#do we know if randall has kids? either way i think he wants to be close w eli Not because he’s his secret dad but because it allows him to

[lesbenson]

btw i do think eli is elliot’s kid ! love the dynamic of randall trying to strike that nerve in elliot, but to be super honest i would absolutely hate a last minute “kathy lied” plot

[oneinathousand]

I recently found a pdf of an alleged Blood Meridian movie script written by a guy named William Monahan for Ridley Scott's attempt to make the movie, and let me tell ya, it is truly something else. At first, I refused to believe that it could be real because of some atrocious dialogue and truly baffling changes from the novel. I thought that it MUST have either been written as a prank or it was an amateur trying to pass it off as real, but on Twitter I talked to the guy who leaked the script online in the first place and now I'm more inclined to think that, unfortunately, it was legitimate.

Below are screenshots of some of the worst parts. You'll notice that a lot of the text is in red, but I think it must have been somebody on the Cormac McCarthy forums, where this comes from, highlighting some of the differences from the book, but this was the only pdf I could find so whatever. I also put in a few handwritten notes to express my frustration haha.

If you want to look at the full thing yourself, you can find it here, but I should warn you in advance that on top of the usual Blood Meridian type of violence that you would expect, the screenwriter also put in a sprinkle of random homophobia and underage sex which was NOT in the book and I will be showing those screenshots last with another warning so you know where they are in the script and can avoid it if you want to.

Okay, this part gave me a chuckle. Maybe it's not the best time for a joke from the Judge, though:

These next two come from the ending, which, if you were already aware of this script's existence, you probably heard about because it's the most infamous part. For those who don't know, the screenwriter decides to put in a bizarrely happy ending where the Kid slays the Judge in the jakes and adopts Randall, the brother of the boy that the Kid killed in self-defense (and there's no significant time skip in this version, so the Kid is in his late teens at most probably):

This random fucking nugget of homophobia is on page 32 of the script. I have no idea what this was in here for since it never comes up again and the script leaves out most of the children going missing or being found dead along the way:

And here's the Kid having sex because the screenwriter in their infinite wisdom decided that was missing from the Blood Meridian experience, it's on page 70:

So yeah, good thing this particular adaptation never got made. I just picked the screenshots that were the most obviously awful, but the biggest problems with the script are a very rushed opening act that compresses a bunch of story elements and character introductions to the point of confusion plus the cringy saccharine happy ending that was part of the reason why I thought the script was a joke at first. When the script adheres closer to the book, mostly in the middle, it's not the worst thing in the world. It has a few clever bits of streamlining the book and most of the characters sound like themselves, though the biggest problem there is that the Judge feels like a different character.

Someday I hope to read other scripts trying to adapt the movie from Steve Tesich, James Franco, and Tommy Lee Jones to see how each of them tackled the book, though to my knowledge none are publicly available online, but do let me know they are somewhere and you can lead me to it. This particular effort has set the bar very low.

Most of all I want to know if Cormac McCarthy wrote a complete draft of his attempt before he died. If this latest attempt to make the movie falls through, I hope that the script, if it exists, is released to the public so we can see what would certainly be one of the last things he wrote.

[the-firebird69]

Who would ride this?

My husband says they should have a club and he said to the child he said you can get these jackets online and he said leather to be a lot sort of didn't say at least you could denim and put the club logo and have a whole bunch of them but enduro's and he said that sounds like fun and you make a fort a tree fort is it that's ridiculous so kids love that stuff and to go dirt biking to a tree fort is intense so there's going to be a lot of this and people kids are going to want to they used to do it and they're going to do it again and he's still pretty fast okay almost cops can't catch them because they go through a tree line and it's over and they have no way to go after and it's really just they want them not to drive around but they get away with it and it looks like a lot of fun the guy was negative on the radio but he said to his son just put some enduros on there so you can use it rides it all over the place and he's looking at the denim jacket stuff still he's trying to make a club he goes how about Little rascals and you can have like a raccoon and it says that's ridiculous and it's a lot of fun and you put the club stuff in your father knows how to do that I can't even comes in and it shows him because he starts laughing and it starts to cry instead I can't believe this this is awesome he said this is a great idea. And he helped him get it online and designed it and everything. His son got the website and got stickers for the clubhouse and you know something you have to label stuff so it's cool and start labeling things I mean little rascal labels and that might be the name of the bike so bja might make them that's who it is and all sudden he said this is ridiculous and reliving my childhood every other week and we are too though I think we might call it a little rascal the child's version and call them everyone wolverine and it'll probably sell so we're going to do that and we're going to make him shortly

Hera

We are going to name them that and it's perfect and it's after Kingsley and put Kingsley on it it's awesome it's going to be part of their clothing line and you make these little stickers that go around and you put the sticker right on the bike it's a wolverine and he has a couple companies but he wants to use the boys toys company and it's going to work

Thor Freya

Who's heavily involved in this kind of thing and I want one of these bikes and VGA might be building them shortly they take a while to get going but he's going to have it right away and he says he's going to use the name and my grand nephew says we're not going to let you use the name either one and he says I have the boys to his name already he says so what you haven't done anything with it so they're arguing and he's going to try and make the boats and stuff too you know it's for the small but so we sometimes and we get a lot of motorcycles in from them

Mac Daddy

The Killers but really they don't want to war with us because they have a real empire to fight and we get that it's too late. We're going to try and start this company and he doesn't care cuz we don't start anything it's true but it sounds awesome I want to be in a club and I went to wolverine and it's going to be fun that's a nice name he says everything they're going to start with the chopper but they might do the type of bike that wolverine has a little later on same format though in size it's not going to be huge and I'm going to start working on it now and they want me to open up a factory it can help it help get it going cuz I'm crippled I just want to do it myself this is a good idea actually and I'd be like Randall tex Cobb he got hurt doing it and I want to try it so I'm asking for help and he says there's like China and South America and things like that and we have connections and so we're going to start it off and Thor and Freya are going to assign people.

Dan

He's asking me to supply you I think I'm going to do that

Trump

We have a lot of friends but he can get stuff I do know what you mean to make it really really inexpensive and we need a version

Dan

You can't take my bike I guess we'll be both of us making them I'll make more though

Bja

You can put the small one on the road as a scooter with certain additions to it I'm going to design it it says how it's going to the shop right now and put a sock in it and it makes a little one bigger and I'm going to design The wolverine he's going to try and do it but I'm going to ask him to assemble them and you're right about something but you stock parts and I know where to get them really cheap

Paul sr

This idea is approved and it's going forwards it looked like he had so much fun on that thing it's not even right it's taking a break he looks like Douglas

Olympus

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Feral (Part 16)

(gif) @campingmonkey​

Summary: Things have calmed in the weeks since the doctor’s attempt at kidnapping Dean with him now behind bars. Dean reconnects with an old friend and is starting to feel more comfortable with the idea of going back out into the world. Meanwhile the reader has a surprise evening in store for Dean...

Masterlist

Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!reader

Word Count: 4,500ish

Warnings: language, angst, violence, mention of kidnapping, heavily implied abuse (non-graphic)

A/N: Enjoy!...

______

Three Weeks Later

“I thought we were going to that stupid party to work on my ‘social skills’ or whatever you called it.” You rolled your eyes, pulling into the parking lot at the rehab center on the far side of town. “What are we doing here? I thought you said-”

“I found him. Benny. Benjamin Laffetite. He’s inside if you want to see him.” Dean’s eyes lit up and he practically ran out of the car, dashing inside before you could get there in your heels across the snowy sidewalk. You got him signed in with a visitor badge and headed upstairs to the apartments. It was quiet at that time of night, most of the patients tucked away in their own places for the evening. You wandered down the hall to the front desk, getting the apartment number before you showed Dean the way. “He just got in yesterday so be gentle with him.”

“I know,” he said. You knocked on the door to room eight, smiling when it opened and a man around Dean’s height answered. He smiled, the man giving him one right back. “Hey Benny.”

“Hey Deano.” He pulled him into a hug, Dean returning it quickly. You hung back by the door, both men quiet. Dean still hadn’t shared most things he’d gone through. But you weren’t exactly expecting or pushing him to either. He shared what he wanted to and if he chose to forget the rest, he could do that too. You knew something more must have happened with Benny than just sharing some food but if he wanted to keep that between them, it was more than okay with you. “Look at you in a tux. You some trust fund kid or something?”

“Told you I’d pay you back,” said Dean.

“Yeah I guess we’re even,” he chuckled. “I heard you’re the reason the Alpha black market came crumbling to its knees the past few weeks. Lots of Alphas in here just got out of their places this week.”

“I think you owe that one and Dr. Randall,” said Dean, pointing back at you. “They’re the ones that broke me out and started this whole thing.”

“How long you been out?” asked Benny. 

“It’s a little complicated but about five weeks ago. I was completely feral when they found me.”

“Feral?” Dean nodded and smiled, Benny looking him up and down. “You look...normal.”

“Contrary to our experience, some pretty good people still exist in the world,” said Dean. He held out his hand and you reached back, pulling you into the room. “Benny this is my Omega and the doctor that saved me, Y/N.”

“Hi Benny,” you said. You held out your hand, Benny a little cautious before he took it. “Thanks for helping Dean out back in the day.”

“Thanks for helping me out now. Maybe in five weeks I’ll be out and about like somebody else.”

“Dr. Randall is a good guy. He’ll make sure you get what you need to get better and transition back into the kind of life you had before,” you said. “He cares more than he lets on.”

“I hope so,” he said, Dean still smiling. “You know you got even uglier, shrimp.”

“You’re one to talk. You want to come over for dinner some night when you’re ready?” asked Dean.

“See your fancy ass house? Hell yeah,” he said, a nurse clearing their throat as they walked past. “I’m supposed to be writing down my feelings or some shit right now. End of day meditation or something.”

“Let that shit out Benny. Trust me,” said Dean. “You’ll feel better.”

“I’ll try. I’ll uh see you around sometime?”

“I’ll come by in a few days during visitor hours. We can take a walk, get to know each other again,” said Dean. “Promise.”

“Okay. You guys have a good night,” he said, pulling back from Dean. You tugged Dean out, catching him looking back over his shoulder after the door closed again.

“He seems okay. Sort of.”

“He’s been in a rehab program since April. He’s considered a mild case now. I asked his doctor if he would want to move to the new center. He was up for the whole communal thing they’re trying out,” you said.

“Do you know…”

“Worked as a ranch hand down south if you can believe it. He was only ever a mild case. It wasn’t a pleasant experience but not as extreme as what you went through. He got pretty lucky compared to some other people here. I thought you wouldn’t mind getting to see him every once in a while. I know you only knew each other a few weeks-”

“You can get to know someone pretty well in a few weeks when you get thrown in the deep end together,” he said. You smiled, showing Dean around the building some. “So I see this is where all my money is going.”

“Sam and your mom had this place in process years ago. Just coincidence that it opened last week as the largest rehab facility in the country,” you said with a laugh. 

“With a strict no kill rule. I’m still shocked the government put a stall on all killings nationwide just like that,” he said, stopping outside a hallway with a soft green stripe across it. “What’s down there?”

“Feral Alphas. They get a bit more hands-on care. One on one. A team of doctors just for them. Would you like to see?” He rubbed his neck but nodded, walking by your side, stopping outside a reinforced window in a room. An Alpha was inside, a dog sat at the other end of his bed and pawing at him.

“You gave the feral Alphas puppies,” chuckled Dean.

“Therapy dogs. One guy has a cat. Seems to mellow everybody out. No restraints, no collars. They have their own bedroom and bathroom. They wake up in there with the animal and so far it helps them get out of their feral states naturally long enough for some rehab to start. Even the really bad cases.”

“How bad?”

“Disturbingly bad.” He looked down, heading back the other way. “Dean, that guy you just saw, he’s one of them. And he was smiling just now. You did that.”

“Sam did that. You did that. I’m just cute and kidnappable,” he said with a soft smile.

“Oh, well in that case,” you said, taking hold of his hand and heading for the elevator. “You’re officially kidnapped just so you know.”

“Again? Alright, I suppose I’m okay with that,” he laughed. “You’re much prettier than fuckface.”

“I heard from the DA earlier. One of the guard’s at fuckface’s prison has an Alpha cousin that wound up on the market for a few months. The guard ‘accidentally’ put him in gen pop today,” you said. Dean slipped inside the elevator with you, heading down to the ground floor.

“Is he dead?”

“He’s got one foot out the door at this point. They fucked him up pretty good. He’ll never get out of a hospital bed the DA said. The Alphaneurolosis is starting to act up too. Combined with what happened today, he’s not going to last long.”

“Good. Y/N?”

“Hm?”

“I don’t want to talk about fuckface ever again.”

“That’s okay with me. More time to tell you how handsome you are in your tux,” you said. He groaned, walking back outside with you once you got to the main floor. “It’s one teensy tiny little party.”

“I talked to Benny. My actual friend! I did enough socializing today. I even left the house! That’s progress.”

“I’ll let you drive the car if you promise to go.” He raised an eyebrow, glancing at your SUV parked a few feet away.

“On the road?” he asked, a smile forming on his cheeks.

“In the parking lot, Mad Max.” You waved him to get in and drove to the middle before getting out and swapping seats, Dean smirking once he was behind the wheel. “You know the pedals and probably way more shit about cars than I do but you’ve never really driven one. Go slow.”

He put his foot on the gas, the car easing forward before he put it down more and he started to drive in a big circle. 

“Oh yeah I’m getting my license as soon as possible,” he said. You smiled, Dean driving around for a few minutes with a big ass smile on his face before putting it in park. “Alright. You may take me to be tortured now Omega.”

“You’re gonna regret saying that.”

“Y/N where are we going?” asked Dean when you pulled over on the side of the road half an hour later. You smiled, Dean getting out when you nodded. You held out a hand, Dean looking around. “You’re not taking me out to the woods to kill me because that would really put a damper on everything.”

“Trust me?” you asked. He nodded and you kissed him quickly. “Close your eyes.”

He did as asked and you opened the car door, quickly changing in the backseat out of your dress and heels into a flannel, jeans and snow boots. You walked across a small patch of snow, finding the electrical switch buried underneath. You hit it on and brushed your hand against your jacket, taking Dean’s.

“Okay open.” He blinked them open wide, eyes lit up by the string lights through the bare trees, reflecting off of the white snow beneath. They led down through the woods to the dock on the pond where you hand a little surprise waiting for him.

“It’s pretty,” he said quietly. He turned to you, shaking his head. “My parents-”

“Your parents used to put up a little string light maze for you and Sam every year at that cabin you would spend Christmas at out in the woods.” 

“What…”

“I have a change of clothes for you in the car. The tux was because I made a bet with Benny. I lost.”

“He knew I was coming?” he asked. “I thought you just met tonight?”

“We talked this morning when I went in to volunteer for an hour. He remembers you too. He didn’t give specifics but said you made him stronger. My hope is there’s a lot more Alphas like that out there and even if we can’t find families or they aren’t around anymore, maybe these Alphas can make their own little ones amongst themselves.”

“Why are you so kind to us freaks?” he said softly.

“Grew up without a bonding gland. I’m one of the freaks in case you forgot.” He thumbed over your mark, smiling as more of your scent filled the air.

“Let’s go after the fuckface doctor that took out yours and sold it,” said Dean. You rolled your eyes and dropped his hand. “I’m serious. We’re one for one so far on taking down evil doctors so why not?”

“Let’s make that a next year project, after the holidays.” He made a face and you raised an eyebrow. “You really want to do that? Why?”

“Because they hurt you and that’s not okay.” You blinked, Dean tilting his head and smiling softly. “No one should hurt a child and people that do don’t deserve to be walking around free.”

“Dean my mom is dead. My dad got killed for it and he’s dead too. It’s over for me.” 

“And that doctor is still out there. Maybe they got swept up with the whole black market sting but maybe not. Still a lot of bad people out there to stop.”

“I don’t want revenge Dean. I don’t want to go down that road again. You can understand wanting to leave things in the past.” He ran a hand over his face, sighing as you bit your bottom lip.

“I’m not talking about revenge. I’m talking about the fact there is someone out there with no hesitation to hurt children for profit. I was that kid too so I know what it feels like and I know what it feels like to have the person responsible be held accountable. Protecting other people is what I’m saying, not a personal vendetta.” You rubbed your neck, Dean reaching over a hand, tracing his long fingers over your mark. “I know your gland came back but whoever hurt you deserves-”

“Okay,” you said quietly. He smiled, one crossing your face. “I won’t blame you for being protective. I understand. But after the holidays?”

“That’s okay with me,” he said. He kissed your forehead and then your lips, bumping your noses together. “I guess I ought to change so I can see my surprise.”

“How do you know there’s a surprise at the end?” you said.

“Because there’s always a surprise at the end,” he chuckled. You opened the back door and tossed him a bag, Dean changing after a few minutes, looking you up and down when he popped back out in his wool coat. “You just wanted to make me think I had to go to some party I didn’t want to.”

“Well technically there is a social function we were invited to tonight but I don’t really think you want to try that yet. A lot of prying eyes. You’ve only been out of the house a few times and those were trips to either the DA’s office at night or that time you picked up a pizza.”

“Not really ready for a lot of people yet,” he said softly, letting you take his hand and walk into the lit up woods, following the slight path you cleared out. “Not sure I’ll ever be comfortable at a party if I’m being honest. It sounds…”

“The only party I want you to go to is your own. Someone has a birthday coming up in January,” you teased, Dean stopping at an intersection to decide which way to go.

“Y/N I haven’t had a birthday party since I was thirteen.”

“But this one will have alcohol and tasty food and you get a lot of birthday sex all day long. I mean...sounds like a fun day to me.” He chuckled, deciding to go left for a bit before looping behind and heading forward again. 

“Oh I think the day will be fun. But a party? I don’t want a bunch of people-”

“I was thinking about me and Sam. Maybe Gil and Sophia and Randy. Maybe Benny could come too. If you wanted. Nobody else. It could be just me and Sam even. If you don’t want a party-”

“Well you didn’t say it was those guys. I thought you meant some fancy thing.” You stopped, Dean holding up his free hand. “If it’s at home I’m very happy with a birthday party.”

“That can be arranged,” you said. Dean hummed, pausing when he got to another fork. “Need a hint?”

“You know the mazes my parents did only ever had like a straight line. You literally couldn’t mess it up,” he said. 

“You can’t mess this one up either,” you whispered in his ear. He went right, pulling you with him, looking to the left and seeing where the other side looped around.

“Wanna decorate the house tomorrow for the holidays? Like just go nuts?” he asked.

“Oh that’ll be fun! We should go shopping and you can pick out some stuff, if you want to,” you said.

“Yeah. I do,” he said. “Maybe we can even have lunch out?”

“That’s a lot of new for one day. If you want to go home just tell me and we will okay?” you said. 

“I know. I’ll wear my hat and nobody will look at me. I saw a burger place online if that’s okay for a first proper date out?”

“Do they have amazing french fries?” He laughed and nodded. “Yes then that is perfect for a first date out. You know today is actually-”

“One month since we mated. I remembered.” He pulled you flush to his chest, smiling when you leaned in to kiss him. “One month since I’ve been feral.”

“I remember that morning very well,” you said. You wiped away a stray flake of snow that fell on his nose, a few sprinklings drifting in the air. “I know you don’t ever want to be feral again but when you were, you never scared me. Your raw instinct loves me and I love that part of you too, even if you don’t Dean.”

“I don’t remember what I said for a minute there when we mated but I don’t think I’d ever felt more safe and warm and calm in my life. I just remember that feeling when you must have said yes.”

“I remember when my bosses were yelling at me for defending you back at the rehab facility and all I could think was why don’t they understand? Why don’t they see he’s in there?” you said. You started to walk, Dean tugging on your hand stopping you. You looked over your shoulder, Dean stepping up to your side.

“You were the only one who did.”

“Randy-”

“Randy didn’t save me because he thought it was the right thing to do. He saved me because he knew if you were willing to take a bullet for me, you were going to break me out yourself. He just did the prep work. His words,” said Dean. “He said he had a pretty good inkling of what we were to each other too.”

“How would he know that?”

“You used to wear a collar at work for protection. All the Omega’s did right?” he asked. You nodded and he smiled. “Randy said the collars also effectively muted an Omega’s scent. Except after you met me, yours was overpowering. There’s only one reason an Omega’s scent can change that drastically when meeting someone new.”

“He never said anything.”

“Said it was only a hunch but he figured even if he was wrong, you were still going to save me. He said he owed you one but said you were the one to explain that.” You smiled, Dean walking along through the trees with you by his side. “Save him from a feral Alpha?”

“I let him stay on my couch for a month or so about a year ago. I don’t know exactly what happened. He said he broke up with his girlfriend and needed a place to stay short term but I think something happened, something that’s his business. Whatever it was, he was pretty down. But he got better. I think I gave him something very needed without realizing and he wanted to repay that. I don’t know if I could have gotten you out on my own.”

“You were kind to me. You protected me,” he said quietly. “I knew who I was for the first time in years again. You got me out before I even left that rehab facility. You saved me. Just you. Because you didn't look at me like a monster or a wild animal. Just someone who needed a bit of help. I forgot good existed in the world. Until you. I will always owe you for saving me.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Alpha.”

“I know I don’t. But you saved me.”

“Dean. There’s more than one way to save a person and I know you know that. We are already more than even. More than. You’ll never owe me. Ever. I saved you because you’re mine just like you do for me. All I want for you is to have a great life you enjoy and feel loved and safe in. That’s all.”

“I wasn’t yours when you broke me out technically.”

“There’s a difference between not knowing I was yours yet in my head and knowing I was yours…”

“In our souls,” he said quietly. “I get it. Sometimes it feels like I’ve known you forever when it’s been barely over a month.”

“We’ve known each other a very long time, metaphysically speaking.”

“You know when you get taken, they kinda put this idea in your head that you don’t have a soul anymore. Someone like you couldn’t possibly ever have a mate. Your purpose is whatever your owner wants and what they all want is for you to be a silent soulless little thing that does as told.”

“Did you believe that?”

“No. But it did cross my mind whether or not something was wrong with mine to have deserved ending up in a place like that. Now I know how ridiculous that is. I never deserved it and there was nothing wrong with me. I was a good kid with shitty luck. My soul is as good as anyone else's and I know that for a fact.”

“You sound very positive of that.”

“I am. You’re my soulmate after all. A soul like yours wouldn’t want one like mine if it was bad.”

“I’m not as wonderful as you think I am.” You tucked your hair behind your ear, Dean resting his forehead against yours. “I’m not.”

“What am I going to do with you Omega?” he chuckled. “You’re my amazing best friend. Deal with it.”

“Okay but only cause we are doing a really horrible job of getting through this maze in a timely fashion.” He smiled, wrapping his arm around your shoulders, getting you to turn and wrap yours around his waist and start walking again.

“You know if I’m gonna be all sappy I might as well do it near a bunch of maple trees,” he said. You rolled your eyes, burying your head in his side while he laughed. “Sap? Maple? Even you have to admit that was perfect.”

“I regret showing you that dad joke instagram,” you sighed, rounding some trees, the ground covered in a nice soft fluffy layer of snow now.

“Oh you love when I joke.”

“Yes I do. Even the crappy ones,” you said, stopping again. 

“Y/N I love you. You love me. We will quite literally never get to the end if we keep stopping to have big emotional talks you know.”

“Your surprise, at the end…” He smiled and you looked farther down the path. “It’s um…”

“I need to close my eyes or…” he trailed off when you shook your head. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m having second thoughts about giving it to you. It might be crossing a line.”

“Hm,” he said. He dropped his arm off your shoulders, stepping forward a few feet further down the path. “Well I say we go for it.”

“Dean, it's kinda a big surprise. Like a big one.”

He spun around and stepped right in front of you, an adorable smile plastered on his face.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

“Asking you to marry me.” Your eyes widened slightly and he twisted his hips back and forth slightly for a moment. “You weren’t planning on asking me down at the dock now were you? But before you answer that question I really need to know. Will you Omega, marry me and my sappy self?”

“Yes,” you said. He kissed you gently, thumbing over your mark on your neck. You touched his scent gland, a wave hitting you that made you both break apart and take deep breaths. “Whoa.”

“I think our souls are playing tag again,” he chuckled. 

“Well they can’t get very far,” you said. You booped his nose and he grinned. “Your soul’s it.”

“No way. Yours is it,” he said, bumping you back. He pulled you flush, the wave hitting you again, your heart fluttering calmly in your chest. “I will never get over how perfect this feels.”

“There’s a theory that souls are always bonded. They just haven’t seen each other in so long they’ve forgotten who their mate is. But when they do, they form this sort of tether so no matter what, they can always find each other again.”

“That a fancy doctor theory?”

“No. That one’s a me theory.” 

“I like your theory. Now what’s all this about you getting cold feet asking me to marry you?” You shrugged, Dean resting his hands on your hips. “Oh come on.”

“I was gonna cause like, the dock is set up super romantic and we got the fire pit out there and there’s a cooler with some food for us to cook up and I just thought...maybe you wanted to be the one to ask. We’ve never talked about marriage. We’re mated but I didn’t want to...take another moment that should be yours away from you.”

“Ask me to marry you.”

“Will you marry me?”

“Yup,” he said. You grinned, Dean spinning you around in the snow. “You didn’t take anything away from me, sweetheart. You gave it back.”

“How’d you know I was going to ask?” 

“Oh I have my ways,” he said. He hoisted you up onto his back, carrying you piggyback quickly down the rest of the trail until you got to the already going firepit on the dock, string lights up and around. A thin layer of snow covered the railing but the chairs were clear and covered with thick blankets, plenty warm to soak up any of the few falling flakes. “Oh pretty. You know I definitely want to put in a proper path out here from the house once the weather turns good again. Make it our own little hideaway.”

“I think that’s a great idea. I know you like to walk over here most days,” you said, Dean setting you down, looking around at the flakes falling from the sky.  “How did you know? About the dock and my plan. I specifically had Sam help with this after our walk earlier.”

“I heard you talking to Sam the other day when you thought I was taking a shower.”

“That’s why I felt that peaceful calm feeling out of the blue. I thought you were just thinking of me and were happy.”

“Oh I was. Hearing you say you want to be with me made me incredibly happy.”

“Not like we’re only mated or anything,” you said. He squeezed your hand.

“Never hurts to hear it,” he said. You turned your head, Dean gazing out at the pond. 

“You okay?”

“I’m good,” he said. He breathed deeply. “Do you wonder if we would have met if I’d never been taken?”

“We would have. We’re supposed to be together.”

“I think so too.” 

“Warm enough?” you asked, Dean taking a seat, pulling you down to sit in his lap.

“I haven’t been cold in a long time, Omega. I'm absolutely perfect.”

“Me too Alpha.”

“Want to start on our date?” he asked.

“I’d love to,” you said. He smiled, cocking his head. “Alpha.”

“Wanna spend forever together, Omega?”

“With you? Absolutely.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

_________

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Sonic the Hedgehog Movie 2: POTENTIAL TEST SCREENING

 A couple weeks ago, a Reddit User under the name “Madethis4Sonicmovie2” created a post discussing their test screening experiences on the second Sonic the Hedgehog film. Throughout the discussion post, the Reddit user explains that they are not a Sonic fan. Most of what the user writes was how they’ve interpreted the scene and their understanding of the lore through some games that they’ve played. That, and they also try to compare some of the scenes to DBZ, a franchise that they’re much more familiar with. The user also make it a point to state that they view themselves as a “harsh critic,” though do apologize for it. They’re also not used to critiquing children’s media, which they also state a few times in their post. If they’re not clear on what they saw in their test screening, they ask for the reference meaning to the Sonic Community. The Reddit user also says that they did see the first film and greatly enjoyed the second one better.

Even though they believed for the film to be a generic kid’s film, they believe that this film will appeal to fans and non-fans more than the first one did. 

There wasn’t much of a summary to go other than reading about the emotions and some of the trivia that they’ve seen. Most of the film was still in its post-production stage. Some scenes were not complete while others needed tweaking on lighting and shading on the CGI characters. The overall impression that they’ve received from the film was that it was very enjoyable with much more world building. Because it’s done a good job with explaining certain scenarios to the audience, the Reddit user believes that it wouldn’t be hard for outsiders of the fandom to understand. The only thing that some audience members would struggle with in the film were the inside jokes that long-term fans would understand.

With this in mind, this is what the Reddit post detailed. Keep in mind that these are spoilers.

Key Notes:

The moral of the movie is “if you believe in yourself, then anything is possible!” On a side note, the Reddit user believes that this theme applied more to Tails rather than Sonic, stating that Tails has a moment where he gains enough courage to help Sonic fight.

Though the Reddit user does debate that Sonic has more confidence in himself than he did in the first film. He’s still the “Sonic” seen in the first film, him being a kid, but he’s learning to understand the role of being a superhero.

There is placeholder music and licensed music in the film as well. No mention so far of Crush 40 appearing in the film.

The Reddit user explains that Jim Carrey nailed the role! They also explain that Dr. Robotnik is a complete maniac.

(This is an open definition to viewers. It could range from comical to something darker).

Dr. Robotnik invents a teleportation device.

Dr. Robotnik also dresses in black clothing like he did in the first film.

The Reddit user supports this remark by detailing a scene where Dr. Robotnik loses his cool a bit when returning to Earth and complains about how he was outsmarted by a “rejected Dr. Seuss character.”

Dr. Robotnik does create Badniks and references them as “Badniks.”

The Reddit user gave the example of the motorbug looking like a motorcycle with a ladybug exterior. Buzzbombers look more like wasps.

There is a “robot version of Eggman.” 

Metal Sonic does not make an appearance. The Reddit user does believe that G.U.N. may have hinted that they’re building Metal Sonic.

It’s also important to note that there were no mentions of Silver and AmyRose in their screening.

There are heavy nods to Sonic Lore, specifically with the echidna tribes. Most of the lore is explained in either flashbacks and/or with echidna lore.

Most of the time is spent on Earth, but we do see other planets. Sonic and Tails do travel all around the world.

The Reddit user also says that we see more of Sonic’s world when Dr. Robotnik tries to teleport back to Earth.

There are heavy nods to both inside and outside references of the Sonic Franchise. Due to their experiences with the franchise, they inform other Reddit users that they couldn’t share and explains all of the references.

However, they were very happy with Sonic fans when hearing their feedback and learning what some references are.

At this time, the voice actor/actress for Tails is still undetermined. The Reddit user said “it was like Tom Holland, but with a higher-pitched voice.”

Sonic makes a remark saying, “You’re too slow!”

Sonic makes a remark saying, “I’m not a rat! I’m a hedgehog!”

Knuckles makes a remark saying, “Knock, knock scrambled egg.”

(The Reddit user explains that this scene in the movie was also very enjoyable).

Sonic and Tails bond over how they know Longclaw in the film. The Reddit user explains that this is their favorite scene in the movie.

Knuckles has an American-like accent, not a British one.

Sonic encounters Tails on a run, but “freaks out” when he sees another alien creature like him. Sonic also freaks out when he sees that Tails can almost match his speed while running.

There is a funny scene of Sonic enjoying his alone time at home, even showing a montage of all the things that he shouldn’t do when Tom and Maddie are at home.

(Think of the montage scene from Home Alone (1990′s).

The Reddit user explains that Knuckles was exiled from the clan for freeing Longclaw as a prank with friends.

There is an artist in the movie that tries to draw Sonic. To Sonic’s discovery, he sees that the artist drew his 2019 design and plays “Gangster’s Paradise” on the radio.

The Reddit user states that they believe that this is the crew’s nod to the original design.

The Reddit user says that there were scenes in the movie that they felt like were more of a placeholder in the film. The reference to Gremlin Sonic being one of these scenes.

Tom and Maddie do go to Rachel and Randall’s wedding.

There are several action scenes, but the Reddit user explains that the most enjoyable ones are when Sonic and Tails fight Knuckles a couple of times.

And with the action scenes, there are many Quicksilver references that Sonic does as well.

On top of that, the Reddit user explains that each character has their own unique abilities. (For example, Sonic is associated with having powers cater to the element of lightning).

Longclaw is alive in the film, but she’s aged and weak.

Longclaw sends Tails to Earth to retrieve Sonic due to her wanting him to safe.

Sonic stays at home on planet Earth, but is supplied with many rings to travel back and forth to visit Knuckles Tails, and Longclaw.

Sonic being a living chaos emerald could be true, but the Reddit user explains that an emerald was sealed inside of Sonic after being born.

Chaos emeralds are not referenced as “Chaos Emeralds” in the film, they were referenced as just “emeralds.”

However, the Reddit user does recap that there might be a name and they didn’t catch it.

Super Sonic is not referenced as “Super Sonic” in the film, but as something else.

Super Sonic can fly in the film and doesn’t need all seven Chaos Emeralds to go “super.”

Sonic references Tails as “Miles” a few times that they meet, but later gives him the nickname “Tails.”

There is a post-credit scene. The Reddit user believes that it’s a heavy nod to Shadow the Hedgehog due to the there being multiple clones modeled like Sonic that G.U.N. has made.

Due to this post-credit scene, the Reddit user holds hopes that there will be a third movie soon.

As of now, the Reddit post is still available for you to read. The Reddit user is mindful of the NDA and purposely phrased some of their spoilers to be vague, but knows that their thread may be removed soon. I know that these may sound fake, however, there have been individuals in the past who have viewed the first film and proved to be right. Like many of you, I hope that this is a real but I will remain cautious. If these facts resurface as being false, let’s not attack the individual. The only that should matter is that we’re excited for the second film. Be mindful that they’re a human being as well. Treat others the way that you would like to be treated.

What are all of your thoughts so far of the film? Share your thoughts and opinions! And if you’ve spotted something that I’ve missed, please share with me! I’m very excited to know!

((SOURCE)).

[cayenne-twilight]

Professor Layton Iceberg Explanation

As I said in the tags of the original, the iceberg I made was a meme consisting of both real theories and satire/parodies/fandom memes. If anyone is interested, I can work on an unironic version that only has real theories.

Buckle in because this post is LONG and heavily saturated with lore and information.

Actual theories

Parallel universe 1960s where the world wars didn’t happen. There’s an unused file in Curious Village that shows the year as 1960 and the time machine from UF is set to 1973, ten years into the future. The series canonically takes place in an undefined time period (hence the technological inaccuracies and fantasy elements), but it’s based off the 60s. There’s more evidence but we don’t have time to go over every little thing. I linked my “no wars” theory below but TL;DR the outdated airplanes and underdeveloped medicine in the Layton series imply that the world wars may never have happened. https://cayenne-twilight.tumblr.com/post/632205992162099200/outofcontextdiscord-timegearremix-zonosils-war

The real meaning behind the statue in Future London. In UF, the purpose of the statue is to spark Layton and Luke’s conversation about their friendship. Luke is stressing out about moving overseas and sees himself and the professor in the story behind the statue, but in the bigger picture, Clive must have been the one to commission it. Some theorize that the little boy is Clive and the man is either his father or the professor. One idea I’ve seen is that Clive wishes he could be Luke for real, while another is that he wishes he died ten years ago, and another is that he’s literally terminally ill explaining why he doesn’t care about consequence. Personally, I think “the boy succumbed to his illness” refers to his mental illness seeing as he wanted the professor to save him from his madness as he saved him all those years ago.

True location of Monte D’Or. there are no deserts on the British isles to my knowledge, so it makes the most sense for Monte D’Or to be in Southwest USA where English is the default language, they have a desert, and there exists a city famous for flashy hotels, casinos, and entertainment. What makes it odd is that nobody ever mentions overseas travel, and all the major characters are from England.

Loosha’s origins are not explicitly explained if I remember correctly, but the implication was that her prehistoric (supposedly) species was sealed away along with the garden, allowing them to survive all the way to the time of LS until Loosha was the only one left. The garden provided a good habitat and protection from predators, and it’s logical that they’d slowly die out anyways, but there’s no explanation of any specific factors that led to Loosha being the last.

Beasley is not a bee I wrote a post about this one as well, but TL;DR Beasly lacks several defining bee traits whilst having several human ones. He is not human, yet, by definition, not a bee. It’s possible that he is the result of Dimitri’s testing, but whatever his untold story is, he remains an enigma of nature. https://cayenne-twilight.tumblr.com/post/632381715250282496/theory-beasly-isnt-a-bee

Subject 2’s identity is currently unknown. There is a subject one (parrot) and subject 3 (rabbit) so there has to be a second. For a long time, people suspected Beasly to be him seeing as he’s a bit of an amalgamation and definitely not a regular bee (see above). After the release of LMJ, though, people began to suspect Sherl, the intelligent hound who could speak to certain people but not others. That being said, it’s possible for one to be subject 4. Sherl’s memory of a bright flash matches up with subject 3’s memory of being electrocuted. They never explain why the animals were being experimented on, but it was probably Dimitri making sure the conditions of his machine were safe for humans before reliving the incident from ten years ago.

Lady Violet died from the plague from DB. There’s no evidence for this or anything, it’s just an idea. People say she died from the flu but I don’t remember them saying that in the game, at least the US version. Extending off my “no war” theory: it’s theorized that the Spanish Flu was spread by the travlelling soldiers, so if that’s true, it’s possible for the epidemic to have been averted for some decades. Maybe the Spanish Flu reached England later than in real life. The hole in this is that DB’s plague must’ve been close in time to 1918 while Violet’s death was much later, so it would’ve had to stick around.

Bill Hawks is working with Targent and Arthur Cantabella. There was a force in the shadows buying the time machine technology from Bill. Someone with a ton of money who helped him cover up a freak accident and get away with it completely, a feat that involved shady means like violence by hired thugs. Some theorize that it was Targent, seeking power over time in exchange for a little mafia magic. The Labarynthia project was sponsored by the UK government, so as the PM, Bill must’ve known about it. He probably supported dubiously ethical, high stakes (witch pun) psychological experiments like Cantabella’s and helped him stay in the shadows.

All the NPCs in St. Mystere and Folsense are dead. I make fun of this type of theory later, but they’re admittedly captivating. I’m pretty sure the canon in CV is that the villagers are Bruno and Augustus’s OCs that they made robots of and built a town around, but it’s more interesting to think that the village was there before, and the townspeople died of a plague and were replaced like Lady Violet. In Folsense, there really was a plague and they never explain the NPCs there. They’re either real people who appear way younger than they are due to hallucinations (even the ones who already look old ?), or they don’t exist at all, which is pretty spooky. This part of the story is a gaping plot hole. In a similar vein to CV, the edgy yet plausible theory is that they used to live in Folsense but died of the plague and now live on as hallucinations.

Hershel seeing everything as a puzzle is a coping mechanism for all his trauma. This was a joke but I thought about it for more than five seconds and it makes way too much sense.

Plot holes and unexplained questions that we like to overthink because it’s fun

The downfall of the Azran was vaguely explained in canon by people being so greedy that it lead to the civilization collapsing. It’s not a stretch to imagine that happening, but it would’ve been more interesting with a little more detail.

Layton and Luke are programmed to routinely forget how to walk. I didn’t know whether to list this in the joke section or not, but it’s odd that the characters actively participate in the walking tutorial (as opposed to showing a little memo to the player) as if they didn’t know how to before, especially when they go through this several times a year.

The truth behind Pavel. He’s simply a joke character who teleports, is a polyglot (sort of, at least he wants us to think he is) and is mega confused all the time. He’s a fun character to make crack theories about because of his cryptic nature that even he doesn’t seem to understand.

Miracle Mask deleted scenes. The first trailer for MM featured animations that were not in the final game. One was the Randall falling scene, except in a slightly different style than the one we know. Others were completely foreign, like Layton and Luke pacing across a theatre stage as if Layton’s about to expose someone with a dramatic point. Cut content and “could’ve beens” are always curious to think about.

Evan Barde: secret mastermind. Arianna and Tony’s dad is a mysterious character who died under mysterious circumstances. I think the canon is that his death was a genuine accident, but concept art of him making a creepy evil face suggests that maybe he originally had a larger role in the first drafts of LS than the finished game.

The secret to how Paul and Des pull off their disguises is unclear and will remain unclear. There is no plausible explanation for their shape shifting. Unless Paul is just a little dude wearing a human suit like that one Wizard of Oz species and Des is the best quick-changer ever and hides his naturally feminine legs under his cloak.

Alfendi’s mom. When LBMR came out people scrambled to piece together who Hershel had a kid with, but there’s no way alfendi is his biological son. This happened with Kat as well and her biological parents turned out to be brand new characters, so I’m sure Al will get an adoption backstory if his arc continues, be his parents old major characters or nameless, faceless NPCs.

Granny Riddleton and Stachenscarfen are omnipotent deities. Idk which section this fits best under, but these two characters have some serious power. At first introduction, they’re implied to be robots, but they appear everywhere in later games. They follow the Professor wherever he goes and assist him on his adventures, GR collecting puzzles and housing them by some odd magic, and Stachen teaches you how to walk. They both introduce and supervise the gameplay. By extension, I guess this idea could apply to Albus as well in the prequels. GR and Stachen even had the power to appear in LMJ, something no major character could do. I consider them akin to the velvet room attendants from the Persona games.

Clive’s kill count is a vague subject in the game for the sake of keeping it PG. I don’t know if anyone’s ever mathematically estimated the damage he caused, and I sure don’t want to try, but the game appears to push the idea that he didn’t kill anyone at all, saying they stopped him in the nick of time and things like that, even though we watch him raze the city. If they ever want to bring him back post-time skip, I can see them twisting it so that the mobile fortress cutscene wasn’t a linear sequence of events, but instead a compilation of scenes over the course of hours so that London neighborhoods around him could be evacuated and have it make sense. Knowing Level-5, it’s more likely that they wouldn’t think this deep and do something more lazy, though.

Memes and references

Post-time skip Flora is real references the famous L is real theory from Super Mario 64. Like Luigi in SM64, Flora was also a highly anticipated character who didn’t appear in a new game, in this case LMJ or LMDA. In the end, Luigi did become real in the DS port so hopefully Flora is real will be realized as well.

Hershel can’t read is a veteran fandom meme referring to how in the first few games, especially Curious Village, Layton asks Luke to read every document out loud for him. Perhaps this was an exercise to improve Luke’s reading skills and independent thinking, or perhaps he was just too lazy or preoccupied to do it himself, but this grew into the joke that our genius Professor was actually illiterate this whole time.

Layton’s smash invitation is hidden in PLvsAA. It’s no secret that the fandom would kill a man to get the Professor into the smash brothers franchise. In PLvsAA one of the puzzle artworks features a goat eating a familiar white envelope with a red stamp, sparking the joke that either Layton or Wright got the invitation their respective fans desired, but it got lost along the way.

The science board is the mysteriously vague organization Don Paolo got kicked out of for the crime of being evil. It’s the epitome of liberal arts majors and art school graduates trying to bs their way around not knowing any science and failing miserably. “He was very good at all the sciences, but then the CEO of science told him to stop because he was using the power of science for evil science”. They do this again when “Dr. Stahngun” describes his time machine what with the soolha coils and whatnot.

Hoogland is death cult initiation is a parody of “Mario 64 is Freemason initiation” which is ridiculous, just like the creepy human sacrifice subplot of AL.

You can see the reflection of someone watching you in Aurora’s eye references the famous, creepy Talking Angela theory. In retrospect it would’ve been funnier if I said Angela instead of Aurora.

Every copy of Professor Layton is personalized references the famous “every copy of Super Mario 64 is personalized”

Clive’s fat ass in HD is a meme that originated from the announcement of UFHD, saying that half of the excited fans wanted to cry again while the other half were simply attracted to Clive. If we want to enter real bottom-section-of-the-iceberg-chart territory then let’s say Clive’s character has some sort of psychological siren properties that draw people to him like a magnet and/or Harry Styles.

Things I pulled out of my ass for shits and giggles

Infinite hint coin hack: I’m sure a tech savvy cheater could hack the game for infinite hint coins, but there’s no easy or interesting way. I don’t know why someone would do that though, considering a lot of the hints suck and there are puzzle guides on the internet.

Cringy, unused Randall villain monologue. This joke is derived from the actual scrapped MM content as well as deleted content being a popular element of iceberg charts, but it’s sadly not real. Would’ve been hilarious, though.

Last Specter Puzzle 031: Light Height tracks and records children’s intelligence level. It doesn’t, but it’s always fun to make fun of arguably THE most ridiculously difficult puzzle in the franchise. (Seriously, do they expect 7+ year olds to know trigonometry???)

Hershel struggles with tea addiction. Hershel from the games drinks tea in moderation, but the manga begs to differ. He has a tea set in the Laytonmobile, and an attempt at teatime while driving causes him to crash.

Folsense is a metaphor for Alzheimer’s. This is inspired by those edgy kids’ show theories where everyone’s in hell or something, but nobody has ever said this.

London Life is reality and the plot of the games is all in Luke’s head. That’s one way to fill every plot hole. How funny would it be if Luke made up crazy characters and stories based off his fellow townspeople Sharkboy and Lavagirl style. “This dude who lives in a castle and asks people to give him all their money for nothing in return is a vampire from 50 years ago involved in a tragic love story”.

Secret ending encoded into Tago’s Head Gymnastics. It’d be crazy if there was, and Dimitri would hound Tago for the secret to time travel. If you didn’t know, the Layton games started as an adaption of Akira Tago’s puzzle series, except they decided to add a story to make it more interesting and marketable.

Daily puzzles datamine your DS. I’m bad with technology but is it even possible to datamine a DS??? Idk, but I think my DS lite from 2008 is safe.

[cogentranting]

I do have to say that I feel like Kevin got shafted this last season. The show would just not let him have success in any form (in a meaningful on screen way). 

First of all his career-- the arc that started Kevin off was that he felt like no one ever took him seriously and that he wanted to do more with his career. But Kevin’s career peaks in season TWO. And even then, with only moderate success. And it’s very much framed as a beginning. And then he does a movie that’s a flop and gets stuck to where no one wants to hire him and then ends up back where he started, stuck on The Manny which he hated to start with. And he’s stuck in that for something like 7 to 10 years. And we get no other word about his career. He says in the finale that he’s going to step back from acting so that does like he was doing other things but we hear nothing about it. 

And him not having a lot of success in the way he wants would be one thing, if the case weren’t so different for Randall and Kate.  Kate gets a job at a music school. Kate becomes a teacher. Kate designs a music curriculum for blind students. Kate is founding music schools for the blind internationally. That’s a massive success.  Randall switches careers. Randall runs for city council. Randall is a beloved city councilman. Randall becomes senator. Randall runs for president. 

They do give him success with the nonprofit. In theory. We barely see that. We don’t really know how successful it was. That’s a great character beat for Kevin, but not really the same thing as his career. It’s more of a separate thing he did. 

And him taking the Manny reboot and focusing more on the nonprofit are both framed as Kevin giving up his career aspirations and caring more about his family instead. Which is a great story arc. But again, not really one we see.  Because up until about half way through the final season, Kevin’s family is an extremely contentious relationship with Madison. And Kevin’s kids get no development. Tess, Annie and Deja are all fully formed characters. Jack gets a personality and some focus. Hailey, Tess, Deja, and especially Jack all get glimpses of their futures (we see all of their careers and Deja and Jack’s spouses and their children). Nick and Franny I don’t think ever speak. Or if they do it’s a throwaway background line.  And Kevin and Sophie I think are a great love story. But Kevin doesn’t get to be married happily to Sophie until he’s... 50? And again. we. don’t. see. that. We see them get together and I thought they handled that really well. But after that they have like two scenes with actual speaking on screen together because they waited so long to actually let them be together.  So if you’re going to take a story about Kevin wanting to find more fulfillment in his career and transition that to him finding fulfillment in his family instead that’s great. But you have to make his family actually matter and not make them the least developed family of the three. 

And again, Randall and Kate are not forced into the same choice of either family or career. Randall has had a happy marriage and kids since the beginning of the show. Kate gets together with her husband (of the majority of the show) right away in season 1, is married and has kids halfway through. She does get divorced but she gets her new husband set up in the same episode (and I have other issues with the handling of that). 

And Randall and Kate are allowed more substantial growth. I do think Kevin’s character regresses in the last two seasons (which is very frustrating to me) but even without that he is constantly held to account for any screwup, and up to within the last five episodes we still have people talking about how irresponsible he is. Randall and Kate both have major failings they’re never forced to address and don’t receive anywhere near the same amount of criticism. 

To be clear, it’s not that I think Randall and Kate should be less successful or criticized more, I just think Kevin should have been given at least one area of his life where he was allowed to be successful in some way that we saw before the last 5 episodes. 

I do really like the concept of the non-profit I just feel like it wasn’t developed enough. And I really like the episode of the Night Before the Wedding. And I really like that he ends up being the main caretaker of Rebecca at the end. I thought that was a nice full circle idea. But each of those last two things are isolated within a single episode-- they don’t represent a fuller arc. And they could have! Because I feel like both those ideas connect really really strongly to where we were at in the story at the end of season FOUR. Because season four built a lot on Kevin connecting to other people and meeting their emotional needs. I think that’s where the heavy Cassidy development came in. And that’s when Kevin started spending a lot of time with Rebecca leading to the fight with Randall. If there was a clear consistent through-line from those season 4 ideas, to the ending of season 6, it would work great. Kevin’s growth wouldn’t be as stunted, it would more clearly demonstrate the shifting of his priorities. Those ideas would be more fully developed. But season five and the first half of season 6 really do very very little (if anything) with those ideas. 

I don’t hate the ending by any means. I just find myself dissatisfied. 

[palatial-monstrosity]

I am obsessed with this piece for a reason: for all the gaslighting & girlbossing, Hannibal is actually saying the truth here. And there’s more, I think what he is saying here is “I understand your strategy, Will.”

We know that Will being a killer isn’t just Hannibal’s manipulation, but how deep does it go? Let’s go back to season 1. Even in the first episode Will admits his thoughts are not tasty, and he is uncomfortable with his imagination. My theory is that Will had these murder fantasies all his life. I can almost picture him as a little kid or teenager, bullied and lonely, buidling up forts in his mind because no one should’ve seen anything, terrified one day he might snap and enact them (against people who commit injustice, I bet). Just like Hannibal who wrote a paper on social exclusion to understand why he was so goddamn lonely, Will studied killers to understand himself, to prevent himself from doing anything wrong. And Will surely studied neuroscience well enough to know that for our brains, active imagination and reality are the same (that’s also why dreams feel so real, no matter how weird), and so he decided to kept his impluses fed by imagining murders vividly. The darker part of himself was satisfied, and he could catch other killers by doing his job. Just like Hannibal criticizes the sloppy killers they sometimes see, Will criticizes them by solving their cases. I’m better than you, he subconsciously thinks. I’m better because I found a way to avoid killing, and you didn’t.

Until, of course, he has to kill Garrett Jacob Hobbs. While it is Hannibal who facilitates things, I feel that Will would’ve still killed someone, sooner or later.  And after that his imagination runs wild, because the real thing is better, and he wants more. Later, he threatens Freddie Lounds with a certain deep satisfaction, and I like to imagine it is linked to Will’s self who is breaking free from his constraints. I bet his imagination becomes much and much more vivid.

Even if he didn’t have any murderous impulses before, he has them now. Because of his imagination, he is, for his brain, a killer. Hannibal is right, killing has changed the way he thinks, he has imagined many murders very vividly, and he imagines the satisfaction of the killers too. If he didn’t enjoy them before (but we know he did enjoy killing Garrett Jacob Hobbs...), he surely enjoys them now. He enjoyed killing Randall Tier too, he is very well aware of that.

Tl;dr: Will either (accidentally?) brainwashed himself into becoming a killer, or he already had that instinct before, and his plan backfired.

[yuko-kakubami]

How do you see Chen Gong, Forseti, Heimdall, Zerofukuand Prudr? sorry that's so specific but you're in the amino and those five are usually the big talk about characters there

oh buddy you forgot the space..

Chen Gong is adorable, he is the definition of "sweet but psycho", he was lovesick and obsessive to to his traumatic past irl, his story is beautiful in history, he was a brave young man who was loyal and would never leave you no matter what, in a way he sends off yandere vibes, I mean he did after all help plan and kill people and sure it's because he had to but lets also not forget that this boy yearned for love and praise so you have to assume that it was either out of love or to be loved, not out of survival, The historic Chen Gong (Gontai) was known for being suicidal and wanting a good soldier's death, in other words, Chen Gong deserves everything. Forseti was the god of justice and while not much is known about him, there is a bit of a disturbing background to him and I won't say what all happened to him in mythology because although it isn't much... it's a lot to take in. Forseti had the power of choosing who lived and who died, also the god of justice which is a very respectable job. He was also known in mythology to be close friends with Heimdall, which makes sense since they are both weirdos and are both spiritually lonely. I must admit that I liked his part a lot in RoR because not only was his design just... adorable but I felt like he was in competition with Chen Gong to see who would be the better fanboy. Heimdall is precious as hell but also very sus in my opinion, his character is positive and just makes me happy. He is who I want to be like lol, I also feel like he would be a good shoulder to cry on if you need one, and a good friend. as for his looks, we may not know what he looks like because of that mask but he is still Katy Perry's E.T, he has a nice body and he dresses like he just rolled straight out of Gen Z, I also think he might be my soulmate lol. Yall leave Zerofuku alone, he's just a cute little yangire that wants to kill ya, probably a really cuddly kid too, before he turned all evil and stuff, he reminded my of Randall as a kid from This Is Us. I love Zerofuku. As for Prudr/Thrud.... omg.... I didn't cry when Raiden died, I cried when she died. she was beautiful and yall guys know that, I'm talking to the boys specifically, you knw she was cute but you all are scared to admit it lol. R.I.P Thrud.

[madsdefencesquad]

Do you think the answers Madison gave at her bachelorette party about her future and perfect day with Kevin could be a clue of what we will see next season?

Thank you for this prompt because I've been meaning to talk about the parallel of these scenes for a while now so here we go (and sorry because it's gonna be loooooong)!

The talk about the future is divided into two perspectives: Toby's and Miguel's.

Toby's version goes like this:

"They're never gonna make it. Nothing has changed. All [Jerry] did was deliver an incredible line to some divorce support group. Jerry's gonna work too hard, Dorothy's gonna resent him for that. And that little kid's gonna get the short end of the stick 'cause they'll never stop fighting, and soon he's gonna be mad and sad instead of adorable and precocious and I can just see their whole little family in this boat and the boat is just filled with holes."

Now young adult Kevin who was still married to Sophie then was this version of Jerry that Toby was talking about. The entire episode, the writers have shown us how easy it was for Kevin to be away from Sophie to the point that Sophie walks out frustrated because Kevin was just so nonchalant about their long-distance marriage.

I quote Kev, "Sophie and I were on different coasts for months, it was like super easy" and "it's no big deal". And Kevin keeps repeating this throughout the episode to the point that she finally loses it at him and asks, "how will this marriage even work?" and his response was all, "I don't know, Soph, it just will."

Now, Kevin goes and watches Jerry Maguire and like every moviegoer who takes on the personality of the movie they just watched straight after watching it, Kevin goes on full mission-statement mode and tells Sophie what she wants to hear about the future he pictures for them.

Now, take a moment to take in Kevin's line here where he says, "Jerry's the kind of character that decides what he wants and he goes for it."

Kevin writes the mission statement to appease Sophie because he got her upset (and also because he was called a "jackass" by his twin sister and was given disapproving looks by his mother).

And what of this seemingly amazing mission statement about their future together? Well, Kevin, using himself against himself, actually didn't want Sophie enough to make it really work with her. He chose his career over her which eventually caused their marriage/relationship to dissolve. Take note, this was also done the second time around when they were adults too. He was already in New York, determined to make it as a Broadway actor and he could've done so and stayed with Sophie but alas, once he was called to do a movie, he just packed up and left and made every excuse not to visit Sophie in NYC to the point that she had to come and surprise him. Anyway, that's for a different and (yet another long) post lol

Anyway, this is Toby's Jerry Maguire version of Kevin and Sophie. The one that didn't work and just won't work at all. Both time and circumstances included.

Now, sober, adult Kevin is the version of Jerry that Miguel was talking about. He says:

"Yes, there are some love stories that are written in the stars. There are other love stories... they're written together. Two people the universe had no plans for writing their story in the stars together. That's pretty fantastic too, isn't it? I think Jerry and Dorothy made it, Kevin. I really do."

Now, take note that before this speech, Kevin found the old mission statement that he wrote for Sophie and he laughed at it and even called it "embarrassing" because he knew that it was just a big fat laugh after all that's happened. He asks the question about how does one even know who to marry because obviously that one didn't work out and Randall could've done a typical Randall speech using his marriage with Beth as an example but instead, he calls Kevin's questioning "cold feet" because Randall knew that that Madison is the one for Kevin.

And that's why Miguel's speech hit hard because Kevin's finally enlightened by the fact that despite his and Madison's unconventional start, he knows that she's the one he's supposed to marry and wants to marry and that they can write their own love story in the stars together.

Now, finally to answer your question about Madison's vision of their future. Apart from the obvious parallel of Kevin not being able to answer and Madison catching his response to Jerry making that face during his own wedding with Dorothy, we can see now that they are on their way into making that future happen. Madison says:

"I hope we'll travel a lot and go out for long romantic dinners where we sit and talk until they kick us out. Like those older couples you see who still haven't run out of things to say to each other. Really, I just hope that things will slow down and we can sort of discover the world all over again. Together."

Note, the slowing down part. Everything's happened so fast for them and they haven't truly had a breath to slow down and take the time to truly discover each other let alone the world around them.

And anon, we are on track for this future together. It won't be Kevin's mission statement to Sophie that we'll see but this one that Madison had envisioned for them both, and if Kevin wants to add his own next season, then by all means! I hope he buys them an RV as a gesture of them growing old together and being like Madison's grandparents travelling from coast to coast together in their old age. It'll go well with Madison's "travel a lot".

Anywho, on track with Jerry Maguire's third act and the 'breakup' that is pretty much their release of breath, Kevin and Madison can finally slow down now and take the time to truly get to know one another and see each other in a different light apart from just being their kids' parent and the person they're supposed to be with because they both want that nuclear family.

And as Madison does her thang, depending on the damn writers, Kevin will either realise he's been in love with her all this time or fall much deeper in love with her as they co-parent which will lead to the "I love you/You complete me" Jerry Maguire confession at the end where Kevin finally gets the girl.

[safetyhaxard]

Do You Know Your Neighbors?

It was only midday, but the sun’s inescapable heat and glaring rays had already made the diner unbearable. It usually got hot around one or two, but today was supposed to be one of the hottest of the year. The Cook had a bandana tied around his forehead in a pathetic attempt to keep the sweat out of his eyes, but the waitresses had no choice but to wipe their foreheads with a spare napkin when they got the chance.

Well, it’s not like they didn’t have a lot of chances. At this time of year, most of the locals were out on vacation at the beach or a week-long tropical cruise. Sylvia was jealous of those who could go – her boss rarely let them take sick days, let alone vacations. Even when the tables were empty for hours, the bell on the door didn’t chime, and Cook stepped away from the grill because he had nothing to do. It was weird yet normal for the only cars in the lot to be Cook’s old Mustang that still shone like it was new and Sylvia’s beat up Ford. They’d listen to the second hand of the clock tick, the sound echoing against the linoleum, just to pass the time.

She didn’t know if the constant tick, tick, tick was better or worse than silence.

Jolene smiled weakly at her, noticing Sylvia’s blank stare and thinking she needed something (really, Sylvia had just been zoned out, feeling like she’d been in a trance from the hypnotic sound of the clock). “Sorry you gotta be here, hun. It’s just as dead as usual.”

“It’s fine,” Sylvia murmured. “It’s not your fault Boss thinks he’s God or something and needs to keep us in prison.”

Jolene chuckled at that – in the way someone laughs at you when they don’t find the joke all that funny. “God or summ’,” she repeated to herself, turning away to wipe some imagined dust off the counter.

Sylvia found herself watching as Jolene moved around the stools and bar. The latter was a curvy woman, probably what some would’ve called a ‘southern belle’ in her youth. Two kids and a husband who worked long hours wore her down, though, and her job was her only escape from that monotony. She often looked older than she was with the dark circles that colored under her eyes and the wrinkles forming around her lips. Despite that, she was almost certainly the peppiest member of the staff and subsequently got the best tips.

The bell chiming pulled her from her thoughts, and both waitresses turned toward the door, eyes flashing with curiosity and eyebrows raising in surprise.

A man stood next to the first booth, hands tucked into the back pockets of his jeans. He looked boyish, but he towered over Sylvia by at least a foot, thin and willowy. His blonde hair fell into his eyes, and it looked frizzy enough to indicate he probably had kept brushing it away and then given up. Once he noticed Sylvia’s eyes on him, he gave her a crooked grin and a little wave before tucking his hand back in his pocket.

“Can I help you?” Sylvia asked, putting on a bright smile and grabbing a menu from the counter. “We ain’t had many customers today, so we’ll have to brew a fresh pot of coffee if you’d like a cup.”

The man gave another toothy grin that stretched a bit too wide. “Aw, no ma’am, that’s alright. I’ll just take a water, please.”

“Comin’ right up. You can sit anywhere you’d like to, hun. We’re dead as can be.” Something about his smile had been off putting, sending a chill down her arms, but she kept up the cheery demeanor. Just ‘cause you don’t like him grinning like that don’t mean you slip up, Sylvie, she thought to herself.

“Thank you very much,” he answered, sweeping around to perch in the booth closest to the door.

Jolene had come back out from the kitchen where she’d been with Cook to see who Sylvia was speaking to. “Good mornin’ to you. What’s a young fella like you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?” Always the charmer, she could use that to snoop into everybody’s business when they came in – quite a talent, really. It made her a good gossip, which had both its perks and drawbacks for those she spoke to.

“Just passing through, ma’am.”

“Oh, no need for that. Just call me Jo.” She laid down a set of silverware and a handful of napkins, glancing up as Sylvia came back with a glass of ice water. “Got business in town?”

The man looked out the window, a not-quite-a-smile flashing across his lips. “You could say that.”

Jolene didn’t seem to notice his face. “Well, hun, a man like you’s gotta need a hearty meal, right? We’ve got a nice bacon cheeseburger meal, but if you’re looking for breakfast, I’m sure Cook wouldn’t mind grilling up some eggs for ya. What’s your name, hunny?”

“Randall Harrison, ma’am. That cheeseburger sounds real nice.” He ran a hand through his hair, most of it staying back but a few strands falling back into his face.

“You got it, hun. Jus’ yell if you need anything else.”

Sylvia followed Jolene back to the kitchen, the latter giving the ticket to Cook. “Don’t you think he’s a little young to be havin’ business? It’s a small town anyways, nobody wants to go there. Especially not this time of year.”

Jolene gave a chortle and nudged the younger woman with her shoulder. “Now don’t go all detective-y on the poor man.”

“It’s just a little weird to me,” she defended.

Jolene arched a brow at her. “Weird for somebody to wanna grab a bite in this heat?”

“I’m just saying—“

“For the love of all things holy, don’t go bugging ‘im.”

Sylvia stared at Jolene for a moment, waiting to see if she’d cave at all. When she didn’t, Sylvia finally answered, “Fine, I’ll leave it be.”

The pair looked over at Randall, who was now doodling on a napkin with a pen — who knows where he got the red ballpoint. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he glared down at his work.

“Go keep him company,” Jolene commanded. “He came out here lookin’ for a meal, not to be lonely.”

“Yes’m,” Sylvia grumbled in resignation, walking back to the booth.

Randall looked up as she approached. “What time is it?”

“Oh, it’s—“ a look toward the clock, the second hand still tick, tick, ticking— “11:36, hun. Somethin’ you’re waiting for?”

“Just a few more minutes, then.” He caught Sylvia’s eyes and grinned, but this time, the boyishness had disappeared from his face. The warmth of his smile didn’t reach his eyes, feeling forced and icy cold. A blink, and the look was gone, and he was back to doodling.

She swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. “What kind of business do you got in town?”

“Why’s it matter?” he asked her.

She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “Curiosity, I s’pose?”

He didn’t bother to look back up at her as he scribbled faster. “The important kind.”

“What does that mean?”

A deathly moment of silence ensued as he stared at her. It was a chilling kind of stare, the sort that makes somebody feel more like a mouse in an owl’s claws than a person. There was a knowing gleam to his eye, and though she was certain he couldn’t have heard the conversation from here, Sylvia felt that he knew what she’d said back in the kitchen. “You’re a bright girl, Sylvia,” Randall responded at last. “You’re suspicious of me, right? But your ditzy coworker there isn’t. Your cook probably isn’t, either. You wanna know why?”

Sylvia threw a look over her shoulder and searched for Jolene, wondering why the man’s food wasn’t out here already. Having someone out here, maybe he wouldn’t be saying such strange things. No dice, though — she couldn’t even hear her coworkers speaking to each other.

“Do you want to know why?” he asked again, more insistent.

“Yes?” she stuttered, hesitating before meeting his gaze once more.

He smirked. “Check what time it is again.”

“11:36.” Wait, still?

“Something about that doesn’t feel natural, does it?”

She jerked up from the seat, an invisible weight settling on her chest. “No, the clock is just… It’s just broken.”

“It always ticks. How else do you pass the time but to listen? This is the first time it’s been silent, isn’t it, Sylvia? Is the silence nice?” Randall taunted.

The waitress shook her head. “No, it has to be broken. That’s all.” I don’t care how weird it is, the clock is just broken. That’s how things go, they break. It’s not its fault for bad timing. It’s just a coincidence.

He stood up to face her, his height so much more than hers, making her feel scared and small and insignificant. “What more proof do you need? Do you want the sun to go dark? Locusts to swarm the windows? Do you want me to turn the water in the faucets to blood? Would you rather that I don red horns and fiery robes to prove to you who I am?”

A look at her hands showed her how badly she was shaking, tears welling up behind her eyes and knees shuddering against each other. “You’re insane. Demons don’t really exist, you’re just a person.”

Randall leaned in, an icy cool hand roughly grabbing her chin to yank her gaze to meet his. “You poor thing, telling yourself lies to make yourself feel better.”

“If you’re really a demon, why are you here?”

“To deliver justice.” His eyes seemed to flash red, and though Sylvia didn’t believe him, she didn’t think that she imagined the shift in color. “Do you know how awful the people in that small little town next door are? Liars, thieves, whores, murderers. The whole bunch of them. Men taking advantage of women for fun, teens getting high on the strong stuff, people in power begging for cash they don’t need, spouses with double lives. Why that town attracts those folks, I can’t say, but it does. A little haven where no one looks twice and everyone pretends they know nothing. I think it’s time that the lot finds out what karma waits for them, don’t you think?”

She was frozen in her slip ons, but Sylvia managed to gasp, “You’re lying to me. I know my neighbors, and none of them are what you’re saying.”

“Then you don’t really know them, girl. You’re one of the few innocents, but even Jolene and Cook aren’t. Have you ever met Jolene’s husband? She killed him last year in a rage before burying his body in the backyard. Have you wondered how Cook has such a nice house on the salary this place has? His brother is a drug lord, and in return for recommending his brother to any drug addict he comes across, he gets a good cut of it. Even your boss is an asshole - working you to death and further, all so he can take the profits and pay you barely enough to survive.” He finally released her chin, pushing her into a chair and just watching as she landed on its seat. “You’re blind to it all, but it’s time you figured it out.”

Sylvia watched as the man stalked back to where Jolene and Cook were, as she found herself glued to the chair and unable to even call out their names. Through the order window, she could finally see them, frozen in place by the stove mid conversation. Jolene’s mouth was open in what looked like a laugh, and Cook had a spatula still grasped in his palm as he went to flip a burger.

Randall reached them and reached a hand towards each, the air suddenly static around him. Two fingers touched both Cook’s and Jolene’s foreheads, and it was like the light and life was sucked from them. Both went limp but still stood, their eyes losing their shine and falling shut. Their skin dulled and hair lost its volume as Randall drew his hands away.

Finally, Sylvia was able to find her words, air rushing down her throat as if her chest was a vacuum. “What the fuck?” she yelled.

He quickly returned to her, standing solemnly over her. “I’m sparing you, Sylvia. You’ll find a good amount of cash in your accounts, and no one will ask questions. You go find somewhere else to be and a better job. Forget about this place and this day, and you’ll be just fine. Don’t do anything wrong, and you’ll never see me again.”

“Did you just kill them?!”

“I’m not going to kill you, so does it matter?”

“You killed them!”

Randall glared at her before turning towards the door. “Take my advice, Sylvia. You’re a smart girl. Do better.”

Her body shook so hard that the chair legs were clacking against the linoleum floor. “You just fucking killed my friends in front of me!”

With a sigh, he turned back around and touched two fingers to Sylvia’s forehead. The air was crackling again with static but subtler. “This isn’t your death. I keep my promises. You just need to relax and think straight.”

Her vision began to swim, then go dark. She swayed sideways before falling to the floor with a crack. Pain lanced through her head, a small cry leaking from her throat. She refused to succumb to the darkness, though, and kept her eyes trained on Randall’s figure moving towards the door.

What she didn’t expect, just as the darkness consumed her — horns seemed to sprout from his head and curl around his ears, bat-like wings sprung from his shoulder blades, and fire outlined each step as he lifted his foot from the floor.

He isn’t a demon, is he — he’s the Devil himself.

The door slammed behind him, and finally the clock began to tick, tick, tick again.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Can you write some cute headcanons for Randall before he turns mean in the frat in university? 😊

Hey! I didn’t know whether you meant X Reader or just in general, so I give to you- (a couple of) both! Hope you find something you like ^^ I’m not totally confident about them, but I really hope they’re okay!!

~~~

General:

·         He used to take the time to sticky note his favourite books. Like, put little coloured notes in all the parts he likes or that he knows he might, possibly want to re-read later on- it meant that his bookcase was always full of a long fringe of pink, yellow, green and yellow notes above the tops of the books.

·         He would also run his fingers through those fringes when he was nervous. So soft, and fluttery against the edges of his fingers… It was just a good way to calm him down.

·         He also got a few papercuts here and there, but he didn’t really mind.

·         Oh my god, he used to take his favourite fictional character so. Seriously. Like us! XD I don’t mean, like, getting mad at people if they don’t like them or anything like of course cuz that’s crazy, but like- he would go through the motions along with them as the story progressed. If they got embarrassed, he would turn invisible, if they won then a rainbow would progress over his skin, if they were sad he would pout and go blue. That kind of thing! And it didn’t end when the story did, either. If someone mentioned those character’s he lived adventures through again, afterwards, he would react just the same.

·         (Nowadays he tells himself that that is stupid)

·         Such a positive bean!! (On the outside) He would force himself to be optimist (Honestly, he still does that… but a lot more self-absorbed and greedy. Like, ‘if I do this to this person, then I’ll surely get to the top of the scare record’).

·         He. Loved. Halloween. He got such a confidence boost from disguising himself!! I mean, that’s what he’s good at isn’t it?? He would always get complimented by people for his costumes and he would just be grinning the entire night. Also, in the words of the late Wes Craven, ‘To wear the mask of the killer, or of the ghost, or of the skeleton, it gives the kid a sense of a lot of power and also safety, ‘cause the monster can’t get you if you are the monster for that moment.’

·         His last year celebrating Halloween was that first year of Uni.

·         He loved Heathers. His favourite song was Big Fun. Now he despises it.

·         Those cupcakes he made?? Those were his own recipe. He used to love baking as well.

X Reader:

·         Okay, you were a loner (In life in general. You just prefer your own company. I feel you there) but you warmed up to Randall surprisingly quick. Surprising, because of course your general disinterest in other people which was well known around school, and because Randall didn’t really have friends. So he was surprised, because, well,

·         Not only are you actually super nice when you actually warm up to someone but you’re warming up to him?! And you did it so quickly!

·         It made him feel special.

·         It was a piece of cake warming up to Randall’s presence. Everything about him made you want to smile. Just his very existence. Such a cute, sweet, brainy guy!

·         And being around you made Randall feel braver. Like somehow, just from being around you, he was learning to have a stronger back bone and more of an understanding of what behaviour from other people towards him is acceptable and what isn’t. He felt more confident in what he was actually comfortable with and what he wasn’t.

·         You two were so-o geeky together. Always fitting in quotes from your favourite shows and books into your conversations- you, in particular, did it in conversations with other people, too, when you noticed Randall fading or looking down. It wasn’t meant to exclude others. It was just, you know… a strategy to bring back Randall a bit, then you could all move on.

·         You always got so happy when he talked about other people because that meant he was making friends!

·         He was always super respectful when you invited him to your place because, 1. Your parents are there and he was generally a very polite boy, and 2. This is your place. And as introverted as you are, it was especially important that he doesn’t intrude or, I dunno, leave his vibe anywhere. For some reason, though, you never minded when Randall was around. He could leave his vibe wherever he liked- you loved his vibe!

·         So much cuddling. Like, soooooooo much. You would think he would be nervous about PDA, but he really wasn’t (And isn’t). I mean, you were there, and you were touching him!! What is not to enjoy?

·         Plus he totally thought he looked super cool to everyone else when he had you with him, so

·         “Hey, ah, Randall? Hi Y/N, too. How were your classes? I’m just slipping in for ten minutes for a snack before my next class so please hold the PDA, while I just slip in and outta here like the night- “ – Mike

·         BONUS:

·         Randall’s feelings for you do not change at all when his personality does. You’re entirely special, and so precious, to him.

·         He very literally, only has eyes for you. God, he’s straight up aro/and/ace towards everyone else in the world that isn’t you, even if you leave him. He keeps trying to get you back when he’s evil (In fact, he thinks becoming successful will attract you back to him).

·         Somehow you end up in the same workplace as him and he does not miss a chance to talk to you (Either showing off or just having idle chit chat. Or, trying to. You may ignore him- he refuses to acknowledge that fact though), checks all the sign up lists and roles for your name out of curiosity about what’s going on in your life/just to see your name or handwriting, waives whenever you’re in the same room even if he’s busy (He’ll just take a moment to give you a short waive to acknowledge your existence), scares off other romantic interests from you, etc.

·         Oh my god, imagine if Sully or Mike tried to ask you out-

[signed-yours-truly-the-whale]

Thoughts/Observations on Joker, part 1

AKA I Spent 7 Hours on This, I Will Die if it Gets Less Than Three Notes

I could rave for hours about this movie’s cinematography. Literal hours.

Nobody talks enough about Arthur’s full-fledged dedication to his clown craft. Man is working 60+ hours a week and does not break a sweat. I also fucking love this clowny face he pulls here. The first shot we see of Arthur in full. Holy shit is it beautiful. God bless Joaquin Phoenix.

These two shots together are incredibly important to me. In a split-second we see Arthur’s disbelief that he cannot control the whirlwind of emotions inside of his own head, not even being able to produce a smile, and then his resignation because it’s just another day. Heartbreaking.

Awwww shiiiiit

Gotham City is such a dump but I’d be bullshitting myself if I said I didn’t love the grimy aesthetic of it. It’s technicolor trash.

Arthur loves his job so much. He genuinely enjoys being Carnival. That hurts a lot to think about in hindsight.

This man just got his ass handed to him and he is STILL SPRAYING THE FAKE FLOWER ON HIS VEST

YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT DEDICATION

This opening card is so imposing. Not only does it take up the entire screen to the point of running off the edges, but it’s shielding Arthur from view. Arthur is invisible in light of Joker in Arthur’s own movie.

I screenshotted this by accident but I felt a need to put it here because he’s just so adorable. Even right before an episode.

E y e s s s s s

E Y E S S S S S

I desperately want to know what got Arthur sent to Arkham the first time. A suicide attempt? A public breakdown? I really want fanfics of it.

There’s a really, really good fanfiction on AO3 by Arthur_Fleck about Arthur slowly recovering and meeting a girl called In the Major and Minor Arcana

I highly, highly recommend it

Okay. Joaquin’s immersion into his characters -- all of them -- is absolutely incredible. But Arthur is just ... off the charts, man. No two of his characters are the same and he embeds himself so deeply in their skin, but Joaquin buried himself so deeply into Arthur’s brain that it is so hard for me to see any of Joaquin at all. God, he’s incredible and this shot makes me emotional because this just is Arthur.

ARTHUR WOULD BE A GREAT DAD AND I DO NOT ACCEPT ARGUMENTS

It really speaks to how shitty Gotham is that this man is having a full-fledged screaming/laughing breakdown on the bus and nobody is batting an eye

I adore how the cinematography paints Arthur as so small to his own environment. He’s a speck of dust. A fleck.

Babie is wincing :((((

I have been trying to figure out the layout of this apartment for months and my inability to, even with a floor plan, is driving me insane

I just found out that the Budweiser beer jingle Here Comes the King is on the soundtrack and plays when Arthur comes home and that made me go feral

I  A M  M U R R A Y , K I N G  O F  A S S H O L E S

It is second nature for me to do this stupid pose every time I watch this scene

Arthur blending into the crowd here makes me ... so happy. He looks so happy.

This is Arthur’s best laugh of the movie, fuck you. I am incredulous that I was the only person laughing when I saw this in the theater opening night.

This is one of the few moments I really see Joaquin shine through Arthur. I don’t know why, but this lighting and his voice and his intensity gives me visceral flashbacks to watching a little boy Joaquin in Parenthood. God, I love this man.

It really is a testament to Penny’s (lack of) parenting that Arthur is day dreaming about receiving affection and validation from a parent figure when his own mother is literally right there

GOD DAMN THIS MAN IS GORGEOUS

But also big bruise :(

Yes, I shall trust you, man named Randall smiling down at me in low angle light

Why was Hoyt not informed that Arthur got his ass beat on the job? As Arthur’s employer he should’ve literally been the first person to know so he could make a note of it. Either he wasn’t told or he gave so little of a fuck that his consciousness astral projected to another plane of existence while he shoved the white powder down his throat and forgot Arthur existed at all.

Literally fuck Hoyt. I hate him even more that his office is the coolest shit in the world

ARTHUR KNOWS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SMILE

Joaquin dislocated his knee in this scene, the poor boy

I could write a full damn essay about why the misleading advertising of Sophie as a prominent character was the greatest twist of the whole movie. Literally I am still speechless how the movie did that.

I am not kidding when I say my sister has this same color scheme in the bathroom of our house and realizing that made me werewolf

Also Arthur being the son Penny doesn’t deserve warms and breaks my heart

The complete lack of reaction to Penny’s “Don’t you have to be funny to be a comedian” makes me laugh and cry internally

This shot? Gorgeous. His face? Deadly. That jawline? Cutting diamonds. Hotel? Trivago.

I really, really want a Joker 2, but at the same time I do not want a Joker 2 because Joaquin Phoenix has a baby who needs him now and he cannot be pulling shit like losing 52 lbs for a role

Also I REALLY need to discuss how much this brass ballet reminds me so heavily of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Holy fuck, I got actually chills in the theater

Like holy fuck

And then this shot reminds me so heavily of the opening of Fedddy vs Jason with Freddy Krueger laughing over his newspaper collage of missing children. Holy fuck I love this cinematography.

Guys. G - Guys, his name tag says Dr. Carnival, can you hear me  s o b b i n g

This part is so Chaplinesque, the way he slides the gun into his coat again

These children look so afraid of him for dropping the gun and wowie, does that really hurt

Was this asshole supposed to be modeled after Eric Trump? Because I get really douchebaggy Eric Trump vibes (minus the jacked teeth) from this ringleader

I don’t have much to say here except I am in love with the way Artie’s hair sticks straight up in bottle curls when the clown wig slides off

Also if you decide it’s a good idea to mess with a man dressed as a clown laughing maniacally on the subway of one of the most dangerous cities in the world, you are asking him to shoot you and I will not feel sorry for you

I will never not be in love with this image. I fell in love with it in the teaser trailer and almost went feral in the middle of the mall when I saw this was the poster they used to advertise the movie with. My friend described this movie as “chaos, beautified,” and nothing sums it up as well as this picture.

JOAQUIN AND TODD MADE THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE UP AND I AM IN LOVE

Hello, handsome

[fictionalreads]

This is Us Season 6 Episode 6

Beth

Beth always looking out for the little guy.

The way her mind went to her stomach immediately. This is why I love Beth.

Y’all stole that from Gina Rodriguez. WE KNOW THAT PHRASE

Oh we get past Beth too!

TELL HIS ASS OFF BETH

I said tell him off, not fold.

Beth said “I need a patented Randall speech. This lil you got it ain’t cutting it”

I hope this goes well for Beth. And for the dancer.

Oh shit she fell.

GOD I LOVE BETH

AND RANDALL! HIM TOO!! HE GETS MY LOVE

Okay. Take two. Tell his ass off!

Past Kevin + Kate (and Rebecca)

This is awkward. Rebecca’s acting couple-y with Miguel in front of your sort of boyfriend.

LMAO Kate says what I’m thinking by.

No y’all need to talk about it.

I mean....you asked to know Kate.

Y’all ain’t Thelma and Louise

Miguel your jealousy is showing.

Oh shit he told her. Like outright. Not even easing into it.

Fuck Kevin. You ruined your relationship with Sophie and Kate’s.

Miguel is hurt. Did y’all see his face when she called him her best friend?

Present Kevin + Kate

He’s trying. So hard.

So I know from the promo that Madison wants to stay in LA for the holidays but...why?

I don’t know why they’re acting like Kevin don’t notice shit. He do.

I mean. I get her position, but I also get his. Like y’all are coparenting. It’s not fair to tell him he can’t spend his kids first (second?) thanksgiving with them in a place that means something to him on a holiday that has deep meaning for his family. But she also shouldn’t be stuck having to do it.

Kate is caught in the middle. Again. I had assumed it happened before and that’s why she was mad when she found out y’all slept together. Now I just feel bad for her. Can’t win.

No Kate. You don’t get to make it out like he’s selfish for wanting to spend the holidays with his kids. That’s not fair. It’s not easy for her either and I get that but it doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

Sir. It’s not about you. This man is trying to spend time with his kids and make sure they know him so they don’t call you daddy instead of him. He’s insecure about that not getting back with Madison. At least I don’t think.

Okay Toby. Don’t become an ass please.

Miscellaneous

ITS BACK

The island girl who danced before she walked 😭

Just three days before thanksgiving? Man I buy like a week or two in advance.

LMAO Randall drinking the wine in the promo like “oooh. I’m just glad it ain’t my drama at thanksgiving for once”

[sepublic]

The Old West and Pig Baby Car!

           I love Kez, she’s… SUCH a weird, chilled-out, unusually-attracted-to-anything little ding-bell! With her head constantly in the clouds and always sparkling like there’s stars obscuring her eyes… And her simplistic yet incredibly expressive design, those two beady eyes that as said, go stare into FOREVER…! And how she’s a remorseless disaster magnet and a weirdo who’s always vibing and on some weird wavelength that’s hard to understand, but once you get it, you get it!

           Let me say it again, I ADORE how this show takes advantage of its premise and setting to always do something NEW with the characters, and I love how we’re building up to a conflict of Kez’s past enemies teaming up to get revenge! That seems to be a theme of this season so far, teamwork, coming together, etc., how ironic that collaboration is going to be a danger to the dynamic duo as well! Kez’s weird, clumsy, forgetful, and overall just… MOOD, and way of talk- I love her, I love her voice, she’s amazing! Also, I halfway called it with the sheriff caterpillar metamorphosizing… But into the judge, THAT I did not expect!

           Also, it seems that in this world, only THREE things are constant- Death, Taxes, and Samantha the Cat! When I saw her I legit deadpanned my expression, but c’mon, we all saw it coming, and honestly she’s such a reassuring part of this show, in a sense; We know she’s always there and we can always count on her to be present, she’s SEEN some stuff and she’s a veteran in a sense! Weird thought, but could one say that Samantha is the true protagonist of the show, and the show is about her watching various passengers and their messes?

          Perhaps a final book for the show would’ve had Samantha as the primary denizen, to round things up and cap it all off… Either way, I love seeing her differing roles and how she’s handled in each book- First as this unusual enemy and ally, then as a brief obstacle/cameo, then with emotional resonance and guilt and backstory… And it seems so far here, mostly just a cameo and an ally! It’s neat, I love seeing how Samantha’s story, brief as it may be sometimes, is handled in each book! Who knows, maybe Samantha is writing the books, and that’s why they’re called that! Now I’m waiting for Randall to show up…

          And also, that GAG and cut to Samantha instantly flipping on a (literal) dime for money, even if she’s also collaborating with Kez, was hilarious and so wonderfully expressive of her character in a nutshell, even for veterans who’ve already SEEN her like this! Seems she hasn’t changed much, but with how she seemingly betrayed people, only with the plan to come back… Makes you wonder if that’s what she intended for her and Simon in that Cardboard Box Car with Ghom, only for Grace to inadvertently sidetrack things? Oh god, that’s dark- The idea that Grace unknowingly ruined things between Samantha and Simon, and that plays into Samantha disliking her… But at the same time, she doesn’t seem to hold things against Grace for it, so probably not.

          But oof, that’d just play into Simon’s accusations of Grace ‘ruining’ him, while Grace wants to save and help others like with those kids in the Apex or Hazel, only to misunderstand… The concept of retroactive revelations to characters and thematic foreshadowing, SO GOOD, and it’s making me appreciate more this concept of a Book that takes place in the past, to establish additional context for previous and even later characters, perhaps!

           Also, just… The colors, the zany hijinx and ideas, the premise for each car, the denizens- They’re all so wonderful and unique, and I applaud the crew for their creativity, for never letting things get old… Each car is such a fun place to get stuck in, well most of them… Pig Baby was unusual, and I can see what Owen was referencing with that one pig tweet! I think there’s a clever pun to be made in the way the numbers sync, almost like a duet for music… The motifs, man!

           The jabs at post-war American cuisine were hilarious, and Ryan man… I’m glad to see him learn to cool down; But unfortunately, Min thinks it’s ONLY Ryan, and he doesn’t realize he has to collaborate as well! And I like that… This idea of like; Two people are both contributing to this mess equally, you can’t just pin the blame on one, and they BOTH have to make concessions and work together! It’s a contrast to Book 3, in that it seems Ryan and Min are actually slated to work things out, VS Simon and Grace… With Grace recognizing how the two of them screwed each other up, but Simon refusing to admit his fault! Duet then forms a duality with Cult of the Conductor, one about the downfall, the other about two reconciling… Hopefully, we’ll see later down the line.

           It’s definitely going to be a hard pill for Min to swallow, that he also has stake in this issue- I wonder if he’s under this impression that… He’s more ‘mature’ than Ryan, and as a result, he doesn’t want to confront his part in the situation? Though to be fair, it could just be a matter of circumstance; Ryan was the first to have a puzzle dealing with his own fault, and Ryan was the one who got them on, so it makes sense that Min assumes it’s Ryan’s issue! But dang… I felt for Ryan at the end, I feel like he’s just incredibly lonely himself and desiring positive attention, to feel validated; Whilst Min sort of feels validated? At the very least, I don’t think it’s as much of an issue for him, whilst with Ryan he has to compete with his siblings…

           Hopefully Ryan will be able to find that sort of positive attention, while also still respecting Min’s boundaries and his own needs as a person; Min can’t just attend to his every need, the way the Cow Creamer does for Pig Baby! Also, another random thought, but Kez’s very lax, go-with-the-flow attitude… Honestly, it kind of reminds me of like, the kind of partners that Ryan had, before he went back to Min maybe? I dunno, I recognize that Kez definitely has huge stoner vibes, and a hypothetical Human Kez in an AU seems like the type of person Ryan would’ve encountered… Hitching a ride, taking his van and thanking him, but not being THAT grateful, lol.

           Nevertheless, that’s one stop- Onto the next one! And as Kez reminds us so importantly, it’s not JUST about the destination, but the journey… I’m glad to see Min be self-aware of the need to apply lessons here the way Lake was, and I bet this whole ‘journey and destination’ mentality might apply to Ryan’s whole thing of travelling around and doing performances! We’ll see… Next stop, passengers!

[appalachianwiine]

Swim Chapter 9 - A Friend

Chapter 9

And if it feels like it's already over

Lean in closer, rest your bones

You've got a friend when times get mean

Yeah, in the meantime I'm on your team

“In the Meantime” - Randall Kent

The day passed in an odd sense of time for Carol, while the kids and her classes kept her busy enough the moments between periods and over lunch seemed to stretch on forever. The opening and closing of the heavy classroom doors shoved and yanked by teenagers all too ready to leave class brought back clear memories of heavy hospital doors being swung open and the room filling with people. Every time a phone would chime or the office would call she’d be dragged back to memories of the nurses calling in codes and shouting for doctors.

3 o’clock came and went and instead of staying after to grade papers or work on paperwork she started cleaning up the classroom to leave. To get to the hospital by 430 she needed to be out of here by 4. She moved robotically through the motions of wiping down the desks and straightening the textbooks. Her mind was with Lydia and Daryl now.

She knew all too well the feeling of being in one of those rooms, time lost to the hospital. Morning, noon, and night change to first shift, second shift, third shift. Hours turning to IV drip times and vitals checks. It could crush a person alone like that and Daryl seemed to think he was very alone. She got the sense he had been for a long time and it worried her. It reminded her of Leah and Matthew really, they’d come from a small farm in northern Georgia and despite all of Carol’s pushing and offering and turning up Leah had never been friendly. Even Ezekiel hadn’t managed to get more then a few words at a time from the woman and he could get just about anybody to talk. She didn’t want to see Daryl and Lydia facing the same sort of isolation.

Carol stopped to pick up coffee for her and Daryl on the way to the hospital. It wasn’t a lot but sometimes a warm drink that wasn’t crappy hospital coffee could make a difference. Pulling into the hospital parking lot she spots a familiar face. The dark haired woman and little boy who’d come to see Lydia and Daryl a few days ago.

“Excuse me!” Carol calls, hurrying to catch up. The woman turns around. “Sorry sorry are you going to see Daryl and Lydia?”

“Yes.” The woman nods. “You must be Carol, from the group. I’m Dr. Grimes.”

“Yeah, Carol.” Carol nods. “Dr. Grimes, it’s nice to met you. Have you known Daryl for long?”

“Seven years almost. Carl was just a baby when my husband and Daryl started working together.” Dr. Grimes says. “I’ve been Lydia’s pediatrician since Daryl adopted her four years ago.”

“Oh.” Carol frowns, “Then you -”

“Caught the cancer?” Dr. Grimes nods. “Yeah, something was wrong, I pushed the lab to expedite the sample, and I’m glad I did it but I have to say that wasn’t ever a call I expected to make in my career. Especially not to someone I know so personally like Daryl. It’s the worst phone call I’ve ever made.”

“I can imagine.” Carol nods. “But I’m glad he has friends behind him, he needs them.”

“Well maybe you could tell him to call every now and then.” Dr. Grimes mutters, pressing the elevator door button. “He nearly gave us a heart attack the first time he called. It was nearly a full 24 hours after he came to the hospital.”

“It’s overwhelming.” Carol frowns. “Learning your kid is that sick, I’m sure he didn’t mean to worry you. He’s a nice guy.”

“He’s too nice.” Dr. Grimes sighs. “Carl step away from the doors or they won’t close.” She pulls the little boy back a step or two by his shirt. “Every time i call it’s vague answers and I know he doesn’t want to worry us but still…”

“He doesn’t want to be a burden.” Carol nods. “It’s - it’s pretty common in this world. Most people pull away when they learn you or your child has cancer. And the ones that don’t - we don’t want to burden the people who stay.”

“He’s always been like that.” Dr. Grimes sighs. “I just wish I knew how to help so he didn’t have to ask.”

“I can help with that.” Carol offers. “If you want.”

“Really?” Dr. Grimes says, ushering Carl out of the elevator. “What can we do.”

“Well - right now… everything is kind of managed for them, the doctors and nurses tell him how to clean, when to eat and sleep, what medications to take when.” Carol explains as they begin the walk down the hall. “When they get home, it’s - it’s going to be a lot scarier. Because then everything is on Daryl. If you’d like my help I’d like to help prepare the house for when he and Lydia get back. Pill organizers, cleaning supplies, wound care, that sort of thing.”

“Okay.” Dr. Grimes says. “Yeah, of course we’ll help.”

“Moooommmmm” Carl whines. “You’re being slow.”

“Alright, alright.” Dr. Grimes rolls her eyes good naturedly. “Sorry about him, this is the most he and Lydia have been apart in a long time. They were in the same class at school, and they were supposed to go to camp together this summer.”

“It’s fine.” Carol chuckles, picking up the pace slightly.

Lydia’s room has a white board attached to the door reading;

LYDIA DIXON - 8 YRS

IV VINCRISTINE

“Mom what’s vin - vin -” Carl frowns. “That?”

“It’s medicine baby.” Dr. Grimes says. “To help Lydia get better, but it might make her feel sick so we need to be quiet and calm when we go in okay?”

“Okay.” Carl nodded solemnly, reaching for his moms hand.

Carol leans forward and knocks on the door.

“Come in.” A tired, gruff voice says.

Carol pushes the door open and holds it for Dr. Grimes and Carl to go in first. Lydia is curled up in a ball on Daryl’s lap, pale as a ghost and wrapped in a blanket.

“Carl!” Lydia mutters, moving off Daryls lap and holding her arms out. Carl looks up at his mom and she nudges him forward. That’s all it takes for him to rush over and embrace Lydia.

“Hey Daryl.” Carol smiles. “I brought you decent coffee.”

“Thank.” He mutters, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. “T’ be hones I think I’m too tired t’ tell the decent stuff from the shit stuff.”

“Long night?” Carol asks.

“Yeah.” Daryl mutters. “Thanks fer comin’.”

“Of course.” She offers a supportive smile.

“How’s Carl an’ Judith?” Daryl asks turning to Dr. Grimes.

“Judith started walking, much to Shane’s horror. I sometimes forget this is the first baby he’s responsible for.” Dr. Grimes chuckles.

“Hey that’s a hell of a shock.” Daryl says. “Imagine getting a four year old and having no parenting experience.”

“You’re doing great.” Dr. Grimes says.

“Thanks Lori.” Daryl mutters. “So uh, you met Carol?”

“Yeah we ran into each other in the parking lot.” Carol nods. “So, how you holding up?”

“Um.” He glances at Lydia and Carl, who are now both wrapped in Lydia’s blanket on the end of the bed and whispering to each other. “It’s uh - it’s been a rough day. Henry and Ezekiel came by earlier, tha’ was nice. But It’s just kinda...”

“Numb?” Carol asks quietly.

“Yeah.” Daryl nods. “Numb. I was uh lookin’ at this binder and it’s - it’s like… it’s insane. I mean, three months in the hospital getting intensive chemotherapy. How do - how I even prepare for that?”

“You ask for help.” Lori whispers. “And you take it when it’s offered.”

“She’s right Daryl.” Carol says. “Those stays are impossibly hard when you’re on your own, so you let us help.”

Daryl didn’t look so sure about that, and next to her, Lori folded her arms. “Daryl Dixon. You’re not on your own anymore and trying to do it all on your own isn’t going to let you focus on Lydia. So you’re going to let us help. Got it?”

“Alright, alright.” Daryl runs a hand over his face.

“And right now you’re going to let us help by going down to the cafeteria with Carol and getting some real food.” Lori continues, looking over at Carol and raising an eyebrow. “Because if theres one thing you look like you could use right now it’s a good meal and an adult conversation.”

“I shouldn’t leave Lydia.” Daryl argues.

“She’s fine.” Lori insists. “She knows me, and she and Carl can watch a movie.”

“Lyd?” Daryl asks quietly. The little brunette turns back to look at her dad. “You okay if I go get some food with Ms. Carol?”

Lydia cocks her head and looks between the two of them. “I… I guess. You’ll come back?”

“Soon as I’m done.” Daryl nods, leaning over and kissing her hair.

“Okay.” Lydia nods.

“You two want to watch a movie?” Lori asks, motioning them out of the room.

Daryl lingers and Carol reaches out and touches his arm lightly. “Come on, they’ll be fine.”

Daryl doesn’t say a word until they’re out of the room. “Sorry about Lori she’s just -”

“She’s looking out for you.” Carol cuts him off. “I know it feels awful leaving her right now, but you have to take a minute to recharge too. Come on, I’ll buy you lunch.”

“You don’t have -”

“I’m doing it.” Carol insists. “We can go over that if you want.” She nods at the binder still in his hands. “I uh, I know pretty well whats in there. I’m sure you have questions.”

“Oh.” He frowns at the folder. “Do uh - do we have to?”

“No.” Carol says, stepping into the elevator. “We can just chat if you want. Try to get your mind off of everything in there.”

Fifteen minutes later she and Daryl are sat with a soda and sandwich each at the back of the cafeteria. Daryl seems to realize he’s hungry and inhales half the sandwich without a word, he pauses abruptly, mayonnaise on his face and turns red.

“Sorry.” He mutters, reaching for a napkin. “I uh -”

“No need.” Carol smiles. “I’ve been there, any food you have eaten has been eaten in between what little sleep you’re getting.”

“Not gettin’ much ‘f either at the momen’.” Daryl mutters. “Lydia was up most of the nigh’ sick again. Probably will be again t’night. The only time she settles is when I hold her.”

“Yeah Sophia was like that.” Carol nods, taking a bite of her own sandwich.”

“I’m usually pretty strict ‘bout everyone sleepin’ in their own bed but I can’t bring myself t’ say no right now.”

“Sophia only slept with me when she was sick too.” Carol nods. “I was always bad at saying ‘no’ while she was sick, but they do need some semblance of structure and routine.”

“Yeah.” Daryl nods taking a swig of his coke. “Tha’s gonna be hard, I know when we get home an’ she’s safe an’ secure again she’s gonna lash out an’ stuff, but I’m gonna have a damn hard time keeping boundaries.”

“I did too.” Carol nods. “Sophia was processing a lot at her diagnosis - our living situation had changed, I left her dad, it was a nightmare.” Silence hangs between them. “Have they said when you’re going home?”

“Hopefully sometime next week.” Daryl mutters.

“Okay.” Carol nods. “Lori and I are going to get the house ready for you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Carol sighs. “You’ll need some things, medical supplies, pill organizers, hand sanitizer, bedding. Something I like to do for the families here is help get their house ready to be home again.”

“You don’-” He stops, seeming to take what they’d said earlier in. “Thanks Carol.”

“It’s why I’m here.” She says, taking a bite of her own sandwich. “No one was for Sophia and I and I’m not gonna let that happen to anyone.”

“Her dad a dick?” The blunt way he says it makes her raise her eyebrows. “Sorry.” He mutters sheepishly. “I uh - I shouldn’ ha-“

“It’s fine.” She says quickly. “He uh - he was yeah. I left because I thought he hurt our little girl.” The words tumble out before she can stop them and she blinks, stunned at herself. She never spoke of Ed. She never spoke of why she was single. She left it at messy divorce and that was that.

“Shit.” Daryl mutters.

“Yeah.” Carol nods.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Nah.” He shakes his head. “It ain’. Ain’ nothing I can say gonna make it okay neither.”

There’s that blunt honesty again. Harsh, but welcome. No ‘I’m so sorry that happened’ or ‘you’re so strong’ just ‘ain’ nothing I can say gonna make it okay neither.’

“You’re special victims yeah?” Carol asks.

“Yeah.” Daryl nods.

“So I guess you’ve seen some of that.” She nods.

“Yeah.”

Silence hangs between them again.

“Thanks.” He says. “Fer all yer doin’ fer Lydia an’ I.”

“You don’t need to thank me, I’ve walked this path before. A little closer then I’d like, so if you need anything or just want some adult conversation just call.” Carol says.

“I- yeah, I will.” Daryl nods. “I uh, didn’ mean t’ scare ya this mornin’ if I did. I jus’ - you’re the only person I could think of to call.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” She smiles, reaching across the table and squeezing his hand. “You’re a good dad Daryl, and you’re gonna get through this.” Her attempt at a reassuring smile falls a little flat, because this time she’s not telling the entire truth. He will get through it, but Lydia? She was a different story all together, one with possibilities no parent wants to face.