 

However, it seems like every time I get an ask that involves David [and isn’t Livid] is hateful or otherwise negative a good 95% of the time.

That, on top of being a predominantly s4 blog, is why I haven’t talked much about David or admitted that I like him as much as I do.

But now the cat’s out of the bag.

CJ has a hidden love for David Garcia.

It’s true. This jerk is my big problematic fave.

And I can already hear it now: 

“CJ, how can you actually like David after he treated everyone so poorly and took AJ away from Clem?”

Oh, I don’t know... how can anyone love Kenny after the way he treated everyone so poorly and was a real prick to Clementine after Sarita’s death? 

Why does anyone love Minerva after she got Tenn/Louis/Violet KILLED and Clementine bit? 

Why does anyone like Nate, who literally murders an old, wounded couple and is overall an insane son of a bitch?

That’s why we’re here, ya dingus.

To figure this out. 

In preparation for this, I actually went and did some digging on what people think of David. I thought, “Maybe I’ll find some character analysis’ or posts that share my thoughts.” 

After reading a bunch of threads about him on various websites, I concluded that 99% of them look the same:

[ Also, where are these people who support David against Clementine? Because I did not find them, random person on wikipedia. I must not be looking in the right places. All I found were Kenny defense posts on your David thread. Riddle me that, random person on wikipedia whose name I scribbled out but just realized I missed the “edited by” rendering the scribble pointless!]

This did nothing but increase my anxiety about making this whole post because I’d rather not have paragraphs like this sent to my inbox for the next twenty years. 

But, I’m doing it anyway. Obviously. 

I have a real love-hate relationship with David, in case you couldn’t tell.

I should hate David. I really should.

I mean, I don’t like Kenny, and I fucking loathe Lilly. They’re two characters that have a lot in common with David, so logically, you’d think that I’d group him in with them and hate his dumb face. 

But I don’t. 

Even though David is an asshole. 

He likes to do things that really piss me off, then turn around like “I can’t change because I’m a soldier” as if changing and not doing bad things is completely impossible for him!

David breaks a grieving woman’s arm after her husband dies, takes AJ away from Clementine after kicking her [a 13-year-old] out of their group by herself, gets more upset over how his glass got broken than over his wife’s cut hand, constantly fights with and puts Javi down, barely mourns Mari’s death, and a number of other things.

I know change is hard, David, and you have a lot of trauma from being a soldier, but that’s not an excuse to do bad things! I firmly believe that with enough effort, love, and support, you can slowly get better! I really hate you, you infuriating man!

But I also love him.

....But I also really hate him.

Do you see my dilemma?

And y’know what? I got plenty to say about all the things he’s done. 

David is a fascinating character. 

Even now, going back up and rereading what I wrote, I have to urge to jump in and be like “Well, okay, I actually have a theory on why he did that...” as if I’m ready to defend him from myself. How does that work?! 

Well, okay, not necessary defend him in the way of justifying why he’d break that woman’s arm or anything, but instead show that he’s a gray character who is much more complex than people give him credit for. I have the urge to explain David’s character as a matter of character analysis and discussion, not pretend he didn’t do anything wrong or make excuses for his unhealthy and problematic behaviors.

Does that sound familiar?

David Garcia is to me what Kenny is to a lot of people.

I have a theory on why he married Kate in the first place when they clearly weren’t compatible as a couple! I have theories on why he was quick to boot Clementine out but look the other way when Lingard got high on their meds! Explanations of why having him and Gabe alive in the end is the better ending!

oh god everyone is going to hate me haha-

I have it all, and maybe one day I’ll sit down and write an entire in-depth character analysis of David if anyone is actually interested, but right now I just want to understand why I like to him in the first place because it makes no sense.

Since day one, it’s boggled my mind as to WHY I’ve always found myself leaning in favor of David. 

With every episode that came out after e2, David was the character who always piqued my interest and I found myself wanting to side with him just to see what would happen. Why did I still like him even though he kept doing things that I knew were wrong? Or that pissed me off?

Why was I furious when I reached my ending only to have David end up dead?

Why was I so pissed that this character, who drove me INSANE for most of the game, died?

Is it because I see a part of myself in him? Is it because of his character design, the performance of his voice acting, and his overall writing? Does it have anything to do with his backstory and relationship with Javi? Is it because I’m actually one of those people who see someone like this and think “hey I can fix you!” but don’t know it? What is it?

Why is David Garcia my “Problematic Fave” of TWDG?

Continued in [2/?]