#also someone pointed out that nomes are kids

[plushiesssforcrying]

mmm colored her in + more doodles and more reasons why six doesn't speak english anymore

her hair is black btw ,,, i dunno why it looks so brownish here ,,,

fun fact time? fun fact time ;

she's still malnourished as hell because she doesn't eat whatever the chefs cook

her relationship with thin man / mono will be explained [ probably ] but it's very strained at the moment

in case you're wondering what she DOES eat, she usually drains the soul of an adult / guest, she tear them apart with her teeth when she feels feralsilly

she's bound to the maw™ due to it needing a higher up to keep the staff in check

she indeed still hates adults, only tolerating most of them [ probably bully tf out of the janitor too because of how scary he was when she was younger ]

she doesn't like that kids are still getting sent to the maw but she doesn't have the power to stop that specific part of the ship [ just like she doesn't have power to straight up kill staffs lol ]

uhhh idk if you have questions, my ask box is open. i'm probably missing key details that i lock away in my mind here

[happyk44]

Do you have anymore of this written? Annabeth's way of helping Percy actually making it worse until he runs away and finally gets a taste of peace elsewhere? I love it so much.

https://www.tumblr.com/happyk44/749307578218053632?source=share

Pretty sure I've written something (or a couple somethings) similar to that piece before. It's a concept I really like. One of my first "Percy runs away to the Nome" pieces points out that Annabeth has been kind of preparing for the inherent trauma in being a demigod under the thumb of not so helpful gods her whole life compared to Percy who was thrown into it at random and retains a lot of bitterness over it versus passive acceptance the way Jason and Annabeth have kind of grown up to. Yeah, she has her beef with Hera but like. More or less, it's kind of "that's just how the gods are" with her and Percy is very much "well they should be fucking better".

I think that with her having known she was a demigod since she was a little kid, the difficulties she went through in getting to camp with Thalia, Grover and Luke, Thalia's sacrifice and seemingly having been holding onto the possibility of war at least since she was 12 and Percy came flailing into her life and into the prophecy - she's just able to compartmentalize her pains better than Percy who we know suffers more aptly with emotional regulation and anger issues. Whether she processes them in a healthy manner through this or represses, represses, represses is up to you, but I can see it being her default, and subsequently she gets very stressed out about Percy not being able to do the same thing.

Also people just process trauma differently and Annabeth gets very headstrong and stubborn about being right and that her way of doing things is superior (which is. like. one of the reasons I lowkey wanted to add her to the cluster B roster because imo her fatal flaw would fit NPD so well, but unfortunately I don't think enough of the diagnostic criteria suits her so RIP). So her way of handling trauma not working for Percy doesn't make sense to her, or the fact that Percy is still clearly having problems even if he pretends otherwise just makes her feel like he's not trying hard enough to get over it, so she starts pushing in ways that don't help because she's Annabeth and she knows how Percy works and she can map his way through this and if he would just try, then it would work (except they don't and they won't).

I've also mentioned before that Annabeth strikes me as someone who gets so beholden to her ideas and plans that any deviation from that plan (even if not well-thought out) is Not Allowed, and no matter how obvious the solution (change course, make other decisions, break-up and stay friends), she is extremely reluctant to do so. In Tartarus, she clung to the idea of her and Percy making it out alive and safe and moving to New Rome and being happy and going to college and growing old together and now, faced with the reality that the goal is likely unattainable (I really don't see Percy moving to California for college of all things, like let's be real) or facing some hitches (Percy's depression and self-isolation negates the whole happy and healthy thing), she gets further into her head about him not being able to get with the program.

So she tells him how to fix himself. He can't do it because her methods don't work for him like they work for her. She gets mad because there's no improvement from him and she doesn't know what else to try because she's exahusted all the options that Make Sense and Will Help Him and her way of doing things is right so he must be doing something wrong or not trying at all. He starts to withdraw from her because Percy doesn't really instigate fights and he's angry and unhealthy and doesn't want to hurt his girlfriend, and she gets mad because that's not how this is supposed to work, and they argue and the cycle just continues over and over and over again unti he's gone.

Personally I can write Percy disappearing in a bunch of ways. He fakes it until he realizes he can't make it and no one notices. He fakes it and people notice but they can't get him to open up about it. He suffers obviously but no one knows how to help him and he refuses to communicate. It will always culimaniate in him turning to isolation, turning to self-harm, turning to suicide, turning to whispering Carter's name like a desperate lifeline because if he kills himself Grover might die and his mom might be sad (he doesn't know, Estelle is there and she's good and she's normal and it's fine, his mom doesn't really need him, does she?) and Annabeth would probably be mad at him.

And if he calls out for Carter and he doesn't come or he doesn't care, well, then at least he can say he tried getting help, right? He didn't give up right away. He tried.

(Carter will always come and always offer the Nome as sanctuary and Percy will always accept it, even if he freaks the fuck out when they get there)

[kidrunaway]

I'm surprised that as the number one rk fan I haven't posted a small analysis of him yet but here we go

So what we know from RK so far is barely anything at all but it's clear he wants to escape with people together rather than alone.

of course if that wasn't clarified I would most likely interpret it as him using the nomes to get further without giving 2 shits about them, but because it's canon, thats not rhe case. that doesn't mean he doesn't defend himself though. He will kill/harm others in order to defend himself (n this is why a lot of the times where I see comics of him getting bullied i get pissed because thats NOT him.) he does seem to defend himself several times throughout the game and will harm others in order to protect himself. What's unique about him is that not only do we get a view of what's happening all the way down at the maw, but his story compared to the other stories has a much more different vibe to it. With mono and six it was very hectic. RK seems to be the only kid that doesn't outright have a chasing scene the same way Six or Mono does (The guests, The doctor, the teacher, that kind of chasing scene.) The only thing we really have is the little battles of him defending himself. he gets chased by the lady for the last bit, and I think that part truly shows WHY he didn't have any chase scenes. I'm sure he was panicking when the lady was chasing him, and when you're panicking, it's very common for people to get impatient. So when he gets caught by the lady, he desperately tries to get away, having the lady basically haunt him from each corner. he goes into a room at some point with a broken mirror and you know if he stood hidden in there or was patient enough to just wait a few seconds or avoid going to the door that opened for him, he would've most likely lived. but being the kid he is, out of curiosity, he goes to where the lady opened the door from. He seems to be a curious little guy. I also wanna mention that he is really smart and it's overseen by the Fandom a lot. We know that Six is smart that's canon, but let's not forget that RK literally solved THE LADYS PUZZLES. I'm sure the lady wanted her puzzles hard enough for not anyone else to figure out, prior to the figures being placed in odd places to take and put on a statue, and extreme puzzles that were even hard for me, he figured it out. it's amazing. And he's invaded the lady's space so much that not only did he finish all her puzzles but ALSO find out her secret. So RK is pretty curious, gets impatient when panicking, and smart on top of that.

Could be a stretch, but truly, in this fandom everything gets stretched so why not 🤷‍♂️

One thing about his story that makes me think a lot are the shadow kids. Although you can usually hear giggles and whispers in the game, if you listen close enough, they will say actual things! (What upsets me though is someone figured this out way before I did and while I went on YouTube to find voice clips I saw the video of the girl that posted this 😭 its only fair if I credit her she's called SPILLTHETHEORIES, watch her video its informative!)

Here's what they say just in case you're curious.

"But there was a difference before."

"You're a goner. Goner."

"Hello there"

"Do you hear her singing?"

"Her intentions were to follow"

"Of course they were/yes she does (?)"

"But that can't be right"

"Its about time it was talking."

"Its looking with Its sight."

"Until six..."

[columbocorners]

like I always found it interesting that the one thing about the sounds of nightmares is that it always showed on some level every child noone met died and even when noone did finally meet someone who didn't die, the fairy, aka one of the nomes, that still at the end of the day, is a lesser version of who that nome was, who likely got turned into the lady and also makes me suspect whatever that one episode regarding it was, which I think was chapter five, had to be an area around the maw because the water and the idea of someone within the water makes me think of the granny to some extent so it could be connected to that but as a whole : the nowhere may seem like a safe place for noone but for so many people, it is not, and that is something to keep in mind and not forget because I feel like in forgetting, we do miss a larger point to be made especially in the idea that a lot of those kids, especially rusty, just wanted to get out.

[purplemninja]

So how'd you get into the Little Nightmares franchise? What made Six your favorite character?

That’s a bit of a tough question, since it’ll test my memory.

I think I heard of LN and learned a bunch of stuff about it from a video called 107 facts about Little Nightmares, and that video included the 2017 comics, so I was able to know about their existence fairly quickly. Plus I misremembered a part of the video and thought that Six’s name was something like Eliza, lol. The video also included pointing out Shadow Six though I didn’t remember it at the time and when someone pointed out “look on top of the table” of the Nome hunger scene, I thought it was the silhouette of the Lady’s head, so I thought that the Lady was there, knowing what was happening in the room and possibly made Six eat the Nome. Especially since she is seen entering the elevator a moment afterwards. And when I saw the secret ending of LN2, I was like “What? Why is there a shadowy copy of Six now?”. I saw Tericho’s “is Six a villain or victim?” Video and he showed one of the moments where Shadow Six appeared in LN1 and I was like “What?! She was in the first game too?!”. Rewatching the 107 facts video, it confirmed the existence of Shadow Six in the first game.

And I don’t remember who, maybe GamingBeaver, I learned some more about the events of the game, and I saw play throughs of LN1 and got to know the events of the game. And when I watched a video on the events of LN1, it of course was the classic “Six is the Lady’s daughter” conclusion (before the devs debunked it). Though I do like AUs where the Lady and Six are mother and daughter. And it was TheLeaderboard's videos of what happens in each part of the DLCs that informed me of what happened in RK's journey.

I think my interest in LN fizzled out a little until GamingBeaver made his video on the ending of VLN, so I thankfully was able to learn of RCG and a piece of Six’s story that a bunch of the fandom doesn’t know about even to this day. So I got to know a little more about Six.

Then some time passed and I somehow heard of LN2 being in development and was excited about it. And I didn’t find out of when it was released until a couple months after its release. I saw and watched GamingBeaver’s video about the story of LN2 and that’s where I learned of the “Six is the Lady” theory that I despise so much. And I watched CoryKenshi’s play through of it to learn more about the events of that game, and I’m still bitter about how he so easily dumped Sasha Six in favour of Baggy and that he denied that Six is a kid just trying to survive and even reprimanded her for “doing this to all of these people”, you know, the people who tried to kill or eat her. I’m still bitter at CoryKenshi for that.

I’ve been really into LN since the release of the second game and I’m still into it currently.

As for the girl in question, I think she’s my favourite protagonist mostly because she was the one I was introduced to first.

It took a bit to realise that Six doesn’t have anything visible on her legs, so I got scared that she might not be wearing anything underneath the raincoat, but then I watched Crazy Cowboy’s video “Funny Chef Six” and it contained this official PNG of Six:

I spotted the white shorts (though I thought they were yellow at first) and felt relieved that she does have other clothes on under the raincoat. And VLN and LN2 reinforced that fact.

Then VLN and LN2 added more to her story and character, which made me like her even more.

And after LN2 came out and time passed after that, I myself went through character development with judging Mono and Six. At first I didn’t want to believe that Six was selfish and sadistic (which Beaver said she was in his video) and I blamed everything on Mono, but later GamerSault made his “Who is Six?” video (which is private now 😞) where he talked about Six’s selfish side but he didn’t demonize her for it, and I also saw a long but great comment on that video where they compared the sh*tty treatment Six gets from the fandom to the sh*tty treatment Chara gets from the Undertale fandom. These two things helped me accept that Six does have a selfish side, though I still don’t believe that she’s sadistic, especially considering the hypocrisy from the fans when Mono does similar things that gets Six labeled as sadistic for, but he does them to a bigger extent and often did them first.

I don’t place all the blame on Mono anymore, but I still do vehemently sympathize with Six. One because I spent my teen years watching Mr Enter’s Animated Atrocities - where I got my strong sense of justice from, and two, I think I slightly see myself in Six. Call me petty or childish but I relate to Six in the way that her efforts are swept under the rug. Back in school, in P.E we were doing a little exercise where we repeatedly go into the starting position that athletes go into for sprinting, and for some reason we were put into pairs for this. I was paired with someone who apparently had something wrong with her legs so she couldn’t go into the ‘sprint start’ position (understandable), so she decided that I had to do it for her turns as well as mine (not understandable). And when I tried to refuse (I couldn't stand up for myself back then, plus the pose is uncomfortable for me) she just whined "BuT yOu HaVe To". And another time in college, we had to design a magazine front cover for a bricklaying competition and I think I misheard the lecturer because everyone made 6 different covers, while ended up making 12, because I thought that’s how many we had to make. Both of these instances I did literally twice as much work as everyone else, but my efforts were not acknowledged or compensated at all. It's a loose and very specific connection between me and Six, but it's still a connection, so I think I feel some resentment when the fandom does the same thing but far, far worse to Six.

So yeah. Sorry for the long read, but this is how I got into Little Nightmares and why I'm a really strong defender of Six.

[itstimetotheorize]

Those who open themselves

How odd…The bad kids Noone saw in the sewer had keys to open and close a grand iron door into the sewer, which was likely also the only exit. They saw her, but didn’t help her. They wanted to experience the giant wave running through the sewer, but couldn’t, it was to dangerous for them, and yet they still loved looking at it from afar.

Wherever it is these kids reside outside the sewers, seems to be a place they can live, but unlike the previous children Noone met, these kids seem to be happy and well adjusted,which is odd on account of all the children seen thus far have only ever wanted to escape, it’s almost as if…the kids in the sewer were among those who had already opened themselves to the Nowhere. Their joy further encouraging Noone to believe life in the Nowhere was better than her life in the Counties, something she is now willing to consider if it means she can escape everything that’s currently tormenting her…and yet…it’s as if Noone is forgetting all the horrors she saw before now, and forgetting just how cruel it can be to continue residing in the Nowhere. We’ve always theorized many children were doomed to be Residents, their minds trapped in whatever it is their desires were fixated on. We also theorized those who became Nomes, were what little remained of the their goodness and innocence.

Noone said the disfigured man she saw in the sewer wasn’t always the way he is now, the world changed him into what he is today. As for who he used to be, well, the Nome may have already pointed it out when it showed Noone the propeller cap. Those children Noone saw looking down on her in the sewers…what if maybe, just maybe… the sewer man used to be one of them, until one day, he let his curiosity to experience the wave get the better of him. But had he decided to do so, the cold hearted children would have no interest in helping him once he stayed behind the locked iron door. As for the joy he believed he would experience from the wave, well, this would have been quickly cast aside the moment he experienced the terror Noone did.

Noone said the sewer man was terrified of the wave, he was across from the children high above who wanted to experience what he did, while he wanted to live the life they had, but couldn’t. His desire to once again be part of the world up high from the sewers could only be met by collecting and cherishing all the things he found dropped from above, this simple desire ultimately being what distorted and corrupted him into the Resident he is now.

Noone believes one can achieve a sense of relief by opening oneself to the Nowhere, and yet…what she becomes if she does open up…may only lead to a life no different than the sewer mans. The only question now is, will Noone be the one to seek this relief in order to accomplish her desperate desire to escape all the things she hates?…or will it be someone like Otto, who continues to fall deeper and deeper into turmoil along with her, desperate to accomplish his desire to find his beloved CiCi…I guess we will have to wait and see, for now, its just a theory…a Little Nightmares theory…

[queen0fm0nsterz]

This post resonates with me spiritually but I would like to add my own two cents on it

What gets me about them is the fact that they are, all in all, completely opposite to one another, both design, personality and "role-in-the-narrative" wise.

RCG is mostly identified by warm tones and colors. Her brown hair, yellow raincoat, bright red bow tie, all of this leading back to her relatively "warm" personality. She's not necessarely the goody two shoes the fandom makes her out to be, but she's possibly the most altruistic of the Little Nights protagonists. Whenever the occasion presents itself where she has to chose whether or not to help someone, she almost always lends a hand - only exception being when she was chased by the Butler and closed the door on Six. Even then, though, she later goes out of her way to risk her life to help Six when she's being chased. Hell, I'd argue the reason she got chased by the Pretender in the first place is because she hesitated for that brief moment when she heard her cry. Like, she didn't make a noise or anything: she just stopped and stared. This doesn't happen with the other two antagonists, so I'm assuming the Pretender's tears were what moved her enough to not immediately dip.

The Pretender on the other hand is the exact opposite. Identifiable by her cool tones, like the greens and blues she wears and the white hair, she is overall much more "pointy" in appearence and personality. She's abrasive, spoiled, aggressive in her ways, everything you'd expect her to be considering her position. But, she's also unbearably lonely. Nobody around her is there because they want to be: the Butler and thr Craftsman are merely doing their job, the children are turned into dolls and also try to escape all the time, I doubt the Nomes ever approach her considering her attitude... Being alone because you're unwanted might even be worse than isolation due to outside forces. Not knowing what a genuine friendship looks like because you never experienced one is... just sad. Even though she is far more privileged than her counterpart, I think she more than any other antagonist in this franchise is the product of an environment that never really cared. If this was any other genre, the Pretender would be the most redeemable of the villains.

The reason why I brought up that RCG stops when she hears the Pretender cry is because, in another setting (maybe where kids don't get killed for starters🙄), that same gesture could have been the beginning of a turning point.

On one hand you have the Pretender, crying her eyes out about the miserable life she lives as a consequence of powers she didn't ask for, and on the other you have RCG, who has been trying to escape this horrid place only to be met with the tears of someone she shouldn't care about.

But how can she turn such a genuine display away? And how could the Pretender, who is initially standoffish and aggressive as she normally would be, reject the first ever display of concern for her well-being?

Idk man I'm just rambling at this point but this is to say I am Normal about them

Rcg and The Pretender is the ship ever for me. They’re both doomed by the narrative they love each other they’ve tried to kill each other their a scrawny street rat and rich aristocrat they die together one lives in the others walls their medusa and her girlfriend their both scared preteens their 

[queen0fm0nsterz]

Someone did posted on twitter how they find it very odd that all of the little nightmares protagonists go out their way in attempt to help Six despite how they just met her and they didn’t help anyone else before meeting her unless it’s for something to advance their way through almost like they’re drawn to her in some way?

MASTERPOST

This is a really interesting theory and I love the concept. I definetely think that could be the case. After all, Six is stated to be a special little one and plus she's the protagonist - don't forget that. Each one of the LN installments is telling us her story and how she became the person she is today. Everyone else, Rcg, RK, even Mono... they're just side characters to her plot, even if we get to see things from their point of view.

That being said, I actually want to offer a counter point to this. Maybe Six just got lucky and met really nice kids on the way... or maybe not?

OH YES, SUPRISE RCG, RK AND MONO ANALYSIS LADS!

Let's get into it.

Out of all the protagonists, I would say Raincoat Girl is the one who is most eager to help others. We actually see her going out of her way to lend a hand to other children and nomes multiple times, even before she met Six. For example, she risked being captured by the Craftsman to retrieve the key of the Ushanka Kid's cage.

Unfortunately, we all know what happened to that poor child...

Moving on. A contraddiction to this would be her leaving Six behind during the Butler chase, but I come in defense of RCG here. Six was laying on the ground without moving - RCG probably thought she either got hurt or died and didn't have time to check since... you know, the floating man with telekinesis who has been trying to kill her on sight is running after her.

Still, when she sees that Six is alive and needs help, RCG lends her a hand while she's literally being chased down a mountain by the Pretender.

Now that is dedication. Every time she has the chance to save a kid from what will almost surely result in death, Raincoat Girl takes it. Commendable, really. She's also the only LN protagonist who never had to end a life.

Next on the list we have the Runaway Kid!

While we never see him interact with any other child, I'm pretty sure we all know the boy proclaimed himself the Nome King at this point. He rescues a lot of nomes during his adventure in the Maw. The little guys really found comfort in him and being to trust him, helping him in return for his kindness.

Plus, he actively helps them getting the furnace going, even though he didn't have to.

Then, we have the (in)famous moment.

Since we know RK is an helpful kid and he has just been turned into a nome, it makes sense he would lend a hand to Six.

And as the achievement said... "Kindness will be your undoing!" Perhaps, it wasn't only referring to Six and her thoughts on the matter, but to the Runaway as well. He met his demise after offering his kindness to her, after all.

Now, Mono is a peculiar case.

He's been described to be quite protective of Six, which we see in the game. He's the one who offers his hand to her when he broke into her "prison" in the Hunter's basement, so we can also assume he's a kind hearted kid - which I'm not denying, not at all! He puts his life at risk multiple times when rescuing her.

At the same time, he's not willing to go out of his way to help someone who isn't Six.

A blatant example of this would be the kids in the sixth comic - but, like I did with RCG, I come in defense of Mono here. The situation was critical and he needed to save his own life.

Then, we have the child the Teacher was punishing. I previously theorized them to be the Lollipop Boy, but even if it's just a random kid, the focus here is that Mono didn't do anything to help them.

Once again, justifiable. If he interviened, he would have risked to get killed or captured by the Teacher, which he couldn't allow. Not because he's afraid for his own life, but because he was running in Six's help.

To Mono, Six will always be the priority.

Another thing I want to point out is how Mono is shown to be rather cautious. It took him 44 days to rescue Six from the basements, as shown by the tally marks on the wall.

Since he broke in the Hunter's cabin in a day where he wasn't there, I'm going to assume Mono spent that month and an half observing the Hunter and learning his routine so that he could sneak in safely without encountering any danger.

When they meet in the comic for the first time, it's framed as a special occasion. History is being made for them both.

My final thoughts on the matter are: while RCG and RK are naturally helpful children, I believe Mono may be drawn to Six (and viceversa), like anon said. The reason why I think Six may be drawn to Mono as well is because, when they met the first time, she literally didn't notice the Hunter approacing her.

(Like... come on. How do you miss him? He's big and loud.)

It would make sense, since they're essential to each other's transformation into the Thin Man and the Lady.

[sunflowersupremes]

Heyy, first of all, I love your destroying-the-ring-releases-Melkor-au-idea. The concept is great and hilarious!

I was just wondering if Gil-Galad being Maglor's son was based on any personal headcanons or just ideas of yours?

I must admit that I was kind of surprised (not negatively) by this choice since you majorly write Maglor/Eönwë (at least atm).

Yessssss. Hello, I am always glad to get questions. Particularly about Maglor.

‘Gil-Galad as Maglor’s son but Fingon raised him because Maglor wanted to protect him from the Doom’ is mostly because of @nikol-nikiforova.

We have this running idea that Maglor gets mistaken for Fingolfin’s son a lot, because he hangs out with Fingolfin and looks the most like him (of Fëanor’s sons). So when Maglor knocked a girl up he took the kid to Fingolfin for help (he didn’t want the Oath to hurt his child, and at that point his brothers were still 100% into thinking the Oath was a great idea, so he couldn’t go to them). Fingolfin considered claiming the kid was his own, but he couldn’t bring himself to claim that he hadn’t been faithful to Amarië.

So while Fingolfin and Maglor are stressing out over what they’re gonna do with this kid, Fingon waltzes in and Fingolfin has an idea. You see, Fingon had been away for a while, exploring Beleriand, and he got back late at night, so there wasn’t a huge party to greet him. So they just tell everyone that Fingon knocked someone up while he was exploring and brought Gil-Galad back with him.

And it sort of works. For a few years it goes great. Maglor comes by often to visit, or Fingon takes Gil-Galad to the Gap, and everyone is happy. Maedhros eventually figures out that the kid is definitely not Fingon’s, and then he sees Maglor playing with him and goes ‘ohhhhhh’ but other than that the Feanorians don’t know.

The plan was to tell Gil-Galad who his real dad was eventually, but then Fingolfin and Fingon died and Maglor went east with the sons of Fëanor, so Gil-Galad is raised thinking Fingon is his dad.

The next time Maglor sees his son is when he’s taking Elrond and Elros to Balar, and by that time Gil-Galad hates him. He blames the Feanorians for Fingon’s death (The Union of Maedhros) and he saw Sirion after the Kinslaying and saw the destruction there.

Elrond and Elros were never told of Maglor’s connection to Gil-Galad, but they figured it out (or, Elrond figured it out and told his brother). They saw how Maglor would react whenever someone mentioned Gil-Galad (and they saw his face when Gil-Galad spat at him and called him a Kinslayer and a monster).

And then Maglor leaves at the end of the First Age, and poor Elrond doesn’t know how to go about telling Gil-Galad his suspicions. He has no proof, after all, and everyone agrees that Gil-Galad looks like Fingon, so no one questions that he is Fingon’s son.

Also, for bonus angst: Gil-Galad would have inherited Maglor’s voice, but they couldn’t explain where that came from if he was Fingon’s son, so he was never taught to wield Songs of Power. After his death, Maglor is left wondering if his son would have lived if he had been brave enough to face him and teach him to Sing.

Maglor and Eönwë

Maglor & Eönwë is definitely my favorite ship at the moment, but I typically write Maglor as being something of a ladies’ man, particularly during the First Age (its how he deals with his trauma).

So Gil-Galad is probably just the son of Maglor’s girlfriend of the week (because I ignore LACE and NOME, clearly, because thats fun).

Maglor’s Wife

Canonically he has an unnamed wife. I believe Tolkien’s phrasing was something along the lines of ‘he is most likely married’ which, to me, says even Tolkien was like ‘this man can GET IT’

But I don’t (usually) use her as a character.

I once joked that Maglor’s wife doesn’t exist, that he just made her up because he wanted to tell some mortals about Elrond and Elros, but he didn’t want to explain how he acquired them, so he just said ‘no they’re mine and my… my wife’s? Yeah, I have a wife. Definitely’ and then whenever he told stories he would just swap Maedhros out for an unnamed wife.

It started as a joke but now it’s my personal headcanon.

Gil-Galad as Eönwë’s Son?

It is likely? No. Does it make sense? No.

Would it be amazing? YES.

Even funnier if it’s Fingon trying to pass off a half-Maia child as his own.

Although then I would have no idea how they GOT Gil-Galad since Eönwë was in Valinor during the First Age.

Actually, no, I do know, Fingon ran into Eönwë and got ahold of baby Gil-Galad shortly after Aqualonde, promising to take him across the sea to Maglor. Except then the boats burned and Fingon had to take the fucking Eldritch horror half-Maia kid across the Ice, while trying to convince people it was actually his own kid.

Fingon: No this is mine

Argon: it… it has feathers

Fingon: Can you prove I don’t have feathers?

So they get across the Ice with this horror child and Maglor is the depressed and borderline suicidal Prince Regent, and Gil-Galad is pretty happy with Fingon, so Maglor and Fingon end up splitting custody.

[hemmyjam2]

The Teacher theory (for my character study)

As already pointed out, the woman in the picture at the nest looks like the teacher, especially her shoes and skirt.

And I played VLN to find any other clues that they’re the same person, and found few interesting things after finishing LN2 chapter 2. If already someone said same thing before, … well, don't mind it.

Paper plane

Let’s start from weak evidence.

In one of the secret rooms, you can find paper planes. Also, paper plane appears in school kids’ bedroom. It could be a proof of connection between the nest and the school?

But this is not really a evidence. Paper plane is not a special thing, and there’s no way to know if the same person mede those.

　2. The drawing on the wall

This is the drawing on the wall in nomes’ room. One grown woman in the center, surrounded by some boys and girls.

The adult women in little nightmares we know are only two,** the lady** and the teacher. It’s less likely to be the lady (you know,that skirt doesn’t look like kimono). It makes more sense if this is a drawing of the teacher and children.

3. Dissection theme

In the nest, you can see a big teddy bear which is cut its body by someone. Apparently, it’s the owner of this room, more specifically, the pretender that did it.

Then in the school, you can see a frog, its body is cut and its organs are revealed. Also, you can see the teacher putting some frogs into a jar and doing something with internal organ, and sometimes you can find brains in jar.

I think this high-key shows the teacher's aspect as (kind of) mad scientist and she dissects animals.

4. Piano

Just as you see them.

Both in the nest and the school, there's piano.

About the one in the nest, it could be for the pretender since there are only she and her servants, but it's bit too tall for her. I think there was someone taller than the pretender and likes to play the piano.

In the school, the teacher plays a piano and sometimes write down on the score. Not even just play the piano, but also maybe makes music by herself.

Conclusion

Gathering those ideas, I believe the teacher is the pretender's mother, and she affects the pretender in many ways.

Also, considered there are so many dolls made of dead children, I personally have a theory;

The teacher secretary replaced some students with porcelain kids and send them to the nest for her daughter. (Not all of the students are send and not all of the dolls are made of the students since we didn't see the lolipop kid's doll and girl in the yellow coat doesn't look like belonged to the school.)

this is just my random thought, you can disagree of course.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Best Executed Deaths

A few weeks ago, I did a list talking about the Top 5 Character Deaths That Made Me Side-Eye the Writers and I thought it was only fair that I talk about some of the character deaths that I thought were actually done well. So consider this like a companion to that list. 

Like I said in that T5F, this is TWDG, a game series all about people surviving in a world overrun by zombies. Naturally, characters are going to die. Some of these characters get pretty shitty deaths that only happened to fill a quota, some had effort and thought put into them and how they were going to effect the story and remaining characters. These are deaths that served their purpose, progressed the story, or are an understandable conclusion to a character’s arc. 

Do keep in mind that when I say that I enjoy the way these were done/handled/portrayed/whatever, this isn’t me taking joy outta watching these deaths play out. Hell, I kinda hate most of the deaths on this list, but just because I don’t want this character to die or I wish they stuck around longer doesn’t mean I can’t recognize when it’s executed well, y’know? 

5. Larry and the meat locker incident

So.... Larry’s an asshole, y’know? He made it on another T5F because he sucks. No one likes Larry. 

He treats Lee like garbage, treats his own daughter terribly, and is overall just a piece of shit. That being said, he played his role well. He did what he needed to do which was be a antagonistic character within the group who posed a threat to Lee by threatening to expose his past. He creates a lot of tension within the group, he puts all this pressure on Lilly, you can’t even attempt to show any kindness to him because he doesn’t care about anyone but himself and Lilly. 

That being said.... his death scene is pretty good. Y’know, you play through ep2 for the first time and you’ve just discovered that these people are cannibals and they have you locked in a fucking meat locker so they can butcher you later, and Larry is freakin’ the fuck out because he’s pissed. Lilly is sick in the corner, Kenny is desperately trying to find a way out because they have his family, and Clementine is terrified, and Lee is just waking up. 

You go over and try to calm Larry down because he’s pounding at the door and this dude.... this bastard has the gall to be like “Fuck you, you must really hate me! I’m plannin’ on bein’ around waaaaaay after you’re dead! I’ll be the one to put you down!”

Then he has a heart attack. 

And you’re stuck in this meat locker with him. You don’t know if he’s alive or not-- Kenny immediately deems him dead, Lilly is desperately trying to resuscitate him, and they’re both yelling at you. You gotta decide if you’re gonna help Lilly try to bring him back, or if you’re gonna help Kenny make sure he doesn’t turn. 

Not matter what you do, Kenny smashes Larry’s head in with a damn saltlick because I guess he missed the opening of the episode where they remind you that your actions have consequences. 

Larry’s death has lasting effects on your relationships with both Lilly and Kenny, though more so Kenny since no matter what, Lilly loses it a little and ends up murdering Carley/Doug and leaving the group. But boy, Kenny will never forget the time you didn’t wanna play hero with him and smash a guys head in right in front of his daughter. 

It’s a damn good scene, I gotta hand it to ‘em. I hate Larry and I can’t say I miss him, but I can definitely see both sides of the argument on what to do there. Plus it’s... I dunno, a creative death? and I kinda like that? No one else is out here getting their heads done in with a saltlick, y’know? 

Anyway, Larry sucks but his death? Well done. 

4.  Minerva and the tragic showdown on the bridge

Oh man, I really am digging my own grave with the Minnie crowd lately, huh? Ah well, I’m sure it’s fine. 

Listen...okay, look. I have a lot of feelings about the bridge scene. On one hand, I hate it. On the other hand, I kind of love it? 

Like, does it piss me off that Tenn dies here because I trust AJ? Yep. Do I still wish they had maybe put Lilly here so that she could actually do her job as a villain? Sure. Does it upset me that AJ ends up shooting his best friend in order to save Louis? Totally. Does it annoy me that Minerva just won’t fucking die even though I shot her and the walkers keep nom noming her? Absolutely. 

That being said, I can’t pretend that Minerva’s death isn’t pretty great.... which I know will upset the Minnie crowd who always talk about how it’s bullshit she died here and she deserved a redemption arc... but lemme explain. 

Looking at the game itself, the text and story progression, Minerva was never going to get that. She was never set up as someone we were gonna “fix” or as someone who would have a change of heart and switch to our side. From the moment we meet her, she’s too far gone. The delta have their claws sunk deep within her, they brainwashed her, forced her to murder her own sister, and she has completely given up. She never expresses any desire to go back to the school. Nope, the delta is her home now. Her family. And it’s tragic. She and Sophie proof of what would happen to the Ericson crew if the delta go ahold of them-- “which twin will you be?” y’know? 

She fucks us over instead of actually helping us, we escape, the boat explodes, but Minerva doesn’t go down with the boat. Nope, she makes it to land and well... she fucking loses it. She sees her delta family get taken out by walkers and she goes nuts with her gun and gets half of her face chewed off by a walker.

So yeah..... she’s dead. Almost. They try to act like we’re supposed to believe that she’s really dead after she gets surrounded by walkers and throws the grenade at Clementine and all that but c’mon.... unless I see a body or a walker version, I don’t believe shit. 

Which brings me to the bridge.... there’s a lot of dread building up to Minerva’s final appearance, and you just hear her singing the damn song and bringing a bunch of walkers with her. Not to mention that she already looks dead. She looks like a walker who can talk, and not gonna lie, I like it. It’s freaky and sad and fucked up and adds so much to her character at this point. I mean, she’s here to kill Tenn so that they can all be a family again. She’s smiling and relieved that she’s dying and boy she just can’t wait to take Tenn with her and it’s not great.

She’s here to die and to take someone down with her, and she’s not leaving until she does. Hell, if she can take Clementine out, that’s just a bonus at this point. 

ALSO can’t forget that if AJ does shoot and kill Tenn, Minerva is still alive as she’s being eaten by walkers and she looks so damn happy as she reaches out and says, “Yes, come with me...” 

Like..... it’s so fucked, and I hate that I love it. From a storytelling standpoint, it’s a fitting death to conclude Minerva’s character and it impacts everyone there in more ways than one. 

3. Duck and incredible emotional impact

Oh, Duck... poor, poor Duck. 

This one has stuck with me and I hate it. I was never one of those players who hated Duck from the beginning. It’s interesting to go back and see how people reacted to him in the first couple episodes because a lot of them didn’t like him. They found Duck to be annoying, loud, stupid, and would even wonder “yeesh, when can I kill this kid?” 

Which is yikes but not gonna get into that right now. 

But from my understanding, Telltale got wind of this and knowing they were gonna kill him off, were like “Okay, y’all dumb, so here--” and they added in that little segment with Detective Duck where he helps Lee figure out what’s been going on with the stole meds. It’s a cute scene where we get to hang out with Duck and he proves that he’s not stupid, he’s just... y’know, a child. 

Then the motor inn gets attacked, shit goes down after they escape, and it’s revealed that Duck was bitten. 

Oh man, let me tell you about emotional impact both on the characters and the player because wow. 

Duck’s death is slow, drawn out...and since it’s early in the series, there’s a lot of denial, mostly from Kenny. They find the train and Kenny fixates on it because to him, if he gets it working and they can just get away, Duck can recover. Duck isn’t like the others, he’s just a little sick and everyone is making a big fuss about it. 

Then you have Katjaa, who starts out in that denial stage but she moves into acceptance a lot quicker than Kenny does and well.... that might be because she made up her mind about what she was going to do, which that is a whole other layer of fucking despair to this situation. 

They also do something that I like with Kenny by adding that depth of him believing he had something like this coming after what happened at Hershel’s farm. Y’know, when he grabbed Duck and took off, leaving Shawn to die? Yeah that. 

He’s been so adamant about protecting his family to the point where he doesn’t have anything for the rest of the group, aside from Lee if he helps kill Larry. He did what he could to keep his wife and child safe and in the end, it didn’t matter. Duck still got bit, and now everything is shit. 

Then when you thought it couldn’t hurt even more, you find Katjaa dead in the woods and you still have to take care of Duck, whether you have Lee shoot him or have Kenny do it, or even just leave him to turn. Either way.... Duck’s death is just one big ol’ despairing oof.

It’s really good, guys. The music, dialogue, scenery, the pain....They really nailed Duck’s death in such an emotional way and it doesn’t just end there. This sticks with Kenny all the way through S2 and changes him as a character. It impacted Clementine and Lee greatly because this kickstarted Chuck telling them that Clem would end up just like Duck if things didn’t change. 

S1 just... knew how to kill off its characters... well, for the most part. 

2. Marlon and the death that had to happen whether we like it or not

Sigh.... okay. 

So... Marlon. Lemme tell you some things about Marlon’s death. 

First, I hate it. Nothing new there. If you know anything about me, you know that I am vocal in my desire for the Marlon redemption arc, for the “Marlon lives” AU’s and the “Marlon lives longer but dies differently” AU’s. I like Marlon as a character, I find him to be a fascinating character study. Ray Chase’s performance as Marlon brings so much personality and I love it.  So naturally, I wanted more of him in TFS. 

Here’s the thing. I may want all of those things, I may take a lot of joy from discussing these ideas with you guys and coming up with different scenarios,  theories, AU’s about him, and I’ll always be the first one to be like “I hate that Marlon dies in ep1, I wish AJ hadn’t shot him! Woulda liked for him to stick around longer!” 

But with the story TFS is trying to tell, Marlon has to die. AJ has to shoot him. I don’t like it, you don’t like it, no one likes it.... but that’s just how it is. 

Marlon is presented to us as this chill and genuine guy trying to keep his group safe and together. He feels the pressure of being responsible for all the lives in this school and that’s a lot to put on a teen growing up in the apocalypse. 

Then we learn that hey, the twins didn’t die. No, last year they ran into Abel and Marlon made a deal with him where he traded the twins in order to save himself, Brody, and the rest of the school. He wanted to plan a rescue mission, but he was too scared, so he and Brody kept it to themselves. They made up a story about the twins dying and moved on, but that continued to weigh down on them. 

Then Abel comes back, Brody freaks out, tells Clementine the truth, and Marlon hits her so hard that it kills her. 

And it gets worse. 

You go through the whole confrontation with Marlon trying to cover his ass and blame Clementine for Brody’s murder, he’s waving AJ’s gun around and threatening to shoot Clem while everyone is gathered around watching. It’s raining, it’s super dramatic and tense and I love it. 

In the end, Marlon gives up and he just wants to leave. Let him become a bad memory, he’ll never come back, just let him go. 

Then AJ shoots him in the head unprompted. He just.... he just does it and then wonders why everyone is looking at him like he’s a murder baby. 

Marlon’s death is crucial, not just to kickstart the plot but also for AJ’s character arc. His death affects everyone in that school. It makes Clementine question herself and if she’s raising AJ right, it breaks Louis’ heart, it pisses off Mitch, it sets Violet off on her bullshit. Everyone is hurting and confused because they don’t know what to do. Marlon is dead and AJ, this tiny toddler, was the one who pulled the trigger. 

From the beginning, we’re told that AJ is always listening, watching, and what we do will affect him for better or worse.... and maybe you don’t think much when you tell him to always aim for them head, but when he says exactly what you taught him after murdering Marlon...? Yeah, you’re sitting there like “Well, fuck.” 

But if this didn’t happen, if AJ didn’t kill Marlon, then.... there’s not a lot left. Sure the raiders are still coming, but AJ no longer has to go through what he has to or realize how much he hurt everyone. He’s no longer on that path that made him such an interesting and layered character. 

Sure, you coulda made him shoot someone else, but the fact that it was Marlon is what made it impactful.

Ugh, it’s good and I hate it. I hate it so much. 

1. Lee and the death that broke all our hearts

.......Just-

-y’know?

What else is there to say?

Well, alright, I’ll explain. 

We play as Lee in S1, we go on this whole journey with him and develop him as a character, establish relationships, and care for Clementine. He’s a great character. I did a list on why he’s great, too, if you wanna check that out but all you really need to know is that we all loved Lee.

Lee’s got a lot of baggage, given that he was on his way to prison for murdering the dude who was sleeping with his wife. But then the apocalypse happened and he got a second chance to do some good... or I guess bad? if you do a scumbag Lee run? 

Anyway-- no matter what, he cares for Clementine and it’s nice to see them bond over the course of the season... so when shit hits the fan and Clementine gets kidnapped by the Stranger, we’re just as upset as Lee is.

Then Lee gets bit.... and we realize that even though he’s our playable protagonist, he was never safe either. He gets bit and I can still remember the feeling of like... a bowling ball dropping in my stomach and my heart hurting because no... no, no, not Lee. I basically became Kenny like “No, he’s different! Lee isn’t gonna die! Being bit doesn’t mean death!” and while that is technically true.... had to face it: Lee’s going to die by the end of the season. 

Ep5 of S1 is a whole journey... We’re dealing with trying to save Clementine while seeing Lee get worse and worse-- he’s passing out, he’s growing paler and slower and it’s hard to watch. You maybe get a little bit of hope if you decide to cut his arm off, but that’s just... it’s too late for that. 

Not only is he fighting this, but then you got Ben who gets impaled and Kenny “dies” putting him outta his misery and Lee’s powerless to do anything. So great, that sucks. 

But at least he��s got Christa and Omid.... until they get separated at the Marsh House and Lee’s gotta get through a herd of them by himself. 

This slow burn is so good. His condition gets progressively worse but he’s so determined to get to Clem that it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have time to think about what is inevitably going to happen to him, even if the player does. 

And just.... the final scene... y’know, the actual death scene? 

It’s so good. It’s a beautiful, emotional punch in the face. Like, way to end your game like this... Lee is trapped her with Clementine and he can’t walk, he can’t get up no matter how much Clementine begs him to try, he just- he can’t. He knows it’s all over for him and so he has her handcuff him to this heater so that no matter what, he can’t hurt her and just.... their final moments together where Lee is minutes away from death but is struggling to tell her as much as he can and I’m crying.

Then of course, the final choice-- Do you shoot Lee, or do you leave him to turn?

Both ending hurt my soul, but they’re both great in different ways. Shooting him is so heartbreaking... seeing little Clem sobbing as she points the gun at him and closes her eyes, then it cuts to black as the shot rings out and you hear Lee’s final breath....

BUT THEN YOU HAVE THE LEAVE HIM ENDING WHICH-

Lee manages to tell her more when you choose not to shoot him, but just watching Clementine get to the door and her little “don’t go” before Lee closes his eyes and falls over limp... falls over dead, I just--

Ouch... I am applauding this through my ugly sobs. 

It’s the best death in the series. It has everything and then some- emotional impact, works to progress the story and characters, amazing dialogue and performances.... It still gets me to this day. 

---

Honorable Mentions

-Mark’s death technically happens off screen, but I mean, c’mon... Mark wasn’t the most compelling character, but everyone remembers what happened to him. Everyone remembers walker Mark. What happened to him showed us just how fucked the St Johns were and it’s excellent.  -Brody’s death is pretty good, too.  -Abel’s death is an interesting one. He’s a garbage can, but they managed to humanize him just a bit by the way he hands his soon-to-be demise.  -Badger when Conrad kills him. It’s super good.  -I’m looking over this list now and it’s kinda funny that not a single S2 death made it here... it’s almost like all the character death that happened there was because a quota needed to be filled and who cares about complex character development when you got Kenny and nothing really matters I guess... ugh. The best deaths would probably be Carver, and Kenny when you shoot him but they’re not good enough to be in a top 5 so.... good job.

---

So... that was fun. What do you guys think? Do you agree with my choices or nah? Do you have a favorite death I didn’t list that you thought was well executed? Let me know, I’m curious. 

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

---

Next week’s T5F

[jarnome]

Defending Six

Yeah I made a blog just to post this

Really don’t like the general opinion that Six is a cold, unsympathetic character whose only goal is to survive and watch others fail :( She’s a 9-year old in a world that’s absolutely not suited for one her age. I made a list of points that might show that she’s not a feral psycho, but perhaps someone who does care for others:

Note that these are experiences from my own gameplay (her AI might do different things at times)!

In the first game, you literally get an option to hug the nomes. Six doesn’t get anything out of it, but she still frees them, hugs them, lights lanterns for them in their hidey holes. Sure, she eats one but I don’t think she did it on purpose.

 In the Nome’s Attic DLC, after Mono emerges from the hole, Six comes running to him, seemingly excited and relieved to see him (how I interpret it at least)

 When approaching the hunter’s workplace, Six shushes Mono when he attempts to move. Sure, she didn’t want to get caught along with Mono in case he’d rush forward but Mono’s just as smart as her anyway. Six just wanted to make sure he’s safe.

She runs after Mono if he gets too far ahead.

Six is the one who offers her hand to Mono.

When escaping from the hunter they run over some unstable wooden beams. Six makes her way across and reaches for Mono, seemingly aware that the beam is going to collapse. 

Or perhaps she didn’t know and wanted to make sure her friend gets safely across. She didn’t bolt even when Mono fell and the hunter started blasting holes into the ceiling.

Six runs around and shouts for Mono when they get separated, as shown in the part where you had to pull her up by pushing a TV off a platform.

She pulls Mono out of the TV, repeatedly.

When the Thin Man was freed, she tried so hard to get Mono up and running with her. She only runs at the last possible second, when fear takes over.

She trusts Mono. She takes his hand, she relies on him after being taken by the bullies, helps him accomplish tasks, reaches for him in times of need etc. 

She seriously could have abandoned Mono and RC girl many times yet she didn't.

(VLN) She attempted to help RC girl escape from the Pretender, even after RC closed the door before her, leaving her to fend for herself.

In her monster-form, she recognizes Mono and shows him the music box: her most prized possession. She only attacks him when he starts swinging at it.

She seems guilty for dropping him in the secret ending, judging by her body language. I have no idea why she did it in the first place, but it seems like her spirit was ripped out and something absolutely went wrong with her in the tower.

She’s not cold and uncaring of the world around her, but seemingly quite curious and occasionally behaves like a typical kid:

Six peers carefully over the edge of ravines and steep places, because, well, those are cool and scary!

She fools around in the school yard, kicks balls and walks on the see-saw. She also peers into a trash can :)

Carrying around the toys and playing with the x-ray machine in the hospital.

Some people bring out the fact that she was maliciously snapping the mannequin’s fingers in one scene, but I really did not see the big deal in that. It wasn’t alive, didn’t move or twitch. I don’t think it was made of real tissue, judging by the noise. If I were bored I’d be touching stuff as well. Plus the fingers did make cool cracking noises.

The murder of that bully was completely justified in my opinion. We don’t know what the bullies did to her besides tying her up. And it’s not like Six dismantled it slowly. She smashed its head in and that was that. Quick and painless(?).

Idk she just seems like a lonely, lost kid in a super hostile world, like Mono. They seemed to find comfort in each other’s company.

Obviously she is not perfect, she has her issues. But if anything, she is (was)  a great friend and does look after others when able to.

[chryza]

Someone on twitter pointed out it’s rather odd that all the ln protagonists go out their way to help Six despite how they just met her and only feud for themselves beforehand like they don’t have any concern for others unless it’s a puzzle to advance the way through which is understandable for it’s every kid for themselves to survive on their own in a nightmarish world

I mean yeah, but it makes sense in context.

Mono is stated explicitly by the devs to be quite protective by nature and he clearly takes a liking to Six pretty quickly, considering she’s smart and resourceful and they work together. I’ve seen someone theorize that the reason he went after her in the first place is because he felt bad that she got caught because she was distracted by looking at him (in Episode 1 of the comics).

The kid who gives her food on the Maw just sees a starving girl that he can help. Same with Runaway Nome.

If you believe that the kid in white is also Six then there’s also a sense of teamwork between her and the Raincoat Girl—in fact there’s a point where RCG sort of abandons the kid in white only for them to come back later to help her.

Ultimately though, the message is the same one through the entire series: this isn’t a world with any kind of cosmic balance. Your kindness won’t be rewarded. It’s futile to sacrifice for someone if it has no immediate benefit to yourself.

And yet the children are kind anyway.

[himbeaux-on-ice]

Can I just say that Habs “fans” who act like Carey Price’s contract is somehow patient zero of all this team’s problems drive me absolutely fucking insane? Seriously. Buckle up. This is about to be a rant.

Now. First things first. Is it ideal that the $10 million goalie is currently uh, not doing very good? Fucking NO! I am disappointed as shit with that and I don’t like seeing him struggle. I know he can be better. He has to be better. Obviously.

However. That being said.

Do I think it’s an incredibly stupid look to spend several tweets complaining about all the issues Habs defence have been having, and then also griping that they haven’t started Jake Allen enough for how he’s performing, only to then for some inexplicable reason state that the FIRST THING, the first thing that needs to be dealt with after the new coaching staff have had ONE GAME (and zero practices) to work on things, is somehow “well, the ten million dollar man in net is weighing them down, that contract has gotta go!”?

Yes! That’s stupid!!

I think that’s a very ice cold small-brain take, and not just because Price is my favourite of favourites for as long as I’ve been a hockey fan! I have reasons, dammit!! I put THOUGHT into this!!

Here, dear ppl of Habs twitter who will never read this, are some reasons why this narrative you’re concocting is dumb, and why management/coaching are unlikely to think of trying to ditch Price mid-season to fix the current problems:

1: Time. It has been one (1) game under Ducharme. He has been able to run zero (0) full practices on off days with the team. We just changed up a major piece on the Habs chess board — why don’t you give it a minute to see what fresh eyes and minds can do with this roster before you decide we are fucked? This season is fast-moving, sure, but there is time for us to ride out some little bumps here and still make a playoff spot in this Canadian division. Have patience. Do you remember what patience is? Dom is a new head coach, not a wish-granting fairy godmother. Chill. Do you remember chill?

(rest of this under a cut because I actually LIKE Habs Tumblr, and I want to be nice to you all by not making you scroll past all of it if you don’t want to)

2: Jake Allen exists. There are a couple of things I like for what this means for the Habs. Firstly, for basically the first time in his NHL career, we are not in a situation where if Carey Price is in a slump, we have to go “Ah, shit, so now our options are let his stats tank while he tries to get the groove back in net, OR throw whoever the poor backup is out there to get murdered while we plummet through the standings.... 😬” We don’t have that problem right now, because the backup is... actually good? Oh my god, the backup is actually good! Thank fuck! We’re not doomed. If I’m Ducharme, I put Allen in net for a few consecutive starts to put a solid backstop behind all my fun experiments I’m probably planning with the skating roster (to catch their slip-ups, while also giving Carey lots of time and rest with which to work hard on sorting out whatever his issue is along with the goalie coaches).

2b: Jake Allen exists and is competition. Hell, if I’m Ducharme, maybe I even play a little hardball and say “Look, Carey, I don’t want you to be an expensive benchwarmer, but if things don’t pick up soon I am going to start whoever is doing best and you will have to compete for that net.” Related to my last point, when was the last time Carey Price had to push himself to compete for net time against anything other than his own injuries, and wasn’t simply always the default starter? Has that EVER been a thing? Honestly as much as I love the idea of him being The Goalie for the Habs, I also kinda like this idea a lot because I think it could really push him to a higher standard of performance. Maybe that kind of high-pressure situation (given how much he thrives in the pressure-cooker of the playoffs) could be what he NEEDS in order to Be Carey Price again. Worst comes to worst, he doesn’t respond to that challenge, and I am very sad but the Habs have a good goalie in net anyway, because Hallelujah, Jake Allen exists! God, isn’t it nice to have Jake Allen? Bless him.

3: Money. Guys, this league is so broke right now. Seriously. Seriously. Nobody has any fucking money. The Habs probably have more money than most teams, and that does not help when it comes to offloading large contracts. Trades are a NIGHTMARE both because of the flat cap but also because travel is complicated (especially cross-border) but also nobody wants to trade within their division if possible because all your games are against them. Who in the name of fuck do you think is jumping at the idea of taking the $10 million per through 20-lots-and-lots-of-years-from-now contract of a goalie who is currently struggling, impressive past record aside? What kind of astral plane of fantasy hockey are you on to think there’s a trade out there for that within this season. Shut up. And no, don’t bring up the expansion draft, this post is a rebuttal SPECIFICALLY to the people who think that Price and his contract are the biggest problem that needs to be dealt with RIGHT NOW and first on the list of ways to immediately remedy the team’s struggles.

4: Spite. Specifically to piss you off, bud. You personally.

5: Knowing how to troubleshoot properly. Fellas, if my computer is running slowly and freezing up a lot, do I immediately decide the first step to fixing it is to crack open the chassis, remove the hard drive, and try to sell that hard drive to someone to see if I can enough money back to somehow get a better hard drive for less? No, dipshit. That’s not how troubleshooting a complex system works works. It’s the same with hockey teams. Ah, my star goalie is not performing great. This situation is deeply less than ideal. If you’re actually good at troubleshooting, the first thing you do is not “WELL. I GUESS WE’LL HAVE TO THROW THE WHOLE GOALIE OUT. HE’S TOAST.” The first thing you do, if you’re a smart coach, is you say “Okay, what are my defence doing in front of him? What are they doing to reduce the amount and quality of our opponents’ scoring chances? Oh. Oh, they’re taking a lot of penalties, and... oh, uh, some of this is very not great. Yikes.” And then you start your work by trying to make the defence actually work instead of running the same Pairs That Everyone Is Very Much Over And Tired Of, because your goalie is actually supposed to be your Last Line of Defence. And maybe during that time you give more starts to Goalie Who Is Absolutely Slaying It, so that when you start trying new D-pairs and they inevitably have some mistakes, it doesn’t immediately turn into an Oh God Holy Fuck moment every time, because that last line of defence backstopping them is solid. The reason you need to deal with defense first is because a) You know you have a reliable goalie (Allen) in your pocket right now if you need him. What you don’t have is a whole-ass proven and tested and practiced Backup D-Core you can swap into the roster in front of your goalies to make their lives easier. Fix your defense and it WILL improve your goalies, even marginally. Defrag the hard drive before you ask why it’s not working. and b) If you need to go looking for any new D-men to solve the issues, those are WAY easier and cheaper to find than top-tier goalies, and you always want to start any troubleshooting process with trying the simplest solutions first to hopefully save time and money. The better that D-core is, the less it fucks your team over if the goalie isn’t feeling themselves, because the D is going to stop more of those pucks before they ever even become the goalie’s problem. FIX. DEFENCE. FIRST. Then try to train your goalie back into top form. THEN explore your other options.

6: The vicious cycle. Guys. We literally do this once every year or second year. EVERY time Carey Price has a slump, this fanbase gets into a tizzy like the Bell Centre is burning down and he was the one with the matches. And what ALWAYS happens literally within the year, every single time? He gets his mojo back like he did last summer in the bubble and goes on a heater and everybody goes “JESUS PRICE!!!! 🙌” and is ready to name their firstborn kid after him. Until eventually that performance becomes unsustainable, and he becomes mortal again, and suddenly he’s The Real Problem With This Franchise once again. I know he’s the guy they chose to build the team around instead of a superstar forward, but oh my god folks. You’d think he was the only player on the team. Guys, I feel like fucking Sisyphus pushing a blue blanc et rouge boulder up Mont Royal once a year with this shit. This man’s entire career has been a constant seesaw narrative between “Carey Price is our saviour!” and “Carey Price should be exiled to Nome!!!!” from parts of this fanbase, I swear. Look, slumps suck, but for once we are actually lucky enough to be in a position where this team, for the first time in YEARS, does not solelylive or die by the inscrutable magical cycles of Carey Price’s goalie powers — because when he has to step back and work to get back into his groove, there is FINALLY a SECOND GUY who is GREAT. Honestly, given that the state of this team for so long has been “they will go as far as Carey Price can take them” and he has put in a pretty fucking decent job of it despite all of the team’s other struggles, I feel like it is owed it to the guy to be like “Okay, well, we have somebody else solid to fill the net right now, and a chance to really figure out our defence and special teams with this new coach. Why don’t you take a step back and work your ass off at trying to get back into the form I know you can still perform at, and we’ll go from there?”

Anyway. Some parts of this fanbase have been waiting for a fresh excuse to claim Price is overrated, washed-up, and to blame for all of this team’s flaws and ills ever since he signed that contract, if not since the start of his NHL career. Just unreal how nasty some of this fanbase is willing to be about a player who is ON. YOUR. TEAM.

Am I saying he is beyond critique of his play and can do no wrong and his contract is perfect? No! I want this team to have the best goaltending it can get, and I want them to kick ass and take names. The difference is, I still believe Carey Price is a part of that winning formula, and I also think Twitter is overflowing with idiots who just repeat what everybody else says. He’s still a better goalie than your ass would be if I stuck you out there to stop shots from Mark Schieffle, for crap’s sake.

“The first thing that has to go is Carey Price’s contract 🤪”. Shut the fuck up. You are actively making other people stupider by talking. Go eat sand. Good day.

[chainrattle]

info on seven/rk under the cut !

pre-maw ( arc zero ) ; the runaway kid wasn't always some nameless face trapped within the depths of the maw ; like any child, he came from a family. a beloved child of one to a perfectly normal grandfather and grandmother. his parents whereabouts didn't bother him, since the devoted care of his grandparents was enough. during his childhood he was spoiled rotten, lavished with gifts due to being the only child. one tragic day, however, changed everything when his grandmother passed away due to unknown causes. despite the horrors of the world, outside their little ranch far away from cities and boats, his grandfather went out to bury his wife where she had asked to be buried.

left all alone, the boy waited for a total of a week before he set off to find his elder. a mistake on his part. while searching desperately for his remaining family, the boy was attacked— someone aimed a hit on his head that knocked him out cold. a swelling bump, oozing of blood, now on his head. this hit made him remember little of his past when he finally awoke on the maw. the images of his family now hazy faces that only became more distorted by the day. while he has no clue who gave him his head injury, it certainly caused escaping the maw to be harder.

( in later loops, the head wound heals and becomes less of a injury— making it easier. but there is still a scar on his head from it )

canon ' the maw ' ( arc one ) ; everything that takes place here is when the runaway boy is within the metal walls of the maw. the sequence of events follows canon closely, with him waking up in the children's room and escaping his prison— roaming the depths and killing the granny with his quick thinking. he's captured by the janitor and briefly encounters the feared heroine six before taken away to be moved to the kitchen. an attempt he easily escapes, though he falls once more back to the bottom. calling upon the nomes to help him, rk finds solace in his only friends when they get the furnace ( or known as the 'heart' of the maw ) started. when he escapes through an elevator, the lady is below him.

finally, the boy is in the lady's quarters. where he fends off from shadow kids with his flashlight and finds the statues needed to escape. he makes the fatal mistake of catching the lady staring at her reflection, however, and this proves to be his end. the moment she catches him, she twists him into a nome and he's destined to waddle off, becoming six's meal like the loop wants him to be.

canon divergent maw. in most threads, the story will become canon divergent as the boy interacts with others aboard the maw ; be it monsters or children. sometimes he will meet the same fate despite his partnerships ; becoming a nome for six to eat. sometimes six doesn't eat him. sometimes the boy in blue actually escapes, or the lady kills him where he stands. these different scenarios occur after the first loop, where stuff starts to alter— slowly, but surely.

canon divergent ' pale city ' ( arc two ) ; entering pale city only occurs if he escapes the maw, be it alone or with a partner. either way, seven ( a name he earned on the maw that he heard whispered about ) typically ends up separated ; isolated and alone in a foreign city. in most loops, it's rare he encounters the hunter considering he starts in pale city— but there have been a few times where he travels to that location and gets caught himself. a consistency, however, is that the boy stumbles upon the school quickly. with a hunger for company, he's easy prey for the bullies. while entering the building, he's relentlessly pranked, harassed, and physically harmed— but he pushes on.

not a solid choice to make considering his persistence and cowardice nature ( he can't bring himself to hurt other children ) is what makes the bullies want to keep him. brought to the teacher, seven is forced to stay. it takes five to six weeks for him to finally wiggle his way out of his hell ; be it alone or because of the help of another. with new scars to carry he keeps off the grid for a good while, avoiding big buildings like the hospital until he needs to treat some festering wounds.

by the time he gets to the doctor's in most loops, six and mono have already taken care of him ( or they're currently in the building when he arrives ) and he's free to only deal with the mannequins. but for the most part, he's in and out fast. being sneaky and cautious makes the hospital scene a little easier for him to handle. there's nothing significant in the building for him, though he does linger in the room with all those markings for the longest time.

in most scenarios, it's rare for seven to make it to the tower or lay eyes on the thin man. by the time he's in the streets again, six has usually dropped mono and repeated the cycle. which results in seven dying from the viewers so he can start back in the maw with six. seven is only freed from the loop when it's broken by six and mono ; forcing him to rely on others for his own fate ( and how messed up is that? )

more canon divergent pale city. when seven's in pale city, a lot of things aren't consistent due to the fact he isn't supposed to make it this far. sometimes he sticks with a partner the whole time, other times he's alone the whole way through. occasionally he sticks with mono and six until after the doctor's area ; typically dying in the collapsing building or, if he's lucky, at the hands of monster six ( again, he dies if the loop is to restart, he can never make it to the end with mono and six unless the loop is going to be broken ).

DUE TO THE LOOP in general, and due to seven mattering little in the grand scheme of things ; there's only some consistencies. his past always remains the same, he's always given the head injury, he awakes on the maw first, kills the granny, and is gifted the companionship of the nomes. sometimes the lady kills him, sometimes she turns him into the very thing he loves so much, and sometimes six eats him. the only thing that remains the same in every loop in pale city is seven being trapped in the school ; everything else changes for the most part.

› › » › ›

seven & six ; a friendship that forms despite it all! his fate is intertwined with six's, being the nome she eats when she's at her starving point. but there's more to them than that— with seven seeing bright yellow and feeling familiarity swirl in his chest. she reminds him of the horrors within the maw, yet six also makes him think of doing the impossible. out of all his companions, six is the one he will have always known the longest— even if he's only known her at a glance before. though it's true that the girl's powers scare him, make him debate her morals even, this doesn't stop the runaway from loving six. he can't quite get pass her powers, or ( if he learns ) the fact she ate him, but he can love her despite it. and he always does. for her sake, he even keeps his feelings on her supernatural aspect quite so he doesn't make her feel bad. also, she's a comfort to him due to their shared experiences in the maw— something that they mostly share alone.

seven & mono ; an unlikely bond that should've never formed ( in the loop's eyes ) but it blooms nonetheless. seven's never hung out with many boys before, so he's very shy and nervous around mono upon first meeting him. his typical cold behavior melts fast as he feels the pathetic urge to impress mono, though he tries to hide this well. they both typically have fun swapping stories about six, both viewing her in a slightly different light— which makes it even more fun to discuss. at first that's all they seem to have to talk about ; six this, six that! seven clings to this conversation topic because he wants to keep talking to mono, but they settle into other topics eventually. forming their own experiences together ( like saving six perhaps ) helps make their bond separate from their one with six. of course, like with their mutual friend, seven is uncomfortable by mono's powers— and would definitely be disgusted by the fact mono becomes the thin man. however, he keeps this to himself again. trying to get over his issues with mono during his own time since he really does like him.

seven & five ; five is the kid that seven never feels threatened by, or envious of. she seems to love the nomes just as much as he does, which is something that will tie him to any child, but she also doesn't have powers ; like mono and six have. that fact comforts him in her presence, knowing that she's ordinary just like him. she made it this far by survival skills alone and he's impressed by this fact, along with being taken with her humourous and determined nature. all in all, the boy quickly relates to her and lets five in, her presence lightening the burden on his shoulders. she makes him laugh and smile harder than most and he quite likes their history with water. these two have a lot of things that glue them together, relating in ways seven can't with most of the other kids.

seven & the nomes ; with little rememberance of his actual family, the nomes have fit together to make him a new one. there's a sense of belonging that tugs him to the nomes, feeling understood and seen by the peculiar creatures. the nomes understand what its like to fail, to never be able to taste the fresh air of new lands. seven sees himself in each of them and, despite the nomes usually not being in any real danger, the boy is fiercely protective of his new family. they know his every thought, constantly spilling his deepest thoughts and secrets to them because it's easier when he knows the nomes can't tell anyone. there's lots of trust in this dynamic, and seven sees himself as one of the nomes.

[fiadhulresims]

things i'd change for the fifth season of disney+ pjo

1 2 3 4

make rachel/percy/annabeth even better

as a low middle class kid, percy finds rachel's 'i'm poor' act insane

more grover and percy moments

explore more of nico's temporal+cultural shock!! why does he dress the way he does? how much does he know of the modern world?

also, fatal flaws... umm not a fan of how it was implemented, i'd do something about that

more annabeth and thalia moments

i'd make thalia less 'not like other girls' annoying or have someone call her out.

at this point, carter and sadie are helping the other nomes, going on quests and invading museums. plus rachel lives right next to them in brooklyn. intersect their stories a little. and maybe a reference to natalie chase dying 6 months prior?

luke shouldn't reciprocate annabeth's feelings! you can write that scene without the romance undertone, just luke really loving annabeth as a friend and a sister.

how do the other campers treat nico, after all?

insert the camp confidential short stories on the day rachel becomes the oracle.

should rachel say the next prophecy if there isn't a hoo spin off? i don't know. but if there is a hoo spin off, insert the mobile cabins short story or some other interesting shorts, annabeth designing the new cabins and olympus, percabeth going on dates, rachel in her new school (annabeth and rachel going to the same ladies school!), will dealing with being a healer after a war while grieving his siblings and later befriending lou ellen*, nico leaving indefinitely, sally's wedding etc. and then have the last scene be percy disappearing in a very dramatic way (the book version is not dramatic!), six months after the battle of manhattan.

*in the son of magic, alabaster says all hecate kids sided with kronos and died, so lou ellen probably arrived at camp after the war. i'd show her, will and cecil meeting each other and explore their stories in the hoo spin off, including alabaster, so the hoo series doesn't ignore how awful the gods are and that #LukeWasRight

ok this is a mess for a season finale but talented people can make some of this work.