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deltaengineering · 4 years ago

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that was the winter anime 2021 that was

Still not quite ready for a dozen posts about how terrible the likes of Combatants Will Be Dispatched are, sorry. Watch Vivy though, it owns. Here’s some more things that are (mostly) good. As always, worst to best.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki S3

Yatogame has long run out of hot Nagoya facts and its ensemble comedy never amounted to much, so now it seems mostly content to just spam more and more wacky character designs. About the only thing that it has left going for it is that 3 minutes a week are more effort to drop than to watch, so I expect them to make a movie next. 4/10

Go-toubun no Hanayome S2

Quints is a weird one. S1 was a barely good enough (i.e., well above average) implementation of the ages old harem chestnut. S2 is actually better at the core of its appeal, since it gives all the characters a sharper profile (things like taking Nino from joke to badass and making Ichika a villain are no mean feat), but it does pay a steep price for it. You see, to deliver a steady drip feed of meaningful character moments it apparently has to rush through the source material at a breakneck pace, which completely wrecks the "story" part of this story and makes every episode seem like a recap. And it still keeps wasting precious time on vestigial nonsense like its framing device and the Kyoto flashback scenario that was already the worst part of S1. But by far the most annoying aspect is its insistence on keeping all the options valid, since it prevents any real progress and makes everything seem arbitrary and pointless. So sure enough, after a season of much ado we still don't end up anywhere — you can't really raise the stakes if all at stake was "who wins" to begin with. It's watchable and even enjoyable scene-for-scene but it's getting harder and harder to call it a solid show overall. 5/10

Skate Leading Stars

I was watching this primarily because I didn't like Yuri on Ice much and wanted to see if something that is a blatant attempt to cash in on it would be better — because while YoI delivers on one aspect (being hella gay), it really is an absolute shambles of a sports show. And sure enough, Skate Leading has none of the auteur appeal of YoI, but it just works much better. In particular I appreciate how it managed to make me care even a little about a cast of assholes, which is a nice contrast to the nauseatingly ingratiating way YoI tries to make you love its characters. Also, Skate Leading is just generally cheap and unambitious, so not susceptible to trying hard and painfully flaming out on the presentation side like YoI is. But at some point you gotta let go of these comparisons and on its own Skate Leading is... just fine, I guess? Competent, mildly engaging, not very memorable. And that's probably where it loses to Yuri on Ice in the end after all, even if I think it's "better". 6/10

Idoly Pride

Idoly Pride sold itself on me with a really good (and hilarious/tragic) first episode that was just too bizarre to ignore — I mean, how can you ignore GHOST IDOL MANAGERS. Well, the majority of the show isn't like that. It's a competent and solid version of the idol franchise show, yes, but it really had more potential than that. Especially midseason, it gets lost in these dozens of characters, and while they're all likeable, it does seem like a waste of a good story just centered on Mana/Kotona/Sakura. By the end it comes back around to the heart of the matter with a Maeda-style sob story, which could be a disaster but seasoned veteran Jukki Hanada makes it work anyway. Overall, there's quite a bit of ridiculous hacky melodrama in this, but quite honestly that's the best part and I wish it would concentrate more on it. The rest is just okay. 6/10

Yuru Camp S2

Yuru Camp is still likely the best pure iyashikei show when it gets down to business. Compared to S1 though, this seems to happen less and less. At its peaks (i.e., basically any quiet moment with Rin) it's at least as good as ever, and there's some good cast additions like Mini-Inuko, but it appears that Yuru Camp simply has run out of things you can do with camping and it fills up the time with other... stuff. This stuff includes the generic school club shenanigans it was never particularly good at, and a gigantic helping of crass consumerism. Yeah, I would say the majority of Yuru Camp is just a straight up infomercial at this point, which itself ranges from the perfectly acceptable (which cute anime isn't about food constantly), to the sketchy (I don't know whether the Izu tourism board cut this production a fat check, but if they didn't, Yuru Camp still gives its best effort to make it seem that way) to the highly irritating – I am aware that camping requires gear and you can't just ignore that, but you most definitely do not require whole arcs dedicated to talking about raising funds for the purposes of acquiring the Lamp of Comfy Happiness at your friendly local Caribou™ either. Not to mention an arc where the aforementioned lame school club does the same, for double irritation. Make no mistake, this show is so riddled with scenes that beg for a solution to embed affiliate links in video files that it makes me wish I was watching something as anticapitalist and underground as Love Live. And irritating really is the last thing a show with this core concept, as stellar as it is at that, can afford to be. Bummer. 6/10

SKOO the Infinity

Skoo has one really huge asset: ADAM, its magnificent villain. It also has one really huge liability: Reki, its not magnificent protagonist. To be more specific, it's very good at anything outrageous, physics-defying and silly, such as most scenes ADAM is in, and quite bad at anything serious, dramatic (in a serious way) and down to earth, such as most scenes Reki is in. So, what's the verdict? Well, the rest of the cast is more ADAM-like, and Reki's co-protagonist Langa is fine as the straight (yeah, right) man. The tedious buddy drama is a comparatively small part of this show, and at least it pays off quite well in the end. Seriously, I was ready to give this a 6, but the final episode is probably the best one of the show, in all of its aspects. That's really not something you see often. Skoo's a great time. Except when it's not. 7/10

Non Non Biyori Nonstop

Speaking of the rare good ending, what about we gave one of those to a slim and inconsequential slice-of-life show? NNB has always been solid, comfy and amusing quality with a couple of standout moments (usually something with Renge), and Nonstop has that plus an ending as conclusive as any show of this type is ever going to have. Besides, it does a lot of things right by focusing on more characters than the central 4 (especially Konomi has great material in S3), it expands the universe just enough to not get stale, and it moves things forward — It's definitely a lot better than the movie, is what I'm saying. Apart from that, well, we're three seasons in, if you have any interest in this you probably don't need me to explain what's good about NNB at this point. Bonus points for being nothing but an ad for the manga. 7/10

Wonder Egg Priority

Oh boy, so here's the big one. Wonder Egg is the rare Meaningful Arthouse Show About Real Issues You Guys, as you might have heard. And well, the long and short of it is that it's a very good show with quite a few glaring problems (besides not actually being finished due to production issues, but what we have is enough of an ending to be able to meaningfully talk about it). In particular, one problem: WEP is, at its core, one of these metaphorical Magical Girl-ish series that are just a thin layer of abstraction over coming-of-age or societal problems. The issue is that "metaphorical" in this case means "literal" and "thin" means "basically nonexistent". This show is not subtle regarding what it's about, at all. This is a double-edged sword — on the positive side, some things really should just be said aloud, and I'm really, really fucking tired of the Ikuhara style of "here's some wacky things, maybe a blog post will eventually tell you how it's actually about the most important thing ever" obfuscation — if it's really so important, just spell it out. On the other hand, there are limits to this and when a second, different Ai appears I don't really need a voiceover line telling me that yep, this show is about parallel universes now. WEP spells out many important things, but it also spells out many things that are implicitly clear or better left vague. Not to mention that with being so obvious up front, the show's tendency to leave figuring out what it's actually saying about it up to the viewer can leave the wrong impression. Again, I settled on the opinion that it's subtle after all where it counts the most, but you might easily get the impression that it pulls its punches (Ikuhara does this the exact other way around — once you figure out what the fuck he's talking about it's abundantly clear what he's saying about it).

In fact, this show is so good at subtle, quiet character moments that it calls into question the need for big huge fighting fantasy layer in the first place, especially since I'm not a fan of the fantasy designs and the fights aren't great. Sure, they look impressive on a technical level (this show is very good looking in general), but the lack of actual impact or rhythm makes me think this is not made by people who are very familiar with action and maybe they should have asked some seasoned shounen veterans for this — or just, you know, not do it. They can (and do) impress with character acting in quiet scenes just the same. And while Ai's character story actually does pay off quite nicely by the end we got, and Momoe and Rika are also handled well, Neiru's backstory is significantly less good, not to mention the whole Frill subplot regarding the show's mythology that they introduced just before (and that's the part to be resolved at a later date), which is a huge can of worms. We'll see how well they handle that, I suppose, but as it is it's a weird and vestigial detour that doesn't add much besides thematic headaches.

But yeah, apart from all that — I like it, a lot. Great character writing in the details, cool looks for the most part, tons of ambition, and a message that I consider to be appropriately handled — for the most part, and for now. Not quite ambitious arthouse anime at its finest, but also not a pretentious disaster like Sarazanmai, Monogatari et al. 8/10

#anime #review #winter2021 #Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki #Go-toubun no Hanayome #Skate Leading Stars #Idoly Pride #Yuru Camp #sk8 the infinity #Non Non Biyori #wonder egg priority

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beevean · 5 years ago

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Sonic and speed: are we misunderstanding them?

This article was originally written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik on his blog - you can read it here!

Today on SHP, I’d like to bring attention to a topic that I keep noticing being discussed everywhere (especially now during quarantine), and that somehow worries me: are we misunderstanding Sonic and his characteristic speed?

During these last few weeks there has been a new, relatively unusual explosion of videos and comments on the Internet regarding Sonic and, relevant for today, what is the best game or the best level. The simplest reason has to be the lockdown we’re going through, and which is leaving us with more time to play or think about those games we want to play, or never will. On the other hand, the most cynical side of me believes that this boom of Sonic-related content is because Game Apologist’s video about S3&K and Sonic in general was so popular, it sparked the “interest” of other creators (the video itself is great, and I elaborated my opinions on it here). Whatever the case, there is a greater discussion about Sonic going on right now, and I feel like it’s not directed where it should be.

Before starting: there are a bunch of videos that helped me shape a good part of the opinions I’m going to explain today. You don’t need to watch all of them, and they’re not mandatory to fully understand this article, but if after reading it you’re left wanting for more, or you’d like to hear different options, I’d recommend you watch these:

1. Sonic and Speed (Errant Signal)

2. The First Levels of Sonic Games (Super Bunnyhop)

3. SONIC the HEDGEHOG: How Level Design Can Break a Game (Broken Base Gaming)

4. How Sonic Mania Makes a Level (RelaxAlax)

5. City Escape is Peak Sonic Game Design (ZoomZike)

6. Lost Valley Is Not Peak Sonic Game Design (ZoomZike)

What is the problem?

In a series as big and ever-changing as Sonic’s, there is a wide repertory of formulas and possible answers to the question “how to design a game?”. In some cases we’re still looking for an answer, in others we’re looking for alternatives (I talked not too long ago about the accessibility of Sonic Mania and 2D Sonic in general – Spanish only!), and most of the time, the answer has already been given in the past.

This looking for answers in the past has taken us in many directions, like constantly looking back to Sonic Adventure to solve the great enigma that is 3D Sonic; but I’d add that the recent retrospectives about Sonic and its first 2D games have raised some criticism and questions that, while valid, end up muddling a formula that has proven itself to be effective and crucial in the design of everything related to Sonic.

What really worried me is the criticism about Sonic’s speed and the levels that are considered “slow”, and we’re going to delve into this.

The basic Principles of Sonic

Speed. Platforming. Exploration. These are Sonic’s basic Principles and have always been, from its beginning until today. These three concepts are at the core of not just the level design, but the games themselves as well. The best levels in the series know how to balance these aspects, and the best games are those that can keep a balanced flow, preventing the game from going too fast, and losing its exciting component along the way, or from going too slow and becoming boring, causing the player to lose interest. Naturally, in these games there have to be all sorts of levels: faster, more relaxed, more open and more labyrinthine, all coexisting in harmony and without going too far in one direction. Ignoring these Principles puts the quality of the levels at risk, and even our understanding of the character.

I would have put my own examples here, but just before starting to write this section I got some wonderful ones from Beevean. If you don’t remember her, she helped a lot with the article about the music of Classic Sonic, and I already warned her that if she kept posting examples this good, I would have had no choice but to feature her again. The discussion started from this post, and she says:

If you approach Sonic thinking its only characteristic is “gotta go fast”, the game you’re gonna get is Advance 2. The very flat, boring, “there’s no way to put normal obstacles in these levels so we’re gonna throw bottomless pits at the player until they get sick of them” Advance 2.

Some fast levels can be awful - Stardust Speedway is a disaster from a level design standpoint and the whole level seems to work against you. Some slow levels can be super fun - you rarely run in Lava Reef and you spend most of the time dodging obstables, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most beloved levels in S3&K. There’s no arbitrary reason that separates “good” levels from “bad” levels, it’s an amalgamation of many factors - plus of course your personal enjoyment.

And in her tags (because we both include more information in our tags than in our posts) she adds:

The levels that are widely considered bad usually put too much focus on one of the factors you mentioned.

Marble Zone is too slow and linear.

Luminous Forest is too fast and linear.

The Doom and Lost Impact are too labyrinthine.

And so on.

My personal example is Sonic Mania and its progression during the mid-game, from Flying Battery to Mirage Saloon:

Flying Battery is a long level, filled to the brim with speed and emotions, especially during Act 2. After beating the boss, the player is likely going to feeling exhausted after being thrown left and right, and so…

The following level is Press Garden. Act 1 is a relatively closed and relaxed level, but still moving at a reasonable pace. If the player is familiar with the level they can finish it quickly, but they still can take their time appreciating the view of the printing and the machinery of the zone. Act 2 enhances this, with an absolutely lovely view and an active but still relaxed flow…

Then there’s Stardust Speedway, which is divided into two completely opposite acts. Act 1 is a relatively fast level, but very relaxed and almost a Zen-like experience when the player lets himself be carried away by the starry night sky, and with a relative absence of lights or discomfort on the screen (enemies and obstacles aside). Act 2 is the other way around, a largely colorful, explosive, fast level (to the point that I, anything but a speedrunner, managed to finish the level in 31 seconds, 2:10 minutes if you include the fight with Metal Sonic), culminating in one of the longest, most intense bosses in the game that marks the halfway point of the adventure…

After such an exciting journey, the next level is Hydrocity, once again split in half with a calmer, more exploration-oriented Act 1, and an Act 2 that, similarly to the original level, is one of the most adrenaline-filled water levels in the series. The boss is intense as well, but verging on being tedious and not nearly as fast as the level itself…

And finally, Mirage Saloon. Every version of Act 1, regardless of the quality, are there to set up Act 2, a largely open, fast-paced level.

In short, the Mania experience is made of peaks and valleys of emotions and adrenaline, keeping the game to a reasonable pace and with a good dose of speed, exploration and platforming. The player can break the flow anytime to look for Giant Rings and other hidden goodies, and that doesn’t ruin the charm of the level. In the same way, the faster levels require the player to be familiar with them and to know how to platform to get the best results, without giving you free speed like it’s not worth it (looking at you, Advance 2).

Even the worst levels have the chance to redeem themselves, like for example Labyrinth Zone in the “Misfit Pack” Mania mod.

Breaking the Principles.

When a level or a game breaks the balance for too long, it might become too easy (the infamous “hold right to win”), too boring (the most common argument against Sonic 1 because of levels like Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone), or too obtuse (the criticism against Sonic CD). The key word is “for too long”, as Beevean already explained how levels that prioritize one thing over the others can still be considered good stages by the majority of the fandom (example: Lava Reef, and I’d add Spring Yard and Final Egg).

As I said before, Mania shows us how there are levels that prioritize certain aspects, but only for a few minutes at a time. Mirage Saloon Act 1 for Sonic and Tails may be a slow, boring level, but it’s only 3 minutes long in a game that lasts 2-4 hours. Same goes for Carnival Night Act 2, a long, tedious level, but that is still a 4-9 minutes long interval before getting back on track with Ice Cap and Launch Base.

3D Sonic is a much more complicated situation, as every game has its pros and cons. Adventure 1 is one of the games that experiments the most with the Principles in a 3D plane, but it breaks the flow of the stages with the plot and hubs worlds to explore (which are pretty divisive even to this day; for the record, on this blog we’re pro hubs). Adventure 2 gets rid of the time-wasting hubs but each character focuses on one Principle at the time: Sonic and Shadow focus almost exclusively on speed with some platforming, Tails and Eggman on action and platforming, and Knuckles and Rouge are all about exploration (and RNG…). Sonic Unleashed does pretty much the same, just reintroducing the hub worlds, while Sonic Generations is at its core a balanced mix of speed, platforming and exploring (plus a much smaller hub between levels), and… well, I think I made myself clear. 3D Sonic is a mess of ideas that orbit around the fundamental Principles, but that for some reason are never kept consistent between games.

Going back to utterly breaking the Principles, there’s one level above all that destroys every one of those extremes, never taking the middle road and without worrying at all about what players might think of it. This level is…

Eggmanland

If Sonic Mania is a clear example of a relatively balanced flow, in its mid-game at least, Eggmanland may be the biggest example of what happens when each and every one of the Principles is taken to its extremes. Let me explain:

Speed: Eggmanland can be both too fast for the player to react, between QTE and super quick jumps that may lead to your death if you’re not fast enough (and you rarely will), or too slow of a slog to navigate (the long Werehog sections).

Platforming: Eggmanland can have too much tricky precision platforming, made even harder due to a lack of a drop shade (the second Werehog section is infamous for this), or it can throw stretches where you do almost nothing but hold X and maybe go through a QTE, which if failed lead to your death once again; at worst you have to wait, which sends us back to our previous point.

Exploration: Eggmanland can be a giant, confusing labyrinth (there is no shortage of stories of player getting lost in this behemoth of a level), and at the same time it can have some long linear room to room progression, separated by doors about as fast as Big the Cat.

I should say that, despite all of this, I love Eggmanland a lot, and same goes for Beevean; but this is something that has to do with what we mentioned before, personal preference. From a technical standpoint, and according to many players, Eggmanland is an absolute nightmare.

Are we misunderstanding Sonic?

Going back to the central topic of this article, I believe that I put enough emphasis on the importance of balance in Sonic, so let’s go back to the previous question: what is the problem?

In short, I disagree with the voices that call for redirecting Sonic towards “fast”, adrenaline-filled stages. These people, with their own retrospective, are doing some sort of revisionism with Sonic levels, automatically branding levels that aren’t as fast as others as “bad”. We’re ignoring the true value of platforming and exploring the levels, and the perception of the character is at risk.

Like Beevean said, looking at Sonic just as “gotta go fast” is, plain and simple, absurd. Sonic is much more than this restless teenager that, just like that movie with the bus, if he doesn’t run at speeds higher than 90 mph his heart will stop. Yes, going fast is a big part of his initial appealing and his way of life (“My stories only end when I stop running”); but when Sonic’s speed is brought up in these discussions, the rest of what makes the character is left outside: how much he admires nature and how much he likes to take a rest every now and then before the next adventure. Sonic OVA, Sonic Adventure, Sonic X and even Sonic Lost World’s ending show that Sonic is not just speed, but also rest, curiosity, exploration. There are even cases where the journey and the friends and memories made along the way are much more important than the destiny itself (Sonic Heroes, Sonic Unleashed), and on several occasions it’s been shown as an actual weakness of the character the fact that he would act recklessly and under the influence of the fateful “gotta go fast”. This aspect of Sonic’s attitude might probably be product of the aggressive marketing campaigns this character endured (ever since the Genesis “Blast Processing”), but it doesn’t tell the whole story, and it’s unacceptable to enforce this line of thought over everything we know about the character.

And to end this long section where I was hinting at one of the most important points of one of the most thoughtful games of the series, let’s not forget that Sonic is pretty aware that everything has a beginning and an end, because that’s the Nature’s way of things and we have to live life at its fullest, for it is finite. Running at top speed is just one of many ways Sonic lives his life, and his eyes will forever be filled, not so much with speed, but with curiosity.

Conclusions

To recap this long article, let’s remember that

Speed, Platforming and Exploration are the three basic Sonic Principles. The momentum in the games comes from the interaction between these elements.

Speed is not something that’s delivered for the sake of being delivered: it usually is a reward or an incentive to keep the player interested, engaged and excited for what’s to come.

Breaking the Principles impacts the experience of the game in many aspects… unless you’re Eggmanland and you’re breaking every single Principle in one level anyway.

To narrow Sonic down to just “speed” is to ignore everything else that this character represents. “Gotta go fast” is a facet of his design and personality, but not the only one.

Starting from this, we can sit down and discuss about “good” and “bad” levels in the series all day long, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Now that we’re about to discover what’s next for the series, I believe it’s important to clarify what Sonic represents in every stage, so that with some luck we can see better consistency and quality in his future adventures.

Speaking of this last point, I just remembered The Geek Critique’s series of Sonic retrospectives, another series of videos that inspired me and I found enlightening. Do you guys remember the videos I linked to at the beginning? Well, it’s time for you to watch them :P (if you want to, of course)

(I’d like to thank Beevean again for suggesting the best examples I could have needed. Seriously, she helped much more than it looks)

What do you guys think? What is the ideal Sonic level, and why? Do you agree that Sonic is much more than a speedy blue hedgehog? In the meantime, we’re hopefully going to see each other very soon. See you next time!

youtube

I feel this theme is strangely fitting to conclude this article, lol

After the Spanish article was posted, I reblogged with this:

To add something more, I was chatting with a friend of mine who pointed out that, for all the talk in the fandom that we want to see less linear levels, most of the fan favorites are pretty linear - Ice Cap, Speed Highway, City Escape, Rooftop Run… I told him that yeah, linearity isn’t a synonym of bad level design because linear levels can still be enjoyable: with these particular cases, what makes them different from a random Lost Valley is that they have other elements that make them stand out (snowboarding, running down a skyscraper, skateboarding through San Francisco, climbing the Big Ben…). Plus they have something to compensate for the linearity, like fluid platforming.

In the case of Ice Cap and Speed Highway, there’s also a contrast between their halves: IC Act 1 is cramped and heavy on platforming, while Act 2 is much faster and without many obstacles, almost as a reward; Speed Highway starts out as fast and exhiliarating, with little platforming getting in the way of running, but the At Dawn section is a short open space, to let the player catch their breath, to the point that even the music and the aesthetic are much more relaxed. So, as you said, the balance is kept, and when you add a memorable setting and music, you have a great level in your hands.

Thank you @latin-dr-robotnik for giving me the permission to post this! I just had to translate this fascinating article to share it with everyone :>

#sonic the hedgehog #game design #level design #long post

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theonewiththefanfics · 5 years ago

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Hawkins’ Charm (Part 6/?)

Synopsys: They had gotten out of Hawkins. After all the shit that had happened, all the heartache and pain, Billy and the Reader had gotten away from that hellhole, building their life in California as he had dreamed. But when Max’s graduation rolls around and they go to celebrate, it’s as if the Upside Down was just waiting for all of them to return. And it has a bone to pick.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x f!Reader; platonic!Steve Harrington x f!Reader

Genre: angst, lil bit of fluff

Warnings: blood, mentions of injuries and death, fighting, swearing, implied stuff, smoking

Word count: 3319

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT CONDONE BILLY’S ACTIONS AND THE THINGS HE’S DONE! THIS IS BASICALLY AN AU, WHEN REALLY LOOKING AT IT! SPOILERS FOR S3! READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!

Billy’s grip was crushing as he held onto Y/N’s limp body who'd been sedated by Joyce and Hopper with a tranquillizer. It had been against every word of his, but he could only glare at them as he maneuvered her out of the house and towards the Camaro. Next to it stood a big van, it sides a rust-covered white and there were no license plates. “Place her in the trunk,” Hopper motioned with his head. Billy had to scoff, unconsciously hugging Y/N tighter. “I’m not placing her in the trunk, are you fucking insane?” “Just put her in the trunk, we don’t have time for this!” “She’s a human! She’s Y/N, not some roadkill!” Alex argued for his brother-in-law. “She’s that thing's slave right now!” Hopper raised his voice with each spoken word. “And we don’t want it to know where we’re going." A tense silence settled between the three men. In the back of Alex’s and Billy’s minds, they understood that Hopper cared for her, and he wanted the best, which would be not letting her sit in the car next to them and give away their position to the Mind Flayer, but they wouldn’t budge. “I’m not placing her in the trunk.” There was no room for a discussion. Billy had put his foot down. Hopper looked like he might burst, as he ran a hand through his thinning hair. Only then did everyone notice what he was wearing. Jim was adorned by what looked like a prison suit. It was dark grey, had tears and holes pretty much everywhere and didn’t smell too great. He’d gone through hell, and for a second, Billy’s heart twinged. But then he remembered him choking the life out of Y/N (even though he was doing it to save him and the rest), he still didn’t appreciate it. “Let’s put her in my car,” Nancy came as the savior, holding the brake cables in her hand. “I have an open trunk, so you can sit next to her and watch over.” “Fine,” Hopper replied earning a scowl from Billy. “But we need to put something over her head, so if she wakes up, the Mind Flayer doesn’t find out where we’re going.” Small grunts of agreement erupted around them, and even Billy couldn’t find anything to counter it, so with gritted teeth, he nodded, watching as Nancy opened the back of her car. Johnathan quickly rushed and slid underneath it to hook the cables back into place, and Joyce came out of the house with a large white piece of cloth and El’s black blindfold. “That is so not helping,” Alex mumbled, as Hopper put the pillowcase over Y/N’s head and tied the other piece of fabric around it as well. “Now it looks like we’ve kidnapped her.” Her blood-soaked shirt was not helping one bit. “Look, kid-“ “I’m eighteen.” “Look, kid,” Hopper gritted, losing his cool. “I know it’s your sister, and I know you care about her, we all do. But right now her comfort’s the least of our problems while the Mind Flayer is inside. Now, if you want, you can be my guest and announce to the Demogorgon and his little doggo army where we’re going, but if you want to keep your head on your shoulders, and save Y/N, this is what we have to do.” Alex and Billy had never wanted to punch someone more for being right.

“She’s gonna be okay. We’ve done this before,” Joyce gave the Californian a tight-lipped smile and patted his shoulder. “That does not make me feel any better,” Y/N’s brother mumbled but didn’t say anything else. He wanted to sit at the back with his sister, but when Billy laid her body down, it made him think she looked too much like a dead body, so he opted for driving with Joyce, Hopper, Robin, Lucas and Dustin in the van the ex-Chief had stolen when he had escaped. The rest consisting of Max, Billy, Johnathan, Mike, Will and El hopped into Nancy’s restored vehicle. “Hop, you said the Russians are back,” Joyce asked after he’d told them to drive to the local store. “What do they want… again? “I don’t know, world domination? It’s not like they talked about their big evil plan while torturing me.” She gulped, sharing a look with Lucas and Dustin, but didn’t say anything. “The Gate’s open,” Dustin announced. “Do you have any clue what they could want with the Upside Down? What did they want in the first place?” Hopper shook his head, turning down a hard left. “Whatever they think they can do with it, they’re wrong… it’ll kill them first and then us.” The next sentence threw everyone for a loop, as he stopped by where Joyce used to work at the convenience store. “We need a bunch of foil.” Mike’s eyebrows scrunched up as they all jumped out of their cars, El and Billy standing guard to keep an eye on Y/N and to deter anyone that might wanna know what’s up. “Why?” “Cause we wanna cook that bastard out of her.” Billy hadn’t smoked in years and now despised the smell and taste of the cancer sticks, but he hoped Y/N wouldn’t mind much if he did it just this once given as to what they were preparing to do. He looked through the back window and watched how Y/N’s chest rhythmically rose and fell. “It’s gonna be okay,” El’s voice made him turn around and look at the teenager. Billy’s mind played the memories of him trying to feed her to the monster four years ago in vivid detail. He remembered how gentle her touch on his cheek had been. How she had talked about the one time before Y/N that he’d been happy. She had helped him break out from the spell. “We’ll get her back. I promise.” Billy smiled. Somehow, he didn’t doubt her words. “Thanks.” El just shrugged. “She’s my friend too. I care about her. Besides,” she let out a small chuckle, “I miss Clara.” She’d met his gremlin only once, but the little blond-haired girl had taken a huge liking to El. Especially when she had made her dolls dance with her powers. Y/N and Billy had been very much so against her showing her telekinesis, but, later on, understood there’d be no harm in letting the two-year-old witness a little bit of magic. The sight as everyone exited the store with handfuls of tinfoil would’ve been almost comical, if not for the fact everyone knew what it was for. “Were to?” Before Joyce had left Hawkins with her sons and El, she had cleaned up Hopper’s old place a bit. Fixed the roof as best as she could and covered the furniture with some sheets, so that it didn’t seem like they’d left it without a care. It had been El’s home. Jim’s home. She couldn’t do that to them. Y/N didn’t stir once throughout the whole silent ride, and from time to time Billy had to doublecheck underneath the pillowcase if she was breathing. When her soft warm exhales greeted the back of his palm, he sighed in relief. The car stopped with a jolt, and everyone was up and running. Billy didn’t even heave a breath, so used to Y/N’s weight whether she wanted to have a piggyback ride or acted dramatically and made him carry her to their bed. Nancy, Johnathan and Will were carrying every heater they could find into the bedroom and given how the cabin was in the middle of the nowhere, and winters in Hawkins were not the kindest, there was quite a lot of them. “Is it gonna be enough?” Billy asked, placing Y/N down on what used to be El’s bed, and smoothed some hair out of his wife’s face. She looked so peaceful like that, he almost forgot what had transpired in the last twelve hours or so. “I don’t know, but it will have to be,” Hopper said and gave instructions to the rest of the Party as they laid out the foil along the walls and ground. “Cover the rest with sheets and everything you can find. Block out any markings she could see to identify where we’re at.” “We had less when Will…” Joyce started but didn’t finish the sentence, though everyone knew what she meant. “It worked then.” "It's just gonna have to work," Hopper said. They didn’t want to think about what they’d have to do if it didn’t. Billy and Steve were left to tie Y/N up on the bed, belts and ropes at their disposal. “When you think it’s tight enough, tighten it more,” Hopper stated and nailed a piece of sheet to the wall. “Yeah, I’d like for her to retain all her limbs, thank you very fucking much,” Billy snapped at the older man but did as he was told. The Mind Flayer was strong, and he remembered how much power he himself had. Granted, he’d been possessed for different reasons, but there was no doubt in his mind, once that thing figured out what they were doing, it would fight tooth and nail to remain in its current host. Hopper rolled his eyes and huffed, making sure that not even a sliver of light from the setting sun peaked through the fabric. “I think she’d much rather lose a hand than her life.” Together they brought every possible heater around the bed and plugged them in. It became almost unbearably hot in the span of a second, and Billy was happy for his open shirt and that he’d left his jacket in the car. Robin had helped Steve stoke a fire in the flimsy-looking fireplace and the flames that licked upwards added to the growing temperature. Y/N’s chest started heaving, and she stirred on the bed. A soft whimper escaped her mouth, and Billy saw how her clothes stuck to her chest. Her lashes fluttered open but quickly closed when a bright light above shone directly into her eyes. “Billy please, it hurts,” she begged tears slowly running down her cheeks. Or maybe it was sweat. Either way, he wasn’t happy seeing her face scrunched up in agony. “Billy,” she panted looking into his eyes. “Please.” He had to turn away from the sight before him. He couldn’t stand watching as she arched up from the bed, and the rope dragged across Y/N’s skin, burning a bright red line across her collarbones. The only marks he ever wished to see were from his fervent kisses, and this was so not it. “It’s not her talking,” Joyce reminded everyone, as she pushed one of the heaters closer. Their clothes were already clinging to their bodies, beads of sweat rolling down their skins, accompanied by the perspiration of stress. The foil had helped. A lot. It felt like they were stuck under the direct heat of the blazing sun, combined with an open fire. Which it kinda was. “Honey, please,” Y/N whined, trashing on the bed and lifting against the ropes. He saw her muscles flex and unflex and thought to himself it was a miracle they were holding her in place. "Bil-" she started, but he wasn't going to listen. Two hands slammed on each side of her head, and their eyes met. For a second, Billy was lost in her Y/E/C gaze, but then he looked at the black veins in her orbs. “Get out of my wife.” That was not the right thing to say, as it would seem he’d just pissed the Mind Flayer off. “You’re a shit husband, let alone a father!” Y/N sneered and then groaned as Max shoved a portable heater closer. “I’ve thought about leaving you so many times, it’s ridiculous.” Every word was laced with so much venom, it was like acid was being poured over his head. Alex grunted as Y/N tried to break free from the binds and had to hold her down. “Don’t listen to her!” “But every time I stayed,” she continued her verbal assault. “Out of pity. Because I knew no one else would. Not even your fucking mother wanted to stay around a piece of shit like you.” It took everything in Billy not to rip her out of that bed and slam her against the wall. He was just about to crack, when his eyes saw her veins turn completely black to the point the color could block out the moon in the sky at night. It wasn’t Y/N speaking, he reminded himself, it was the Mind Flayer. “You can’t take care of me or Clara; you don’t deserve us,” even in so much pain she was delivering a blow after blow to Billy’s heart. All of his self-control was now turned to not breaking apart as Y/N spewed his worst fears at him. No, not her! He reminded himself. It’s the Mind Flayer. “And I certainly won’t let you taint the three of us with y-“ She didn’t get to finish the sentence. Y/N’s back arched up from the bed, the belts digging into her skin leaving angry marks. Billy shut his eyes to block out what was happening. Instead, he thought of the times her back had lifted from the mattress while his head had been between her legs, or their hips had met one another’s in harsh thrusts. Not when a scream of pain tore through her throat as El used her powers to pull out the piece of Mind Flayer possessing her body, seeing as the heat alone wasn’t helping. Y/N was struggling back as if she didn’t want to let go of the demon in her body. For a moment El lost her balance. She had fought bigger things, worse things, but for some reason, this was the hardest battle yet. Maybe because she was trying to save her friend, yet, it seemed like she was doing more harm than good. Nancy had been hugging Johnathan from the moment Y/N had started screaming, but it wouldn’t stop. It just wouldn’t stop. His shirt was soaked not only from his sweat but her tears. She couldn’t lose another friend. “What are you doing?!” Billy yelled at her as she rushed to the open fire and pulled out a brightly glowing piece of metal. “I won’t let it win!” Nancy bellowed and thrust the burning hot poker in Y/N’s side. It was the last nail in the coffin. Black plumbing smoke propelled itself out of her from every possible place, making everyone who was near stagger back and away, as if being just in the proximity of it would infect them as well. But El didn’t let it escape. Her hand was outstretched, and a little stream of blood trickled down her nose, mouth and then chin. “Burn it,” she sneered as she held it in an invisible grip. Mike was right there with a can of old hairspray he’d found in El’s old room and a lighter Hopper had tossed him. Even in its separated form, the second bright red flames touched it, the Mind Flayer released a shriek, that made everyone else close their ears. Both Mike’s and El’s faces were scrunched up at the piercing sound, but they had to get the job done. And in two minutes there was nothing, but black flakes left that drifted to the floor like ash from the sky. The whole place turned completely silent; it was like the woods outside were holding their breath as well, not believing what had transpired in the old, half-broken cabin they were hiding from the rest of the town. “Benny’s,” a hoarse voice from behind them said. Billy whipped around and saw Y/N’s head lol to the side, eyes blinking and trying to adjust to her surroundings. “Dollface?” “Benny’s,” she mouthed again. “Are you-” he was beyond confused as he pushed the matted locks away from her sweaty skin but couldn’t help the astonished chuckle that escaped his mouth. “Are you hungry? Really?” “No, you idiot,” a horrendous cough rattled through her body as she tried to sit up but couldn’t because of her binds. “It’s where the Mind Flayer is. I don’t think it thought I’d make it, so it didn’t bother with hiding… there’s a whole tunnel system down there. I think they used it as storage and had products delivered that way… it’s a pretty cold place… and leads right to the lab…” A small voice from the very back of the room spoke up. “Y/N?” She smiled as Billy removed each rope and tie, and she opened up her arms as Alex barreled towards her and crushed her in a hug. “Hey shitbag, ya’ miss me?” Y/N whispered, her throat still very much so sore. “No,” he sniffled pushing his face in the crook of her neck. “Just didn’t want to be the one to tell mom you’ve been possessed.” “Sure,” she drawled out. “Just admit you fucking missed me.” “Why would I do that? I was so close to getting your car…” Y/N pulled back with her eyebrows scrunched up. “You do realize I’d rather have it chucked into the ocean than let you have it?” “What a great big sister you are,” Alex scoffed, but when he pulled away, there was an undeniable smile on his face. “Uh, I’m the best,” Y/N mimicked his tone, as she slowly sat up on the bed, Billy’s palm resting on the small of her back, as she did so. “I’m uh,” Hopper scratched at his neck making her look at him. Now when he was face to face with Y/N, instead of the Mind Flayer, the bruises on her neck were harder to swallow, especially since it was his handiwork. “I’m sorry about, you know… choking you and stuff…” “ ‘S okay,” she lifted her shoulders and dropped them as if it was an everyday thing she had to go through. “You had to do what you had to do… I’m glad you’re back, by the way. You know, just as a side note.” Hopper grunted and put his hand on El’s head, as the girl leaned into his side breathing heavily; a small smile played on her face as she looked at the other girl. “Yeah," Jim said. "I’m glad I’m back too.” Y/N looked around the room giving everyone shy grins and snorted when Steve and Robin waved at her, but when she saw Max pacing around the room, her lips turned down a bit. “You okay there, Maxine?” The redhead didn’t even react to being called by her first name, even though she despised it will all her being. “It’s just that… I don’t get it,” Max was biting her nails, and Lucas gently slapped her hand down. She’d already bitten them down to the skin during the whole ordeal, he didn’t want to see her rip them apart so hard they started to bleed. “Don’t get what?” Nancy asked, offering Y/N a towel to wipe the sweat and dirt and blood away from her face and arms. “Why would it want to kill you, apart from punishing Billy? Wouldn’t that, you know,” Max nodded vaguely, “kill the Mind Flayer? It made sense when he tried to kill Billy, seeing as he was the only one strong enough to go against it.” Everyone was looking at Y/N whose eyes had dropped to the floor. She couldn’t look at them. She knew why, it just wasn’t something she wanted to say out loud. “Because I wasn’t the main host…” Y/N finally sighed out after a moment. But when Billy asked who was, there was no way she’d meet the blue orbs that were like the ocean. She kept her gaze on where his wedding ring used to sit, only now realizing it was missing. “It’s your dad, Billy. Neil's the main host.”

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take):

Hawkins’ Charm tag list: @genius2050 @aiifandomsunite @ashleymarieriffle @littlefool-smalljester @infinitelycharmed23 @llcalumllhoodll @benevolentgemini @rxmanovbby @euphoniumpets @krazykatykat456 @believerofall @ccidk @babechief @meganmj @blackhood5sos @fml9603 @noodlenerd101 @universefinds @kuroidesuchloe @im-a-stranger-thing @grxxn-gardxns @springholland @beforethebraces @robinisourlesbianmom @queeneliza108 @neenaw-neenaw @lexisntthatweird @choicesismylife @mckenzie2020 @kcd15 @snuggleducky @reckless-sofia @didyouseetheflair @silver-winter-wolf @jay-ta-blog @hopeless-lovex0 @anyasthoughts @robinismyqueen @yeah-butyourenot-dacremontgomery @mcrganstarks @psychoticobsession @cutehipstergirl25 @sbfandom @mickmoon @jackyfrost01 @txhmine @dark-princess99 @morgangrice18 @graveyard--baby--666 @changingmylifestyle367 @sweetdayme4427 @alowexpectation @sexyvixen7 @golddvstwoman @evelynfreakinaddams @sunfucked @sataninsatin @queenbbarnes @venomavocado @rangotangomango @psychosupernatural @sereiins @frickin-bats @bandsruinedmylife @thee-brunette-princess @queenskyster @aspiring-fangirls-world @gracethegeek9902

Forever tags: @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @sweet-ladyy @magicwithaknife @ollyoxenfrees @bnhvrdy @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl @sj-thefan @teenwolflover28

A/N: my tags are always open :)

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 5 years ago

Text

Anons wanted an explanation for the placements I had on my previous tier list, but upon going back and looking it over, I realized that I wanted to move a few characters around, so I ended up getting a new template and remaking it.

I wrote little bits about each character [yes, each one] below the cut, but be warned, it’s long.

“I love you so much that I would sell my soul to make sure you’re happy”

Lee Everett: Lee is a goddamn legend. He deserves to be at the very top. He’s one of the best protagonists I’ve ever played as in a game, his backstory is incredibly interesting, and his relationship with and dedication to protecting Clementine never felt forced and is one of the highlights of S1. Even now, having replayed S1 a million times, seeing him get bit and slowly become weaker and weaker as he refuses to give up on Clementine still breaks my salt encased heart. Watching him die in the end never fails to put that lump in my throat. I love him.

AJ: I love this kid. I was so worried that they wouldn’t do him justice when the game was announced and I saw the trailer, but I was floored by just how much I grew to love him. He feels like my kid, my responsibility and I want him to grow up strong and smart, but also human. His voice acting is terrific, and I think he’s one of the best child characters we’ve ever been given in video games. His relationship with Clementine rivals Lee and Clem’s relationship and that’s what I wanted. This kid earned his place at the top.

S4 Clementine: This Clementine is my absolute favorite. While I love all the Clementine’s across the four seasons, I feel like she truly hit her peak in S4. I fucking love her, I’m proud of who she grew up to be, and seeing her journey to this point only solidifies that she’s my favorite. She’s strong and stern, but she has her softer moments with AJ and Louis/Violet, and what else is there really to say? She’s Clementine.

Louis: ....Do I really need to explain this? I mean, c’mon. If you’ve been following me for a long time- shit, if you’ve only been following me for a few minutes, then y’all know how much I love Louis. I can say with 100% certainty that Louis is my favorite non-playable character across all four games. I’ve made numerous posts, answered over a hundred asks, written thousands of words about him. Everything about him from his character design, his personality, his traumas, his voice acting, his expressions, his relationship with Clementine and AJ and Violet and Marlon and everyone- He’s the best. I love him.

Rosie: Rosie is the bestest girl in the world. ‘nuff said.

“I fucking love everything about you.”

S1 Clementine: Alright, before y’all come at me with the whole “Why isn’t little baby Clem SS tier you monster??” let me explain: I adore S1 Clementine. She’s still in S tier, after all. However, after playing through these games several times over again, I realize that this really is just the beginning of Clementine’s character and her growth. She’s lovable, she’s cute, and I want to protect her, but she’s not... a compelling character? She doesn’t fully come into herself and develop a stronger personality until S2. Like I said, I still love her and I can’t deny the impact that she had on the characters and us players, but she’s not my favorite Clementine of the bunch.

S2 Clementine: I fucking love S2 Clementine. I’d actually say that she’s my 2nd favorite Clementine. I give S2 a lot of well-deserved shit, but she is the high point of it all. Something about her character is compelling to me, like how she’s stuck with a bunch of adults who underestimate her yet want her to do everything for them and she just... is so done with it hahaha. But her growth is what it really does it for me. We went from little baby Clementine who whimpered at a small cut on her finger to a Clementine who fucking sews her own arm up, covers herself in walker guts with barely a flinch, can shoot a gun with great accuracy and take down walkers like they ain’t shit, and can survive and make her own decisions. Also, her instant connection with AJ is great. Love it. Love her.

Javier Garcia: Yo, I love this beautiful man. This man is honestly the best part of ANF, and without him it would’ve been such a shitty game. I found his backstory as an ex-professional baseball player booted from the league for gambling a cool concept. He’s hilarious and charming, too. Honestly, he deserved a better game with better, y’know? The only reason he’s not SS tier is because of the writing and his nonsense with Kate when you don’t want to romance her. It makes it seem like he led her on and then was like “Wait nevermind lol” which is annoying, but other than that, he’s great. Love his relationships with most of the characters, and the ending he got was pretty good.

James: I don’t talk about him as much as I should because I find James fucking fascinating. If they ever made a DLC or a mini-game for twdg, I want it to be about James and his journey in finding and joining the whisperers, his relationship with Charlie, and how he escaped them. His views on walkers, his survival and killing skills, his past traumas haunting his every moment for fear that he’ll revert back to what he was, his extreme pacifism that ironically turns violent- just what a cool fucking character. And while he has his wild moments [cave scene, anyone? “Oh ouch!” hahahahahaa] he’s still one of my favorites.

Violet: Oh, Violet. She’s amazing. I love her so damn much. If there’s ever been a character that I see a lot of myself in, it’s her.... which is why I tend to be a little harsh with her sometimes, but I can’t deny that she’s one of the most well-written characters across the whole series. She’s not perfect [both she and Louis do have their tiny inconsistencies that I blame the writing for] but that’s a good thing. And while I don’t ship her and Clementine, I 100% get why a lot of people do. Their relationship is adorable and way more compelling than her previous relationship with Minerva.

“I love you <3″

Carley: My beautiful girlfriend... you were taken away far too soon. Carley’s one of my favorite characters from S1. I wish we could’ve had more time to explore a relationship between her and Lee, but what we did get is enjoyable. She’s a badass, and I will always love the moment she tells Lilly off for being a little bitch, even though it results in her death. Not a day goes by where I’m not salty about that one.

Molly: Molly’s a goddamn badass. She scales buildings like it’s nothing, she named her weapon Helga, and her backstory with Crawford and her sister is terrific. Also, she’s funny and I love her. That’s that.

Omid: This dude was literally a light in S1. He brought us some humor when we needed it [ “...You broke that dude’s face.” ] and his relationship with Christa was so sweet. Also, him and Lee bonding over being history nerds? Yes, please. It’s bullshit that he was killed off two seconds into S2 but hey... S2 had a lot of bullshit in it so... Justice for Omid 2k19.

Luke: *deeeeeeeep inhale* Big Brother Luke did not deserve that bullshit. Literally one of the best characters in S2 and y’all just.... did him dirty like that. And for what? To make room for Kenny and Jane? Bull. Shit. Luke was so damn good, and the only reason he’s not higher is because of what they did to him after ep3. He starts out so kind and supportive and seriously like a big brother character then SUDDENLY he’s stupid and “makes it” with Jane while walkers are trying to eat us and then he gets himself shot and then fucking dies and akjsjdlkjasdkjaslkjasdklerwedascasads-

S3 Clementine: ...So, here’s where y’all will probably get pissed. S3 Clementine is my least favorite of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I still love her and she is still in A tier, but... how do I explain it? She’s in her 13-year-old, emo/angsty phase and it’s hilarious when it shouldn’t be. There are moments where I do become emotional for her, like when David takes AJ away and Javi hugs her, or when Gabe dies and she’s saying goodbye, or when she gets her first period, y’know moments like that! BUT... then we have moments where Javi goes to talk to her and she’s all “HAVING PEOPLE IS GREAT AT FIRST BUT EVENTUALLY EVERYONE DIES” or when she straight up shoots that guy who gave her faulty bullets OR WHEN SHE’S LIKE “IMMA KILL ME A LINGARD” AND.......... it’s too much for me! I can’t take her seriously when she’s this angsty, even when I understand why she is the way she is. Again, to reiterate, I still love her but in ranking all four Clementines, she comes in last for me.... and I can already hear the shit that’s gonna be thrown my way haha

Conrad: The most underappreciated character in S3 and it’s nonsense. Don’t come for me, but this dude is my favorite npc in S3. I love Conrad, and I wish we got more of him. He does have his own little arch if you keep him alive through the end. His grief over Francine is heartbreaking and his downward spiral that leads him to act out and threaten Javi, Clem, and Gabe so that he can get his revenge is wonderful. And btw, he does apologize for pulling the gun on them and makes up for it in the future. And y’know what moves him up into A tier? The moment you let him kill Badger. One of the best kills of the game. I prefer it over beating the shit out of Badger myself.

Aasim: This boy is my son, and I’m sorry, but he’s really fucking cool. You’ve got this kid who was sent to Ericson for being a pyromaniac [according to Kent, it’s not actually mentioned in game] and grew into this guy who documents everything so that they’ll have a form of history to look back on and help not repeat mistakes. His banter with Louis is funny, and even though he gets fed up with Louis for not taking anything seriously, he still cares deeply about him given how he reacts when Louis loses his tongue. His crush on Ruby is adorable, too. I just love him, he’s great.

Marlon: Now, originally I put Marlon in a lower tier [the “I like your role in the story” type of tier] but upon reflection I actually find Marlon to be a compelling character. He’s high on the list because of how well he’s portrayed. Marlon has some of the best voice acting across all the games. There isn’t a single moment where I don’t believe what he’s saying, which says something. There are moments where Clementine will say something and I go, “Really? That’s the take they went with? Okay...” but not with Marlon. For only being in ep1, he played his part really fucking well. I won’t defend any of the shit he pulled because it’s awful, but I understand everything he did. He is a coward, a sheep hiding in a wolf’s coat, pretending that he’s got everything under control and putting all the pressure of a leader onto himself and it eventually breaks him. I know they killed him off to further the plot and show how ruthless AJ can be as a child growing up in the world, but I wish he survived past ep1 so that we could really get into the meat of his character. I’ll say it: I love him as fake-friend-to-full-on-antagonistic-character and his role within the story.

Mitch: I fucking love Mitch and the only reason he isn’t in SS tier is because of how goddamn dirty the writers did him. You give me this boy- this butterknife wielding, foul-mouthed, angry, hilarious, bomb-making boy and make me fall in love with him and THEN YOU KILL HIM OFF IN THE STUPIDEST WAY POSSIBLE. “Oh, lemme just run at the crazy lady with a knife and- OOF! It appears I’ve been throat stabbed bleh-” I’ve complained about this since ep2, but lemme say it again: Mitch had so much potential to be an amazing character but never got the chance to because we had to add to the death count and make us more afraid of Lilly even though it didn’t do shit because it was a reaction kill rather than one made out of malice.

Tenn: Tenn is such a tragic character for me. In my personal canon ending, he dies because he was “messing up again” and AJ shot him. This poor kid was so full of hope that the walkers would go away one day, he’s so genuine and never wants to hurt anyone, even if they’re trying to hurt him, and he’s so fucked up from seeing Minerva that he stops thinking and tries to go to her even as she’s being devoured right in front of him. Tenn is like this game’s Sarah, but done right. He deserved better, but he was a well-written character and I love him. His friendship with AJ was so sweet which makes it even more heartbreaking when he dies. Yet another terrific child character.

“I like you and/or your role within the story”

S1 Kenny: This dude is such a chaotic topic. I feel like 90% of the fandom has an incredibly strong opinion on him, and of that 90%, 45% of people absolutely love him and if you say anything negative you’ll get a boat to the head while the other 45% loathe him. Then you’ve got the 10% who don’t have such strong opinions, and that’s where I fall. I like Kenny, and I like S1 Kenny more than his S2 counterpart. He has a great arch throughout the season regardless if you’re his best pal or not. He has some funny lines, some emotional scenes. I’ll never forget the first time I played the scene where Kenny’s crying over Katjaa’s dead body while Duck is laying against the tree on the brink of death. And I definitely will never forget the part where he finds the boy in the attic. Overall, I like him and what he brought to S1.

Katjaa: She was really sweet and her death broke my heart. I don’t have too much to say about her, but I liked her a lot. She loved her family and met a tragic end.

Ben: Fucking Ben, man. This poor kid. Another character with wasted potential. I’ve mentioned this plenty of times before, but I wish we could get an alternative ending where Ben was the only one who survived and became Clementine’s new caretaker. There was so much room for growth. He just wanted to help out but kept screwing up and it’s just.... sad.

Christa: I’ll be honest, the first time I ever played S1, I didn’t like Christa. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way and I didn’t care about her as much as I did Omid. However, the more times I replayed it, the more I grew to love her. She’s strong but sweet, and you can’t deny how much she loves Omid. And while I wish we did get to know what happened to her in S2, I can live with it remaining unknown.

Chuck: As much as I like our guitar playing hobo friend who deserved so much more, I would probably put him a tier lower if it weren’t for the advice that he gives Lee on the train. Because of him, Lee stopped treating Clementine entirely like a little girl in need of protection and cut her hair, taught her to use a gun, and furthered their communication by building a plan together. Without Chuck and his wise hobo words, Lee might’ve fucked both of them over. Also, Chuck’s pretty badass with that shovel, he got a lot of chuckles out of me, but his death was off screen and disappointing.

Andy St John: Okay. Okay okay okay. Andy. He is so high here [and so much higher than his mom and brother] because to me, he’s the scariest of the St John’s. Why? Because he’s the most normal-appearing of the three. He acts and talks like any normal guy would. He’s someone that I could see myself running into in real life. He’s so good at hiding how fucked up he is from everyone, unlike his brother who you can just look at and go “hahahahaha no thanks” and his mother who’s character design is just awful. I find him to be the strongest of the three, the smartest and the most dangerous. And the final fight between him and Lee is amazing. I love how you can be so furious with him that you keep punching him even after the prompt goes away and then his face goes all purple and swollen. Easily the greatest antagonist in S1.

Eddie: This dude is the best character to come out of the 400 Days dlc. End of story.

Alvin: He gave me a juice box and that automatically puts him here. Real great guy but we didn’t get too into his character. Wish we could’ve, though.

Rebecca: She grew on me tbh. Didn’t like her in ep1 when she was being all pissy and all, but for the most part, she’s pretty good.

Mike: I will forever wish the writers went through with the concept of Mike being one of the guys who attacked Christa because then he could’ve had a better character backstory. Regardless, I still like him. He’s pretty funny.

Nick: Nick? Oh, you mean PURE WASTED POTENTIAL. I mean, they really did give us this super flawed but sympathetic and interesting character and kill him off-screen. They really did that. Honestly, S2 really pisses me off sometimes for the way they treated these characters. It all goes downhill once everyone escapes. Yeah, yeah, blah blah not everyone gets a meaningful death blah blah but y’know what? You can do better than that. I loved Nick and I was so excited to see what they’d do with him in the end but NOPE! Justice 4 Nick 2k19

Pete: What a good dude. He stuck by Clementine’s side even when everyone thought she was bit. Love him. Wish we saw more of him.

Sarah: Ha. Ha. PURE WASTED POTENTIAL 2.0. What else needs to be said? This girl had the foundation for a great character but again, NOPE! I really liked Sarah! I wanted to teach her to use a gun to protect herself! The loss of her father fucking broke her and it was hard to watch but I wanted more and just ahaklsdjlaskjdlkakjaskjsaadkljas ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh-

Ava: Yo. Ava’s a fucking gorgeous badass. Really liked her and how she was sweet on Clementine. Also, it’s interesting that she stuck by David’s side like that.

David: I have a lot of mixed feelings about David. On one hand, the complicated relationship between him and Javier is good, even if it’s a little bullshit at times. On the other hand, David’s an asshole. But he’s a great antagonistic character. I do love that about him. The shit with him and Kate was a little annoying, but only because they didn’t ever elaborate on anything. On what level was the marriage fucked? Was it straight-up abusive? What happened to David’s first wife? Why did Kate and David get married in the first place? I got questions! But, like Javier, I think David deserved a better game with better writing.

Jesus: This dude parkour kills walkers. Pretty fucking badass.

Tripp: I feel like I don’t like Tripp as much as some people. I like him fine, but I know a lot of folks gush about him. I think he’s a good dude, a little pushy with Eleanor, but he’s loyal and strong.

S2 Lilly: I fucking hate Lilly. I hate her so goddamn much. She pushes every wrong button with her bullshit “Where's our new recruits?? Lee would be so disappointed knowing he taught you all the wrong things! You’re one of my people now, Clementine” AND THE GODDAMN “Yes, Ma’am” SHIT. Nothing irks me more than every time someone from the delta acts like Lilly’s the baddest bitch and call her “Ma’am” I HATE IT AND I HATE HER. SHE KILLED MITCH. SHE KIDNAPPED MY CHILDREN. SHE DARES TO TRY AND HURT LOUIS LIKE HE’S NOTHING. AND I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER....... That being said, y’all are probably thinking “wtf if you hate her so much why isn’t she in F tier???” and that’s because no other antagonist in these games has ever gotten this strong of a reaction out of me. Lilly is a damn good antagonist. She’s not perfect, and there are definitely things I would change or add, but she does her job and makes me absolutely livid [yeah yeah I know ha ha ha ha] every time she’s on screen doing her bullshit. I hate her and that counts for something. She’s easily the best “villain” in the entire series.

Ruby: I love my funny little hot-headed medic. Ruby’s amazing and I love her.

Willy: This kid really grew on me. I thought he was weird and creepy at the beginning but I adore him now. His brotherly relationship with Mitch should’ve been explored more, and at times his voice acting is kind of jarring, but I still love him.

“You’re fine, I guess...”

Duck: He’s fine. I like Duck. I like the “what if” scenarios we’ve come up with surrounding his character, and his death always puts a lump in my throat, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to say I love him, y’know?

Doug: Again, he’s fine. He has some funny moments when you save him, and he’s got a cool little panda bear on his sweater but... yeah. He’s okay.

Mark: Oh hai Mark. He’s cool, and the reason he’s not lower is because the iconic moment of finding him in the hidden room with his legs chopped off choking out the words “Don’t... eat... dinner” forever haunts my nightmares.

Russell: I’m not a big fan of most of the playable 400 Days characters, but I think if I had to pick a favorite, it’s Russell. His backstory of being with the group that believed in the power of 7′s [I think it was 7 I dunno going off of memory here] was cool and his weird thing with Nate was fun and disturbing. He’s a pretty cool character.

Carlos: I’ve made posts about Carlos before and how I think he had a lot of potential, but looking strictly at his role in the game and I’m left underwhelmed. I did get a lot of shit for where I placed him in my previous tier because he was [and still is] above S2 Kenny but I’m not going to lie and say I like Kenny more than him because... I don’t. I just think Carlos should’ve been given more development.

Carver: A cool antagonist who was defeated waaaaaay too early in the game. They were doing a fantastic job at making me hate him with his treatment of Clementine, beating the shit out of Kenny, murdering Alvin and pulling all that shit with Rebecca, but killing him off so quickly didn’t make it feel as satisfying. Again, underwhelming.

Sam: This pup betrayed me and he ain’t no Rosie, but we played frisbee so he gets a C I guess

Gabe: Y’know, Gabe could’ve been so good. But every time I play through ANF, he ends up annoying me more than Ben. What does that tell you? He’s fine, but he could’ve been a lot better.

Mariana: I’m not so much “meh” on Mari because I think she’s sweet and likable! The problem is I don’t want to put her any higher because really? What did she do? She died horribly because Badger’s a piece of shit.

Abel: Meh this guy’s garbage. I only put him up a little higher because the scene with him in the basement is really good.

Brody: Brody is like the Mariana of S4 for me, just a bit better. I do like her. She had some development but her whole purpose was to die by Marlon’s hand and get the plot going. Would’ve loved to learn more about her, but I couldn’t give her anything higher than a C.

Minerva: Controversial opinion but........ I don’t like Minerva as much as a lot of people do. If I could be brutally honest, if I were ranking these characters solely on how I feel about them without looking at their roles in the games and character development, Minerva would be in E tier at the highest. However, I can’t deny how tragic and complex her character and backstory is. It’s similar to how I feel about Lilly, but different. I think she’s just so fucked up from the delta that she’s become a husk of who she was and it results in her constantly pissing me off with all her shit. Also, the bridge scene alone bumps her up. That shit was crazy in a good yet tragic way.

Omar: At one point, I forgot Omar existed until he got shot in the leg...... but he’s also God so y’know. I like him but I also had to make up my own little backstory for him so...

“Meh”

S1 Lilly: I don’t care about S1 Lilly in the slightest, she’s awful. They made her way more compelling in S4. And she killed my girlfriend which is bullshit on it’s own.

Jolene: If I could rewrite S1, I would’ve thrown out the Stranger and had Jolene be the kidnapper. As Danny said, “What a waste.”

Bonnie: She’s pretty disappointing, tbh. I didn’t like how the game help pushing her onto Clem and overall she’s pretty forgettable.

Vince: He’s okay, I guess. He killed a dude one time. And shot a guy’s foot off.

Wyatt: “Meh” hahaha Eddie was a cooler character than he was

Jane: I wish Jane had been the Molly of S2 and stayed gone after she left the first time. I like that she taught Clementine some useful survival tactics and that’s what puts her on this tier, but I think we all know how I feel about the whole Jane vs. Kenny thing by now so...

S2 Kenny: This Kenny actually moved up a tier because I fully took in everything he’s been through thus far and.... “Meh.” I don’t think he’s good for Clementine, I think she and AJ need a group like Wellington. I recognize that he’s a lot of people’s favorite, but like I said above in his S1 counterpart, I’m the 10% that doesn’t have that strong of an opinion on him. I’d much rather discuss other characters over him.

Sarita: Forgettable, really. Except for when you get the chance to cut her hand off. That fucking scream of hers is anything but forgettable, yeesh.

Walter: Again, mostly forgettable. His death was sad, and I do think he’s a good example of what happens when you’re too trusting in this world, but overall he doesn’t stand out to me.

Kate: I probably would’ve liked Kate more if her romance wasn’t so damn forced. She has some funny lines, but she’s also pretty selfish and fickle when it comes to a lot of things. And I will forever be annoyed at her inability to keep her mouth shut about her and Javi’s relationship [or lack of] in front of David.

“I don’t like you but you’re not the absolute worst, I guess...”

Danny St John and Brenda St John: I put these two together because they have the same issue: They’re fucking creepy. Where Andy was normal and deceiving, these two look like they want to cut my legs off and eat them. I think they’re much weaker in character than Andy was, even with Danny’s weird sexual fixation of his gun and Brenda talking about her husband.

Vernon: He’s not the absolute worst because I do feel a little sympathy for him losing his daughter, but everything else just makes me not like him.

Shel and Becca: Easily my two least favorite characters in 400 Days. I had no real interest in either of them.

Arvo: This guy. I didn’t put him in as the absolute worst because of all the unnecessary shit Kenny put him through. No wonder he wanted to get the hell outta there.

Clint: I literally couldn’t give a single shit about this dude or what happens to him.

Eleanor: I don’t like Eleanor. I found her annoying. Her one good quality is her want to help people, but that want didn’t do much to help Tripp now did it, Eleanor.

“The absolute worst”

Larry: Did you expect anything else? Fuck this guy.

Stranger: Worst final antagonist ever. You’re telling me I have to fight this Mister Roger’s tootsie pop? I’ll bet you $1 I can do it with one hand. Fuck this guy.

Troy: Fuck Troy. All he does is smack Clementine around and then get shot in the dick.

Joan: This lady is a laughably bad antagonist. The worst fucking “villian” jfc...

---

There ya have it. Do you agree, disagree? Maybe a character I found boring you really liked! Maybe you want to tell me why Kenny is the best/worst again! We can discuss it.

I’m always open to talking about these characters!

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whoslaurapalmer · 5 years ago

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⭐⭐⭐ , go off hun

SAM YOU’RE THE BEST

so would you believeI still have more to say about one day past the end of theworld, and also that I just regularly keep large sections ofcommentary on my laptop in the hopes that someone asks me about myfic (but I also hope it’s like???? things people want to hear….)(specific questions also make me very happy! people think of things Idon’t always think of and I appreciate that.)

also this is long. this is so fucking long.

OKAY, so this fic took, probably, theshortest amount of time to write – four days, one day to edit andpost, but notbecause I like, Knew what I wanted to say but because it got to apoint where I felt like if I added any more it was going to start tomess it up and I didn’t know what else I would add

IT WAS A TUESDAY, afternoon, it was areasonably sunny day. (thatdoesn’t really matter, but I am a detail-oriented person.)I almost constantly have my peaks fanfic document open – it’swhere I jam all the peaks fanfic I write, or I just, write it inthere in the first place, and it’s usually open because the laurafic is in there and that’s a constant presence in my mind until Ifinish it. anyway, at the end of the document, there’s thetranscript I made of the palmer interview from the between two worldsinterview, and I was reading sarah’s section and thinking aboutsarah palmer, for the first time in like, forever,practically.

at the same time, I had a sad lemon manfanfic open, where I have a long paragraph about grief, and I wasalso rereading that and then I just, got to thinking, about actuallythe amount of physical, sickening grief that sarah palmer has in herlife. and I immediately had a very specific line in my head about howI wanted the fanfic to start that I don’t think I wrote down,actually, because that meant COMMITMENT and do you KNOW how many wipsI have, at any given time?? toomany. butI know what it was.

grief was a sick sort of thing, sarahpalmer thought.

and one of my worries in not just fanfic,but particularly and especially in my original fic, is being tooon the nose. particularly indialogue. but like, people need to talk about things!! they do!! andI want to write that!!! but people are also vague and hide things andthey’re stupid, and that’s something that you have to contendwith when you write dialogue – andthe actual narration of the fic. I didn’t write the line down alsobecause I thought it was too onpoint, and it was something I wanted to show,instead. (overthinking about show don’t tell is a constant sourceof stress for, I think, everyone.) (I also tend to overuse the word‘thing’ so that’s also constantly on my mind and another reasonwhy I didn’t use it.)

my favorite part of the between two wordsinterview – the part that I wound up thinking about the most –was the line I used for the summary. I started thinking about howthat gelled with s3 (which is fun.that interview in terms of s3 is GREAT, especially laura’s part),and then, like I always do – i’m serious, everytime I start a new peaks fanfic I do this – I go through ren’smeta and character tags. and I found the interview grace zabriskiedid about sarah killing the man in the bar and hawk visiting her, andhow she mentioned that like, people will extend a hand to you whenyou’re grieving more to make themselves feel better than to helpyou yourself. and this is true. and it made sense, with what sarahsays in the between two worlds interview. “no one really knows whati’m thinking. or cares.”

so what was sarah supposed to do with hawk just saying, if you need anything, let meknow? why didn’t anyone do more? (and, well, also, it’s hard toknow what to do. it’s hard to know what you want people to do, too.I guess it’s really a situationwhere no one’s going to win and no one knows what the bare minimum of action should be. you don’t know what you want or what you’ll accept and sometimes you just never know, because that’s how grief works, but also especially when no one does anything at all.) (but i think what sarah wants or wanted was probably just someone to sit next to her.)

and the more sarah was alone, theloneliershe was, the less she interacted with people who cared, because noone cared, and the more itstarted to stay with her. her hair dresser talks like nothing hashappened (in her own way, trying to help, and again only helpingherself) – but it has happened, and because it’s stuck with sarahso much, she is always, only, just onedayaway from it. every day is reliving it, and every day is knowing thatthis is what she has now and there’s no way she can move forward.(that’s also how the title came to be – I was hard-pressed for atitle this time.)

(also, speaking of the hairdresser, Imean, everyone in town from that point on knows that leland killedlaura and then….killed himself, I guess. and who wants to bringthat up to sarah? who wants to acknowledgethat themselves, that no oneknew, that no one sawthat, that it happened? people dodo things just forthemselves.)

the supernatural is, of course, a veryprevalent part of twin peaks. it’s there, it’s ingrained in theshow. it is! but a lot of people – and even me, when I firststarted watching it!! – see so much of the mystery and thesupernatural and don’t always realize, or understand, or maybe wantto understand, that there is so much grief and suffering and abuse atthe core of the show. sarah palmer loses her entirefamily in a matter of weeks.so, yes, there is so much constant, supernatural darkness in theshow, created by people – but you can’t let that overshadow thefact that sarah palmer has nothingnow. I don’t care about judy, she doesn’t factor into how I viewthe show at ALL, what mattered to me when I was thinking about sarah,what made SENSE to me when I thought about her, was that, ifanything, the thing inside her that was eating her alive and killedthat man in the bar was grief.

so I had sarah, alone and in this house,and I went back to reread your‘the house on the hill’ fic, because I had a couple paragraphsabout sarah and I was trying to figure out how to write her – thismix of sadness but also complete, abject BITTERNESS, abouteverything, this apathy, so that her lines would just, cut off beforeI got too deep into the emotions she was feeling (which is how iwrite laura, with a lot of, very prevalent emotion, laura doesn’tskimp, so it was hard to feel out where sarah was at first), and Iwas trying to balance all that with her scene with the turkey jerky,so I went to rereaditbecause it’s one of my favorites and I was looking for how otherpeople wrote sarah THAT WASN’T GOING TO PISS ME OFF. and dalethinks about sarah and his mother in that fic, and evacommented something about their similarities in the comments, and Ithought, huh. if there’s one person who would, maybe, understandsarah, or that sarah would maybe connect with – it’d be mamacoop, wouldn’t it?

we don’t get a lot of mama coop in mlmtbut I got the impression that she was like, sort of a quiet person,perceptive and calm but reasonably strong-willed and definitelysomebody who loves her son more than anything, more than anyone elsein her family, not the kind ofwoman who’s really cheery or bright but somebody who coop looks atand knows he’s safe and knows she’ll do anything she has to forhim. definitely an opposite personality than sarah but still someonewho can then look at sarah and say ‘i know exactly what you’re goingthrough’ and they have that fine line of understanding. Isawher with straighthair but I also think sort ofslightly wavy hair would work wellwith her too.

aswe got further into s3 when it was originally airing, I was like,half-worried, half-CONVINCED that there was going to be a scene wherelaura just, nonchalantly walked through the palmer house, especiallyin the last few episodes. like, that scene where gordon opens thedoor and there’s laura, in donna’s doorway, displaced in time????I gasped, out loud. the initial shock of seeing that scene for thefirst time has never left me. but it was also one of the things thatgot me thinking, well, there’s no way laura COULDN’T just sortof, show up places now, right? like, as of episode….2??? she’dalready been yoinked from the black lodge, so I figured, welp, girl’sout there, doing her best, no reason why she can’t relive the lastdays of her life in her own house (becausethat’s what I think it’s implied that she’s doing?? with the“she says something, music over the lull of the tv, andstalks out of the living room in all black, a way sarah never sawher.” that was supposed to be the scene in fwwm where laura’sabout to leave the house and donna shows up)–especially when s3 was leading up to the rewriting of that night.

what also got me thinking about laura inthe fic was, I was rewatching sarah’s s3 scenes, because I figured,the fic would have to follow them, or at least address them, and Iwas always struck by the theory after part 14 aired that the smileinside sarah looked like laura’s. so who was to say that, if sarahis consumed by grief, and grief aboutlaura, and laura is hangingaround the house, and killing the guy in the bar is a massivevindication, not letting scumbags get away with treating women,girls,like that – who’s to say laura wasn’t there too? who’s to saythat sarah wasn’t thinking about all the times she had failedlaura, and that sarah was acting in defense of her daughter (who shehas, as I said, always seen as little),the defense she SHOULD’VE done (because I was also worried thatlike, I mean, leland is drugging sarah – that’s pretty obvious,right? but was sarah complicit in this too? I mean sarah for sureloved laura but wasn’ta perfect parent but like, how far does it go? how far does sarahthink it went, now)

so, in rewatching that scene, and sarahsaying “do you really wanna fuck with this?” I was struck by howmuch it reminded me of the scene at the roadhouse in fire walk withme, where jacques renault sends the men over to see laura.particularly, I was thinking more of laura saying, “you willing togo all the way? huh? you gonna do it to me?” but when I went backto rewatch the whole scene (because what I also do when I write peaksfanfic is rewatch scenes….over and over) I realized that “so youwanna fuck the homecoming queen?” really stood out too and remindedme more, in terms of the content, of sarah’s line. (the one i’dinitially thought of matched it more in tone, though.) and if laurawasthere, then of course it made sense for me to think of that scene,and to try and layer the dialogue together. i’d layered notdialogue but emotions/locations before in writingbut i’d done it in poetry, not fanfic, so I wasn’t sure how to doit, or how it would read, or how people would react to it, or ifthey’d get what I was going for at all. but it became one of theparts that hit people the most!!! and i’m so happy it worked how Iwanted it to. (one of these daysI’ll go whole hog and just like, break out every crazy writingthing I learned in my experimental poetry class, and it’ll be agood day.)

additional specific notes –

-the turkey jerky scene did give me ahard time because I already had this very fixed image ofapathetic!sarah and then remembered about the turkey jerky and I waslike ‘mmmm. I do have to contend with that.’ (and I hate havingto change things…..) rewatching it so many times made me look ateverything and I thought, ‘fuck that cashier has blonde hair justlike laura.’ and sarah’s thinking the same thing too.-“somethinghappened, something keeps happening. it’s happening again.” sincesarah says that in the actual scene (and in that scene in the missing pieces Ireferenced later, which I talked about in my other post for this fic)I was thinking, it really is, isn’t it? I mean, sarah of coursealways feels that it’s happening again, but re: cycles of abuse,this blonde girl who looks like laura, BECKY, everybody, it’shappening again

-oh!in a related note! there was that longass thread on reddit atsome point about what was insarah’s kitchen when hawk was at the door (cause some people werelike, it’s judy! and other people were like, it’s the othercashier cause he said he’d deliver her groceries!) and in the termsof this fic, it’s mama coop. that’swhy I brought her up as being in the kitchen. “humming bythe stove, dusting the same spots over and over, locking the windowstight,” the dusting being a reference to coop’s asthma and thewindows to bob and mama coop’s death-speaking of those cashiersthough……...now I’m wondering if they hang out together and whathappened when he brought sarah her groceries. who are these lil teenagers. who are they

-“aren’t there some things tooterrible to tell our children?” is about bob and is a direct quoteto what coop says to sarah in s2 and that’s why she closes her eyes -sometimes, I need asecond opinion.me: hey mom can youlook at this bar sign and tell me if you think it’s elks point bar#9 or elks point #9 barmom: elks point bar#9.me, months later:….but what if it was #9 elks point bar………………..

-the end part wheremama coop looks older than she’s ever been to sarah was supposed to be a reference to TFD where mama coop lived a littlelonger in the redone timeline, because laura’s left the house to godie so from that point on the timeline for sure starts to fracture(she did, didn’t she????? live a little longer????? or am Imisremembering?????? this is the one time I do not have the energy tofact-check like four times)-sarah wrapping herhand around the bottle was as close as I wanted to get to part17!sarah slamming the bottle into laura’s picture but that’s whatshe was about to do with it, because she’s just seen laura leaveagain and knows she’s not coming back

-Ilistened to three songs while writing this – running up that hillby kate bush, the chromatics cover of running up that hill, and achoral version of the coventry carol (the lully, lulla, lullay). Iwas just thinking about running up that hill at the time and I wasstill entranced by lully lulla lullay from last december and wantedto listen to it too, and the songs just wound up vibing.

#lulu talks about peaks #cerealninjakat

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