#idk maybe I'm just having a weird moment. but I'll post this anyway

[prowerprojects]

Disregarding how it was realized and if it's a good thing at all, at least conceptually it's interesting how over time Tails's main character flaw (insecurity) morphed from the cutesy "awww he doesn't realize his own strengths"/"he just needs to believe in himself uwu", to a more realistic and ugly version of that where he lashes out at people, extremely avoidant of confrontations and consequences, and even acts in ways that makes him seem arrogant.

The ugly portrayals of insecurity aren't exactly uncommon, but it's usually with characters who are kind of presented as jerks and the audience is supposed to point and laugh at them so it's interesting to see it on a character like Tails who is supposed to be "nice" and sympathetic.

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Aroace Alastor

Hoo boy here we go- This one might make some people mad at me, so I'll preface by saying I do not want to start a fight and as long as you respect my business, I'll respect yours. But let's get this over with-

First off, I genuinely don't understand how some people can see the Ace-In-The-Hole quote and still believe that Alastor is only intended to be asexual and not also aromantic. Yes, the term Rosie used for purpose of the pun was 'ace', but can we look at the context of that moment before jumping to conclusions?

Rosie, motioning to Charlie: "Oh, who's this you brought with you? Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you! Oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"

Her original statement implies nothing sexual, only that he's involved in a relationship with Charlie, and she follows it up with why she knows that couldn't be because he's an 'ace in the hole'. I don't think you have to read too far between the lines to see that.

I would also like to say that when Vivienne has spoken about his orientation before, I recall her saying that she didn't want to confirm him being aromantic so that she wouldn't 'ruin anyone's fun', which I just feel like is an odd thing to say if she wasn't already explicitly picturing him as aroace. If she thought he had romantic attraction, why wouldn't she just say that? What fun would that ruin? I also feel like keeping things like this ambiguous just to appease the shippers is a little weird, but I digress-

And to those of you who I know are saying "But aromantic people can be in relationships too!!" *deep inhale* yeah I know. I'm not gonna pretend you're not right about that, but there are also aroace people who have exactly 0 interest in romance or sex at all. This is the part of the post that really is based on how I interpret certain moments, but to me he is absolutely one of those people. I don't really know where people get any vibes of him being interested in that stuff. I have never once looked at him and thought "Yeah I could see him in a romantic relationship with *insert character here*". Even aside from attraction in general, since that's what we'd be talking about at this point anyway, he just seems like the kind of guy who'd rather work and live independently instead of relying on anyone, whether practically or emotionally (which is also probably part of the reason he never joined the Vees, but that's another topic entirely). Hell, I'm pretty sure he's in heavy denial about even developing any kind of care or friendship with the people at the hotel (ie. the episode 8 scene with him and Niffty).

The only ships I see him involved in with people he doesn't hate (so ignoring RadioApple, RadioHusk, and StaticRadio. But to be real, maybe the fact all his main ships are enemies to lovers coded says something about the whole situation, but that's just me-) are Charlastor - which I will not even try to discuss here, people aren't gonna like this post as it is - and RadioRose. Rosie and him would at least be fair, if it weren't for one thing (which is also personal opinion on my end), and I don't know exactly how to word it. I'm tempted to say she has wingwoman vibes? But she knows he's aro, so that's not the right word, but there's vibes of like, she probably did act as a wingwoman before she realized that about him or something.. There's also something about her joking around like "Oh this is the girl? You have a girlfriend and I'm only now meeting her?" is almost giving motherly behavior. Idk man they're just besties to me, I could see them in a QPR though (not that they'd probably label it that way, considering the word queerplatonic is likely just complete gibberish to Alastor lmao).

So to summarize: It feels incredibly likely, if not practically canon, that Alastor was written with aromanticism in mind, even if Vivienne refuses to explicitly state it. Subtext and not-that-subtle implications can say just as much about a character as word of God, especially when that God has explicitly told us why she won't confirm or deny this information. Do I think any of this will stop people from shipping him romantically with literally any other character? No ofc it won't, and that's okay, that's just what fandoms do. I do think there's something to say for the fact the one aroace (or even at the very least asexual) character gets constantly shipped with everyone else in the cast, but this post is long enough I think. The only point of posting this is that I wanted to get information out there in one post to say "Hey, let's look a little bit past the surface for a second before saying there's no proof of him being aromantic"

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you at least took something away from this

[xjackjackx]

Alan Becker Analysis: Hazard's Mysteries (Or Maybe I'm Overthinking???)

Ok so unlike this last post about Victim and Glasses Guy / "Agent", this isn't really me bringing anything solid onto the table (well besides one or two things). This is just me overanalysing random shit that frankly is likely irrelevant.

Anyways this post is about Bathroom Sign Guy aka Hazard aka Warning aka Sign, the gray pictogram mercenary from Animator vs. Animation VI, and why he might have a deeper role (prob doesn't).

Part 1 - The Overthinking of Minor Details

Ok this is the part where I'm 100% convinced I'm just talking stupid shit due to rewatching the episodes too many times, but eh.

Let's start off with something... relatively normal actually, which I saw pointed out by others. When Chosen attacks the mers with lightning, Hazard has this shit happen to him:

This is... frankly weird and idk what it means. When Wanted first came out, this and his movement made me think Hazard was a robot, but since then I started believing he's just a normal stick figure like the others. Besides, this whole series is on a computer so everyone besides the Animator is an AI lol.

So if he's not a robot, perhaps Hazard is connected to technology, and thus taking away the ship's energy took away his? That's the only other thing I can think of.

The second one was actually told to me by a friend, and tbh even in this whole post this might be the biggest stretch, but I still think this is worth bringing up. When Orange and Chosen return to the Outernet, Hazard is seen looking... somewhere.

(btw agent looks so stupid here lmfao)

The most likely answer is that he is simply looking around, like Agent and Primal - the cave drawing - are seen doing like immediately afterwards. But my friend did point out that it could easily look like Hazard is looking up - in which case, he could've possibly noticed Chosen and Orange, and then chose to not tell the other mercenaries until Agent notices them and thus forces Haz to intervene. Likely just huge overthinking of a one-off scene, but still.

The last one from Wanted is this shot of the Mercenaries in the elevator.

In this scene, Hazard briefly looks at Ballista - the pixel gremlin - and then proceeds to look away when the little guy stares back at him. Is it most likely them just finding the awkward elevator silence uncomfortable? Probably yea, but it could also be a sign of Hazard and Ballista having a rocky relationship - we see Ballista is pretty aggressive, so maybe Hazard is nervous around such a batshit crazy dude?

In "The Box", the first Hazard scene worth talking about is the first of his reactions to Victim's torture of Chosen.

We know he is a mercenary and a villain, so it should be expected that he's a cruel bastard, but still, falling asleep while watching torture is just another level. What kind of shit did Hazard see, or do himself, that he finds Victim's actions purely boring?

...and yet, just a few moments more later, Hazard has an actual reaction to Victim pulling out a lasso.

Now, the three dots - and thus, Hazard's silence of a reaction - could mean anything. Maybe he's still bored, just awake now. Maybe he's curious to see what will happen. Maybe he has actual standards. But it's still interesting to see that Victim's lasso got a reaction out of Hazard (meanwhile Ballista just crosses his arms, prob in curiosity or impatience, while Primal stays completely still - I'll get to their personalities later).

Similarly, Victim ordering Agent to clone him also gets a small reaction out of Hazard, his head jumping a little (I don't know how else to call it).

This time, it's definitely just shock/curiosity/surprise that Vic is doing something new, and/or that the Box lets you clone people, but still worth pointing out.

A long time later, we finally get something worthy of note from Hazard, that I actually find interesting. While the other mercs are too busy looking through Chosen's memories, Hazard notices Orange returning.

I feel like this was actually an intentional choice. Like, why make all the mercs focused on Chosen's memories, excluding only one of them - and it's not even the most important mercenary that's the big bad's right hand? Also, why is Hazard so far away from the other mercenaries? While I consider this whole section of the post just major overthinking, this one moment specifically is actually pretty sus to me.

Now, to close off this section, there is Haz's reaction to Super Orange.

Mainly, how he and Victim are the only ones who are inarguably scared/panicking. Primal just leans in like "de fuk", Ballista flinches once and then watches in silence, while Agent double checks on both the small and large monitor. Primal and Agent are confused, Ballista is shocked(? idk how to call it), but Hazard and Vic are the only ones with a true "OH SHIT" reaction. What this means? Idk, again this whole section is just overthinking things.

Thankfully we can leave the part where I talk meaningless shit and get into the parts that hopefully actually have a point.

Part 2 - Hazard and His (Lack of) Personality

Another part I noticed since Wanted first dropped (part of the reason why I first thought Haz was a robot) was that, compared to the other mercs, he has so little personality... which might be intentional.

I mean, Agent. He also doesn't showcase a lot of himself, but we still see that he's cool, calm, loyal to Victim, kind of a taunting asshole who plays with his victims instead of instantly getting serious, and despite it all, not unbreakable - He panicked when Chosen attacked him with the iceberg, and he was caught off-guard by Super Orange like everyone else.

Ballista probably has the most personality out of everyone. His body language shows emotion pretty much all the time: most specifically, anger. Whether it's his fighting style, his pose, or walk cycle, Ballista is pissed off 24/7. It's implied it even makes his co-workers nervous. At the same time, the grin he flashes when jumping off the ship in Wanted shows he enjoys his job.

Primal is second only to Hazard in lack of personality, but there's definitely still something there. Mainly, is that he's a very fight-focused person that is basically an empty shell outside it. He's so ready to fuck up a rhino in Wanted, and sharpens his spear for another hunt while bored, but outside of fighting Orange?... he's pretty dull. Only a bit more emotional than Hazard. He seems like a Kraven-type character who just wants to hunt the biggest prey possible, while having zero life outside it. Also he has a Hulk-style form which reduces him to an animal sapience-wise.

Hazard, though? He uhh... he wants to get Chosen, is very focused on completing the job, and that's kinda it. He's such a blank it feels intentional. Perhaps he has his own goals and is hiding them?

Part 3 - He's Either Holding Back or He's Fucking Useless

Yea not gonna sugarcoat this. There has to be some sort of big reveal of Hazard's true power in later episodes, or this dude's so weak it's laughable to think he's supposed to be a threat.

I mean, Agent has a toolbar that makes him a Mini-Animator, and he can pause anything and anyone. Ballista can shapeshift his body and pull weapons out of his ass. Primal has a stronger form that can pick up a rhino without difficulty, and he probably has more.

Hazard?

He, uh... is good at dodging. He also has this one Shock Sign that killed a bird. Yeah.

Ngl if this is all Hazard has then it's impossible for me to see him as a threat on par with the other mercs, or even Victim. Hell, I wouldn't even be able to see him as above the Stick Gang in strength, with how slow Orange was in that scene compared to his fights in the AvM Shorts.

So yeah, on top of possibly hiding his true personality/hidden motives, Hazard was most likely holding back heavily in Wanted, which only makes him more mysterious.

Part 4 - The End

So, this is kinda it. Was Part 1 all overthinking, or did I get a few things right? Is Hazard actually hiding something, or does he only show little personality because none of his scenes let him show off anything? Is he holding back his true strength, or is he actually weak?

Frankly idk, but I am excited to see where things go with this guy, as he has tons of potential.

[mochinon-yah]

I just realized we all technically have the power to ask any questions on this site, and I never got to doing it. So....

[Points S.E.E.S evoker at you]

Who are the fictional characters you ship your mutuals to? Doesn't have to be necessarily their self-ship. I am deadass curious. Spill the tea, Imbibitor's lover—

We can lower that down, brynn- no need to get all aggressive now-

*cough* ANYWAY!

I'll list them down below, and if they're not accurate or you're actually gonna fight them rather than making out with the characters that i chose then yeah, that is probably my plan 😀 /silly

Oh and! I'll mostly be using genshin and hsr characters because yeah-

@beloved-brynn -> heizou and ratio. NGL, YOU + HEIZOU, OR YOU + RATIO, OR EVEN THE THREE OF YOU WOULD TOTALLY BE SO FUNNY AND CHAOTIC 😭☝️ they can counter your wild statements while also being the (somewhat) saner one but could also say smth wild as well. I could see you and one of em (possibly ratio) be like "oh yeah, the other day, i was eating my lunch while watching that gorey movie-" "what." "yeah, i was hungry at that time, so like why not yk-" (this is based on my real experience guys, guess which dialogue is me lmao)

@meimeimeirin -> hmmmm, koh zhongli maybe? Okay, let me tell you the reason why... it's simply because she NEEDS someone who can pamper her! I don't know where that conclusion came from, but yeah. Anyway, if we're talking about other characters, then i think welt, or even zayne from lnd could fit. Basically: "I need someone older, just a little bit colder." lmao (oh, mochi, did this conclusion came up because you know rin's the youngest in her family and now you ship her with men older (and more experienced) than her? whaatt... ofc not, haha-)

@leftdestiny-posts -> absolutely cannot see them with anyone other than dottore. Cute and kind but is secretly crazy "i want to watch the world burn" x The human version of the word 'crazy' "as you wish, my love" would be their dynamic, i suppose...? WAIT OH! I can actually see shiro with ayato or maybe sunday! I bet they would like such a cute, innocent-looking darling to control, but then they would get so surprised and maybe super interested into trying to control the darling despite how crazy the darling actually is- (shiro ily, if ur crazy then we can be crazy together 💐)

@navxry -> arlechinno, and maybe black swan. Yeah, that's it. No explanation needed.

@jessamine-rose -> hmmm, would it be weird if i say capitano? I don't know why or how did i get to that conclusion, but yeah. And maybe blade? IDK WHY I'M PARTNERING HER WITH CRAY CRAY MEN- SORRY JESS, I (subconsciously) THINK YOU CAN LIKE CALM THEM OR SMTH AJFIAWOF-

@stardust-for-your-soul -> funnily enough, i can see her with aventurine. They'll say sweet words that probably have a double meaning and also probably have a teeny tiny bit (maybe a lot lmao) of 'enemies to lovers' moment. (wow, cherry, your new bf is a gambler- /smack). But anyway, i could also see her be with march 7th who is so bubbly and sweet, and i'd think cherry would love to tease march hehe

@teabutmakeitazure -> ACTUALLY NGL DAN HENG????? He would listen to her ramblings and also help her write her fics. It just sounds so cute in my opinion lol. Other than dan heng (who is obviously the best choice), zuri would probably look into red flag charas, like... yeah, aventurine- but still tho, dan heng! But i get what zuri is thinking tho, red is such a sexy color- /smack

@harmonysanreads -> ngl alhaitham or kaeya would be cute if paired up with her! Idk where did kaeya come from, but when i thought about it, instantly "cute!". I think, harmony has this really 'weird' calming aura that could make those two charas just fell in love with how comfortamble she can make them feel. BUT LIKE IDK THO-

@fishanonishere -> Albedo...... i think? Fish, i know what you are- i mean like as in how chaotic and just how 'what in the world is this person thinking???' you are. With how calming and 'would jump into any interesting topic' he is, i think fish and him could be such a cute duo. Fish's ramblings and their drawings are some of the things that make him really interested in fish

[7ndipity]

Nice

Jimin x Reader

Summary: You and Jimin happen to cross paths and get to know each other during a rainstorm

Warnings: none

A/N: Another neat request! I was gonna post this last night, but I wasn't happy with it and rewrote it today, so I think it's better? Idk, I hope y'all like it anyway.

Masterlist

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

The beach was usually quiet as you walked along, the shoreline that was typically teeming with people was practically empty, thanks to the cold, drizzly rain that had crept in overnight. Not quite the ideal weather you'd dreamed of for your vacation, but you were trying to make the best of it.

"Excuse me!"

You glanced up, feeling jolt of surprise when you recognized the figure jogging towards you, even with the mask covering the lower half of his face.

"You dropped this." Jimin said, holding out a small keychain figure.

"What?" Glancing down at your bag, you saw that he was right, the bt21 charm apparently having fallen off without your notice.

"I- Thank you." You said, accepting it from him.

"No problem." He said, watching as you attempted to reattach it.

"So, RJ, not Chimmy?" He commented with what you assumed was his usual smirk, based on the way his eyes crinkled up.

"He's on my other bag." You said, shooting him a grin.

"Ah, right." He nodded skeptically.

"He is!"

Before he could reply, the rain decided to pick up abruptly, sending both of you scrambling up the beach to the covered benches near the boardwalk.

"Ah, the crew's gonna be annoyed now." He said, shaking the water out of his hair.

"Are you filming something?" You asked.

"We were supposed to, we had to postpone it earlier because the weather." He said, trailing off as he watched the rain

Quiet settled over the two of you for a moment before you spoke up again.

"How're you doing?" You asked. "I mean, you know..."

"I'm okay." He said. "I've just been so busy, it feels weird sometimes to be still like this, you know?"

You nodded.

"It's nice though." He smiled. "What about you?"

You told him about your trip so far, and before long the conversation started veering off from one topic to another as you both began to relax, finding it surprisingly easy to talk to each other. He told you about the new drama he'd been watching and hobbies he wanted to try, and you told him about school/work and your dog, who he insisted on seeing pictures of. It was easy to forget that you'd only met a few minutes before, feeling like you were just talking to one of your friends.

Eventually, the rain began to let up enough to walk again.

"I should probably head back." He said reluctantly, getting to his feet.

"Yeah, me too." You said, following suit.

"Oh!" He turned to you again. "I didn't catch your name?"

"It's y/n." You said.

He smiled at you. "Thank you, y/n."

"For what?"

"For keeping me company." He shrugged. "It's was nice."

"You know, you say that a lot." You said, fighting a grin.

"It's a good word!" He defended.

"It is. It's a very nice word." You teased.

"Alright!" He laughed. "It was very nice meeting you, y/n."

"You too." You smiled.

"Maybe I'll see you around?"

"I hope so."

You parted ways, the smile not leaving your face even when you got home.

[otherone12]

Comics And "Something"

Gerard Way x Brazilian!Reader 

-> Masterlist

A/N: Hey!! Well... days ago my intrusive thoughts just won and i wrote a Gerard Way imagine (because why not)... and then I received this request... I've been bored, so maybe i'll post some emo imagines (mcr, p!atd, fob, paramore...) frequently?? Idk. If have requests, I will certainly make them... and i will post a part2 of the “I Can Help You With That” :)

~ "Could you do another imagine with Gerard and a Brazilian reader? (Perhaps the reader is Gabriel Bá's sister) ...I don't know if it's an interesting request :("

Summary - Your brother worked with Gerard for a while, but you've never really met him until now 'cause you live in another country (Brazil). Fortunately, Gerard is gonna stay at your brother's home for a week, to work on a new project. You both don't know what happens when you've seen each other, but it was CLEARLY something.

- Word Count: 1.570

- Warnings: Age gap? (not smut!)

- Ps1: I'll not use y/n…

- Ps2: I'm brazilian, so english is not my first language ... sorry if i wrote something wrong.

Damn... sorry for the superlong intro *-*

___________________________________________

Reader's 1st Person POV

I woke up 3 am and looked at my phone just to see three missed calls and an absurd amount of texts from my brother. I can't believe that this man is like forty-something years old and can't even wait till the morning to tell me whatever he wanted to tell me.

Even though I'm tired, I read every single one of the messages. None of them has a real meaning, was like "are you awake?", "i need to talk to you", "it's important!"

Why the fuck he did'nt just tell me what is going on insted of doing this?? 

I called him back and he dropped the news: Gerard Way will spend a whole week in my brother's house!

- Realy?! - I shout at phone

- Yep... he's gonna stay here for a while... don't act like a stoned, please. - i heard a bit of a desperate tone in his voice, like he wasn't kidding.

- What do you mean? - I said, trying not sound offended, even if i was.

- I know you for 25 years, dear... you can't keep MCR lyrics references out of your mouth for too long. - He chuckles.

He's right... i can't, the same way i can't swim, can't dance and i don't know karate.

- I don't know why you think I'm gonna be weird or something... it's not like I'm a fangirl. Not anymore. - I argued.

- Sure... - his sarcasm always makes me mad - By the way, we'll be busy working, so i will need your help here... can you stay with us in my place?

- Yeah, but why do you need me? Don't you think I'm gonna "act like a stoned"?

- Honestly? I KNOW you're gonna be creepy, but I can't cook, and i refuse to buy shitty North American food for Gerard when he's here. 

- OH, FINE! - I couldn't help but take it as a challenge, I'm gonna be there and act normal, because that's what i am, right? A normal person - I get it. So no cheeseburgers and stuff? 

- NO! You can cook something nice, right?

- I can try... 

- Awesome! See ya tomorrow at 8pm in the airport to pick Gerard up. Good night. 

-  Bye! 

Yeah, sure, how the hell does he expect me to sleep? I mean, when I was a teenager, Gerard was my hero. I'm not that kind of fan anymore, but still, I like him so much. 

Gabriel never introduced us appropriately, probably 'cause I was ‘that’ creepy fan, or the long distance between the countries made it impossible for me to travel. Anyways… just didn't happen yet.

*** time skip ***

I don't know why, but I just imagined the scene of Gerard going out of the airplane and thousands of paparazzis just screaming and taking pictures of him… I was surprised that didn't happen, I know the people here and we can be really crazy sometimes. By the way, Gabriel and I was waiting for him.

Soon, along with several other passengers, We could see him, who was looking for the familiar face of my brother in the crowd. The smile emerged on his face in the moment they made eye contact. 

Damn this man is so good looking… Suddenly I remembered why I had that crush on him.

-Hey, How long, man?! - Gabriel said with a smile as he opened his arms to hug Gerard.

- Hell yeah! How have you been? - That pretty smile still in his face.

- Great! Better now that i know we'll gonna work together again!

I just couldn't stop looking at him… I think he noticed, ‘cause he looked back at me.

-Lemme guess… Your sister, right? - The lovely look on his eyes as he extended his hand to greet me made my face burn. - He talks alot about you, I was excited to finally meet you!

- So as I! - I shaked his hand and smile back at him, trying not to overdo it.

- She's A huge fan! 

The death look I gave Gabriel made Gerard laugh a bit, but not enough to make me feel more embarrassed than I already was.  

-Well, that's true, but why don't we go home? - i said - You need help with that? 

I pointed to the two suitcases he was carrying.

-That's fine. I can handle two of them. Thanks! - i swear, his eyes was glowing… im not that crazy! 

We put Gerard's things in the trunk of my brother's car and we went back home. 

During the way, all I could think about were those hazel eyes and how I felt a connection... it was inexplicable, maybe it's just nonsense in my head. But there's always a ‘maybe not’, right?

Gerard's 1st person POV

I don't know what that was. But THAT was fucking something! The way she look? Maybe, but not just that. don't know! 

I haven't even talked with her, but I hope we have time to get to know each other well. Because that was something.

At home, Gabriel showed me the office and the room i'll stay in.

He has such a pretty house, and all the pencils, markers, and art stuff get me even more excited to start work. But his sister is still in my mind... The best I can do now is go to sleep, cause all the way in the airplane just stressed me out.

Reader's 1st person POV

First things first, i woke up early to do exactly the thing my brother wants me to do: cook. 

I was distracted preparing coffee, and heard a familiar voice from the back of the kitchen.

-Morning… - Even though his voice was dragging because he had just woken up, he still sounded so good. 

Gerard sat at the table while I finished preparing breakfast.

- Morning! How was your night? Did you sleep well? - I asked, trying to start a conversation.

- Yeah, really well, and the feeling of waking up with this smell is just amazing! - He smiled, rubbing his eyes.

- I'm glad you like it. - the feeling of relief and joy took over me, I think being normal will be easier than I imagined…

*** time skip ***

The next two days was normal, just small talks, because the purpose of him coming was not to talk to me, but to work, right? Still, it would be nice to take an hour or two just to talk.

Or not, i keep thinking about the feeling in the airport, i want to feel that again. 

Gabriel left early this morning to look for who knows what, which ended up making room for a break from work. 

I was sitting on the couch, watching a rerun of my favorite movie when Gee appeared in the living room and sat next to me.

-Finally a break, hun? - he said, with his usual smile, which by the way I always thought was beautiful - Don't get me wrong, I love to do that, but sometimes Gabe just goes too deep.

- Yeah, I know… he is intense. Family thing, I guess… - I chuckled and turn the TV off, so we could talk. - Same eyes and same craziness.

We laughed for a moment, but he seemed to concentrate on confirming the similarity between my eyes and my brother's eyes. A shiver went down my spine when the look stopped being critical and became appreciative. It's incredible how artists can vary between technique and feeling.

The situation made me want to kiss him, but I think this is out of the limits, considering his relationship with my brother. I respect that and never gonna do something that could ruin it. 

-  Transcendently impressive… - The way he spoke made it seem like he was in some kind of trance. - Your eyes. 

I gasped in shock. I didn’t know what to say. I just stood still, while my breath was panting.

-Thanks! - I pulled from somewhere within me the confidence to thank and return the compliment. - I can say the same about yours, maybe even more.

- I think you're exaggerating, but thank you - I thought the situation would be awkward, but Gee seemed increasingly comfortable with my company. - May I ask you something?

- Sure! - My curiosity barely let him finish the sentence. - Anything.

- Did you feel that at the airport? - He sighed as if taking a huge weight off his chest. - Because i did. Sorry if it sounds weird or...

- Thank God! I thought i was freak out. So there WAS something. - I quickly got up from the couch and practically jumped for joy. - The last days i couldn't barely sleep thinking of you! Well, not YOU but the whole situation and-

It happened so quickly that I couldn't register in my mind when he stood up, even less could I believe that he cut me off with a kiss. 

-I thought about you too, sugar… 

Before I could do anything, he kissed me again, that feeling it was becoming clearer and clearer, with every second my lips remained close to his.

The next few days were a bit different… not like we just makeout a lot of times, but some quick looks, kisses and conversations. We discovered that we have more in common than we imagined…

Now, taking advantage of Gerard's last moments here, I decided that I would help him pack his bags, so that we could make, whatever our relationship is, last longer. While we were talking, I couldn't help but notice the t-shirt he was putting on his suitcase. 

-Oh my god, i didn't notice… you brought THE shirt! 

- What do you mean? - He was confused, but then he looked at the shirt and noticed why.

- “Pool Boy At The Vampire Mansion” shirt… it's like THE shirt!  

- Ya know? Keep it.

- WHAT? I don't think-

- You heard me. - He smiled, in the cutest way a human being can smile.- I want you to keep it. I don't know when we're gonna seen each other again, so… 

Gerard dropped the shirt in the bed and got closer to me, placing his hands on my waist and, getting even closer, he pressed his lips to mine gently. The kiss became deep as we let ourselves be carried away by the heat of the moment. 

-This week was perfect. - He said, placing his hand on my cheek and looking into my eyes. - I wish it didn't end now. You know, sugar, I think we could work out… be something. 

- I'm sure that we can make it happend- I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss even more intense than the last. The feeling of hope made it seem like time would stop at that moment. 

~ That's it. Hope u enjoyed :)

[fictionalsownme]

Do you have any tips that you're willing to share when it comes to writing Wilford? Like, tips to keep writing him as in character as possible?

Hi! I’d love to share some tips!! 🥰 Wil is pretty hard to write for to be honest ^^" It can be easy to fall out of the rhythm of his character since he's just so strange of a guy haha but I guess that's what makes him fun too! each of the points ended up pretty long so hopefully I didn't get too ramble-y!

anyway! hopefully some of these pointers help out! 💞

some disclaimers really quick: all of these are my own interpretation but by no means does anyone have to follow these or do I think I'm right or anything like that! also, this is for wmlw!wilford since I pretty much only write for him so far :) let's get into it!

Wil has two modes depending on how grounded he is. The first is a go-with-the-flow airhead who has no idea what's going on and is completely unbothered by this. Everything just washes right over him, and he seems to think everyone else is like this too. He speaks in non-sensical idioms half the time, each sentence only barely connecting to the last. His accent is pretty over the top in this headspace too! The second is when he's a bit more grounded, probably leaning more Colonel than Wilford. In my writing, he gets like this when he's reminded of his past (similar to wmlw), forced to be present in the current moment, or emotional in some way, etc. His accent is less subtle and more typically british, and he speaks in longer, more logical sentences.

Stress the right words in his dialogue. This one might just be a quirk of my writing style because I love to overuse italics as you can probably tell haha but Wil emphasizes really random words when he speaks, so even just sprinkling it in every once in awhile I feel like adds a lot!

Don't forget his body language. In a similar vein to the previous point, Mark's performance of Wilford is reallyyy physical, and dependent on his mannerisms. How he moves his hands is a big one, they hang in the air or land in interesting spots. Same for his expressions, how he tilts his head, how he sits and walks around, etc. Don't forget to keep him moving often unless he's still for a specific reason (scared, thinking, etc).

Have Wilford 'MOTHERLOVING' Warfstache on standby. I play wmlw pretty much on a loop & on silent in the background while I write him if I feel like I'm struggling to get him right. The way Mark acts him is so specific with his voice and his mannerisms and everything so having the video to refer back to is super helpful even just to get the vibe down. Sometimes I'll watch the whole thing start to finish before I start my writing session, though,, maybe I'm procrastinating hehe

Try to balance his humor, sweetness, and attractiveness. This one is a little weird, and probably depends on your preferences and what kind of fic you're writing, but for me, these are the main aspects of Wil's personality I like to focus on. Like, let's not forget, he's totally ridiculous. But he also seems very sensitive, and you know... he's hot. He's a goofball! I found myself forgetting the funnier side of his personality while I was working on my fic so I figured I'd throw it in :)

He's not as violent as he used to be. so it's clear that Wil doesn't have the temper that he did as the Colonel, but I like to take it a step further and say that once we reach WMLW, he doesn't struggle as much with violence. This is a bit more headcanon territory but Wil's violence post-WKM was based in a (mis?)understanding that death isn't real in this world. I think that plus his desensitization to violence eventually brought him full circle all the way back around to just being kind of passive. He's not scared of violence or guns at all (ie kissing Abe's gun) but he doesn't really bother with them himself either. I just like him as kind of a harmless clueless puppy idk 👉👈 hehe

I hope these helped, and lmk if you have any more questions! I like rambling about my boy(s) kikiki 💞 thanks for the ask!

[biggerbetterbat]

[26] OLD MCDONALD HAD A FARM

Daryl Dixon x OC!Charlie Reed

Summary: Good days on the farm are over. The group has to decide whether they can trust Rick and do they even want to stay together.

Warnings: language, death

Song: Everybody Dies Billie Eilish

A/N: Hello ;) WE'RE OVER FARM DAYS! I can't wait to traumatize Charlie even more!!! SPOILER: From now on it's going to be just worse and worse. Also, I don't know when the next chapter will be posted - probably next Monday, but idk for sure. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and I wait for your comments and likes.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" was the first thing Daryl said as they entered the farmhouse. Everyone turned to them with curious glances.

"No."

"We heard a shot." shaking Lori walked up to Dixon.

"Maybe they found Randall," said Andrea, probably trying to calm the other woman down.

"We found him," said Charlie, furrowing her brows.

"Is he back in the shed?"

"He's back to being dead." Reed snorted as leaned on a frame. She saw how people furrowed their eyebrows, not knowing what had happened in the darkness of the woods, just moments before. For them, Randall was still alive."He's a walker."

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked.

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit," Glenn said.

"His neck was broken," Daryl added.

"So he fought back."

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other," Charlie said.

"And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together." Daryl ended her deduction.

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane, and find out what on Earth is going on?" Lori almost begged Daryl.

She was shaking and her face was showing worry, new information probably made her even more nervous. Obviously, they were all confused about the whole situation, but it was her husband out there in the dark. Daryl had no other choice, but to nod. "You got it."

Reed wanted to go with him and help, this way would be quicker. Besides if Shane really lied to them, if he let Randall out just to kill him almost right away...there was a big problem. He had to plan all of this and that was probably the most concerning thing.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked as she saw people just standing outside on the porch. She passed them and stopped in her tracks as she saw the most terrifying picture. "Oh...shit."

"Patricia, kill the lights," Hershel ordered.

"I'll get the guns," said Andrea.

There were probably hundreds of walkers coming right at them. Charlie was sure that she peed her pants, because how the fuck they are supposed to fight them? Another question was: where they all were coming from?

"Maybe they are just passing, like a herd on the highway," Glenn asked, looking up to Daryl. "Should we just go inside?"

"No unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about," he said examining the herd of the dead and then looked at him. "A herd that size would rip the house down."

Then of course something happened and complicated things even more. Lori ran on the porch breathlessly." Carl's gone. He...he was upstairs." she breathed out. "I can't find him anymore."

"Maybe he's hiding."

"He's supposed to be upstairs," Lori said angrily. "I'm not leaving without my boy."

"We're not," Carol said and took her hands in hers to calm her down and show her support. "We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him."

Charlie rolled her eyes. How would it be any different? The thing with that kid was that he should have a guard or a band around his ankle, so he would be easy to track. Lori should watch him 24/7 even when he was asleep.

"I got the number...it's no use," said Daryl, when he saw that Andrea came back on the porch with guns and bullets, handing everyone something.

"You can go if you want." the old man said, ignoring his skepticism.

"Wait. Do you want to stay? Like...here?" Charlie asked. "You gonna take them all on?"

"We have guns. We have cars."

"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm." Andrea nodded.

"Are you serious?" Daryl asked.

"This is my farm," Hershel said straightening his back. "I'll die here."

And yet again there were two options. One: go and fight. Second: run. But if she ran and left those people who helped her and she considered them friends, she would be just heartless and ungrateful. So there was just one option: don't die. She kneeled and started loading up her gun, making sure she would have bullets even in her pockets.

"Charlie?" Daryl asked as he saw her squatting.

"This is not my farm and I won't die here," she answered him, straightening and looking him in the eyes. "Because we will fight."

"All right." he nodded as if her firm eyes convinced him immediately. "It's as good a night as any."

It was chaos. The barn was suddenly set on fire, all they could hear were screams, gun sounds, and this horrible snarling that was making her hands shake. Living were mixing with the dead, so Charlie couldn't really tell if the body she was pointing was really the one she should have. Walkers were coming from the ground that's what it seemed. She was shooting them with Hershel, but there were too many, for one killed there were immediately four in its place.

"Come on!" Hershel was screaming, encouraging Walkers to come and get him.

"Where's Lori? Did you see Lori?" she heard a male voice after a shot that killed a Walker that was right behind her.

"I don't know what happened, Rick." Hershel was trying to explain. "They just keep coming. It's like a plague. They're everywhere."

"Lori!" he screamed. "Did you see her?"

"No!"

She looked back at from where the herd was coming and didn't like the really short distance that Wakers was from them."There's no time for this!" Charlie said. "We have to go!"

"Find Lori and the others." Rick nodded and killed a couple of Walkers.

"It's my farm!" Hershel protested.

"Not anymore!"

She didn't feel safe on the highway as so many bad things had happened in this exact place. Nothing really changed here even though everything had changed. They were on a farm for a week, but in times like the one they lived in it seemed forever. Charlie saw the car with supplies for Sophia and almost vanished writing Sophia stay here on the front window. Besides those nostalgic memories, the highway was too close to the farm.

"Well, where's mom?" her attention turned to Carl as he asked. "You said she would be here. We gotta go back for her."

"Carl..."

"No," he protested. "Why are we running? What are you doing? It's...it's Mom. We need to get her and not be safe a mile away."

"Shh. You need to be quiet, all right? Please."

"Please...It's Mom." a boy tried to convince his dad.

"Look, Carl, listen..."

She was looking at angry Carl walking away from them. Rick looked at her and she just shrugged with her shoulders not knowing what he expected from her. He saved her ass as well Hershel's, but there was no possibility that she would be running after somebody's son- it was not her job. There was tension between them since their talk back on the farm, so her being stuck with Grimes was kind of ironic. Charlie didn't have to say she was grateful, it was obvious. Let's not even begin why they were in this place to begin with...

"Rick." Hershel captured their attention. "You've got to get your boy to safety. I'll wait here for my girls and the others. I know a few places. We'll meet up at one of them later."

"Where?" Charlie snapped. "Where is safe?"

"We're not splitting up," Rick said in a firm tone, ignoring her question.

"Please. Keep your boy safe." Hershel said. "I'll hide in one of the cars. If a walker gets me, so be it. I've lost my farm. I've lost my wife and maybe my daughters."

"You don't know that." Rick spat. "They'll be here."

"And you don't know that." Charlie rolled her eyes at Grimes.

"I know, Charlie. You're a man of God, Hershel." he snapped at the older man. "Have some faith."

God...

Was it even right to talk about Him in a time like this? It felt wrong that He would have let anything like that happen, considering the belief that there's an afterlife. Charlie never thought about this before and now that she did it even more made her stick to the belief that it was pointless to waste time.

"I can't profess to understand God's plan, but Christ promised the resurrection of the dead," Hershel said. "I just thought he had something a little different in mind."

"We stick together," Rick said a little less harshly, looking at Charlie and then at Hershel.

When he saw Rick and Hershel, he felt that a heavy stone just dropped from his heart. He could stop worrying about everyone he had under his wings and just come back to being...well, no one really. It felt good to see that Carl was alright and his reuniting with Lori was something he wished Carol had back on the farm.

"Where'd you find everyone?" asked Rick.

"Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road..." he pointed at Glenn. "Figured he had to be Asian, driving like that."

"Good one." Glenn nodded and chuckled.

Daryl looked around, looking for a girl that should be here already, hugging her best friend. Charlie was nowhere to be seen though. She wasn't near Greenes, she wasn't with Glenn, and he couldn't even see her scoffing face, leaning on one of the cars. "Where's the rest of us?"

"We're the only ones who made it so far," said Rick cluelessly.

His heart dropped and he felt the urge to throw up. Did they leave Charlie on the farm and let her die? No...she was a fighter. She definitely was alive somewhere...Was she? She expressed her want to die, so maybe she just got overwhelmed but the herd and gave up. That thought just made his knees weak.

"Shane?" asked Lori, but her face fell as Rick shook his head.

"Andrea?"

"Andrea saved me, then I lost her," Carol said.

"We saw her go down," added T-Dog.

"Patricia?" asked Hershel.

"They got her too," the blond girl who tried to kill herself said. "Took her right in front of me. I was...I was holding onto her, Daddy." she cried. "What about Jimmy?"

"He was in the RV. It got overrun." Rick said.

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked.

"There were Walkers everywhere," Lori said.

"But did you see her?"

Daryl didn't want to think about what had happened to Charlie and that's why he didn't ask. He didn't see her here, so it was obvious she was dead, but there still was the smallest hope that she was on the farm. She was a hard one, she was probably hiding somewhere, just waiting for Walkers to pass by. "I'm gonna go back."

"No," Rick said.

"We can't just leave her," Daryl said, but by her he meant Charlie.

"We don't even know if she's there."

"She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead." Rick answered. "There's no way to find her."

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asked.

"We gotta keep moving," Rick said. "There have been walkers crawling all over here."

To confirm those words Daryl shot a Walker that was snarling, slowly coming towards them.

"Charlie. And where's Charlie? Where is she?" Glenn asked frantically as if remembering that she wasn't around. "If she's on the farm, we have to go back. I won't leave Charlie."

Daryl wanted to nod his head and just go back to the farm. There was no way he would leave her either. She was the only good thing that was left in his life and he knew that, he was sure of that. From the moment he met her, Charlie was the first person who didn't look at him as if he was a bad person - even though at the beginning he was and he knew that she probably thought so.

"Charlie's okay," said Rick. "She walked that way."

"And how's that okay?!" Glenn asked with anger. "This place is full of Walkers you said it yourself !"

"That's why we have to stay off the main roads," said Daryl, getting ready to follow Charlie. "The bigger the road, the more walkers," he said. "I go get Charlie and we can go."

Glenn was looking at him stunned because he was still surprised that something was behind him and he wasn't prepared for Daryl just informing everyone that he would be the one to look for Charlie.

He saw her almost immediately after he passed Hershel and his daughters. But he fastened his steps as he heard her scream and right after that she was stabbing some girl on the billboard in the face. Daryl had to really come close to realize that the girl was what he supposed would be her before. In the photo she was wearing makeup, her nails were in a red color, she was wearing a tight dress and there was a lot of shiny jewelry on her. The only thing that stayed the same was her smile- which in the photo seemed a little fake.

"Hey, hey, hey." she heard and then she felt a strong pair of arms around her, gripping her tightly. "Shh."

She heard his motorcycle and something like Glenn's voice, and her first thought was to just get up and run toward them, but then she realized that she would have to face the fact of who was left on the farm. She would have to see who's not that lucky and died. But she didn't expect Daryl to be the one to look for her and hug her as tight as he was right now.

"It's all right," he said, bringing her down to the ground. "It's all fine now."

"Nothing is fine!" she screamed trying to push him away. "All those people are dead! The farm is gone! Winter is coming and we have no place to stay, no supplies! How is it fine?!

"Hey. Shhh. We're alive." he tried to calm her down.

"And that's the problem." she said."You see her?"

Daryl looked up.

"She's a dumb bitch that was worried about fucking gluten!" she yelled. "She got her family killed! She got a lot of people killed because she lied to them! And she's a dumb fucking bitch that can't even die!"

Daryl hugged her. He wanted to take all of her pain like a sponge, so she wouldn't feel so miserable anymore. She blamed herself for everything that had happened as if there was a force that wanted to punish her for past mistakes. He couldn't care less about what she was saying about killing her family and some people, because in that moment he just wished she could see herself through his eyes.

The car stopped and Rick was out of it, anger radiating through all pores of his skin. Shortly everyone was leaving their vehicles in the middle of the road that was in the middle of nowhere. They were in the woods, not safer one bit than they were on the highway. Daryl looked back at the former cop from his motorcycle."You out?"

"Running on fumes."

"We can't stay here," Maggie said.

"We can't fit in one car." Glenn shook his head.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning," Rick announced.

"Spend the night here?" Carol furrowed her brows, wrapping her cardigan tighter around her body.

"I'm freezing," Carl said, shaking.

Rick was already on the way, taking his jacket off, while Lori was rubbing her son's arm."We'll build the fire, yeah?"

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close," said Daryl. "Only got so many arrows. How are you doing on ammo?"

"Not enough." answered angry Rick.

Something felt off with Grimes. When they all met him, he was officer-friendly and now he was just different. Rick was their rock. He was calm and always was ready to listen to their problems. He was probably tired, cold, and hungry, but they all were, so the reason must have been different. Charlie could sense that any question would end up with a snappy answer in an angry voice.

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out," commented Maggie.

"Watch your mouth." Hershel scolded her. "Everybody stop panicking and listen to Rick."

"All right, we'll set up a perimeter," Rick said. "In the morning, we'll find has and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try to scrounge up some gas," announced Maggie.

"No, we stay together." he protested. "God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn tried to reason.

"I know it looks bad, we've been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other," he said. "I wasn't sure...I really wasn't...But we did. We're together. We keep it that way." he looked around at everyone's faces and then he tightened his teeth. "We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

"Rick, look around. Okay?" Rhee stepped to Grimes. "There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something."

"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other," he said with a much more nervous tone, trying to persuade Glenn. "I know it's out there. We just have to find it!"

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long?" Charlie asked. Even though she completely agreed with Grimes about staying together, she had to say what she was thinking. "The quarry. The CDC. Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe."

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel tried to calm the situation down.

But Rick seemed not even listening to her words as he pointed to some walls near them. "We'll make camp tonight over there, get on the road at the break of day."

"What if Walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" asked scared Beth.

Charlie felt a pair of eyes on her, so she looked up and was met with Daryl's blue ones. She nodded her head slightly, encouraging him to ask the question. "You know we found Randall, right?

"He had turned, but he wasn't bit," Charlie said and saw how Rick was looking down, turning his head away.

"How's that possible?" Beth asked.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori furrowed her eyebrows.

"Shane killed Randall," Daryl answered her as Rick was still quiet.

"Just like he always wanted to, right?" Charlie raised her brow.

"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked her husband, expecting whatever explanation he had.

Charlie was looking at him, like everyone right now. He was thinking hard about his answer, weighing words, so he wouldn't say something that wouldn't be right. He was thinking so intensely, that a wrinkle was created between his brows. "We're all infected."

Bomb.

Just bomb. He dropped the strongest artillery he owned in the least favorable moment. They lost people, they lost place to stay and now they were all carrying the virus? Charlie wanted to sit and cry at this point because the day was getting harder and harder.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"At the CDC, Jenner told me," he said. "Whatever it is, we all carry it."

"And you never said anything?" Carol said.

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked.

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn asked.

"How could I have known for sure?" he turned to the Asian, pointing a finger. "You saw how crazy that mo..."

"This isn't your call." Rhee interrupted him. "Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone."

"Well, I thought it best that people didn't know."

It was the coldest she was in forever. A small fire was doing nothing, but they had to keep the fire low. Charlie wanted to be alone, not that she had anyone to sit with. Glenn was sitting next to Maggie and Hershel, who was hugging Beth. Carol was with Daryl and Lori was rubbing her son's back. Most of them were planning on leaving Rick because they thought he was their worst enemy now. Even Lori was mad at him for something.

What was Charlie thinking? She was with Daryl - or at least she agreed with what he said to Carol. Rick was an honorable man, who pulled them out of the deepest shit. Even though he was different lately and something was clearly bothering him, she would stay with Grimes. From the very beginning, he was doing whatever he could to protect them. He was running around trying to find Sophia, he was trying to convince Hershel to let them stay. So even though she was feeling reserved towards him, she wouldn't leave just because he made a decision for them.

"What was that?" Beth asked as they all heard rustling nearby.

"Could be anything," Daryl answered, getting up. "Could be a raccoon, could be a possum."

"Walker." Glenn furrowed his eyebrows.

"We need to leave." Carol panicked, looking around. "What are we waiting for?"

"Which way?" Glenn nodded.

"It came from over there," said Maggie, her gun ready. "Back from where we came."

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark," said Charlie, who was still sitting in her place, near the fire. "We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot."

"Don't panic." Hershel nodded.

"I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through," answered Maggie, turning to Rick. "We need to move, now."

"No one is going anywhere." the cop said in a stern voice.

"Do something," Carol said.

"I am doing something!" he snapped at her. "I'm keeping this group together, alive! I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this! I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake!" he yelled and Charlie looked up at him and stood up. She didn't feel sad or devastated, she was just shocked and in awe that he did this. It was unexpected and it felt strange that he was no longer with them. "You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing and led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me. My hands are clean." he tried to explain himself. "Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe...maybe it's another pipe dream. Maybe...maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you...why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard! Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get." he said, but there was no answer to his words. People seemed to be afraid to breathe. "No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight...You're staying...this isn't a democracy anymore."

After Rick walked away, she sat back down and wrapped her arms around her knees that were up to her chin. That way she wanted to keep herself warm and stop the waves of cold shaking her body. It was an intense night and day, but she couldn't sleep, too afraid to close her eyes. She tried to make up her mind, everything that happened was still chaos in her head.

"Amy...Jim...Jacquie...Sophia..." she whispered, thinking who was gone next. "Shane...Jimmy...Patricia...Andrea. Amy, Jim, Jacquie...Sophia, Shane, Jimmy, Patricia, Andrea. Amy, Jim, Jacquie, Sophia..."

"What are you doing?" Daryl asked and he sat up.

"I can't sleep," she whispered.

"You cold?" he asked as he saw a shiver running down her body. Daryl stood up and quietly he closed the distance between them. He sat down and then as if testing the waters he placed his hand on her arm, bringing her closer. A shiver ran through his body when he felt her body in his arms. It was comfortable to just have her like this in his embrace, keeping her warm and making sure she was okay. "Better?"

"Yes." she nodded her head, feeling her body warming just a little. Even though she wanted to just melt into him and fall asleep as she felt calm, she was making sure her body was still. "I'm sorry. That you had to calm me down. It's embarrassing."

"You don't have to be sorry," he answered.

"You probably think I'm crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy," Daryl said. "You're just a person. You're not a robot and you have a heart. It's okay to cry." he said.

"Do you cry?"

"Sometimes," he said. "Well...not recently. But good people cry."

"You don't know me, Daryl."

"I know you enough," he said. "I saw how worried you were about Sophia. I saw how hard you tried to convince Hershel to let us stay when you found out that Lori was pregnant. You were really concerned about this girl's life. And...you were worried when I got shot, not letting Andrea forget it when I'm not even worth being worried about. That's how good people do."

He looked down as he felt her head in his neck. She had her eyes closed and her breathing was regular. Her whole body weight was now on him, he sighed and pulled her closer, keeping her warm and feeling relieved that she still was here with him.

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[r0semirages]

So. I made an RTC swap au!!

It started just with an idea of John Doe!Ricky that I had for a pretty long time, but recently I decided to turn it into something cooler, so I made this whole thing. Maybe I'll sketch their designs later (or at least make picrews of them), but idk how much time it will take. I haven't change some things, like the relationships between some characters, because I thought it wouldn't work very well. But, this isn't fully finished yet, so there's some moments that may be changed in the future.

I imagine this AU more like a play, than a musical and honestly I really don't think that it'll become something serious, cause I'm not that good at writing and creating full stories, so, at least at the moment, it's just for fun. Also, the designs are based on the 2016 cast, but feel free to make your own interpretations with your favorite cast. And maybe someday I'll make them too, we'll see. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy it!! (Pls excuse me if there are any mistakes, english isn't my first language, blah blah blah. Also there are a lot of spoilers for rtc, so if you plan to watch it — don't read further!)

So, first is Penny — the most imaginative girl in town. She's super silly, sometimes awkward and doesn't really have any friends because most people think she's weird. Penny often gets left out or bullied, and she uses escapism to cope with this + all the stuff with her parents, who she didn't get enough love from. Her fantasies is a bit different from the original Ricky's: they don't have a lore, she just makes up random stories to escape from reality and writes them out sometimes. She *definetely* writes fanfiction and probably posts it online. For some reason people find it cool, but no one in the choir knows about it. She's still a Seven-Up fan and she plays the ukulele (that will be used in the new birthday song for Ricky)

I changed her design just a bit, now she wears a lot of accessories, mostly pins (bc I headcanon the og Ricky having them) and it's mostly based on Emily Rohm's Penny, while her personality is more like legoland Penny's.

The next is Ocean — the angriest girl in town. Like the og Mischa, she hates her parents (but in this case they aren't adoptive) and their lifestyle, but instead of becoming the most succesful to prove that she's different from them, this Ocean just becomes a total mess and starts hating everyone. Idk if I will make her like shitty rap about money in autotune, but she definetely has a history of stealing stuff from stores, lol.

Design changes: messy hair; she doesn't have a headband and a tie, her shirt isn't fully buttoned up. She wears a sweater vest over it with a short skirt (a dress, actually).

Then we have Constance — the most succesful girl in town. She's a big nerd and spends a lot of her time studying because she wants to be the best. In general she behaves just like original Ocean and treats Noel like Ocean would treat her in the og musical (they're besties, but not really). She's pretty mean and very ambitious. This Constance doesn't have as much love for her town as the og one and she plans to move out (and become a premier minister of Canada, maybe :p) She's the one to make the final vote in this AU and of course she will choose John Doe/Ricky.

I haven't change a lot of things in the design, but her hair isn't dyed anymore, buns are down, she has a tie and maybe some hairpins. In general she looks a bit more tidy

Next one: Noel — the nicest boy in town. A complete opposite to the og Noel, he doesn't want to change anything in his life and enjoys living in Uranium. He's still super homosexual and has a big crush on Mischa, and, as I've said before he's "best friends" with Constance who treats him like shit and makes jokes about how he's never gonna breed👍🏻 /ref

He's really insecure about himself, but very friendly with everyone else (especially Mischa). He still enjoys all the french stuff, but you know, in a less... horny... way. And his mother is a baker and Noel often helps her in their cafe

He now has a short-sleeved shirt, round glasses and half of his hair is purple (it's also a bit more messy). In general I didn't change a lot in his design, but I made him such an UwU softie boy /j

Then, Mischa — the most romantic boy in town (ah yes, this one is for you, Mischa simps). He's still in love with Talia and his backstory is the same, but instead of becoming an angry rapper, he became a sad romantic guy, who dreams about moving to Ukraine with his (probably non-existing) internet fiancé. He just wants to be happy :(

Design changes: his clothes and hair aren't that messy anymore and he has a black jacket (like the one chance theatre Noel had). Also his nails are usually black or any other dark shade!!

And! Finally! My best creation yet — John Doe!Ricky. Perhaps, the rest of the choir doesn't remember him (well, in fact they do remember him, but it's a different theory and I don't want to bring it here) because he couldn't talk and no one really noticed him. The only person he was pretty close with was Penny, but still, they weren't even friends, they just standed close to each other while the choir was performing and both sat in the back of a rollercoaster when the accident happened. There will be a role-swapped version of the Savannah scene, but I don't know what name should I use instead of Savannah yet (if you have any ideas, please drop them in the comments!! I'll be very grateful)

When he gets choosen by Constance he'll came back to life as Ricky and yes, he WILL remain disabled because I'm a very big Ricky fan + a very big ableism hater, don't expect that shit from me👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻 Also he will still have 14 cats because. Why not. I love cats.

The only thing that will change is the fact that he's a little happier now?? People around him treat him better and he doesn't have to fantasize about fucking cat-people from Zolar to be happy lol. Oh man I'm writing a bit too much about him sorry I just love this guy a lot. Bless his little heart

Finally, about his design: honestly he's just a yassified version of this picture /hj

↓

Okay, so he has a head stolen from some super swag dressed in a Bowie-like style doll that for some reason was in the warehouse. He has a big purple star around one of his eyes and some parts of his hair are also colorful (purple/blue/pink). His clothes isn't very different, but maybe I'll add some more accesories

Well, that's all atm. I will try my best to make some content for this and keep developing this idea and I really really hope you will like it!

Reblogs/comments/likes are VERY appreciated and again, if you have any recommendations for improving this au I'll be really glad to hear them or just any of your thoughts!!!

Ty for reading (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠✧⁠*⁠。

[marley-manson]

scattered thoughts on season 2 of xena after marathoning it over a few nights.

-- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is so fun lmao, it didn't even occur to me that the vampire ladies could've been hypnotizing Gab until I saw it mentioned in a tumblr post lol, I 100% just took it as Gabrielle being attracted to them. I mean one of them even has a buzzcut.

-- Xena is great because it's a true genderswapped cheesy genre show, complete with extremely bland one episode love interests who die to provide our heroes with manpain. Also Xena totally subconsciously let Callisto kill Perdicus, come on. Loved Gab's rage afterwards <3

-- Lucy Lawless and Hudson Leick are excellent at playing each other. Hudson Leick is so good as Xena that I always forget Lucy Lawless isn't actually in Ten Little Warlords lol, and Lucy Lawless' Callisto is great too, especially when she's playing Callisto pretending to be Xena.

-- Love Ares' first episode as a mortal too. Love that he's scared of rats, a decent fighter but still needs Xena to save him a few times, and the moment where he contemplates having actual blood on his hands for the first time is *chef kiss*

-- I'd skipped Miss Amphipolis when I first watched Xena because I'd heard it was transphobic, and then saw a post praising the episode for its progressiveness so I was like hm I guess I'll give it a shot. Honestly, it had its good elements, but yeah I think the criticism is warranted. Awesome if it's true that Karen Dior was openly HIV+ when she and Lucy Lawless kissed here, love that. And if the idea was that Miss Artiphys was more a drag queen than a trans woman it's not too bad I guess? But if she was meant to be trans then yikes, terrible depiction, lots of 'he's really a man' shit (plus the name c'mon). And the lack of clarity doesn't help either way.

Also Gabrielle's mild homophobia was a weird choice, and I didn't like that she only won after every other woman turned down the crown lol - I get the point that none of them really wanted it or enjoyed the pageant while Artiphys did, but I feel like that point could've been made without putting her in last place.

Kudos to the director for objectifying her just as much as any other woman though lol.

-- They should've given a little bit more time to Xena and M'lila's relationship in Destiny, since her death is the catalyst for her going evil, but unfortunately it felt like a very arbitrary final straw. It was funny though that M'lila died for her because she just knew it wasn't Xena's time to die yet lol. Like c'mon, at least imply they got close off-screen.

-- Also Xena 🤝 Dennis Reynolds: because of the implication. I'm actually torn on how much that's intended lol, because on the one hand they certainly do not frame Xena as an actual rapist here, she's still sympathetic and Caesar's still the ruthless villian. But on the other hand the predator/prey metaphor when she was coming onto him was incredibly on the nose (she even says "cutting off his path of retreat" like, yikes girl); Xena later points out that crucifying her was an overreaction and thinks she must've fucked with his head; Caesar has psychosexual nightmares about her in another later ep (ie killing him mid sex basic instinct style); and Caesar's "all those who prey on Rome" line is basically the payoff to his earlier "I am Rome" thing, essentially a coded way of phrasing "prey on me," which fits the sex thing more than the hostage thing, since that was literally preying on Rome.

Idk, I'm curious what the writers were aiming for here. Maybe some of it's just meant to suggest that Caesar has a crush and is mad about it lol, but it's eyebrow raising.

-- Also also: the montage of Gab and Xena at the end of Destiny is so ridiculously romantic <3

-- I love that Xena agrees to only possess Autolycus when he gives her permission, then bodyjacks him whenever he says no anyway. Autolycus is a delight in this ep. And I love how the show does everything it can to make it clear that it's Xena kissing Gabrielle in Autolycus' body, from Bruce Campbell's acting demonstrating exactly when he regains control of himself, to his "Seems like you two worked things out" in repsonse to the kiss, to him not noticing his hand was still on Gab's ass lmao.

-- A Day in the Life is still such a ridiculously good episode.

-- Can't believe how almost explicitly gay Blind Faith is even with the rest of season 2 to compare it to. Like okay maybe it's not quite The Quest's kiss, but something about Gabrielle's conversation with the gay dude where they both very overtly use ambiguous pronouns for the people they love feels like a step beyond. It's not just two close characters who love each other, it's lesbians situated specifically in a gay solidarity context, idk. I love it.

-- Also I cite this a lot but idc, I still fucking LOVE that Xena is temporarily rendered blind in this episode and she is still never physically challenged by anyone in a fight lmao. Like you'd think as a plotpoint it would be a way to have her uncharacteristically defenseless and reliant on this one-ep dude to defend her, right? Nope, she still outclasses him, all she needs him for is to watch out for cliff edges.

-- Also also I love that this annoying dude sees her as an idol and it's just accepted as obvious, absolutely no commentary on a dude modeling himself after a woman. She's Xena, of course aspiring warlords desperately wanna be her.

-- Ulysses here to reassure the straight audience after the tidal wave of gay we've seen in the last few episodes, but it can't even do that right because Gabrielle and Xena still 100% interact like they're hooking up and catching feelings but not exclusive.

-- The Price would be a perfect episode if it weren't for the racism in the depiction of the antagonist force, man, it's such a blot on an ideal Xena story. Also Xena is at her absolute sexiest here. I'm usually more of a Gab girl, but fuuuuuuck her hardass sadistic commander persona has me like 🥵. Hits the perfect balance of serious and dark, while her warlord flashbacks tend to be a little too exaggerated and campy to be truly sexy to me.

-- Also another episode where I love how men relate to Xena. She shows up, they find out she's Xena, and they immediately go "holy shit please take over, please command us, you're our only hope."

-- Cecrops is one of my favourite one-ep characters I think

-- Comedy of Eros is dumb but fun lol, I always enjoy how the show flips the script for Xena's occasional heterosexual turns, in the sense that she's the active participant, acting upon the men and going for what she wants. It is a relief when it stops being earnest and starts being solely for the sake of manipulation though lol, and I'm glad we have Cupid to blame for this one too. In fact, I think all the genuine reciprocated het is behind us now, right?

-- I love the fake out where Gabrielle nearly sees Xena first before Joxer gets in the way. I feel like I've seen some writer say once that they considered having Gabrielle fall in love with Xena for this episode, but they decided against it because they didn't want it to be a joke she gets over, and I am 100% behind that reasoning. It would've felt cheap imo. But the tease was cute lol, they know what the audience wants.

[saxandviolins88]

Heard your thoughts on idw 1's constructicons, but I'm curious about your thoughts on them in idw 2? With the whole mini spotlight they received and all.

Oof! This is going to be a long post. Buckle up and let's go.

First off, disclaimer: I've only read the parts of IDW 2019 where the Constructicons appeared (yep, even the final ones)

So what did I think of what I've read?

I FUCKING LOVED IT!! Mostly because it clears the most basic quota of all: it treats the Constructicons as their own individual characters.

It has so many little moments between them that just, hurg! I love the fact that their functions in the team are clearly and quickly mapped. I love the fact that they're not brothers or "built together" (why are they green and purple? Who knows? Maybe their grandmama Termagax wanted a little uniform.)

It also has my favorite version of "constructicon backstory" in the whole franchise. Mind that I hate the Enigma of Combination AND naturally occurring Combiners, but ignoring that, it's prime Constructicon material. The best part of this backstory is that it manages to integrate the: "these guys are not really evil" + "they were wronged" + "they still kinda fucked up in the head". It takes their agency away in a tasteful way that actually opens doors for further exploration of them, and I LOVE how they're a least a little bit skeptical of this whole "war" thing, but they still do it anyway.

Another thing that I like is that Nominus was not really in the wrong for sending them away? Picture this, you have these six guys who combine into a giant near unstoppable robot, he already showed signs of violent behavior near civilians, AND in the past, there was another giant robot that wrecked everything in its path... Sending them away is not only the right answer it's the logical one. Better yet, the moment the giant combiner guy is set free... He kills everybody, maybe you can call it a self-fulfilling prophecy due to circumstances, but like, Nominus was 100% in the right. The fun thing about this is the existential horror too! The Constructicons CANNOT stop being a gestalt, they bring back the physiological need for combination from IDW2005 in such a thoughtful way. (Nominus tries to go past that by keeping them low on energy, but they can't be malnourished forever bruv).

(IDK HOW THEY DEAL WITH COMPUTRON, I'M LOOKING ONLY AT THE GALAXIES COMICS).

Now, the big guy... Devastator... That was a really odd take on him... AND I LOVED IT! I love how they treat him as a straight-up other entity that just so happens to take the Constructicons' bodies for himself, (I stole this for my AU and portray it as an ego vs id thing). Another odd thing is his personality, especially in the Galaxies comic, because... He waxes poetically, Devastator waxes poetically the first time he is set free and proceeds to name himself?? THAT'S SO ODD! THAT'S SO COOL!

Now, what I didn't like... Uuh, the art (feel weird saying this as an artist myself). I respect Ramondelli's evolution, but... Sometimes his art takes away from the scene. I didn't like how Bombshell was the leader (c'mon! Kickback is the charismatic guy who pretends to be friendly! Throw the guy a bone!). Wheeljack was kinda weird? Sometimes it feels like he wants Termagax to fail (I liked Termagax tho, but no strong opinions), and finally, the dialogue is kind of flat at times.

I also need a paragraph to appreciate Bleszinski! Shout out to him because he also loves the Constructicons, his posts on twt the year the comic was launching, how he explained all of his choices with the characters, and how he still tweets about them to this day(good to know your shoes reminded you of them, Sir)! Like, he actually wanted the best for the Constructicons and to portray them in the best way he could! (I love you, Bleszinski, for canonically making Long Haul a logistician, but I hate you for having such a big collection of Constructicon memorabilia that I'll never be able to top 😒.)

All in all. I mildly liked them. Yep, normal amount!

[gazeopard]

Long-awaited Thoughts on the Part 1 Teasers

Been a while since I posted anything Beastars-related because I've been trying to focus on my own writing as well as on the damn GED. Having ADHD makes everything so slow and cumbersome...

I saw the teaser trailer back in March when it first came out, including the livestream from the Japanese YT channel (I forgot the name lol). Even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, I was excited (and nervous). I've made it no secret in the past and present that I've become very critical of Beastars' later arcs, especially everything post-Season 1 over the past few months.

Looking back on Season 2/post Vol. 6 these past few months got me noticing many things I didn't consider firsthand, or things that just flew by me due to my brain being off and only focusing on the things in front of me, as well as hearing things others on and off of sites like Reddit had noticed that I didn't initially have also gotten me looking back with a more critical eye.

A part of me is hopeful for Season 3. I have hopes that it'll change and salvage enough of the last two arcs into one cohesive finale, fixing all the bad, weird, or questionable writing decisions on Paru's (and I'm sure the publishers) end.

But after Season 2 basically followed the manga almost exactly, even up to the other strange writing decisions that were made that started the downfall of Beastars, I'm wondering if it's even worth it. If it's even worth holding onto hope anymore. And if I'll just be disappointed and let down again.

At the same time, a small part of me just... doesn't really care about Beastars anymore...? At least, at the moment? Partially because of the long wait. And partially because I've been trying to focus more on my own writing for my "Fireborn" books, trying not to fall into the same traps that others have stumbled into, all while taking bits of what I liked, didn't like and/or thought could have been better, and running with them to salvage them enough to be something worthwhile, entertaining, and memorable. 

Also, I have a feeling that, since it'll be a 2-parter, both parts will consist of only 12 episodes... which makes me more nervous than excited. It probably means the Dropout Arc will follow the manga exactly, while Melon's arc will probably follow the manga exactly the way it did, only it'll have tons of fat removed.

I dunno. I mean, the theory was that the final season would have 24 episodes, and 12 + 12 = 24. Though, I was kinda hoping the final season would be just one season with 24 episodes, as it would have probably broken the 12-episode mold. But breaking it in half seems like the better way to go. I don't know. I'm still kinda nervous.

Again, part of me just almost doesn't really care what happens. If it's good, great. If it's bad like the rest of the manga.... eh...?

I guess it's because I'm too jaded now. Idk. I will probably watch only for Melon. Not that that makes much of a difference anyway, considering what a mess he turned out to be in the end of the manga.

This probably also means Haru is still probably going to get treated as more of a prize to be won, again. And Kyuu's probably gonna still be in it and divert attention away from the more important things (Louis and Juno's development as a couple, Legoshi and Haru's relationship development as a future couple, Melon's development as a villain, etc) to put screentime on things that ultimately won't matter again, the narrative is still not going to hold Legoshi or Louis accountable for their actions, Legoshi's still going to hate himself and pull out his own teeth (only for them to magically grow back making the whole thing pointless) and avoid Haru most of the time again, making them getting together feel unearned, and Melon's still probably going to be an inconsistent mess of a villain and his promise with Haru will be dropped after looking like it'll be important... again. 

Or maybe they'll remove the things that didn't work and replace them with ideas that will work and improve it. Hopefully.

But seeing the official trailer four months ago made me more hopeful and curious. I'll still watch it to see anything is different as well. The animation is still gorgeous.

Also, I loved seeing the return of hellhound/demon-eyed Legoshi again! I remember being disappointed that they didn't really bring that back in Season 2 when I saw it, especially during the fight against Riz, but I'm glad they're reviving it here. Seeing him wake up with red eyes after having a dream about Haru where she was replaced by Louis' foot, all while hearing the red deer demand him to eat it, makes me wonder if they're going to give Legoshi some serious and dangerous consequences from consuming Louis' foot last season? Are they going to give give Legoshi a reason to drop out?? I was wondering if maybe his consumption of Louis' foot reawakens his carnivorous instincts and he finds himself wanting to eat Haru, which causes him to drop out? It also makes me wonder if they'll bring more focus to his meat-withdrawal symptoms. After the water fountain accident, his instincts never really came up again in the manga and were more told to us rather than shown. 

The shot of Legoshi and Haru outside also makes me wonder if they're including a scene where Legoshi sees Haru off to college. It'd be cute if they did. So the implications in this teaser showing him struggling again after seemingly overcoming them… really gives me a lot of hope that they're improving the manga.

Also:

Gosha and Yahya look amazing. It makes me excited to see how Melon will look, and it makes me curious to see who Studio Orange got to voice them.

AND we've finally got a date. December. When in December? Who knows. It's better than no date at all.

All in all, I'm still a bit nervous, but am still hopeful.

[krikeymate]

Foster AU: What would happen if Christina comes back after Idk 2 years and is like, "Yeah, I'm clean and sober, so give me back my babygirl" ? Does Tara still love her mom? How will Sam react? This is the woman who abandoned her; who hurt her little sister; who ruined their lives... I know that Sam adopts Tara, but I would love to hear your thoughts

Christina is actually dead in this AU, though it's been a month and 45 posts since the beginning where that was mentioned lol. Even if she wasn't, she would have been SO done for child abuse, it was pretty egregious here.

Now, however, we do have the AU that Foster AU spun off from where this question would fit. That AU got so overshadowed so fast 🥲.

In this AU, Sam fights for guardianship of her 8-year-old sister the moment she turns 18. Christina never goes down for the child abuse, because there was never 'any signs', Sam had protected Tara as much as she could from her mother, but that worked against them. But Christina was a heavy drinker, and she failed the drug tests forced by the courts, so she was found unfit and Sam got custody anyway.

The courts told Christina that if she sobered up she could begin to have monitored visitation with her daughter, and maybe one day she could earn her back. Sam is furious by the verdict, but Hicks' hand on her shoulder helps her calm down. It'll never happen, her mother's an addict, she'll never get clean. Sam comforts herself with these thoughts.

Her mother gets clean, and the courts demand she be allowed visitation. A child needs their mother after all, Christina's lawyer says. Sam wants to rip his slimy tongue from his mouth and shove it up- deep breaths. Sam can't help but wonder why. Why is her mother doing this, why did she get clean specifically for this? She never wanted Tara, never gave a damn about her. She's not even sure she ever gave a damn about her. Her mother had fought the case because it was damaging to her reputation, but that damage is done, so why is she fighting for Tara back now? It's not because she wants her, because she loves her, Sam's sure of that.

Tara's 10 now, and confused by the news. Tara looks upset when she asks Sam if they have to go back and live with her again. Sam will never tell Tara that if she has to go back, it would be alone. She'll take her and run before she lets Christina get custody again. Sam just ruffles her hair and says of course not, it's only a visit, and I'll be there the entire time.

Tara knows you're supposed to love your mother, everyone says so, so she supposed she must do. She thinks she should want to see her mum again, but in truth she's been so happy living with just Sam, even though the house is smaller and there isn't really a garden to play in.

Her mother hugs her and kisses her face and smiles when she sees her and says hello, darling and it's so weird. Tara isn't sure she can ever remember her mother hugging her, or smiling at her before. Mum stands and her face forms into the neutral scowl she's familiar with. "Samantha." "Christina." The woman scoffs at being called by her name.

The next two hours are filled with fake smiles and interest in Tara's life, with comments about Sam that Tara thinks are meant to be mean. They sound mean. Her mother's hand is constantly on her head, her shoulder, her arm, and it makes her squirm. Sam frowns every time she does it. Her mother frowns every time Tara glances at Sam before answering a question. She hopes she never has to do this again.

Her mother's see you next week darling dashes those hopes.

[hermitw]

Seeing the new theories on Yuuji's domain is driving me feral bc

Once again idk what Gege is doing!!

Points are being made and it's so weird bc

My interpretation of the 1st anime opening and my prediction for Yuuji's domain are so different (and I think mine have more evidence but I also spent months collecting that so I'm biased).

Also my interpretation for the false memories around Yuuji is different (kenjaku is also Todo's parent, specifically that Coach Takagi is his other parent).

But memories being involved in Yuuji's domain along w my cryogenic prediction could fit together. It feels like the photography in Link Click, now that I think about it...?

Idk man I stand by what I said before.

But if I have to read into what happened in 264, this is my take on it [spoilers ahead]

The train station's significance....

I think of the train car with transfigured humans.

The way that Yuuji and Mahito loathed each other, and the way that Yuuji said "I'm you."

The train cars being the cryogenic chambers makes so much sense to me. He would be sending off people in the opposite way. To undo the disfigurement.

The train station was significant, it was a place of intense trauma. But I think it could also be a place of redemption. Idk if it's modeled after a specific location. BUT I know that Sukuna's domain can be translated as the place where meals are prepared for the emperor (a reference to his time spent as a slave), or as a small Buddhist shed for storing tools (I'm not sure of the way Sukuna spent his life, but considering the way that he died and some potential irl lore, I believe that Buddhism was a helpful thing for him). I think the duality of his domain is intentional, and it might be similar for Yuuji.

There's also the hand sign for Yuuji's domain, and the prioritizing others' wellbeing over his own.

Anyway, in the opening, the train seemed to he taking Yuuji to someplace he was unfamiliar with. The fish represents Junpei, the water is up to his knees but not in the palm of his hand. He's taking it too easy, u bothered and clueless. I made a post before explaining that I think water in JJK is used to represent the world of jujutsu (it's hard to put into words).

So it makes me wonder if now, this train is taking someone out of the world of jujutsu. Whether as a type of protection, or if he could pull something like Aang in ATLA stealing fire.

I've also talked & reblogged a lot about Sukuna... I really, really want him to just have his own body and autonomy and be able to live a chill life, and not be bothered by anyone as a deity or a monster to hunt or as someone to control.

Maybe we'll get a talk-no-jutsu moment and Yuuji will realize that his body was crafted to be a cage for Sukuna, that he never bothered to listen to Sukuna of all people, and maybe they can work something out. Idk what was in that book of soul stuff that he read. Idk what would happen to Sukuna without a body (maybe he'd just go back into the fingies).

To be clear I do love Yuuji and Megumi and almost all of the characters, but God, killing Sukuna isn't the answer. And to kill him would mean killing Yuuji or Megumi, anyway, (unless Yuuji's CT is going to eliminate Sukuna's life).

Idk what's going on or how coherent this is, I just needed to ramble, I'll update w links later but lmk if you're looking for anything specific and I'll prioritize it.

[givehimthemedicine]

more NINA fuckery and are current El's actions showing up in '79 footage?

El's initial NINA confusion is setting in, and Owens & co are watching in the control room like "she's rejecting it".

on these four monitors you can see all 4 corners of the rainbow room, which is why I seized on this screenshot to map out the rainbow room cameras (with very architectural precision thank you) and get the lay of the land for the rest of this. I noted in red my names for the cameras and their locations in the room.

then I noticed that Henry and El are visible in the footage, which I noted in yellow. they're standing where they're standing during "well well" - Henry centered in the rainbow arch, and El is facing him and the double doors.

does this indicate that El running around confused is showing up in the 1979 footage?

"the "well well" moment really happened in 1979, that's what the tapes are of!"

is it? where they're standing on the tape isn't where they're standing in the "real" memory (if I can safely call anything that).

El and Henry keep having this same confrontation with her facing him and the doors. but when she finally braces herself to deal with this, she and Henry sidestep weirdly purposefully into this position - perpendicular to the doors. since she glitches into little El during this sequence, I would take this as the "real" memory - meaning, as this moment really happened in 1979.

if that's so, why not have them stand the same way in the tape?

or am I supposed to think current El's footwork just happened to exactly match what went down in 1979?

anyway, back to the cameras and what I actually started out this post for.

here's Brenner in the control room, having his NINA conversation with El.

why is one monitor on the right missing now? that's the monitor that was showing Camera B footage in the Owens scene up above.

could this just be a different bank of monitors than earlier? here's a zoomed out shot from the Owens scene - note the two heart monitors or whatever up above. maybe the table is scooted over a bit to get a better composed shot of Brenner, but this looks like the same place to me, no?

lemme zoom in and number these suckers so we can get on with this.

in case anyone's actually following along, note that the monitors in the Brenner scene don't correspond to the same cameras they did in the Owens scene.

although a monitor is oddly missing, all four corners of the rainbow room are still represented. however, we still have some interesting stuff to talk about here.

why is one monitor being spent on hallway footage?

Monitors 4 and 6 - that's Camera C view - are duplicates. accounting for a teensy change in monitor perspectives, I'm ready to call them exactly the same footage, down to the people in the room being in the same positions. I made it a gif because it's easier to see in motion.

Monitors 3 and 7 are weird for two reasons.

3 and 7 come from the same corner of the room - Camera B view - but they're not exactly the same angle. and these cameras are bolted to the wall.

I'll give you that they can probably pan left/right. idk that that satisfies me, but there's nothing that satisfies me about the second issue:

in Monitor 3, the puzzle table is pulled out into the room, and the plinko board is leaning up against the wall, not in use. but in Monitor 7, the plinko board is set up the way it is in the scenes where El plays with it, and the puzzle table is scooted over towards the wall.

I could just be misunderstanding how NINA works, which is 900% possible, but: isn't the idea to show El all possible footage of the same moment at the same time for the most immersive "memories" possible?

to plug this into the timeline theory: could I take this as evidence that NINA is showing El not just multiple camera angles of the same moment, but the same moment in different timelines?

El's "I don't understand!" shot spins around so we see all four cameras. the room is the plinko-not-in-use configuration (consistent with Monitor 3 I think).

but El is not visible in the footage on Monitor 3. she's not visible in any monitors in the Brenner scenes, as far as I can spot. if she was visible during "well well," where is she now?

one of the times El bursts into the rainbow room is a whole different time.

I'm not the first to point this out, but this needs to be said in this discussion. she enters the rainbow room 8 times in this sequence (including both physically walking in and respawning). actually... sigh. let's just look at all of them.

most are consistent: Two and Three are playing chess, I think Six and Seven are at those drawing tables, and whichever kid that is is doing his puzzle alone at the table.

Entry #5 is totally different from the others. puzzle kid is still there, but that isn't Two or Three playing chess. and they have the kid whip around to look judgmentally at El so we get a good look at his face. actually, who are these kids? do I even recognize them? and I also don't know which two kids those are at the drawing table, but they're both little white kids this time.

and - I realize this relies entirely on how I happened to number the monitors earlier in this post, but - 8 entries into the rainbow room and #5 being different... 8 monitors and #5 missing... that worked out nicely. also Monitor 2 showing hallway footage and Entry #2 being the only one where she didn't go out into the hallway (she just respawned standing in the same spot). but then.... if this was really anything, plinko should be set up in Entry #7... idk man, my brain hurts

final thought: you know how the lights flicker before she respawns? I gotta think this through more before I'm serious about it, but just to toss it out there: what if the flickering lights actually indicate not (just?) power use, but a timeline switch? I don't mean in NINA, I mean like, every time in the whole show.

and that's all the brain I have for today!

[headdaze]

for your lil ask post: (if that doesn’t work just imagine me flopping around like a fish outta water all sad and emo like bc i hate mobile)

I’M NOT INTO ANY SO JUST ANSWER WITH ONE OF YOUR FAVS (if you wanna <3)

FISH ILYSM YES IT DID WORK LOLLL yeah mobile is a pain (mostly bc I hate texting RIP) so I feel u, like I have to add tags onto posts so they don't get buried but it's so annoying to type out all of them and then add the little hashtag to actually make it a tag so these days I literally just do "reblog now" and then later on desktop i'll add tags 😂

ANYWAYS

now those of you who have been stalking my recent reblogs will probably expect me to yap abt svt and believe me I could & I would but im gonna take this chance to yap about my current fav gg my beloved 💖 KISS OF LIFE 💖 for the ask game - for those of yall who don't know they're under S2 entertainment (not one of the "famous" companies to my knowledge), have four members, and debuted pretty recently in 2023!!

✦ my first bias: belle her vocals literally make me feel like i could die happy. also she's so competent (i love competency) & just so unintentionally funny sometimes and always slays so yes i love her so much

✦ my current bias(es): ot4 😭 i feel like sayinh anything else is a CRIME, imo they're the best when they're together and vibing bc the way they all just hang out and have fun together reminds me a lot of my own friend group 🥹

✦ my album and/or era ranking (or favorite of each): they're newer so not too many eras to choose from & also all of them are SLAYS SO here's the best from each for me - kiss of life (debut album): I'm weak for belle's countdown (prechorus SLAYSSS) & shh is surprisingly addictive / born to be xx: all of it. amazing. says it is really beaitufl and calm, but bad news always gets me hyped!! / midas touch: it's a single album so only two songs BUT THEY GO SO HARD!!!

✦ how i got into them: this is a really weird story that I'm just gonna tell bc I can and I will -- I saw Jii (cover artist on Youtube) uploaded a short of her Chinese cover of Midas Touch & Jordan Orme (also a youtuber) analyzed the music video… but tbh I was annoyed to see it everywhere RIP LOL and then eventually watched Jii’s short and was like “wait this is actually so banger” so I watched the Midas Touch MV then watched Jordan Orme dissect it .. then idk how but eventually I just went on a KIOF listening spree, listened to all their discography and the rest is history >3< I will say I feel like the moment I was like "yeah i love them to death" is when I watched their midas touch part switch dance; i feel like it really showed off their fun energy and made them feel very real, in a way.

✦ which member would be my best friend: oh help i actually don't know since i don't know TOO TOO much abt each of their personalities - maybe natty?? maybe i'm biased bc i have a best friend whose name is pretty similar to hers 😂

✦ something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): shimmery metallic pink, X's, hearts, anything NEAR midas touch/greek mythology as any concept :D

tysm fish again for letting me yappp ily/p 🫶💘