#the direction was shit. the characters were shit. the acting was like. fine i guess??

[starbuck]

MAN, Trouble in Paradise (1932) is really good…

i cannot believe that THIS of all films was the one i was lucky enough to stumble into ~18 months ago… how fortunate am i?

[famwhy]

Right Way Up (03)

Stranger Things

Yandere! Steve Harrington X F!Reader, Yandere! Eddie Munson X F!Reader, Yandere! Billy Hargrove X F!Reader

Synopsis: You always hated when your favourite characters died in shows or movies; always longed to have the opportunity to save them. So when you're transported into one of your favourite shows of all time, what else are you supposed to do besides save your beloved characters?

Warnings: Threat/violence, Gore, Mentions of sexual content (implicit), Death, Manipulation, Depictions of toxic relationships, Drugs and alcohol abuse

Note: I know Steve's initials are on this chapter but that doesn't mean this chapter is focused on him, just a head's up.

prev part. masterlist. next part.

03. bring unto me altruism

trait: s.h.

"YOU know him?"

Your gaze wandered over the top of the BMW, breaking away from the (very sturdy-looking) back of Billy Hargrove to instead lock eyes with Steve Harrington—the latter of which had his own optics thoroughly narrowed in your direction.

"Huh?"

"The new guy—" he scoffed out, and you watched as his lips tugged down, brows furrowed very harshly, "—do you know him?"

Ah, shit. You have got to stop slipping up, Y/N.

"No." The response came out quick—and you turning around to face Billy again came quicker. He was still walking off—skinny jeans making it almost impossible to ignore his figure, very clearly outlining his... ahem just as they had in the show. "I certainly wouldn't mind getting to know him, though."

"Ew, gross."

"Oh please, like you can talk."

"I can talk, actually, and—hey! Where are you going?" 

Midway through his sentence, you had started off towards the school, strutting after the dirty blonde with just as much feigned confidence in your walk as he.

It was rude to walk off halfway through a conversation but that was probably the least of your worries right now. You had a plan and if you wanted to execute it, you couldn't let Billy out of your sight.

"Y/N?"

"Just heading to class, don't worry. Walk Nancy to her first period then head to yours, 'kay? I'll be fine."

What exactly were you doing? Simple—remember the other day when you had no clue where you were going and had to rely on Steve to get you to your classes? Well, today, you could follow Billy Hargrove and, with any luck, you'd end up finding the counselor without having to ask for help and sounding suspicious.

Although, the last of anyone's guesses as to why you were acting peculiar would be that you came from a whole other world; one wherein they were all characters on a screen with almost three-quarters of them being completely irrelevant to the plot and, therefore, not even paid the littlest of attention to by the audience.

Still, better to be safe than sorry.

You had many more worries running rampant in your mind, all loud and overwhelming, grand and all-consuming—almost to the point where you had bumped into the defined back of the 80s bad boy; a defined back which, all of a sudden, wasn't moving like it was just moments ago. 

Why did he stop?

The answer to that question was written clearly on the solid plate stuck to the blank, beaten door before you: COUNSELOR.

Your ears perked up as a jingle sounded from the metal knob, a strong, slightly-tanned hand wrapped firmly around it.

The door refused to budge.

"Ah shit," came the steady curse of the broad male. His body had shifted after that, and even an idiot could tell that he was about to turn around, so you did what any sane person would do—you flung yourself to the side and crashed your butt against one of the chairs snugly tucked against the wall.

Ouch... you'd think the chairs next to the guidance counselor's office would be a little more comfy to land on. 

If Billy had found your actions at all weird, he showed no signs of it—choosing, instead, to plop himself down on the seat next to you; pink lips pulled into a straight line and ocean-blue gaze as cool as steel. If eyes were the windows to the soul, then Billy's glass panes were sure-as-hell foggy beyond belief because you hadn't grasped a single glance at his soul.

But... you still knew what it looked like, the shattered crystals left behind in the wake of his past, ready to prick whoever dared come near with their razor-sharp edges—and that thought had your heart squeezing painfully, both in sympathy and guilt; sympathy for his unfortunate circumstances and... guilt for knowing so much about this boy who hadn't a single clue that you existed before... well, any of this.

"'S there a reason for your staring, princess?"

You blinked, all of a sudden being the recipient of a grin that didn't quite seem to reach the eyes of the sender.

"Huh?"—damn, caught lost in thought again—"Oh! Uh, you're my new neighbour, right?"

He arched a brow.

"Cherry Lane?" You added. "My brother told me someone moved in and you don't look like anyone I know."

His mouth stayed sewn shut and you chose to keep going.

"I think I saw you get out of your car earlier too, there was a California tag on it, is that where you used to live?"

Again. No words. Though, this time, his lips pulled taut and any sign of that previous expression had vanished.

"I always thought the Golden Coast was pretty." You weren't an idiot, you saw the change in his expression—the shift in his gaze—but you didn't let it stop you, continuing to speak with a small, gentle smile, "I'm thinking of going one day."

His eyes had softened a little at that, and he parted his lips—looking as though he was about to speak—when, all of a sudden, a sound reverberated through the near-empty hall, and he closed them once more, raising a brow before sending a pointed look your way.

You felt it coming, the rumble deep down in the pits of your stomach, but you were helpless in stopping it—in containing it—and it arrived before you could even blink—

—a low growl.

Your fist rose up, a light cough leaving your mouth as your gaze awkwardly drifted to the side. "I, uh, didn't eat this morning."

Silence.

Then—to your utter surprise—soft, mirthful chuckles flooded your ears, causing you to whip your head around so fast, you almost sprained your poor neck. Beside you was a sight for sore eyes; one that resulted in your jaw dropping all the way to the floor and your eyes practically bulging out with how much they'd widened.

Billy Hargrove—the Billy Hargrove—was laughing.

His soft, golden curls bounced with each bout of snickers that left his mouth—beautiful, azure eyes crinkled and barely visible past his squinted lids—and yet—they still looked just as striking as usual, as mesmerising and jaw-dropping as on TV—if not, more so.

And then, it really sank in.

You made Billy Hargrove laugh.

And it wasn't some fake, obligatory giggle—nor was it that little, psychotic laugh he did when hysteria clouded his usually-cold gaze—no, it was full-blown, genuine laughter. And you caused it.

That thought had your chest swelling with a lot more pride than it probably should've—

"What's up with the tattoo?"

The question left his mouth much more comfortably than his previous words, flowing out with a small, slightly-smug quirk of his lips, and it took you a moment to register the fact that he had stopped chuckling, his gaze having drifted down—specifically, towards your wrist.

You trailed his gaze, finding yourself being met with the three, thick lines that had been there since the day you arrived in this world and—unsure of why they were there yourself—you shrugged. "Dunno, I think I got it while blackout drunk once."

Something about your response must've been funny because he officially chuckled for the second time since meeting you. "I didn't know you country folk knew how to party that hard."

Now, you might've not been from Hawkins yourself but... something about the way he said that had your eyes narrowing slightly in his direction, and you sprung up from your seat, the underside of your thighs suddenly being greeted by cold air.

"Watch it. We can party just as hard as you Calis."

Your pupils grew shaky as you stood there, watching the next set of his actions with a tingling feeling deep down in your stomach.

One hand on his denim-clad knee, defined biceps flexing as he slowly rose up—your eyes rising with him. And as he took a step closer to you—lips twitching further up with a glint in his eyes you couldn't quite discern—you found yourself starting to slowly lose your breath, hands growing just the slightest bit clammy with the sudden blaze of active nerves you were struck with.

"Yeah?"

You gulped. "Yeah."

You felt hyper-aware as a rough, sun-kissed hand slid around your waist—fitting perfectly against the curve of your back, slowly dragging you closer, and sending a flurry of pleasant tingles straight up your spine to meet with the group that started to steadily arise in your chest; a chest that was mere millimetres from the thin, cotton material that covered his own.

Then, he leaned towards your ear, lips grazing the lobe as he whispered—a sultry lull bleeding into his tone—"Why don't you show me just how hard you can party, huh?"

Your breath audibly hitched in your throat but—before you could fret over what he'd say next, how he'd respond to your silly, little fumble—a 'click!' sounded from your side, and you threw yourself straight out of his sturdy arms quicker than a bolt of lightning—just in time, too, for the face of an older woman emerged from within the office not even moments later.

"Ah," the lady nodded, "you must be William."

Your eyes flitted over to him just in time to catch the way his jaw ticked.

"It's Billy, actually." And when he responded, his voice came out cold, different to the playful lilt it held just moments before.

It didn't take a genius to figure out the name struck a nerve.

"Ah, my bad. Would you like to come in and grab your schedule, Billy?"

He didn't respond but did as she asked, brushing past you to walk into the smaller room, only sharing a brief few seconds of eye-contact as he walked past—but those brief few seconds were enough to grant you just a tiny glimpse into the thunderous storm hidden within the pools of his irises—

—and as the door shut behind him, your lips tugged down.

You couldn't help but let your mind wander to the way his muscles seemed to tense up at the mention of California, freeze in what you could safely assume was caused by his longing to return to the freedom of his home state.

To be forced to depart from your home was nothing new, but you truly felt for Billy and his circumstances. His dad was more than hard on him—he was downright abusive, and Billy was forced to endure it without a single soul in his corner to help him through it, to guide him down the right path and teach him how to break out of the cycle of abuse he was forced into upon being born.

He was only eighteen. A goddamn child. He shouldn't have had to go through what he did.

He should've had the chance to redeem himself.

But that chance was squandered in Season 3, ripped from him akin to how his life was—a grotesque limb of mixed flesh having pierced through his chest, several other messed-up tentacles latched painfully onto his sides, bleeding him dry, draining the life from his eyes.

He didn't deserve to die.

Officially bummed-out by your own trail of thoughts, you heaved out a sigh before your ears perked up at a familiar 'click!' and your head snapped to the door again.

Out came Billy, the smug twitch of his lips back on his face—it was so comfortably situated there, in fact, that if any other person had seen it, they'd have assumed it was there the whole time.

But, despite him looking perfectly fine as he walked out of the old office, you still felt the urge to fly into his arms and wrap him in an embrace filled to the brim with promises; promises to at least provide him some level of support for what he was going through and what he would go through. Though, unlike with Eddie, you couldn't act upon it.

See, Billy and Eddie were two completely different people—where Eddie had brushed off your sudden hug quite easily—happily welcomed it, even—Billy would definitely question it, especially considering the fact that he didn't even know who you were.

And so, although it took all of your willpower, you refrained from throwing yourself onto him—choosing, instead, to stand still as he sauntered over, fingers rising up to brush against your shoulder gently; teasingly.

"See ya 'round, princess."

Instantly, a flurry of tiny, winged creatures erupted in your stomach, sending tingles through your body—up your spine to seize you at your throat, clawing into your windpipe and rendering you motionless in astonishment and awe and—

Was it just you or was it getting hot in here?

"Y/N?" You blinked, attention turning to the dark-haired female suddenly stood before you. "What are you doing here?"

Forcing yourself to forget that... whatever that was, you let a small, sheepish smile curve onto your lips. "Actually, miss, do you mind if I ask for a reprint of my schedule?"

"A reprint?" She rose a brow, arms slowly folding over her chest. "I thought you already had it memorised."

"Oh, uh,"—cue a small, nervous giggle—"you see, it kinda like... slipped my mind, y'know? And I already lost my old one so... can I have that reprint?"

She stood there for a little while longer—letting you really bask in the glory of her heavy judgement—before finally heaving out a sigh through her nose, sounding like she just aged up another ten years as she spun on her heel, full, brown curls bouncing after her.

The ground was smooth, friction practically non-existant as you rocked on your heels, awaiting the piece of paper with bated breath. The ticks of the clock suddenly didn't seem so much like white noise anymore as impatience furrowed your brows and your teeth jutted out, sinking a little into your bottom lip in anticipation.

Then, with a loud, echoing, "Y/N!"—someone had called out to you, but their voice was too high-pitched to be the one you were looking to hear—not to mention the fact that it came from the hall to your right as opposed to the office in front of you.

Your head whipped around just in time to have your whole body jerk a little as a girl skidded to an abrupt stop right next to you, her brown, soft-looking hair bouncing with an almost unnecessary amount of volume.

In her hands were several pieces of bright orange paper, all inked with a few words you couldn't quite make out—not without squinting at least.

"Hey!"

"Uh, hey..."

Who the hell was this again?

"How have you been? You haven't been to practice for a while now, the girls are pretty worried." As she spoke, she tucked a stray strand behind her ear and you squinted—trying to figure out where you'd seen her in the show.

"Oh, uh, I've just been a little sick, that's all."—seriously, who was this girl?—"I'm fine now though."

"That's great to hear!" She beamed, though her smile didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. "Listen, I'm having this party on Halloween and... I wanted you to be the first invite."

She extended one hand—flyer fit snugly between her fingertips—and you reached out, wrapping your fingers around the other end before she released it.

Eyes falling down, you took in the words written in... well, you didn't even know what font that was: TINA'S HALLOWEEN BASH. Come and get Sheet Faced.

Oh, so this was Tina.

"You'll be there, right?"

Your eyes flew back up and you were met with her intense gaze, swirling with a desperate, expectant plea you were almost saddened to see.

"Yeah," you nodded, "I'll be there."

If anyone saw the way her shoulders fell and the muscles on her face relaxed at your words, they would've assumed you took some sort of heavy anvil off her shoulders, freeing her of some sort of imaginary weight that was supposedly weighing her down.

"Thank you," she breathed out, voice practically inaudible over the air leaving her lungs.

Damn, were you that influential?—so much so that your presence would make or break a party?

"No problem?" 

If you were being completely honest, you had no idea what to think of Tina—her character wasn't very explored in the show considering the fact that her role was very minor, the only thing she was really used for was the Halloween bash. But just from these few minutes with her alone, you could tell she was someone who heavily valued reputation.

"Okay, well, I should go," her voice pierced through your thoughts. "I'm thinking of inviting the new kid."

You parted your lips—about to say goodbye—when she twirled around and took off running, not even bothering to spare another glance your way.

Rude.

But as your gaze drifted down to the piece of paper in your hands once more, you found yourself uncaring of her rather unorthodox departure—too busy thinking about... something else.

"Y/N, here's your schedule."

Ah, nevermind the bash, you had your schedule now. You could finally know where you were meant to be for each period—albeit, it would take you a while to actually find the places but at least you knew what subjects you were meant to be in during the week. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Speaking of class, you were long overdue for your first period—

—and your teacher seemed to agree on that too, judging by the harsh glare situated on his face as soon as your sheepish form walked through the door. But hey, could he blame you? No, you were just trying to find your way around this stupid maze of a school.

Luckily, getting to your second class was much easier seeing as you passed it on your way to the first—but that didn't make it any less difficult to have to sit through. You were in Stranger Things—for fuck's sake!—what the hell did Newton's Third Law have to do with it?

You weren't ashamed to admit that you didn't pay attention to any of the other classes leading up to lunch—nor were you opposed to confessing the huge sigh of relief you let out once the long break period finally arrived, because—c'mon—who the hell paid attention to class when they just got transported to another world?

Not you.

So yes, you were currently happily strolling through the halls with your arms crossed over your books as you hugged said items to your chest, no sign of Steve in sight—but, you did catch a glimpse of a very familiar Lion's mane by a set of grey lockers in the corner of your eye.

"Eddie!"

Your voice must've come suddenly because he jumped as soon as you called out to him, head turning your way and one hand situating itself above his heart after he saw you. "Oh, Y/N!"

Your lips twitched up at just the sight of him. "What happened to 'sweetheart'?"

"Oh, uh, you want me to call you that? In front of all these people?"

And just like that, your lips tugged down. "Of course, why would that be a problem? Unless you're uncomfortable with it yourself—in which case, you don't have to call me by it."

Immediately, his head shook from side-to-side, messy hair bouncing crazily along with it. "No, no, not at all... sweetheart."

You'd be lying if you said that the nickname didn't garner a reaction from you; didn't result in your chest swirling with a blazing warmth.

Though, it also seemed to result in the jaw of the person stood next to him dropping to the floor; the same person you had just noticed was there in the first place. He had hair that was just as curly as Eddie's, but—unlike the male you knew—his was cut shorter, barely reaching past his ears really.

You knew this guy, he was one of Eddie's friends.

What was his name again? It started with a G. Let's see... Gavin..? No... Gary..? No...

Oh!

"Gareth right?" Relief washed through your insides when his head nodded, eyes wide and seeming to look through you, almost as if he couldn't even believe you were there, "It's so nice to meet another friend of Eddie's!"

"Another?" He seemed to have shot out of his trance at that, and it wasn't long before he gave you an incredulous look, gaze flickering over from you to Eddie, to you to Eddie, over and over again.

Then, all too suddenly, he pulled on the other male's arm and yanked him to the side—not even 3 feet of you—before resuming, "You're friends with the Queen Bee? How the hell did that happen?"

"You think I know?!"

Eddie's response was enough to garner a chuckle from you, causing both boys to quickly return their gazes to your form. Before they could comment on their fuck-up however, another voice came bellowing down the hall, calling out to you.

"Y/N!" 

Unlike with Gareth before, you recognised that pretty face paired with those luscious ginger strands of hair straight away. How could you not? You had practically seen a thousand edits of them along with the 'Chrissy Wake Up' song on TikTok. Kinda hard to forget her after the Internet did its magic.

Though, it wasn't exactly unpleasant to be meeting her, and so, you gave her as bright a smile as you could muster. "Chrissy! Hey!"

"Hi!" She beamed right back at you, but unlike Tina, Chrissy's smile genuinely reached her glinting eyes, even going as far as adorably crinkling them up a little. "Tina said you were feeling fine now, do you mind coming to practice today? Only if you're okay! I know you've been sick so take as much rest as you need and don't feel pressured."

How the hell could you say no to that?

"Yeah, okay, sure! I'll come with you to practice."

You weren't sure how it was possible, but she seemed to light up even further at that, almost blinding you like the little ball of sunshine she was.

In fact, she was so distracting, you almost forgot the presence of the two boys dressed in a completely different colour pallet to you. Keyword: almost.

"Looks like that's my cue." You turned their way—if only to save your eyesight from genuinely deteriorating due to the light that was Chrissy. "It was nice meeting you, Gareth. Good to see you again, Eddie."

Just before departing, you ghosted your fingers over the covered shoulder of Eddie, wiggling them about like you had done to Steve just the day prior; a signature goodbye, if you will.

And as you walked down the halls, you picked up on one last thing coming from Gareth's mouth... one last thing that was enough to drill your feet straight into the ground.

"Eddie? Eddie, wake up!"

That phrase... 

Flashes of Season 4 infiltrated your gaze; of the unfortunate victims that had their lives stripped from them; of the very girl stood next to you's body flying up, limbs distorting as they snapped irregularly, eyes not even having the pleasure of losing light with how unjustly they were gauged out from her.

Had you messed up somehow?

Had the events of Season 4 ended up being triggered too early by your mere existence?

The questions overwhelmed you—flooded through your senses and clogged up your airways with their untimely arrival. You were a puppet and they were the strings, ushering you to turn around; to rid yourself of the wool pulled over your eyes—of the blissful ignorance surrounding your form—and, helpless to their influence, you did exactly that.

Slowly, your head reared backwards—the room spinning around you—and your eyes were greeted by a welcome sight; one that breathed life back into your limbs.

Eddie stood there—eyes still very much on his face—with a familiar, light blush spread across his cheeks. Even as his form was being rapidly shook by his dear friend, he remained still, gaze trained on you. He only seemed to have snapped out of it after making proper eye-contact with you.

Two blinks. A small, shy raised hand. And a tiny wave.

False alarm. He was just flustered.

It made sense, your previous actions could be interpreted as flirting after all—and to be honest, you didn't really mind if it was (again, the Eddie Munson)—but, you'd be lying if you said he didn't just give you a bit of a scare there.

The sentence that just came out of Gareth's mouth was the very same, infamous sentence uttered by Eddie's lips just before the first death of Season 4—a rather brutal death involving the very ball of sunshine that was just tasked to retrieve you.

Speaking of that ball of sunshine—

"Y/N, you coming?"

You blinked, quickly returning Eddie's wave before whipping your head back around to face the ginger next to you once again.

You had to admit, it was very surreal coming face-to-face with people from the show who were meant to die—it felt kinda like seeing a ghost, and a part of you (just a teensy-weensy, little part) found it... well... unsettling.

But, that was just a small part.

"Yeah. Let's go."

You shook off the residual fear that lingered from that little moment before finally continuing to follow Chrissy down the hall. 

The whole walk was full of her detailing you on the failed practices of the cheerleaders in your absence. Apparently, Heather tried and failed to do a cartwheel into a back-flip as part of one of the routines before dramatically throwing her pompoms to the ground and angrily muttering that you could do it instead.

You had no idea who Heather was but you wished you were there to see it.

Oh, and—with you gone—it seemed as though a lot of the girls had taken to slacking off, opting to gaze longingly at the sweaty boys that played basketball just across the Gym instead of actually being productive.

You doubted that would get any better with Billy around now.

"Well, well, well," a high-pitched voice sliced through your thoughts and you blinked, finally noticing that you arrived at the Gym. "Look who finally decided to show up."

You recognised that puffed-up, blonde hair from the first day of your arrival, the stance she took on being an almost-exact replica of the one back in the infirmary.

"Finally done punching the daylights out of some random freak in school?" She scoffed out.

"Sarah," Chrissy hissed from beside you, "don't say that. Y/N's been sick recently."

"Sick of being just as aggressive as her brother?" Sarah rolled her eyes.

Before you could retort with your own defense, however, someone else had piped in—that person being a brunette with rather short, straight hair, "You're talking like you don't wanna fuck him."

Uh—what?

"Jenny!" Your eyes flitted over to the blonde just in time to catch her reddened cheeks.

"What? It's true, isn't it?"

"Whatever, let's just..."

Sarah trailed off there, jaw hanging open as her eyes seemed to land on something not within your immediate eyesight. And when you found yourself following her gaze—you located the subject of her interest, the lack of words suddenly making sense.

Golden curls you had the pleasure of seeing up close just this morning were farther now, having just barely passed through the entrance. A cigarette hung loosely from his lips as the electricity in his eyes zapped through the Gym before finally landing on you, lips edging up into what you could only call a smirk.

It wasn't long before he sauntered over, practically demanding all of the attention in the room with his walk; attention which was happily handed over to him on a sleek, silver plate.

"All this time I've been calling you princess... when you've really been a queen," as he spoke—voice as husky as ever—a teasing lilt laced into his tone, intensifying his gaze and overwhelming you with his suffocating presence. "Why didn't you say anything, dollface?"

Breathe, Y/N, breathe. Stand your ground. 

You tried to, you really did—but, the only way you'd be able to keep your composure right now was by closing your eyes and pretending you didn't see him—

—so you did exactly that.

Your lashes fluttered shut and you envisioned a blank sea of darkness before uttering out a response, "Didn't think it was important."

"Yeah?" Now, while you might not have been able to see him, you could still very well hear him, and his voice was nothing short of the perfect mixture between smooth and rough and—

Stop. It.

For your own sake—and for fear of further falling apart—you chose not to say anything and only nodded.

That was a mistake.

Instant regret hit you square in the face when you felt the gentle touch of a few, rough fingers against your chin, tilting your head just enough to rest at an angle before a surge of warm air tickled your lashes.

And as he spoke—lips almost grazing your closed lids—those familiar flying pests made their home in your stomach, "Where'd those pretty eyes of yours go? Didn't seem to stop wanting to use them this morning."

Damn him and his smoothness.

In an effort to continue to save face, you resorted to squeezing your eyes even further shut—paying no mind to the blissful warmth slowly coating your form or the teasing snickers that left the bad boy's mouth; snickers which you could practically feel the vibrations of.

"What's the matter? Have I rendered Miss Queen Bee speechless?" 

Your vision was dark but you could still see the smug smirk on his face. Just wait until you gathered yourself, you were gonna make him ten times more flustered than you—just wait.

The light clearing of a throat suddenly served as a reminder that you two weren't the only ones in the room and you found yourself feeling a little... cold when Billy pulled away.

Cold? Ugh, once again, damn him and his smoothness.

Finally deeming it safe to do so, you opened your eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light once more before you were finally able to make out the slowly-shrinking figure of Billy Hargrove. But just as he reached the entrance of the Gym once more, he paused, one hand firmly gripping onto the frame as he called out to you over his shoulder.

"Keep your bed nice and warm for me, will ya, dollface?"

Your jaw dropped.

Someone else then said something along the lines of 'oh my god' but—if you were being honest—you were barely able to hear it over the echo of Billy's snickers as he walked away, completely amused by your reaction no doubt.

He was so unequivocally bold, you almost couldn't believe it.

"Uh, guys, I think I'm gonna take a raincheck on practice today." But, it seemed as though the other girls definitely could—judging by how the very girl who said this rushed right after Billy.

"Me too!"

"Yeah, uh, I think I'm feeling a little sick."

"Well, I, for one, am chasing up that boy."

"Not if I get him first!"

And as a majority of them rushed after the handsome male, you found yourself deadpanning.

"Bruh."

You definitely couldn't blame them though, the rest of your day was spent recalling all those scenes with him after all. Even Steve noticed your absent-mindedness in the last period of the day—trying several outlandish things to grab your attention that he only informed you of once the lesson was over.

You didn't even notice him waving his arms wildly in front of your face while the teacher's back was turned.

And even as you walked beside him, Nancy strutting ahead of the two of you after you'd picked her up from class, you still had your head roaming around in the clouds.

"Hey, Y/N?" 

You hummed, half-listening, half-not.

Steve then leaned further your way, shoulder brushing your own as he whispered against your ear. "Wish me good luck?"

You blinked up at him, having paid enough attention to scrunch up your nose in confusion and ask, "Good luck for what?"

"The dinner. At Barb's?" 

A few more blinks.

And then—

"Ohhhhh."

Nancy turned around at that, and Steve was quick to hush you. He only resumed talking when she faced forward once more—albeit, slower than she turned around.

"What are you doing? Trying to get me in trouble?!" His whisper came out harsh, and you winced a little.

"Alright, alright, gheez." 

His attitude seemed to be at an all-time high because he rolled his eyes after that. "I just... don't get why I have to go to this stupid dinner anyway."

"Steve." It was your turn to harshly whisper. "Don't say that. Nancy needs closure, this dinner is exactly that."

You felt for Steve just a tad bit, it wasn't his best friend that died after all (thank god for that) but that didn't mean he got to complain about attending a dinner his girlfriend wanted him to be at because he was there the night of the first attack; of the first murder.

See, Barbara (or Barb) had been Nancy's best friend—the two being practically attached by the hip—so of course the night she died would be one that Nancy deeply regretted, and of course she would want closure with the parents of her best friend. It just made sense.

In fact, the whole reason why she did any of what she did in Season 2 was so that she could inform Barb's parents (who still thought their child was out there somewhere) that their kid was, in fact, dead.

"Y/N, you there?"

Caught in a monologue? Seriously, Y/N? What are you, the main character?

"Yeah, I'm here."

Seeing as you were already outside and stood right by Steve's car—you slotted your hand between the cold of both the handle and the door before pulling it open, leaping straight in, and causing the whole vehicle to jerk in a symphony of loud clangs from sheer force.

"Hey! Careful!" It seemed like your music wasn't appreciated by Steve though.

"Relax. It's not like I broke it or anything—" feeling like messing with him—because duh—a smirk slowly twitched onto your lips, "—besides, it's excited to see me, aren't you, girl?"

Steve let out another hiss when you patted the seat a little too harshly—sounding akin to a pissed off feline which just made him seem less menacing and more adorable.

Ha, you tried, Steve, you tried.

The click of the passenger door drew your eyes over to Nancy's form, watching as her legs entered one at a time before she took a seat and turned your way—"We're dropping you off then heading straight over to Barb's."—then, turning to Steve, "Right, Steve?"

You could already hear the grumbled out 'yes' coming from him and you only sent him a grin seeping with amusement when he met your gaze through the rear-view mirror—your lips stretching further as he mouthed the words 'help me' with anguish in his eyes.

"You two have fun, yeah?"

You said the sentence to piss Steve off even further but when you caught a glimpse of the look on Nance's face, a pang shot straight through your chest.

Her eyes had this far-away look about them as her lips curved up by a very small amount—though there was no joy in it, only grief.

"Hey..." you placed one hand on the shoulder of her seat, using it to pull yourself forward as you furrowed your brows, worry clouding your gaze. "You alright?"

She sniffled a little before waving her hand and nodding in response. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

Your lips tugged down and you shared a look with your best friend before he started the engine, breathing life into the vehicle as you slowly lowered your body back down onto the leather seat.

She wasn't fine; even without knowledge from the show, you could tell. She might not have been crying but her lip was definitely quivering a little and her eyes... well, they just weren't all... present in the moment.

But, she would be fine. And that was enough.

Besides, though it was cold to say, you had bigger things to worry about. Nancy would get help from Jonathan in order to come to terms with Barb's death—meanwhile, you had no one to help you out with all the spare knowledge you stored in your brain; with all the premonitions (if you could call it that) you were blessed with.

Perhaps it was time you started preparing for another bout with the demodogs—you were Steve's best friend, after all; that probably meant you'd most likely end up facing the dogs together with him later on in the Season.

"Y/N."

You perked up at the call of your name, shaking away the thoughts clinging to your brain.

"We're here."

Lo and behold, so it seemed you were, the familiar sidewalk leading up to your house being visible through the clear glass panes beside you.

Clicking open the door, you took one step out before swinging the rest of your body to follow after, and once you closed the door again, you walked over to the passenger-side window—shoes barely making a sound against the ground—before your knees bent down a little and you tapped lightly against the glass.

"Let the Hollands know I wish them the best, okay?" You offered a gentle smile to the girl sat before you, and she tried her best to muster one up in return.

"Okay..."

"See you guys." 

And with a brief wave, you quickly spun around and headed towards the relatively-normal house.

You now—thankfully—had keys of your own so there was no need to knock or anything. Well—it was more like you had them all this time but didn't know where they were and just so happened to find them the other day but—details, details.

After fiddling with the keys a little, you heard a 'click!' and pushed against the handle before entering, one hand moving behind you to carefully shut the door.

"I'm home."

Curt's voice was the first to greet you—albeit, not very genuinely. "Congratulations, want a trophy?"

Uh, yes, actually. You would very much like a trophy after coming back home in one piece in the world of Stranger Things.

"We're having pasta tonight!" Luckily, Cain's words were a lot more welcoming than the other brother.

So, as was your right, you ignored your second oldest brother in favour of responding to the first. "Ooh! Pasta?!"

You had to admit, his cooking the other night was rather good—okay, it was magnificent, you just didn't wanna admit it because you stormed off the other day before being able to properly finish it.

But now that you could—

Before you could finish that train of thought, three loud knocks resounded through the room, no doubt coming from the door behind you.

Huh.

Was that Steve? Did he forget to say something?

You lightly wrapped your palm around the handle, turning it slowly before the door was open once more, a sudden, light breeze hitting you square in the face—

—though, the breeze could never be more sudden than who you saw at the door.

It wasn't your swooshy-haired companion to greet you on the other side—no—but rather, an older woman with barely visible bags underneath her drooping eyes; eyes which seemed to have lost all light, almost appearing chillingly lifeless—

—well, that was until they lit up at the sight of you.

"Oh, Y/N! Baby! I've missed you so much!"

And as she threw herself onto your form—arms engulfing you wholly, emotionally—you found yourself blanking out for once, only one thought popping up in your head:

What. The. Fuck.

@bdudette, @tanyaherondale, @killerqueenfan, @l3xiluve, @thedoubleexposurephotography, @xxqueenofdemonsxx, @briarsheart, @nickey-diano, @uselessbutinteresting, @steeldaisies, @thesebitcheslovesosadotcom, @patheticreative, @majestichugs, @eddiesbitch83, @secretdryrose, @bloodywickedvamp, @charlizekkelly

Did Billy give you guys butterflies or what? 😏 (Srsly tho, I need to know if I'm writing him well—)

[david-talks-sw]

I havent watched it yet, but I saw a lot of reports that The Acolyte promotes a lot of Jedi Order "hate" if you will. What did you think about it? As a Jedi fan, I kind of DONT want to watch it because of that.

If you ask me, it's a fine show :) it hasn't quite gripped me, the thick lightsabers that look like toys are a nitpick that keeps triggering me.

But overall it's nice!

Yes, there are some small jabs.

The Jedi in The Acolyte are really reticent towards using their lightsabers, resorting to hand-to-hand or even stun weapons.

From what I've seen on Twitter, people are speculating that this is to show how much more "good" the Jedi were back then, as opposed to the more "square, dogmatic, quick-on-the-draw Prequel Jedi," who lost their compassion and have fully detached themselves to the point of dehumanizing themselves.

Yord is clearly meant to be one of the first "Prequel Jedi" as described above.

It's played for laughs 50% of the time, but yeah. The narrative frames him as being a bit of a dick who's a bit too proud of himself. And I'm seeing reflections of Tales of the Jedi Mace Windu & what Filoni described Episode I Obi-Wan as.

Same goes for Vernestra, dogmatically insisting he return to Coruscant because "protocol" and literally shown playing politics.

I've seen folks draw a parallel between Vernestra's attitude and that scene in Episode II where Yoda and Mace agree that they can't let the Senate know their powers of foresight are waning... and yeah, people interpret that scene as the two of them playing politics.

The director commentary of Episode II states that's not the case. It's more about the fact that if they trying to keep the war from starting.

Parallels between Sol and Qui-Gon

Very evident. But again... if you ask me, Sol is just being a Jedi. Qui-Gon isn't the only one with those character traits. Look at Obi-Wan, Yoda, Mace, Shaak Ti.

Finally, there's some hints that some evil shit went down years prior to the show and the Jedi were at the center of it.

I'm gonna hazard a guess that it's not as black and white as Mae or Sol makes it seem. A "big misunderstanding" type deal.

So yeah. Vernestra and Yord strike me as one-dimensional and a bit cartoonish. But overall:

Love seeing Jedi do some Kung Fu.

Love that they finally fixed how lightsaber blades look on camera.

Love the concept of a Jedi-centered detective story.

Mae and Osha are fun in different ways, but I'm kinda scared that, from their mantra, the show is gonna culminate in a "Gray Jedi is the way" kinda direction, and you know how I feel about that.

Love Qimir. And I get the feeling he's more than what he says he is, if you get my drift.

Love the acting in it, the set pieces, the production value, the way some Force powers are used (Sol with the Force speed, fuck yeah!)

Love that the title of "sith acolyte" is an actual thing now. It kinda helps us figure out what Dooku was between when he left in Dooku: Jedi Lost and his last episode in Tales of the Jedi. If I understand correctly, Sidious had an apprentice while grooming an acolyte... once the apprentice kicked the bucket, he promoted Dooku.

8/10 as far as I'm concerned.

[cryinhell]

So I just want to say something about Husk.

I understand that about five years ago, Viv said that Husk was in his 60s - 70s when he died, but she also said her ages could change depending on the story.

And then, in the official Q&A, Vivienne stated that Husk's character was rewritten in a different direction than the original pilot. The pilot Husk I could see being an old man...but the show?

Husk seems a bit younger in the actual series. Yes, he's wise, but he's a bit of a know it all. He enjoys teasing and loves to be right, which gives him more of a younger aura. Not to mention he has a shit ton of rizz. To me, he's not as wise and old as his character is supposed to be.

Now, I understand old people can be immature or act younger than they are. I know. I'm just saying that Husk doesn't feel like a man who died in his 70s. His new design doesn't even look that old anymore either. If he is still in his 60s to 70s, fine. But because of how much he's changed, I see him as someone in his mid-50s to early 60s at most.

In the end...

He's dead, so it doesn't matter how old he was when he died. So here's my headcanon

Thanks for reading

Edit: After this post the official audition sheets were leaked and...

Guess I was right

[shinelikethunder]

SPN Brain Rot Tasting Menu

this is not a viewing guide. (the only SPN viewing guide i'll sign off on is "bomb your way through the first 3 to 5 seasons in order, then decide whether you want to watch the direct-to-VHS sequel eras.") this is a "someone near you caught SPN brain rot and you're trying to decide whether to join them in hell" tasting menu, based on what piqued my personal interest when i was still on the fence about continuing with the show.

criteria: basically, "ideal episodes to catch by wandering through the room with no context while a roommate is watching SPN." so, skewed towards self-contained, less-spoilery, solid episodes that don't make me want to fistfight them in the denny's parking lot, but did made something in my subconscious sit up like it had been slapped.

okay, shine, what the fuck is this show's deal: 2x16 Roadkill. god's perfect little self-contained one-off ep. nothing spectacular, just a solidly-executed ghost story set on a lonely mountain highway. fairly representative of how SPN monster-of-the-week episodes roll, requires zero prior investment in the characters to be good, and i'm fond of it because this is basically the point where i buckled in and committed to watching the rest of the show. but also, quietly, almost covertly, a thesis statement for some of the core underpinnings of the whole thing.

shut up and give me the sickos-haha-yes.jpg: 1x06 Skin. what if you thought you were in an X-File but ended up getting erotically tortured by a shapeshifter in the guise of your codependent brother? what if you fuckers were so repressed that this was the only way the show could bring itself to air the dirty laundry of your sibling dynamics. what if the monster was all the parts of yourself you could never quite bury deep enough. what then, huh.

tell me more about the childhood trauma AND/OR c'mon gimme more sick shit: 1x18 Something Wicked. still obsessed with how fractally disturbing this episode is. there's a monster that preys on children at night in their beds and the only way to stop it is to catch it in the act. if SPN were a show with anything to say about morality it could eat itself alive chewing on the question of using children as predator bait, but it's not. it's a show about The Horrors + the shit that couldn't be buried deep enough + family as the first and most inescapable hell + the ways it intertwines damage with salvation. also there's lots of Winchester family flashback content in this one if you want to get invested in these assholes and their daddy issues.

under the cut: duos and trios of episodes on specific themes, including some spoilery ones

fine, get me invested in these assholes and their daddy issues (low-spoiler Lite Edition) AND/OR gimme those Americana aesthetics: 1x11 Scarecrow + 1x12 Faith + 1x16 Shadow. 1x11: SPN does "small town that sacrifices people to the harvest gods" and the brothers have their first big fight (guess who precipitates it). 1x12: SPN does "faith healer with some shit going on" and we get our first go-round with both Sam's belief in a higher power and Dean cheating Totally Certain Death No For Serious You Guys. 1x16: SPN starts in on the relentless pilfering of world mythology and the construction of its own demon lore, and we finally get to meet dad in person, which will exacerbate the mental illness of zero overly-enmeshed twenty-somethings.

(early SPN demon lore fucks incredibly hard, btw, and goes some creepy-ass Twin Peaks places towards the end of the season, which the show later doubles down on just when demonic possession is at risk of devolving into a plot device. this doesn't prevent it from devolving into a plot device, but it does retroactively justify some wild gothic-horror readings of s1.)

the I DON'T CARE ABOUT SPOILERS AND I'M FINE GOING IN WITHOUT CONTEXT menu

get me invested in these assholes and their daddy issues (spoiler-tastic speedrun): 2x08 Crossroad Blues (+ 2x11 Playthings) + 2x14 Born Under a Bad Sign. 2x08: a banger of an episode based on some classic "earthly success by selling your soul at a crossroads" folklore; gains twelve extra layers of crazymaking if you end up finishing the season. 2x11 (optional): a "haunted gothic mansion" monster of the week with some fun stuff between Extremely Normal Siblings. 2x14: more quality sickos-yes content a la 1x06 Skin, with a "woke up covered in someone else's blood with no memory of the past week" setup that goes even further off the rails from there.

i want to study Dean Winchester like a bug: 2x18 Hollywood Babylon + 2x19 Folsom Prison Blues + 3x10 Dream a Little Dream of Me. no comment. no fucking comment. don't look at me. we're not going to talk about it.

ok but tell me about the angel content: 2x13 Houses of the Holy + 4x01 Lazarus Rising. you HAVE to get down in the crunchy details of how SPN has been treating the entire concept of god and angels to get the full effect of 4x01, which is one of the show's banger episodes of all time. 2x13 is great, self-contained, and surprisingly low on spoilers, but 4x01 of course contains massive ones for season 3, my stealth favorite of all SPN seasons.

people keep talking about SPN's goofy and/or meta episodes, what's that about?: 3x11 Mystery Spot + 4x18 The Monster at the End of This Book. both casually spoilery. 3x11 is the beloved "yesterday was Tuesday, but today is Tuesday too" time loop episode where Sam watches Dean die approximately 8908234 times (and then shit gets dark). the arc-plotty parts of 4x18 require head-spinning amounts of context, but this is the one where the show exists in-universe as a series of trashy pulp novels by a guy named Chuck, and it flies impressively close to the sun of some kind of meta-storytelling singularity.

i am a masochist who loves fun side characters whom the show will end up mistreating horribly: 3x12 Jus in Bello. contains all three of my problematic(ally treated) faves: Bela Talbot, a shameless con artist and dealer in supernatural artifacts who's just enough of a Dean parallel to drive him batshit cuckoo-bananas insane with hatred for her; Victor Henriksen, the cocky ambitious FBI agent assigned to investigate the Winchesters' multi-state crime spree; and Ruby, a demon who shows up claiming to be a defector from hell and tries to befriend Sam. this is SUCH a well-constructed base-under-siege ep with SO many moving parts, forcing Henriksen and the Winchesters and eventually Ruby into a great reluctant team-up. it's also my big exception to "no recommending episodes that blow my socks off AND make me want to hunt the writers for sport." mostly because its Big Bullshit is an unnecessary sucker-punch inserted after the main plot wraps up, so i can just cross it out with my mental red pen and go "it's fine, they're lying, all my faves are alive and well and in witness protection." if you've made it this far, you need a warning shot anyway about what this show is going to do to you.

notable omissions that also rot my brain like a compost heap: the last 3 eps of s1 for being best viewed with a whole season's worth of intricate rituals as context; fully half of s4 for being incomprehensible without a ten-minute spoiler reel; 2x17, 3x06, and all the Gordon eps, among others, for being simultaneously incredible and enraging. (notable omissions that are important and have their moments but put me off watching the show for over a decade: the pilot and its 2-for-1 special on women in refrigerators.) do NOT @ me for leaving out other Core Brainrot Episodes. i laid out my criteria already.

[brighttears]

Battery V Jump

Joel Miller x f!reader

Series masterlist

No physical description

Summary: You reach Albany, but get ambushed not far into the city. Joel escapes, but you wake up tied to a chair with a battered Tess next to you. You handle it before Joel finds you and you escape. You rest in a church before finding somewhere to spend the night. 

Word count: 6.3k

Warnings: Violence: capture, threats of torture and SA, death (of the captors); reader almost dissociates, readers wrists get scratched up

A/n: wooo new chapter!! more mean characters… not a lot of romance in the chapter ngl but next chapter there will be i promise 

—

Naturally, you act like nothing happened last night, like your current worldview wasn’t just shaken like a snow globe. You did, however, expect that maybe Joel would be a bit friendlier now, but alas, he’s even colder than he has been, much less of a bite, and you surprise yourself with how much you miss the banter. He says almost nothing as you pack up and hit the road, burying his nose in the map. 

You’ve graduated from farmland to small town suburbs, and within a few hours, you’re at the bridge finally connecting you to the city of Albany.

Greenery warps and hangs around the barrier separating the road from the sidewalk, carpeted with moss, and the curved fence edging the bridge. You weave around cars, jammed and abandoned from when people tried to flee the city. You keep your eyes fixed straight ahead, avoiding the clothed skeletons hanging out of car windows and whatever other casual horrors are laid out on the highway. 

“This is the Hudson.” Joel comments as you cross over the river. 

“No shit.” You quip without really thinking about it. Tess glances back at you and chuckles. 

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you’d learned that in school yet.” Joel returns. 

“How fucking old do you think I am?” You counter, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Young.” He retorts, then looking back ahead, signaling that the exchange is over. You huff but say nothing. 

It’s back to silence as you continue, all of you focused on this new environment. As you cross into the city, Joel digs the map back out, skimming his finger along possible routes. 

“We’ll find route 90, a bit further into the city, then find 88 and follow that out of New York.” He announces. 

“Alright. I’m trusting you with these directions,” Tess says, glancing back at him. 

“Well, you should.” He replies. 

“I’m just fine following blind,” you droll. 

“Good, cause ain’t no one’s takin’ directions from you.” Joel bites, and you look back at him with a slight smirk. 

“I know you aren’t.” You look back ahead at the oncoming city, “I’m just along for the ride.”

“Not much of a ride,” Tess remarks, “maybe we can find a car somewhere around here, though. One that actually fucking works, I mean,” she kicks a busted fender. 

“Maybe a shop somewhere.” Joel adds. 

“That would be grand.” You say, earning an annoyed look from Joel. You smile to yourself, playing around with the piece of information you have held invisibly over his head. 

“Alright, kids,” Tess says dryly as you come to a circular crossroads of the highways past the river, “time to shut the fuck up for awhile. We don’t know this place, what to expect. Which way’re we going, Joel?” You both look back at him and he nods his head to your right, folding the map to tuck under his arm.

“We’ll follow 5 for a while, that’ll take us to 90.”

“Roger that.”

You walk again in silence for a long while, observing the city. Joel leads the way, you and Tess following from his sides.

“Plenty of hotels. Tourist city, I guess.” Tess comments after a while.

You point out, “I thought we were supposed to shut the fuck up?” 

“I said you two shut the fuck up. Unless you can learn to get along.” She says it with a look to Joel, and you bite back a smile. He gives her a harsh look back, and she has to hide her own smile. They both think you’re in the dark here, and you relish in the secret. You still have no fucking clue what to do about it, if you’ll say anything or wait for him, if he even does ever bring it up. Regardless, you don’t have room to worry about it right now, which you are also appreciative of. You feel optimistic about the city, plenty of places to dig through, and, as Tess said, maybe a soft bed to sleep in at some point, maybe even a car. 

Just as the thought crosses your mind, Tess says, “Holy shit, an auto shop,” pointing down the road. Sure enough, only a few yards away from you is a Firestone, a few cars still left in the lot with large open garage doors revealing all sorts of tools and supplies in the shop behind them. You let out a laugh of relief, almost not believing your eyes. 

“Maybe we can fix up one of those cars,” Joel says as you walk into the lot, “get back on the road.”

“Fuck yeah,” you say as you cross into the garage

“Keep it down,” Joel tells you in a hushed tone, unholstering his gun as you move in, “we don’t know what’s in here yet.”

“Sorry.” You reply, though a smile stays on your face. This might be your second lucky break in a week. A garage full of tools, with plenty of cars ready and waiting for Joel’s handywork. 

Just as the three of you come to the middle of the shop, a harsh screeching sounds behind you and you turn, expecting Infected, but it’s the garage doors slamming shut, trapping the three of you inside. Before you can react, your attention comes back to in front of you as your shirt is pulled into someone’s fist, and you watch helplessly as a fist hurtles towards your face. 

—

A sharp pain echoing through your sinuses awakens you, and you groan before opening your eyes. You roll your head forwards from where it had been hung back, making the pain worse, groaning again. 

“Good morning, princess,” sings a voice you don’t recognize, and your eyes shoot open. A tall, spindly man stands before you, hands behind his back, leaning over you with a wide, toothy smile. As soon as you see his eyes, fear tears through you like an icey knife. They’re a very light blue, showing off blown out pupils, but despite the color, they're deathly dark. This man is a monster, you can already tell. You try to move, but realize that you are tied to a chair, and he laughs as you struggle in your seat. Adrenaline rushes through your veins and and your heartbeat whips, each crack pitching every muscle against the tight, coarse ropes binding your hands behind your back and your ankles to the feet of the chair. 

“Oh, calm down, sweetheart,” the man drawls, straightening, still with that predatory smile. The only light comes from through some glass behind you, windowing daylight over his face. 

“What did you do with them?” You demand. 

“Who? Oh, your friends? Well, if you’d look to your left,” he moves his eyes with the lazy hand rolling a pointed finger to the side of you. 

The sight when you turn your head widens your eyes and a chill runs through you. Tess is tied to a chair next to you, her head hung with her chin touching her chest, eyes closed, blood running down from you can’t tell where on her face.

“Tess!” You scream, then your head swings to the other side with a sharp slap to your cheek. 

“Shush, shush, little girl.” The man tells you, suddenly in front of your face, his composed tone lilted by irritation. From his voice, you can tell that he is a man that enjoys torture, who will sing a song as he does it. Someone with a calm demeanor but with vibrating rage just below the surface. He is someone that thrives in these times, where he is free to do as he pleases, a predator released from the zoo. “None of that will do you any good. If you’re too loud, we’ll just kill you, and I don’t want to do that.”

“What do you want to do?” You seethe through your teeth, feeling the wrath pulsate through you. You twist your wrists behind your back, using the stinging pain to keep you focused. Don’t panic. Pay attention. Stay sharp. Learn him. Look for weak spots, vulnerable positions, timing. How are you going to get Tess out of here? Where will you run to? How will you get out? Looking past him, you observe that you’re still in the auto shop, the rusty tools lining the walls and cluttering the work bench against it. A perfect shop for people like him and his crew, being the two other men stood behind him. One is tall and buff, leaning against the workbench. The other stands straight up beside him, short, the kind of skinny where muscle far outweighs fat, wearing a wide, tight smile, wide eyes trained on you. He reminds you of a hyena. 

“Where is the other one?” You ask. 

“Oh, your other friend? Well, he’s the one that got away. Ran for his life, that friend of yours is a coward, you know. Left the two of you alone, left you for dead. Some friend, huh?”

He’s lying. You don’t doubt that for a second. If they’d captured or killed him, there’d be no reason to hide that from you. So where is he? What is he doing? You say nothing, considering which angle you should play. You don’t know enough yet. 

“Is she dead?”

“Who, that one? No, I don’t think so.” He snaps his fingers to the men behind him and points to her, “Check.” You watch largest man, buff arms covered in tattoos and scars, come to her and lift her head up by her hair, making you clench your teeth, and hold a finger under her nose before letting her head drop back down. “Breathing.” He reports. 

“See? She’s fine. Maybe a little roughed up, but no, not dead.”

“What do you want?” You keep your tone as even as you can, but the question comes through teeth that won’t unclench. 

“What do I want? Well, I used to say a million bucks, but that’s not very useful anymore, is it?” He cackles, leaning his head back with it, and you see the teeth in his mouth, big and perfectly straight. The view makes you feel like a small animal, and your heartbeat ricochets around your chest, splashing in fear doused in rage’s gasoline. “Aw,” he drawls, catching his breath, “well, I want everything you have.”

“Why not just fucking take it then? Why the fuck do you have us tired up?” 

“Well, because that’d be so boring. I want to have some fun,” he grows a wide smile, though his eyes don’t move with it. A cold finger starts a line from your throat up to your chin, and then he clamps his hand on your cheeks, squishing your face. “If you know what I mean.” He lets your face go, but not before brushing his thumb over your bottom lip, sending a shiver down your spine. You do know what he means. You say nothing. He wants you to swear at him, insult him. Struggle. You need to draw this out. 

“So you guys just camp out here all day just waiting for someone to roll through?” You start, “Sounds pretty boring. This must be like Christmas for you guys, huh?” You look around at the men about the room—three here including the man still leaning over you, the buff man who touched Tess has an assault rifle hanging over his shoulder. The hyena has no weapon visible, but that is no comfort; he’s not trying to show off his threat, but he’s not hiding it, either. He looks like he wouldn’t even need one, he’d just jump on you like a fucking monkey and strangle you to death with his bare hands, screaming the whole way through. 

“Another smartass, huh?” The main man says. He’s obviously the ringleader, and his slight frame indicates that he must be much smarter than the rest, a natural born cult leader, minus the numbers. “Well, that’s ok. Once I pull all your teeth out, that won’t be a problem.” He starts laughing heartily again, as if what he said is the funniest thing he’s ever heard. The rest of them chuckle. These people are unhinged. What used to be reality is a distant dream that they are happy to have woken up from, and the apocalypse has fried their little brains. 

How the fuck are you gonna get out of this? If only Tess would wake up, help you cause a distraction, have another person to up your chances of overtaking them. Where the fuck is Joel? You’re sure he’s ok. Like you said, there’d be no reason for them to hide it if he wasn’t. But what is he doing? You don’t doubt he’s trying to find a way in. But how long until then? How much time do you have?

Your wrists sting as you wring them against the rope, what must be blood starting to wet your palms. As you twist, the rope loosens, only slightly, and you still your movements. 

Start talking. Buy time. Create a chance to take. Pray that Joel is working some plan out somewhere outside, pray that Tess will wake up, and pray that they want to drag this out. 

“So what, you want a blowjob?” You start again, “Tag team? Or do you all want to have a little incest orgy? Granted you’re not all already some inbred family. Maybe explore a little guy on guy action?” You throw affronts out, wanting to get them uncomfortable. Distract them with an onslaught of insults, get them pissed, riled up, but distracted. While they fume and think of methods of revenge, you’ll find a chance. The other ones will get up, start coming towards you, looking at all the different places on your body they’ll hurt you, and you’ll free your wrists, push whoever’s front and center as hard as you can to topple the rest of them. And then—shit, what about your feet? You wriggle your ankles at the thought, but they barely move with how tight they’re tied. You’ll need time to untie them. If you could grab that gun, take them out in one sweep. Yes, that’s how you’ll do it. “You know, it’s never too late to explore your sexuality.” The faces of the men farthest back start to twist as you goad and you hold back a smirk. Many men are still predictable in this way, being accused of liking other men only a step below insulting their mothers. “I mean, sure does get lonely out here. Can’t be that many women coming through here.”

“Shut up, bitch,” the ringleader spits, slapping you again, hard enough for you to taste iron. “Enough women come through for us to have a little routine with them,” he starts to chuckle, though not as casual as it was before. Already, you’re getting them going, and the other three start to move forward with twisted smiles. You’re surprised at how well your plan is working. “First, we’ll let you talk a bit. If someone screams, we crush the throat. You both have been real quiet though, eh? Curious. Anyways, then we take out the teeth, like I mentioned. Makes the rest much easier on us.” Ringleader licks his lips, leaning towards you again. Grown out, greasy hair falls over his eyes. He smells like rust and mildew. They must live here in this garage, like rats. Rat King suddenly seems like much less of a deal than he did in Boston. Right now, you almost miss him.

“Come on, come on,” Hyena speaks up from the back, jumping on his toes. “She’s right, it’s been awhile since we’d had someone in here. I’m—”

Ringleader swings his head to him, “Shut the fuck up.”

“But—”

“Shut the fuck up or I’ll lock you in the fucking back.”

Hyena stills and quiets, though his teeth grind behind spread lips, that wild look in his eyes now trained on the man as he turns his attention back to you. Yes. The loose cannon. He hates him. You wonder if you could find the right words to get him to attack him. Now that would be something. 

“You lock him in the back?” You half laugh, “Like a dog? Jeez, man, that’s pretty harsh. What, is he like your pet?” Hyena’s wide eyes are trained on you now, expressionless as he continues to grind his teeth. 

“Alright, can we shut her up now?” The buff man speaks up, walking up you with a stony, desensitized expression. He looks at you like you’re meat—not even that, like a doll. Your blood boils, but fear still runs through it. 

Joel, please god, please, where are you? Help, please, help us, there’s too many. I’m fucking scared Joel, please. I can’t fucking carry Tess out of here. Where are you? Are you coming?

“Already?” You reply, looking between them. “I was just starting to get to know you guys. What about you?” You look at the largest man, “I’m surprised you’re not the one in my face right now. You look like you could easily take control. You don’t even need the gun. How come you’re taking orders from this guy?” Another hard slap, and you feel blood dribbling down your chin. You keep your head to the side for a moment, looking for anything close by, anything on the ground you might be able to use, but there’s nothing. Then your face is in his hands again, burning pain pounding up to your temples as you stare back into those light but dead eyes. 

“You think you’re so smart? You think you’re so cute? You think you’re tough? Well, not for long, pretty girl.”

“Can we just get those fucking teeth out of her head now?” Hyena speaks, sounding like an inpatient child. 

“Shut the fuck up—” Ringleader looks back at him, still gripping your cheeks firmly.

“No you shut the fuck up,” Hyena suddenly exclaims, grabbing the pliers on the bench next to his hand, “before I rip your fucking teeth out! Your fucking teeth out!”

“Calm the fuck down—”

“You calm the fuck down, you calm the fuck down!” “Jesus fucking christ, you’re gonna call every fucking Infected in this town over if you don’t quiet the fuck down,”

“Your fucking teeth out, your fucking teeth out!” Hyena continues to exclaim. God bless a loose cannon, god fucking bless a loose cannon.

Ring leader lets go of you, approaching Hyena, “Give me the fucking plyers, ok? Her teeth, her teeth ok?”

Big man is turned towards the other two now, his gun hanging over his shoulder. Yes. Yes. Yes. Now!

You rip your wrists free, grabbing hold of the gun to slip off of his arm. “Hey,” he says, but before any of them are even fully turned around, you get a grip and open fire, and they all drop to the floor. 

You have to stop yourself from continuing to fire once they’re down, sitting with it held in your hands, breathing hard. Chills run unrelentingly up and down your body. A groan sounds from your side then, and you look at Tess trying to lift her head up. 

“Tess!”

“Wh—hh–” she groans, finally getting her head to turn to you.

“Fuck,” you breathe out. Her left eye is swollen shut, eyebrow and lip both split, the skin of her cheeks all red. “It’s ok, Tess, hold on, they’re dead, I just gotta get out of this chair, and then I’ll get you out of here,” you rattle, dropping the gun to start pulling at the ropes around your ankles. 

A harsh banging from the very back of the shop snaps your head up. “Shit,” Tess hisses as another bang sounds, and your heart squeezes fast beats in your chest. Please be Joel. Please be Joel. Please be Joel. 

The metal door in the back swings open, you can see a silhouette that is, in fact, Joel. 

“Joel!” You cry out, surprised at the desperation coming out of your throat. He rushes in, wide eyes on the bodies as he comes into the shop. 

“Get Tess! Get Tess!” You tell him as you continue to untie yourself, watching his wide eyes flip from you to her. He stares with frantic eyes, lips parted, before rushing to her. He kneels in front of Tess, looking between the ropes tying her ankles to her face wordlessly. As soon as you free yourself, you stumble over to work at her bound wrists. 

“What the fuck happened?” She rasps out, audibly drained. You have no idea what happened while you were out. 

“You got knocked out,” you tell her, heart still drumming, “they woke me up, I don’t know, I just fucking, I handled it, they’re dead.”

“Where the fuck did you come from?” She asks Joel. 

“Broke in through the back. I had to find a way through the fence, the top was barbed.” He explains, obviously trying to hide how distraught he is, seeing the state that Tess is in, and maybe you, too.

“Fucking took you long enough. Oh, Jesus,” she groans as the two of you bring her to her feet. “I’m alright, I’m alright,” she assures the both of you, shrugging off your assistance. 

“I’m, I’m sorry, I—” Joel attempts, but Tess cuts him off.

“Save it for once we’re fucking out of here.”

You all rush out the back, Joel leading while you trail behind a struggling Tess. Thankfully, you catch sight of the weapons that were removed from you, grabbing them up with one arm as you leave. The back lot is mostly empty, the fence, as Joel said, lined by large, circled barbed wire. Too big to climb over. 

“How the fuck did you get in here?” You ask Joel as you hand Tess her gun and knife. He looks back at you still with those panicked eyes, then motions to a spot near the edge, where the barbed wire is ripped aside. You look back to Joel and notice that the back of his jacket is shredded. He must have used his jacket to rip it away. He ripped the barbed wire apart. 

As you come to it, Joel looks at you and cocks his head up at it. “You first.” You climb the fence and drop down, Tess coming over after, followed by Joel. 

“Where the fuck do we go?” Tess asks, trying to cover up her flustered state. 

“This way.” Joel answers, then starts with quick steps down the road. He leads you to a church just across the street, slipping through both sets of open doors, then shutting them behind you. You all have your guns raised and ready, but the tiny church is empty. You move through to the back room, also empty. Once the building is cleared, you all come back to the safety of the open chancel, setting yourself down on the short steps at its edge. 

“Fuck,” you breathe out, finally looking at your wrists, still streaming tight trails of blood from the scratches left by the ropes. 

“Damn, you tore yourself up,” Tess comments, looking down at them as you hold yourself back from rubbing the injuries. 

“Well, it worked.”

“I am curious about how the fuck you did what you did. I was out cold, I have no fucking clue how you took them all out alone.”

“What can I say,” you shrug, “I’ve got a silver tongue.”

“What, you convinced them to hand their guns overor something?” Tess probes, brow furrowed up with a perplexed smirk. Joel’s face is almost the same. You forgot that you really haven’t known each other that long, they have yet to see you in real action. About time you’ve proved the extent of your worth. 

“No, I got them to fight each other, then snatched the big fucker’s gun. Just got lucky that the ropes on my wrists weren’t tight enough.”

“Damn, golden girl. You impress me more every day.” Tess chuckles, rubbing her ankles as she sits. “Your face doesn’t look too bad either. I guess I got a little cocky about my way with words. Only got them pissed enough to want to knock me the fuck out. Try out the other toy.”

“What’d they do to you?” Joel says, hard voice startling you. He looks at you with his eyes slightly squinted, looking like he’s ready to go kill the already dead bodies. 

“Not much,” you respond, unsure of how to look under his gaze, “slapped me around a little, threatened me, that’s it.”

Joel huffs a breath. He looks like he wants to ask, but at the same time, knows he doesn’t want to know exactly what they threatened to do.

“I don’t know about you two,” Tess cuts in, “but I am about done for the day. Seeing as this place’s clear, let’s just… rest here for a minute.”

“Yeah, I like the sound of that.” You agree. Joel nods. 

“Alright.” She sighs, looking around, “I’m gonna go dig around in the back and see if there’s any blood of Christ left behind.” She stands, looking around again before heading towards the back room, leaving you and Joel alone on the steps. 

You’re too tired to even worry about the awkward silence, simply sitting in the stillness, hoping Tess does find something in the back that could help calm your still running nerves. 

“You alright?” Joel eventually asks.

“Yeah.” You reply without looking up. You’re alive and intact, so, alright enough. 

“Are y’… are y’ sure?” His tone is unsure, and you look up. His brow is furrowed, puppy dog eyes digging into you, fingers fidgeting where they rest over bent knees. 

You pause. Suddenly, the whole thing between you and Joel comes back to you—what he said last night, the private conversation that Joel doesn’t know you heard. 

“If you uh…” he speaks again, though you’re only half listening, caught up with his face and the words from last night swirling around it. “Wanna, uh…” he scratched his eyebrow, eyes flicking down and then back, “talk ‘bout it, or somethin’…” he trails off, gaze timid.

“That was scary.” You answer unthinkingly. 

Joel shifts. “Yeah, I bet.” 

Something flushes through you then, what must be the adrenaline, leaving only the fear behind. You begin to shake. Those bright blue eyes are in front of you again, that snake’s grin.  

“…I want to have some fun…”

“…Anyways, then we take out the teeth… Makes the rest much easier on us…”

“…Your fucking teeth out, your fucking teeth out!”

“You’re shakin’,” Joel says. 

“I am?” Dazed, your voice is much quieter than you expected.

“Yeah.”

“Shit.” Your voice shakes as you look down at your equally discomposed hands. Sticky blood colors them, wiped from the jagged, shallow slices covering your wrists. “Shit.”

“We better get those cleaned up.” Joel says, standing, but you don’t move. He rests his hand gently on your shoulder, and you look up to meet an expression so soft it catches you off guard. He still looks unsure, but genuine sympathy paints his features. “Come on, lemme help you.” Slowly, you stand, eyes locked on him. Gentle. “Come on,” he urges quietly. You nod. He keeps his eyes on you for a moment as he leads you back down the nave. You try to blink yourself securely into the present, shaking the echoing threats out of your head.

They’re dead. Gone. No longer a danger. You are in a church, following Joel, who wants to help you. Tess is in the back. She is safe. Everything is ok. It’s over. 

For now.

“Here,” Joel says, stopping at the font at the back of the pews, a large bowl resting on a plain wood pedestal. You peer into the water, staring at your reflection. 

“Probably not that clean, but, it’s somethin’.” Joel speaks, and you look at his reflection next to yours. He catches your eyes within the pool and then holds the gaze. “Here.” He says, and you look down as he gently takes your wrist in his hands, lowering it into the water. It stings, but you don’t move. Joel softly rubs his fingers over your wrist, then over the palm of your hand, clearing away the blood. Light orange blooms over the water. He lets that hand go to take your other into the water, doing the same to wash them clean. The soft sounds of the water echo around the walls. 

This is the most gentle you’ve ever been handled in maybe the entirety of your life. Despite the size and strength of his hands, Joel’s touch is farther light as he smooths his thumb along the creases in your palms. His breath is in your ear, and you can feel the heat radiating off of him, standing so close. His arm brushes against yours and as you watch him clean your wounds in the shallow pool. 

“Alright,” he nearly whispers, letting your hands go. You raise them from the water, using your shirt to dry them slowly. Joel stands before you, lips parted as if he’s meaning to say something. You consider telling him right now, that you heard what he said last night. That he’s not just ‘some old man’, that Tess is right, and that the feelings aren’t unrequited. That there was something about him since the moment you saw him, even with the way he looked at you then. Tell him about that spark you felt the first time you touched. That you want to follow him just as much as you want to follow Tess. That you wished you knew him before, and that you want to know him now. That you hope you know him for a long time. 

“Hey,” Tess cuts through your thoughts, and you both turn to her at the other end of the church, calling out, “No luck, the blood of Christ has turned to vinegar. I say we stay here and eat, then we go back out, find somewhere to stay the night. Dusk’s gotta be close by now.”

“Alright.” Joel says, turning his feet away from you and looking down. 

“Yeah.” You reply, now getting a good look at Tess as she comes in front of you. “You look like shit.”

“Yeah I bet I do. Is it as bad as it feels?”

“I don’t know,” you answer, moving closer. You can feel Joel’s eyes on you as you gently use your finger to turn her face, checking over the damage. “Well, I’m sure you know that your eye is swollen shut. That’ll last a day or two. Split on your eyebrow and on your lip. Bruised as fuck. Anything feel broken?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Arlight, good. Mostly aesthetics, then.”

“Except for the temporary blindness, you mean?”

“Except for the temporary blindness.” You chuckle. 

“Well, you look much better than I do. Split lip, split bridge, but your nose isn’t broken.”

“Sorry.”

Her brow pinches, “Why are you sorry?” 

“That, you know, you got it worse than I did.”

Tess chuckles, “Well, you got us out of it while I was out, so no apology necessary.”

“You did a good job back there.” Joel says, and when you look back at him, you can tell he means it, not even a hint of sarcasm on his face. 

“Thanks.” You reply quietly, attempting a light smile. 

“Alright, I am fucking starving.” Tess announces, sitting down with a groan to unpack some food from her pack. 

You eat in silence, all much hungrier than you realized, though Tess eats slowly, chewing with obvious pain. 

“You know, I could chew that up for you, spit it back into your mouth like a bird, if you want.” You tell her. 

She looks confused for a moment as a smirk spreads over her lips, chuckling, which then erupts into full laughter. Joel reacts just about the same, and then you’re all guffawing, the sound echoing through the church. 

“That’s fuckin’ gross,” Joel laughs, feigning disgust.

“No it’s not,” you reply, “it’s utilitarian.” He just shakes his head, still laughing. You shrug, smiling, “Just offering.”

“You know,” Tess says then, “I’m really glad you’re here. And not just because of that shit you pulled back there.” She smiles at you, and you smile back. 

“Me too.”

You glance up at Joel, catching a soft, genuine smile, but once caught, he drops his gaze to the ground. The look on his face tells you he feels the same, but why hide it? You look down at your own food, submitting back into the silence. 

After you’ve eaten and caught your breath—more like felt like you could breathe and think straight again—you decide to walk along route 5 for a while until you find a residential area instead of forking off another way to find somewhere closer. 

After a while of walking, watching the day turn to dusk, you finally reach a string of houses. You stop at the first closest to you, all ready and hoping to be truly done for the day. The house is two stories of dark brick, ivy covering up nearly the entirety of the side of the house, with a row of long dead flowers lining the steps up to the porch. The front door is surprisingly unlocked, allowing you the privilege of having a door to lock behind you. You’re all stanced with your guns and flashlights at the ready as the door creaks open, Joel leading with you tailing. The inside is all dark wood and wallpaper, looking like it was furnished in the 70’s. It’s designed in a way that tells you that this was a two person household, black and white pictures of a couple aging from prom to a wedding day. The house is neat, not like many others which appear to have been torn through both by a fleeing household and ransackers later on. It makes you uneasy as you climb the second floor, expecting the worst in a bedroom, but you find it just as neat as the rest of the house. You let out a breath, lowering your gun as you check around the room. More black and white pictures, an open jewelry box on the dresser, and tall wooden wardrobe next to a large, square shaped window. 

“Clear,” you hear from somewhere else on the top floor, reminding you to respond with the same. You walk back into the hallway to meet Tess and Joel, all three of you reholstering your guns once in sight of each other.

“There's clothes in here,” you report, looking at Joel when you say, “you can replace that jacket.” He looks back at you, obviously having forgotten the state that its in, so you clarify, “The back is of yours is fucking shredded.”

Tess, looking confused, steps behind him to look, and ask, “How the fuck did that happen?”

“Oh, uh, the barbed wire.” He replies. 

“What do you mean, the barbed wire?” She questions. 

“I used it to tear a hole in it.”

“You tore a fucking hole in the barbed wire? That’s what that was?”

“Yeah.” Joel answers shyly.

“Jesus Christ, Joel.”

“Pretty hardcore.” You say to him, smirking. 

He tries not to hide a smile and weaves around you into the bedroom. 

“‘Hardcore’. I like that.” Tess smirks back at you as she follows Joel. 

The wardrobe is filled with clothes of an old couple, women’s options, to both you and Tess’s dismay, nothing but boxy, flowered dresses. The men’s clothes are much more practical, old but sturdy looking jeans, plain t-shirts, and a few different jackets. You choose a thick leather one, as does Joel, while Tess takes the tan suede jacket that suits her incredibly well. All the shirts are just about Joel’s size, but you and Tess can make due with them fine. All three of you keep your jeans, none of you fitting this man’s size. The clothes are dusty and old, but still an upgrade. 

Once you’re all changed, you join in the living room on the first floor. 

“Alright, I’m gonna call the watch order.” Tess announces, “Joel, you’re up first, then me, then you.”

“I don’t need—” you start, objecting to being able to sleep the longest.

“Save it.” She interrupts, “I may look the most fucked up, but however long you spent with those goons has earned you more hours. Alright?”

“Alright.” You submit, feeling like you are now one with Joel, leashed by Tess, though you have no qualms about it. She’s smart, has earned your trust, and you do want to protect her, even though you know she can handle herself fine without it. 

She turns to Joel, “Sound good?” He nods. “There’s a spare bedroom upstairs,” Tess continues, looking back at you, “both look good, so your pick.” You nod, very much liking this dynamic. It’s not like she’s ordering you around, you’re all looking out for each other. “Alright, let’s get some sleep,” she concludes as she stands, and you follow her upstairs. She chooses the spare, leaving you to the master bedroom. 

You plop down on the bed with a heavy sigh. Once alone, you let the day wash over you, grimacing and running your nails over your scalp. It’s been a long time since you’ve been confronted with something that intense, you can only find the kinds of people you ran into today outside of a QZ. Evil people with free range. You’re not sure whether Infected are worse. At least they aren’t fucking smart, just hungry, all they want is to infect you. Kill you, but primarily infect. People get all sorts of ideas, all kinds of twisted plans, people are creative. You lay back on the bed, then curl into the fetal position, hugging your knees to your chest, and close your eyes. You can’t tell whether you’ll be able to sleep this whole night through or if you won’t be able to get a wink, but you pray it’s the former. 

Tess is asleep in the next room over. Joel is downstairs with his gun ready. The house is clear. All the exits have been secured. If anything happens, you will be ready. Always ready. Until then, try to sleep, trying to shake off the horrors, just for a little while. 

[good-realtor-bad-realtor-dynamic]

First thoughts from just one watch under shitty circumstances with bad internet and worse sound:

RAMBLING FRANK vs RUSSIA THOUGHTS

I was very worried about this episode with how sacred the S5 DENNIS System episode is to us all. Didn't want a Thunder Gun 4 situation on our hands and thankfully they avoided it so hard! I think having the plot with Charlie, Frank, the mums, Uncle Jack and chess really helped out to make it feel more than a direct sequel.

SINNED -> DENNIS -> SINNED -> DENNIS — I'm so impressed with this. How did I, a wholeass Sunny fan, miss this for so long?! Three cheers to whoever came up with that inversion, really! Definitely something that happened in the writer's room and made everyone lose their shit for sure. I wonder who it was, could be Meg or another writer too, given how collaborative they all are!

And can I just say, Dennis the Restaurant Manager... oh how I love you so much! The Waitress is Getting Married is a personal favourite of mine and I wasn't expecting a bit of a redux of that whole situation.

I was so worried about all the "Mac getting a boyfriend and it being Ryan Reynolds" theories and I absolutely wanted none of that. Everyone had speculated it to death and it wouldn't have been fun anymore (not to mention I do not care for RR in my Sunny, I'm sure he's fine, but I don't need his and Rob's PR relationship filtering through into my dickandball show no I don't "find them cute" and I won't elaborate here anymore).

I know we'd guessed that Johnny could've been Dennis catfishing Mac, but it definitely felt like we were doing an Insane Fan Speculation more than anything — and for it to turn out to be correct! And in the best way, because we never could've seen the vibrating anal beads coming!! That's the best kind of "called it but it's still unpredictable".

It really broke my mind, this episode did. And don't even get me started on the Macdennis and queer Dennis of it all! As a longtime believer in Bisexual Dennis, I won so hard! All of us Queer Dennis Truthers won so fucking hard!

[Unpopular Take incoming] This is the first Sunny episode credited to Meg for writing that has felt so wholly "Classic Sunny" and super fuckin hilarious to me. I always appreciated her understanding of the characters and she's always a very solid writer, but this is the first time where I felt myself thinking ok, you she write RCG/Hornsby/Marder-Rosell/Chernins-level of an insane chaotic Sunny episode with multiple belly laughs and not just slightly Community-fied versions of the gang.

The closest her writing has felt like true Sunny to me before this was Dee Day, so I'm glad to see her grow and improve too, and I wonder if the podcast rewatch has helped in that regard! Must also help to have a classic S5 structure to play off in The D.E.N.N.I.S. System! (And ofc writing is collaborative, so well done to RCG and all the writers who pitched ideas and rewrites that ended up shaping this episode!)

I knew Heath Cullens directing meant a good chance of some interesting camerawork (and I've gotta say that even The Gang Inflates had some more dynamic shots than we've been getting in some of the later years and it's got to be the Cullens directing), but I wasn't expecting a whole visual callback to Being Frank! Loved it.

And the editing! The DENNIS System has always been great for cutaway gags and fun little inserts, so I loved seeing that carried out here with the cuts to Mac and Dee fucking up their dates and then finally pulling out the Magic Tissue of Mummy Issues (oh the potential for meta especially with the twins!). The pacing was so good!

Sunny pacing needs to feel like Mac crashing Dee's car into a wall while we are all Charlie watching it in real time and screaming when it's over.

Random strings of words because I'm too excited to be coherent:

Glenn's acting. His faces. His eyes. His range in this episode. Glacting. Juilliard. All the hits. All the big ones.

Mac and Dennis have canonically had sex in two different ways now, and yes, I'm including their sex tape/porn viewing sessions where they both masturbate together

Did Dennis pull out Mac's anal beads when he was asleep?

Vibrating fucking anal beads what the ACTUAL FUCK!

How many people did the gang drug again?

Danny DeVito with a vibrating asshole comedy acting 12/10 he's an international treasure for a reason

Dee stealing people's phones she's so stupid and bad at men. Never change Dee.

Uncle Jack though, pls change plz, I'm an IASIP loving degenerate so I laughed in horror at his creepiness ofc as I have since 1x7 but fucking hell man, can he be in his jail era already! Poor Charlie!

Hey, Charlie's got new America's just as we were promised on the pod

Oh I should make a post about everything we saw in this episode and that episode of the pod where they gave us all those hints, especially Meg talking about struggling with this cold open — added to the never-ending list of drafts and posts that will hopefully one day make it onto the blog yeah I'm lying to myself now

Parental issues everywhere this season, especially with the mums. Reynolds kids, I can't wait to lovingly put you under my microscope. Once I've rewatched this episode with good sound.

Also just in general, the SINNED system just says SO much about our babygirl's psychology, does it not? Why did so much of it sound like self-insert speeches, like he's been doing this to Mac or smt? Don't even talk to me about The Gang Chokes!

What does r/iasip have to say about— no, I'm in my happy place, I'm not even gonna go there.

Mrs Mac and Mrs Kelly watching TV together like that, they really are lesbian life partners.

Dennis blue shirt with top-stick between those buttons, my beloved. I am looking, respectfully.

And can we talk about the "opening the ketchup bottle" scene? We have to take about that scene! Dennis... he's ruining me... need to gnaw on him and suck on his fingers wait I'm browning out...

Sidenote: I love whenever the show references news stories which were super fucking big at a very specific time in a very specific niche, especially with my whole family being so chess-obsessed. The cheating scandals and anal bead… never thought I'd see a Sunny crossover but can't say I'm not loving the shit out of it!

[william-s-churros]

buddyposting

i get why people do this, but i think that in trying to combat the perceived sexism in the lisa fandom, a lot of people seem to miss basically the entire point of these games by essentially excusing the behaviors of characters like lisa and buddy or acting like its fine that they did what they did, when what they did is take their anger at people who were stronger than them and who hurt them out on people who were weaker than them and had not hurt them (lisa to a lesser extent with buzzo, buddy with fucking every living person left on earth essentially but especially the pacifists/mr beautiful) brad also did this! almost like its.... the entire theme of the game.... that abuse is often cyclical... and acting like these actions were in any way justified is kinda uhhhhhhhh...... like even the new scenes with brads grandpa include long passages where he just shits on marty relentlessly and acts like the thing thats wrong with him spontaneously appeared out of thin air, rather than accept his own potential role in creating the horrible creature that marty is, and i can't imagine that thats the first time this kind of conversation happened. if anything, the strength that buddy has in the end is in her choice to not become the monster that everyone else does (symbolically portrayed in her choice to take the joy antidote, if you do that) and to wrench herself from that cycle of abuse that has, up until this point, literally caused her to kill pretty much everyone left on earth and also make it impossible for those that still remain to have any of their basic needs met, because one of the first warlords she kills is literally the guy who's responsible for vital infrastructure that keeps most people fed? i don't think that indicates strength-- i think it indicates weakness, in fact, if you feel like you have to exert your power over other people-- especially people who have no qualms with you!!-- through violence, and i dont think that even being the last girl on earth excuses her behavior. her anger is clearly so obviously mostly directed at brad, just as his anger is so clearly directed at marty, without really having the added benefit of the guilt about lisa and dusty that occasionally tempers that anger in brad to make him try to not be the person his father/grandfather was (though not enough that that really changes anything). i think these games operate on the premise that their protagonists are in fact wrong and misguided. i think if you simply write off anyone calling buddy wrong and misguided as merely sexism, you take away the thematic throughline of these games. i love buddy and i sympathize with her in her situation obviously, but i love her because she is fucked up and wrong and dangerously misguided and its not like you get to see female characters like this all the time-- especially not female characters who are not in abusive mother/shallow mean girl roles!!-- who are so unapologetically wrong and angry and violently awful to the people around them... its like, i guess, nice? like the need to soften her, make her less of a caustic, destructive and needlessly cruel element because she is a girl? i really don't love that lol. i dont love when people act like lisa didnt hurt anyone either. its not like being hurt makes it okay to hurt others, especially not those weaker than you. idk. i think about this a lot. i know the lisa wiki is written by some jabroni who doesnt take into account that brad and buddy are exactly alike, and seems not to give buddy the grace that they give brad, and i think that is wrong, but i also think that swinging back in the opposite direction and arguing that everything buddy did was fine bc shes a girl is kind of equally ridiculous and not doing anything to combat the sexism in this fandom lol.

like tl;dr igss: yeah its understandable why she comes to the conclusion that this is the best way to act, but it like. isnt? she is wrong lmao. so is brad. this whole family is wrong? they raise each other to be wrong because they were raised to be wrong because their parents were raised to be wrong, and so on and so forth, lol

(that said if you hit me with an ironic "buddy did nothing wrong" or "god forbid women do anything" im not gonna shit on you because of the inherent understanding in that joke that actually she did do wrong lmao. its just very serious and sincere posts that are like okay.... did we play the same game...)

[mha-quotes-and-such]

That's exactly it! In the entirety of BNHA there has been what, 3 deaths? And none of them have been students? You're really telling me these full grown adult villains who have been training their quirks for YEARS can't take out 15/16 year olds that haven't even had a year of proper training? Miss me with that. There are NO stakes, so even when students get really hurt, I know they're going to be fine so I just don't care at all.

I'd have a character like Kirishima killed. I love that boy SO much but can you imagine the absolute heartbreak for every single character if Kirishima died? That's the good shit there. Or Uraraka is another good one to have die. A driving force for Midoriya. Or really any of the main students.

Or Aizawa.

I think characters like All Might and Endeavour are cop-outs for death. I want good characters that are loved to die. Like, Midnight and Nighteye(?) were sad, sure, but neither of them had enough screentime to really hurt. And while I won't say spoilers for the manga, let's just say the current arc for two characters has PISSED me off big time for cop out survival.

Honestly I think thats one of my biggest problems with media with young protagonists. Sure, if a villain was ganged up on by a bunch of kids that might be a problem, which the series does ok at points, but like. One on one combat these kids should not be winning so decisively?? Like you said, theyre 15/16 fighting people who have dedicated their entire lives to their craft, how are they handling this with little to no repercussions? Thats something I could go on about forever, but I digress

Those are all really interesting choices! Aizawa in particular is really intriguing, and I think could work well. I think killing off students, while it would absolutely be effective, could very easily become an issue of turning a beloved character into nothing more than a plot device if done poorly. Aizawa on the other hand I think is close enough to the students to work effectively, loved enough by the fandom to be a blow, but removed enough where he wont act as a super heavy crutch to aid the story if that makes any sense? My only fear with Kirishima or Uraraka is that if its not done right it could become something thats relied on too heavily while developing Bakugou/Midoriya respectively. Although @thelittlegirlinwonderland made a good point here that having a student die would emphasize that they are just children, which could definitely help with the realism of it

I definitely agree with you on All Might and Endeavor, especially the latter as I feel he would be a very fan-servicey kill (as odd as that sounds). However I do think All Might will die before the series ends. Personally it seems theyre heading in the direction of a very coming-of-age-finding-yourself plot for Midoriya that I think will require All Might dying. I guess we’ll just have to see, but it would align with their trend of less risky kills

[scrunkore]

Scunkore Media "Thread" 2023: Part 4

welcome back to the scrunko core

38) Miitopia (Switch, 2021)

Mii games are a dying breed, and honestly I'm not sure why they put this game on Switch when they did, but that's whatever really. It definitely has its fair share of improvements from the 3DS original, with a bit more content and an absolutely fantastic custom makeup tool that lets you make every Mii that much more unique, being put to great use by a whole bunch of creators. The game itself, though... it's still not anything special aside from that, and also its cute story bits and Mii interactions, but those get old well before you actually finish the game. And the game takes a while to get through, too, feeling very repetitive and grindy even while you constantly make progress. Basically, the game does some fun things, but it's not nearly enough to make the whole experience remain interesting throughout. It's just painfully average as an actual game, and I'd really rather have a new Tomodachi Life game, but that seems unlikely at this point. [2.5★]

39) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Movie, 2023)

I'll never get over the reaction to the casting announcement for this movie, that was the funniest shit to come from that one Nintendo Direct presentation and unfortunately it might be more memorable than the actual movie itself. Chris Pratt Mario is the least of its issues (actually the voice acting is fine) - the plot and indeed most of the characters are pretty half-baked and it feels like they rushed the story through basic plot points between various action pieces, but at the very least that does mean it's never boring. Trouble is, that does mean I can't say the movie is good, despite the really nice-looking visuals and great soundtrack (when it's not using corporate-mandated licensed songs), both clearly made with a lot of love for the series. Sure, it was an entertaining movie, with some fun elements like Jack Black Bowser banging out the tunes, but realistically I think it's pretty average when I'm not giggling at the references - the critics were in fact correct, who knew. Still, does give me some hope for future Nintendo movies, because it was well-made. [3★]

40) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch, 2023)

Breath of the Wild, one of the biggest and most popular games Nintendo has ever put out, finally got its sequel, and it somehow makes that game look like a demo. Everything new that they added results in Tears of the Kingdom blowing Breath of the Wild out of the water - the world map is about three times the size due to the added cave systems and whole new areas above and below Hyrule, the abilities Link gets to use are so much more complex and fun to use (especially the building mechanics), the enemies/bosses and side quests are more interesting, the list really does go on. It even has an excellent story that, while still unfortunately leaning back into "rescue the princess", delivers a really enjoyable narrative only marred by the fact that you can kind of ruin it by viewing it outside of the intended order, but I guess for an open-world game that's fine. I held off on writing this bit because I didn't really know what to say other than "game good", and now I don't want it to go on too long because I'll start rambling. The game is just really fucking good, man. Sometimes things in it are annoying, but I say that about every game, including Breath of the Wild - it may not be a particularly interesting opinion, but I think this game has just about perfected what it wants to be, and I have no idea what the Zelda team is going to do next. [5★]

41) Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast/PC, 1999/2011)

Next time someone tries to tell me that Sonic "had a rough transition to 3D" and it's clear they're talking about this game specifically, I think I might push them out of the nearest window, because that lie has gone on for far too long, though admittedly the ports of this thing have a couple unique issues and that's kinda why I modded the Steam port to be more in line with the Dreamcast version. But regardless, yes, this game is really good fun. It's a pretty unique 3D platformer with an excellent hub world and several different gameplay styles that each offer something fresh - from speeding through levels to fishing for a kind of annoying frog, I do rather like them all to varying degrees. The general vibes of the game as a whole (mainly down to the locales but also things like the incredible music) are pretty cool too, and the solidly enjoyable story - especially the parts with Gamma - is told in cutscenes that may look a bit awkward now but still have a lot of charm to them. Everything culminates in the classic final fight against Chaos, and that will always be really cool despite the actual gameplay of that fight being a bit of a pain. If you haven't played a "good" 3D Sonic game, open your heart up to this one - but do grab the mod loader if you're playing the Steam release. [4★]

42) Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast/PC, 2001/2012)

The sequel to Sonic Adventure is kind of a few steps forward and a few steps back, and production-wise we know it was a bit rushed, which does explain some issues, but thankfully the subsequent ports ended up having less issues than the prior game's. Adventure 2 takes a hit in not having a cool hub world to explore and instead opting for typical menus separating the two routes that include most of the different level types introduced in the first game, and one of those level types (the emerald hunts) is designed so much worse this time around for god knows what reason. In fact, the game can be a bit more annoying to play in a lot of areas, although plenty of the time it's just because it's deliberately more challenging and not actual bad design. But it makes up for anything that might be worse than in the first game by having even cooler presentation, with a stronger storyline featuring everyone's favourite grumpy hedgehog Shadow and better cutscenes, more banger music, and going right up into space for the supersonic finale. So generally it's both better and worse than the first game, but hey, you live and learn. [4★]

43) Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit (PC, 2022)

With the upcoming Sonic Superstars set to feature Fang for the first time since the original Triple Trouple, now's as good a time as any to check out the stellar fan remake that turns it into an awesome 16-bit style game mechanically rather similar to Sonic 3, like the more traditional Sonic 4 that we never got. It's a lovingly crafted game that perfectly re-imagines the zones from the original with much cleaner graphics and refreshed music accurate to the hardware it's trying to replicate, and more spectacular setpieces that give it a whole new burst of character, plus it's full of its own fun original gimmicks and surprises too. A full run of the game getting all Chaos Emeralds and defeating the incredibly cool true final boss won't take you very long, but if you're a fan of the classic games you're bound to enjoy the ride and want to replay it with the unlockable characters too. Definitely a really cool fangame that's worth checking out. [4.5★]

44) Pokémon Infinite Fusion V5.X (PC, 2022)

It's the Pokémon fangame that got all the content creators posting YouTube shorts of the funny things they made in it, and of course, it's easy to see why a game with a fusion gimmick would have so much mass appeal - it's a massive undertaking from the people working on the thousands of different sprites required, and the idea of fusing Pokémon together has been popular for over a decade at this point. And that's a gimmick that the game handles really well, every battle presents you with some new cute combination or hybrid abomination and you never know what's coming up next, plus you'll always be mixing and matching with your own stuff to see what happens and if you can make something completely overpowered (I recommend Shedinja + Absol for maximum cheese). Though, I'm not that big on the core adventure itself, because it's just Kanto again with some Johto and the Sevii Islands tacked onto it, along with more Pokémon of course, and the new story elements are just kind of whatever unfortunately. It's also an RPG Maker game, so there's some jank to be seen, but I'm used to that considering the other things I've played. So all in all, it's hard carried by the fusion mechanic, but at least it manages to nail that, and it's still being updated constantly with new sprites to check out. [3.5★]

45) Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! (Switch, 2023)

I don't feel much for this game, so I'll keep it short. I've only really dabbled in Puzzle Bobble once or twice, and so I figured I'd give this one a whirl, but it wasn't that good all things considered. Sure, it gets the core gameplay right, as it should, and the online multiplayer works pretty well, but what I found pretty annoying was the story mode - a lot of the levels are just stupid and a pain in the ass, at least for me, so maybe I'm not a hardcore Bobble-head after all. The characters are rather annoying too, but maybe that's just in this entry, who knows? If there are better iterations of this series then I'd be down to play those as well, I just didn't like this one that much outside of dicking around with non-story mode content, which was decent enough. [2.5★]

46) Nimona (Movie, 2023)

The once-cancelled Blue Sky adaptation of a comic from ND Stevenson, showrunner of that very queer She-Ra series, actually got rescued by Annapurna and actually came out this year, and boy am I glad it did, not least because of how poorly animation tends to get treated by so many of the large corporations. The movie is an incredibly fun and deeply heartfelt story of people society was all too keen to paint as monsters because of an authoritarian regime, and it's definitely pretty clear about its messages in a way that pretty much anyone can understand. It's also quite well-animated and put together really nicely, and although I have heard that it goes for a more family-friendly angle than the original comic did, it still manages to get everything across effectively and hit the right emotional beats, and it uses its runtime as well as one could expect from it. Also, I gotta say, this one's also very queer - the two most important male characters in the story are gay and get to kiss on-screen which is awesome, and I definitely get gender vibes from the titular Nimona, the awesome transforming girl who gets the most action in the movie. Maybe it's a good thing someone other than Disney released it, because I'm not sure how keen they are about gay people and anti-establishment messaging (this isn't even really a joke unfortunately). But anyway, this movie was awesome, and I hope we do see more projects like it. [4.5★]

47) Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Switch, 2023)

Ghost Trick has always been one of those really cool and unique DS puzzle games that people have been demanding everyone play for years, and in this case it's easy to see why that's all they were saying about it (in a good way). The story of this game is frankly too good to spoil, with some pretty great twists and turns that it takes, and I highly doubt anyone will be able to predict quite how it ends because that truly blindsided me and I loved it. The excellent cast of characters kind of helped with that too, especially the best boy of all time Missile; it's just very well-written as a whole. Now in terms of gameplay it's no slouch either, delivering some honestly genius puzzles revolving around setting up Rube Goldberg-esque series of movements with various objects that you, a ghost, can take control to prevent people from dying. Some of these puzzles are real head-scratchers, but I think anyone can get through them with enough trial and error, and it is immensely satisfying when you do, so it's a damn good puzzle game. Also worth mentioning, though it goes without saying if you've seen the game before, is that it has a really slick visual style with character designs that pop, and an excellent soundtrack that is very much welcome. Genuinely an incredible game, and I think they should let Shu Takumi do more original projects if this is what he can cook up. [5★]

48-49) Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack (Switch, 2017)

Had to check out some of Inti Creates' flagship titles when I saw they were doing a Love Live game in a similar style, and yeah, this is a fun type of game that feels inspired by certain Mega Man spinoffs. Both games in this pack have cool run-and-gun gameplay where you can "tag" enemies do deal more damage to them, and of course you kind of have to balance that with avoiding taking damage yourself. Not a problem in the levels themselves, but taking on bosses is where it can get super tricky, especially towards the end of the first game which is just way harder than the rest for some reason (so the first game does seem to require grinding for levels and equipment). So the core gamplay is something I quite like, but I'm not a fan of how it often presents the story as text boxes appearing during the action where you're not going to be paying attention to them because you're busy, and honestly I don't much care for the story and characters anyway (and honestly why are there so many little girls in these games, they even turn characters into them in the second one). I do also enjoy the little gimmick of having straight-up idol music playing at certain times when you're powered up, and the music is just kinda good in general, so there is that. Decently fun games overall, there's not that much left to say about them. [3.5★]

Finally, I'm done catching up on this, future entries will just have their own posts. Hope you enjoy these poorly-made stream-of-consciousness mini-reviews!

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[istherewifiinhell]

[accepting the sleepy posting] tfa made the bold decision (it made several. in service of being a Good Cartoon. and not just. Good TF) to not super explain MUCH lore lore. techincally speaking its in the future. so all that other shit happened. except no it didnt it wouldnt make any sense if that was true. unless we keep making the same guys i guess. which. IS possible. but no cmon. anyway.

IT MADE the decision NOT to overly explain the goals of the factions. BUT showed things that HAPPENED. namely. oh my god so much autobot, post winning the 'great war' governance thats just like. OH! wow! yall suck FOR REAL! 1 of our main characters has ptsd about it. others, directions of their lives changed by it. including. one being ARRESTED. FOR DRAFT DODGING. guess theres no. um conscientious objection (he got called a PEACENIK).

so in comparsion we know like. BUBKIS about what the badguys want. well. power. ruling the planet. and um their obviously fine with. Murder. tho okay are the good guy government NOT? hmm? but also like. oh u wanna take over the planet with the government that sucks. so bad. and has actively harmed our mains. no yeah. thats. terrible. and its a lack of hmm. suggested governence ideals. not a lot of ideological goals pitched that arent just 'everyone will listen to ME'

But ASIDE from the aesthetic of obsolute cartoon evil they also gave megs the aesthetic of. not revolutionary. but hes playing the game. their phrase is transformer and RISE UP. which neat and tidy, their mostly flying types not driving types. but regardless. Fucks Severly. absolute class act. roll out. where? to drinks? the store? RISE UP. its got connotation dont it.

they show megs playing the fucking game too. he knows how to be a propagandist. he gets the P.R. doing the charming, convincing rhetoric thing. also sexy. duh. tf has a running thing with dealing with guys that are Today Years Old. fully formed 'adults' [altho this show also pushed the hypothetical of robot babies]. well anyway. the heros drop the ball severely and consistently in a way that makes u think. is this? not a thing u have to deal with. culturally. and its VERY fun to see the villians, you know, handle it. Oh they told u we were evil. Oh no no no. its a misunderstanding. lets discuss over high quality. sustenance? LIKE.

not even pulling the g1 trick like. autobots created this new live we wish above all for it to have self determination and true viturous characteristics. [while still being greated in service of this war]. FACTIONALLY. tfa bots are either making shit for war no regards for their life, or just like. eh. oh some new guy happened by accident. i dont care. individually. only the peacenik and the ptsd guy have vested idealogical interest in doing otherwise. and even then mostly just to the ones they like. vibe with. THIS ones my friend. THESE ones fit well with my world view on nature and technology. i guess techically a third was tryna help sorta but also he just kinda wanted some buds. wanting some buds isnt DEVOID of prinicipled idealogy.

i GUESS all to say well the made hero characters who WERE NOT. at the top position of their society. but obviously we know like. hes Oppie... hes... SUPPOSED TO BE. he infact. WILL BE [if they, uh, got to finish the show]. so the powers that be have to hmm. SUCK? and say. like okay i dont wanna say fascist lightly i just. constantly commenting on what 'MUST BE' in someones programming. not as like a factor of. ur a truck u have wheels. but like. 'I thought you were going to be worthy of a position of status but u have failed my imposed expectactions which are not actually of a material nature but a social one' im mean. is that... robot??? eugenics??? "positive eugenics" not "negative eugenics" (<- i believe those are the real terms).

so and like i guess the show would slow [ish] to build to. our guys address the wrongs of their goverment? (~3 specific guys, and a suggested culture) or? maybe some. we cannot fix THERE but we can do good HERE. some sort of. juster society in absentia. right but they didnt quite. get the. what YOU DO get is learning "to be a leader/hero u gotta do. xyz". but thats like. personal scale. what about the absolute historic shit pile of ur planet. ah. unfinished show.

so again im just saying. it invites a stragetic compairson u know. the bad guys got Vision. Got a Scale in mind. it sucks. obviously. but its funny. ur guys also suck, so im not sad if. King Asshole gets Killed. oh he was killed by the people with bad polictics. boo. (you would say that. person of a certain ideology thinking about the polictics of ur toy company kid cartoon)(yup. i would say that. am saying it. now)[<- got my own self commentary coverted again thanks]

oh also to make a running joke about the Meat Heat main guy getting into art (smth smth more tfs thrust into iteration in a world that is not build for their bodies). they kept having the other mains imply theres no cybertronian art. HUH? WHAT? no. theres no painting? maybe. sure (is that natural pigmentation?). maybe. no human like visual art forms? yeah...... okay. but... surely you.... create?? and convey meanings? thru? forms of medias? u have. works of study? smth? maybe all the mains are just kinda. unstudied? being mean? but like. uh. hhhuh? where u all come from sounds like it sucks.

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

What gets me about people trying to explain Hopes Claude's violent nature by pointing to the lack of Garreg Mach "teaching" Claude violence wouldn't solve anything is that says he... learned violence wouldn't do anything while at Garreg Mach? Which is like... the opposite thing that happens.

Edel.gard gets basically everything she wants through violence in 3H (at first anyway) - she kicks everyone out Garreg Mach, she kidnaps Rhea in 3 out of 4 routes, she gets super weapons in Demonic Beasts, and she got away with doing a LOT of other shit over the course of the year at Garreg Mach.

So if Claude really did need to learn that violence wouldn't get him what he wants, and if he really was always prone to violence WITHOUT this lesson taught to him, then his experience at Garreg Mach should be the LAST thing he needs to learn that peaceful means is better. Almost like Garreg Mach didn't teach him this at all and Hopes just wrote him to be violent to serve the plot/story the writers were desperate to write 🤔

Well, Claude already knew violence wouldn't get him what he wanted before GM. That being, that's just the kind of person he is and he didn't believe in violence to begin with. Even in Hopes he wasn't violent and didn't take the violent route until the second half of GW. That's why a lot of people say it just came out of nowhere, because Shahid alone isn't motivation enough for that. Shahid wasn't close to Claude, so it's not like Claude had to kill his most darling, precious, beloved sibling. If that happened, sure, I could understand the change in behavior more, but Shahid wasn't enough for that.

Like you said, GM didn't teach him that stuff. It's just part of him as a person. The reason his actions in the second half of GW come across as so jarring is because they were trying to write in a story for a character it wouldn't work for. I get that they wanted to explore another kind of story for him, but since they were using pre-existing characters, they had to write whatever story they had planned for him within the boundaries of an existing character (meaning less reign to do whatever they wanted and have it be believable to that character). The problem was the fact that they chose a character whose personality it wouldn't work for unless they manipulated some aspects of him to fit it into the story.

With Dimitri it worked just fine in Houses because we had hints dropped to us by Felix throughout, and we could slowly see Dimitri losing stability. Claude's change in behavior doesn't work because it can't be justified properly. If you notice, there are all these theories and guesses about why he acted like that, but that's the biggest issue here: we shouldn't have to guess. A good story, and good writing as well, wouldn't leave you guessing why someone did something. There's no concrete, told to us reason why he does what he does.

We don't actually know what caused the change, and I suspect that's because the writers couldn't really find a way to tell us outright that made sense with his character. Instead, we get a timeskip and just have to accept that this is how he is now, with no real explanation given to us. Shahid is just a fan theory in that regard, because half a year passed after Claude killed him and we had no insight as to whether or not it actually caused a change in his personality or if he was just grieving heavily at the time it happened.

I've mentioned this before, but Claude was written to serve the plot like you said. His change in personality was there to move the plot in the direction they wanted it to go in, because it couldn't go in that direction with his Houses character. I previously compared GW to AG in this sense, and how Dimitri's character wasn't sacrificed for the plot. The plot moved in the direction that best suited the main character of the route, not the character being altered this way and that way to work with the direction of the plot.

The thing is, to pull off that story, they would have to use another character for it to work without any hiccups. GW is such a largely controversial route, not because it's interesting and has values that people want to discuss, but because they took a character people loved and bent him backwards to stick him into a plot they wanted to try for him. They basically wanted to try a plot out, had no other available characters to do it with and so twisted and turned him to work him into the plot.

Personally what I think should've been done is for Claude to just finally snap and kill Shahid without actually feeling bad about it. I think it would've been more interesting if he finally had enough with people trying to kill him and targeted all the assassins who had tried to kill him. In a way you could even give him a hint of Dimitri's AM storyline in that sense and it would actually work. Claude was always so kind and patient, but when pushed far enough, while I don't think he'd ever target innocent people ( ex. re: Faerghus), I could definitely see him losing his shit and wanting to know why he, who had done nothing to anyone and had simply just been born, had to live like that all his life. I could see him deciding it wasn't fair and that he just couldn't put up with it anymore, emotionally spiraling and needing to be helped by the people of Leicester and Nader. It would give off the story vibes of how a person can only be pushed so far before they can't handle something anymore, and I think even for Claude that could work.

Not... you know... what we got. If they wanted to write Claude in a more compromised situation, that would have worked for him significantly better than dumbing him down to work him into the plot.

[myeolines]

still haven't finished totk bcs i keep getting busy w uni but i kinda just wanna rant about the main plot line lol

The continuity issues of this game is frustrating if you try to mince the main plot, shit just doesn't add up. As fun the open worldness is, being able to solve the puzzles any way you want, it feels as if they had to cut corners when it came to the plot 💀 Like it's some afterthought djsbdkwnkdns Having cutscenes fully voice acted has so much emotional power, like I kinda wish they made the most out of it jdjsbkwndke

I've read here in tumblr before about how it's as if the original direction of the zonai shifted, because I do remember Rauru's hand being creepy. And then the game releases and he's apparently a good boi! But it's fine, sometimes art do be like that it just takes a whole new direction. But the way they interweave things w botw is very inconsistent. Like they could have really did more with it yanno

Personally, it would have been better if we didn't start the game exploring the ruins ? the castle depths ? idk what's it called but like, we got to experience following Zelda as she puts in the effort of "restoring Hyrule". We get to see the glimpse of their life together after the calamity.

The thing is, does Hyrule need to be restored? Most specifically, the castle. Also it makes me wonder how people reacted seeing what seems to be the princess of legend come back, the princess they've heard from their grandparents. But I guess it's easy to interpret it with Zelda being vital to their worshipping of Hylia. And Hyrule Castle seems to serve as a seal for Ganon, and for more generations to come

It would have been more meaningful to see beloved characters from the series intermingle with the new characters. Though the new characters look cool, they also feel so out of place. I get that Penn replaces Kass in terms of role but it would still have been fun to see Kass just chilling at home. It would have also been fun to see Zelda and Kass interact, after all Kass' teacher is the court poet that regularly accompanied the princess. They could reminisce the stories of the past... Kass going "Ah, my teacher used to tell me stories of (this and that)" and Zelda enthusiastically recalling these stories... It would also have been cool to see how the whole Zonai Survey Team was formed. Since Tauro was a solo explorer and his passion for field research is what made Zelda choose him to be the leader of the survey team, it would have been nice to have a neat little side quest of getting to know the guy. Same goes for Yona. It would have been less surprising if Link and Sidon were penpals and they'd regularly write to each other, Sidon would recount some childhood memories with Yona. If maybe we were there to welcome Yona as she arrived, her introduction would have felt smoother? I'm not against the idea of Sidon and Yona but their relationship feels so abrupt HABSJABDKANDK Would have been fun to see how Sidon slowly realized he loved Yona, something like that.

I'm really digging the idea that totk zelda should be playable. Totk's story is more about her dilemma. It would have been more meaningful experiencing the Dragon Tears memory as Zelda, we get to move around as her. I mean, she's apparently the strongest Zelda in the series I think it would have been so monumental.

But back to the actual story, it could have been more... Though it's fun seeing that Link isn't as alone anymore, teleporting to Lookout Landing always feels nice because I know that's where Link's friends are, I just wish Zelda had more screentime.

Thankfully the fandom has people rewriting the story to fill in the gaps so that's what I'll be busy reading once I finish the game to scratch the itch that is inconsistent storytelling sjbskdnsns that's my totk rant for today 😘

[wolfstrong]

Buffy season 3 reflection and quiet contemplation:

Of course in general I very much enjoyed this season, but I do feel like compared to the past two seasons episodes varied more in quality and my enjoyment of them. The epic highs and lows of season three if you will. There was definitely more episodes that I really loved or just thought were pretty good as compared to episodes I felt were a little weak and the good very much outweighs the bad. But anyway, here is what I did like:

I could tell they had a budget increase for this season and for the most part I think they really used it to their advantage. We got a lot more fights where Buffy and friends had to take on a biggggg gang of baddies and it usually involved bigger sets where they could jump all around and have some awesome fight choreography. I felt like almost every other episode we were getting a big warehouse battle with complicated exciting fight choreography. I think it’s epic and I’ll never get tired of seeing Buffy beat the tar out of demons.

I think they were a little more artistic with their directing too this season, like Zeppo definitely comes to mind where they didn’t just stick with straightforward storytelling and instead gave you a different perspective. Just in general I felt like the directing was more fast-paced and engaging in a lot of episodes.

Now I have to preface this by saying I did not enjoy all the character conflicts that were introduced, however, one thing I really enjoy about Buffy is the way it deals with interpersonal relationships. The show is not afraid to have its characters make mistakes and also have other characters react realistically to them. I really liked dead mans party because of this, where we get to see the fallout of Buffy running away over the summer. At first everyone is very glad to see her, but there is this uncomfortable awkwardness between them all that needs to be addressed, and it all comes to a head with a yelling match between our main characters. I like that they couldn't just talk it out at first because that's really never how it works. Also I thought Buffy and Angels breakup was pretty well done too. We all know that relationship was very much doomed and wrong in a lot of ways so I'm glad the show was able to have them acknowledge that and split up for that reason.

Some of my favorite episodes (besides the Zeppo and Dead mans party as mentioned above) were Homecoming (for the cordelia and buffy forced bonding) Band Candy (for the campy fun) Gingerbread (idk this one was just very fun) and Doppelganger (i loveeee the willow focus:)

And honestly, I only had one big issue with this season and that was the overarching plot with the mayor. For one I just didn't like the mayor that much as a big baddie villain of the season. His bit where he like acts like a very normal nice guy but is actually psycho was very one note and not super interesting to me. I liked The Master and Spike (and eventually evil Angel) as the season big bads a lot more. I did find the plot a lot more exciting when Faith joined him. It was all a bit uninteresting but all together fine, it was just the season finale that really sucked. It felt like a lot of build-up to very much nothing and I can get into a lot of nitpicky shit (like.. what was up with then Buffy was like "Xander, you are the KEY to this whole plan" and then Xander ended up doing nothing at all? i could go on) but yeah just overall very anti-climatic. Also Buffy came up with a plan to defeat the mayor by just like exploding him and killing him, and then her plan went EXACTLY as predicted with no bumps in the road at all to add excitement. They were just like "we are going to kill the mayor now" and then they did. Very lame.

My other big gripe was the Willow and Xander cheating arc which I can literally write a whole paper on but I won't do that to you. I guess to sum it up I really wish we would have had a resolution to that conflict that was satisfying, and maybe explored a little more why Xander and Willow suddenly cheated on their respective partners with each other. And I really don't like what it did to Cordy, who was pretty much not in the group anymore after that. My guess is that maybe the writers wanted her out of the scooby gang so that she could go over to the Angel show, and that was their way of getting her to break up with Xander and kind of hate all his friends. It just makes me upset because Cordelia was really starting to find her place in the group and also have a genuine affection for Xander. I liked that in the prom episode Xander buys Cordy her dress and doesn't tell anyone her family lost all their money, HOWEVER I needed more resolution. I wanted MORE!!

My least favorite episodes were Amends (probably the overall worst episode of Buffy i have ever seen... like literally what was the point of that) Choices (this episode kinda just felt like boring filler and that scene where the mayor lectors Angel and Buffy about their relationship for 5 minutes uninterrupted was so weird and out of place) and then Graduation part 2 (just for being a very anti-climatic mess.)

In my season 1 review I talked about my feelings on the characters that appeared in that season, and I think I pretty much feel similarly about them all now, but here are my thoughts about the new people!

Oz: I think oz is the biggest addition since season one and really what is there to say! he's a man of few words, he brings a calm level headed energy to the cast that I think really helps to balance everything out. I like that he's a werewolf of course, I think that's awesome and we even got to see him flex his werewolf powers in season three and attack another beast. I hope we get more of that. I am curious about whats gonna happen with his and Willows relationship because well. well. but ANYWAY for the time being I think they are good for each other

Faith: I found her to be kind of annoying... but I just don't really like girlbosses who don't give a fuck type characters, sorry just not for me. I did think she was a lot more interesting once she went bad and overall the concept of a slayer going bad cool so I'm glad they explored that

Wesely: I think hes donefore and doesnt appear in season 4 (tho i know he's in Angel) But idk. he was like so bad that he was good. Like i don't like him as a person but his presence on the show was so camp. just some sniveling loser that everyone's hates. i love it.

Alright, I belive thats mostly all I have to say! talk to me about Buffy anytime, literally any time.

[theflagscene]

Only Friends is ending soon and I’ve noticed you’re not as vocal about it as you were about other series, do you not like it as much? No hate, just curious.

I honestly didn’t even realize the series was already on episode ten! Lol, you alerted me to that, damn, those loose ends better start wrapping up soon.

As for you question, I like the series just fine. I enjoy Jojo’s writing/writing team as well as how he directs, he has a unfiltered and unapologetic queer lens that he uses for his series and it’s honestly refreshing to watch since not everything has to be sugar coded or every character morally ‘right’ with him. I guess though that I’ve been kinda watching the series through one eye, you could say. I’ve been really distracted with irl shit and I haven’t had the energy to put anything meaningful - or insane - into fandom spaces atm, I wish I did because I miss it and the people and the interactions and creativity.

I admittedly have also been skimming the episodes since like episode two or three I think, I genuinely dislike the TopMew storyline and Cheum annoys me, so if Boston, Ray or Sand isn’t in a scene, I usually just skip over it or leave it on in the background as I do something else. I’ve never been much of a ForceBook fan, I know I’ll probably get some hate for this, but I find the pair incredibly flat in both acting and chemistry. Having Book act next to Khaotung and Neo really just hammers home how weak of an actor he truly is, so I basically black out any time he or Force are on screen, especially when together. I’m watching it mostly for SandRay and a bit for BostonNick although I still don’t enjoy Nick as much as I thought I would and I blame the fact that I’m a Louis fan for that lol. I’m now also watching for Boeing, which has the unfortunate side effect of me having to watch more TopMew scenes but it is a necessary evil to be able to watch Mond be fantastic.

So while I like it, yes. I also dislike aspects of it, which I think is fine. Not everyone has to like every thing they see, or even like something they thought they would at the beginning. I’m now just mostly looking forward to whatever Jojo has in store for us next year ☺️

[jokeson-u]

here is my rant/review on the movie bros so spoilers below the cut

look. i didnt hate it. it was funny. but most the laugh out loud funny parts were in the trailer, and werent as funny in the context of the actual scenes somehow. there were still definitely really funny moments outside of that but idk i was expecting more. also billy eichners character bobby was funny and all but god i hate people like that (which was awkward cus i have my sister next me whispering about how much she relates LMAO).

but in terms of my more serious issues with it.

1. there was several graphic sex scenes and i guess 1 was kinda of good to keep, but the others were sooo unnecessary imo. like 1 was funny ig but 1 was just like ... ok.. anyways.. and listen. listen. i understand especially from the opening scene and the rest of the movie basically that part of the point is gay people should havent to make themselves more palatable for straight society but my GOD i have never seen a straight romcom that explicit and idk about u guys but it seemed to be marketed as a more or less family friendly movie. like a take ur parents to it bc we're trying to normalize gay people in mainstream romcoms, ya know?? no. NO. do not bring ur parents. and i guess i sound like an asshole about that because yea queers shouldnt be marketable to hets but idk man.. its just so not a good introduction to normalizing big screen lgbtq+ movies like this bc as a queer person i was uncomfortable and id imagine the straights even more so and YES I KNOW WE SHOULDNT CARE but we cant be like 'see gay romcoms are for everyone!' and shove unnecessary and uncomfortably explicit sex scenes that dont belong in any movie esp one thats marketed the way it was.

2. i was actually sort of confused because i thought one of the main themes in the story was that the mc bobby was like. overly 'woke' i guess and really critical of everything, mostly from an lgbtq perspective. then there was the love interest aaron who thought bobby was really overly cynical. there was multiple instances in the movie where bobby would kind of ruin the mood by complaining about how something is homophobic in some way or another, and aaron or another character would kinda be like ..... and . i really thought one the things we were supposed to be following was how aaron helps bobby balance his views more. but. that never happens. like, we get more explanation on why bobby feels he has to be critical about stuff but like he just continues to basically be a buzzkill about shit and aaron just has to accept it and idk. i feel like the rest of the direction was really weird if the point wasnt bobby becoming a little more leveled??

3. ok so. this was one of my bigger issues i guess. i need to give some plot background: bobby and aaron agreed to 'not date' but basically end up dating for a while. aarons family comes to the city for christmas and bobby is gonna meet them and aaron asks him to just sort of be a little chill with them bc theyre accepting and all but yk. theyre his parent and bobby is really intense about stuff. bobby doesnt really take kindly to that even tho he acts to aaron like he gets it, and basically like. brings the family on a tour for the city and talks about the craziest shit like "oh this is where the first sex something something idk happened" "this is where the dyke march happened" stuff like that and aaron gets pissed at him and is like dude can u please just tone it down and bobbys like "what u want me to be less myself with them?" and aaron is like "?! kind of rn yes." and bobbys like ok fine. and they go to dinner and bobby gets into an argument with the mom who is a 2nd grade teacher about teaching lgbt stuff to kids that young and everytime they agree to disagree he keeps going and then goes on a tangent about sex positivity being important to children and how when he was a kid and his parents took him to some show where there was naked men and he literally just kept talking about their penises and how many penises he saw and oh my god. after the night ended aaron was pissed at him and bobby got so mad and was saying how aaron is just like everyone in his life whos tried to make him hide who he is and stuff. aaron tells him hes leaving to meet w a guy whos into him. bobby finds them making out which yes was wrong of aaron but technically they were both making a big deal from the get go that they werent relationship people and stuff. the rest of that half of the movie for aaron is basically having to make it up to bobby and apologize for making him hide himself??? and the only time bobby apologizes is after aaron has to again and again and says he felt bobby was talking about all that stuff to his parents on purpose and bobby said "i was. im sorry for that." THAT WAS HIS APOLOGY??? Im sorry but like yes be urself and if aaron loves how intense u are somehow great but theres a fucking time and place. dont fucking cross ur parnters boundries bc u didnt communicate ur issues with them, especially when it isnt that hard of a boundry to not cross. i just really disliked the framing of it. sorry but yea if my partner was really inappropriate or excessive about complaints about straight people and was meeting my parents i WOULD ask them to be chill and id fucking hope they wouldnt jeaprodize my relationship with either them or my parents by being like 'well i wanna say whatever i wanna say to anyone i want so i dont care if my partner is uncomfortable with these topics in front of this audience.' like even aarons brother finds out and is like dude u gotta make it up to him. what????? that shit really bothered me as someone who has been in scenarios similar to that with my friends