#where the fuck is nickel bro

[twogater]

I have so much to say. My guess is that hand is from some sort of abandoned creation at Meeple HQ.

they’re seen leaving the hotel at the start on a hot air balloon but then returning to the hotel again later. #noticing

now where r u going.

I wonder what OJ said here that made Paper furrow his eyebrows like that.

What’s up between these two and also WHY WAS THE HOTEL SHAKING ??????

also hello balloon.

And last but not least. Soapmic everyone. They’re FINALLY back. I missed u Soap.

[cyrusclouds]

i don't know about you guys, but i can't take the ending where jack insults the shit out of dave seriously at all. "I ROLL THE NICKELS. I DEAL THE CARDS. THE GAME IS MINE." damn bro CHILL. the game is yours man, you can have it, fuck 💀 "go take a bath, STINKY." HELP??? 😭

[infinite-ticking-clock37]

Alright fellas, here's Infinites thoughts on III 17

!!SPOILERS BELOW!!

(Also CW for SilverCandle (for one of my moots))

Alright, so first off imma say I LOVED THIS EPISODE SO MUCH LIKE HOLY MOLY, IT WAS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE EPISODES IN A VERY GOOD WAY AND IT WAS FUNNY AS HELL TOO

Honestly SO GLAD that this was just to make extra episodes and not that the contestants help writing, idk why but I'm jus happy about thay

Sadly there wasn't much Silverloon this episode BUT WE GOT SOME SILVERCANDLE! AND I LIKE SILVERCANDLE SO THIS IS A WIN!!

Love his face bro omg. BRO IF THE OBJECTS CAN BLUSH THEN WE TOTALLY COULD'VE GOTTEN THE PART IN III 16 WHEN SILVER BLUSHES WHEN BALLOON COMPLIMENTS HIM AW MAN, tho this was very cute

THEN WE GOT MORE OF SILVERS INNER FLAME WHICH IS AMAZINGG

Sad that my theory on him setting on fire like a torch when his Inner flame comes out is wrong but yk we live on this is still cool (where's the cool third eye tho)

THEN WE GOT THE SUDDEN APPEARANCES OF CHEESY, PAPER, AND COINY FROM BFDI FOR SOME REASON

(didn't get a good screenshot of Coiny) also hfj one challenge real omg (I say we nominate Balloon to play the baby tomato/Charlie)

Oh god what to I talk about now uhhhhhhhhh OH YES

So much second hand embarrassment with that animation machine EVERYTIME, I CANT WATCH III 9 WITHOUT HAVING TO SKIP AHEAD FROM THE EMBARRASSMENT OF THE SHOWS, NOTHING GOOD COMES OUTTA THAT DAMN MACHINE AND THATS FINAL. (A little funny tho)

And to top this all off, GOODBYE NICKEL, YOU WILL BE MISSED!! FAREWELL

ok Nickels gone this means Silverloon has more opportunities for interactions =D /hj

Aww this is sweet I like this this is cute

Aww I'm slowly starting to like Nickloon a bit more aww-

OH WHAT THE FUCK AHH SPRINGY GO BACK DOWN THERE WHAT THE HELL I KNEW WE COULDN'T TRUST THAT DAMN WALKY TALKY WHAT THE HELL AHHHHHHH-

Anyways some final notes here

- Silver Spoon has a big fuckin crush on Candle

- Balloon is amazing at card towers

- Cabby can't draw for shit

- Springy is coming back

- fuck you Walky Talky lady

- II and BFDI are in the same universe

- Balloon can only befriend coins like the socially awkward guy he is (relatable I kin Balloon sm after that actually)

- Silver Spoon is amazing with cartoons

- i hate the animation machine

Thanks you for listening to me ramble about this episode there is just so much to talk about in this

[ask-lab-rats]

AYYYY didnt post any art for this....i must undo that. decided to be my own cobs lmao, also a theory was made during this!

(dont ask what happened to nickel's part, even i dont know) Knife can generate knives from thin air, and he didnt seem to react when cobs twisted his wrist, so maybe he has an insanely high pain tolerance The subjects with non abilities could be born with certain "side affects" such as the one i got for nickel; i noticed bro does not have any scars (or at least, not visible ones) so i thought "wait what if he was made of nickel?" i heard chocolate and plants were rich of that (im not sure if it's accurate) so maybe he;d feel connected to them (call back to the asker that gave nickel a leaf)? basically bro is a walking piece of metal paper is having ✧˖°. MENTAL ISSUES ✧˖°. aka evil paper another one was for salt and pepper that i didnt draw. where they are connected mentally. ever heard of the thing that twins can feel each other's pain and emotions? yeah s&p have that and cant be away from each other for like 7 minutes. if one had a paper cut, the other would react. and if one chose a certain option like vanilla ice cream, the other would pick that same option.

CreatorNotes: oh my fucking gosh!?! I love these ideas!

You don't mind if I steals some do you?

I really like that idea of slight 'side effects' but I'm thinking nothing too big to be considered an ability. Ex. Baseball is stronger than average (but not enough to be considered super strength)

Salt and Pepper being connected is so cute!

Also might scoop up that pain tolerance thing w/ Knife (if that's ok w/ u of course)

Side note: I am going to be adding Evil Paper, just haven't finished the drawing. And Nickel actually does have scars. Ones on his ankles

[princesstarfire1234]

Random ideas for a hypothetical Scavengers (mini) series

So I made a google doc a few nights ago and filled it with random ass ideas for how a cartoony likely-episodic Scavengers series could go... It was around the same time I wanted to get to animating a Scavs-related thing but no promises there or to this ever becoming more than rambles

Anyways... heres an unorganized collection of my silly thoughts:

POST-WAR!! War’s over, Autobot-Decepticon alliance is great and dandy for everyone except of course the folks who got left behind and forgotten by respective High Commands and have had to make their own dealings in space to get thru life and shit; focusing on the daily struggles of your average low of the low genericons/bots, the Scavengers

Optimus and Megatron are definitely married (trust); we go the IDW MTMTE route but instead of Megs off on a quest with Roddy and gang, he’s with Optimus and they both publicly surrender/call truce or whatever on-video and agree to help repair cybertron instead of squabbling, sending a message to all cybertronians taking refuge amongst the stars blah blah blah its time to go home (pilot should open with this i think, set the worldview up straight from the beginning)

It could either be set in the slums of like some populated city or smthn, like maybe Dead End of Kaon or smthn OR… now consider… Set NOT on Cybertron, literally anywhere BUT Cybertron; the Scavs wander space, at least every few episodes or so would be set in a different planet or smthn, having them do their usual shenanigans and (failing) their supply/scavenging runs, as well as the occasional star station too for like a pit stop i guess; there’d be atleast one episode where they go to earth probably

Main characters (scavs duh, but lemme write some shit down here rq):

Krok - the dutiful, ever-patient (one can of engex away from losing it) leader of the Scavengers; he’s the one that usually has the single functioning brain cell

Crankcase - the skillful pilot of the crew’s beloved Decepticon-hijacked Autobot vessel, always in a sour mood, think TFA Ratchet but up the old man crankiness to 500; really good at fixing things (mechanic)

Spinister - a little stupid… all the stupid actually… but he’s got things rattling in there too, don’t worry! The Scavengers’ medic; would probably be Cybertron’s greatest surgeon if it weren’t for everything else

Fulcrum - Defunct?? Rejected?? Something-class Decepticon, a bit of a coward, found in a dumpster by Misfire; he’s a technician too! Score!

Misfire - ideas are about as good as his aim (which is not at all); the really really talkative and social one; rejected Rainmaker/Seeker (bro didnt pass Decepticon Academy, rip)

Additional members that get added to the crew later on!

Grimlock - resident Dinobot and the only Autobot on the crew (for now or smthn idk), thinking of either having them find him during the pilot episode or a bit later on?; i think Krok would definitely have a thing where he’s super wary of him until a big character development episode thing happens like in MTMTE #46

Nickel - hmmm idk yet.. Maybe a former high ranking decepticon officer whose position has been stripped from her the more fucked up and bad the faction ended up becoming because she was very vocal about its problems til the current day? (I just don’t think her being connected to the DJD would work here womp womp)

Flywheels (unsure) - some mech that tagged along with them during one random shenanigans episode

MP3 / or some other new human character (unsure) - they have an episode where they go to Earth and befriend silly human… may or may not keep them, maybe they could be an honorary Scavenger but only appears sometimes or stays on Earth but keeps in touch with the Scavs (look I just think having a human on the crew would be kinda silly and funky for the dynamic)

Meanies to the crew (weekly bad guy):

Novastorm - leader of the Rainmakers; has beef with Misfire

Skullcruncher- Krok hates his guts; he’s the TFA Sentinel to Krok’s TFA Prime, probably served together on like whatever the equivalent of a Warworld ship would be in this

Raiders??? Space pirates??? Idk but I’d def make em be related to Spinister’s past or smthn (this was inspired by some fanfic I read a bit ago, I think Fool’s Paradise on AO3)

Needlenose? (Spin trusted him, betrayed copter boy :((( or smthn)

Scorponok - probably the biggest threat of the show (ofc not in universe), but he’d be like IDW Scorponok in that one Scavs issue, all kinda silly and dramatic but def a threat, he kinda reminds me of Dino/BW Megatron a bit

DJD (absolutely unsure, maybe a passing mention or not at all) - would probably have to sillify them a bit (a lot, idk how the hell Cyberverse managed it with Tarn)...

There's more in the doc but they're not fully formed ideas yet... My countless hours scrolling the Scavengers tags on tumblr have also given me ideas for certain kinds of episodes that could happen but again, nothing concretely written down yet

If I have the energy or remember this, I'm def gonna be updating it with some more ideas cuz whether this becomes real or not, its fun!! Maybe I could write it as a fic one day or if someones wants to idk

Okay bai bai for now, I gotta eep 👋

[nutal]

bro is it just me, or do i always get the vibe that Adam is neglected by the higher-up angels and that Lute is the only person he can truly talk to cuz the rest of the winners and angels are like walking positive NPCs

if i had a nickel for every time i got that vibe, i’d have a yacht

I definitely see this, especially considering that scene right after the trial ends where Sera lightly scolds him and he gets all insecure and fucking apologizes. But yes, this is absolutely something that would happen, and deep down he feels like Lute’s the only person who actually respects and listens to him.

[thegeminisage]

ok, now that i've watched all of tos (none of the movies yet...) i am going to do the top ten worst and best episodes, according to Me. they are as follows:

WORST EPISODES

10. the savage curtain - idk who thought putting abe lincoln in a cage match with the vulcan version of ghandi against like, ghengis khan and space hitler would be a good idea. but it wasn't. i did like seeing the vulcan father of logic though like "im gonna go sacrifice myself for peace" ok king

9. i, mudd - all of the mudd episodes are bad. he's not charming at all whatsoever. however, this one is better than the other one because uhura gets to pretend to sell out kirk and they're SOOO cute about it. her little giggle when he PICKS HER UP BY HER SHOULDERS and tells her how proud he is. PLEEEEASE

8. charlie x - the entire premise of this episode is that the bad guy is just autistic. and then they make him live on a planet without people because he can't adjust to normal life ???

7. shore leave - obvious racism of this episode aside, the faux-irish jig that played while kirk was being menaced by his extremely unfunny old bully nearly drove me over the edge. we DO love a good mccoy death fakeout tho

6. a piece of the action - if i had any interest in gangster films before this it's all gone now. that being said. i loved when kirk drove the little car. he was so bad at it. he was so happy.

5. mudd's women - like he's literally just selling women?? and the plot twist is that secretly they're ugly?????

4. who mourns for adonias - this is just "what if ALIENS build the pyramids bro" except for the 1960s. nail in the coffin for this one was kirk proudly declaring they didn't needs gods - because they already had the One God, thank you very much!

3. the paradise syndrome - WHY WOULD YOU HAVE NATIVE AMERICANS MISTAKE KIRK FOR GOD. WHY. like i know why but Why. i think the very worst part of this episode was that it had an amnesia plot that would have FUCKED if you had simply removed the people. if there hadn't been people in this it would've been in my top 10 episodes. i think this broke me.

2. the omega glory - this is the same as the last episode except there's no amnesia, and also the "native americans" are white cosplayers who worship the american flag and mistake kirk for god because he can recite the pledge of allegiance yes really. if i had a nickel for every time this happened i'd only have two nickels etc etc at least kirk didn't knock anybody up in this one ig

1. patterns of force - why would you make your two jewish leads wear swastikas and then literally be whipped by nazis. i know he's such a bad person but not even william shatner deserves that. number one worst episode everyone says it's omega glory but it's this one

BEST EPISODES

10. plato's stepchildren - this episode is hard to rank because like it's both good and bad. the torture scenes were genuinely upsetting, especially the ones at the end w/ spock & nurse chapel, because they weren't just violence being inflicted on tied up guys, but they were SUPPOSED to be upsetting, like it was literally the point. and also this episode bears the distinction of THEEE kirk & uhura kiss. literally historic.

9. the trouble with tribbles - i feel like everyone's heard of this but it really is as good as everyone says. sometimes 1960s humor doesn't translate to 2020s humor but it was genuinely hysterical start to finish. also, the distinct trilling sound was so imprinted in my brain i recognized it in the 2009 movie where i had never registered it before.

8. the naked time - aside from the KING SHIT george takei pulled with the fencing this episode also contains the "i am in control of my emotions [sobbing]" moment and kirk & spock LITERALLY having a slapfight. this episode has everything. an absolute masterpiece

7. the empath - i feel like this paired with "the world is hollow and i have touched the sky" really made me a Bones Understander. i feel a little bad about that bc everyone says the characterizations in s3, or actually that the season as a whole, is kinda shaky? but i watched without knowing that and i feel like i Get It now. also, this was the only score i went and relistened to on spotify

6. tholian web - the spock & mccoy episode ever. there's so many things to say about this from the death fakeout to kirk's little space suit but what TRULY got me was the instant and totally nonverbal agreement to lie straight to kirk's face to both preserve personal dignity and troll the shit out of him (while chekov and sulu are like also silently laughing as they listen in no less). what this episode made me realize was that it's a good thing they argue all the time and make kirk play referee because if they were on the same side kirk wouldn't stand a chance. like he'd be finished.

5. the city on the edge of forever - ok, so, this episode made me feel like i was having a mental break. the time travel. spock's little hat. when he watches kirk kiss edith and then goes back into their room to pretend he didn't see anything. mccoy and kirk basically hugging at the end when edith bites it.

4. requiem for methuselah - the first time i watched this i was kinda like :/ because how does kirk fall in love with a woman in FOUR HOURS? that aside the ending scene blew my tits clean off. i paced around my house for like 30 minutes going "what the FUCK was that" because i couldn't simply lie down and sleep after seeing it. rewatching the episode with uh. new context made me like it a little better. but even if it had been garbage the last scene shook me so thoroughly it would still need to be on this list. i'm getting wound up just thinking about it. number one most shocking tos moment.

3. the dagger of the mind - look, i understand that this episode was technically just run-of-the-mill stuff as far as everybody else is concerned but they put james t kirk in a little brainwashing machine. and the machine was shaped like a chair. and it gives people amnesia sometimes. i don't know how i'm expected to behave normally

2. this side of paradise - this is the episode where a flower jizzes on spock and gives him feelings. and look: it's really funny, and there's a lot to love about it. but the ending where kirk hurls verbal abuse at spock for a solid 92 seconds WITHOUT STOPPING followed by: spock beating the shit out of him until he gets his logic back. i have rewatched this perhaps 1,000 times at minimum. what the fuck were they doing

1. conscience of the king - this episode got me into this mess. i don't think i can elaborate further without significant self-incrimination. let's just say what happened was i thought "oh i'll just watch this one tos episode for context for the fanfiction" and one month later i'm writing fic about [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT

ok, that's my list. i thought about doing honorable mentions for episodes that had scenes i liked even though the overall episode didn't make it into my top 10. but then i realized that would mean recapping basically the entire series and this post is already too long. i do have to give the pon farr episode a shoutout though because even though so much of it was offputting there was literally a titty window in kirk's shirt. like, it's the pon farr episode. ok NOW i'm done

[willingcannibalvictim]

RvB vore headcanons: Blood Gulch Chronicles Edition

RED TEAM

SARGE

-old man

-would eat blues as a way to establish dominance

-might also do that with his own team for similar reasons

-rants to prey about “the good ole days where milk was a nickel” and WAR

-tries to get all spooky scary when pred but just doesn’t land it

-unlikely/unwilling prey. makes him feel like less of a leader

SIMMONS

(i actually have some good headcanons for this one with evidence to back it up)

-a CHRONIC insomniac

-skinny queen, amazing prey

-due to his cyborgness, he has robot organs, meaning robo stomach (air conditioning yesss)

-also has oil saliva (which is a little gross but hey)

-noms grif most often out of the reds

-due to his (headcanonical) insomnia, he often can’t get to sleep easily, but finds that grif nomming him calms him down and helps him sleep better

-checks up on prey like every 10 minutes bc he’s just a nervous little guy :3

-speaking of grif…

GRIF

-chronic eepy

-mmmm chubby pred my beloved oooo yesss <333

-tends to nom Simmons either bc a) he can’t sleep or b) idk man bros hungry

-sometimes engages in accidental vore bc, once again, chronic eepy

-rubs tum to comfort/calm prey down, especially if unwilling

-weight in his stomach knocks this man out in like 2 seconds

-when prey, also falls asleep within 2 seconds. like he could get nommed for protection purposes after running away from some guy trying to kill him and just loses all the adrenaline immediately.

-extreme cuddling fan <3

-chubby pred = soft and warm tum.

DONUT

-amazeballz :O

-gets flustered pretty easily, this goes for being pred or prey

-ONLY and i mean ONLY noms when ppl ask. doesn’t nom unwilling prey for a few reasons

-1) prey kick which he is REALLY sensitive to and 2) feels really ashamed when prey gets really scared and doesn’t know they’re safe

-enjoys tum rubs from prey. calms him down.

-similar to Simmons, checks on prey a bit too often

-sees vore as a really intimate thing so he gets really fluster when nommed and his words get all shaky and auwuquwuq

-just a little guy :3

BLUES

TUCKER

-doesn’t mind prey that’s unwilling and puts up a fight

-he’s had to deal with kick before if yk what i mean 😏

-he’s a lover, not a fighter, and doesn’t enjoy the idea of holding prey in his tum for periods of time that they’re uncomfortable with

-occasionally gets bit cocky when nomming prey, to prey’s annoyance

-he’s a bit of a jerk but overall harmless

-as prey, firmly believes the superior answer is hands first like a little fucking bitch

-if unwillingly nommed, he fights a bit but gets a bit tired after like 5 seconds

-just a little guy

CHURCH

-the most tsundere middle aged man in the entire world

-usually unwilling prey. that man is NOT going down without a fight

-denies any allegations of enjoying being nommed (he’s a LIAR! LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!!)

-noms prey for two reasons mostly 1) prey won’t shut up 2) protective purposes

-epsilon church? now that’s a whole other story i’m not going to get into here

-also denies nomming prey for any purpose other than those two reasons (once again, FUCKING LIAR!!!)

CABOOSE

-he’s such a silly little goobernut i have so many hc for him. holy moly

-100% noms other to protect them

-pretty much everyone on the blue team is half his height, so nomming them is pretty easy

-rants to unwilling prey about things they like in an attempt to calm them down

-tbh he does a lot of things for unwilling prey in an attempt to calm them down

-does it work? sometimes!

-slightly hums to prey and rubs tum for comfort

-actually the most teddy bear of a pred ever conceived.

-noms Church mostly despite his protests. Church settles down after a while and gets used to it.

-he’s just a little guy 🥺

-out of the blues, his tums actually REALLY soft and comfortable. it’s like laying on a giant pillow that is alive and moving and encased all around u.

TEX

-holy shit she is a BITCH

-unwilling prey? SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!! willing prey? SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE AS WELL!!!

-she will not take shit from anybody

-100% pred all the time

-similar to Sarge, uses vore as a way to establish dominance in a group

-if she noms you and she KNOWS you prior to nomming, my dear that is a sign of utter and complete respect and intimacy

-if prey is unwilling and kicking/screaming, can and will punch her stomach to get the point across of “shut up, will ya?”

-also uses vore for protection of her colleagues (aka blues)

-“this place is full of mean ladies!”

OTHER AFFILIATIONS

DOC

-yooooo doctor

-stomach fluids have healing properties, something he greatly takes advantage of

-really cares about prey he’s nomming and, like many others, noms for protection

-noms after battle or fight to aid wounded prey (this includes nomming multiple prey at once. i see u tooo)

-however, doesn’t nom the reds or blues together unless they know each other and are on good terms. they will have a “GIRLS ARE FIGHTING!!” moment. that isn’t very comfortable for all parties

-enjoys vore as a prey because it makes him feel safe and protected. huge extreme cuddling fan.

-stomach is warm, but in a way where it’s comfortable and won’t make prey overheat

-out of the reds and blues, other than grif and caboose, his tum is probably the most comfortable.

-tummy rubs? tummy rubs ooooo ^^

————————-

and that’s all for now! i’ll do one later with the freelancers we see in rvb (dead or alive)

[noelledeltarune]

does anyone remember that episode of the super mario bros super show where luigi accidentally ate like one seed from some plant and ended up growing like a full garden out of himself. i remember it fucking me up so bad when i was really little but for the life of me i cannot find it. also if i had a nickel every time plants grew out of luigi,

[spenglercore]

ok this has been bugging me. I already blocked the sender but I got an ask earlier for an OLD ass post on my main blog where this fucking chud tried to mansplain physics to me and I just.

I cannot get over this bro telling me that ram air isn't why things burn up on re-entry, and then trying to bullshit some pseudoscience physics about how the vibration of the atoms rubbing on the object plus the atoms sliding across it's surface is what causes it.

No that's not how it works and the fact that you dug up a six year old post on my blog tells me you have nothing better to do than start shit with people and would simply put your fingers in your ears and yell LALALALALALA if I tried to flatten you with the actual physics.

Things don't just burn up on re-entry, modern supersonic aircraft ALSO heat up due to ram pressure in flight, to the point where the X-15 - with a skin made of ICONEL (a nickel-chromium alloy) which is a superb heatsink, fucking started MELTING in flight. Concord had problems with heat from ram air. The Blackbird leaks fuel like a sieve because it's components were made too small on purpose to account for thermal expansion due to - you fuckin guessed it - ram air.

See in physics gases do this funny thing when compressed and heat up. No heat is added, so much as the heat energy in a given volume of gas is now forced into a smaller space and thus the temperature rises. Compress it enough, like when you're forcing something through the upper atmosphere at 4,520mph or coming back down from orbit at 17,500mph or more, the pressure put on atmospheric gases causes them to heat up, and that heat is absorbed by the object.

[captorcorp]

THE DREAM MACHINE GAME SPOILERS (post-game rambling)

if i had a nickel every time i experienced media with an AI trying to give birth to itself in a human baby form through the protagonist's wife - i'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

on a whole i'm really >:3 about this game though!!! i should've known from the title (which is why i got it ofc) but just wasn't sure if it'd live up to my expectations for either the dream aspects or the machine aspects, i think it did for both though

the dreams could've been more dream-like in logic at some times (though i feel like they usually did feel p dreamlike), though with how difficult the puzzles were already maybe it's a good thing they weren't lol i did like the environments though like the wife dreaming of being the captain of a ship where all of the workers are clones of her husband, the stressed nurse dreaming about a cool fantasy land where she's the village medic, the wfh guy dreaming having some weird cube-like dream land that nobody expected but most of it being manipulated by the machine controlling him...

decent amount of dream psychology mentioned, specifically jung's collective unconsciousness (is that a zero escape reference??? /j) and some freud mention iirc? the disk-shaped shared realm of dreams that people start from the center of and move towards the edge as they age while being able to traverse the plane between people's dreams as well is an interesting concept - feel like i haven't seen that many games come up with their own dream lore like that. at that part in the center with the prenatal barrier and baby dreams being raw potential energy and such, i hadn't heard as much about that irl so looked it up in case it was some obscure theory i hadn't heard of before but didn't find anything unfortunately ^^;

also love the ending in like chapter 5 where you can just. choose to start working with the machine instead after almost killing it, i didn't expect them to give us that option. sorry to my pregnant wife but you're saying i can inherit this dead guy's whole repertoire of dream research passed down for generations and explore the dreamscape as i wish with this cool sentient eldritch machine? fuck yeah let's start hiding the bodies /hj (jk I would go help my wife if i were victor. but i'm not i'm the player and i want to learn about dreams.)

also re: the machine itself i thought it was a neat character ^^ was a bit ??? at what it's goals were at first, bc obviously the mortons were using it to map the unconscious but then it wasn't clear if the machine also wanted to do that or had its own agenda, but self preservation of its sentience and trying to maintain its existence by leaching from the dreams of others was a good motive. and then also 🥺me when the ai is lonely and misses its friends (and accidentally kills them when they stop giving it unsuspecting residents to feed off of but dw about that)

very 👀at that bit in the 3rd floor neighbors' dreams where we found out it was trying to build itself a body in the dream world out of dream npc's organs so it could move around the dream world as it wished without the clunky tentacles that kinda just stay in one place and die. another one of those things that's like 'bro it's a dream you don't have to be that thorough about it to make it work' but i get it with the weird shared dreamscape lore this game has set up and it was a very 'bro wtf' reveal. gotta respect trying the frankenstein method

actually that makes me think. are dream npcs sentient in this universe??? i was just thinking about it like 'at least it was just stealing organs from npcs and not people' but idk how this fits with the collective unconscious lore.

also i do have to address the ending of the game besides just that 2 nickels joke (the other media was demon seed btw. was a pretty disturbing watch ^^;;). that one bit felt like the stanley parable hole ending and the other bit felt like the 2001 a space odyssey ending. the playing god part was very ??? i didn't know what to think of it at first (still not sure) and this is the only screenshot i took from that portion.

that whole final colorful shifting area with the victors of different ages reminded me of the denver meow wolf exhibit (i haven't been yet but from the pics i've seen of it on the site). then i saw the area with our mother giving birth to us and i was like. Ah. Unfortunately this game has given us a lot of experiences with climbing inside of small holes, even when they're inside other people...

was also surprised that we just took up the machine's offer to share our consciousness and stay stuck in the dream world. feel like it'd be more effective to give us some options there and have multiple endings, but i guess if it was us (machine loses too much power to survive outside of the dream) or our child (would grow up possessed by the machine irl) makes sense as a trade, our poor wife though... i do like dreams but being stuck in the dream world forever like that would be OTL i am glad the machine got to survive though

anyway my final review is. puzzles were pretty hard so thank you steam and yt walkthroughs. ending was weird, it was too metaphysical for me to fully wrap my head around but i do like the artistic vision. game on a whole is good especially when you're autistic about dreams and ai characters, played it for like 10 hours straight. dream machine is my favorite character (no surprise). why did the game make us unbirth ourselves.

misc screenshot dump:

normal teatime conversation topics

cool machine diagram

NOOO i forgot to get a picture of those fuckass pumpkins that make you lead a government. love those guys

[knightobreath]

doing my ii rewatch w/ the lil bro and i have a few notes on invitational specifically. only because thats what were on rn

all the crit made me forget how funny this show actually is. oh my god. i am having a goddamn blast

no but seriously me and the little dude could not stop giggling for some episodes

nickel has grown on me im no longer a hater. Sorry to all the Nickel Fans for any past behavior

that brings my disliked characters down to uhhh... 2? that can be fixed. maybe.

if i can be convinced to like silver spoon that would be amazing but i doubt it will happen. i want to push him down a flight of stairs

the pain of people making a big deal of you coming out is Real. i felt bots pain in title tbd So Hard

nickloon is real holy fuck how did i not see it before

as much as i hate out of body experience (body swaps make me SO UNCOMFORTABLE) the scene where mephone finds out about bot and lets them sit out means something to me. mephone decent person moments. would Who said that

aside from that i love every time mephone is an asshole its hilarious.

cabby is ME FR sometimes. honestly i should keep files on people and things i need it

the floor <3<3<3 okay thats it no more thoughts for a bit. we're leaving off halfway through home is where the heart is. ive got work 2 do

edit: some points got shuffled oops. removed a transition that no longer made sense

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Batwheels

or How to Stop Worrying and Ride with the Punchline

I remember watching the surprisingly kino Teen Titans GO! movie and getting to the scene where they have the trailers for Alfred Pennyworth and then the Batmobile. I of course snickered poshly and then continued watching the film. It was the year after when they premiered an Alfred series set in the Gotham TV universe and I went "Cool." I didn't care for either so I chuckled robotically and moved on. Then in 2020, they announced a Batmobile kids cartoon and the joke stopped being funny. First, the world descends into madness faster, and now we were getting BATWHEELS?! COMING VROOM?!?!?! Felt like I became the joke because I had to know what it would be like. So it's the current year and this was finally released on Cartoonito. What do I think of it? It's actually pretty fire.

Didn't think we'd get two nickels worth of good cars content this year

To preface, yeah this is more for preschoolers but thankfully it's more family-friendly since it's just entertaining you with crime-fighting adventures. I say it's like a Hot Wheels show that has the vibes of Batman: Brave and the Bold. It works like it feels stupid at first but they run with it; it's like 60s Batman or the Lego Batman Movie where things can get serious but it doesn't have to be serious. It's best to watch the first episode to get the origin story which explains how the cars become sentient. Otherwise, the titular Batwheels work like the Batfamily and it's an enjoyable romp about teamwork, leadership, and getting tricky. Speaking of which...

This series looks amazing like hell yes Neon Gotham

The coloring, character designs, and animation of this are phenomenal. I love the use of 2D particle effects and how the vehicles are able to be expressive. We don't reach Pixar levels of uncanny but aren't just static either. Some goofy ass nerd'll go "Oh, this is just to sell toys" and I'd honestly say "Fuck yeah" because the human and vehicle characters look on point. If you're gonna sell a product, make it worth the purchase. I don't know if this'll go beyond a couple seasons unless they expand the roster but I can see kids loving the look of all this. My only issue... is Joker. He looks zoomerfied, dressed like a bedazzled goober, and is the worse looking out of everyone.

This ain't Joker bro, this is The Jickler #NoJoke

I like how this is both about the vehicles finding their place as heroes and the human heroes you know doing their job. We get a surprisingly diverse cast like it's the first time seeing Duke Thomas Robin on screen. Ethan Hawke works well as Bats, though he's not Will Arnett I'm sorry. The show's probably limiting since it's about cars, but they knew better than to just make this Batman™ except everyone's a car for some reason. The cars don't upstage the heroes and villains, it manages to be a great introduction to the Batman universe. I dunno, something goofy like this surprises me in being a competent, fun-loving action cartoon that makes me forget the turmoil I've been having lately about superhero content. Just saying, the last time I said the word "capeshit", ten angels cried and this series is like the fresh air I needed since Peacemaker.

Takes me back to the Bat Credit Card days anew

This and Hamster & Gretel do good in being superhero shows that work more than expected. I admittedly am tired of Batman being everywhere like when will Green Lantern have his turn again? At the same time, this is cooler than I figured. If you told me in 3rd grade we were gonna have a Batmobile cartoon, I would laugh in your face. If you told me this before 2020 happened, I would still laugh. Now that we're here... I have to kneel. I was gonna point this a 7 or 8 out of 10 cuz you know it's a simple, fun time; good for Saturday mornings. You know what though? For actually sticking the landing and proving me as a naysayer wrong...

9 out of 10; A Motorized Marvel

[thedeadestmeme]

**spoilers for BHNA season 6 (from episode 7-13)**

out of context reactions, a summary:

“what the fuck… what.”

“girl, you better be okay— oh, wHAT THE F—?!”

“i agree with the fanfic writers. if someone gave Deku a gun, this shit would’ve been over.”

[incomprehensible screeching]

“THAT’S MY SON! THAT’S MY FUCKING SON! aAAAAA!!!!”

“this is the sickest guy in all eternity. you, on the other hand—.”

[accidentally launches my remote into orbit] “SHOTO FUCKING TODOROKI???”

“suneater, my favorite son, you look so awkward at all times<33”

“they show my favorite boy and i can’t even see him fight?!! …i’m so sad, bois.”

“bRO, WHERE DID YOU—? nah, fuck it. he’s just weird like that.”

“deku,,, this is the worst steven universe cosplay i’ve ever seen. i’m so sorry.”

“i would, in fact, spend forever crying over my other favorite son, Bakugo Katsuki, and his attempts for amends. i think i will, actually.”

“bro, i’M GONNA CRY.”

[wordless screaming]

“mans is going feral.”

“the use of biting in this season— hell, this entire series is insane. honestly? i’m for it. biting is the most feral choice. it really shows their desperation to survive that they’ll revert to their most feral state. in conclusion, i think Deku should start biting off fingers as a power move from now on:))”

“…so like. how’d you lose your nose.”

“yeah, he’s saying a lot of words. but like. i have serious questions. like, how does being evil correlate with a lack of smell??”

“…is it a ‘hear no evil’, ‘see no evil’-type thing. bc he’s sure speaking a lot.”

“if i had a nickel for every noseless villain i’ve seen, i’d have two nickels.“

“…i feel like i’m witnessing two men that see this ragtag crew as a found family and they’re having to accept that their daughter has grown up. and it feels extra awkward bc i think only half the crew thinks like this. but like… maybe this is normal, ya know?”

[nodding] “ah, yes. lesbian culture.”

me, seeing Best Jeanist: bruh, he’s so slay. he’s so SLAY!!!

“bEST GIRL!👏BEST GIRL!👏BEST GIRL—!👏”

“…girl what. i’m. girl, you— i can’t even begin to explain how weird comparing him to being your brother is. like. it can be a valid feeling, but right now, it feels really weird.”

“i think i’m about to start ignoring this part of the plotline and focus on the toxic yuri of it all. i think that’s a valid response.”

“yEAHHH!!! YEAHHH!!!!!”

“[sighs] …i miss my non-toxic bisexuals, Tails.”

“eyyy, it’s mister daddy issues— oH FUCK. WAIT, NO—.”

“bestie, you are sooo Jason Todd/JD-coded, it hurts.”

“…he’s a theater major, ur honor.”

[stage-whispering] “…i don’t think he fact-checked all of his sources”

“i’m crying on the inside. like, really hard. i will be coping via so many fanfics later, it’s not even funny.”

“SLAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!”

“bro, you are so cool. your silly puns are so funny. i hate your hair, but you’re so slay that i’ll forgive it. i love you.”

“all these daddy issues… dude, i feel like i’m watching Demon Slayer all over again.”

“hold up— wHAT THE FUCK.”

“TELL HIM, SHOUTO! KICK HIS ASS!!!”

“mY SON!!!! MY SON MY SON MY SON MY SON!! MYSONMYSONMYSON mY SONNNNN!!!”

“bro i’m literally cryignsh”

“bAKUGOFAIFDHH GAHHH, THAT’S MY FUCKING SON!!!”

“YEAH!!! MIRIO, YOU’RE SO RIGHT!! IT’S A GOOD, SILLY NAME!!”

“…what the fuck. uh,,, tododeku win? [stares at Blackwhip: Froppy Style] ,,,at what cost...”

“girl, i love that Iida respected Bakugo’s entire hero name. he heard it two seconds ago and memorized it bc it felt like the respectful thing to do. he’s the best kid ever.”

“bonding with the crew: murder-style<333”

[sighing louder] “i miss Twice, Tails.”

“this entire crew is so loser-coded. a failed magician, an otaku, a yandere sim oc, Deadpool: Ultra Rare Copy Machine Edition, and Jason Todd — all banding together to work for the ultimate loser, Guy Who Somehow Has Even Worse Daddy Issues. that being said, i’ll always support the LGBTQ+ community<333”

“being so real, i really like Spinner and Compass and their desires for found family.”

“…Compass is so fucking cool, this is not fair.”

“bRO, NO. FUCK YOU. WHY IS HE HOT.”

“and quirk by quirk, Izuku Midoriya is slowly becoming Spiderman /jjj”

“nO. NO, COMPRESS, NO. BRO, YOU WERE SO HOT. NOOOOOO.”

“girl, i am… so sad. i am SO SAD.”

“bRO I JUST SAW ANOTHER GLIMPSE OF SUNEATER, WHY IS IT ONLY GLIMPSES. THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME. I MISS MY SON. I AM SCREAMING.”

if you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. i am currently sobbing<333. i’ll be watching the rest now, but i figured i could liveblog all these thoughts in one whole post instead of spamming. i had too many thoughts to be able to open new posts shajfkf

[saccharinemeat]

D , K , L , S , T , W , Z . good monin .... looks at you respectfully kissin ... hi ..... hello . hey

Answerin' this so latey but still! myah myah

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Depends on fandom,but from iii, clover/nickel and candle/silver spoon. which i know you do like but i just cant help but be annoyed by em sometimes. particularly the latter cuz yknow. f/o.

non object and unrelated to shared fandoms, definitely Jonmartin. I know they're canon i know wah wah the dinghy I DONT FUCKING CARE. martin is a little bitch to Jon during the eyepocalypse and idk. idk he gets on my nerves. JonMichael forever actually. (And i like martin with peter lukas. toxic gilf win.)

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Depends on the fandom, object wise i wanna say Balloon (especially in iii), and while i also love Flowers arc i feel she got a bit watered down at the end of bfb. Quite curious to know where Robot Flower's is going though. Non object fandom, I wanna say Riko from made in abyss has some amazing development,and in general the arc around Vueroeruko and Irumyuu was fucking insane. Sobbing immediately and violently.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves.

Ugh. Candle is not a bitch and im mostly just uncomfortable with how close she is with silver and her chill attitude is Annoying to a certain degree. Cabby is Fine in the very late episodes and her friendship with yinyang is Nice. Non object related, uhh. uhhhh. idk i dont have any MAJOR hatred i think. or if i do it's so bad i Deleted them from my brain lmao.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon

Oh there's so many, I'll try to stay away from my super edgy ones You Know,but let's see. object specific, here's a handful,will just do objects here cuz easier:

test tube is a coffee nerd. She loves all the borderline sciencey work to pull a single shot of espresso. and she WILL get annoying about it if not stopped

Baseball and Cheesy both have braces

Knife is a big fan of kawaii shit and loves the color pink. After the dora incident he's less shy about having one or two little keychains or plushies.

Tree likes to smoke and is in his late 30s. I will Not elaborate,i just know I'm Correct.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

some headcanons ill die defending are mostly darker ones,honestly. but i guess heres some misc. ones from multiple fandoms

- Julian (The Arcana) has BPD and i will never back off from that

- Kenny (south park) sometimes is cis and sometimes isn't,depending how his body regenerated after the latest death

- Yin and Yang (inanimate insanity) have an extremely codependent fucked up relationship

- Rick (Rick & Morty) is bilingual and can speak spanish perfectly. Yes i know this is basically canon but goddamn if the show NEVER brings it up. Im salty about this.

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

Any fucking barista/florist/whatever the fuck AU. you people are boring,jesus. And poorly done Enemies to Lovers (ENEMIES ARE EQUALS) or Bully/Victim ships portrayed as good (toxic dynamics can stay tho)

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go!

Bro I'm tired,, but i wanna talk about fandom in general and how fucking annoying it is that people are always going for wholesome and pure and fluffy and like. yes that's fine and all but i miss when fandom was owned by the freaks. I feel like even the concept of fandom has gone far FAR too mainstream and it's annoying as all hell. It's difficult to not want to just live in a little corner. Also people treat writers and artists like fucking. content machines and it sucks so much. people used to establish friendships over this but now even requests are BARELY polite. Bleh. Also bring the kinkmeme livejournals back

[starlessea]

Big Brother

A/N Here it is, another Daryl / Reader story from someone else’s perspective - this time Merle’s! Did any of you guess correctly?

Summary: Merle Dixon had always flaunted the big brother privilege over Daryl, snatching away toys and saving the best things for himself. But there was one thing he couldn’t take from his brother — and that was you.

[AKA the story of how Daryl Dixon won your heart, from the begrudging perspective of his brother, Merle].

Masterlist

Buy Me A Coffee

Merle Dixon had always gotten what he wanted.

Okay, that might not have been the entire truth-

Merle Dixon had always taken what he wanted.

Ever since he was a kid, mere redneck trailer trash, Merle realised that nothing was ever going to be handed to him in this world. Whether it was that shiny new toy in the shop window, or even a damn speck of attention — Merle wouldn’t get it unless he took it for himself.

So that’s what he did as a man, too.

“How’s it goin’ darlin’?” he leered, followed by a gesture too obscene to be repeated.

“Bite me,” the woman snapped, flipping him off as she walked past.

And Merle scowled.

This time — no matter how much he wanted it — he couldn’t figure out how to make you his. He couldn’t just take you for himself, as though you were a sparkling nickel on the sidewalk, because someone had already beaten him to it.

And that person shared the same last name as him.

It was his brother — Daryl.

“Aww c’mon gorgeous, we ain’t gotta lie to each other like this,” he cracked, chasing after you. “Why lie to ol’ Merle when ya could lie with ol’ Merle?”

He laughed at that one. He always was one funny son of a bitch.

Except, you didn’t seem amused, and batted away his advances as he continued to trail after you — hot at your heels.

“Merle Dixon, the world might have ended but that doesn’t mean my self respect went along with it,” you shot back — wounding his pride more than he cared to admit.

But Merle still smiled, running his tongue over his teeth as he watched your ass when you walked away, wondering how the hell his brother managed to catch your eye in the first place.

“Saw tha’, ya sly bastard.”

Merle chuckled. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Daryl was leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his puffed-out chest as he sized up his brother where he stood.

“What’cha gonna do ‘bout it, baby bro?” Merle quipped, stuffing his hands into his pocket whilst he readjusted his jeans.

Daryl scowled, trying to look elsewhere.

“Leave ‘er be an’ we won’t have any trouble,” the man warned, through gritted teeth.

For the second time today, Merle just couldn’t believe it. First, that bird had given him a shoulder frostier than ice, and now his kid brother was actually standing up to him — showing off those balls of his that must’ve grown three times the size since he’d last seen them.

Next thing you know, Merle might even catch pigs fly.

He cocked his head, making a point of looking his brother up and down, trying to spark that temper of his.

“Tell me, Darlina,” he taunted with a grin, before letting his voice drop low. “There ever been anythin’ of yours tha’ din’t become mine?”

And Daryl socked him straight in the jaw.

//

Merle just couldn’t understand it.

His brother was never a ladies’ man — never so much as glanced at a woman twice before all this. And now here he was, not even a month after the world decided to fuck them all, ready to fuck them all.

Well, maybe just the one.

It made Merle sick seeing Daryl head over heels — or dick over heels — for a bitch he’d only known for two minutes. Or perhaps it made Merle sick because, for once, Daryl had gotten himself a shiny new toy that Merle couldn’t snatch away from him.

And the greedy bastard wasn’t even willing to share.

“Take a picture,” you called over to him. “It’ll last longer.”

Merle spat on the pebbled rocks beneath his feet.

“Weren’t even lookin’ at ya,” he snapped, before muttering under his breath, “ugly bitch.”

But that was a lie.

He was indeed looking at you, watching you try to catch fish with your bare hands as you stood knee-deep in the quarry water. You’d been at it all morning — he’d overheard you promising his brother that you’d bring back something to go with whatever he caught on his hunt.

Except, you hadn’t gotten any luck yet.

And Merle hadn’t gotten lucky in a while, either.

“Is that why there’s a hole burnt through the ass of my jeans?” you grumbled, before splashing some water in his direction. “Go stare at someone else, you creep.”

But he still lingered about, letting his soaked clothes dry off in the sun. Usually, Merle didn’t have to be told no twice — especially when it came to women. He’d just call them some names that his mother would probably beat him black and blue for even uttering — god rest her lush soul — and spit at their feet as they walked away.

That’s how Merle Dixon usually handled rejection.

“What’d ya even see in tha’ bastard, anyway?” he asked, the words spluttering from his mouth like cheap cigarette smoke. “Ol’ Merle taught him everythin’ he knows,” he argued, pointing somewhere in the distance — into the woods where Daryl probably was.

Then he paused a second, and shook his head.

“Nah, ‘m probably better in the sack,” he concluded, sending you a wink which made you gag.

Merle’s eyes dragged over you as you emerged from the lake, letting your light bucket swing from your hand — scarcely a fish inside. He didn’t know what it was about you that made him so antsy, so preoccupied with making you his.

It wasn’t like you were anything special. Merle had seen plenty of women in shorter shorts, and with bigger-

“My eyes are up here,” you reminded him — but he didn’t feel the slightest shame at being caught.

Then, you conked him over the head with that bucket — except, it didn’t feel that light anymore — and smiled when he let out a yell in protest.

“Well for one,” you said, hand resting at your hip, “he doesn’t look at me like I’m a piece of meat.”

Merle pulled a face. He didn’t look at you like meat, he thought, more like a glass of whiskey — or a carton of cigs.

He opened his mouth to retort, but you shot him a glance that kept him silent.

“You want to know what I see in him, Merle?” you asked, taking him aback by how soft your voice had become.

You pointed at his chest, letting your finger dig into the middle of it.

“A heart,” you told him, with an expression that made him wonder whether he had one.

You walked away, swinging that plastic bucket as though it were a new toy to flaunt — just like how you were toying with a heart you were convinced didn’t even exist.

And Merle finally realised why he wanted you so much.

It was because he couldn’t have you.

For the first time ever, his little brother was holding onto something for dear life — and had gotten such a good grip on it that Merle could only dream of getting a turn.

After all, Daryl always hid the toys most precious to him.

//

The group was sitting around the campfire, and Merle could feel himself growing more pissed off by the minute. He wasn’t fitting into anyone’s conversations — no matter how hard he tried to butt in — and he was sure the steam coming off him was starting to rival the smoke billowing from the fire.

What made matters worse was than he was sitting opposite his brother — and you, perched on his lap.

All evening, Merle had been listening to your laugh float through the air, and watching you rub noses with Daryl like you were some brooding cat in heat.

And what was even more sickening, Merle thought, was that his brother was soaking it up!

It was pathetic. He’d never seen Daryl act like this — like some love-struck teen trying to pull the moves on you. At first, Merle thought he was just looking for a quick fuck, something to rub in his face and brag about for days to follow.

But no.

Daryl was giving you fucking forehead kisses and cuddling you by the fire like one of those pricks in a romance movie.

You laughed, and Merle decided he no longer liked the sound. Whatever joke Daryl was making, he’d probably been the one to tell it to him in the first place.

Merle deserved that laugh. Not him.

He got up from his seat, kicking some dirt in the process. He couldn’t stand to watch the display for another second, and opted to go out further into the woods — to take a piss and bum a cig.

“Smoke break,” he excused himself.

But the worst part is that no one even asked where he was going, and no one even noticed when he was gone.

So Merle Dixon lingered about near the trees for some time, taking deep drags of his smoke — and trying to forget about the expression on his brother’s face.

Love.

But then Merle spat at the ground again in disgust, stomping the butt of his cigarette and scraping it about in the leaves. Daryl was too wet behind the ears to even know what the word meant. He was too damn naive. That girl wasn’t good for him, and Merle would be the one to show him.

She’d probably only break his heart, anyway.

Though, when Merle returned to his tent — the one he usually shared with his younger brother — he realised that there were already people inside, illuminated by lamplight and silhouetted against the walls.

He caught the shadow of his brother leaning forward, cupping your cheek so gently that Merle could tell how he felt about you, even from here. Then Daryl kissed you, or you kissed him, and the action made Merle turn on his heels and return back to the dark forest-

Where the older Dixon brother started to second guess himself, instead.

//

Merle Dixon never thought he’d live to see the day.

You looked so pretty when you cried — your big ol’ doe eyes watery, damp cheeks flushed red. Daryl was one lucky son of a bitch to get to see you like-

“I can’t reach them!” you wailed, hands trembling against the drainpipe.

You were frantic, shaking from head to toe as you peered down it, trying to fish the keys out.

But somehow, Merle was calm.

He’d resigned to his fate — he probably deserved it, after all. He never expected to live a long life, but he never thought he’d be taken out by a pair of handcuffs, either.

The dead would be coming for him soon — you both knew it — but you’d been the only person to stay behind, to try and help an asshole like him.

“Get outta here,” he told you, trying his best to muster up some gruffness, “can’t stand no cryin’ bitch.”

Except, even Merle realised that his words sounded softer than usual — had less backbite to them.

He watched you sniffle, pawing at your eyes with your sleeve as you tried to rattle the drainpipe once again.

“I can’t just leave you here!” you yelled, digging your fists into the floor in frustration. “I wouldn’t be able to face Daryl if I did.”

Merle sighed. Ah, he realised, it had always about his brother-

“You’re a dick but I don’t want you to die!” you cried, glaring at him with an expression he’d never seen you make.

And Merle Dixon smiled.

“Go on, girly,” he told you again, squeezing your shoulder to try and coax you to leave. “Ol’ Merle won’t snitch on ya when I get back,” he said, holding his free hand up in front of him. “Scout’s honour.”

He watched you snivel again, and shake your head as you debated. But he shot you another look, and you crumbled.

You mumbled an apology under your breath, before kicking a bag of work tools towards him as you made for the door.

“You were never a scout,” you called back to him, sadly — as he watched you disappear down the steps, leaving him alone.

But Merle still smiled.

Not once did he think you’d ever shed a tear for him.

//

And Merle never thought he’d see his brother again.

Never even thought he’d make it off that roof in Atlanta.

But here he was — free from Woodberry — staring back at a brash and bloodied Daryl Dixon. Though, he didn’t look very pleased to see him.

“Ain’t it been a sweet while, Darlina!” Merle cried, slapping his brother on the back and making him wince. “Sorry for, y’know, sockin’ ya in the jaw,” he murmured, trying to crack the scowl on Daryl’s face. “Payback for the las’ time, I guess.”

But to his surprise, his brother remained cold — stalking away from him like he was on a mission.

Not once did he glance back at Merle, or give him a word of explanation. Daryl marched through the brush, back in the direction he came from, like it might kill him if he didn’t.

“Hey, c’mon slow down, where ya goin’?” Merle called after him, trudging through the leaves as he tried to catch up. “Y’ain’t gonna jus’ leave yer poor ol’ brother out here to fend for himself, are ya?”

That finally got a response out of Daryl, but he still didn’t stop walking.

“‘M goin’ back,” he answered, eyes straight forward as he did. “Come with me if ya want, or stay ‘ere,” he rasped, “your choice.”

Merle’s step faltered. That little runt had changed since he’d last seen him.

Maybe his shoulders were wider, or his chest broader. His words were definitely more certain, too. Merle couldn’t put his finger on it, exactly, but he knew that something was different about his brother.

“Ya know I can’t go with ya,” he finally caved, standing in place in hopes the other man would wait. “Damn near killed yer people,” he explained.

But Daryl shook his head.

“Ain’t my problem,” he bit back. “Yer a big boy now, Merle, gotta clean up yer own messes.”

Merle’s fists clenched. If that boy wasn’t careful, he’d give him another right hook to the jaw — didn’t give a shit whether anyone was watching this time.

“Why ya in such a rush for, anyway?” Merle snapped, flinging his hands into the air. “Who’s waitin’ on ya back home?”

This time, Daryl was silent.

He let his head drop, staring at his shoes just like he always did when they were younger — when he was keeping secrets from Merle.

And, finally, the older Dixon boy understood.

“She still alive?” he asked, more quietly this time.

His brother nodded, and Merle sighed. Daryl was wrong — he didn’t have a choice.

“Y’know,” Merle said, after a moment’s silence. “I thought ya were jus’ messin’ ‘round with her,” he admitted.

Daryl’s face contorted into a frown, but Merle quickly continued before anymore blows could be exchanged.

“Thought ya were the same as me,” he explained, with a slight chuckle. “Wanted ‘er ‘cause she had a nice ass an’ was feisty enough to make it worth it.”

He paused, resting a hand atop of Daryl’s shoulder — pretending not to notice how he flinched at the touch.

“Ya big brother got it wrong, din’t he?” Merle said, cracking a smile at the other man. “She was ne’er a prize to ya,” he realised, “jus’ a person.”

Daryl remained quiet, as though unsure what to say. But for once, Merle knew exactly what to say, and what to do. So he started walking, in the same direction his brother came from.

“C’mon,” he called him, ruffling his hair like he did when they were kids. “Let’s go back.”

//

Merle couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw you.

You were as beautiful as ever, tearful as your gaze rested on his brother — and surprisingly, on him.

Like Daryl, you also looked different. Yet, once again, Merle couldn’t put his finger on why. Maybe it was your hair, or your expression. Maybe it was just the surroundings.

After all, a girl like you didn’t really fit into a prison.

Merle waved at you, purposefully with his new hand — laughing at the way you grimaced as you approached.

“Damn, what’cha been feedin’ ‘er?” he remarked to his brother, hoping he wouldn’t slap him upside the head. “Ain’t she gotten big since the las’ time-”

Merle stopped.

His words sunk in, and with them came a sudden realisation. He finally noticed what was different about you.

“Is she?” he asked, not quite daring enough to say the word.

His brother nodded, and Merle caught the small smirk on his lips.

“Yeah,” Daryl answered, looking at the woman as he spoke — with that same expression Merle had seen all that time ago.

It hadn’t changed one bit, and Merle felt stupid for not realising how sincere it was before — even back then.

Love.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he breathed, clapping Daryl on the back so hard that it made him stumble. “Ol’ Merle’s gonna be an uncle.”

And for the first time in a long time, Merle Dixon smiled one great big genuine smile.

//

There was a stuffed animal strapped in the passenger seat of Merle Dixon’s car.

Well, it wasn’t actually Merle’s car, but he’d taken it.

After all, he was pretty good at taking the things he wanted.

Not that he wanted that stuffed animal. No, that was a gift. He’d just forgotten to give it to Daryl before he left, and had gotten stuck with it along the way. The kid’s got to have something to remember his uncle by, after all. Merle didn’t want little Dixon thinking their daddy was that cool all by himself — he had to get some of the credit.

So, he’d strapped the thing into his passenger seat, and hoped for the best — hoped that Daryl would stumble across it once he-

Merle shook his head, and cranked the volume up louder. Black Sabbath was always his favourite, so he yelled along with it as he drove.

There were worse songs to die to, he thought.

He caught sight of the walkers in his rearview mirror, stumbling along after him and sighed. This better be damn worth it.

But he knew it was. He knew Daryl couldn’t be the one to do it. He had a family now — one a lot better than he could ever be.

Merle peaked over at the stuffed bear once again, ruffling its fluffy head and trying not to imagine his niece or nephew playing with it.

After all, he didn’t want to lose his nerve. He couldn’t afford to turn back now.

He’d seen the way his brother had been doting on you the last couple of days, watching you like a hawk and not letting you do a single thing for yourself. Merle had rolled his eyes at first, making some remarks about how you’d wrapped Daryl around your stubby, pregnant fingers.

But, somewhere along the way, he’d started to enjoy it.

It didn’t piss him off anymore to see his brother kiss you, or to hear your laugh as he rubbed circles over your huge stomach — which wasn’t that huge, as Daryl kept reminding him.

Maybe he was getting old, Merle thought, because he realised that he’d finally become content with seeing his brother happy.

It made him start to wonder why he ever enjoyed snatching his brother’s toys from him in the first place. After all, he was a good number of years older than Daryl — it wasn’t like he wanted to play with that red fire truck of his during high-school, or his wimpy action figure.

Perhaps it had only been some distorted attempt to bond with his brother, trying to show affection in the only way he knew how — by mirroring their father.

Merle scowled.

Either way, it had taken him this long to be taught a lesson. And that lesson came in the form of a mouthy woman in tight skinny jeans — which no longer fit her, no matter how much his brother insisted.

Merle killed the engine, taking a moment to collect himself before he barrelled through the governor’s men — Black Sabbath blasting from his speakers.

He tucked the bear further into the seat, tightening the belt over it, and for the first time in his life, Merle sincerely prayed that his next actions would be worth it.

That they’d make up for all of his wrongdoings throughout the years — and all the times he’d been a shitty big brother.

But most of all, Merle Dixon hoped you’d forgive him, too, and see for yourself that his chest was never empty.

He did in fact have a heart.

End.

Feedback is always welcomed; I love hearing what you all think - so feel free to comment, send in an ask, or just message me if you want to chat!

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A/N This was an absolute blast to write! Wow. I sincerely hope you all love it just as much as I do.

Since I got such good feedback on Peek-A-Boo (a story from Judith’s perspective), I wanted to try another one. So if you liked this, please check that out if you haven’t already!

I would really appreciate your feedback on this one, since it is so different. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts :)

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