#JUST EXPLAIN PLEASE JONAH AND LISA

[baltears]

made this visual of all the times williams theme popped up in this scene because im mad that i still cant figure out why it’s in there

#I keep looking at it expecting that if i just look long enough i'll see something 😑 #but yeah still. no idea #it's absolutely impossible that they did this accidentally (like. lol. come on) but WHAT #I UNDERSTAND why dolores' theme showed up during the william sequence in 2x04. that one made sense like it seemed obvious #but why this scene for this?? why here??? what could this possibly have to do with him or her relationship with him or anything #does emmett have some sort of significance here that i didn't catch?? #also before anyone comes in my notes telling me im overthinking this. no im not. this show's score is used very intentionally #i've mentioned that this is a variation on william's theme that first showed up in vanishing point so i thought maybe it had to do with that #but there's just nothing linking these two things in my brain lol. how would christina finding out about the closed system relate to william #I had this theory a while back based on a couple of small hints that potentially christina might be an amalgam of dolores and william #which would make this make a little bit more sense... but that's not the direction they seem to have gone since she just is dolores #the only thing that's coming to mind is that the ''walled garden'' is related to william somehow. which i guess wouldn't... not make sense.. #the phrase ''walled garden'' was initially brought up as a way of explaining how the hosts have perfect memories that preserve everything #and obviously a major plot point in season one was dolores' perfect recall of william because she relived all her memories of him #and i have posited that a major part of season 5 is going to be william kind of being. reconstructed. into something closer to his old self #but that still feels like suuuuch a reach lol. like the dots still aren't quite connecting #My best guess is just that this is some sort of very very subtle foreshadowing that is meant to pay off in season 5 #BUT WE MIGHT NEVER GET. A SEASON FIVE. #JUST EXPLAIN PLEASE JONAH AND LISA #grr!! it's gonna bother me until i know >:( #westworld

[bran-writes]

Flashback: An Outlier Lunch

The Outliers have been together since before middle school, but these are the years they solidified as a group and stuck together for the rest of their lives.

May 12th 2025

“Yo, seriously. What do you guys think?”

Kwin McCall sat across from Zig-Zag at lunch but looked around at his friends to see who would answer first. Gabi sat to his right and was already halfway done with her food. She’d left her library class early to snag their favorite picnic table outside, while Harlo, Zig, Kwin and Jonah walked from the annex to get their food. 

“Zig with a vlog channel?” Harlo asked, opening his bag of chips and dumping them on his tray. 

“No, about starting a porn channel… Yes, the vlog.”

“Fuck it,” Kwin shrugged, twisting the cap from his water bottle. “You’re more interesting than half the people who have a lot of followers.”

Zig stared across at him down the rim of his glasses, gaging whether Kwin was being serious. When Zig realized he meant it, he nodded, “Thanks Kwin.”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Jonah chuckled. 

Kwin’s mother always packed him a water bottle for lunch, whether he had a meal to go with it or ate from the cafeteria. Three days a week he trained at Knox’s Dojo after school- the water bottles she loaded him up with every day were a measure to ensure he stayed hydrated. In the past few weeks, she’d started packing extra for Jonah. Kwin handed the boy to his left a water, which his friend accepted graciously. Harlo nudged Zig in his side and smiled with a mouth full of pizza. 

“You can get the new celebrity here to guest star, probably pump your views up.”

“In the porn or the vlogs?” Zig smirked.

“I don’t see why you can’t do both,” Jonah suggested. 

“Oh, look at that, Zig,” Kwin nodded to Harlo with a slight smile, “You don’t even need followers, you’ve got your own biggest fan right here.”

“Oh, we’re sorry, are you not used to being all big and famous yet?” Gabi feigned ignorance.

Last month, Kwin’s grandfather brought the boy out to a red carpet premiere and to do interviews with him in support of a new movie, The Package Boy- a  horror film Sam McCall wrote and produced. The main character of that movie, Joseph, was heavily inspired by Kwin himself, so Sam invited his grandson along for some publicity and a few minutes in the spotlight. Thinking back on it, he had the sneaking suspicion that Sam pulled him out of school that week for the press run as some kind of gesture. A “Hey, sorry I’m not around much and never really talk to you, how’d you like to be on TV?” sort of gesture. Kwin didn’t care for it in hindsight. Especially since his friends wouldn’t let him forget it. 

“Oh, come on, Kwin,” Harlo grinned. “You were a natural out there. You’ve got a future, I can see it!”

“Three Pines Middle School’s first celebrity alumni,” Zig-Zag bucked his eyebrows.

Gabi pulled out her phone. “I’ve been meaning to check back on that, by the way.”

“Check on what?” Jonah leaned forward and craned his neck to get a better look. Kwin rolled his eyes when he realized Jonah was goading him. 

“To see how much attention our Kwinjamin here is really getting.”

Kwin hated that nickname, but couldn’t get mad at Gabi. Being friends since primary school got her a lot of mileage. “You don’t have to check on that.”

“Sure I do. Let’s see, I don’t wanna check the official video’s comments. The only people commenting about you on that vid are middle aged housewives talking about how much more well-mannered you are than their kids. Oh and pushy movie nerds talking about how the horror genre is dead.”

“That’s not the kind of pumping up our boy needs,” Zig agreed, staring at Kwin with an appraising look. “Yeah, go where the teenagers hang out on the Internet, see what all the hype about our boy here is about.”

“Got it,” Gabi snapped her fingers. “Kenny Mischief covered the news.”

“Wow, he did?” Kwin leaned over to inspect the phone. Zig snorted. 

“Talk about worthless vloggers.”

“I’ll have you know, Zig-Zag, that Mister Mischief has quite the teen following,” Gabi tutted. 

“Don’t remind me.”

Gabi cleared her throat and loosened her shoulders before sitting up straight. “Lisa Lee says: ‘That dude’s grandkid looks like that? Social media stalking intensifies’. Charlotte Hermes commented: ‘I wish boys at my school were that cuuuute’. She added the weary emoji face too,” Gabi pointed down at the phone and stared up at Kwin with an appraising stare. 

“I really hope these comments are from, y’know, people our age. Cause this could get weird,” Zig chuckled. 

“You made your point, yeah?” Kwin laughed. Jonah glanced up at him, able to read his embarrassment in a heartbeat. 

“Mm, I have, but now I’m just having fun. Lucky Babe commented: Does he come with the tickets? Tracey Two-Step Smith says: ‘Oh he’s cute for a white boy… And a Ginger’. A heated race debate ensued in the replies over that one,” Gabi chuckled. She set the phone down on the table. “Okay, now I’m done.”

“Told you you’re a ginger,” Harlo laughed.

“I’m not… Douchebag,” Kwin threw a chip at Harlo, who caught against his chest and popped it into his mouth. “Gross.”

“When are you going to accept your people, Kwin?” Zig asked, eager to continue this long-running debate.

“My hair’s blonde.”

“Eh, reddish blonde,” Jonah shrugged.

“Hey, you’re drinking my water, you’re supposed to back me up.”

“Just accept it so you can move on, Kwin. We need to settle it,” Harlo shrugged. “Closure once and for all.”

“You want me to prove it?” They stared at him questioningly until he stood up and unhooked his belt with a daring smile. “I swear, I will. I’ll give you some closure you’ll never forget.”

“Oh, God, please don’t,” Gabi smacked Kwin’s leg.

“Please do! Wait, I need to get the camera out first,” Zig rooted in his bag for his new DSLR. “We can get this vlog started off right now.”

“Kwin, what are you doing?” Jonah laughed.

“Whaddaya say, Harlo? Should we settle it? Get three coffins ready,” Kwin dramatically shifted his gaze to Gabi and unzipped his fly for full effect. “My mistake. Four Coffins.” 

“Jonah, you said you were gonna stop letting him watch that movie,” Zig sighed. 

“I did. Harlo, back down please. You know he’ll do it.”

Kwin knew Harlo well enough to know he always buckled first in any game of chicken. Especially games like this. Some of the other middle schoolers in the courtyard glanced in their direction, but Kwin was undeterred. In fact, it sort of thrilled him. He locked eyes with Harlo.

“Okay, okay,” Harlo held his hands over his eyes.

“Say I’m not a ginger,” Kwin smirked. 

“You’re not a ginger, geez. You are crazy, though.”

“Crazy’s okay. I can handle crazy,” Kwin zipped and buckled back up, feeling triumphant. 

“You’re the worst,” Jonah shook his head yet was couldn’t hide his smile. Knowing how to best get to Jonah, Kwin wrapped an arm around him, laying his head on his friend’s shoulder with a contented sigh.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t be the worst without my best,” Kwin patted Jonah’s shoulder even as Zig-Zag snapped a photo. 

“You guys are just so cute,” Zig lilted. 

“So wait a second,” Harlo pointed a fork at Zig. “Your mom paid you to help her out at the camp, right? The all girls camp?”

“Cool your jets, I worked in the main office.”

“Right, and the first thing you buy with your money is a fancy camera? That wasn’t a red flag for her?”

“Ha, very funny, Harlo. She helped me pick it out. I told her vlogging was gonna be my new hobby. And Gabi helped me buy it, too.”

“Yeah, so be careful what you do with, or we’ll both go down for the crime.”

“What’d your mom say about your vlogging idea?” Kwin asked around a mouthful of chips. Zig shrugged.

“She said it’s better than getting to high school and selling weed. For some reason she thinks that was my fate.”

“Still a red flag,” Harlo smiled.

“Oh! Speaking of,” Gabi pointed an accusing finger at Zig-Zag, whose eyes grew wide.

“What’s with people pointing at me today?” 

“Outlier Court is in session,” Gabi narrowed her eyes.

“Yo, can she just call a trial in session by herself?”

“I thought she was the judge,” Kwin shrugged and took a bite of pizza.

Outlier Court held a very special purpose in their friend group: It was their way of calling each other out on transgressions. “Hit us,” Jonah said, dramatically pushing his food to the side and steeping his fingers. 

“We’re Outliers, right?” Everyone agreed. “So we’re all of the understanding that we don’t do basic shit.” Gabi dramatically enunciated her words, which meant this case was already closed. Kwin looked from Zig to Gabi in anticipation, his mouth full food. Gabi set her arms on the table, lips pressed in a thin line. 

“What’d I do?” Zig shrugged.

“Oh, I think I know what this is,” Harlo laughed around food, using a hand to cover his mouth. His eyes squinted with joy. “Sorry, bud. I was gonna ignore it.”

“But that’s not how we correct the behavior is it, Harlo?” Gabi continued. Kwin was confused. Jonah voiced that confusion.

“Somebody explain it for Kwin, he’s lost.”

“If we are, in fact, Outliers, and we’re already past basic, annoying phone etiquette… Explain to me, Zig-Zag Sutter, why I’ve been woken up the past two mornings with mirror selfies from you. In the group chat of all places,” Gabi admonished. 

“That’s right!” Kwin slapped the table. Some of the other kids in the courtyard glanced back their way. 

“I was wondering what that was about,” Jonah nodded. 

“Yo, everybody relax. There’s a perfectly good explanation for it.”

“The court would like to hear it,” Gabi crossed a leg over her knee and folded her hands, the picture of professionalism. 

“You guys know I’ve lost a lot of weight-,”

“All of it,” Harlo corrected. 

“And I like to show it off - shut up- but I can’t do it just anywhere cause I’ll get clowned. Nobody cares so I gotta vent where people do care,” Zig-Zag shrugged.

“Well we don’t care either,” Jonah shrugged. 

“Sure as hell not six in the damn morning.” Gabi added. 

“There’s also, like two more reasons. One, it’s everybody’s wake-up text.”

“I’d rather have a regular text, though,” Kwin smiled. 

“Also, I kinda like showing off how much better I look by the time I get to school compared to when I just wake up,” Zig flashed a rare grin.

“You look trash when you wake up,” Kwin chuckled. 

“Yo, will you relax?”

“You look trash now, too,” Jonah added. The group’s laughter unfortunately spread to Harlo, who was in the process of drinking milk. He instantly coughed it back up and sent the liquid spraying in all directions, thought most of it ended up on his face. The group roared louder as Harlo wiped his face with his shirt, still shaking with laughter. 

#writeblr