#ZR season 1 spoilers

[artist-issues]

I'm REALLY enjoying ZRS8. Im only about mid-season, but they managed to, like, lift a handful of characters out of the crazy high-stakes mess of the mainland storyline and plop them down on a series of small islands, in a smaller adventure, where the only threat is natural bad guys and normal zombies. I missed that!

[rukbat3]

Babylon 5 Rewatch - A Voice in the Wilderness (Part 1)

This is a post I originally wrote several years ago for Mark Oshiro’s Mark Watches blog. I don’t really plan to edit them before posting, so there may be some references that don’t make sense. If you see words that look like gibberish, they are actually rot13, which was our way of discussing spoilers. There are plugins you can install to decode the text (Cryptext is the one I use), or you can copy/paste to rot13.com, or just ignore it.

Since this is only the first part of the story, I don’t want to say too much about the main plot here, but there’s a lot of good character work in the episode that I can comment on (although even that is not entirely without spoilers :-P).

I have a feeling some people might complain about the commander and the first officer being the ones to go off alone on a dangerous mission in an unexplored area. I think JMS tries to justify it by having Sinclair talk about it being a possible first contact situation, but really that’s just an excuse. I can forgive it because from the way Sinclair brings up the subject to Ivanova, they both know it’s an excuse too, but they’re going to milk it for all its worth—because they’re excited! You can really see it in their scenes together in the shuttle and on the planet that despite the danger they’re both having a blast, and I love it.

Another great friendship on display in this episode is the one between Garibaldi and Londo. It may be a bit unconventional, but going all the way back to the pilot, these two have had a sort fondness for each other (buried under a layer of exasperation on Garibaldi’s side and dismissiveness on Londo’s). Here Londo makes a genuine overture, somewhat uncharacteristically for him, in trying to cheer Garibaldi up, even without knowing any of the circumstances, and it’s very sweet. [season 3] Nyfb, V xabj WZF unf fnvq gung Ybaqb vf gnyxvat nobhg uvf svefg jvsr, jubz ur unq nyernql qvibeprq, urer, ohg lbh pna'g gryy zr guvf qbrfa'g fbhaq rknpgyl yvxr Gvzbi.

Delenn also attempts to reach out to Londo in this episode, but he isn’t having it. Londo complains about G’Kar (it’s basically a reflex at this point), and Delenn tries urge Londo to be patient: “Ambassador G’Kar is angry most of the time, but even the greatest anger fades with time.” This leads to Londo’s great line, “Physics tells us that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. They hate us, we hate them, they hate us back. And so, here we are: victims of mathematics.” It’s a nice exchange, both funny and philosophical, but I like it most because their respective characters are so much in evidence. Delenn is a peacemaker, always trying to help people understand one another, while Londo is a cynic, firmly believing that nothing is worth the effort, because nothing will ever change. Qryraa gheaf bhg gb or evtug, bs pbhefr, ng yrnfg jurer T'Xne vf pbaprearq, naq gung'f cneg bs gur gentrql. Vs Ybaqb unq orra noyr gb oryvrir ure urer vafgrnq bs oehfuvat ure bss, ur zvtug unir znqr fbzr qvssrerag pubvprf.

Draal says something interesting in this episode that made me think. He says that the third principle of sentient life is its capacity for self-sacrifice. Well, for one thing, that makes me wonder what the first and second principles are, but mainly I’m wondering, what do you all think? Does that seem like a valid way to define sentience? It sounds good to me, but are there counterexamples we can come up with?

A couple of small spoilery things:

[season 3] Fvapynve gryyf Ybaqb naq Qryraa gung abar bs gurve cerivbhf fheirlf unq sbhaq nal fvtaf bs yvsr ba gur cynarg. "Vs gung'f gehr," fnlf Ybaqb, "vg jbhyq frrz lbh znl unir njnxrarq fbzrguvat." Tbbq guvat vg jnf whfg Inea naq abg gur Funqbjf!

[whole show] Gur jnl Qenny gnyxf nobhg "tbvat gb gur frn" erzvaqf zr dhvgr n ovg bs Furevqna va "Fyrrcvat va Yvtug". V jbaqre vs gung'f jurer ur tbg gur vqrn? Nygubhtu gur gjb guvatf pna'g or rknpgyl gur fnzr, be uvf qvfnccrnenapr jbhyqa'g unir orpbzr fhpu n yrtraq.

Favorite scene: Londo singing the hokey pokey to Delenn and Draal is adorable, but for sheer quotability, I have to go with the Babylon 5 Mantra: “Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova’s recommendations. Ivanova is God. And, if this ever happens again, Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out!” Bonus points for the background actors trying to pretend they weren’t listening. xD

[kodessa]

I posted 574 times in 2022

12 posts created (2%)

562 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@abeltownshipslittlebitch

@haberdashing

@cthulhu-with-a-fez

@themadmanandhisbox

@maxipaddy

I tagged 132 of my posts in 2022

#zombies run - 63 posts

#incorrect zr quotes - 32 posts

#runner 5 - 9 posts

#zr season 9 spoilers - 7 posts

#zr season 9 - 6 posts

#runner five - 6 posts

#peter lynne - 5 posts

#sam yao - 5 posts

#zombies run spoilers - 5 posts

#zr spoilers - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 86 characters

#five getting kidnapped is the zombies run version of just another tuesday in sunnydale

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Zombies run season 9, mission 26….

The email we get after that run just broke my heart

7 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

#4

I was messing around on reels and because the only fun I have on that app is making jokes to make myself laugh, enjoy this Encanto/zombies run joke

9 notes - Posted January 19, 2022

#3

Zombies run season 9, mission 28

Janine…. You made my 5 leave behind her best friend, bleeding in the mountains. You made my 5 run into the dessert to go after the man who tortured her. You made her leave her husband on the floor of a zombie filled building.

And you have the audacity to give me a we must go on hero speech? All of Sarah smiths training, all the talk of fall apart when we’re safe behind the gates, that is all that is keeping my 5 going…5 is going to shatter if she ever makes it home. And snap on Janine if she doesn’t

11 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

#2

Because my brain has decided it’s loving Peter Lynne hours….

Spoilers for up to season 5 of zombies run….

I was just thinking today (and subsequently listened to voodoo child again) about Peter hearing that 5 and Janine were dead. I’m sure he had feelings about Maxine and Sam too but I’ve been focused on 5/Janine. How it must have felt to think your best friend and your ex are dead. What unspoken things did he regret never saying (that he still won’t say because Peter is gonna Peter)? He was so chill in that episode when he sees 5 but how did he actually react when he first heard 5 was alive? I have no idea why my brain is obsessing over this specific scenario today but here we are. Anyway….I really need the rest of season 9 now, thanks

12 notes - Posted January 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

The feminine urge to start a runner 5 cosplay Tiktok….

I mean did I get a Tiktok cause zombies run is there? Yeah, I did

Do I just want to start making runner 5 vids? Also yeah

Am I shocked this hyper fixation hasn’t worn itself out? Not really

29 notes - Posted March 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review ��

[wubbelwubbwubb]

Season 1, Mission 23: Aftermath

Five! Five, wake up! Come on, stand up, Five! I’ve got to go! Open your goddamn eyes, Five, you can’t stay here, and I can’t stay with you!

[disabledrunner5]

Canton and Runner Five relationship Headcannons:

Because I realised I hadn’t done enough of these even though it’s been like 20 missions since Canton Five died (I’m on S3M19). Also this is a long one so he prepared:

Canton Five was the second person to ever meet Runner Five. I’m talking even before the apocalypse.

Because Canton Five, aka Joel Bright, is Five’s dad.

Five and Canton’s relationship was a really close one, pre apocalypse. Five actually got on better with her dad than her mum (partly because her mum was constantly worrying about her and being overly worried about her when her dad was treating her like a normal child) but that didn’t mean Five didn’t love her mum as well.

The two of them were a team.

He was the one who encouraged her to pursue acting when she got a taste of it when she was eight. (Probably because he was in a band in uni that was semi-professional and he gave up that life to have kids and always had a soft spot for the arts despite being a history teacher).

Canton was probably the most encouraging parent EVER!

Taught her to not let anything get in her way, even her physical and invisible disabilities.

The apocalypse happened and they were separated as she assumed her dad had been killed from what she saw on the kitchen, when in fact he’d just been knocked unconscious by her zombified mum and had a nasty cut on his head from the fall.

Five ends up in Mullins, thanks to her uncle (her dad’s brother thankfully happened to be in the area when the apocalypse happened and rescued Five and her younger brother and took them to Mullins where he was scheduled to be transferred to the next week, being a high ranking officer and therefore had clearance to do that) and Canton ended up in New Canton pretty quickly after banding with a couple of survivors after somehow escaping his zombie infested Villiage without being bitten and became runner Five.

Canton spoke highly of his kids at New Canton, thinking they had both died in the outbreak, and he did have friends there (Lem and Archie), although he doesn’t agree with most of New Canton’s methods and he was actually planning to defect to Abel after Chris Mcshell (another of his friends he made at New Canton) does it but he’s on the advisory council so it’s a bit more difficult to defect.

The two Runner Five’s had several almost run ins with each other (during the 5 and 10K runs in S1).

Until the 20K runs.

Where they meet for the first time in months and it took all Canton’s power not to just pull his daughter into a hug and never let go, even when she clearly didn’t want to let on that they know each other for some reason he didn’t know (she was still terrified that Van Ark would catch on, and do something- even back then, Five was extremely cautious and concerned about Van Ark)

Archie, Maxine and Sara still catch that they’re father and daughter pretty quickly though, especially since Canton actually muttered Five’s name under his breath when he met her and it’s pretty obvious when you see them side by side.

Canton is surprised to find that Five is selective mute because she was not before Z-Day, just extremely socially awkward due to her autism.

Like with Sam, Canton’s one of the people she finds it eay to physically talk with as in she can actually make words when she talks to him. Because you know, she’s his daughter.

He’s distraught to find out that his youngest didn’t make it past the first few weeks of the apocalypse but it’s kind of confirming what he thought had happened to both of his kids.

Canton figures pretty quickly that Five belongs at Abel. He sees how her face lights up like a Christmas tree when she’s with Sara and Maxine and when she sees the gates of Abel. So he makes it a note to try and defect ASAP so that he can be with his daughter. Doesn’t tell anyone about this plan though.

Then Abel township gets blown up. And he’s the one who convinces the council to let Five stay, citing there’s no proof she was the one with Lem’s earpiece.

Father daughter arguments in those weeks are fairly frequent because Five is traumatised and is assuming her friends are dead for like a week. And Canton is trying his best but in his daughters eyes he doesn’t understand.

“Alicia Emily Bright! You need to listen to the advisory council”

“Don’t call me that! And no I don’t- they‘re the ones that allowed the zombie attack to happen! They seiged Abel!”

“Five, sweetheart, it’s okay to be upset and angry, I know exactly how you feel but don’t take it out on people who are trying to help-”

“Help? How are you helping? How is anyone helping? You didn’t watch your home get blown up by a rocket launcher and watch all your friends die!”

They always apologise pretty quickly though.

When Five is reunited with Sam and the rest of the gang, Canton Five doesn’t witness it as he’s preparing for the London mission the next morning.

Before he goes to London, Canton promises Five that he’ll ask to move to Abel once he’s back from London so that they can be a proper family and made her promise not to get into ANY more trouble whilst he was away. (Also he really wanted to meet this Sam Yao bloke she’s been on about since she arrived at New Canton).

He gave Archie a envelope to give to Five in case he didn’t come back, it was his last wish. Archie let Jamie know about it in case she didn’t come back from a run.

Five tells Sam that her dad’s Canton Five after the first mission of series 2. He’s overly happy that Five still has family left although he was probably a bit worried that she’d leave Abel when Canton returned.

Canton’s last thought before he died was about his family.

Meanwhile, whilst her dad’s in London Five’s dealing with; almost being murdered by Nadia, Archie dying, being captured by Van Ark, experimented on, Sara dying and Simon betraying them.

But the only reason why she’s carrying on and hasn’t properly broken from the trauma is that she actually has hope that she can make it out alive because her dad is still alive and she can actually see a future with her and him, together again as a team.

then she adds Scraps the puppy to that future when she finds him.

She adds Sam to that list eventually after they get together when she arrives home from destroying Van Ark. and she actually can’t wait to introduce him do her dad.

Then the mission with Paula happens.

Five goes into shock when she finds out from Tony what happened to her dad, until she’s writing the report for Amelia, and Sam comes into check on her, then she just starts crying before she even realises it’s happening.

Paula takes over writing the report, much to Amelia’s displeasure and Sam spends the entire rest of the day and night comforting and holding Five in the comms shack away from any interruptions as she just lets it all out (luckily, Jack and Eugene had finished broadcasting Radio Abel by then or trying to anyway so they didn’t have to find somewhere else).

Jamie gives Five the envelope in the end.

Inside was a video tape recording from her dad and a her mother’s silver crucifix chain.

She now wears that chain on her neck everywhere.

Her and Sam listened to the video recording in Comms the night after Canton Five’s memorial, over some chocolate (a stash of Curily Wirlies and Dairy Milk bars) and with Scraps the Jack Russel Terrier laying at their feet.

And while I won’t go into what it said (I’ll do that in a fic), it told Five to keep living for him and to not let him down.

And five’s not going to let her dad down, wherever he may be.

[abeltownshipslittlebitch]

Me, when I hear that Peter is on a mission with Five: 😄😊🥰😉😍

Then when I remember if Peter is on a mission he’s probably going to end up getting hurt: 😭😡☹️😞😢

@dorkylittleweirdo read the tags

[justanothercricket]

ZR Musical - Update 1

This is how you live forever, This is how a legend dies... Hello friends! My plan is to give you guys a progress update at least once per week. General warning, the musical covers the plot of Seasons 1-3, so my updates may have spoilers through all those seasons. I’ll tag accordingly. Each week, I’ll also include a snippet of lyrics from what I’ve been writing (as you can see above!). We’ve gathered quite the cast in the last few days, and we’re still growing! I’m still stunned by the amazing response this project has gotten. I knew the ZR fandom was cool, but I had no idea that we had THIS MANY talented singers and musical lovers. I love all you guys, and it’s wonderful to start to see this come together. Update on the creative process: So far, the hardest thing has actually been breaking down the extensive plot of three seasons into two coherent acts. As of right now, Act I deals with Seasons 1-2, and Act II covers the events of Season 3. The difficult part of that breakdown is how to make two mostly separate stories (Van Ark and Moonchild) into one story about Runner Five’s physical, emotional, and psychological journey. I’m still working on that problem, but I think I’ve got an idea about how to work it all together. More on that in future updates. Speaking of Runner Five, I struggled for a while over whether to cast the show’s protagonist. At first, I wanted to include a singing, speaking Runner Five (hello, Five and Sam duet??), thinking that it would be too hard to write a musical (even just a concept album) without the protagonist’s voice. But as I thought about it, I realized that Five’s silence is actually really important if I’m going to stay true to the source material. Even in an actual stage production (which, of course, I’m not producing!), the goal would be for the audience to imagine themselves in Five’s shoes, so to speak. Having Five speak or sing means making statements about who Five is, when the whole point is that Five is everyone. Obviously, in a full stage production, the directing and production team would probably have to make some visual choices about what Five looks like, just because of the nature of the medium. But the nice thing about a concept album is that I don’t have to make those kinds of decisions. So I won’t! The musical will feature a mute, signing Five. (Although obviously I can’t depict sign language in an audio-only format.) I’m also using they/them pronouns to refer to Five throughout the scripts, again because of the relationship between Five and the audience.  As always, if you have comments or ideas, let me know! Have a fantastic day.

[zombiesrunmusical]

Zombies Run: The Musical - Update 2

“Hey, welcome to the place to be Simon Lauchlan, Runner Three The totally fabulous king of the apocalypse... Ya know what I mean?”

Hello hello!

First big update: the musical now has its own Tumblr! Yay!

Second big update: the casting is DONE! The casting process was a whirlwind and a crazy time, but we ended up with an amazing (and amazingly talented) group of people. 

Probably the biggest creative update is that I finished a mock-up of the opening number this last week. I underestimated a little bit how hard an opening number would be to write. Counterbalancing the need to introduce all the main characters, while keeping the right tone, while not being too confusing, while introducing the big themes of the musical, while hinting at big future conflict, while introducing the personal stakes for our hero, while ALSO including catchy melodies/rhymes, turned out to be way hard. But after spending a few days working through it, I hope the opening does at least some of that. When I finally figured out the chords/melody behind the first three lines (sung by Sam), my heart pretty much exploded with happiness. So that’s good at least.

I also started working on a Simon solo (which sounds NOTHING like what you’d expect!), a reprise of Archie’s intro song, a (sorry guys) sad death song...basically this was a busy week for starting songs. Hopefully I’ll manage to get some more mock-ups done in the next couple weeks before I move back to Michigan and life gets really crazy.

I have some wonderful musicians helping with orchestration, so now (at least some of) the songs will have instrumentals that aren’t just piano (YES). We definitely have more singers than people working on orchestration though, so if you play an instrument and/or you’re interested in helping with instrumentals, hit me up.

Anyway. I’ll be here, plugging along. Have a good week!

[teacup-crow]

Zombies Run - the enemy (a season by season summary)

These commies are assholes

This scientist’s an asshole

This hippie’s an asshole

This politician’s an asshole

This ex-journalist’s an asshole

This politician’s an asshole (again)

[runner5ive]

Your 5 is adorable! I love everything youve done with sign language! I was wondering if your 5 is mute because of ptsd or if theyve always been mute? Are they selective mute? Will they ever be able to speak again? ^_^

Later… 

Five is completely mute. They’ve never been able to talk, and didn’t like being made to feel like they were broken so refused any speech therapy when they awere a kid. They own their muteness and they’re proud of it.

I’ve always pictured Five being able to form some simple phonemes if they really wanted to. But having never spoke they’d struggle with the formation of certain sounds. If they went through proper speech therapy they’d probably improve, but Sam is not trained in that at all. And Five doesn’t want to take away any of Maxine’s time when there are so many others who have actual life-threatening injuries/illnesses. Besides, they get on fine with BSL :)

I adore questions like this because 99% of the time I’d already pictured scenes like this. Anyone else: feel free to send in questions if you like :)

S1E22 if anyone was wondering ;D

[rukbat3]

Babylon 5 Rewatch - Babylon Squared

I could have sworn I'd posted this one already, but I can't find it in the tag, so here goes!

This is a post I originally wrote several years ago for Mark Oshiro’s Mark Watches blog. I don’t really plan to edit them before posting, so there may be some references that don’t make sense. If you see words that look like gibberish, they are actually rot13, which was our way of discussing spoilers. There are plugins you can install to decode the text (Cryptext is the one I use), or you can copy/paste to rot13.com, or just ignore it.

EEEEEEEEE!!!! We’re finally here! I think this is one of the episodes I have most been looking forward to Mark getting to. It’s also one of my favorites of the series (although there are many, so I’m not sure that’s saying as much as it seems). One of the things I really love about it is the way it both “solves” a mystery and sets up another, bigger one at the same time.

So, Babylon 4 is back! Briefly, at least, before being PULLED THROUGH TIME again to some unknown destination! I feel like this episode is really the first one that opens up the show to give us a glimpse of just how big a story we could be getting. (Sinclair is not the One—but someone who looks very much like an older version of him is? What does it all mean?!)

This episode also has one of my very favorite guest characters—Zathras. He’s so endearingly odd (and quotable!), and I’m super glad that “the One” arrives at the the end to presumably rescue him.

[season 3] Mnguenf fnlf va guvf rcvfbqr: "Jr yvir sbe gur Bar. Jr jbhyq qvr sbe gur Bar." Guvf vf gur svefg gvzr jr urne jung jr jvyy riraghnyyl yrnea vf gur zbggb bs gur Enatref, naq vs jr erzrzorerq vg ol gung gvzr, vg jbhyq, creuncf, tvir hf n uvag!

[whole series] Gur raqvat erirny gung vg jnf Byqre Fvapynve vafvqr gur fcnprfhvg nyy nybat—be jnf vg?—vf vagrerfgvat sebz n ovt cvpgher crefcrpgvir. V urneq fbzrjurer gung va WZF'f bevtvany cyna, gur svany wbhearl bs Onolyba Sbhe onpx guebhtu gvzr naq gur erirny bs Fvapynve nf Inyra jbhyq unir bppheerq va gur frevrf svanyr, naq Fvapynve jbhyq unir ntrq anghenyyl gb gung cbvag. WZF'f fbyhgvba gb gur ceboyrz bs rkcynvavat gur byq-ntr znxrhc vf cerggl vatravbhf, rfcrpvnyyl nf vg tvirf uvz na rkphfr gb shysvyy Vinabin'f erdhrfg gung arkg gvzr fur trgf gb tb juvyr Vinabin fgnlf oruvaq. Vg qbrf znxr zr jbaqre, gubhtu, ng jung cbvag gur qrpvfvba jnf znqr abg gb unir Zvpunry B'Uner erghea. Bar jbhyq guvax gurl zvtug unir unq na vaxyvat ng guvf cbvag, fb V jbaqre jul WZF qvqa'g punatr gur fprar.

Moving on to Delenn’s storyline, we see that her desire to spend more time studying the humans (and perhaps her dislike of leaving a job half finished) has now caused a rift between her and and the rest of the Grey Council. You’d think if they were ready to make her the leader of the whole thing, they might trust her judgement a bit more? But I guess the very idea that she could turn down such a great honor is enough to call the rest of her judgement into question. Regardless, this seems like something that could have repercussions in the future. We’ll see!

[season 4] Bar bs gur Pbhapvy zrzoref nfxf Qryraa vs fur vf shyyl njner bs gur pbafrdhraprf bs gheavat qbja gur bssre gb yrnq gur Terl Pbhapvy. Fur fnlf fur vf, ohg fur vf jebat. V jbaqre vs fur jbhyq unir punatrq ure zvaq vs fur unq xabja gung guvf zbzrag jbhyq riraghnyyl yrnq gb gur oernxvat bs gur Pbhapvy, naq gura gb n pvivy jne? V zrna, pyrneyl va gur ybat grez guvatf ghearq bhg bxnl, ohg vg'f engure uneqre gb frr gung jura lbh'er va gur zvqqyr bs vg.

[season 1] Jul qbrf gur sevraqyl Terl Pbhapvy Zvaonev tvir Qryraa gur gevyhzvanel? Vg qbrfa'g frrz yvxr ur vf njner bs nal fcrpvsvp ernfba jul fur zvtug arrq vg. Naq eryngrq, jung jbhyq Qryraa unir qbar vs ur unqa'g fhqqrayl unq gur oevtug vqrn gb tvir vg gb ure? (Naq jul qbrf fur gel gb ghea vg qbja?)

Favorite scene: How can I pick just one? No, seriously, I can’t. This episode contains so many moments which are iconic for me. However, there are two scenes I love which I haven’t talked about yet, both combining my favorite elements of humor and friendship, so I guess I’ll mention them here.

The first is the very first scene of the episode, where we see Sinclair, Garibaldi, and Ivanova sharing breakfast together. Or rather, Sinclair and Garibaldi get some breakfast. Ivanova not so much! :p (Okay, I’m sure she gets to eat after we cut away.) In addition to being hilarious, I love that they all know each other so well that this is clearly a Thing They Do. Although, I’m still not sure how Sinclair and Garibldi knew to be prepared with empty dishes right there underneath the table! Also, it seems unfair that Garibaldi should be the only one to get the blame when Sinclair was in it up to his neck! :D

[season 3] Fvapynve zragvbaf va guvf fprar, nf ur qbrf va n pbhcyr bs bgure cynprf guebhtubhg gur frnfba, uvf onpxtebhaq univat orra envfrq ol Wrfhvgf. Yby, WZF, lbh fb farnxl! ;) Guvf vf rknpgyl gur xvaq bs guvat juvpu fyvcf evtug cnfg lbh gur svefg gvzr, ohg juvpu vf fb svggvat bapr lbh pbzr onpx naq jngpu jvgu gur xabjyrqtr bs jung vf gb pbzr. <3

The second scene is the conversation Sinclair and Garibaldi have while they’re on their way to Babylon 4. It’s so delightfully random. But seriously, guys. You knew how long this trip was going to take. Bring a book!

[gaylienspeedster]

End of the Tunnel

(Spoilers for seasons 1-5, depictions of violence)

There wasn’t a lot Five knew for certain but she did know that Sam Yao was the best of them. It would be an understatement to say that things hadn’t exactly gone well for Five over the past couple of years. You’d think things couldn’t possibly get worse in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse but Five learned quickly that the universe was stupidly creative in coming up with ways to make her and everyone she cared about hurt. Between Moonchild and Sigrid and...Sara there were days where Five felt like she was running on a treadmill, running for nothing. She always completed the mission, always made it in time but they still kept on losing. Even their small victories created too many ghosts for Five to consider them victories at all and when their voices echoed in her head when she tried to sleep at night, she couldn’t help but think that there was nothing that could ever make this hell better.

But then she would stagger outside her room in NOAH Base after another sleepless night and Sam Yao would be waiting for her with a tired smile and some dorky joke that always seemed to make her laugh. Sam reminded Five of what she was fighting for, and why Abel had to win. She was fighting for Sam’s wide childlike grin when she brought him a Curly Wurly after one of her runs, she was fighting for the hours she listened to Sam talk about what would have happened in the next Star Wars movie that never got to premiere, she fought for the pure love in his gaze when he held baby Sara. Sam was the best of humanity, and Sam was what made Five keep running for that ever so distant light at the end of the tunnel. The light of a world with no Sigrid and no zombies. A world where people could just enjoy chocolate and movies and being human again. And Ian wanted to take all that away from Five.

Five had encountered plenty of horrible people during the apocalypse, she had witnessed nearly everyone she loved suffer but nothing filled Five with rage quite like hearing that weasel Golightly gleefully torment Sam through her headset. Red seeped through her vision as she ran into Ian’s panic room, taking him to the ground with a flying tackle. Five looked at the man who she had pinned to the floor, saw the cowardly terror in his watery green eyes. And then Five exploded. She drove her fist into Ian’s face for Cameo,Lobatse, Steve,Nadia, Owen Sam,Abel. As she kept hitting him, the impact of her fist sounding gradually wetter, it stopped being about Ian. Five unleashed what she hoped was at least a fraction of the pain that she carried with her every day because a few selfish people wanted to play God. The ghosts danced in her head as the movement of her arm became almost mechanical. Archie. Evan. Owen. Simon. Sara.Sara.Sara. A voice in Five’s head told her to stop, that she would kill Ian if she kept going. The louder voice didn’t care. “Five…” a soft plea. Five paused.

Ian rolled his head to the side weakly and coughed up two teeth before passing out with a pained groan. Five’s left hand was in a white knuckled grip on Ian’s shirt, her right hand poised for another blow, knuckles dusted red, Fived noticed dimly that it had started shaking. Five felt a light stream of wetness traveling down her cheek and realized with shame that at some point she had started crying. Five took a shaky breath before releasing her grip on Ian, turning to look at Sam. What she saw almost compelled her to continue beating the ever loving shit out of Ian. Sam was tied to a chair in the center of the room shirtless, his face and torso covered in bruises and streaked with blood. Five quickly strode to Sam and cut him free, he staggered to his feet before collapsing in her arms resting his head on her shoulder. “My hero” her murmured next to her ear. Sam pulled back and looked at Five’s face, frowning when he saw the tear stains on her cheeks “are you okay Five?” he asked softly. Sam had been kept prisoner and tortured for days. And he asked if she was ok. “We need to get you to a doctor Sam” Five said, dodging the question. Sam paused before pulling her into another hug, Five hoped that the way she held him answered his question. I’m okay now that you’re safe.

Soon Sam was excitedly talking about flags and celebrating as they carried Ian to stop the bomb, the battering of his body doing nothing to break his spirit. There was no amount of pain that Five could inflict on any of the people responsible for the suffering of those she loved that could take away the hurt that pulsed in her mind, that would stay there long after the world was reborn. But the small burst of golden light she felt in her chest whenever she was reminded of Sam’s existence made it worth running with that hurt to the end of the dark tunnel.

[runnerzero]

ZR Secret Santa Gift (january edition)

did an extra gift for @lucky-fallen-angel for the ZR gift exchange! last but definitely not least. for the holidays, you get to enjoy some angsty Sam Yao reminiscing on all the runners he’s lost. 

(osric chau as sam yao and jade eshete as runner five) 

fic under the cut! set in season 1 or early season 2, so no real spoilers. mild TW for bad fathers and death

When he was six years old, Sam got his arm stuck under the fridge.

Too scared to admit he was trapped, he sat there for what must have been an hour. A weak feeling crept up his arm until he couldn’t even twitch his fingers. By the time his dad walked into the kitchen, Sam’s throat was thick with unshed tears.

His dad laughed, but there was no humor in his voice when he said: “What have you done?”

Sam screwed up his little face and admitted that he had knocked his Bumblebee transformer toy under the fridge. His dad laughed and laughed and laughed in that cruel way only a father could, and all Sam remembers is the way his face burned hot with shame, pressed against kitchen tile, and the awful realization that he would never get the toy back.

He’s always been losing things. Slowly. One by one.

--- 

They don’t take photos often in Abel Township. There are a few disposable cameras, but Janine always snaps at him for using them ‘frivolously’ and he can’t remember the last time he got his old cell phone to hold a charge. The ones he did take, though, he keeps carefully tucked away in the comms shack, under a floorboard. Each time he steps on it, there’s a bit of give under his foot. The floor drops out from under him — a split second where he feels like he’s been kicked in the gut — and then he remembers.

He has pictures of all of them. Every Runner Five he’s lost. But when he closes his eyes, he can’t picture them the same way he used to. It doesn’t matter how long he stares, tracing the lines of their faces and looking for the shine that used to linger in their eyes.

So many things happened in rapid succession. His father turned in front of him, his mother gone, his sister missing if she’s even alive, and Five, Five, Five. It was only after he found them, long after, when the blood was drying on their skin, the sound of a crying baby in his ear, that he realized he had accidentally called them Alice.

It was too late to explain that if he squints hard enough, the world goes blurry and he can almost trick himself into thinking that they’re somebody else — one runner becoming another in the stretch between seconds.

---

It takes a long time before he convinces himself to pry up that floorboard again. When he does, he sits with all the photos spread in front of him.

Sitting on the couch in Janine’s sitting room, arms around each other, laughing at a stupid joke Simon made. Karaoke night in what used to pass as the rec hall back then, but it wasn’t much more than a spare room with a rug and a few chairs. All the runners sitting outside a bonfire at night, staring up at the sky with that fluttering hope he remembered so well from early in the apocalypse.

He has to tear himself away, shove his knuckles into his eyes. They’re all starting to blur into the same person in his head, the same ghost with a different face.

Sam sits in that shameful silence for a moment longer. Heat rushes to his cheeks and for a moment he’s six years old all over again, sitting with his hand jammed under the fridge reaching for something that he’ll never get back. In his moment of frenzy, without thinking, he rips a piece of paper out of his notebook and starts to write. He thinks about Five — the current Runner Five, his Five — and spills out everything he can think of. The weight of carrying these lives with him everywhere he goes, how much he thinks about those he lost and how much he wishes he didn’t. Something awful and hot presses at the back of his throat, close to tears, as he writes about how scared he was to lose them too.

When he finishes writing, the paper is wet. His hearing goes white, dissolving into a static-like whine, and for a moment he feels like the ghosts of every runner he’s ever let down are breathing against his ear.

For a long time, he looks at the letter in his hands. Then he stands up, crumples it in both hands, and throws it in the waste bin. When he tucks the photos under the floorboard, he doesn’t look back.

[runbookzombie]

Puddles and Cool Day

I ran 5km this morning and enjoyed it so much. The weather was cool due to last night’s heavy rainfall. There were puddles everywhere, but I guess that's to be expected.

I concluded ZR’s S1R3 race (Jeffro Complex) and started the first 5k of Plasmapheresis. Spoilers after the picture.

For some reason, NC Runner 20 crossing paths with Abel runners filled me with so much glee. And they were not trying to kill each other, very unlike in the season 1 missions. Maybe they will become allies in the future? Maaaaybe?

Prof Van Ark escaped and now has a chance to be even more maniacal. Maybe he’ll create more trouble in the coming missions? I don’t know. I am just guessing. Those humans he was using as experiments, though, poor souls. I wonder what they are supposed to turn into.

I also just started the NC 20k race so we’ll see how that goes.

[disabledrunner5]

My Runner 5’s/ZR Universe MCs. (Spoilers for seasons 1-3 of ZR with illusions to later seasons)

Because eh why not?

using @ummmmandy​‘s picrew and inspired by @runner5anna‘s post (I’m still working on my 5′s playlist so that’s coming at a later date)

Runner Five: Alicia Emily Bright

The OG, my traumatised baby, who I will protect with my life but also trauma dump on. 

Has left side Hemiplegia.

Is neurodivergent AF (autism)

diagnosed with GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder)

Very sensitive to loud noises, wet clothing and mess on her skin.

Selective mute due to anxiety from the helicopter crash and autism.

Had to kill her zombified mother with a kitchen knife on day zero.

Also had to shoot her younger brother, Louis, at Mullins after he was bitten a few weeks before she arrived at Abel.

Is currently dating Sam Yao, and is actually engaged to him (as of season 6).

Short sighted.

Huge Nerd. Will talk about Doctor Who and Red Dwarf for hours if you let her. Loves DnD.

Has an emotional support puppy by the name of Scraps, a Jack Russell Terrier who she rescued in season 2 and whom she adores. To lose him would literally be like losing a child to her. He is her baby. It sure would be a shame if something happened to him, say for example, someone killed him at the end of season 5. 

Forgets to look after herself constantly, potentially has a death wish (or at least thats Abel Township’s theory), will kill and be killed for those she loves.  

New Canton Runner 5: Joel James Bright

Born in 1979, to Edith and Robert Bright. Younger brother of Dominic.

Married childhood sweetheart, Maria when they were 19.

Father of Alicia and Louis Bright.

Was in a band in university. Gave it up to start a family.

Secondary school history teacher.

Adores his children, will die for them.

Plays guitar like a pro.

Short sighted.

Got knocked out by his zombified wife on Z Day, and was assumed dead by his children.

Despite his bleeding head, he managed to find his way to New Canton in the early days of the apocalypse. Believed his children were dead (he was half right).

Close with Chris McShell and Lem.

Overjoyed to discover at least his daughter was alive.

Very protective of Alicia in new Canton following the Abel explosion in the season one finale.

Died in London, buried under a building he blew up.

Left a message to Alicia via video and Alicia stumbled across the site whilst in London and retrieved by luck his broken glasses to remember him by.

Nobody knows what happened to his body.

Has a memorial in New Canton and an grave by Mullins base, next to his son, Louis’ grave.

Walker- Tabitha ‘Tammy’ Natalie Walker.

Alicia’s uncle Dominic is Tammy’s father.

Lived in Scotland with her mum, Allison.

Lived in Fostercare after the death of her mum, six years prior to The Walk.

Goes by either ‘Tabs’ or ‘Tammy’ (sometimes even by her middle name as she’s not overly fond of her first name)

19 years old at the start of The Walk (which takes place c. 2016 as Boris Johnson’s still Mayor of London) and turns 20 during.

Coincidentally, her surname is the same as her computer generated codename, Walker.

Bubbily, but also extremely sensible and serious.

More extroverted than Alicia, but less than the average person.

Was on her way to meet family at Paddington station as she was travelling down for a week in London with her dad, step mum, Ruby, half siblings, Tara, David and Luke, her uncle Joel, her aunt Maria and her cousins Alicia and Louis, as an early birthday present when she was approached by Fiona and dragged into the whole mess.

Close with Alicia before the events of The Walk.

Has a massive crush on Lawrence. in fact they sort of start a relationship.

Has PTSD due to the events of the Walk.

Survived day zero and lives in Mullins base during the apocalypse. Where she reconnects with her father Dominic, and cousins Alicia and Louis, but Louis dies a few weeks in and Alicia leaves for Abel Township on a special mission. Neither cousin are aware the other is still alive since then.

Sapper 5- James ‘Jamie’ Edward Carter

Jamie Carter was born to Molly and George Carter in 1900. He’s their only son.

His father was a policeman who was one of a handful of people who knew the identity of Jack The Ripper (although Jamie would never learn who it was) and his mother was responsible for uncovering the ‘Bicycle Face’ conspiracy at the age of 16, and was an avid suffragette and campaigner against police corruption.

Because of this, his family has always been, unbeknownst to him and his relatives, on a government watch list. 

He left school at 14 and started an apprenticeship in engineering.

He then signed up to fight in the war in 1915, underage. He survived, travelling across the globe from Africa to Russia.

Eventually he met Elizabeth Stewart, a Scottish nurse whilst in Russia.

Both of them were stuck in Russia after the war for a couple of years, and during that time they fell in love. They managed to leave Russia back to the London just before the Tsar was assassinated, and Jamie returned back to his apprenticeship, becoming an accomplished engineer and setting up his own company. 

despite this he constantly suffered flashbacks and nightmares from his time at war. 

They had three children. George, Joseph ‘Jojo’ and Edith ‘Edie’. 

He passed away in March 1999 at the age of 99. 

He is the grandfather of Dominic and Joel Bright and the great grandfather of Tabitha Walker, Alicia, Tara, Louis, David and Luke Bright. 

[runfive]

zr season 9 mission 1: no context spoilers