#but they didn't and now new horizons is super dead and no one talks about it anymore

[redgemwink]

what the world needs most rn is a new animal crossing game

[captainpetebradshaw]

Movie Diary 2023

Now that the new year is in full swing I finally have the time to go over my personal stats :D I've watched 145 movies this year (excluding rewatches) which is just 4 movies shy of my high of 149 movies from 2017 but I didn't even try that hard lol

Shoutout to the roosmav discord with which I've watched many Tom Cruise and Miles Teller movies and which definitely was part of the high number this year - love you guys!

Full list under the cut, my favorites are bold:

001 Legend

002 Emily the Criminal

003 The Banshees of Inisherin

004 The Swimmers

005 Cyrano

006 Thank You for Your Service

007 The Last Samurai

008 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

009 Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

010 Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

011 National Theatre Live: No Man's Land

012 Strange World

013 21 & Over

014 All Quiet on the Western Front

015 National Theatre Live: Prima Facie

016 Teen Wolf: The Movie

017 Puss in Boots

018 Elivs

019 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

020 Rock of Ages

021 Causeway

022 The Quiet Girl

023 National Theatre Live: All About Eve

024 Triangle of Sadness

025 Minority Report

026 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

027 American Made

028 The Fabelmans

029 Fire of Love

030 The Fabelmans

031 EO

032 Get a Job

033 Cocktail

034 Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

035 Batman Begins

036 Knock at the Cabin

037 Taps

038 Spiderhead

039 A Few Good Men

040 The Whale

041 Apocalypse Now (The Final Cut)

042 Women Talking

043 Miss Americana

044 Devotion

045 Operation Fortune: Ruse due Guerre

046 Tetris

047 Field of Dreams

048 Knight and Day

049 Missing

050 Shazam! Fury of the Gods

051 Days of Thunder

052 65

053 After Yang

054 Suzume

055 Serial (Bad) Weddings 3

056 Vanilla Sky

057 Cocaine Bear

058 Ghosted

059 Eyes Wide Shut

060 Amsterdam

061 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

062 Renfield

063 New Gods: Yang Jian

064 I Am What I Am

065 Man on Wire

066 Independence Day

067 The Super Mario Bros. Movie

068 The Firm

069 Polite Society

070 Air

071 The Blue Caftan

072 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

073 Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy

074 Joyland

075 Anything's Possible

076 Murder on the Orient Express

077 Kinky Boots

078 Mission: Impossible II

079 Schwimmen

080 Firebird

081 Mission: Impossible III

082 4th Man Out

083 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

084 Bulldog

085 Cruel Intentions

086 John Wick: Chapter 4

087 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

088 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

089 Extraction 2

090 Nimona

091 Deep Sea

092 Barbie

093 Die Concorde - Absturz einer Legende

094 The Flash

095 Jumbo (2020)

096 Only the Brave

097 Joy Ride

098 Kill Boksoon

099 Oppenheimer

100 The 355

101 Legend (1985)

102 The Monkey King (2023)

103 Elemental

104 Wham!

105 Heart of Stone

106 Saint Omer

107 Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate

108 Past Lives

109 Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

110 A Million Miles Away

111 Theater Camp

112 Bottoms

113 They Cloned Tyrone

114 Asteroid City

115 Saw

116 Race to the Summit

117 The Last Voyage of the Demeter

118 No One Will Save You

119 Brightburn

120 The Skin I Live In

121 M3GAN

122 Event Horizon

123 Bones and All

124 When Evil Lurks

125 Gran Turismo

126 Knuckle Girl

127 Tom Cruise: The Last Movie Star

128 The Last Black Man in San Francisco

129 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

130 Blue Beetle

131 The Creator

132 Napoleon

133 Mark Rothko - La peinture vous regarde

134 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

135 Linoleum

136 Wish

137 Quiz Lady

138 Pain Hustlers

139 Leo

140 Big

141 No Dogs or Italians Allowed

142 Violent NIght

143 Trading Places

144 Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire

145 Journey to the West (2021)

[this-is-mine-and-mine-alone]

ABOUT ME

Call me Ky (rhymes with eye)

I'm 22 & a libra

I'm a WOC

I'm sadly a working girly

I'm not straight (I don't have a gender preference)

I use she/her pronouns

I'm pretty introverted & shy

I suffer from depression & anxiety

I've had a tumblr since middle school

This is my 1st time being interactive with others on this app so please be sweet

I literally made this as like a low-key rant diary/Void to scream my interests & thoughts because life,years of trauma,& damn near crippling anxiety has fucked up my social skills & I just need an outlet. I don't expect I guess anyone to respond to this. I just don't want to continue being alone with my feelings & I think this could be a place to start. If anyone does respond to this you're welcome to comment (within reason & with kindness I beg of you),but be warned I'm super shy/anxious & will shy away from responding to messages (think of me as a scared stray & don't shake your pet food can at me too intently). I just want to get all my jitters/hyperfixations/Madness/general feelings & ickiness out. Also just an FYI dni if you're a minor/uncomfortable or triggered of talks of abuse & mental illness/a bigot of any kind/sex stuff (I'm not gonna go on about my nonexistent intimate life don't worry. I don't even really talk about sex like that I just have an interest in femdom stuff from time to time (me being the dom) & I think the psychology of it is interesting as well as the dynamic).

Ok now for the fun stuff

My interests (off the top of my head) include:

Movies

*horror/action/sci-fi/thriller/animated movies from my childhood & "some" of the new stuff

I like most MCU & DCEU movies (I owned a tumblr in the mid to late 2010s I'm practically a veteran. But I will say I have more nostalgia for the older mcu movies,but I kind of fell off in the past few years of fond remembrance outside of fandom for it as a whole. I actually really enjoy most of the new stuff (all of the shows except fatws/some of the 1st season of loki)

My favs include

Studio ghibli (I didn't watch a single movie till the age of 19) specifically Howl's moving castle/Spirited away/princess mononoke/kiki's delivery service/arriety/the cat returns. These movies fill with legit smiles & warmth

All the john wick movies (mf Keanu Reeves)

All of the evil dead movies

The lost boys

Scream 1/2/4/6

The old bratz/Monster high/barbie movies (barbie specifically from the vhs-to before the 2010s)

Jennifer's body

Bride of chucky/seed of chucky/Cult of chucky

The 1st 2 bill & Ted movies

The Matrix/the matrix reloaded

Mad max fury road

Constantine

Sucker punch

Isle of the dogs

Train to busan

Promare

All of the mha movies

Teenage mutant ninja turtles mutant mayhem

CATWS

Thor the dark world

Black panther

The amazing Spiderman

Into the spider-verse

Across the spider-verse

Black panther wakanda forever

Saw 1/2/3/x

Ginger snaps

Kill bill 1/2

Battle royale

Death proof

Moulin rouge

Chicago

The hunger games

Bullet train

Midnight

Ballerina

Obviously old childhood movies from Disney/pixar/DreamWorks & just really almost any kids movie that came out when I was young

Music

*literally anything but country (no offense to people who like country music. Off the top of my head I listen to rock/pop/metal/kpop & jpop occasionally/hyperpop/50s,60s,70s,80s,90,& early 2000s music/rap/hip hop/some anime music/some game soundtracks (especially Bayonetta/dmc)

Video Games

*I usually stick to horror/action with the occasional comfy games

Games that I have played (played/finished & or played/haven't finished) include:

Dmc 1/2/3/5

Bayonetta 1/2/3

BOTW

TOTK

Horizon forbidden west

Horizon zero dawn

The last of us & dlc

The last of us part 2

Ghost of tsushima

The quarry

Resident evil 4/5/6/7 & the Resident evil 3 remake

Animal crossing new horizons

Stardew valley

Sunset overdrive

Sims

Astral chain

Unpacking

Cult of the lamb

Spiritfarer

Uncharted

Spiderman (I haven't played the new one yet yes I know it's amazing & yes I will be playing it once I get a ps5)

The tomb raider reboot trilogy

The arkhamverse batman games

Old ds games from my childhood (my littlest pet shop/mario/hello kitty big city dreams/some of the Mario & Sonic Olympic games/cooking mama/monster high/a few bratz games)

A decent amount of mortal kombat/tekken/street fighter & 1 doa game when I was a kid

There's definitely more I just can't think off anything else

I'm not really a first person shooter game person & really don't like 1st person pov in games. I don't know why I just don't care for the perspective.

TV

*The walking dead (I fell off on season 7 I think)

TVD

Old law & order svu/criminal minds reruns

You

Bob's burgers

Invader zim

Blue eyed samurai

Live action one piece

Owl house

Amphibia

The imperfects

Voltron legendary defenders (I was very late to the party but I remember chaos)

She-ra princesses of power

ATLA

The legend of korra

Adventure time

Gumball

Arcane

Santa Clarita's diet

The boys

Gen v

Castlevania

Castlevania nocturne

The legend of vox machina

Supernatural (preferably season 1-9)

The umbrella academy

Lovecraft country

Moon knight

She-hulk

Alice in borderland

Sweet home

All if us are dead

Squid game

Ms. Marvel

Wandavision

Hawkeye

Peacemaker

Infinity train

Burn notice

6teen

Abbott elementary

Modern family

Pose

Freakazoid

The Simpsons

Old nick/cartoon network/Disney cartoons

[Can I say teen wolf even though I only watched 1 episode but I know the lore from fan-fiction/tumblr/clips from YouTube from my preteen years]

I obviously watch more things but like I said off the top of my head

Anime (yes this is a separate section from movies/shows)

*Black butler

Naruto/Bleach/haikyuu/sailor moon/one piece/Inuyasha (I'm on the 1st seasons & won't finish anytime soon but I do enjoy them

Assassination classroom

Tokyo ghoul

Demon slayer

The apothecary diaries

Kamisama kiss

Noragami

My hero academia

Soul eater

Fire force

Angelbeats

Dorohedoro

Spy x family

Attack on titan (I remember when the 1st season came out & watching it in the 7th grade I believe & got bored waiting for the next season. I did like it though & it was my first anime I watched & will probably catch up at some point)

Jujutsu kaisen

The ancient magus bride

Yona of the dawn

Maid sama

Durarara!!

Durarara!!x2

Angels of death

Death note

Trigun

Trigun stampede

Devil may cry

Tokyo ghoul re

Tokyo revengers

The God of high school

Helsing

Akudama drive

Helsing ultimate

Seraph of the end

Toilet bound hanako-kun

Nanbaka

Gangsta

The boondocks

Life lessons with uramichi oniisan

That time I got reincarnated as a slime

Fruits basket

Chainsaw man

Bed & breakfast for spirits

Kill la kill

Black lagoon

The promised neverland

Madoka magica (1st anime I watched by myself not what I expected by a long shot,but still enjoyed)

Little witch academia

Kakegurui

Kakegurui twin

Ouran high school host club

Komi can't communicate

Bungou stray dogs

BOOK

* maze runner

Hunger games

Anything by edgar allan poe

Hooky

I just recently got back into reading recently & I have a fuckton of books to start reading.

I flit from fandom to fandom,even returning to old ones. Anything that catches my interest & becomes my new hyperfixation. I usually juggle between a few at a time. Usually games/movies/anime. Also obviously I read fanfic on tumblr (duh).

Final notes: I like history/mythology/polytheism/writing/media/cooking/baking/winter/nature/animals & I'm a dog mom. His name is anubis & he's a dalmatian.

That's about all I can think of as of now

PS for the love of fuck dni MINORS/RACISTS/ANTI-LGBTQ+/INCELS/MISOGYNISTS/RADFEMS & JUST ANYONE WHO'S HATEFUL/IGNORANT.

I have to deal with enough nonsense,bullshit,& all around dumb shit irl keep it off my blog & away from me please & thank you.

Goodbye I love you *smooches* ♡

[elmundodeflor]

THE LAST SHIMMERING STAR

A oneshot dedicated to the amazing lovely super talented @tundrainafrica ❤️❤️ this was a big big challenge to write, but i hope you like ittt!

thank you for giving me the prompt and believing in me jakskdk i love youuu❤️❤️

also, big shoutout to @/hangeseyepatch (idk her tumblr😭) for encouraging me to write this too! if you're reading this, jess, i love you too! ❤️❤️❤️

okay, now onto the story.

WARNING FOR MAJOR ANGST AND CHARACTER DEATH.

.

.

There was red everywhere. Staining the light coloured fabric of his shirt. His cheeks. Pooling and splashing from the left side of his body. All Hanji could see was red.

The glimmering walls of the cavern had come crushing down like metal rain when it hit him. He was too focused leading everyone out to even notice the shining rocks falling and smashing and cutting through his flesh, forming a deep wound on his sensitive pale skin. But Hanji noticed. Hanji knew. Hanji saw it.

"Levi!", they shouted, voice shaking in disbelief. They ran to his side, quickly wraping their arms around his waist to help him keep balance. "Look at you! We have to get you out of here!"

He let out a low grunt, gritting his teeth. Stinging pain climbed up his spine, almost paralizing his weak body. It was unbearable, wrecking, blinding, very obviously serious. He tried his best to hide it, however.

"Shut it, four eyes.", he hissed. "I'll be fine."

But he wasn't. And, once again, Hanji knew it. Hanji could see it.

They walked besides him and took him to a safer place, where the walls were still intact. Rod Reiss' titan was out there somewhere, destroying and burning and breaking the ground they once had planted their feet on, the world they once were eager to discover. But it didn't matter. Not anymore.

"We'll stay here for a while, okay?", they whispered, throat dry and constricted by unspoken emotion, fearful desperation. Red was now on their own clothes, leaking like water through their numb fingers; a warning sign, a deadful painting.

Levi sighed. Hanji's arms were warm and strong around him and he wanted to lay there forever.

"Don't leave me, four eyes.", he pleaded softly, coughing up blood; shimmering crimnson running down his parted lips.

Hanji nodded, unable to say a word as tears flooded their face. Leave him? How could they ever? Levi was their best friend, the love of their life, their new horizon. Leaving him wasn't an option. It never would be.

"Let me...", they stuttered, still struggling to talk. Their soaked shirt was now roughly unbuttoned, compressed to his bleeding side. The night breeze echoed through the empty cavern, cool against their bare skin. But it didn't matter. Not anymore. All they wanted to do was save him. They had to.

"Hanji...", he suddenly called, making them stop and freeze in all their efforts. His steel grey eyes glimmered in the dim light, longing, yearning. "Can you tell me about the constellations one more time?"

"I never thought you'd ask.", they snorted. A bittersweet smile adorned their features, poking through the tears. "But sure."

The sky was broad and wide right above them, filled with distant shimmering dots splattered all over it's surface. Orpheus. Orion's belt. Scorpius. Hanji named them one by one, one hand aiming at the stars and the other carefully stroking Levi's hair.

He hummed, giving in to the tender touch, letting himself forget where he was or how he got there. Next to Hanji, he felt back to normal, back to those late nights spent together at the quarters' rooftop. Next to Hanji, he felt at peace, even if it was just for a brief moment.

"Hey, four eyes.", he called again, voice weak and quivering. His breath was hitching and his pulse uneasy in his chest.

They looked at him, leaning just a little closer. His body was as cold as the rocks around them, stiff and pale. Time was running out.

"Levi...", they murmured through trembling lips, the very pronunciation of his name encapsulating every feeling they could never bring themselves to express out loud; the silent confession of a love that could now never be.

He nodded slightly. Because he loved them too. So much.

"Thank you...", he exhaled, his last conscious instant. "For everything..."

And he was gone.

.

.

Hanji didn't know how many hours had passed. It could be one, it could be ten. They didn't care.

Levi was still laying in their arms, stuck in forever young, his expression soft and features beautiful despite the red blood covering them. Oh, how they loved him.

Their broken sobs filled the void in the cave, ringing through the curved walls as they bent over him, peppering small kisses all over his lifeless face. Their soul burnt and ached and stung. Another beloved one gone, mercilessly ripped apart from their side. Another shining star that would light up the night.

They sighed, letting out some of the hurt inside their lungs, and looked back at the sky. Dark blue was slowly fading into the warm light of dusk, blurring out the planets and galaxies and constellations that were once there; a never ending cycle.

They swallowed thickly and kissed Levi once more, desperately wanting to believe he was now up somewhere in the midst of the vast landscape, watching down and over them.

"Promise me you'll stay, short stuff.", they whispered agaisnt his cool pale skin.

In the sky, the last shimmering star disappeared into the sun.

He would always be there.

[nevaehjwilliams]

Nevaeh J & Kaleb Playing Animal Crossing

Kaleb: Hey Sis! Do you want to play some Animal Crossing?

Nevaeh J: Sure meet me downstairs in the living room

Kaleb: Alright

(The Twins Went Downstairs To The Living Room And Got Their Nintendo Switches And Loaded Up The Game)

(Welcome to Animal Crossing: New Horizons! Press A to start!)

Nevaeh J: Hey, who's this? [High-Pitched Babbling]

Kaleb: Ha. That is Isabelle.

Nevaeh J: What?

Kaleb: What's up?

Nevaeh J: I went up to Cherry, and she said, "You're garbage." Does Cherry ever say that to you?

Kaleb: No, Cherry's, like, super nice. Like she just said, "It is a very pretty day today"

Nevaeh J: Well, that's werid

Kaleb: Yeah, I heard if you hit a rock with a shovel, like, one of them has bells that pop out of it

Nevaeh J: Oh, sweet. [Breaks The Fourth Wall] Hey, and be careful shaking too many trees kids. There's a lot of beeh- What the hell? Has Dom ever said, "You will always be alone" to you?

Kaleb: No, it's kind of mean

Nevaeh J: I know. Am I on a mean mode or something?

Kaleb: Sis there's no mean mode, I don't think. It's a kid's game

Kaleb: Oh, I'm gonna catch this tiger butterfly right now

Nevaeh J: Oh, my God! Tom Nook just said "I hope you get COVID"

Kaleb: [Chuckles] No he didn't

Nevaeh J: Yes he did! And now he's saying, "Door's that way"

Kaleb: Nev, just come to my town

Nevaeh J: Yeah, get me out of here. [Chuckles]

Kaleb: Alright, I just opened my gate. Go to the airport and say you want to visit my town

(High- Pitched Babbling From Orville)

Nevaeh J: He just said no

Kaleb: Here ask him again

Nevaeh J: Okay

(High- Pitched Babbling From Orville)

Nevaeh J: Well now he's like, "Did I stutter?"

Kaleb: Here, I'm gonna come to your town. Stay there

Kaleb: Hey, what did you name your town?

Nevaeh J: Broadway City

Kaleb: Yeah, I don't think the animals like your island, cause Tommy just said, " Welcome to Dog Crap City"

Nevaeh J: Dog Crap City? That hurts. Here come to my tent

Kaleb: Yeah, I want to see this new room design you've been talking about

Nevaeh J: Oh my God!

Kaleb: What?

Nevaeh J: I died!

Kaleb: Sis you can't die in this game

Nevaeh J: I did! It says, "You're dead. Foul play is suspected. Game over"?

(Shows The End Credits)

Nevaeh J: Dude, screw this game

Kaleb: Hey, is it cool if I hang out on your island? I just got invited to this big party to celebrate you dying

Nevaeh J: Oh, great! Have fun! [Turn Off Her Nintendo Switch And Goes Back Upstairs To Her Room]

𝓝𝓮𝓿𝓪𝓮𝓱 ���� 𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓶𝓼

P.S. Tumblr and SNL plzz don't delete this. This took me a long time to make

Double P.S. Reference Video:

[tokyoghoose]

forgive these bastards ➤ prologue

summary ➣ when detective akaashi comes across a rather complicated case, he is faced with many challenges along the way. In his attempt to solve the murder of a young woman and a string crimes, he must work beside the reader to learn more about the victim. ( detective au )

theme song ➢ im not a good person - pat the bunny, sleep is for the weak - the dreadnoughts, the quittin kind - eleisha eagle, how do you sleep - himalayas, blow my brains out - tikkle me, when i was done dying - dan deacon, stalkers tango - autoheart, youre nobody until somebody wants you dead - saint motel, kitchen fork - john conte, distant past - everything everything, cough cough - everything everything

warnings ➢ mentions of murder and death, description of blood and gore.

announcements!

here it is! the prologue of ftb! :) I'm super excited to start this series! this is a little shorter than i wanted it to be, but I'm still pretty happy with it.

feedback is appreciated and welcome! requests are open!

—————

"Keiji, it's getting dark. Why not come inside for the night?"

The sun was just over the horizon, the moon coming up to replace it. It's bright—the orange and pink colors. The image is burned into young Akaashi's memory when he looks over. He waves at his mother with a nod before passing the volleyball back to his friends and running over. The scrapes on his palm sting and the bruises on his legs hurt a little, but he doesn't mind the sensation. It feels like freedom—even if he doesn't really understand the full meaning of the moon. This is what he imagines it feels like.

Games to be played with friends and laughter. If this is what life holds then he is more than willing to live it. His naivety holds firm when he grabs his mother hand at the door, being pulled into a brisk hug. She laughs and pats his hair and he thinks it's the kindest gesture in the world. He snuggles closer before pulling away to see dinner on the table. His mother locks up, looking quietly into the city with concerned eyes. She wasn't going to let anyone hurt him, the smile that she cherishes wasn't going to fade as long as she could help it. She turns with a smile, passing him a plastic fork before listening to the adventures Akaashi had gone on that day.

Childhood seems so far now.

———

If you were to tell Akaashi's five year old self that seventeen years later everything he thought about freedom and life was a lie and he would become a detective who took away other's freedom, he'd probably laugh and then cry and cry some more. If you were to tell him that his mother would die so he'd have to be raised by his aunt at the age of thirteen, he'd probably punch you in face in attempt to break your nose—and if you then told him that's the reason he became a detective and went through five grueling years of internships and having to learn how to stomach crime scenes in the first place, he'd make sure to add a swift kick to the shin with it. Even at twenty, if someone—anyone—would have told him that he'd never get sleep again because of the things he'd see day to day, eventually becoming desensitized, but still having nightmares that kept him up all hours of the night—well, he'd probably just brush it off because he thought he'd be different.

News flash: he's not different.

In attempt to rub sleep from his eyes (ironic considering he got maybe an hour), Akaashi yawns, triggering a chain reaction from his assistant. The city is bustling with talk of the latest murder—a social media personality. Twitter is blowing up with the hashtags 'rip' and 'always & forever.' Yet, hardly any of the people tweeting and saying things like: 'always in our hearts, never forget,' didn't know her personally. They knew the internet version of her, the side she showed to the world and not the side she was personally. To the world she is known as an idol—a hero to some.

But everyone has their dark secrets.

The car stops along the house's pavement, the driveway a large circle with a statue in the middle. His first thought is someone was in it for the money, maybe a robbery gone wrong. Stepping out the car, he snaps on some gloves and looks around before being handle the case file from an officer on duty, being caught up to speed.

The house is pristine except for the blood that has dried up on the tiled floor. It's a stark contrast from all the white and gold. Minimalist; he notes. Akaashi skims the file before looking at the body and watching it get zipped up into a black bag before being carried away. All that's left is half an outline and some splatter across the floor.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. Just what he needs—more nightmare fuel. But a job is a job no matter how tired he is.

"Alright, let's start at the entrances. Check the windows and doors."

———

Red. Why is there so much red? Whose breathing is that? And why is it so loud?

Your eyes finally focus on the hand outstretched in front of you, widening at the sight. A silent scream escapes past your lips and shakes your body, making you stumble backwards. The shaking hand blocks the view, forcing your eyes away from the scene. The thumping of your heart and blood in your eyes is so deafening that it makes you lightheaded. You felt sick. You were going to vomit, pushing down a gag and covering your mouth.

You look at your hands, willing them to stop shaking in tight fists before looking at the body below you. Blonde hair dyed red from the puddle. A sob wracks through you.

Heaving a heavy breath you weren't aware you were holding and gripping your phone tightly, you dial the police. Your voice shakes when speaking:

"H-help, please. She's dead! "

———

Akaashi rubs at his temple in attempt to soothe an oncoming headache, the dim yellow light at his desk straining his eyes. He looks at the file, nibbling on his lip in irritation. The pictures of the scene and the overall file and personal file just swarms his head with mixed up information and he honestly isn't sure where to start. With a soft sigh he leans back into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

The case is gruesome, a red massacre. Victim was stabbed six times in the abdominal, close to gutted even, but the blunt truama to her head shows she was dead before hitting floor. The door hadn't been broken in, the wood and hinges still in place like they hadn't been shaken—perhaps she let them in. The window had been forced open from the inside, the paint that previously sealed it being chipped aggressively against the pane. It could've been some loopy stalker, but the more he looks at the case it's less likely.

His head hurts and he can't focus and it's getting late.

He begins to nipple of his thumb nail, bringing it up to his lips in deep thought. The red strings in his brain trying to connect the dots sooner than it's actually possible. He's smart, but not that smart. His eyes slowly shift to the post-it note beside the biege file, a number scribbled down messily. They had sent you home with an officer to calm down from the shock. It had been about two days now as they waited for the autopsies and inspected, but time was running short and he needed your statement before the case runs cold and slips through his fingers. He'd have to interrogate you, ask you to speak on behalf of your friend. It seems you would know the most about her and her true identity as her emergency contact. Maybe‐ hopefully, you'd help provide answers.

But he hates this part. The part where he has to call traumatized homicide victims and witnesses. He doesn't do well at comforting people, especially when he's the type to cut straight to the point. He doesn't know how to stop someone from crying (because someone always does) and he can never stop himself from saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. He's blunt and yet, he's like a double edged sword. And he knows what they feel because he's been there and he sees it every day, even if he wasn't involved directly. If it haunts him at night, then it must taunt them all day. It's a hard push to get over, and even then the wounds never really heal. Suppose that's why Akaashi keeps pushing to solve cases, even cold ones, because he knows how it feels to be hopeless with a dark mentality. Nothing else matters until the killer is at the mercy of law.

He goes back to gnawing on his abused bottom lip, leaning forward to grab the black office phone before dialing the number. He lets it ring, twice before he hears the line click and a soft, weak 'hello?' He clears his throat, picking up his pen to write down anything he may need. This isn't his first rodeo, afterall.

"Hello, is this l/n y/n? Yes, this is the detective on case. Would you mind coming in to answer a few questions about your friend, Michiko?"

—————

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2017 Rewatch: Season 1

Good morning! As I said on Saturday, I really enjoyed re-watching S1. I hadn’t watched the entire thing in quite some time. Remember that in S1, Beth wasn’t on the horizon at all. None of the things I mention here came about because Beth was being planned for. In fact, I’m pretty sure Gimple didn’t even start working on the show until S2. But we have a lot of evidence that Gimple goes back through previous seasons and builds on what’s already been done. It’s a smart story telling technique bc it makes the story and characters arcs feel more cohesive. So I’ll just be pointing out things that Gimple may have gone back, seen, and used to build Beth’s arc.

1x01: Days Gone Bye

Remember that the first thing we see is Rick approaching the defunct gas station, where he sees the little, blond zombie girl. After that it goes back to the beginning. This part really surprised me. Check out some of these first images we see:

First there’s the gas station, which Gimple made good use of in 4a, just as Beth’s arc was kicking off. There’s the blond girl entangled with rick, this doll (reminded me of Sophia’s doll), then a bike/trike, and a tiger. Again, no idea if this is a thing, but could that truly have been looking forward to Shiva? I’m gonna say yes, it’s a possibility. They had no idea in S1 if the show would go that long, but Shiva is a big part of the CBs. And here, in S1, is a tiger.

(Oh, and I know this pic is blurry—the camera is moving too much to get it clearer—but I’m pretty sure around the tiger are poker cards. Where else did we see those? Around the “green” walker in Still. Just saying.)

When Rick is in his coma, Shane says, “We’re all still here.” Guys, that’s huge. The I’m here/not here/still here dialogue is very prevalent in S5. Carol says it to Mary at Terminus. Beth says it to Carol in Crossed (while Carol is in a coma in a hospital, no less). Massive, massive MASSIVE parallels between S5 and ep 1x01.

I’ve also always wondered about the flowers Rick sees. If Gimple meant to use this, it’s an anti-parallel. In S4, “look at the flowers” came to mean the person was about to die. Here, Rick wakes up. He’s alive. And the flowers are dead. Gimple may have used that to build the Carol/Lizzie/Mica arc in S4.

I won’t go into too much detail about this, but of course there are all the parallels between Slabtown and Rick waking up at the hospital. From the general situation to the clocks, the lighting, the fact that he goes outside. Lots and lots of parallels.

The fact that the first person Rick meets after waking up is Morgan lends credence to the Beth/Morgan entanglement theories. Of course there are lots of bikes in this episode, which Gimple may have also built on.

This is random but at one point, Rick tells Duane jokingly that he’s “deadly as Dillinger.” In a way, that foreshadows all of Rick’s leadership and the fact that he’ll do questionable things in the future. It also reminded me of this truck in S7 that we saw of outlaws robbing a stage coach. 

Not sure that’s a thing. Just reminded me of it.

1x02: Guts

When Rick first meets Glenn and is rescued by him (I miss Glenn! ☹) they climb a ladder. It reminded me of all the ladder stuff around Maggie in S6. At one point, Glenn asks, “So you the new sheriff, riding in to clean up the town?” Again, exact same wording as the flashback in 4x16 when Rick calls Beth the “new sheriff in town.” At one point, we see walkers eating rats in the sewer. Just reminded me of the rats Lizzie fed to the walkers in S4. So again, Gimple could have built on this idea. We saw a lot of broken glass in this episode. Glenn drives the red car, which is the first “red object” we see. I’ll do a post on that later in the week (hopefully).

And of course Merle is left behind in this episode. Not much happens here except the actual leaving, but there will be a lot of parallels to Beth later.

1x03: Tell it to the Frogs

The first thing that stood out to me is that it’s Merle’s right hand that is severed so he can escape. Beth’s right arm was the one in the cast, and Rick in S4 constantly had a bandage on his right hand, which I’ve always thought foreshadowed Beth’s.

In the camp, they put cans on strings as an alarm against walkers. We definitely see that later on. They don’t do it at the prison bc they have fences. We specifically see it in Still and then again in 6x04, Here’s Not Here. Probably a few other places too.

Of course, this is where Rick reunites with his family. (Rick is shot, in a comma, wakes up alone, has to go find his family, eventually does and reunites with them. The same will be true of Beth.) 

It occurred to me how strongly this show is built on reunions (particularly sibling with Andrea/Amy and romantic with Rick/Lori). In a season where they weren’t sure if they would stay on the air and only had six episodes to work with, they very heavily stressed family, reunions, and the importance of keeping a group together. I can’t imagine Gimple wouldn’t have built on that. We’ve seen him do it in other places (Terminus, Alexandria, Hilltop this season, etc.) No way he wouldn’t give Beth and Daryl some kind of reunion. ESPECIALLY if Beth was going to die, they should have had one. The fact that they didn't… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rick tells Lori and the others around the fire of his experience saying he’d awakened disoriented, as though in a coma dream. He’d been unsure if he’d ever wake up. I just wonder how much of this will apply to Beth.

There’s a deer, which is super interesting to me. Now, no one dies directly because of or around this deer, as happens in S4, S5. But we have an early symbolism here. And one episode later, the camp is attacked and many people die, including Amy (blond girl and younger of two close sisters). Another thing Gimple could have built on.

Carl says to Lori about Rick, “Everything that’s happened so far…nothing’s killed him.” Again, just jumps out at me as something that could apply to Beth.

Finally, the title. First, the frog is a major transformation symbol. Remember that we saw dead frogs in 5x10, right before the music box woke up. In this episode, when Lori tells Shane to “tell it to the frogs,” she’s basically telling him to stop bullshitting her. Tell it to the frogs. As in, tell someone who cares and will listen, because I don’t believe you anymore. Specifically, she was yelling at him for lying to her about Rick dying. Think about that. “Tell it to the frogs” in the context of the episode specifically meant she didn’t believe him because he’d lied about Rick being dead. Rick had still been alive. And then we saw dead frogs in 5x10.

Okay, I’m sure I’ll get eye-rolls for this. It’s cool. Roll away. When they run up the stairwell at the end to rescue Merle, I noticed a number in the background. I knew I had to look at what it was. Drum roll, please. It was an 8.

Okay, I seriously doubt this went into Gimple’s planning. Maybe, but he wouldn’t choose a specific season to bring her back in JUST because of this random number. I don’t think. (I think it’s more likely that he went with S8 because of the rule of threes. And 8 just so happens to be three seasons after she disappeared.) But it got me all excited and I wanted to mention it. (Oh, the coincidences!) Besides, this is when Merle disappeared, not when he reappeared, so it doesn’t work particularly well anyway.

1x04: Vatos

They talked a lot about how little blood Merle lost. In his case, it was because he used a tourniquet, but still. Daryl makes several remarks about how there should have been more blood, but there wasn’t. Also notice Merle uses fire to cauterize his wound. (Oh the symbolism! ;D)

This was another huge one for me, guys. Daryl says repeatedly that Merle is “tough.” Come ON. That’s exactly the same thing he says about. Beth. And what do you know? Merle should have died, was presumed dead, disappeared for two seasons, then reappeared and reunited with Dary. (“No one can kill Merle but Merle.”) Hmm. 🤔

1x05: Wildfire

The big thing that stood out to me here was Glenn saying that they didn’t burn their dead. They buried them. 

Daryl actually wasn’t too keen on this idea at first. He was spooked about not burning the dead because of the virus. But this is where the whole pattern of burying members of TF began. It was emphasized even more in S5 because Beth, like Glenn, was big on burying those they love. It’s further emphasized every time any character (especially minor ones) get a full blown burial.

1x06: TS-19

Whew. This episode. I often forget how powerful it is. I must have seen it 20+ times by now, but when we get to end and the clock is ticking down, I can’t ever pull my eyes away.

So we start with a flashback showing Shane leaving Rick in the hospital. First of all, precedent of flashbacks to scenes where members of TF were left behind.

But we also see Shane check for Rick’s heartbeat before leaving him. He later tells Lori that he couldn’t hear one. 

Now, knowing Shane, I’m not sure we can assume he was telling the truth here. He’s really good at lying, especially to Lori, and especially to cover his own butt. He may have heard a heartbeat and left Rick anyway. But we can’t know for sure and he IS very emphatic with Lori that he truly thought Rick was dead. Like I said, I never liked or trusted Shane, but perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt here. 

I can totally see them paralleling this with Beth, especially given all the other Rick/hospital parallels there are. Maybe they check her vitals, and truly can’t feel anything, which is why they all assume, perfectly understandably, that she’s dead. Either she really is dead for a time when they check, or because her body has gone into shock/hibernation, they just can’t feel anything. Either way, they assume it, and she gets left behind.

Okay, when Jenner shows them the scan of his wife’s brain as she dies (Test Subject 19) he says something else that very well may be a coincidence, but kinda made my jaw drop. 

“The resurrection times vary wildly. We’ve had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of is eight hours.” So the resurrection time is anywhere between 3 minutes and 8 hours.“ Are you kidding me? I truly don’t think the 8 in stairwell in ep 3 is a thing. But this? I have a hard time turning away from this. And I don’t think Gimple would sacrifice story just to hit a number parallel, but if it just so happened to line up anyway… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I mean, we have the word resurrection, a 3 (rule of threes) and then there’s that 8 again, all in the same sentence. Just saying.

I noticed a time theme in this season. When Amy died, Andrea talked to her corpse before she turned. She apologized for never making it home for Amy’s birthday saying, "I always thought there would be more time.”

I didn’t pick it up as a theme until ep 6 when Jenner, looking at a picture of his wife, said, “I’ve done the best I could with the time I had…We always think there’ll be more time.” And it’s really a show-wide theme, as they’re constantly losing people, homes, alliances, etc. But wanted to point it out. Sad, sweet, and interesting.

Finally, we had Andrea’s attempted suicide here. 

Even if you’re not TD, it’s safe to say that Beth’s suicide was patterned after Andrea’s. How can we be sure? Because Andrea played a part in Beth’s suicide arc. After realizing that she hadn’t really wanted to die after all (if she had, she, like Jackie, wouldn’t have let anyone, even Dale, talk her out of it) she wanted to do the same thing for Beth: give her a chance at it so she’d realize it wasn’t really what she wanted. Even in the plot, they connected the two things in an obvious way. So we have the origins of the suicide arc and the constant reminders since of a blond girl that tried to cut her wrists.

That’s it for S1. Loved it! Now on to S2. (Woot, woot!)