#scramm

[mysticdevils]

stephen king writing the long walk:

[the-lean-buddha]

My thoughts on the news about The Long Walk's film adaption

I have very little faith that The Long Walk will be a good adaption but maybe I'll be wrong! I can dream, and I've been wrong before. Here are my thoughts on the casting announcements and set pictures.

Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson are the leads, according to Deadline, which means they're presumably Garraty and McVries. Jonsson seems like a good actor but an awful fit for either character, and with Hoffman (presumably Garraty) it comes down to how good an actor he is, I guess, because I can see it working if I squint but I haven't seen anything from Hoffman to suggest he can do Garraty. And I reaaaaally doubt he could do McVries. McVries has a bite to him.

Joshua Odjick is Native American so he's presumably Joe or Mike (not to say that a different character couldn't theoretically be Native American in the adaption, but it's key to Joe and Mike that none of the other Walkers understand their culture at all, and only Baker defends their parents). It's odd that either of those two would have a prominent enough role to be cast already, so I wonder if either one of their roles is beefed up, or if Mike and Scramm will be a composite character and Joe won't feature at all. Alternatively, Odjick isn't playing a Native American character (or he is but Mike and Joe are adapted out), in which case I'd guess Parker.

Roman Griffin Davis is someone I've only ever seen in Jojo Rabbit so I don't know how much range he has. I think he'd fit best as Barkovitch but I wouldn't be surprised if he's been cast as Baker or Olson.

Charlie Plummer is Stebbins. I say this almost entirely because he's a long-haired blonde. If McVries is black then book descriptions (and characterizations, let's be honest, you can't make McVries a black kid in the 70s and keep his character the same) are thrown out the door already, but google Charlie Plummer and tell me he's not been cast as Stebbins. Also, take a look at this.

Ben Wang is Asian American and there are no explicitly Asian American characters, so we've gotta guess this one purely on Vibes (Olson and Barkovitch could both be canonically Asian American, but Barkovitch is openly racist, so). From Wang's YouTube channel and some clips of Chinese Born American I found, he's a nice and playful guy (hmu Ben let's get a lemonade, also tell me who you're playing), so I'd assume Baker or Olson or Abraham because they fit that the closest, I guess? But this is unfortunately a flawed way of guessing because actors playing lunatics are sometimes normal people in real life, walking among us, going almost undetected.

Tut Nyuot's a young, sweet-looking kid. I'd assume Percy? Again, weird to cast Percy already because he doesn't even have any lines in the book, but I can't imagine Nyuout playing a character who's supposed to be the same age as Charlie Plummer's character. Maybe he's unexpectedly good at playing deranged assholes like Barkovitch? We'll see.

For Garrett Wareing I'd say Olson, looking through clips and interviews.

Jordan Gonzalez gives me no strong impression. Sorry, Jordan. Feel free to give me a stronger one over lemonade (and tell me who you're playing). If I'm held at gunpoint then I'll say Abraham.

Mark Hamill is presumably playing the Major. He's absolutely not who I would have picked because he overflows with character and I always pictured the Major as a stoic, empty Big Brother type figure, whose moments of charisma and friendliness were obviously just an act. And I guess Hamill could play that, but I think the Major will more likely have a lot more personality and vim and vigor in the movie, if Hamill was cast - he's easily the biggest draw in the cast. Not necessarily a bad way to portray the Major, but easier to mess up. We'll wait and see.

Judy Greer as presumably Mrs. Garraty will presumably be fine.

Set photos look promising, aesthetically. No half-track, though. And there's a tank. Why is there a tank?

There's a Deadline article suggesting that there are only 50 kids and the pace limit is 3mph. But there's also an article suggesting it's still 100 kids so it might be a mistake? If it's 50 kids then that's presumably done for practicality but it's a bad change, the number will either get too low too fast or it'll drop too slowly (and also no 47 and 61 which would be weird but that's not significant). 3mph isn't necessarily bad, it's more feasible, but it does mean the "first into Massachusetts in seventeen years" can't happen. Maybe they'll make New Hampshire the record instead.

i want lemonade

Reblog with your thoughts! We've got news, people, and I'm sure someone somewhere is more excited about that than I am. Let's get some discussion going on in here.

[bakersfilm]

SOBS WAILS /POS

AAUYGEJWGH RRUGHWWU 😞😞

In the 60s there was a doll called Chatty Cathy that people brought for their daughters. This has nothing to do with The Long Walk but I associate this toy with Cathy Scramm and I wish I could write a fanfic so I could sneak that into it as a reference

this is so cuteeee! i love this aw. that’d be such a cute detail to put into a fic

[sailorbarkovitch]

"are you gay?"

garraty: what the fuck? no, i like girls!!! i have a girlfriend who i'm going to marr- when i was a child my friend asked me to take off my clothes and we touched each other and my mom said she was gonna make me walk naked and *has a mental breakdown*

mcvries: lol maybe i am maybe i'm not. btw do you like jerking off?

pre-walk olson: hell no! i like hot chicks. do you really think a guy like me would be gay?

post-walk olson: god's gonna send you to hell just for that. i hope ray garraty dies

baker: hahaha do you think that because i'm of the sensitive type? nothing wrong with being a little soft

abraham: i'm straight but 50 bucks are 50 bucks

parker: i would fck a dude if he was hot enough. got any problems with that bro?

stebbins: *gaslights you into questioning your own sexuality*

barkovitch: WHATTHEFUCK? DO YOU THINK I'M A FUCKING [F-SLUR]? YOU'RE GONNA SEE WHO'S GAY WHEN I'M DANCING ON YOUR GRAVE. also please don't leave i'm so lonely right now

scramm: *dying from sickness* you're right man, my wife sure is great! ahahaha

pearson: no, this is patrick! :o)

harkness: i enjoy writing yaoi fanfiction of my fellow walkers

davidson: did i tell you about the time i met a clown apprentice at the local circus and convinced him we were lovers in our past lives? we kissed for a bit and then he got a gay clown tattoo because of me

percy: *too homeschooled to know*

[conchapman]

For Artsy Parents, Summer Camp Choice is Serious

NEEDHAM, Mass.  Joy Olivet-Scramm and Martin Scramm are creative types who survive in the notoriously impecunious world of the arts by holding down full-time jobs in academia, a double-life that lends an air of seriousness to their otherwise whimsical natures.  “Shaw said those who can, do, and those who can’t teach–but we do both!” Joy says as she waits with other parents for a tour of the…

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

The Long Walk as things my family has said.

Scramm: I'm suffering from a seasonal fatal disease.

Pearson: Well there you go, there is no God. If there was a God, I'd have a penny in my purse.

Collie Parker: I can't watch Toy Story because Mr. Potato Head is such a dick.

Abraham: It's been a long time since I've peed in here.

Barkovitch: It ruined my day AND the corpse's buried beneath me!

Art Baker: The sun is my boyfriend.

McVries: It's always more fun when I'm there and I'm lucky cause I'm always there when I'm there.

Garraty: WHY ARE THERE 2 MEN IN A BED TOGETHER?!?!?!?

Harkness: I can't delete my blog! I just reblogged the money dog, I have to wait at least 24hrs.

Stebbins: God is a psychosomatic symptom.

Olson: I'm worried! my stomach won't go away!!

Davidson: I don't want to into clothing stores because I'm afraid they'll see my cool clothes & design stuff after them. And then people will think I copied someone else's style.

[pearsondasupremacy]

This is how I think The Long Walk Characters would write

Garraty:

McVries: messy but he kinda cares abt school so he takes notes even if he doesn't want to

Baker: He actually cares about school and his grades

Jan: probably has popular girl handwriting

Priscilla: idk why but it just feels like she would write in cursive

Olson: idk abt this guy. He probably doodles that weird "S" thing everywhere

Barkovitch:

Abraham: he tries hard but still manages to fail the classes

Stebbins: i dunno abt him. He probably takes note on whatever he finds

Davidson:

Scramm:

Parker: he probably skips classes. But if he does take notes i could only imagine him copying them from Abraham or copying them from Pearson after threatening to rip off that poor boy's favorite manga.

[ry61805]

The Long Walk boiz as inspirational quotes generated by InspiroBot:

Part 1

Ray Garraty:

Peter McVries:

Arthur Baker:

Stebbins:

Hank Olson:

Gary Barkovitch:

Collie Parker:

Scramm:

or

Pearson:

[longwalkquotes]

"I understand what it is to die, I think," Pearson said abruptly. "Now I do, anyway. Not death itself, I still can't comprehend that. But dying. If I stop walking, I'll come to an end." He swallowed, and there was a click in his throat. "Just like a record after the last groove." He looked at Scramm earnestly. "Maybe it's like you say. Maybe it's not enough. But... I don't want to die."

Scramm looked at him almost scornfully. "You think just knowing about death will keep you from dying?"

Pearson smiled a funny, sick little smile, like a businessman on a heaving boat trying to keep his dinner down. "Right now that's about all that's keeping me going." And Garraty felt a huge gratefulness, because his defenses had not been reduced to that. At least, not yet.

[binarystarkillers]

Hank Olson: I’m having one of those things… a headache with pictures.

Abraham: What the fuck?

Art Baker: He's having an idea.

[seaglassdinosaur]

Scram drinks his Respect Women juice.

[the-lean-buddha]

tlw characters by how often their name appears in the book

1) Garraty - 1,196. 2) McVries - 496. 3) Olson - 262. 4) Stebbins - 249. 5) Baker - 214. 6) Barkovitch - 159. 7) Scramm - 110. 8) Abraham - 104. 9) The Major - 93. 10) Pearson - 86. 11) Parker - 81. 12) Jan - 61.

pretty surprising huh, anyway this is my official post for the month get off my back

[bakersfilm]

long walk characters as poorly translated/funny shirts

garraty

mcvries

stebbins

baker

olson

barkovitch

parker

abraham

scramm

the major

[aeneidpdf]

title: with my own two hands

word count: 1.6k+

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24030823

summary: "He had to do this for Cathy. There was no finish line. All Scramm had to do was last. His body had to make it even if his brain was confused and addled by fever." AU where Scramm wins the Long Walk. Written for day 5 of Long Walk Week.

The road stretched on ahead of them, visible for miles, charcoal gray cutting through the green. It sloped gradually down, before rising again and disappearing into the distance. On the right side of the road was a huge field, stretching on for miles, and they were bordered on the left by a pine forest. Early morning fog clung to the fields and the pine trees. The rosy morning light cast an ethereal, dreamlike glow over everything.

“That’s some view,” Scramm said, awe in his voice.

“This might be what they call the Hainesville Woods,” Garraty told him. “Truckers’ graveyard. Hell in the wintertime.”

“I never seen nothing like it,” Scramm said, voice soft. He never felt small, but the expanse of green and the pink sunrise made him feel tiny. “There isn’t this much green in the whole state of Arizona.”

“Enjoy it while you can,” Baker said, coming up behind them and joining the group “It’s going to be a scorcher. It’s hot already and it’s only six-thirty in the morning.”

“Think you’d get used to it, where you come from,” Pearson said.

“You don’t get used to it. You just learn to live with it.”

Scramm wasn’t paying attention to them at that point. Their voices sounded distant and detached. The road went on forever, and Scramm was mesmerized by it. “I’d like to build a house up here,” he said, and sneezed once, twice, wiping at his nose before continuing. “Build it right up here with my own two hands, and look at the view every morning. Me and Cathy. Maybe I will someday, when this is all over.”

The group fell silent after that.

///

Scramm was sick.

There was pressure in his head, and he felt like his whole body was on fire, but his steps remained strong. He could do it, because he had something to walk for. He was walking to win.

The rest of these boys, they didn’t stand a chance. They kept walking because they were scared, or out of spite. They didn’t know why they were walking, or they’d had a death wish that they regretted by now.

But Scramm was walking for Cathy, and their baby, and that stretch of woods.

He walked next to Mike and Joe for a while in the vanguard. The two liked to keep to themselves and they and Scramm didn’t talk much. It was still nice to be close to people from home.

Time meant nothing anymore. All that he could focus on was the aching in his feet, and the shivers that gripped him at random times and made him feel like he’d fall down, and the sickly pounding in his head.

He pulled even with Garraty. Garraty looked gaunt and scared, but more worn down than Scramm had seen him before. “Garraty?” he asked.

Garraty startled and looked at him. It was like he had been walking asleep and Scramm had just woken him up. “What is it?” he asked, raking his hands over his face.

“Garraty, what was the name of those woods we passed earlier?” he asked. He was desperate for it.

“Uh… pretty sure it’s the Hainesville Woods,” Garraty answered, giving him a funny look.

“Hainesville Woods,” Scramm repeated. “Thanks, Garraty.”

Garraty kept walking like he couldn’t even see him.

///

It hurt to watch Garraty buy a ticket. It was a day after Scramm had asked him about the Hainesville Woods. He’d gotten a charley horse, and couldn’t get his leg to work in time, and the soldiers had blown his head away in a hammersmash of blood while he sat on the pavement, desperately massaging his leg, willing it to work again.

Scramm had liked Garraty. He was a nice enough guy, not the type of guy you’d expect to find on a Long Walk. He’d joined for the hell of it. He didn’t know what he was walking for, and his luck had just run out.

From then on, he’d walked mostly with Abraham, Baker, and Pearson, until one by one, they all got their tickets too. They’d helped him, giving him water from their canteens and dabbing at his broad, sweaty face with strips of fabric that Scramm had torn from his T-shirt. He couldn’t ignore the way Pearson looked at him, though he pretended not to notice. Pearson looked at him with a morbid fascination with his sickness, and like he couldn’t wait to see him dead. Because if Scramm, the Vegas favorite, could fall, then anyone could. And then Pearson could have a chance.

Scramm remembered the next night when Pearson bought it. Just like that, he was done. His fear had run out, exhaustion had won, and he bought a ticket just like the rest.

///

When the sun rose on another day of the Long Walk, Scramm looked on with unseeing eyes. He knew that the sickness had taken sharp hold of him. Abraham and Baker were looking after them, but he didn’t know how much longer their kindness would last. They were getting down to the end of the Walk, when friendships fractured and self-preservation kicked in.

Scramm was dead to the rest of the world, hearing and seeing nothing. He wondered what the odds were like in Vegas right now. He wondered if he was still the favorite. He figured not, considering how he looked and all. Maybe it was Baker, with his deceptively easy gait, or Stebbins, with his consistency and the fact he never tired. It was probably Stebbins. Scramm didn’t care about all that anymore.

All he knew was that he needed to win. And he would. He was going to win for Cathy, and their baby, and when this was all over he’d move out to Maine and build a house and watch the sunrise every morning, with Cathy by his side.

Fuck everything else. He had to do this for Cathy.

There was no finish line. All Scramm had to do was last. His body had to make it even if his brain was confused and addled by fever.

///

Scramm hardly remembered when Stebbins bought it. All that he remembered was the roar of the crowd- already deafening- reached a fever pitch. He was dimly aware of the halftrack stopping and an opening appearing in the crowd. Several men rushed onto the road, and there were hands grabbing his, a hand shaking his own.

“Congratulations, son,” a voice said, and he kept walking.

He kept walking until they stopped him, and he slipped out of consciousness.

///

Scramm was sick for a long time after that.

He had pneumonia, and he was severely dehydrated. Plus the fact that his feet had been nearly destroyed during the Walk.

It was over a week before he was lucid enough to know where he was. He woke up in a hospital bed, covered in clean white sheets. The whole room was entirely sterile, and silent aside from the beeping of machines, and the soft breathing coming from the chair beside his bed.

It was Cathy, sleeping in the hospital chair, her arms folded over her pregnant stomach.

“Cathy,” he choked out, and Scramm realized he was crying.

When he said her name, her eyes fluttered open, and relief flashed across her face before she was getting up and leaning down to hug him. “Oh, honey,” she breathed out, and she was crying too. “You’re alive. You won. We’re together.”

He clung to her, breathing in her scent and feeling her soft hair under his hands. He had won. Cathy was here, and everything would be okay.

///

Scramm’s first request was that something be done for Joe and Mike’s family, and the rest of the Hopi reservation. He didn’t visit. He didn’t want anyone to look at him and thank him like he’d done a good thing, when it was really his fault that Mike and Joe were dead.

By staying alive, he had killed them. Giving their family some money was just the least he could do.

He sent money to Garraty’s, Abraham’s, and Baker’s families too. It was the least he could. Those guys had kept him alive, and they never got anything in return.

Once he recovered enough, he asked for a plot of land in Hainesville Woods, where he would build a house for him and Cathy and their baby.

“What do you think, Cathy?” he asked, when they pulled to the side of the road and stepped out to look at their new land.

“It’s… it’s beautiful,” she answered, tucking herself into his side. His arm came around her shoulders. “It’s nothing like Arizona. More green than I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”

At that, he kissed her. After they pulled apart, she said, “The Long Walk will pass us by every year. Are you sure that’s alright with you?”

Scramm hadn’t considered that before, but he nodded. “It’ll be alright. It’s beautiful here. Like nothing I’ve ever seen in my whole life. We can be happy here. We can raise a kid here.”

Scramm wasn’t strong enough to build a house by himself, so the Major hired a crew to help him. The Hainesville Woods were still the most beautiful place he’d ever seen, and the Walk hadn’t ruined that. The Walk couldn’t kill the magic.

The house was built and ready in a month, and Cathy and Scramm were glad to move out of their hotel room in Bangor and into their own home. They stood on the porch, watching the sun set. Purple and red and orange exploded across the sky and disappeared behind the pine trees. The field was cast into shadowy dusk.

“It’s beautiful,” Cathy breathed out, an awe-filled, reverent sound.

“It sure is,” Scramm echoed.

“We’re happy people, right, honey?” she asked, looking up at him. “We’re gonna be happy?”

Scramm grinned and pulled her closer to him. “Yeah, we’re happy people.”

They stood out there until the sun completely disappeared. They were happy people. Scramm was alive, they had built a house in the most beautiful place either of them had ever seen, and soon they’d have a kid of their own.

Everything would be okay.

[incorrectlongwalk]

If I had friends like you in high school I probably would have still dropped out, but, you know, I’d be sad about it.

Scramm