#td horror week

[fraudulent-cheese]

Me when the nights are five and they are freddies:

for @total-drama-horror-week's day 6 prompt! You cannot have a Horror game AU prompt without at least one edit of the characters in the FNAF offices, so i included 3 + one for Sister Location because. come on.

[sxyphen]

just a psa for anyone doing #TDHorrorWeek2024, and just in general when writing gore/body horror, there is a difference between the two.

gore is the exposed insides of a living being (limbs being cut off, organs ripped out, etc.), while body horror is a more fundamental change, with things like additional limbs, mutations, and just general distortion of the human body.

there is some blur between the two, and they can often go together, but just remember that gore = body horror, but body horror =/= gore (all gore counts as body horror, but not all body horror counts as gore)

if youre still confused, id recommend checking this explanation by @/anatomical-puppet on here, which does go a bit more in depth.

just wanted to make this so people wouldnt get the two confused lol ^^

@total-drama-horror-week pinging to spread the word

[formula-fun]

.

[glow-in-the-dark-death]

Survive the Dorms

~

Danny can now easily say that college sucks.

He's getting less sleep than when he first started being a hero back home.

His roommate was straight out from the horror stories you would hear about roommates. He was hoping to switching rooms after the year was over, but that was still so far away.

Danny was falling asleep whenever and wherever he could.

His lack of sleep mixed in with his stress about school started to show some of his ghostly side while he was out of it.

Sleepwalking would be normal for anyone, but Danny was far from normal, he would go invisible and intangible, some people even managed to get video of it, if a very distorted version no mater how hard they tried.

Sleep talking as well, which would scare the hairs off anyone who would listen. Humans weren't meant to hear ghost speak after all.

Somehow people never could figure out it was Danny,

And Danny,

Danny had no clue he was the reason people thought that the dorms and school were haunted.

~

Danny getting the best sleep he has had in weeks: *yawn* "I need to do that more often"

The Dorm: "Salt I need more saLT!!"

TD: "I'm still alive!"

~

TD: "I was so freaked out last night! Did you see how it moved?"

Danny oblivious thinking their talking about a new horror movie

~

Danny's Roommate holding a cross he got from the Dollar General

Danny floating in the air above his bed, sleep talking about his homework in Ghost Speak

DR: "Fuck this, I'm dropping out!"

~

Danny looking at his classmates being Stressed TM: " Ah yes normal collage things!"

TD every night:

~

Just an Idea

[serenacypher]

A little late today, but forth story is up! Heads up, though, this one has dark elements including medical-based horror and non-consensual touching/molestation! Viewer discretion is advised!

[fighting-these-demons]

Royal Flush Haunted Honk - The Updated Bones!

Hello Internet Stranger looking up G Gundam on Tumblr dot com!

This is an idea for a Horror Alternate Universe involving Queer Non-Canon Relationships between the characters of the series.

It is based on the idea in the post that is linked above.

If you are not looking for this content please scroll on.

If you ARE looking for this content - and you're ok with reading my and other's Headcanons for this Alternate Universe I've haphazardly spun up -

Then go ahead and feel free to:

Check The Tags Of This Post For The Pairings

and click the Read More below!

Also the majority of the brainstorming is happening in the replies if you're so inclined.

--------------------------------

Behold! The Update! It's the bare bones intro and the outline! It's 2.5K! Whoops! 😅

Some of this is just straight copy and pasted from the notes and other bits have been lightly reworded or built upon to connect to other bits.

I've gotten some scenes sent to me by @thedragonchilde that I loved and I think will fit in well with what we've got so far for the fic.

If you'd like to link or reblog them please do!

@amplexadversary feel free to message me or reblog with scenes you've thought up or written up! I can't wait to read them!

I think we've set the stage pretty well to start brainstorming the horror and whump! 😃

I'll see y'all in the replies for ideas on new plot points! 🪦💥🌩

-----------------------------

This is backstory and general outline only.

It is barely edited. Typos abound.

The dialogue is extremely minimal and it is a framework upon which to build the fic. 💖

I am giving this explanation for the benefit of internet strangers as all parties working on this fic are already familiar.

Hello Internet strangers! 👋

--------------------------------

Wherever the tendrils of the Devil Gundam hovered over the earth, and subsequently were destroyed, are places that may have had DG cells distributed through the atmosphere.

Atmospheric DG plumes have lead to DG infection in those areas. There's also likely tendril debris.

Neo-Japan, since the Devil Gundam's destruction,  has been working with Neo and world governments on a cure for DG infection.

At the moment the current treatment involves Kyoji or Schwarz controlling the DG cells of the individual and shutting them down; however, they are making breakthroughs with advancements on a nanocite injection that they're synthesizing with an executable program that shuts the DG cells down.

The biological compatibilities are the hurdle at the moment as evidenced in animal testing.

Kyoji and Domon are traveling to some sites in the USA that were affected by tendrils. Domon is there as a body guard since Schwarz is handling infection cases elsewhere (unspecified).

Chibodee is their escort. America is a Different Beast to Japan even in the future. So they'll need an escort to get through the militant landscape and across the sheer distance of it all.

Rain wanted to come with them, but with the volatility of the current landscape of the US - Especially where they're going - Kyoji didn't want to needlessly risk her safety.

He's assured her that Domon, Chibodee, and Chibodee's team will be watching his back.

Dr. Kasshu will be with them for the first days in New York to help with setup of the mobile lab before heading back to Neo Japan to continue working alongside Rain.

Once they've rested and are ready to head out, Domon, Chibodee, Kyoji, and The Gals will take Neo America's Core Lander and a mobile lab to the TD Site and it should be a fairly straight forward affair since they've gotten permission from the national and state governments, as well as permission from Gunsinto to be in the area.

They shouldn't be more than a few days travel to get there and retrieve samples and data and get back. He should be gone a week at the absolute most.

Kyoji gives rain the contact info to their hotel in New York as well as their sponsored Gunsinto accommodations in the Midwest and lets her know that he'll call once they've arrived palnetside.

He makes good on that promise the next day, letting Rain know that their shuttle landed, Chibodee and the girls picked them up without hassle, and lets them know that they're set to have a great dinner at a favorite restaurant of Chibodee's that evening.

Seeing Chibodee is like a breathe of fresh air that Domon didn't know he needed. Life has been so needlessly complicated lately but after Chibodee releases him from the bear hug given in greeting and throws an arm over Domon's shoulders they fall into step as if they'd never been apart.

Keeping in touch wasn't exactly easy. Domon doesn't respond quite as often as Chibidee would like, but every message Chibodee left was listened to and saved.

Ever since they got wind of this mission it's all either of them has had on their minds for days.

I need some help here with feelings and dialogue and inner thoughts but Basically

They both independently realize with clarity over the days leading up and the time in New York how much they've missed each other and how easy and comfortable it all is - being teamed up again.

Domons semi-recent revelations and feelings fresh on his mind. Chibodees crush ever looming.

Hearts racing. Feeling lighter than they have in God Knows How Long. Chibodee smiling so much his face cramps. Domon feeling so comfortable and nearly zen he loses his permanent frown from constantly thinking and just vibes. Smiling occasionally even!

Chibodee proposes they spar real quick before dinner "To work up an appetite! And C'mon! I wanna see what I'm up against in the upcoming Gundam Fight!" With a grin slamming his left fist into his open right hand. (He's left handed right? Or was that someone else?)

They Spar and there's Feelings

(I have a small scene outline put together for the spar for your consideration. @thedragonchilde has submit 2 scenes that would be great for just after the spar and are an awesome read! I'll include my outline for the spar scene in a reblog)

Then they have dinner together and later part to settle in their hotel rooms for the evening. 

The next day they focus on briefing the expedition and setting up the Mobile Lab that The Gals will be in charge of transporting. 

Once the lab is set up, they see Dr. Kasshu off on his shuttle back to Neo Japan that has been on standby since they arrived.

Kyoji volunteers to ride with The Gals under the excuse of getting a head start on some data processing - to give Domon and Chibodee some time alone together. 

Chibodee is not about to let himself be alone in a Core Lander with Domon for HOURS. He may blurt out something he regrets. He insists that Kyoji ride with them and leave the Gals to themselves.

As they make their way out west, Chibodee starts explaining why they'll want to keep their guard up. 

There's been a lot of unrest recently and especially the last 10 years since Gunsinto bought out the last of their land and displaced so many communities. 

Domon asks occasional questions but Kyoji isn't saying much of anything at all. Opting to rest most of the journey. Domon seems tense, which is understandable considering the events before they left New York. 

Suddenly they hear gunfire and what might be a canon of some kind. 

They expected resistance outside of Gunsinto territory but they didn't expect it after they crossed the border!

Aren't the Greenlords supposed to be patrolling the area???

So they're on the run from a group that blames Domon and Kyoji for all the bullshit post DG Incident. The group is made up of various parties working together to hold Neo Japan responsible for their crimes against humanity since nothing held up in court and Neo Japan is currently in control. Plus near endless bitterness at America's loss of Super Power status for decades and the effect that that has had on their economy and natural resources put under stress from these Big Space Battles. 

Chibodee and The Gals are aware of THIS group of violent individuals… but they're not aware of the OTHER group of violent individuals. (The Clown gangs are kept under wraps by the Greenlords - Gunsinto's private militia similar to to the Pinkertons as going public would be an embarrassment and an open invitation to more trespassers.)

They have a good idea of what weapons they have at their disposal and what their general tactics are. 

They decide to split up and have The Gals create a distraction to lure the majority of the aggressors off before rendezvousing close to the TD Site in this region.

After they split, the core lander has some issues and breaks down in the middle of nowhere. As they break down Kyoji has an awful headache. There's a terrible signal he can feel and he knows it affected the core lander's processors but he's not sure what it is. 

(It's a device that broadcasts a malicious signal that infects the processing units of hovering vehicles - was gonna be an emp but realized that would mess up their gps. It has only a very mild effect on DG cells it seems. Their GPS was made by the Kasshus with DG tech so it's unaffected. - Their communicator was issued by Gunsinto and was not so lucky - it's dead.)

Luckily for them their map data integrated into their GPS shows there should be a former town nearby.

The nearest town is seemingly abandoned. There's simply not enough water here according to Chibodee. 

The only building not completely crumbled is a lone Motel. Chibodee curses his Rotten Fucking Luck. (Clown Music!)

They're exhausted from carrying their emergency supplies through the heat of the day. They're not going any further. This will have to be it. Domon is clearly tense and Chibidee seems about to jump out of his skin but Kyoji doesn't really know why. He could be over sensitive after sitting with their tension in the core lander and then walking with them through the heat. 

Chibodee considers attempting to convince them to camp outside but with the wind picking up as bad as it is, he has no leg to stand on. They'll be sleeping inside. 

Strange though. There's a light on. That's odd.

----------------------

Meanwhile The Gals have incapacitated the pursuers after radioing in help from the Greenlords who are cooperating on this mission. 

They're of course like “Whaaaaaat? That's Crazyyyyyyyyy.” And don't breathe a word of the Other Issue inside The Fields. Instead electing to simply refuel the mobile lab and send some extra men with The Gals as escort.

The girls start back on their journey to Rendevous with the guys. 

The arrive at the TD Site with no sign of the guys. After waiting 2 hours they decide to try and ping their location. 

There's no result. What they assumed was poor signal is worrying them now.

As they double back in the direction the guys should have been coming from they discover the crashed Core Lander and some prints headed South West.

They check their maps of the area which indicate a former town a few miles south west. They hop in their mobile lab and head that way. 

When they make it to the town, the only standing structure is a Clown Themed Motel that looks like it was pulled straight out of a historical classic horror film. 

They share a look. There's no way Chibodee would be here. They decide to check for other towns and head further south.  Eventually as it starts to get dark the escort advises that they head to the designated accommodations for the evening and the Greenlords will start a search.

Kyoji kept his word to Rain that he and his father would check in when they arrived in New York. When the second day stretches on with no word Rain starts to worry.

Her father has made it home, but she's still heard no word from Kyoji.

On Rain's 5th call in as many hours -at about 2:00 AM- The Gals answer.... it's Bad News.

They've been separated by a roaming militia group hellbent on serving American Justice to these Neo Japan Planet Destroyers. The Gals were supposed to Rendevous with Chibodee and the guys at the TD site but they never showed and they didn't find them on their way to the Gunsinto Accomodations either.

The Gals reassure her that the Greenlords and Gunsinto are starting a search and they should have word soon.

Dread starts to settle in the pit of Rain's stomach.

------------

Meanwhile The Guys walk into the Hotel expecting it to be abandoned. It certainly looks that way from the outside. 

As they walk in though, they meet a rather average looking man smoking a cigar and watching some movies on a TV in the corner of the dark Lobby. 

He looks surprised (he isnt) and quickly stubs out his cigar in the ash tray nearby before walking into the only light in the lobby by the front desk.

He welcomes them with a smile and asks how many guests. Letting them know that unfortunately he's only got one room available and There's Only the One Bed. He asks if that's alright.

Chibodee sputters. Shocked that there's someone here at all. He asks as much and the man says that the Hotel is a side business of the Greenlords’ for “Employee Services” if you catch his drift.

Average guy asks after them as he's never seen them before. Kyoji has a bad feeling and smooths things over by advising that they're there as horticultural graduate students studying genetic modification with their Professor and a few other students. Kyoji tells a tale of how they got separated in the fields and this was the closest area with shelter according to their map data.

The Average guy is surprised to hear that they have a functioning GPS and says that this area has bad signal. It's a blessing they can find their way.

He directs them to their room and leaves back toward the lobby.

Kyoji has a bad feeling. He can sense a ton of corrupted DG cells nearby. Somewhere underground, but isn't sure why or what it means. 

He also keeps getting flashes of screaming men and women in clown costumes….

He relays as much to Domon privately as Chibodee is clearly already on edge and doesn't need any more stress. 

Kyoji asks Domon if Chibodee is alright. Domon informs him that clowns and clown imagery is a problem but there's really nothing they can do about it in this situation. His fists are clenched. Domon i's pissed they have to stay here.

Kyoji takes a moment to let Domon know he'll take the floor and for Chibodee and Domon to take the bed. This throws Domon for a loop, but before he can argue Kyoji insists that out of the 3 of them he can probably take the most stress and that Chibodee looks like he needs someone to sleep next to. 

Kyoji also mentions that he'll be blocking his hearing on a nano level to give them privacy in case they need to talk. Domon is a bit flustered by this but decides to take it in stride and go to Chibodee who is pacing and silently melting down. He looks like he's about to both through the window and back into the fields. 

Domon puts a hand on Chibodee’s shoulder and suggests they go ahead and bunk down for the night. 

He and Domon each take a seat on the end of the bed while Kyoji remains standing and they discuss Watch Rotation.

It'll probably be better to have 2 people awake and 1 person resting at any given time.

None of them trust this guy at the front desk. Especially not Kyoji.

-------------------------

Not sure how to segue from bunking down to the horror bit below gracefully; but I know we need to.

I feel like it's the perfect time for Domon and Chibodee to take Kyoji up on his offer of audible privacy to have a quick heart to heart..... before it's unfortunately and terrifyingly interrupted. 😨

Mostly because I'm mean. 😂

-----------------------

My first thought for 4 is that it probably looks like a normal-ass bed but in the middle of the night when both the guys are like half asleep, a clown hand bursts up from the center of the mattress in a classic zombie style Then an improbable amount slowly crawl out of that same hole as Chibodee drags Domon to the door (Domon for his credit is ready to beat a clown with another clown)

Since the FC does have the lightest touch of Newtype bullshit (mostly seen in the Schwarz/Rain chase scene where Schwarz gets the newtype flash), I'm interested in it being ghosts because the NT thing sometimes goes that way.

Ghosts usually have some kind of backstory as to why they're around, and I think it fits the setting to have a sort of clown culture war going on

so you have gangs like the one that killed Chibodee's mom, and then you get ordinary clowns going vigilante to hunt the ones that do that down for flagrant violation of the clown code

But the problem with vigilantism is you sometimes get the wrong guy, so that eventually happens and another group of clowns goes vigilante to go after the first group because they've gone bad (doesn't matter whether or not this is true for our purposes). And then you get more guys like the original circus terrorists playing themselves off as vigilantes as an excuse to kill people.

So now you have a clown gang war and more clown terrorists than you started with. And with the other problems Earth and the Colonies have it isn't *really* a big enough deal for anyone outside of the business to really care, so you get a sort of uneasy status quo with occasional bursts of clown violence.

The motel in question has a ghost problem because it's a former base of operations of a clown gang, where they would frequently dispose of their clown victims.

Chibodee is not at all aware of this. Or else he never would have agreed to this. He would have had some sort if Military backup. Gunsinto and The Greenlords have kept this under wraps to avoid broadcasting their farm territory as terrorist territory.

The clowns were affected by DG cells pre-murder and with Kyoji nearby they seem to be activating.

Yikes.

Kyoji can affect DG cells in a lof of situations... but can he affect them to his advantage here???

-----------------------

Stay Tuned to Find Out!

[palmviolet]

true detective rewatch s1ep5 thoughts — two meta posts in one day now we're cooking on gas

— each episode post seems to have had a different central idea thus far, i guess because each episode presents a different variation on the big themes. this episode's theme is: time. here the whole circularity of the series is made most evident, as rust presents his thesis statement: time is a flat circle. this episode is so concerned with time because it's the episode that crosses the most time periods, encompassing '95, '02, and '12 at once. it addresses rust and marty at each different phase of their lives as we see them, showcases the dramatic changes they go through, highlights the effect time has on them while rust insists that this effect will be circular, undone.

— on some level this is metatextual. as a television show it can be rewatched, rewound, paused. and its nonlinear structure means we the audience somewhat take on the role of those extra-temporal beings who can see time for what it supposedly is — a circle. when marty talks about feeling “like the future’s behind you, like it’s always been behind you”, it's ironic because his future is already behind him, as a character frozen in television time, cursed to repeat it. this is the function of rust's specific statement of despair regarding the children at ledoux, that they'll be in that room 'again, and again, and again' — it invokes the tradition of procedural crime television, in which horrific murders are rehearsed to the viewer's satisfaction, week after week after week, differing only in minutiae. the metatextual details of TD (including its preoccupation with the exploitation of the camera — think the photos of dora that incite the ledoux connection, the photos taken at shepherd's flock) are designed to reflect on this critically. not to condemn us for watching it, necessarily, but to condemn a state-led condonation of violence that is reflected in societal media habits.

— and then, as @black-market-wd4o astutely pointed out in the tags to this post, there's the way rust and marty each sit within this metatextual engagement with time. rust considers the infinite circularity of time as a source of horror; marty believes he has all the time in the world. he longs for a time that is frozen and unmoving in which his daughters will never grow up and become sexual beings (echoing rust's twisted relief that his daughter will remain forever an innocent child) and he will remain virile and strong forever.

— but in this episode, time begins to catch up with him. we see marty studying himself in the mirror, worrying over his gut and his thinning hair, looking longingly at his rodeo belt buckle kept in his locker. this is the same buckle he's wearing during the ledoux showdown — a symbol of his performative strength not only as a sportsman but as a character of the american west, a man in the tradition of the old frontier heroes, protecting his women from the 'savage' native population. rodeo is more complicated than that but at its heart it captures the american death drive as it marries with the colonial project — and the buckle represents marty's chase for immortal infinity, paradoxically acquired by confronting real danger, just as he felt in that moment of power over ledoux.

— but rodeo is staged. at every turn in the series, marty's macho strength is undermined by rust's lived experience, and his first moment of real violence is against a defenceless prisoner. marty's past heroism was never heroism at all, and so his longing for the past is a longing for something that never existed — hence, he's already living in a sort of eternity.

— similarly with the eternal past, at the end of the episode rust returns to the school they visited in '95. he finds it full of devil traps; the final shot is of him holding one up to the light, framed by a broken window with stars drawn on it. the meshing together of childhood (a school) and death (the devil traps) collapses time. here's the shot:

he's facing left, which to a western audience (ie. an audience that reads left to right) implies a looking-backwards, a reversal, and the stars invoke both ledoux's 'black star' but also the stars and the darkness he talks about in the series' final scene. framed by the window, he's trapped in this cross-section of past and future (death and childhood; childhood and death) but the window is also broken, implying a possible escape from the circle.

— a final small point regarding laurie: we don't get much of laurie, but what we do get is more subversion. we see her and rust cuddled on the couch as she's flicking through channels on the tv; then we cut to marty in 2012, as the detectives ask him what went wrong between laurie and rust. marty says, “what always happens between men and women. reality.” but what we just saw wasn't reality; it was the television. it's another metatextual point about an ingrained misogyny that isn't real, that is favoured and propagated by fiction but does not need to have a basis in real life. marty and rust only believe that reality precludes respect for and peaceful coexistence with women; we, the audience, ought to know better.

[perpetualexistence]

Bad news: I don't think I'm going to be able to write for ever day of TD horror week as I'd originally imagined.

Good news: The days I am going to be part of will be Cooking. I shan't spoil too much about it but one day already has 2.5K words and is only like a fourth of the way done.

[rotiaftermath]

Wrote something for day six of td wlw week (horror au)!! It’s a little late but posting horror on Halloween works right??

She steps to the altar, bowing and placing the arm on it like an offering, before leaning over and resting her head beside the woman. She begins running her fingers over the woman’s cheek, until her hand settles into cupping it, running her thumb across the woman’s cold skin. Soon, she thinks.

Soon, she would have her back.

[bistic]

It would run from OCT 25 to OCT 31 !

[frangipanilove]

Fighting Fire With Fire Part Three:

Pharmakon And The LK8-4167 Licence Plate

(read parts one and two here)

This really has been the season of licence plates for me. I’ve written about the resurrection symbolism around the XH6-S781 and the LC6M187 licence plates. Today I want to expand on the licence plate LK8-4167 that we first saw in 5x10 WHAWGO. A brilliant Bethyler back in the ancient times of Early Team Delusional discovered that it could potentially refer to the Bible verse Luke 8, which happend to tell a story of resurrection (If anyone remembers the name of the person who discovered this, let me know so I can give them proper credit).

Then, when 6x10 A New World rolled around, we saw the same licence plate again, which I wrote about in this post from a few weeks ago.

There’s actually a third car with this particular license plate. It appears in 6x6 Always Accountable, and the scene and episode in which it appears is full of resurrection symbolism. Let’s dive in!

I first wrote about the LK8-4167 license plate in this post from 2020. It’s old and somewhat dated, but it’s also fairly thorough, check it out for the basics of the three/tree/trunk symbolism.

The licence plate first came on to TD’s radar after 5x9 WHAWGO. Obviously, 5x9 was the first episode after Beth had been shot at Grady, and it was also the last episode Beth appeared in, as she appeared in Tyreese’s fever dream before he died.

WHAWGO was an episode where the audience needed to pay attention. One can argue that TPTB intentionally tried to trick the audience from the get-go, for starters, it opened with someone digging a grave. Everyone assumed it was Beth’s grave, as her “death” had been the last thing we saw in the episode prior. Then came the plot twist, when it turned out to be Tyreese’s grave. We still don’t know if/where/when/how Beth was buried, we learned from Talking Dead that 17 days had passed between 5x8 Coda and 5x9 WHAWGO, but we know nothing of what transpired in those days.

The lack of a funeral for Beth, and an outright fake “trick” funeral intended to lure us into believing she had been buried has emerged as one of the most pressing unanswered questions for Team Delusional. Was she buried? If so, where? When? And if not, why?

Glenn explained the rules back in season one: "We bury the ones we love, and burn the rest". Through the years we've seen an enormous focus on getting people, and at times animals like goats and sometimes even baseball bats, a proper burial.

But not Beth. Why not? TD has questions.

As the group struggled to save Tyreese in WHAWGO, we could hear Beth’s voice singing Struggling Man in the backround. We watch them reach the cluster of cars where they were parked, and we see this female walker in a car. Interstingly, we see this scene paralleled in 6X6 Always Accountable, where a walker was trapped in a car in a similar way:

And while we hear Beth/Emily singing Struggling Man in the background, we see Rick deliver this line, which is a callback to when Beth sang the Tom Waits classic "Hold On" at the prison back in season 3:

There’s something strange about how they all reacted with fear and horror to the cluster of cars, it's as though something had happened that inflicted some kind of shared trauma associated with walkers in cars on them.

We also saw that in the next episode 5x10 Them, where they came across a different cluster of cars along the road, and reacted as though it was the most frightful sight ever. It was in one of these cars Maggie found the blond, tied up walker, a walker that has been confirmed to be meant as a reference to Beth, in a scene that seemed to haunt Maggie to an almost unreasonable degree.

It doesn't quite add up. They were all seasoned survivers at this point, they had all seen, and neutralized, countless walkers. What was it about the walkers trapped in cars from WHAWGO and Them that stood out to them as particularly terrifying and traumatizing?

This could be a reference to another cornerstone TD belief. Had Beth been left in a car during a walker attack directly after the events of 5x8 Coda? Is that why she was so heavily surreounded by trunk symbolism? Was it foreshadowing?

And as they desperately tried to get their car unstuck from the mud, we saw the red vehicle with the LK8-4167 license plate.

When we seek out the corresponding verse in the Bible, we find a story about healing a girl and a resurrection. We’ve heard Beth’s voice singing Struggling Man up until this very moment.

"She is not dead but asleep".

However you might feel about it, it's hard to deny that the licence plate could refer to resurrection. And it's difficult to argue it was about Tyreese. We saw Tyreese get stabbed through the brain to prevent him from reanimating. And we saw him get buried. The symbolism was not about him.

It is much more likely that it was about the girl whose voice we heard in the background the whole time, the girl we never saw put down or buried, the girl who was also last seen in 5x9 WHAWGO. It’s more likely that it was about the girl who's been surrounded by all kinds of resurrection symbolism, and who's been closely paralleled with Rick, someone who now has died and resurrected twice.

The fact that there were human torsos (or simply "trunks") stored in the car is three/tree/trunk symbolism, which I’ve talked about elsewhere (such as here and here), and I won’t discuss that in this post.

But let's now return to the licence plate we saw in 6x6 Always Accountable. It's an interesting episode for many reasons, and it's also an episode in which we learn more on how TWDU uses the concept of "fighting fire with fire".

As Daryl, Sasha and Abraham finish operation Lead The Walkers Away, and are about to return home to Alexandria, they are suddenly attacked. As they speed up to outrun the gunfire, the become separated from each other. And it is during this car chase we see the third LK8-4167 licence plate:

Daryl takes a tumble right next to a Jeep Cherokee. I went into great detail on the resurrection symbolism around that, and how Jeep Cherokees and Cherokee Roses are synonymous, here.

He falls off his bike, injures his elbow but quickly gets back up on the horse. I'm not going to overstate the symbolism of that small detail, but it does constitute a representation of falling down (death) and getting back up (resurrection). On it's own it's merely a fun fact, rather than some super compelling evidence of resurrection symbolism, however it does fall in line with everything else we see, so I'll allow it. Let's agree it indicates resurrection symbolism at the very least. And it happened directly after we had seen the LK8-4167 license plate, that we now know represent resurrection.

Also, we did see a Jeep Cherokee at the end of 5x8 Coda, as Daryl carried Beth's seemingly lifeless body out of Grady Memorial, it's in the bottom left corner in this pic:

Keep the Jeep Cherokee in mind, because we'll return to it shortly.

Every Bethyler watching instantly knew that 6x6 Always Accoutable would be a treasure trove of Bethyl-coded symbolism the minute we saw this shot from after Daryl’s bike broke down:

He immediately tries to establish contact with Sasha and Abraham, but they’re out of radio reach. When they don’t respond he goes out in search of them.

He soon gets into trouble when Dwight, Sherry and Tina finds him and mistakes him for one of Negan’s Saviors. They tie him up and take him through a burnt forest that used to be their home, before it was overrun with walkers.

This is a good time to once again reflect on the meaning of pharmakon, a poison and a cure. Fighting fire with fire.

As they walk through the burnt forest, we get subtle clues pertaining to the fire symbolism through the dialogue:

Dwight and Sherry explains how they flooded the area with fuel, lit up a matchbook from the Sweetwater Beer Company, then the walkers "just walked right into the flames”.

Notice how Dwight and Sherry here reveal something crucial about how the wildfire virus affects the walkers? Walkers, meaning wandering undead corpses having succumbed to the wildfire virus, are hardwired to walk right into fire!

They are drawn to flames! This is quite iterally fighting wildfire with fire.

Then, it’s also important to note that the reference to "the Sweetwater" is a reference to the beer bottle in which Daryl placed a Cherokee Rose and gave to Carol in 2x4 Cherokee rose. Sweetwater is a brand of beer. The beer bottle he used was one from Sweetwater. And as I’ve explained here, ethanol/beer is the key to the cure, the antidote, the pharmakon.

And as we remember from season 3, Daryl placed a Cherokee Rose on Carol's empty grave, marking it as a scene for a future "resurrection", symbolism which was fulfilled when she was found alive in the tombs of the prison a few episodes later.

Daryl is eventually able to break free from Dwight and Sherry, and as he escapes into the woods, we see a walker with a Cherokee Rose on its back:

Again, this is the first Cherokee Rose we've seen since season 3, it's quite a significant moment, symbolism wise, because it's all about resurrection.

Then we turn our attention to Abraham and Sasha. They eventually end up near the same Jeep Cherokee, where they have a conversation about being left behind and having someone return for them. Again, TD has discussed these themes for years in relation to Beth and those 17 days post-Coda.

Many of us believe Beth was left behind in Atlanta, for reasons we don’t yet know. It’s significant that Abe and Sasha talk about these themes about being left behind and someone coming back next to the Jeep Cherokee.

This plays into the widely held TD belief that whatever it was that happened after Coda, it somehow involved getting overwhelmed by walkers, then placing Beth in the trunk of a car (foreshadowed in Still and Them), with every intention of returning to her, but then for some reason being prevented from doing so. And when they eventually did, perhaps she was "just gone".

Back to Daryl for a minute. Being who he is, he tries to make allies and friends out of Dwight and Sherry. This backfires on him as they betray him and steal his bike and his crossbow.

But Daryl is resourceful, and manages to find a truck full of fuel hidden under some greenery:

Please note the licence plate, PATTY002, on a truck labeled 002. I've discussed these numbers in countless other posts, so I won't elaborate on it here. However, it needs to be mentioned, because the symbolism around the 22/Morningstar/Lightbringer comes into play in a big way.

I'll just briefly mention that we could easily draw on the "one one" of Noah's t-shirt, we could interpret the 2 as in roman numerals II, which could also be read as the number 11, which again could be a reference to TWD 10x11 Morningstar.

We could also interpret the two 2's as the number 22, which I've written extencively about. Again it is a Morningstar reference, and it highlights the duality that we see around "pharmakon", in that both Christ and the Devil has been referred to as the Morningstar. Lucifer Morningstar. Lucifer means Lightbringer. The Devil and Christ. A poison and a cure. Fighting fire with fire.

Obviously, Sirius and Venus are both morning stars, in that they appear in the morning (and for the record, Venus is a planet, but was initially percieved to be two wandering stars, one that appeared at evening time and one that appeared in the morning)

And all of that suddenly comes into play, when Abraham finds a yellow Humvee with some serious rocket launchers, or should I say “light-bringers”, included.

And it's a good thing he did, because in 6x8 No Way Out, on their way home to Alexandria Safe Zone, they run into this group of unsavory characters; Negan's Saviors.

The Saviors demonstrate an atrocious lack of manners, and Daryl eventually teaches them a lesson, using one of Abraham's rocket launchers.

The symbolism here is interesting. The rocket launchers came from a yellow Humvee, something which brings our minds to the other yellow vehickles that's encompassed by the "yellow" symbolism. I wrote about it here.

And Daryl reached for one from the back of the 002 Patty002 fuel truck, which could be interpreted as part of the "one one" Morningstar symbolism, as well as the 22 Morningstar/Lightbringer symbolism.

But we learn more about how it relates to the pharmakon/fighting fire with fire symbolism once they reach Alexandria:

Alexandria Safe Zone, now completely overrun by a massive walker horde, is losing the battle against death. The undead outnumber and outcompete the living.

But Daryl has learned something from his encounter with Dwight and Sherry. He now knows that the walkers are drawn to flames, that the wildfire virus is attracted to fire. He arranges for the fuel to be poured into the lake, and then fires a rocket into it. The lake blows up in an inferno of flames, and as anticipated, the walkers walk right into the fire. Fire destructs the wildfire virus. Fighting fire with fire.

And above all, it’s very poignant Lightbringer/Morningstar symbolism. Daryl’s rocket launcher literally lights up the place.

The LK8-4167 licence plate is about resurrection. And resurrection in TWDU is associated with fire. We've seen that through the Sirius symbolism throughout the seasons. The Sirius symbolism revolves around Sirius The Dog Star, which returns to the sky one morning right before dawn, after having been gone for some time. Beth became inextricably linked with the Sirius symbolism after 4x13 Alone. The word "Sirius" comes from Greek "Seirios" and means "glowing, scorching.

Sirius The Dog Star returns one morning right before dawn... or shall we say sunrise?

An interesting detail is that while Daryl is out in the burnt forest with Dwight and Sherry, Sasha and Abraham seek temporary refuge inside the offices of a car insurance company called Sunrise Auto Insurance.

Remember Operation Cobalt, which included the decision to try to contain the spread of the wildfire virus by dropping napalm bombs on metropolitan areas all over the North American continent, likely killing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of civilians. An alternative name for Operation Cobalt was the Sunset Protocol:

If "sunset" represents the end of humanity due to the wildfire virus itself, in addition to the use of napalm on civilians, through Operation Cobalt and the sunset protocols... could "sunrise" represent the opposite? A cure or an antidote. Pharmakon?

Both "sunrise" and "sunset" describes actions of the sun, which is a literal burning ball of gas. Fighting fire with fire.

And of course, there's this scene, in which we saw a "resurrection" of sorts, when the music box "came back to life" during a beautiful sunset after a particularly stormy night:

Sunrise heralds resurrection. Literally and metaphorically speaking.

Finally, a few words on things to potentially be exited about going foreward. In the TWD World Beyond coda, it was more than implied that the origin of the wildfire virus came out of a French lab. The grafitti on the wall translates to "the dead were born here".

We now also know that the French created variant walkers, specifically designed to function as weapons. In TWDDD 1x12 L'ame Perdue, we saw Daryl cross paths with one of these variants called les brûlant, burners, due to their blood that burn like acid when it comes into contact with human skin.

We saw Daryl suffer a bad burn, and we saw how he was later treated with cauterization, a technique that involves burning the affected area with a red hot iron. The "cure" hides in plain sight; fighting fire with fire.

Isabel explains that cauterization is they best way to prevent burns from les brûlant from spreading. It's a small scene, but it is one of the first things we learn about how the virus has affected France, and more importantly, it is confirmation that the symbolism is the same across TWDU: fighting fire with fire. A burn from a burner/brûlant is healed with cauterization, fire... Again, we see fire as pharmakon, a poison and a cure.

@bookqueenrules recently made me aware of a yellow car that's been involved in filming of what appears to be large parts of season 2. I wonder if it could possibly be a Jeep Wrangler. That would be an interesting reference to the symbolism around Carol's Jeep Cherokee from season 1, and it ties in nicely with all the other yellow vehicles we've come across that has serious resurrection undertones to them.

Having said that, I'm no car expert, and it could easily be something else entirely, time will tell. But it is yellow, that's for sure, and therefore it's part of the yellow vehicle symbolism, Jeep or not.

(ETA: I think it might be a Land Rover, now that I’m looking at it. But like I said, I’m not an expert, it could be anything really)

These symbols, the fire symbolism, the yellow symbolism and the Jeep Cherokee/Cherokee Rose symbolism, they intersect in really powerful ways, and I'm super exited to see how this all continues in TWDDD season 2, The Book Of Carol. And the concept of pharmakon, a poison and a cure, exists on both sides of the Atlantic.

[wondergirl2007]

These five artists have inspired me to do art myself and I really admire their art ~ So I’m going to tell you about them and why they inspired me and they will even be tagged. If any of the artists that are in the list see this, then I just want to thank you for inspiring me.

5. Kika-ila

This artist is known for doing Total Drama art, and I was obsessed when I first saw her art! Her style is so freaking cute and I actually think her Total Drama Kids stories are better than Total DramaRama itself. I actually used to love Total DramaRama, but now not as much. I don’t hate it thought. I love Total Drama, but most YouTubers I watch that do TD content are leaving the fandom, like TotalDramaRicky and Noahh, which really does suck, but I can see why and they want to move on to other stuff. I really like the timeline drawings she did, and she even did it for FNAF (Five Nights At Freddy’s) too! FNAF is one of my favourite horror video game franchises, my favourite is the second one, which is actually a prequel! I didn’t even know that until a few weeks ago! But overall, Kika does awesome art and she deserves more attention!

4. thegreatrouge

I love this girl’s art. She’s known for doing art with rubber hose characters, like Felix The Cat, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, Mickey Mouse and even Cuphead and Bendy! She has made a whole series called “Bendy And Boris And The Quest For The Ink Machine” and it’s amazing so far! The project is currently on hiatus right now, I’m not sure if she’s discontinued the comic and I really hope she hasn’t. I hate stories that are left on cliffhangers, along with “Two Sides Of The Story” which is a HTF comic by one of my good friends Emmy, she discontinued the story because she believed it was cringe. The art? It was cringey at first, but the art got better at around chapter 4. The actual storyline? Yeah, it was quite cringey actually. Can’t really blame her, but I actually did enjoy the story, I’m even doing a redraw of it and might even do a non canon continuation of it! I won’t do it for BABQFTIM, since there is already some continuations of that story. Rouge has also done a Cuphead In Wonderland project too which is pretty good too! Unfortunately, she’s been losing motivation to do art recently, which really upsets me. She’s an awesome artist, and I’d love to help her feel motivated again. Most of her art is sketched, or digital but without colour, but I can understand that colouring in art can take time. This girl is pretty good at art and she definitely deserves more motivation to continue doing what she loves.

3. The-Wallop-Cat-12

This artist mainly does Cuphead art, but she also does Sailor Moon, Splatoon and Mario art! Which is awesome, since I love all of those video games and Sailor Moon is my favourite anime. I don’t watch anime a lot, but my personal favourites are Sailor Moon, One Piece, Naruto, PPG Z, Yo-Kai Watch, Demon Slayer and Dragonball Z. Cuphead is definitely one of my favourite video games, despite how hard it can be. I got it for Christmas last year at it has been fun playing it. I also love VOAdam’s comic dubs of Cuphead Comics and he even did dubs for Wallop’s Cup Bros In Wonderland comics! I was working on a comic about it, but I discontinued it since I lost interest. I still love the idea of it though. Cuphead X Alice In Wonderland. I love Alice In Wonderland. There’s even some heartwarming comics she’s done with the the Cup Bros comforting each other that are real tearjerkers. I also really liked the Size Shifting Cup Bros comic she did. I like how Drama Days (a YouTuber I like) coloured in the comic too. I don’t know why, but I love a cartoon episode where someone becomes a giant. Don’t ask me why I love it, I just do. Probably because of Alice In Wonderland. Wallop is my favourite Cuphead artist, and she is very good at what she does!

2. ChaoChao0071

Oh my god, this girl… SHE IS AMAZING!!! I’m actually kinda jealous! Her art and animations are so damn good! She mainly does HTF content, but she also likes Invader Zim and My Little Pony. I love her crossover series with HTF and MLP “Everything Is Broken” and I like her Invader Zim series, “Not Your Enemy”. Looking back at when she started compared to now, she has been improving over the years! I really like her fanmade MLP character, Creepybloom. She’s such an amazing and interesting character. Chao’s voice acting for her is just splendid. (No pun intended cos there is an HTF character named Splendid and he’s my favourite character). I love villains that eventually turn good and realise their mistakes, like Sunset Shimmer in MLP: Equestria Girls and Vomitdid in Drama Days’ Splendid series. I also really love him. Definitely an interesting fanmade character. I also love her HTF OC’s Whiskers, Smokey and Holes. They are awesome concepts to EIB. Fun Fact, I actually didn’t like them at first when I first saw them in Part 12, but I eventually grew interest to them in Part 14, since we didn’t really see them in Part 13. Overall, this girl is AMAZING and I hope I’ll be able to animate like her one day. Her animation is so smooth and she is so skilful!

1. EmmyJeanBean

Emmy, if you are reading this, then I just wanna say… Thank you. Thank you so much. You are my best friend. You were the one to inspire me to do the art I do today. You have improved so much throughout the years, and I love every single art piece you have done. I follow you on DeviantArt, Instagram and Amino. I’ll make sure to follow you when or if I get Twitter. You are the reason why I do the art I do today. Everything about you AU makes me so curious and I love the way you made the characters and you OC characters are amazing too. It makes me wish they where in HTF too, like Angus, (Lammy’s ancestor) Samantha, (Splendid’s sister), Tammy, (Cuddles and Toothy’s kid), all of Cuddles siblings, everyone’s moms just all of your OC’s definitely deserve to make it into the show if it ever comes back. I’d love to to anything to bring HTF back. We can bring HTF back together. With all the fanmade stuff people are making, like Amensia, Nemao’s fanmade episodes, Drama Days’ Splendid series, EIB, etc, we can definitely make it possible since that shows that people still care about the show. Happy Tree Friends is my favourite cartoon and programme and I’d love to give it a revival. Let’s all bring HTF back to life, together. Emmy, you have actually inspired me to do some projects and art pieces, like your ‘Cannibal’ comic. It has inspired me to do a comic that I’ll be working on for the whole summer, but I won’t spoil it yet! I’ll keep it a surprise until the cover is out. I love so many of your projects like TSOTSS, Cannibal, Tammy’s Arc, Understanding Nolan, I’m Not Leaving and my favourite is A Stolen Heart, your Lifty X Splendid fanfic and my favourite HTF ship. Emmy, you are the best artist I’ve ever seen and nothing will change that. You art is so inspiring to me. You are the best.

And that’s them all! These 5 artists have inspired me to do the art I do today!

Kika-ila

thegreatrouge

TheWallop-Cat12

Pupster0071

EmmyJeanBean

NONE OF THE ART BELOW IS MINE! ALL CREDITS GO TO THE ARTISTS ABOVE.

[beezelbubbles]

I was listening to Little Shop of Horrors the other day, and then my husband and I were talking about how he'd like to TD for it at some point. The I realized this would have been the freaking perfect year for their theatre to do it. We're in the path of the partial solar eclipse in a couple of weeks and then in the path of the full one in April. This was the perfect time to be putting the evil plants on people's minds. This is why I'm not allowed to set seasons. My ideas of what art needs to happen are much less current socio-political climate or whatever and more "you know what would be hilarious?"

I also want to do Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern back to back with the same casts, same, set, same costumes. This partly comes out of discussions about budget. I wanted to do two sets of doubled shows. I forget what the other two were. It was along the lines of Romeo and Julia d Westside Story, though. I also suggested just doing a season of shows with traditionally minimalist sets.

[daandyli0n]

*stands in the doorway menacingly after having kicked the door itself down, vibrating like a small dog with anxiety*

eret

alright!! so, td!Eret. (keep in mind that Trampled Dandelions isn't going to 100% match up to canon)

this guy's been through so much, including but not limited to:

- losing his memories upon joining a new server because someone did a Herobrine Summoner wrong (saw a headcanon similar to this once)

- was basically offered the choice to betray her friends for power and to stop a war, with her only other option being that Her Friends Were Gonna Die If She Didn't (so basically, she was given the illusion of choice here. to make matters worse, Dream had said that people would die, but he never specified that they would be Canon deaths; in fact, his wording to Eret had indicated that they were going to be Non-Canon deaths.

so imagine Eret's horror upon realizing that, in the Final Control Room, everyone had lost a life. a group of which included two teenagers)

- tried to help the friends they betrayed using their power as king, only to be dethroned (also, y'know those headcanons where c!Dream like. beheads c!Eret? that's also canon here. I'm Sure This Isn't Gonna F**k Them Up In Any Way!)

- got yanked Right back into the King position about two weeks later Because Dream Was Being An A**hole

- Had To Deal With Dream and Punz's Bulls**t For Like. The Next Month

- thought that they finally had peace once Dream got put in jail, but What's This? THE EGGPIRE WITH A STEEL CHAIR-

- The Red Banquet. Just. The Red Banquet

- thinking they finally had peace (again), But What's This? THE PRISON BREAK WITH A STEEL CHAIR-

in conclusion, td!Eret needs a f**king break. Please

[fighting-these-demons]

Haunted Honk Updated Bones 2 - Return of the Honk

Hello Internet Stranger looking up G Gundam on Tumblr dot com!

This is an idea for a Horror Alternate Universe involving Queer Non-Canon Relationships between the characters of the series.

It is based on the idea in the post that is linked above.

If you are not looking for this content please scroll on.

If you ARE looking for this content - and you're ok with reading my and other's Headcanons for this Alternate Universe I've haphazardly spun up -

Then go ahead and feel free to:

Check The Tags Of This Post For The Pairings

and click the Read More below!

Also the majority of the brainstorming is happening in the replies if you're so inclined.

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Behold! The Second Update! 🎉🎊🎉🎊

Some of this is just straight copy and pasted from the notes and other bits have been lightly reworded or built upon to connect to other bits.

I'll see y'all in the replies for ideas on new plot points! 🪦💥🌩

-----------------------------

This is backstory and general outline for the most part. There are some sort of written bits mixed in.

It is barely edited. Typos abound.

The dialogue is extremely minimal and it is a framework upon which to build the fic. 💖

I am giving this explanation for the benefit of internet strangers as all parties working on this fic are already familiar.

Hello Internet strangers! 👋

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Wherever the tendrils of the Devil Gundam hovered over the earth, and subsequently were destroyed, are places that may have had DG cells distributed through the atmosphere.

Atmospheric DG plumes have lead to DG infection in those areas. There's also likely tendril debris.

Neo-Japan, since the Devil Gundam's destruction,  has been working with Neo and world governments on a cure for DG infection.

At the moment the current treatment involves Kyoji or Schwarz controlling the DG cells of the individual and shutting them down; however, they are making breakthroughs with advancements on a nanocite injection that they're synthesizing with an executable program that shuts the DG cells down.

The biological compatibilities are the hurdle at the moment as evidenced in animal testing.

Kyoji and Domon are traveling to some sites in the USA that were affected by tendrils. Domon is there as a body guard since Schwarz is handling infection cases elsewhere (unspecified). 

Chibodee is their escort. America is a Different Beast to Japan even in the future. So they'll need an escort to get through the militant landscape and across the sheer distance of it all. 

Rain wanted to come with them, but with the volatility of the current landscape of the US - Especially where they're going - Kyoji didn't want to needlessly risk her safety.

He's assured her that Domon, Chibodee, and Chibodee's team will be watching his back.

Dr. Kasshu will be with them for the first days in New York to help with setup of the mobile lab before heading back to Neo Japan to continue working alongside Rain.

Once they've rested and are ready to head out, Domon, Chibodee, Kyoji, and The Gals will take Neo America's Core Lander and a mobile lab to the TD Site and it should be a fairly straight forward affair since they've gotten permission from the national and state governments, as well as permission from Gunsinto to be in the area.

They shouldn't be more than a few days travel to get there and retrieve samples and data and get back. He should be gone a week at the absolute most.

Kyoji gives rain the contact info to their hotel in New York as well as their sponsored Gunsinto accommodations in the Midwest and lets her know that he'll call once they've arrived palnetside.

He makes good on that promise the next day, letting Rain know that their shuttle landed, Chibodee and the girls picked them up without hassle, and lets them know that they're set to have a great dinner at a favorite restaurant of Chibodee's that evening. 

Seeing Chibodee is like a breathe of fresh air that Domon didn't know he needed. Life has been so needlessly complicated lately but after Chibodee releases him from the bear hug given in greeting and throws an arm over Domon's shoulders they fall into step as if they'd never been apart. 

Keeping in touch wasn't exactly easy. Domon doesn't respond quite as often as Chibidee would like, but every message Chibodee left was listened to and saved. 

Ever since they got wind of this mission it's all either of them has had on their minds for days. 

I need some help here with feelings and dialogue and inner thoughts but Basically 

They both independently realize with clarity over the days leading up and the time in New York how much they've missed each other and how easy and comfortable it all is - being teamed up again.

Domons semi-recent revelations and feelings fresh on his mind. Chibodees crush ever looming.

Hearts racing. Feeling lighter than they have in God Knows How Long. Chibodee smiling so much his face cramps. Domon feeling so comfortable and nearly zen he loses his permanent frown from constantly thinking and just vibes. Smiling occasionally even!

Chibodee proposes they spar real quick before dinner "To work up an appetite! And C'mon! I wanna see what I'm up against in the upcoming Gundam Fight!" With a grin slamming his left fist into his open right hand. (He's left handed right? Or was that someone else?)

They Spar and there's Feelings 

@thedragonchilde has written a beautiful scene that I've linked below

Then they have dinner together and later part to settle in their hotel rooms for the evening. 

The next day they focus on briefing the expedition and setting up the Mobile Lab that The Gals will be in charge of transporting. 

Once the lab is set up, they see Dr. Kasshu off on his shuttle back to Neo Japan that has been on standby since they arrived.

Kyoji volunteers to ride with The Gals under the excuse of getting a head start on some data processing - but really it's to give Domon and Chibodee some time alone together. 

Chibodee is not about to let himself be alone in a Core Lander with Domon for HOURS. He may blurt out something he regrets. He insists that Kyoji ride with them and leave the Gals to themselves.

As they make their way out west, Chibodee starts explaining why they'll want to keep their guard up. 

There's been a lot of unrest recently and especially the last 10 years since Gunsinto bought out the last of their land and displaced so many communities. 

Domon asks occasional questions but Kyoji isn't saying much of anything at all. Opting to rest most of the journey. 

Domon seems tense, which is understandable considering the events before they left New York. 

A thought: can Kyoji and Schwarz communicate via cellular connection similar to a human cell phone situation? They'd both be planet-side so I feel like it ought to be possible 

With that in mind - maybe Kyoji and Schwarz have been catching up whenever they have free time and part of Kyoji being to silent is he's messaging Schwarz and lamenting his fate being stuck in the Core Lander with these two. 

Schwarz pities Kyoji but can't help the schadenfreude at what Kyoji is going through. Kyoji is understandably less amused but sees the humor in it and they start discussing progress that Schwarz has made with calming and healing people abroad. 

Kind of a nod to what will come in the scary bits. 

I'm thinking that when the emp goes off, maybe a signal scrambler starts after that interferes with cell and radio signal in the area so when Kyoji tries to reach out to Schwarz he's cut off. 

Thoughts?

Suddenly they hear gunfire and what might be a canon of some kind. 

They expected resistance outside of Gunsinto territory but they didn't expect it after they crossed the border!

Aren't the Greenlords supposed to be patrolling the area???

So they're on the run from a group that blames Domon and Kyoji for all the bullshit post DG Incident. The group is made up of various parties working together to hold Neo Japan responsible for their crimes against humanity since nothing held up in court and Neo Japan is currently in control. Plus near endless bitterness at America's loss of Super Power status for decades and the effect that that has had on their economy and natural resources put under stress from these Big Space Battles. 

Chibodee and The Gals are aware of THIS group of violent individuals… but they're not aware of the OTHER group of violent individuals. (The Clown gangs are kept under wraps by the Greenlords - Gunsinto's private militia similar to to the Pinkertons as going public would be an embarrassment and an open invitation to more trespassers.)

They have a good idea of what weapons they have at their disposal and what their general tactics are. 

They decide to split up and have The Gals create a distraction to lure the majority of the aggressors off before rendezvousing close to the TD Site in this region.

After they split, the core lander has some issues and breaks down in the middle of nowhere. As they break down Kyoji has an awful headache. There's a terrible signal he can feel and he knows it affected the core lander's processors but he's not sure what it is. 

(It's a device that broadcasts a malicious signal that infects the processing units of hovering vehicles - was gonna be an emp but realized that would mess up their gps. It has only a very mild effect on DG cells it seems. Their GPS was made by the Kasshus with DG tech so it's unaffected. - Their communicator was issued by Gunsinto and was not so lucky - it's dead.)

Luckily for them their map data integrated into their GPS shows there should be a former town nearby.

The nearest town is seemingly abandoned. There's simply not enough water here according to Chibodee. 

The only building not completely crumbled is a lone Motel. Chibodee curses his Rotten Fucking Luck. (Clown Music!)

They're exhausted from carrying their emergency supplies through the heat of the day. They're not going any further. This will have to be it. Domon is clearly tense and Chibidee seems about to jump out of his skin but Kyoji doesn't really know why. He could be over sensitive after sitting with their tension in the core lander and then walking with them through the heat. 

Chibodee considers attempting to convince them to camp outside but with the wind picking up as bad as it is, he has no leg to stand on. They'll be sleeping inside. 

Strange though. There's a light on. That's odd.

----------------------

While the guys were crashing and walking The Gals have incapacitated the pursuers after radioing in help from the Greenlords who are cooperating on this mission. 

They're of course like “Whaaaaaat? That's Crazyyyyyyyyy.” And don't breathe a word of The Other Issue Inside The Fields. Instead electing to simply refuel the mobile lab and send some extra men with The Gals as an escort.

The Gals start back on their journey to Rendevous with the guys. 

They arrive at the TD Site with no sign of the guys. After waiting 2 hours they decide to try and ping Chibodee's location. 

There's no result. What they assumed was poor signal is worrying them now.

As they double back in the direction the guys should have been coming from they discover the crashed Core Lander and some prints headed South West.

They check their maps of the area which indicate a former town a few miles south west. They hop in their mobile lab and head that way. 

When they make it to the town, the only standing structure is a Clown Themed Motel that looks like it was pulled straight out of a historical classic horror film. 

They share a look then laugh. There's no way Chibodee would be here. They decide to check for other towns and head further south.  Eventually as it starts to get dark the escort advises that they head to the designated accommodations for the evening and the Greenlords will start a search.

—-------------------

Meanwhile, Kyoji kept his word to Rain that he and his father would check in when they arrived in New York. When the second day stretches on with no word - Rain starts to worry.

Her father has made it home, but she's still heard no word from Kyoji.

On Rain's 5th call in as many hours -at about 2:00 AM- The Gals answer.... it's Bad News. 

They've been separated by a roaming militia group hellbent on serving American Justice to these Neo Japan Planet Destroyers. The Gals were supposed to Rendevous with Chibodee and the guys at the TD site but they never showed and they didn't find them on their way to the Gunsinto Accomodations either.

The Gals reassure her that the Greenlords and Gunsinto are starting a search and they should have word soon.

Dread starts to settle in the pit of Rain's stomach. 

----------------------------

Meanwhile The Guys walk into the Hotel expecting it to be abandoned. It certainly looks that way from the outside. 

As they walk in though, they meet a rather average looking man smoking a cigar and watching some movies on a TV in the corner of the dark Lobby. 

He looks surprised (he isnt) and quickly stubs out his cigar in the ash tray nearby before walking into the only light in the lobby by the front desk.

He welcomes them with a smile and asks how many guests. Letting them know that unfortunately he's only got one room available and There's Only the One Bed. He asks if that's alright.

Chibodee sputters. Shocked that there's someone here at all. He asks as much and the man says that the Hotel is a side business of the Greenlords’ for “Employee Services” if you catch his drift.

Average guy asks after them as he's never seen them before. Kyoji has a bad feeling and smooths things over by advising that they're there as horticultural graduate students studying genetic modification with their Professor and a few other students. Kyoji tells a tale of how they got separated in the fields and this was the closest area with shelter according to their map data.

The Average guy is surprised to hear that they have a functioning GPS and says that this area has bad signal. It's a blessing they can find their way.

He directs them to their room and leaves back toward the lobby.

Kyoji has a bad feeling. He can sense a ton of corrupted DG cells nearby. Somewhere underground, but isn't sure why or what it means. 

He also keeps getting flashes of screaming men and women in clown costumes….

He relays as much to Domon privately as Chibodee is clearly already on edge and doesn't need any more stress. 

Kyoji asks Domon if Chibodee is alright. Domon informs him that clowns and clown imagery is a problem but there's really nothing they can do about it in this situation. His fists are clenched. Domon i's pissed they have to stay here.

Kyoji takes a moment to let Domon know he'll take the floor and for Chibodee and Domon to take the bed. This throws Domon for a loop, but before he can argue Kyoji insists that out of the 3 of them he can probably take the most stress and that Chibodee looks like he needs someone to sleep next to. 

Kyoji also mentions that he'll be blocking his hearing on a nano level to give them privacy in case they need to talk. Domon is a bit flustered by this but decides to take it in stride and go to Chibodee who is pacing and silently melting down. He looks like he's about to both through the window and back into the fields. 

Domon puts a hand on Chibodee’s shoulder and suggests they go ahead and bunk down for the night. 

He and Domon each take a seat on the end of the bed while Kyoji remains standing and they discuss Watch Rotation.

It'll probably be better to have 2 people awake and 1 person resting at any given time.

None of them trust this guy at the front desk. Especially not Kyoji.

-------------------------

Not sure how to segue from bunking down to the horror bit below gracefully; but I know we need to. 

I feel like it's the perfect time for Domon and Chibodee to take Kyoji up on his offer of audible privacy to have a quick heart to heart..... before it's unfortunately and terrifyingly interrupted. 😨

Mostly because I'm mean. 😂

Domon clumsily offers comfort / encouragement. 

(Watch him actually offer to beat up any clowns that show up.) That allows for a nice bit of irony when things suddenly get Worse.

Idk how Domon would say it but something along the lines of "I'd never let another clown near you" or "I'd beat down any clown any day. Don't worry.”

That would actually get a shaky laugh out of Chibodee, and maybe a joking "my hero", a sincere thank-you, and an apology for being so on edge (kind of a "thanks for putting up with me" type of deal)

Domon takes both of Chibodees hands in his much smaller ones and Chibodee really feels So Safe in that moment

"Hey, I mean it. You're not doing this alone.”

-----------------------

My first thought for 4 is that it probably looks like a normal-ass bed but in the middle of the night when both the guys are like half asleep, a clown hand bursts up from the center of the mattress in a classic zombie style Then an improbable amount slowly crawl out of that same hole as Chibodee drags Domon to the door (Domon for his credit is ready to beat a clown with another clown)

Since the FC does have the lightest touch of Newtype bullshit (mostly seen in the Schwarz/Rain chase scene where Schwarz gets the newtype flash), I'm interested in it being ghosts because the NT thing sometimes goes that way.

Ghosts usually have some kind of backstory as to why they're around, and I think it fits the setting to have a sort of clown culture war going on

so you have gangs like the one that killed Chibodee's mom, and then you get ordinary clowns going vigilante to hunt the ones that do that down for flagrant violation of the clown code

But the problem with vigilantism is you sometimes get the wrong guy, so that eventually happens and another group of clowns goes vigilante to go after the first group because they've gone bad (doesn't matter whether or not this is true for our purposes). And then you get more guys like the original circus terrorists playing themselves off as vigilantes as an excuse to kill people.

So now you have a clown gang war and more clown terrorists than you started with. And with the other problems Earth and the Colonies have it isn't *really* a big enough deal for anyone outside of the business to really care, so you get a sort of uneasy status quo with occasional bursts of clown violence.

The motel in question has a ghost problem because it's a former base of operations of a clown gang, where they would frequently dispose of their clown victims.

Chibodee is not at all aware of this. Or else he never would have agreed to this. He would have had some sort if Military backup. Gunsinto and The Greenlords have kept this under wraps to avoid broadcasting their farm territory as terrorist territory.

The clowns were affected by DG cells pre-murder and with Kyoji nearby they seem to be activating.

Yikes.

Kyoji can affect DG cells in a lof of situations... but can he affect them to his advantage now?

 Here's the scene: 

The guys are getting comfortable and about to sleep when suddenly the lamp they'd left on switches off and they start to hear a circus melody from somewhere out in the hallway. 

Chibodee freezes up and starts to breathe heavier. Domon figures the music may be part of the model's gimmick and tries to turn the lamp back on. It doesn't turn back on. He tries again. It doesn't respond.

Concept: the arrival of the clowns is preceded by *laughter*. Just voices getting louder and nearer and more numerous, building up to a goddamn chorus of infernal cackling that triggers Chibodee halfway to a panic attack, with Domon's tight grip and shouts of "stay with me" just barely keeping him in the present, and as the laughing reaches a fever pitch, THAT'S when the first hand bursts through the bed.

—--------------

Kyoji hears it first via Newtype tomfoolery but shrugs it off as just not controlling his cells well or something at first and maybe Domon getting Chibodee to laugh or something. 

Then as it becomes more numerous and he's like "Uh Oh!" And stands up to alert the guys. 

While he's searching for a way to warn them that won't immobilize Chibodee the guys start hearing it and it's sort of too late.

 So for this section we have 2 different options from two different post threads. 

In the first post thread we had the idea of kyoji having the newtype flash awareness of the zombies mentally

In the second post thread we have the idea that since Kyoji has closed his hearing off that he doesn't hear the clowns laughter so he's unaware of their approach and Domon has to alert him when he jumps put of bed. 

This specifically: 

It might be more effective to have Domon forget this and be really confused over why the noise doesn't seem to have woken his brother.

And yeah well have Domon jump out of bed at the first sign of the noise and shake kyoji awake with his foot while he keeps a hand on Chibodee to try and ground him 

We can find a way to combine these or we can go with one or the other. 

I'm cool with all 3 options but I will say that I'm finding it hard to combine them.

The only idea I've had for combining them is that Kyoji has genuinely fallen asleep first while Domon and Chibodee are on watch and interprets his Newtype Flash of the horde as a stress nightmare.

And then when Domon jumps out of bed and kicks him awake he turns on his hearing and realizes it was real after all. 

He doesn't have time to explain what's coming before the hand pops out if the bed between where Domon is standing at the edge of it and Chibodee is laying and panicking. 

I'm good for any of the 3 options though.

—----------------

Domon's instincts are screaming at him to get standing and in a ready position to fight but he's trying to get Chibodee - who has frozen- to snap out if it and stand with him when BOOM!!! 💥✊🦾🧟 The hand and several others follow. 

Domon would have been focused on Chibodee and Kyoji’s hearing would have been terminated so they wouldn't have heard a large metal bar latch into place while the laughter was building. 

Because lobby guy is outside their room's exit door planning to come in through the door to the adjoining room - not knowing his past victims have come shambling back into existence. (He can't hear them from his position in the hallway and the music he's got playing)

Chibodee's flight instinct finally triggers when the hands pop out and he's off the bed and across the room at the door in a flash, struggling to open it - finding it locked. Domon is hot on his heels with Kyoji close behind and he kicks the door when he gets to it. 

What they thought was a normal metal door seems to be solid - not hollow - and won't budge. Domon takes half a step back, and looks to the window. On the way in they noticed it was boarded up. Tornado precaution the Lobby Guy had earlier explained. That couldn't be hard to break through! 

He opens the curtains to steel panels bolted into the reinforced steel window frame. Domon is stunned. 

Someone planned this. Someone is trying to kill them.

He slowly looks behind him at the bed and the platform beneath it jumping wildly. They're trapped in here, with something Truly Awful, and There's No Escape.

He has to protect Chibodee and Kyoji at All Costs. His crest is flaring as he steps between them and the bed.

(Figured that was a good place to note the state of the Crest Connection)

But at that moment when Chibidee is frantically slamming and kicking the door and Lobby Guy thinks that all of them are focused on that door he busts open the adjoining door with a knife in hand planning to stab and kill these mid twenties and early 30s college kids.

So the room is pitch black when they hear the other door fly open and slam against the wall while they hear the bed jumping and ripping apart and what sounds like giant metal doors straining under the platform that the bed is on top of.

When lobby guy lunges at them, Domon blocks him and kicks him towards the bed. The knife falls out of his hands and as he reaches for it the platform and bed bursts apart and he's grabbed and pulled back by what is clearly a dead clown into what sounds like a crowd of clowns behind them. 

As Lobby Guy disappears screaming into the tangle of limbs clamoring for him,our guys get an eyeful of the threat. 

Chibode bolts through the door Lobby Guy came from and into a dark winding corridor. The only thing on his mind is putting as much distance between himself and these clowns as possible 

But this guy has made some awful maze to chase people through the remains of the motel and the surrounding town in case his victims slip past him.

And it's absolutely heinous with bits of the people he's taken for trophies and very saw-esque. Just like truly Nightmare Fuel that NONE of them would be prepared for.

Chibodee, however, is already running through the flames of his own personal hell- so he's still just booking it down the tunnel and straight into the start of the maze while Domon and Kyoji have taken a moment to try to fight off the pursuing horde. 

I think the part where Chibodee starts booking it might be a good time to have Domon beat a clown with another clown. Rather than freezing, he gets distracted and doesn't realize they're getting swarmed. 

Kyoji is yelling at Domon to move and finally physically grabs and turns Domon's head towards more clowns than even he can keep back.

Chibodee doesn't stop running until he reaches some bullshit puzzle barrier that Lobby guy had set up.. when he turns around he's ALONE. 

But not for long, as another arm shoots out from his right!

Chibodees screams of course

It might be scarier to have Chibodee's scream get Domon hurt; The scream comes from an unexpected direction (because maze) and Domon whirls back around trying to locate Chibodee just in time to get a good zombie claw rake down the arm. 

Ooh, might be one of those cases where adrenaline keeps him from registering the extent of the injury at first?

At this point Kyoji's retreating, telling Domon to get moving, and given no alternative direction - Domon rockets down the tunnel after them both.

Domon rockets forward full tilt into the darkness down into the tunnel (it goes down) to find Chibodee fighting for his life at the end of this nightmare tunnel in front of some strange gate in the middle of what seems to have been a section of a have caved In basement laundry room.

After a bit of distance Kyoji stops to try and corral his mind to think for half a moment. He's had a feeling that he's connected to these things and wonders if it might be DG related somehow. 

And so he starts trying to tear some of his surroundings down to slow approaching clowns and shambling corpses. If he can test on one of them, then he might stand a chance of figuring out a way to get them out of here in one piece.

—-------------------‐—-----

meanwhile, scattered across the cosmos, George, Sai, and Argo wonder why their crests are going crazy.

They're all wondering what the hell is happening and I bet George calls Rain up to be like "What In The World???" And once Rain hears that their crests are going off she knows for sure that something is going down and tries to get in contact with the girls again.

They don't have any updates. :(

Schwarz Meanwhile has gotten to a phone and lets Rain know that his contact with Kyoji was cut off and he hasn't been able to reach him for hours. 

Rain gives him the bad news. 

—------------

Previous brainstorming:

I think once they get to the SAW PARTY gate they should be together for a little bit, but the maze should either have a puzzle or a trap that splits them up again after a room or two.

Could be a classic wall or bars drop down, isolating one person and forcing them to go a different way, could be some kind of enclosed space with some bait (a key? a fuse?) that drops the person who enters to retrieve it through the floor, could be a fucked-up puzzle that doesn't let you continue unless you split up (forked "airlock" with buttons that need to be pushed at the same time maybe?)

Work that in as a trap room

...I wonder how it might affect the traps given that there's no longer a person controlling them. Will that make them easier or harder to get through?

Yeah I think the fact that Murder Manderson is dead will absolutely be a problem for them but I also think that Chibodee has the lock picking skills necessary to get them through some basic doors should they have the opportunity to get to some more normal locks which may or may not be scattered in the maze to allow him easy and quick ambush access to his victims. The added bonus if they can notice one of these is that there would be few to no dead bodies in those passageways.

So it would make their final escape just a matter of blocking the passage - dodging incoming bodies from the other doors (if they're weak or open) and speed.

IF THEY NOTICE. if not it's All Maze All The Time. GREATEST SAW HITS *BZZZZZZ*

All right, here are some notes I took between patients: 

-as well as the outside Shuffles, the crests are definitely burning on our maze boys for each other. (How do the shuffle empathy powers work anyway?) They also may indicate the presence of DG cells with the zombies?

-is the manager at risk of becoming a DG zombie?

-can they magically cleanse DG cells where Kyoji can't cover with his tech? -i mentioned to you before that there's likelihood of a Moment under fire,

an "I can't lose you" confession or "thank God you're alive" embrace or something -ohh we're gonna have fun with personalized torture methods for each of them, aren't we

I definitely think that has to happen! It would be so sweet and also I don't think either of them has the impulse control to stop themselves at this point lmao

Hmmmmm. I'll have to check the wiki for that one. 

A) I believe he would be prime for a zombie yeah because he just died and got jumped by all the cells but I also think that because of that he'd be much more sentient and Kyoji may even be able to sense his thought which might be how he finds one of the doors in the first place. 

B) I think they'd be limited to what he's directly in front of them

—------------------------------

@thedragonchilde

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@youreaclownnow

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And anyone else thay wants to jump in! Feel free! I've tagged in the replies before but I want to tag as many people in thebpost itself.

All of my mutuals are welcome in on this!

[shehungthemoon]

@dead-scorpio you message got lost in the tumblr notifications! ty haha it’s been forever since i’ve done something like this 💖

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better

Three Ships

Oh man. I’ll just put my most recent obsessions:

1) Brad x Drew from The Conjuring. Yes the horror film. Yes the random cop and the intern tech that follows them around. YES you literally never seen them together again after the first film. The potential is stellar.

2) Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell’s characters from Minority Report. That movie is BRILLIANT and if it came out today tumblr would be all over it and them. Rewatched it in the other week and remembered just how much I loved Danny Witwer... how they made such an incredible and complex character just in that one film WHEN HE DIES HALFWAY THROUGH TOO is insane. 

3) Obikin. I’ve been in a constant fluctuating state of shipping them since the TV show came out. They define me a bit too much. otp <3 

First Ever Ship

EMBARASSINGLY it was probably either Percy/Annabeth from PJO or Jay/Nya from LEGO Ninjago... yes you heard that last one right. It was life-consuming back in the day 

Last Song

Give A Little Bit by Supertramp, it’s on my favorite radio station right now!

Last Movie

The Conjuring 3 (see above lmao). But we did watch the first 20 minutes of Moana after so we could go to bed not scared to death!

Currently Reading

Fool Moon, an entry in the Dresden Files! I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t read them give them a shot. Best way to describe the series is the most thrilling magical fantasy buddy-cop detective mystery film noir monster movie - themed ride of your life. 

Currently Watching

True Detective Season 2... TD s1 is one of the best television shows ever made, and I gave s2 a shot a while ago and didn’t immediately love it so I never continued. Am on a Colin Farrell kick recently and when I remembered he was in s2 I decided to give it another go and WOW. I actually am loving it. I have no clue where it’s going, too, so I’m happily buckled in. 

Currently Consuming

Honey & lavender glazed almonds... they taste EXACTLY like you would think. 

Currently Craving

Nothing!... for once. I have chocolate ice cream in the fridge for later when I’m crying over my astro problem sets. I would love some fresh motivation rn though. 

tagging people i see in my notifications a lot <3  @lucifers-lawyer@gisatako  @lexkent @duvetghost @vera-dauriac @jillybeannnssss @dantaliones @adizzyninja