#twd antics

[specialneedz]

god i love ezekiel

[snoopybutch]

Watching twd and thought there was FINALLY a butch. No. I think just a small man. 😫

[mashedmangos]

Hello, I have more questions because after my last one, they are about the Duck lives au again.

1. When it gets to the Jane v Kenny moment, do you think Clem would still shoot Kenny, or would Duck shoot Kenny, or do you think they both wouldn't do it.

2. When it comes to weapons, Do you think Duck would prefer ranged weapons(guns/bows/crossbows) or melee weapons(blunt/bladed).

3. How do you think Duck will act during the Howes segments, because after I read "TWD but you choose what happens" fanfic on fanfiction.net, I can't stop seeing The blueberries scene(the one where Reggie dies in) where Duck is deliberately cutting off all the branches.

4. Do you think Duck would be able to find someone to love, like how Clem has Violet/Louis? Personally, I ship him with Mitch, mainly because I think Mitch would like Duck's energy, and Louis, because I think they would both like each others antics.

So sorry if this is alot.

I HEART GETTING QUESTIONS :3

1. It would be Clem if it were to happen. In the au, the storyline follows the one where Kenny lives. But if Kenny were to be shot in the scene, it would be Clem. Duck could never shoot his dad

2. I think he would prefer blades and up-close combat

3. I think he would subtly be a menace to fuck with Carver a bit. He'd also want to help with the escape and prove to his dad he can look after himself but Kenny would make Clem do most of the dirty work because he still babies and views Duck as a defenseless kid

4. Personally, I don't ship Duck with anyone. But I can definitely see him getting along well with Mitch as well, they'd start off rocky because of Marlon's death and because Duck stands by Clementine and AJ like it's his lifeline. But overtime I can see them becoming relatively close.

Also, Louis and Duck would be an unstoppable force of pranks and bullshit. People dread seeing them together because they'll just yap and yap and yap together

[ingydarwp]

clemmie i promised questions about ramona and paul and in all honesty, i need fuel to make an edit about them. and so, here i am. this has also inspired me to write a paul rovia parental figure fanfic. you have ruined me, clementine.

what does ramona think of paul at first? does she only like him because boots doesn't rip his leg off at first sight?

does she ever try pull his hair out? probably in a fit of rage or something else, but does ramona ever try it and does paul try to strangle her as a result for it?

maybe this will be a spoiler, but why does paul like her? does he see his younger self in her? or is her rage that makes her seem adoptable?

if there was a song to describe ramona and paul, which song would it be?

if there was a song to describe ramona and judith, which song would it be?

if there was a song to describe ramona and jacqueline, which song would it be?

if ramona was a line in a song, which song would it be?

what does ramona think of paul and aaron?

all i can picture is ramona living with paul for a brief period of time, trying to get some sense of normalcy back, does that happen?

what does ramona think of ezekiel? i can imagine her wanting shiva as a pet, but what does she think of him?

after the line-up, when her nightmares start, does ramona often go to paul for something? i doubt it's comfort, maybe silent company?

i think ive asked enough (for now) and now i must go plot and stare at the wall as i think of ways to punish you for planting a new twd oc in my head. grrr, clemmie. grr. im using my inner ramona to curse you. i hope a bee and wasp stings you at the same time. (unless your allergic, if you are i hope a cat lays on your lap and digs their claws into your legs)

whenever i see the notif that you've sent in an ask, i actually start whirling around rapidly like a helicopter!! real!! no sources needed!!

anyhow, tiger and jesus (paul rovia) are one of my favourite side-dynamics in the whole of eoe!! so much so that i've actually worked part of the plot around keeping him alive, because tiger goes through a LOT in s9 and i didn't want to dump his death on top of it all. also just because i think he's a neat guy. so!! these questions are very fun and very exciting, so lets answer them :))

first impressions!!

honestly, one of the first thoughts tiger has about jesus is that he's a very confusing sort of guy. she meets him on that one supply run in s6 — his first appearance, the filler episode with the truck — and she can't quite figure him out. he's very polite and very cheerful, but also a very skilled fighter, and she can't really figure out why he won't fight with her.

tiger's first instinct with him — or basically just with any new people — is to try and rip him to shreds, but the thing about paul is he just won't engage. he pushes her away from him or prys her off, but he never actually makes any attempt to fight back. so, she finds him curious, but deep down, she actually really likes him.

the thing about tiger is that she needs stability, and a huge part of that is needing to know how people are going to react to her. when she pushes boundaries with carol, for example, carol will always correct her and put her right back in her place. rick will always try to mediate and understand her. daryl will always just argue back. that's why she allows herself to attach to them over time; predictability is the thing she craves the very most. and jesus is very, very predictable. when she fights or shouts or pushes, he just ignores it and redirects her energy elsewhere. he never rises to her antics. his constant, reliable calmness is something she loves — even though she'd never admit it.

does she ever try to pull his hair out??

this actually made me giggle for an alarmingly long time. she does, but not often!! when tiger feels restless and stressed, she tests a lot of boundaries to receive the stable, predictable responses she needs. it keeps her grounded. so, when she wants to test paul, she fights him, and his hair is often an unfortunate target.

+ in their first interaction, she refers to him as an 'ugly, shampoo-advert piece of shit', so it's safe to say she's not impressed by his hair.

why does paul like her??

honestly? it's because he sees right fucking through her. all her surface-level rage, all her attacks and isolation and avoidance, he knows it for what it really is. she's scared and she wants to be given something to hold onto.

idk if she necessarily reminds him of himself, but she definitely reminds him of foster kids he's met throughout his life, and that helps him to understand how to keep her regulated. he knows that she's rick's daughter, and that taking care of her is primarily his job, but tiger is his friend. he sees her and makes her feel seen, which is the most important thing.

he also thinks she's really funny. a lot of people miss that with tiger, but she is. she makes him laugh a lot.

paul and tiger's song!!

i think it's a little bit of 'civilian', by wye oak, but i do feel like that's judith and tiger's song the very most, so i don't think they get entire ownership of it. maybe theirs could be 'the bug collector'?

"and i try my best / to prove that nothing's out to get you."

that's very them.

tiger and jude's song!!

i think they've got a couple, because i think about tiger and jude an unhealthy amount, so these are some of my top choices!!

civilian — wye oak (naturally)

masterpiece — big thief

silhouettes — of monsters and men

house of the rising sun — lauren o'connel

tiger and jackie's song!!

this is so tricky because there are a thousand songs i could apply to jackie and tiger, but half of them are spoiler-ish and half of them don't make sense to anyone but me :( the one that came to mind first — because of the sound rather than the lyrics — was 'visions of gideon', by sufjan stevens. another would be 'once i'm gone', by finnegan tui.

if tiger was a lyric!!

possibly the most difficult question of them all!! tiger is a thousand songs and a thousand words and a thousand things, so pinning this down was hard, but i knew it would have to be a florence + the machine song, so that narrowed my search a little.

even then, though, there were too many options to choose just one, so... here are three instead :0

"oh, drunken gods of slaughter / you know i've always been your favourite daughter." — cassandra

"and when we come back, we'll be dressed in black / and you'll scream my name aloud." — spectrum (say my name)

"i thought that i was hungry for love / maybe i was just hungry for blood." — mermaids

opinions on paul and aaron!!

this is really funny to me because tiger's opinions on jesus and aaron have everyone thinking that she hates gay people for a while 😭 that's not even it. she just hates romance and she HATES the idea of her best friend running off to hang out with someone else all the time, but everyone misinterprets her disgust as intolerance.

tiger doesn't hate the gays!! she just hates love!! and also aaron!!

(sorry aaron)

tiger living with jesus!!

post-s9-timeskip, tiger is a very flighty individual, and whenever she starts to feel too closed in in one settlement, she'll just go to a different one instead. hilltop is one of her favourites. mostly because of jesus, but also because it's more open and used to be governed by maggie — who stresses her out a LOT less than michonne. tiger is not a michonne fan. more on that at a different point.

anyhow!!

your thoughts are incredibly correct!! tiger goes to stay with paul whenever she needs peace, both mentally and settings-wise. alexandria is busy and pretty intense, and she has a lot to face there. in s9, after getting in a fight with judith, jesus and hilltop are tiger's safe space. it's where she gets to shut her brain off for a minute and just be alone.

tiger and ezekiel!!

tiger is unimpressed, to say the least. because on one hand, yay!! a real life tiger!! but why is there a strange dude attached who acts like he's the king of everything and talks like a medieval nobleman?? like wtf??

but, tiger has a lot of respect for carol (vada if you’re reading this, i’m so sorry) so she tolerates ezekiel to keep her happy and only bullies him half as much as she’d like to. he’s too interesting for her. she is not into the kingdom’s vaguely cultish vibe.

nightmares!!

post-line-up, tiger never sleeps another night without at least one nightmare. she eventually adjusts to them and learns to calm herself down and take deep breaths and remember it’s not real, but it still is a huge part of her life. they make her uneasy, and as i said earlier, when tiger’s uneasy, she skips town.

tiger is very prone — especially post timeskip — to leave alexandria in the middle of the night and walk up to hilltop all by herself. it takes hours and it’s exhausting, but it clears her head. and yes, it’s mostly to chat to jesus.

he’s the only one she really tells her nightmares to. carol too, and daryl a little bit, but mostly him. he doesn’t ask questions about them, or try to make sense of them or anything. he just listens to her talk, and when she’s done, they just sit in the same room together doing different activities.

thank you for the fabulous questions!! please don’t sting me with bees or wasps!! i’m very afraid of insects.

[restesdelune]

I've been cooking, I've been cooking...

Let me share the cover art and a few stills from the next installment of my Richonne videos.

How Richonne Was Born #2 - Dandy On Set and Off

I've also been writing my first fanfic (Richonne of course)! I'll share it here before venturing to ff or ao3 because I'm brand new to this and that is a lot. I've put 7000 words down in two days but as usual, the rewrite hurts like a *****.

We'll see...

Finally, I'm still researching my bigger (essay/podcast) project #TheOnesWhoLoveLiveOn inspired by Danai Gurira, Michonne Grimes and bell hooks' work about belonging & the labor of love. This is my biggest endeavour to date and will hopefully include political and cultural commentary, from TWD/TOWL to tv/movie/genres from a Black feminist /Afrofem perspective.

You can find me on youtube, twitter or here as moonsoul or restes de lune. I had forgotten that tumblr was so much more pleasant and appropriate to follow up on and share projects. I really hope they all make it to the end, I feel empowered and motivated but my fellow adhders know that consistency and hyperfocus rarely go along hand in hand.

Thank you so much for your support, it means a lot to feel less alone. I wouldn't be making any of this if it weren't for the inspired (and yes, sometimes unhinged and worse) fandoms. I hadn't written or edited anything in forever and it's the screeners, the richonners, fanfics writers, and the overwhelming enthusiasm that brought me back to the fold and to my geeky antics.

Keep an eye out on my youtube for the next edit

How Richonne Was Born #2 - Dandy On Set and Off

Happy shipping

ps: sorry for the mistakes, English is not my first language.

[takeyourprecioustime]

INTRODUCTION

🥫lauren, 24, she/her/any prns, sam girl that dabbles in dean girl antics

🥫adhd gang

🥫christian that likes to cuss and take edibles

🥫unlabeled sexuality but I’m taken :) (4 years strong!!!!)

🥫dont have a particular ship that i argue with people on the internet for, just kinda vibe ngl

🥫favorite character is sam but i enjoy a lot of the characters

🥫other interests include ethel cain, art, books, metal/metalcore music, criminal minds, twd, jerma, gorlworld, wendigoon/creep cast/meatcanyon, etc

🥫currently in s4 of rewatch

🥫dni if you're a nasty person :)👍

[hellerfanboy91]

Edvard's Supernatural Guide: 3x16 No Rest for the Wicked, Part 1

This is part one of two. Part two is available here.

Right at the beginning of series three, I commented on the fundamental changes wrought on the show as a result of the Writers’ Strike of 2007/2008. The most immediate of these was the need for the writers of the show to concentrate on getting a story told in the four episodes remaining to them. The original plan to have Sam use his demon powers to get Dean out of his deal would have taken too long, for which reason they decided that Dean would actually die and go to Hell. Because of the sudden change in direction, the first twelve episodes of the show are out of sync with the final four, and things such as Isaac and Bobby leaving Dean bleeding on the floor in 3x01 The Magnificent Seven look really bad. On the other hand, the last four episodes are – in my opinion – a significant improvement to what came before, as well as a fitting conclusion to the story.

That is not to say it was pleasant, though. In fact, when making my initial notes for my analysis of this episode in January 2021, I actually put off watching this episode for a week, and seriously considered skipping it. The reason is Dean’s death at the end: it is unexpectedly gruesome and brutal, something I would expect more from The Walking Dead than Supernatural. Glenn’s death in TWD, for example, came to mind as a comparison, but Dean’s death stands out more than deaths in TWD because that show is much more graphic and gory than Supernatural.

Besides that, the plot of the episode is rather disappointing for several reasons. For one thing, the story is almost entirely self-contained rather than being the conclusion of a multi-episode arc as is the case in Buffy. It is also hindered by the fact that children are not scary: they were not scary in 3x02 The Kids are Alright, and they are not scary now. Consequently, a goodly chunk of proceedings follow a sickeningly-sweet blonde girl’s antics in a middle-class house in a middle-class neighbourhood, but the antics are not scary, tense, or horrifying: they are mostly boring. Perhaps if the show had stuck with the horror-film aesthetics and colour grading of series one and two, this would be more atmospheric, but alas…

The main plot of this episode involves a pretty hopeless attempt by Dean and Sam to kill Lilith (the Holder of Contracts) and thereby save Dean from his deal. My gasts were recently flabbered when a friend who is relatively well-versed in Sumerian mythology had never heard of Lilith, so I will not take for granted that my readers know who she is, either. The roots of the figure known as Lilith go back to ancient Mesopotamia and Akkadian/Sumerian myths and folklore. In the earliest extant sources, Lilith was an order or variety of malevolent spirit with similarities to incubuses and sucubuses. The males were given the name lilu and the females the name lilitu, a name ultimately derived from a word which meant wind or spirit.

The same mythology also hosted the demon queen Lamashtu who was associated with infant mortality and perhaps death during childbirth. She was depicted as having animalistic features such as a wolf’s head, but was often also depicted as having feathers and talons, much like a Greek harpy. She was a baby-killer, causer of miscarriages, and eater of men. She also caused diseases and nightmares, and was associated with Pazuzu, the king of wind demons.

(Please watch the two videos posted above -- two of my main sources -- for more in-depth discussions of Lilith.)

The two separate ideas of the lilu/lilitu and Lamashtu found their way into ancient Hebrew mythology, but at some point along the way the two became syncretised (blended together) as Lilith. Who or what precisely Lilith was in ancient Hebrew folklore is uncertain, as there is only one reference to her in the Old Testament / Talmud, that being in Isaiah 34:14. The New Revised Standard Version reads thusly:

Wildcats shall meet with hyenas, goat-demons shall call to each other, there also Lilith shall repose and find a place to rest.

This translation is contentious, however, as it implies Lilith is one entity. Some scholars would prefer it to read ‘the lilith’ to refer to a class of demon or spirit, or even a screech owl. The King James Bible reads as follows:

The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

Here the original word ‘Lilith’ has been rendered as ‘screech owl’, which brings to mind the depictions of Lamishtu with feathers and talons. The association of Lamishtu – and thereby Lilith – with witches is reminiscent of the link between the Latin word strix (‘owl’) with the shtriga in 1x18 Something Wicked who preyed on children at night. It also brings the vampire-like strigoi from Romanian folklore to mind, suggesting that perhaps all of these concepts are distantly related.

The Finnish translation from 1933/38 translates Lilith as ‘öinen syöjätär’ or ‘nightly devouress’ (literally ‘nightly eater-woman’), while making no reference to the name Lilith. As such, the name Lilith is absent from some translations of the Bible. Other translations, however, both mention her by name and give further information on her, e.g. the 1992 Finnish translation:

Villikoirat ja sakaalit siellä kohtaavat, villivuohi villivuohta kutsuu. Siellä lepäilee Lilit, öinen velhotar, sieltä hän löytää rauhallisen sijan

Wild dogs and jackals there shall meet the wild goat to the wild goat shall bleat, there reposeth Lilith, nightly sorceress, and findeth peaceful rest

‘Lilith’ here is much more akin to the Lilith of later tradition, and the link to witches and magic is made explicit through the editorial addition of ‘nightly sorceress’, but what ‘Lilith’ would have meant to the earliest adherents of Abrahamic faiths almost 4,000 years is unclear.

It was some time later that what we recognise today as Lilith as a single entity came into being in Abrahamic mythology. This arose from the fact that the Book of Genesis contains two different creation myths. God made the first man and woman from dirt, yet later in the same book makes Eve from Adam’s rib. How could God have made the first woman from Adam’s rib if he had already made the first woman from dirt? Most likely out of a desire to cover up flaws in the text, a story was made wherein the first man and woman were not Adam and Eve, but Adam and Lilith. In the Alphabet of Ben Sira, Lilith refused to be ‘sexually submissive’ to Adam, so left the garden of Eden, refused to return, and had lots of demon babies with the archangel Samael who presumably did let her ride reverse cowgirl. Eve was later made out of Adam’s ‘rib’ (perhaps a metaphor for another body part). In this way, an inconsistency in the Bible caused by trying to blend different traditions together into one coherent narrative was explained.

A similar story is known in Islamic tradition (which, as you all know, has its origins in Judaism in the same way Christianity has) of a djinn whom Adam rejected who then had babies with Iblis. Iblis is the Islamic version of Satan, who funnily enough is also called Azazil, the Islamic equivalent of Azazel, i.e. the Yellow-Eyed Demon. This is fitting as – just like Lucifer in Paradise Lost – Iblis refused to bow to Adam and humanity in a similar way to how Lilith had no interest in just lying down and thinking of Eden while Adam got down to business. The aforementioned djinn was named Karinah,

Whether or not it was intentional, the fact Azazel in Supernatural killed his victims with fire is a nice reference to the Islamic Azazil’s origins in fire.

This Lilith is a murderer of babies as her predecessor Lamashtu was. She is a night-stalker and mother of demons. Alphabet of Ben Sira has it that every day a hundred of her children (demons) die, and as revenge she kills the children of Adam unless they are warded against her with amulets.

She has also become the antithesis of what a mother ‘should’ be, but perhaps more tangibly, she is a manifestation of that fact that a huge percentage of babies died very young up until the 1950s. In Finland, it was a tradition to not give children a name until they were at least one year old (I think) because so many died before then. Babies and young children dying was commonplace but no less difficult for parents than it is today. Nowadays, infant mortality rates in developed countries are exceedingly low, but the huge size of the Baby Boomer generation testifies to the fact that even as recently as the 1950s, parents had a lot of children because they expected some of them to die. As long as people have been cognisant enough to know they will lose some of their children, they have wanted an explanation. Lilith provided them with this.

If you want more information on Lilith, please do read the chapter ‘Lilith is One Scary Bitch’ in the book The Mythology of Supernatural: The Signs and Symbols Behind the Popular TV Show. That chapter discusses, among other things, the possibility that the earliest account of Lilith in the epic of Gilgamesh is actually the memory of a goddess from a much older religion or tradition, as well as the similarities between that story and the Garden of Eden.

The Lilith in Supernatural is a version of the Lilith from mythology. Aspects of her character are taken from extant lore, such as her being a queen of demons (though no mention is yet made of Asmodeus, the king of demons and co-ruler in some myths) and even her indirect control of Sam through Ruby is reminiscent of her succubus-origins as a Sumerian lilitu. However, Lilith’s behaviour and presentation in the show is rather generic and uninspiring: as so often happens with mythological figures in Supernatural, she is stripped of her aesthetics and the grandeur one would expect from such a high-ranking divine being.

Associating her with owls or raptors would harken back to Proto-Jewish legends, and having her minions kidnap children from hospital for her to kill and eat would have brought Lamashtu and modern Lilith to life. A link to fire, e.g. her being a pyromancer of some variety, would have connected her to the Islamic tradition of Karinah, Iblis, and djinn who were created from fire. Part of their plan to kill Lilith could also have involved the curse bowls used in Ancient Sumeria to trap lilu and lilitu demons, as well as amulets to protect themselves against her. Or am I to believe that Bobby, with his vast library on ancient lore, does not have access to information on Sumerian daemonology?

I am very aware of Eric Kripke’s adoration of Neil Gaiman’s work (as well as the film Constantine. Bobby’s trick with turning the water in the sprinklers into holy water is taken straight from Constantine, as was John doing a similar thing in 1x21 Sanctuary). Kripke’s love of Neil Gaiman shows in the demythologisation and the introduction of divinities etc into mundane, banal life such as a middle-class detached suburban house. While this worked quite well for me in Sandman, it did so because the deities etc spend time in and are shown in their natural habitats. We see a lot of the grandeur and magic, so that when e.g. Death appears as a 1980s goth girl, we see that it is just a costume she has put on for dealing with humans, and it is simply an avatar of her true self which exists on a different plane.

None of that is present in Supernatural. Much of this is due to the show’s small budget (although given how much Jensen was earning per episode by the end of the show’s run, the network was very far from skint), but the fact remains that divine entities and their ilk lack majesty. There are a few exceptions to this, though, such as Castiel’s appearance in 4x01 Lazarus Rising, Michael smiting Cas in 4x18 The Monster at the End of This Book, and Michael!Dean in 14x01 Stranger in a Strange Land, but these are exceptions. Even God ultimately feels anti-climactic.

That is unfortunately my opinion of Supernatural’s Lilith: anti-climactic, disappointing, and generally a bit of a let-down. This is not simply because of her presentation (a tall, blonde woman in a white dress in series four) but also because of how underused and absent she is and will be from the story. An antagonist needs to have a presence throughout a narrative in some form or other in order to be constantly interacting with the protagonists and hindering them in achieving their goal. This is not to say that the antagonist needs to be in every scene, chapter or episode, but the antagonist’s actions need to have an impact on the protagonists’ progression through the story. This can take the form of minions trying to kill the protagonists, amassing huge armies which forces the protagonists to take certain courses of action, or somehow feeding the protagonists false information which takes them far off course. The antagonist could have such widespread influence and sway that the protagonists need to go into hiding and get cut off from all help and have to fight alone against overwhelming odds.

What has Lilith done since she was introduced? There was no ‘war’. The Ghostfacers had nothing to do with Lilith, nor did the telephone monster or Benton. There were none of Lilith’s minions interacting with Sam and/or Dean, and then suddenly little pet-murdering not-creepy Lilith appears and I am supposed to care. I might be easy, show, but I am not that easy…

In spite of that, her role in this episode changed the course of the show, as she was the one to kill Dean at the end. ...by proxy, of course, but still.

Apropos la morte de Dean, this episode allows him to take a more central role in his own story. He is proactive in refusing to allow Sam to make a deal of any kind to save him from Hell, and is also proactive in hunting Lilith down and doing his best to kill her. But while the audience is privy to some of Dean’s fear at what awaits him, we are offered very little, if any, of his own grieving process. I do not expect a monologue from Dean, but he is a young man who expected to die young and believed he deserved no better, but he wanted things. He wanted a dull, muggle life with Lisa (or at least believed he was supposed to want something like that), and he wanted children. Because of his sacrifice for his ingrate brother, those things are denied him.

Dean was also a victim of John’s abuse, but he was not a victim in making the deal. That was an active choice he made, though even so, it was a direct result and logical end-point of of his abuse and consequent codependent relationship with Sam. There was prime opportunity to explore Dean’s perception of his abuse here, and his own need to face and come to terms with what John did to him. The show almost gave him that with his admission that he and Sam are each other’s weaknesses (well, Sam is Dean’s), but it fell short.

Could the show not have provided us with a scene or two involving Dean’s feelings of guilt at leaving Sam behind? A conversation or something with somebody about the future he has lost? What about anger like at the beginning of 2x22 All Hell Breaks Loose Part II?

With the lack of these things, a casual viewer would be forgiven for seeing nothing more than Dean dying to save Sam. What struck me upon rewatch was the fact that this is now Dean’s second Gardens of Gethsemane moment, the first of which was 2x20 What is and What Should Never Be. I expounded on this in great length in my analysis of that episode so will refrain from repeating myself too much, but in case you are not familiar with Christian mythology, this is a reference to Jesus’s fear the night of his betrayal by Judas, his pleading with God to ‘let this cup of suffering pass from me’, but ultimately accepting his fate if God so wills it – ‘not my will but yours be done’.

In 2x20, Dean chose to sacrifice his own dreamworld (and metaphorically himself) in order to save one dying girl. In this episode, he chooses to accept his fate and goes to the gallows with his head held high, only to suffer a brutal, painful death in order to save somebody else (this time Sam) before going to Hell. The story of Jesus’s descent to Hell is not related in the Bible, but rather forms the fifth article of the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;

A traditional concept in Christian belief is the Harrowing of Hell, though this is not part of the Bible either. The idea is that during Jesus’s time in Hell, he defeated those held captive in Hell and freed the righteous men and women from the Old Testament before his resurrection. If this sounds familiar to you, remember that Cas is appearing in the next episode, the one who gripped Dean tight and raised him from perdition.

The episode of Cas’s first appearance is called Lazarus Rising, named after the dead man whom Jesus resurrected. This puts Cas in the role of Jesus and Dean in the role of Lazarus, but the similarities between Dean and Lazarus are superficial: his similarities with Jesus are much deeper. Once again, I do not mean that Dean is the superverse’s Jesus, but rather than his character bears a great resemblance to Jesus.

Sticking with the subject of Jesus for a moment longer, one of Jesus’s epithet’s in the Enemy of Death because in choosing to die and being resurrected, he made death meaningless. Jesus conquered death and thereby changed the entire story: the Easter celebration is to mark this belief in Christianity: that though we will die, we need not fear it if we believe in and follow Jesus. The belief is that Jesus won and we can all go and join him in Heaven where:

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

It is appropriate, therefore, that upon his eventual introduction in the show, Death should take an especial interest in and liking for Dean. This relationship with Death began in 2x01 In My Time of Dying (via Tessa, his reaper) continues for the rest of the show, at first amicable, but eventually turning hostile until Death’s successor truly treats Dean as her enemy and needs him sent into the void with Morgoth so he can stop upsetting the natural order, i.e. to give Death her power back.

I have said it once and it bears repeating: the show should have ended with Dean picking up the scythe and becoming the new Death.

(I originally saw the Dean-as-Jesus-figure in Paula Stiles’ analysis of 15x18 Despair. Please do go and read her stuff if you enjoy what I do.)

As for Dean’s actual death in the episode, it was unexpectedly brutal and graphic. I have watched it once or twice, but in every rewatch I turn the sound off and look away as soon as Lilith says ‘sic ‘em’. On the one hand, it is unpleasant to watch (especially given how cursed I am with empathy and a vivid imagination) but I am glad the death was given the visceral gravitas it deserved. It was savage so that the audience could really feel it and did Dean’s story justice in a way an off-screen death simply would not have. It was like how I imagine Mr Muldoon’s death in Jurassic Park would have been if they had actually shown it happening.

Remember that Dean’s death here is only the overture to what awaits him in Hell. In the Superverse, one month on Earth equals one decade in Hell. By the time Sam recovers after Lilith tries to kill him, the sun has risen implying around 6 hours at least had passed since Dean’s death just after midnight. Three days is roughly a year in Hell. One day is four months. Six hours is one Hell month. One hour is roughly six and a half Hell days. Dean had been in Hell for six Earth hours, equalling around five weeks. If we assume that how Dean described Hell in 4x11 Family Remains was how things worked from his first day there, he had already been tortured to death thirty-six times.

Remember when I say ‘torture’, I mean parts of him were cut off and cut out. Was he flayed alive his first time? Or… My brain is unfortunately capable of conjuring up far too many horrific and disgusting possibilities, as I am sure yours is too. In my previous analysis, I wrote about sexual violence and its impact on mental health, but what I neglected to mention is that these people are damaged because they survived. If people who died were able to talk to us, what kind of things would they say? What kind of damage would they be dealing with?

Being killed by the Hellhound would have caused serious mental damage to Dean, but when next we see him chained up with hooks in his flesh, he has endured worse for over a month, severely compounding the damage. How would the torture with the chains have ended? Would the hooks have been pulled out of his body so that he bled to death? Would he have been pulled apart?

This is the end of part one of my analysis. Part two is available here.

You can read more of my analyses here:

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

Sundry

And you can read Paula’s here.

[akajustmerry]

merry do u think it's worth watching The Walking Dead in the year 2024 b/c michonne and rick seem cute do u think it's worth it also i don't rly like Action per se but I do like sci fi your posts are getting to me but idk I think I never watched the show b/c it seemed to be very like. Ooh we're cool and touch and grrr grizzled men being so tough or idk. I just never got to it

@divinecruelty hiiiiii ❤️ omg I'm not going to lie to you there's lots of manly man grrrrrr bullshit in the early seasons....it does taper off though (never fully goes alas)! but honestly I think if you like speculative fiction and post-apocalypse "how the fuck does one rebuild the world?" stories then the walking dead will keep you entertained!!! the action is very story driven. as I always say, twd is a soap opera with zombies to keep things moving. some seasons have more action than others, but it's all very character driven and the practical horror/gore effects make it really fun. do I think the walking dead is worth watching for rick and michonne? mate, absolutely. that's the greatest love story and romance in television history right there and watching the walking dead is the only way to experience it <3 michonne is a main character from season 3 and season 1 and 2 are the shortest so if you do start twd, you don't have long to wait! elements of it have not aged well, fair warning! but overall it's like any cult series - worth the watch if you like the thing!!! I don't recommend any of the spin offs other than the ones who live but idk what the ones who live would be like to watch if you were not REALLY familiar with rick and michonne's antics in twd ❤️

[sansanwritersguild]

New Year, New AU Prompts are here!

Thank you to all who signed up! Can't wait to read the prompt fills!

Your prompt fill should be at least 500 words. Your fill can be a drabble, text message fic, one-shot, multi-chapter, whatever you choose.

Please tag "SanSan New Year, New AU 2024" on AO3 and/or tumblr so we can track all the wonderful fics!

Post by 29 February. For multi-chapter fics, you’ll only need to have posted the first chapter by 29 February. You can post sooner than this. If real life crops up and your fill will be delayed, just post as soon as you can. If you’re unable to fill your prompt, please reach out to @sansanwritersguild.

Prompts assignments are below the cut:

1: To: @littlewolfbird From: @fuzzychapstick (AO3: Glitterswitch)

High school AU! The older characters can either be fellow students or teachers. Sansa must be a student, however. Bonus points for either cheerleading!Sansa or aversion-to-sweat!Sansa. Most smut is fine, if you want to go that direction, just no urination or defecation kinks. No Sansa and Arya haters.

To: @rayne11 From: @musicfanforlife (AO3: Kylorenfan123)

Horror movie au. You can choose whatever character dynamic you want though I am partial to horror antagonists x protagonists. Smut is fine.

To: @corinalannister From: @3rdstarksistr (AO3: 3rdstarksistr)

Tavern or Bar AU. Smut is fine. No non-con or pregnancy/babies.

To: @fuzzychapstick From: @corinalannister (AO3: CorinaLannister)

Modern day historian Sansa gets thrown back in time to a Westeros of the past. She's not just researching the past, she's now living in it. Sandor is the only one who knows she's not from the time period. Smut is fine. No male pregnancy (female pregnancy is fine).

To: @3rdstarksistr From: @rayne11 (AO3: rayne11)

Futuristic AU: where Sansa is an AI (who may or may not "come to life") and Sandor is a grumpy, lonely but ultimately good at heart individual, long suffering due to the antics of his dear sister Eleanor. No smut. Nothing too dark/sad. I'd appreciate something relatively light hearted. No SA/Violence (may be included in backstory). No troubling scenarios involving Starks (let them all live pls if they're in the fic), Joffrey, or Ramsay, or LF.

To: @cranberry-wine From: @estevnys (AO3: estevnys)

Apocalypse AU. Sandor and Sansa are traveling across the apocalyptic landscape to escape from the Lannisters on his motorcycle "Stranger" :rofl:. Choice of apocalypse up to you-- zombies in no way required. Think Beth and Daryl from TWD. Smut is fine.

To: @ricketyrunt From: @shoshi.gideon (AO3: Shmae)

The Bachelorette AU. Smut is fine.

To: @lemonoak From: @cranberry-wine (AO3: Cranberry_Wine)

Inside the universe of Stephen King's fictional setting of Castle Rock, Maine. Smut is fine.

To: @musicalfanforlife_93 From: @littlewolfbird (AO3: Littlewolfbird)

Your Expertise AU. Whatever you are best at - professionally, hobby-wise, et cetera - that's the AU that I want to read about. Smut is fine. No dubcon, no rape (past mentions is fine), no incest, no minors (as in one is a minor the other is not), no bdsm.

To: @estevnys From: @ricketyrunt (AO3: Ricketyrunt)

Picture them getting stuck in an elevator during a power outage, forcing them to confront fears, share personal stories, and create a unique bond under tense circumstances. Smut is fine. I Don’t love alpha/beta/omega dynamics, but I also want you to write your own thang!

To: @shoshi.gideon From: @lemonoak (AO3: LemonOak)

Mafia princess Sansa and Made man Sandor, what happens is up to you. Smut is fine. No gun or knife kink. No rape or dislike.

[paleshelter29]

Day 15. Favorite Episode: I actually don’t have one honestly

Day 16. A scene that made you laugh: Not sure really, maybe Jerry’s antics in the scene where Carol meets Ezekiel and Jerry keeps saying funny things and both Benjamin and Ezekiel keep looking confused

Day 17. A scene that made you cry: Benjamin’s death scene because he was so matter of fact about it and knew he was dying (I honestly hate that scene too because they had no reason to kill him off, honestly, Morgan could have went downhill from something else happening, Ben didn’t have to die, he had potential to be an amazing character) Also Henry, Enid, and Tara’s deaths which were pointless honestly because it did nothing except get the Kingdom angry (and could Carol stop losing her kids?) the whole scene with Alden where he adopts Adam and also goes with Maggie on that death mission (cause you just know he’s going to die) Glenn.

Day 18. Weapon of choice: BO STAFF (I’m learning to use one anyways so why not?)

Day 19. Character you’d kill: NEGAN OF FRACKING COURSE! Also Alpha!

Day 20. Favorite Ship: Lol ummm, I like a very weird ship nobody’s probably thought about. I do like Carnid too though

Day 21. Dead Character you would bring back: THERE ARE SO MANY, Sasha, Benjamin, and a few others are top of my list though

Day 22. Favorite Friendship: Daryl and Connie. Morgan and Benjamin. Carl and Enid. Too many to choose from

Day 23. Most iconic scene: again, I’m drawing a blank

Day 24. Favorite Walker Kill: I tend to remember that the walkers were humans so it’s hard to answer this question

Day 25. A death that shocked you: Glenn’s, Gages, Alden’s, Benjamin’s, Sasha’s, Carl’s, and Enid’s deaths

Day 26. Favorite Villain: I don’t have one because they’re all psychopaths and murderers so I’m not a fan

Day 27. Favorite Happy Scene: hmmm, I really love the scene with younger Henry and Benjamin where Benjamin is at the table with Morgan and Henry gets up to go to the movies and you see Ben being really sweet and trying to raise Henry. That was also the moment I knew Twd was going to kill Benjamin though, so it’s a bittersweet scene for me.

[madhyanas]

maggie + glenn r so annoying

[specialneedz]

GAY JESUS CONFIRMED

[dixonlvr-online]

Friendly faces, unfamiliar spaces

Pairings: Carol Peletier x Reader (platonic), King Ezekiel x Reader (platonic), Princess x Reader (platonic)

Warnings: No Daryl in this one, sorry

Genre: Fun times with friends

A/N: Not a Daryl story though the reader is in a relationship with him. Really wanted to write about friendship moments because all the TWD friendships mean so much to me. Hope you like it too.

“Y/N!”

You turned at the sound of your name. The Commonwealth was a big place, and to you, every corner looked the same. You’d been wandering around, trying to get your bearings, when you were pulled out of your thoughts.

You placed the voice as soon as you saw him. King Ezekiel, or just Ezekiel now, standing outside the flower shop with an unfamiliar woman. You smiled wide, striding over to him.

“Zeke! How are you?” you exclaimed, arms out for a hug. He smiled and hugged you, laughing as you squeezed him harder. You pulled apart, grinning. “It’s been so long. How’s everything for you?” you asked.

“I am wonderful, Y/N, truly,” he beamed. “I’d like you to meet my new companion, Princess,” Ezekiel said, gesturing to the woman next to him. You smiled politely at her and held out a hand.

“Princess, huh? You know he used to be King Ezekiel,” you remarked. Princess laughed loudly, shaking your hand with gusto. You couldn’t help but be drawn to her energy right away.

“Seriously? You never told me that!” she exclaimed, turning to Ezekiel. He scratched a hand on the back of his neck, sheepishly smiling.

“It’s not important. Y/N just likes to tease,” he said, shooting you a mock glare. You laughed at his reaction.

“Sorry, Zeke, but you’ll always be a king in here,” you teased, placing a hand over your heart. Ezekiel playfully rolled his eyes while Princess laughed louder. You joined in, soaking in this moment of simple joy in the presence of your friend. You were warming to the Commonwealth a little more now.

You saw the expression on Ezekiel’s face suddenly drop to one of neutrality. You looked over your shoulder to see his view, when you caught sight of Carol, heading your way. You waved a hand in greeting as she approached.

“Hey, Carol! How’s it going?” you greeted, leaning in for a quick hug. She smiled at you, then at Princess, then hesitantly at Ezekiel. Things were still weird between them, you surmised, despite Daryl’s protests that everything was fine. Men, you thought, are clueless about this kind of thing. Therefore, you didn’t trust a word Daryl said on the matter.

“I’m good,” she replied, “just on my way to the bakery. How are you all this morning?” Princess recounted for her the morning inventory she’d counted in response. You watched Carol nod politely as she listened, but noticed the way her eyes flickered to Ezekiel every few seconds. He shuffled from foot to foot the whole conversation, hands fidgeting at his sides. You took the opportunity to jump in.

“Actually, Carol, I needed to talk to you about something. Can we walk and talk?” you said, causing Carol to turn to you, puzzled. 

“Sure, sounds good to me,” she said. You turned one last time to Ezekiel and Princess.

“Nice to see you, Ezekiel. And nice to meet you, Princess. I’ll hopefully see you again soon,” you said in parting. They smiled back and said goodbye, and then you were off with Carol.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Carol asked once you were a few feet away. You grinned mischievously at her.

“Oh, nothing, really. Just needed an excuse to get you away,” you revealed. Carol shook her head.

“What are you up to?” she questioned, turning to see your reaction. You continued to smile back at her.

“I’m not doing anything!” you exclaimed, raising your eyebrows at the woman. She narrowed her eyes, not believing you after so many years of knowing you and your antics. You bit your lip to suppress a smile.

“So…what’s up with you and Ezekiel?” you asked, trying to keep your voice as cool and casual as possible. Carol scoffed, catching on instantly.

“We’re fine. We’re friendly. Why are you asking?” she replied, attempting to brush you off. You wouldn’t let her get away that easily.

“Okay, that back there was not ‘fine and friendly.’ You were both so weird! Do you think you’ll ever get back together? Or at least be friends again?” you pressed, watching her pull her lip between her teeth as you spoke.

“Ezekiel and I…” she began, before shaking her head. “No, I don’t think we’re getting back together. I don’t want to. It wasn’t the right match,” she said. You kept quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“As for friendship, we’re friendly now. We still care about each other. I care about him, at least. That’s good enough for now,” she said. You nodded in understanding. You could tell this had been weighing on her for some time. With Henry’s death, the loss of the Kingdom, and the war with Alpha recently behind her, it was no surprise their relationship had fallen through the cracks. You rested a hand on her arm, drawing her attention. 

“You know you’re welcome to come by and eat dinner with us any time. Or just hang out. Daryl and the kids love having you there. And we need something fun to brighten up that horrible apartment,” you said, watching a smile cross her face at your last comment.

“Yes, I’d like that too,” she replied, placing her hand over yours. The two of you continued to chat until you reached the bakery, where she had to get ready for work. You parted with a hug and started to walk back to your apartment.

You knew things were weird now, but when had things not been weird in the last 12 years? Every new place had needed an adjustment period, and you were grateful now that you were surrounded by people you cared about, and who cared about you.

Yeah, the Commonwealth really was starting to feel like home.

[bakedcrispss]

congrats on 1k my love 🥺 id love to be shipped with pedro and/or twd characters im an introvert but will be v attached and undyingly loyal to someone i love. ive been described by my family as being cold and rough but my friends say im v soft (idk why so weird. they also say im a sub also so weird). even tho i can be closed off ill take care of the ppl i love no matter what. i love music, writing, long drives, and collecting crystals. i have lots of piercings and a couple tattoos. im 5'6ish and v slender and have long brown/blond hair and brown eyes and small hands (pls i wanna hold someone's hand skdjdd) anyways i love you x10000000 i hope you get a bajillion more followers

AWWIIE HEY BESTIE 🥺 thank u for submitting!! 💘💕

I SHIP YOU WITH FRANKIE MORALES!

you and frankie would meet in a coffee shop! maybe you were suppose to be meeting up with a date and for some dumbass reason they stood you up? frankie will be your saviour! he simply thinks a beautiful girl like you can't just be left alone like that; it's a damn crime! who the fuck was that asshole who stood you up? sucks for them because this pilot of ours is going to be taking their place.

holy shit, frankie finds your tattoos and piercings the coolest damn thing ever. he has a few on himself and some having a story behind them! he'll definitely ask for the meaning of each of your tattoos and express his interest in them through longing looks. your piercings? christ, if you somehow reveal you have one on very intimate parts of your body, he will burst into every shades of red and would very shyly compliment them.

frankie's soft and comforting nature enables your introverted self to become a bit more mellowed out. he'll introduce you to the boys, he'll make you feel included and loved. all his life, he's equally as awkward and endearingly so, so he knows how it feels to be an introvert amongst his peers. he doesn't want you to feel left out.

conversation with frankie will flow smoothly. he's the biggest dork to have ever walked the earth and his dumbass antics shows that clearly. he'd be the type to go outside and take pictures of things that reminds him of you! like out of nowhere you'll get a very shaky photo of a lapis lazuli he found in the mall. you mention an album that you like? oh god, frankie's out hunting for that and buying it for you. he loves to be able to support you with whatever hobby you love to do! you write? maybe frankie can proof read things from you. just expect him to be very biased of his feedback!

your attentive self is what frankie really needs. he can get very destructive sometimes and it could get out of hand, he needs somebody to take care of him and maybe that could be you. long drives with him could be something that could calm him down. you're his safe place, and he honestly just needs you there with him to cradle him in your arms. guaranteed, you will get hand holding galore from frankie! he absolutely adores the petite fit of your hands with his, and he will hold it every chance he gets. maybe he'll even give few pecks on your knuckles while he's on the wheel.

Want a ship? Send an ask :)

Post / Rules!

[imagines-for-the-fangirls-soul]

If your still doing ships can I get a male HP, TWD, OUAT and MCU? I’m 5’7, 23 years old and I have long Ash brown hair. (That’s me in my profile pic) I’m shy when you first meet me but then I open up and become this really outgoing girl. Right now I’m in college getting my A.A. to become an elementary school teacher. I love listening to music in my free time and I’m also a dancer. I also love to bake. I just started reading your writing and it’s amazing, can’t wait to read more!

Thank you sm! I ship you with . . .

Harry Potter:

I ship you with George! George is just as funny as Fred but is often in his shadow because George is just a lot more shy. So he would definitely like you because you’re kind of shy like him. Also George really likes helping people, especially people younger than him, so the two of you would bond over your shared passion of helping people, particularly by teaching.

The Walking Dead:

I ship you with Negan! I haven’t watched in forever but I feel like he said he helped kids before the apocalypse? Anyways, I think he would really be drawn to you because you’re shy and like kids and just everything that he has built himself not to be. He would definitely want to change to show you that he can be a good man for you.

OUAT:

I ship you with Phillip! You remind me a lot of Aurora tbh. He would meet you at a dance and immediately admire your talent. He would try to get to know you, and even though you’re shy, he would do whatever he could to break through that and get to know you better. He would love that you want to be a teacher and support you fully.

Marvel:

I ship you with Bruce! I think he craves a soft, simple life, and you could give that to him! He would love to have evenings with you where you tell him about the crazy antics of your classroom as the two of you danced to gentle music in your home while the smell of your most recent baked food fills your home.

[clementineviolet]

I just got to thinking.. Like, why does Violet 'warn' Clem about "not falling into Louis' trap" and things like why did she act SO annoyed when Louis asks about Clem ever having a bf or if she has any feelings for anyone in the group. I mean, Clem and Vi doesn't really flirt yk and if you go the friend route with her, it all flows so natural and Vi doesn't really seem disappointed whereas Louis is clearly that if Clem friend-zones him. It doesn't feel like she's jealous so why does she do that??

this is an OLD ask but I saw that @aesthetic-survivor-of-twd answered this question here!! https://aesthetic-survivor-of-twd.tumblr.com/post/179079894601/what-does-violet-mean-when-she-tells 

I feel like Violet works a lot to hide her feelings, especially after Minnie’s “death”. She doesn’t want to seem vulnerable and wants to appear untouched by whatever goes on. But I do think that her acting annoyed when Louis flirts with Clem is partially because she is jealous since she has her own crush on Clem and because she has a sisterly relationship with Louis and gets annoyed by his antics very easily. I think if you go the friendship route with Violet, Violet doesn’t expect Clem to like her back (again because of the whole presumption of heterosexuality thing and because Violet doesn’t outwardly flirt with Clem unlike Louis) and has also experienced loss before so she is able to more easily mask her emotions compared to Louis, who is more visibly upset and flustered when Clem decides to go the friendship route with him.