#the group of 7 don't even have to be the remaining survivors | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

edenesth · 10 months

Text

Undying Bonds (Part 6)

Pairing: Hongjoong x fem!reader, Seonghwa x fem!reader

AU: zombie apocalypse au

Word Count: 3.1k

Summary: What could be worse than being separated from the love of your life in a zombie apocalypse? Hongjoong was forced to leave you behind with his friend, Seonghwa, as he ventures out alone to search for the rest of his missing group members. Will Hongjoong be successful in his solo mission to find his members? Will he be able to return to you unscathed? And what happens when you're stuck with his caring best friend, who is hopelessly in love with you, for too long?

Part 5 | Masterlist | Part 7

"Lix hyung, I-I can't do this. Especially not to the pretty noona, she's been nothing but kind to us!"

Felix felt his blood boil at the younger's words, he knew this would happen. He'd protested and told Bang Chan again and again that sending the newest and youngest member of the team out with him was a bad idea. Jeongin was much too innocent and soft-hearted to pull this off, he reminded Felix greatly of his old self that was once just as harmless before the world destroyed every last bit of that innocence.

Let's just say he's learned the hard way that kindness and doing good get you absolutely nowhere in this cruel world.

So did the rest of Stray Kids, that was how the gang was formed in the first place. The boys were a bunch of misfits who strayed from the standards of society, they didn't want to be like everyone else; always putting on a façade and trying to be someone who they weren't. People act like saints on the outside when deep down, they were all just monsters with different kinds of greed.

If there was anything that the eldest members of Stray Kids taught Felix, it would be that humans are all the same. Even the kindest ones you see now, those were just people who have yet to see the dark side of humanity and the world. And once they have, they would all eventually understand just how utterly pointless it was to have sympathy, goodwill and compassion.

To put it simply, in this selfish world, only the selfish succeed.

Even if the world was different now, what remained the same was the fact that only power and wealth truly mattered.

That was exactly why Stray Kids thrived in this environment. They had power so long as they were feared by the remaining survivors of the apocalypse and all the wealth from the resources that they have attained through their many 'operations' just like the current one, where you, Seonghwa and Mingi were the latest targets.

Jeongin cowered away from the scowl forming on his elder teammate's face, "That's the point though, isn't it? We only target fools like these, did you think we were going to succeed if we were to approach survivors who wouldn't even bat an eyelash our way?" Felix glowered softly, not wanting to risk you or Mingi overhearing any of the words exchanged between them while you were still distracted by Seonghwa's injury.

"Pull yourself together, Jeongin. Don't make me repeat myself again. One more foolish word from your mouth and I'll make sure Minho hyung hears about this." Eyes rounding at the mention of the scariest member of the gang, the youngest gulps before nodding quickly, "Y-yes, hyung."

Under different circumstances, Felix would have felt bad for Jeongin or even shared the same sentiments as the younger male.

Sure, you were all very selfless for going out of your way to save them even when you had no idea who they were. Not to mention, you were ready to take them in and willingly share your already limited supplies knowing there'd be two extra mouths to feed.

The old him wouldn't have hesitated to pay you back with his life if needed but the current Felix would simply thank you for your generosity by enjoying your resources with his team later on once this was done and over with.

He cursed to himself when he spotted Mingi approaching the two of them like he was on a mission, he could tell the tall male was growing suspicious of them. He only hoped that neither of you realises the zombie that almost got Seonghwa killed was actually physically enhanced by a unique solution cooked up by their resident genius, Seungmin.

This was a tactic they have been actively utilising all this while in hopes of eliminating their targets early on to avoid the whole victim act that he and Jeongin now had to put on.

Felix might have celebrated a little too soon when witnessing Seonghwa get attacked by their very own super zombie, he couldn't hide his disappointment when Mingi took their masterpiece out with a single blow of his axe to the neck. Lucky for him, you were too caught up in your silly emotions to notice.

It truly was a shame that Seonghwa didn't die, the dude was obviously a solid fighter and it was always survivors with strong willpower like this that they wished to get rid of first.

He cleared his throat and focused on fixing his facial expressions to get his act together, eyeing Jeongin to make sure the younger does the same as they sense Mingi's intimidating footsteps approaching.

Oh boy, here we go.

This was probably the longest you've gone without having even a single thought of Hongjoong going through your mind. All you could see and care about at the moment was Seonghwa.

Contrary to what Mingi thinks, now more than ever, you acknowledge how much Park Seonghwa meant to you. Even long before the outbreak of the zombie virus, you weren't blind to his constant presence in your life. He was always there for you, especially during the times when Hongjoong couldn't.

You always knew you could count on him, no matter what you needed him for. You used to think to yourself about what a good friend he was to you and to all of the boys too. He was just a reliable person that everyone naturally goes to when in need of comfort or stability. But you weren't able to fully comprehend the extent of your reliance on him until this moment.

The thought of a life without him around, it terrified you tremendously.

It must have been hours but you've honestly lost track of how long you remained seated by Seonghwa's side with no intentions of leaving him at all.

You wanted to be there for him the same way he's always wordlessly been there for you. You wanted to be the first one he sees when he regains consciousness, the same way he's always the first one to hold you whenever you needed comfort. It was your turn to repay him for all the care he's so tirelessly invested in you.

Your crying ceased a while ago and you chose instead to focus on his even breathing, it calmed you to know he was at least getting the rest he deserved after all the disruption you've caused just the night before.

Relax, he's alive. He'll be just fine, he must be.

Hearing the muffled sound of voices talking from the small gap of the door that Mingi left open to the back room, you were reminded of Felix and Jeongin's presence.

Sighing in complete exhaustion, you decide to leave the boys to your friend's care for now. You were certain that Mingi would treat them well, he was known as a gentle giant within your group after all.

Or so you thought.

Ignorance sure is bliss. You were oblivious to the interrogation taking place outside, just the way Mingi had intended.

Shifting your position to lay comfortably beside Seonghwa, you lifted a hand to fondly sweep some hair out of his face before pressing a small kiss to his temple, "I know I've always asked you what I'd do without you, but Hwa… I don't think I ever want to find out the answer to that," You whispered, tiredly resting your head against his shoulder, "Just please… please stay with me."

It didn't take long before the sound of his steady breathing eventually lulled you to sleep, you were spent from the emotional rollercoaster as well as all the crying you've done for the past few hours. Fortunately, you slept like a baby this time around with no nightmares whatsoever to forcefully wake you.

By the time you got up, it was already dark out with little light shining in through the nearby window and from the small gap that Mingi left open earlier.

More importantly, you realised that Seonghwa was finally conscious as soon as you were done rubbing your eyes to clear your vision. A gasp escaped your lips at the playful but weak grin adorning his face, "Oh my- Hwa! Y-you're up, h-how are you feeling? Do you need anything?" You scrambled to get to your feet, about to run out and call for Mingi.

He sighed, moving to grasp your arm loosely in one hand, "I need you to calm down first, woman."

You groaned in frustration at the amused tone in his voice before plopping down beside him, "How are you so chill about all this, Hwa? You almost died! Do you know how scared I was? Y-you think this is… funny?" Your voice broke towards the end of your sentence and you crumbled into tears once again, bawling into your hands.

You cried harder when you felt him slowly circle his arms around you the best that he could despite his injury, pushing your head into the familiar spot of his neck.

"I… I told you I'd be fine, didn't I? It doesn't hurt that badly anyway, you did a great job patching me up. I'm sorry, I just… didn't want to worry you further, you have enough on your plate as it is."

You pulled away slightly to frown at him, "And you don't? I want to worry for you! You're always like this, putting others before yourself and I hate it when you do this. Don't diminish your own pain like that, Hwa. You deserve care too, just as much as you give out, if not more."

Seonghwa was lost for words when he heard what you had to say.

Quickly wiping your tears away at his silence, you took the opportunity to check on his wound dressing to ensure it was still in good condition.

He watched your delicate movements intently while wondering to himself if he's done anything horrible in his past life to deserve this. Your every action does nothing but continue to further deepen his feelings for you and yet, you belonged to another.

All of a sudden, he was having second thoughts about his previous decision to give up confessing his feelings for you. The internal battle with himself stops the moment you took his hand in yours, "Hwa, you must understand how much you mean to the boys. They can't lose you; you have to put yourself first too."

With his free hand, he tilted your head up by the chin to make you look straight into his eyes, "And what about you? Do I mean that much to you too?"

Seonghwa's heart beat loudly against his chest as he observed your reaction, your eyes trembled before blinking rapidly, "I… of course, you do! What are you, an idiot?! Have you not been listening to me this whole time?" He bit his lip at the sight of you growing flustered, perhaps it's time you find out about the way he felt.

He gave your hands that were still in his hold a squeeze, "You're so cruel, you know that? How can you keep doing this to me?" His words came out in a whisper but you froze, hearing him loud and clear, "Hwa, I-I don't… w-what do you mean?" Seonghwa gazed deeply at you, his free hand moving to cup your cheek softly.

This is it. It's now or never.

But just as Seonghwa opened his mouth to speak, "I-"

"Hyung?"

Both of your heads snapped up to see Mingi by the door. You instantly pulled your hands out of his grasp, as if being caught doing something scandalous. You didn't miss the hurt expression on Seonghwa's face, it broke your heart but you looked away from him quickly to make way for the younger male who rushed over.

"Oh, you're here, Mingi. I'll go keep watch then." You smiled briefly at the two before slipping out of the room, feeling a certain someone's eyes on you the whole time.

"Sannie… H-he's infected."

Those were words that none of the boys ever wanted to hear but it was the brutal reality that they had to face.

Yunho gestured grimly towards the barricade he built from the tables and chairs in the classroom, "He hasn't fully turned yet but… he was the one who insisted I kept him in there so that he wouldn’t…" The poor boy choked up, he couldn't finish the sentence.

Yeosang stared soullessly at where San was kept while Wooyoung shook his head in denial, sobbing as quietly as he could into his palm. Hongjoong blinked back his tears in disbelief, "H-how… how did it happen, Yunho?"

The tall male sniffled and sighed deeply, "He was already bitten during the attack where we got separated and he was so scared, he kept it from me until we settled down here. Hyung, I… god, I don't know what to do. I'm so sorry, I should've protected him better."

The leader pulled his friend into his embrace, "It's not your fault. I never want you to blame yourself for any of this again, you did your best and I'm so proud of you for staying strong."

Hongjoong couldn't imagine how agonising it must have been for poor Yunho to be here the entire time and to witness his friend slowly lose himself, turning into a zombie bit by bit.

After the guys have calmed down slightly from the initial shock, Hongjoong squeezed his eyes shut tightly before asking, "C-can I talk to him?" Yunho nodded slowly, "Yeah, you can try. He may still be able to hear you when he's- w-when he comes back to being himself in between sometimes."

Those words broke Wooyoung all over again. He refused to believe this, how could this possibly happen to his best friend? San, of all people, did not deserve this. He was the literal human embodiment of sunshine, how were they ever going to cope without him by their side? He wished it was him who was bitten instead, he'd do anything to switch fates with his friend.

He sobbed even harder when he felt Yeosang's arms enclosed around him, realising that he'll never be able to feel any of San's hugs again.

Yeosang patted his friend's back in a soothing manner while he tries to wrap his head around what was happening. This was not meant to happen, they were supposed to be happily reunited. They were supposed to all be together again by the end of this journey, just like old times. His heart ached to think of you and Seonghwa who were still waiting for their return, how were they going to tell you all of this?

They all fell silent when Hongjoong began moving closer to where San was being kept.

The leader felt his heart drop at the sight of what was once his friend, tears welling up in his eyes as he bit back a sob. The disturbing alterations to San's appearance caused by the virus were apparent.

The first thing Hongjoong noticed was his pale and clammy skin, no longer its usual healthy colour, it was turning into a sickly greyish hue. He could also spot some of the open wounds developed due to the spreading infection. But nothing pained him more than staring into San's dull and lifeless eyes that were once full of life, reflecting his loss of humanity.

God, why... Why did it have to be him?

As if sensing a living being in front of him, San lets out a grunt on instinct and mindlessly reached out towards his hyung whom he can't seem to recognise. He only felt the craving for human flesh and brain intensifying. The barricade of tables and chairs that he himself personally requested Yunho built doing an excellent job of keeping him away from taking a bite out of his friend.

If Hongjoong had to list the most excruciatingly painful moments in his life, this would definitely be a top contender.

Hongjoong no longer bothered to hold in the tears that were now freely rolling down his cheeks, "S-Sannie? It's me, it's Hongjoong hyung. H-hey, look at me. You know who I am, don't you?" He clenched his fists in anguish, watching as San slowly cease his movements at the sound of the leader's voice.

"I'm here now, Sannie. Yeosang and Wooyoung too, we're all here. S-sorry that we came so late. I-I'm so sorry I failed you."

He could no longer control his emotions at this point.

Each sob racked his body, causing his shoulders to tremble uncontrollably. His fists clutched painfully against his chest, trying to contain the unbearable ache he felt inside. But the pain was so overwhelming that he couldn't keep it confined. His cries echoed in the room, resonating with the heaviness of loss and despair.

The rest of the members watched in silence, their hearts aching and endless tears streaming down their faces. They'd never seen the leader so vulnerable before, he was always so calm and composed no matter what happens.

His current state reflected the gravity of the situation.

"H-hyung…"

Everyone's heads snapped up in an instant at San's voice croaking out, "I… I'm s-so scared…" Their hearts broke at that.

They couldn't imagine how horrifying it must have been for San when he registers the changes in his own body and the fact that he had to go through most of it alone.

Even though Yunho was in the same room the entire time, he told his friend to stay as far away as possible. He wanted to spare his friend from the sight of his now hideous self, he knows it can't be easy for them to see him like this.

San held a trembling hand up to stop his friends when he sees them attempting to get closer, "N-no… s-stay away, I can f-feel myself slipping away. I-I can't control this hunger for m-much longer…" His voice broke, tears falling at the sight of his friends being in so much pain because of him.

"You guys, I-I love you all so so much… Hongjoong hyung, Y-Yunho, Yeosang, Wooyoungie… t-tell noona, Seonghwa h-hyung, Mingi and J-Jongho I love t-them too…" San paused to decide on his last words, he sensed the end nearing and was beginning to lose control.

He forced out a smile at Wooyoung nodding tearfully to his request, wanting nothing more than to put San at peace, "Of course. We love you too, Sannie!"

At that moment, all the wonderful memories that they have shared flash through his sane mind one last time. He would never forget his brothers, he wished to meet them all again even in his next life, if there ever was one.

His following words would haunt Hongjoong for the rest of his life.

"Hyung, p-please… e-end me, I d-don't want to turn into a m-monster… please…"

Wow, I actually cried writing this. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this part and as always, thank you for reading!

Tag list: @aurasblue @tmtxtf @park-simphwa

#ateez #ateez fanfiction #ateez fanfic #kim hongjoong #park seonghwa #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #zombie apocalypse au #hongjoong x you #hongjoong x reader #seonghwa x you #seonghwa x reader #ateez fic #undying bonds

88 notes · View notes

archangelraphael · 1 year

Note

Hello so I saw your recent post about the nephils. I was wondering if you could tell more about you oc. Thank you

Anon, this ask was sent to me april 2022 and I swear that I thought about answering it every day but last year was insane to me. I will answer it now tho [Just a little disclaimer that since this was once a spn insert you might find similarities, but i'm trying to differenciate it as much as possible.]

I don't usually form solid canon for my ocs, so I just go around testing different ideas on the same characters. There are a couple of things i maintened "canon" for them tho:

About the story:

The basic setting is that it would be settled somewhere in ancient/biblical times. In this scenario, most of the events mentioned in the old books would be consequences of the ongoing battle between Heaven and Hell. In the middle of the chaos, nephilim would be created by deserted angels in hope of creating powerful weapons to use in the conflict. There also nephilim created as a result of the love between an angel and a human, but even those angels were punished aswell.

Most nephilim ended up dying by the hands of the angels. Aurie and a couple of other ocs are part of the survivor group that manages to go some time unnoticed. I planned on making it 7 survivors as a reference to the 7 archangels. I do have their concepts, despite not having worked on them. the idea is that each one would be the child of one archangel, but i don't plan on being 100% faithful to the religious lore.

The idea is that it would be a found family kind of story but i haven't decided if i actually want them to be related as a real family, but it's almost certain that not.

After one huge loss in one of the battles, Heaven ends up finding out about the remaining nephilim, and decide to "accept" them in heaven as their soldiers, as a way to take advantage of their power. Except some of them are children of dead/rebelious angels and have to be apart, some in heaven, some in hell.

In this world I also made angels have certain "specialities" in a way that was compliant with the angel types we already know like ophanim, seraphim, archangels etc, but it's an extensive research to do so by know i have been classifying them as: Warriors/Guardians, Healer, Messengers and Reapers.

About Aurie:

After oficially joining heaven she would be placed in an interesting position. Her father, Gabriel, who was supposed to be heaven's chief messenger and most of his angels are now occupying positions as soldiers along Michael's army. Then, it becomes her responsibility to replace her father in this position when communicating to mankind. Because she is a little too good at the job and has a taste for fighting it later becomes her responsibility to gather information about the enemy.

I make all her powers and skills around this idea of being a nephilim of a messenger angel. Messengers angels, aside from communication, are also responsible for heaven's writting, archives and sigils, meaning that they would have control over the "spells" and knowledge that heaven create. It would be the idea that later when she is little older that she wouold create some powerful sigils, but i haven't developed that part yet since it is a whole system to think of ksdjsdk.

I imagine her being able to sing and integrating that into the sigils she creates.

About her name and design i base her off almost entirely of this "Golden aesthetic". I found her name a long long time ago on pinterest originally as "Auriella", which also has some translations related to gold, but over time I changed it to "Auriel" since i find it more angel like you know? I also try to base her on angel cliches.

I also have one part of her story that while defending the prophet she ends up getting hurt by holy fire and ends up with burning scars but i haven't tried drawing it yet since i don't know if i will keep it in the story.

I think the story can pass during all the phases of her life, but mostly when the nephilim are children/teenagers or sometimes young adults.

Her:

Thank you for asking! ^^

#sorry anon i'm a failure at online interactions #don't doubt there are a million mispelling errors but oh well #my art #aurie #my oc #not spn #asks #anon #nephilim #angelcore #ocs

2 notes · View notes

books-are-my-life-stuff · 2 years

Text

I was actually intending to stop at Win Streak 8 until the bug was fixed, but after I heard the Gauntlet will temporarily be ended at the app update, I decided to rush out some win streaks, an hour before preparing to work. Maybe I'll reach more, or not, I dunno. But in case I don't, I will post my teams here.

Team 1

I gave up trying to solo with Siebold, or trying to use Cheren. So I just ran with Winona and suddenly everything was easy. Siebold does have okay bulk, and a bit of healing that he can tank 2k CSMM stage for a little bit, but not for long-term fight like this. Marley's Group Fire Guard also helped a little bit, though ended up being kinda overkill with Winona's flinches to be honest. Marley also has all the time to proc the Hype Up to cap Siebold's Sp. Atk, and Siebold can also take his time to proc Critical Focus like Cyrus in Battle Villa.

Team 2

Kahili dealt 30k first sync, and 70k final sync, that was great. I haven't used Sonia for quite a while, and she was resilient against Tapu Bulu. Falkner's flinches also helped, and dealt decent damage on sync because I gridded him with Inertia for no reason. That was fun.

Team 3

That was smooth. N dealt pretty good damage to finish the fight pretty quick. Hilbert went down but at that time, Uxie was one Bolt Strike away to be defeated. Volkner also took hits very well with Electrorepulsion 3, maybe I should consider EXing him so I can use him as a tank like Bianca.

Team 4

That was...easy. Like, I can't believe it was that easy. Probably because Tech Gyarados is amazing, and Spring Burgh keeping everyone alive with his defense buffs. Also memeing with Metronome is always fun. I just realized that SS Grimsley and Siebold had roughly the same sync nuke damage.

Team 5

Defensive buffs, attack debuffs, Brainteaser Bianca, and sync nuke Lucian, dealing 77k damage second sync and 88k damage third sync. Heck, the first bar was completely obliterated by Bianca herself while Lucian was busy debuffing and buffing himself. That's just great.

Team 6

This team is called Steamroll for a reason. Though, in hindsight, Red didn't get to do much other than applying burn at first bar. Once that's out, Anni N and SS Morty carried the rest of the fight. I should have brought Oak because he greatly helped for Anni N's Power Play. Oh well. Maybe later in other attempts.

Team 7

This one was tricky, but fun. Mostly because I have to rotate moves for Darach so he didn't have to use Brave Bird that much. I cycled between trainer move, Feather Dance, Defog, trainer move, and Brave Bird occasionally. Thankfully his trainer move MP Refresh proc quite a lot, as if to answer my prayers. Sawyer also dealt some lucky flinches, particularly in the third bar where he flinched Tapu Bulu before Wood Hammer, so Darach could get rid of the Grassy Terrain, debuff some attack, and nuke. Also, Hop proc a lot of MP refresh on his Potion, so whenever Darach has to use Brave Bird, Hop got his back. I was mostly lucky here, honestly.

Team 8

Sure, Cyrus. Go ahead and deal 18k Hydro Pump like it's nothing. Cyrus remains the best Hydro Pump user. I don't use May here because I planned to save her up for later...if I actually want to do more of these. Kinda played a bit dangerously here since Sabrina didn't proc MPR of her heal at all, but it works.

Team 9

Turns out, bruteforcing still works somehow, that's because Giovanni is very powerful already. Roxanne unfortunately only survived until the beginning of second health bar after Swift...even after I gridded her with Barricade Buddies, Survivor Mentality and Endurance, she still struggled a lot to survive because of her low HP pool. At least she survived long enough to cap Giovanni's Sp. Atk, and BP Erika could function as emergency tank when in pinch because of First Aid 4.

Team 10

If Subway Bros+Acerola can take down Moltres with ease, then they obviously can take down Entei, and they did, with Emmet and Acerola all at full HP! Ingo didn't use his Potion at all because Emmet was never at danger. The flinches were really good it's basically overkill. If Acerola missed the flinch, Emmet would flinch. Heck, the only one who wasn't at full health, Ingo, was even at 85% health but only because he was burned from Sacred Fire at Bar 3. MPR didn't even proc for Acerola's Sandstorm, yet Emmet was just so powerful he could take down Entei's second health bar without Sandstorm (Ingo's Sandstorm was reserved for Bar 3). Subway Bros+Acerola remained amazing.

Team 11

Since the win streak is going to get reset very soon, I just throw out my best units right away because I didn't want to spend too much time teambuilding. Gauge was a bit rough here but Blue thankfully managed to take down Tapu Bulu before the gauge got really bad. Palentine Dawn's attack debuffs also helped SC Lillie in surviving Grassy Terrain Wood Hammer, and SC Lillie helped to maximize Blue's Harry 3 DPS with flinches.

Team 12

Finally an opportunity to test out the newly-EX-ed Kiawe! His EX really helped his survivability against special attacks, which was his weaker point. While Shadow Bone's defense debuffs didn't help Allister that much (it helped Cynthia though), he could deal pretty good chip damage with it. Also, Dashing Team helped to keep the gauge rolling, since Allister and Cynthia didn't have the best speed.

#personal #pokemon masters #if i feel like attempting more win streak before app update (which is probably very soon)#then i'll do it #because i still have great supports that i havent used #like sycamore or ss kris or dawn #but i'm stuck at work for now until 4 hours later #if i don't feel too tired then i'll snag more wins and update here

5 notes · View notes

samtheflamingomain · 2 years

Text

the best season of survivor

I'm almost a full week late, but when I watch Survivor, I can't have anything else going on and getting in that mood for 3 hours is a struggle.

But lucky for you all, I honestly don't have much to say about the finale. I'm over the moon that Maryanne won. I wouldn't say much else besides "I wouldn't have been unhappy if anybody else had won either".

This is the best season of Survivor and no I will not take notes.

In a season of Survivor, we start with 18, and in the finale, we have 5.

Mike, firefighter. Romeo, pageant director. Maryanne, nun. Jonathon (I forget - he's the one that looks literally like a 7' Goliath) and Lindsay, dietician, remain. Lindsay goes at 5. Everyone who knows Survivor knows for a fact Romeo will be in the final 3, because he's made 0 moves and is what we call a goat - taken to the end for easy beatability.

Romeo aside, all these people have great games. Fantastic resumes. But things... went a little weird. It's not really worth getting into so for a TLDR: Romeo wins F4 immunity after never winning anything ever. This means he is allowed to pick the person who will sit next to him at final tribal - and pick which 2 will compete in a fire challenge to earn that 3rd spot.

Despite all odds, Romeo picks Maryanne, and Jon somehow loses fire (albeit Mike is a firefighter). I think if it'd been Jon at F3, things may've gone differently.

But when I knew it was between Mike and Maryanne, I still wasn't sure. Neither had an edit that pointed directly to one or the other winning.

But with each question, each discussion... MA was talking circles around the boys. And when she pulled out the extra idol she had she'd get to take home as a souvenir, I think that sealed it.

In the reunion, every jury member raised their hand when asked who was undecided walking into the final.

And I can't mention her win without pointing out that, in 38 seasons, she's the first female Black winner. We had one in 4. Then 0 since. Till now.

It sucks, but Vescupia's win wasn't great. That season wasn't great.

Maryanne was a fucking girlboss from day 1 and on one of the best seasons with (I'd argue till the death) the best cast in years, and I don't think anyone can say she didn't earn her title of Sole Survivor.

Previous to this season, if I had to give you 3 seasons to watch I'd say 1, 7 2. Today, it's 1, 43, 7.

I also want to take a second to simp for editing; fuckin fantastic job with every moment of every episode. Always kept me guessing. They gave us enough to know Romeo would be F3, but not enough to ever predict that he'd win F4 immunity.

One more little thing. The reason I loved watching this season is 90% the cast, but also the direction/production.

I have face blindness, so it usually takes me till the merge to know most players' names. I knew by ep2 this time. They really characterized everyone very well very early.

But I think kinda early on they realized that they didn't have a "villain" for the season. People were working together, forming solid, 3-week alliances, not shit-talking others. They tried to shoehorn Hai and Tori and maybe Jon into the role but it just didn't stick.

I'm in the minority on r/Survivor when I say I adored all the exits. Hai, an extremely strategic and intelligent player, was completely, 100% blindsided. And he left laughing after a lot of hugs. A few people begged Jeff to "let them say it" and he allowed it. "The tribe has spoken!" one cried, turning around and wishing her love to them all. This happened for the last 6 boots. Everyone was hugging and saying sorry and saying they understand and even praising good moves.

This is a very unique cast. I've never, ever seen such love between a group of 18 people in my entire life.

Like any game, there are moments where backs are stabbed... but it's never permanent. These people truly loved each other and bonded so tightly. Production even struggled to play up rivalries and camp drama.

Production: tries to frame Jon as lazy. Everyone else: Jon eats 4k calories a day cuz he's 7'. He's in agony.

Maybe that's it. There was so much empathy passed around this season. I truly doubt anyone asked would have any actual beef with another cast member, and I can't remember the last time, if ever, that that was true.

The tribe has spoken.

#survivor #sam #tv

0 notes

cm-top-10 · 3 years

Text

C.M. Top 10: Most Dark & Gore Scenes &/or Characters in Cartoon Series

Warning: The following top ten may contain possible spoilers for those who haven't seen newer series. This post may also contain forms of graphic violence & some gore scenes that maybe too much for you to witness. So for your safety & others do not look unless it's at your own risk.

You've been warned...

We all discover at some point in time that not everything you know is allover the rainbow. Most times we see things we can't unsee or learn dark secrets of someone you thought you knew your whole life. & sometimes we learn things the hard way. Or the messed up dark way...

So for this 1st dark Top 10 features the most characters with a dark histories, secrets or just straight up dark/gore scenes. Which character did you not expect to have a dark side? Sadly you be the judge...

1. Invincible - Omni Man beating his son to a pulp.

After learning the dark truth that was revealed to Mark about his father's true intentions. Nolan tells his son the truth about why he was sent to Earth & why he killed the Guardians.

Telling him the reasons why he's here was so he could eliminate any potential threat to the Viltrum Empire. & that he was raising his son not out of responsibility or heroics, but to have him as a bred soldier of the Empire to kill anyone who stood in their way.

& he wanted Mark to join their cause with him.

After Mark angrily refused to help him conquer the planet. Nolan nearly beats the life out of his own son & yells to the top of his lungs saying how pointless it is to protect his home world. While killing millions of innocent people in the process of their brutal fight.

However before he could finish him off, Nolan suddenly realized what he did to his own child & fled the Earth in machspeed, shedding a tear.

They say fatherhood is complicated, but not like this...

2. Castlevania Lords of Shadow - Gabriel's dark fate

While on his journey to slay all three of the Lords of Shadow. Gabriel slowly learned they were the founders of the Order & told him the truth of his order's true intention from each Shadow Lord who too were being used by the Brotherhood of Light. Then when he finally reached the final Lord of Shadow, he learned about his wife's death & fell into dark despair.

Over time his heart grew darkened. & knew nothing but bitterness & sorrow...

But after defeating the three Lords, Laura appears to tell Gabriel that he awakened another ancient evil known as the Forgotten One. Who had plans to destroy all creation & they had to venture to the Brotherhood's fortress to find the entrance to where he was imprisoned.

However only dark begins can enter the realm. & the only way he can bypass it's effects & to defeat this ancient evil, was to become one himself...

So Laura asked him to drink her blood & free her of her torment. Hesitant at first he did what was asked of her & dranked every last drop of her blood, until she died.

He then defeated the Forgotten One & saved mankind. But at a cost of his soul & happiness.

Thus becoming a vampire.

A vampire the world would soon know & fear as Dracul the Dragon.

But that is another story...

3. Baki the Grappler - Yujiro Hanma

As most know Yujiro is the world's most unstoppable & cruelest warrior in the history of fighters. Not even the U.S. Military dares to go near him. Yes Yujiro the Orge has struck fear into many people, even military personnel of different countries. & he did it with no weapons & has turned the U.S. into his personal playground for death & battles.

But the most cruelest thing he's done was ripping the face of one of China's most respected Kaioh masters while facing him in battle, testing his worthiness. The reason Yujiro did this challenge was not to prove his worth but to show all of China & their leaders that they are worthless to him. & showed them all that he doesn't care about their hatred towards Japan noir their worthiness.

& he struck that fear into all who witnessed Ryu Kaioh getting defaced & brutally defeated. Yes this is one man who's definitely going to hell & is going to smile about it.

Because Satan himself would be pissing his buttflap in his sights in fear. While Yujiro fucks his succubus wife in front of his face knowing how little fucks he gives about his "sins."

4. Primal - Sauropod Massacre

After being infected by the Zombie Virus. The infected sauropod becomes a mad rouge & slaughters it's own herd in a bloody rage & massacre.

It left no survivors, ripped them apart & destroyed many of the herds' eggs leaving nothing remaining...

Truly whatever zombie virus this was it drove this poor creature mad & didn't stop until everything wasn't breathing.

Luckily Spear & Fang were able to run it into a dormant volcano. Where the infected dinosaur burnt to ash.

Hopefully now the poor beast is at peace...

5. Star Wars Rebels - Master Luminara's remains

In the search for Luminara to replace Kanan to be Ezra's new master. They soon learned too late that her remains were being used to lure any surviving Jedi out of hiding. So that any Sith Hunters like the Grand Inquisitor would slay them on the spot.

Sadly no one knows whatever happened to her corpse after they escaped. Or if the Empire even still has her.

Rest in peace Luminara wherever you are...

6. Legend of Tarzan - Death of Clayton

While battling in the trees, Tarzan defeated Clayton by tangling him into the jungle vines. But during his blind rage he angrily swiped vine after vine, until one wrapped his neck. Tarzan tried his best to warn him, but in his rage Claton cuts the vine that he was holding on to.

Then after it broke they both plummet to the ground. Tarzan landed safely, Clayton however was hung from above by one of the vines wrapped around his neck after it snapped it straight out from the fall.

There truly are things worse than fate...

7. RWBY - the Death of Adam Taurus

After weeks of stalking Blake & her group. Blake had no choice but to confront Adam for the last time with the help of Yang. The battle was harsh, but in the end they managed to out-think him by stabbing him from different sides. One in his chest & one in the back.

He then fell to his death over a huge waterfall after hitting his head over a ledge before plummeting into the water. Hopefully they've finally seen the last of Adam Taurus.

But let's also hope he doesn't pull a Cinder...

8. TFP Beast Hunters - Predaking beats the scrap out of Ratchet

After using Ratchet to wipe out mankind. The Decepticons threw him into the frails of a vengeful Predaking. Predaking then beats & claws Ratchet, throwing him around like a rag-doll. Until he was ready to finish him off, luckily Ratchet convinced him to hear him out. & told Predaking the truth about what had happened to his Predacon army.

After he told Predaking that it was Megatron who ordered his race's extermination. He asks why he did so & Ratchet replys--

Ratchet: Being on the receiving end of your might. One theory springs to mind, Megatron fears you & any like you.

In his blind rage Predaking stormed his way to Megatron, wiping out anyone who stood in his way.

Which led to his own demise, but that is a story for another time...

9. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Stealy Joe gets his ass beat by Jotaro

Now this slimy bastard got what he deserves. Not only did he try to humiliate & blackmail Jotaro into doing his bidding. This cocky motherfucker goes & threatens a random little girl out of the blue. If Jotaro didn't face him like a man & does what he says.

With him up to here with the man's assholeness, our boi Jotaro decided enough is enough & beats the ever loving shit out of this guy. & after punching him multiple times, he literally sends him flying into a wall & throws him his receipt.

Rest in Hell, Joe you worthless bastard!

10. The Falcon Captain America & The Winter Soldier - Captain America U.S. Agent gets his arm broken.

John Walker the former Captain America was given a mantle he wasn't worthy of. Don't get me wrong as much as I had my doubts of him, I was willing to give him a benefit of a doubt. That is until he soiled Steve's good name by using his shield to kill a man in cold blood.

During his blind rage of vengeance, he chased down one of the Flag Smashers & constantly beats him over-&-over with the shield. & then kills him with a fatal blow to the chest area in front of tons of people.

After he murdered one of the perps, Falcon & Bucky tried to ask him to hand over the shield peacefully...

You can take a wild guess what Walker's answer was. He then attacked them with rage & ego, losing his shit. However that ego died as soon as Falcon & Buck breaks his arm to get the shield back. He was then discharged by the U.S. government & was relieved of his duties as Captain America.

Not only that but he then found his way into a dark path he may not be able to uncross.

But that part is another story for another time.

Either way he got dealt some shitty karma.

52 notes · View notes

paperanddice · 3 years

Text

Nicknamed "cursed cold ones" by those who know about them, the gelun were once a large group of humanoids. What species they were isn't clear, as centuries ago they were struck by a terrible curse that changed their form to an emaciated, hairless, grey skinned state, and the gelun themselves have many different stories of who they were generations ago. The cause of their curse has even more contradicting stories, and the truth of it hasn't yet been unravelled.

As for the true result of their curse, the gelun are now reliant purely on extreme heat. In any temperature below 110 degrees they start freezing over, ice forming on their skin until they are a literal statue of ice and enter a comatose state. There they can remain for years, even decades, until exposed to enough heat to melt the ice and wake them up again. This traps them in the warmest climates, both desert and jungle, and during the night they are often forced to risk their entire group freezing and leaving them helpless or keep great bonfires burning to stave off the bitter cold. This frustrating state leaves many of the gelun bitter and prone to lashing out at others, giving them a terrible, violent reputation.

The touch of a gelun is freezing, causing frostbite quickly, and even their glare carries just a little magic to drive a spike of cold into the one they look at. While many would predict that they are thus resistant or immune to cold and vulnerable to heat, the reverse is actually true. They are not sources of cold, but in fact desperately drawing upon the surrounding temperatures to try and sustain themselves, holding off the inevitable freeze just that little bit longer with their opponent's body heat. Striking them with fire pushes back that gnawing cold and invigorates them, while striking them with freezing magic is deadly. Most who have encountered a gelun and survived are aware of this weakness, so when a gelun makes an enemy it does its best to ensure that there are no survivors to report on this.

Originally from Sandstorm. I don't often go with trick monsters that are designed to make the players expect one weakness and surprise them with the opposite, but these ones have a very interesting story behind it and so I decided to keep it. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as a spot on the Paper and Dice Discord server, consider backing me there!

5th Edition

Gelun Medium aberration, unaligned Armor Class 16 (natural armor) Hit Points 67 (15d8) Speed 30 ft. Str 14 (+2) Dex 18 (+4) Con 11 (+0) Int 7 (-2) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 14 (+2) Skills Perception +3, Stealth +6 Damage Immunities fire Damage Vulnerabilities cold Senses passive Perception 13 Languages any one language Challenge 2 (450 XP) Fire Absorption. Whenever the gelun is subjected to fire damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to half the fire damage dealt. Heat Reliant. The gelun must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw for every 10 minutes it spends in temperatures below extreme heat. On a failure, the gelun freezes solid and is incapacitated until it spends at least 10 minutes in extreme heat again. Actions Multiattack. The gelun uses Icy Gaze and makes two claw attacks. Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) cold damage. Icy Gaze. The gelun targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw against this magic or have disadvantage on all attack rolls and saving throws until the start of the gelun's next turn. Creatures resistant to cold damage have advantage on this saving throw, and creatures immune to cold damage automatically succeed.

13th Age

Gelun 2nd level troop [aberration] Initiative: +8 Vulnerability: Cold Heat-Stealing Claws +7 vs. AC - 5 damage Natural 16+: The target also takes 5 cold damage. C: Icy Gaze +6 vs. PD (one nearby enemy) - The target is weakened until the start of the gelun’s next turn Limited Use: 1/round, as a quick action, when the escalation die is even. Heat Absorption: Whenever the gelun would take fire damage, it takes no damage and instead regains 5 hp. AC 18 PD 16 MD 12 HP 32

#D&D #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #5th Edition #13th Age #homebrew #my homebrew #monster #aberration #long post

49 notes · View notes

laindtt · 2 years

Note

What do you think happened to the Seed family after the secret ending where deputy refused to arrest Joseph? I'm thinking they either all got the mental help they needed, or they continued the cult in prison and gained an even bigger following.

Hey luna-breaker! Thank you for your very interesting question 🙏

I'd say that there are two answers: if you consider the canon ending (to choose the secret ending, you have to meet Joseph at his church, and to trigger this event, the regions have to be liberated... and the Heralds to be dead, sadly), or if you think about a fanon ending, in which the whole family survives even if the County is in the hands of the Resistance.

If Joseph is the only Seed remaining, I think he'll gather what remains of the Project with the help of the Deputy's friends, keeping them under the effects of the Bliss. The Collapse is still impending, even if the bombs don't fall at the same moment as in the Resist ending (I'm still convinced that it will happen even if the Deputy abandons their allies): they'll find the biggest bunker possible (or several ones and split the group + leave as many notes as possible to ask the Project survivors they would have not found in time to look for a shelter and to wait for their reunion 7 years later) and hide down there, following Joseph's Prophecy. The Resistants are first held captive, as there is no more Bliss to keep them compliant, and the members of the Project make sure they don't try to kill Joseph or to get out ; the bombings are quite a shock for them, and I think it'd be super interesting to see who, among them, will follow the same path as the Dep/Judge and who will stay in denial, refusing to believe the Collapse happened or that it's due to God's will/that Joseph was right.

If the whole family is alive when the Dep gives up on their mission, I picture the Heralds spying on them from afar while they talk in front on the church, as Joseph's island has become their last remaining territory and where they run away when they lost their regions (Joseph wants to have a final one-to-one encounter with them ; not the safest idea but Jacob is ready to use his rifle the second he thinks Dep is going too far). When Dep leaves, it's quite the same scenario, except that it's easier for them to gather members of the Project as the Heralds has brought some with them when they fled from their lost regions. They do all they can to get ready for the Collapse, and wait all together for the Garden.

I hope it answers your question, feel free to reply if you feel so ♥

#John Seed #Joseph Seed #Jacob Seed #Faith Seed #Fan theory

18 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 3 years

Note

I know the season is over but thinking about it now, what exactly was the team's long-term plan once they evacuated the people and the relics to Vacuo? They wouldn't be able to summon the Gods because they still don't have the Beacon relic so Salem would just do a literal rinse and repeat of what happened to Atlas.

As far as I can tell they didn’t have one. Which, to be fair to them, Ironwood didn’t have one either. Ironwood at the end of Volume 7 and Ruby at the end of Volume 8 both went, “We can’t stop Salem, so all we can do for now is get as far away from her as possible.” But that’s why Ruby’s choice to stay and fight is so strange. She knows she can’t beat Salem and... she didn’t. Imagine that. If reinforcements had somehow arrived (which, given what little we know about the world, Ruby should have realized was impossible) they still wouldn’t have been able to beat Salem. This wasn’t even a case of Ruby doing what she claimed in Volume 7: we’re remaining only long enough to ensure that everyone is evacuated. She didn’t help with the evacuation! She jumped straight to trying to bring more people to Atlas, then sat around for a while, then when no one came she went, ‘Oh, I guess we can just leave now using the Relic we had access to this whole time’ and then she left a ton of people behind anyway.

Like the story ignoring that Ruby made the same morally gray choice she condemned Ironwood for in the previous volume, the fandom tends to ignore that Ruby is making the same mistakes everyone condemns Ozpin for. And no, I don’t just mean those lies and secrets. Ozpin gets a lot of heat for failing to come up with a way to stop Salem, but so far Ruby isn’t even trying. She was more than happy to just be a huntress in Atlas indefinitely, never telling Ironwood about the immortality problem until the final hour, never speaking with her teammates about their options. Ren was the only one going, ‘Hey, what about the big picture here? What are we going to do about Salem?’ for which he was designated a bad, pessimistic friend. The most common defense for this is that Ruby is just a poor, stressed teenager who is not responsible for solving this impossible problem... but that stopped being the case when she started deciding things against Ozpin’s recommendations (the Lamp), became an official huntress, turned on Ironwood, and presented herself as the world’s savior through that message. You can’t systematically dismantle all the leaders already trying to solve this problem, make yourself the new leader... and then claim it’s not on you to fix this.

The second most common defense is that Ruby hasn’t had thousands of years to come up with something which, very true. But she’s had a decent amount of time to start thinking about something and... she hasn’t. She’s purely reactive, only dealing with Salem when Salem is right outside her door. What people tend to forget is that Ozpin did have a long-term plan. Not to stop Salem indefinitely, but to weaken her to such an extent that she wouldn’t be nearly the threat she is now: create schools to combat her grimm, keep the Relics out of her reach, try to bring unity to the world through groups like the White Fang and the bandits. It was a good plan when no other plans were on the table, yet Ruby and her friends have not only failed to come up with something better after her uncle punched Ozpin into a tree over that failing, she’s also destroyed so much of the work Ozpin managed across those generations. Ruby chose to keep the Lamp out in the open rather than telling Ironwood that it still had a question and should be locked up, now the Lamp and its question are gone. Ruby chose to take the Staff out of its vault and bring two Relics together (foolish on its own) and now the Staff is gone. Ruby chose to oppose Ironwood’s plan and, as a result, took out the entirety of Atlas and Mantle with her wish. A Kingdom is gone and that wasn’t Salem’s doing. She barely did anything this volume, spending 95% of it just sitting in her whale or reforming. It’s Ruby’s choices that lost two Relics and took out the most advanced kingdom Remnant has, dumping all its survivors in a hostile land that is not ready to receive evacuees.

Ruby has less of a plan than Ozpin did and she’s become someone who is entirely passive up until someone forces her to act... and then she makes pretty reckless decisions. Ruby, as a character, doesn’t function based on logic, plans, strategy, knowledge, or intellect. She used to, but not anymore. Ruby is a character who gets by on being The Protagonist. That’s why Amity is suddenly finished for her, why the plot drops a solution into her lap, and why no one questions whether this is really a good way to go about things. Or, if they do, they’re rejected like Ren/quickly forget it like Yang. And this extends to all her allies too. Why does Willow hand Weiss perfect evidence to convict Jacques? Why does Whitely hand the group three solutions (a doctor, the airships, and blueprints)? Why does Oscar suddenly have a bomb in his cane? Why do their enemies turn the second they need them to? The group rarely needs to formulate short-term plans, let alone long-term, because the world just twists and turns to ensure they get whatever they need whenever they need it. How did YJR get into the whale? Doesn’t matter! What benefit did that have when Oscar was already escaping? That also doesn’t matter! To ask what the group’s plans are is to assume the story intends to hold them accountable for their ideas, skill, and choices. It doesn’t. If Ruby needs Amity to be finished, it’s finished between volumes. If Ruby needs her eyes to go off, they go off. If Ruby needs an excuse not to choose between Mantle and Atlas, Penny drops down in her backyard. The assumption that Ruby might have to abandon something she wants to do because of a limitation, or think ahead to what she’ll do if her eyes fail her, or actually make the choice she’s been putting off for two days, likewise assumes Ruby is still written as a complex, flawed, growing character. Sadly, she hasn’t been that for three years.

#rwby #mymetas #Anonymous

33 notes · View notes

rivertalesien · 3 years

Note

Discussion in twitter arguing Alicia Clark is the lead. You say?

Morgan Jones is the lead of Fear the Walking Dead. He's designed to be the hero and he's also the protagonist. He is the main point of view character. His decisions affect everyone and no one really questions this. The story (such as it is) is for and about him. It is all about his emotional journey, his needs, his desires. It is his show. He is the unchanging fixed point everything revolves around.

Alicia Clark is a heroic character within the terms of Morgan's story. She is not the protagonist, nor is she the main point of view character. She is not the lead. She has been following Morgan wherever he goes and, as her last episode this season underlined, she doesn't try to escape her circumstances. She is a character who outlines Morgan's story. She is brought in from time to time to fulfill the role of A Friend Morgan Must Save (AFMMS). She is given the bare minimum in relation to her backstory, because her backstory, the Clark family and where *they* were headed, was deemed unimportant and thrown away. Alicia is the token Clark survivor.

Alicia isn't a sidekick, either because they at least have some emotional connection to the lead/mentor figure. They haven't written this emotional connection to Morgan, much less given them any amount of significant screen time together. If Morgan had some connection to the Clarks prior to his appearance on Fear, they could develop Alicia and their relationship in a more organic way. But there was no connection and there remains none. If Alicia were not to appear again in the story, nothing for Morgan would change. His story would go on as it has done.

No, Alicia is not the lead and I seriously doubt they will give her anything truly significant to do next season. They want to keep doing this "anthology" format which means, save Morgan, everyone else can be kept indefinitely on the sidelines until they're needed. Alicia could be in that bunker for the first five episodes. Even if she emerged, what would the emotional fallout be? There's no revenge story, Teddy is dead. There's only getting on with more trauma that will be ignored, finding Morgan and following him into the next "adventure."

This is the heart of the show's failing: there is no conflict for Morgan with his group of followers. No challenge for him (which is probably why they're fucking with Strand again to give him one). Alicia and the others are so blandly placid when it comes to their lives with Morgan, its a wonder they don't just kill everyone off so they don't have to strain to find everyone something to do.

Did you ever watch Lost? Can you imagine how messed up it would be if all those characters just quietly stood behind Jack and carried no interpersonal conflicts? Its what drove the show as well as it went and made compelling viewing.

Fear was far more compelling when we watched Madison go from kindly student counselor to a stone-cold authoritarian killer who didn't bother with a moral compass. Her kids were in high conflict with her, and by the third season, they'd narrowed down what worked to that trio on the ranch. It was a masterclass in plot and character work. Belittling that time period as they did in season 4 by following up the cliffhanger with "they all lived in a cave" was the big red flag this show was about to implode with incompetence.

The fan idea that Alicia will emerge (from the bunker) as a Big Leader (of what/who?) is only compelling if you listen to the producers year after year saying the same thing. The story itself doesn’t hold up. They could pull shit like they did in season 4 where we spend eight episodes wondering what the heck happened to Madison and throw that mystery around Alicia. She doesn’t even need to be present and then they make the whole thing about Morgan’s Sense of Failure.

If season 7 is the last go round for everybody, the focus will be on Morgan’s exit, not Alicia’s. It’s not her story.

#questions #fear the walking dead #alicia clark #morgan jones #amc #scott gimple #andrew chambliss #ian goldberg

12 notes · View notes

sergeantmiller · 4 years

Text

The life and crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer

May 21, 1960: Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born at Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee. According to Jeffrey's father, Lionel, his mother suffered bouts of partial paralysis during the pregnancy. Doctors were unable to find any reason for the paralysis. She was given "injections of barbiturates and morphine, which would finally relax her." Later she was given phenobarbital as well.

1962: The Dahmers moved to Ames, Iowa, so Jeffrey's father could work on his Ph.D in chemistry.

1964: Jeffrey was diagnosed with a double hernia in his scrotum. Surgery corrected it. Extreme pain suffered by the child both before and after the surgery could, conceivably, have influenced later feelings of sexual inadequacy or insecurity. Lionel claimed that it was from this time on that Jeffrey began to become more and more withdrawn and introverted.

November 1966: The Dahmers moved to Doylestown, Ohio. There were several other moves over the next year as they searched for just the right place to bring up Jeffrey and his brother David, who was born on December 18.

The pregnancy was as difficult for Mrs. Dahmer as her first. At this time a teacher (Jeffrey was in the first grade) noticed that Jeffrey seemed to feel neglected. This is, of course, a normal reaction for someone used to being an only child whose family suddenly expands. Most get over it fairly quickly.

Jeffrey's father describes him as being extraordinarily shy and withdrawn during this period, actually terrified of new people and situations.

1968: The family moved to Bath, Ohio.

Jeffrey's father has reported that Jeffrey was sexually abused by a neighbor boy at this time. Jeffrey himself claimed to remember no such thing. Molestation can be a factor in gender confusion and hostility.

Late 1970: Jeffrey's mother was hospitalized twice for psychiatric problems. According to Lionel she had been taking drugs to deal with her extreme nervousness for years, but they didn't work well. Thus, she was not a stabilizing influence in Jeffrey's life.

During his school years Jeffrey built a reputation as a misfit with a penchant for stupid pranks and very heavy drinking. Some of his pranks, such as shouting things out at strange times, bleating like a sheep and faking epileptic fits, sound eerily similar to the childhood behavior of Arthur Shawcross, another serial killer who practiced cannibalism. [See The mask of sanity in the November 1994 issue of Murder Watch for more about Shawcross's odd behavior.] They don't seem to resemble each other in very many other ways.

June 4, 1978: Jeffrey graduated from high school. By this point he was living alone. His parents were going through an extremely bitter divorce and had each moved out. Because Jeffrey at 18, was legally an adult, the law did not allow for anyone to have custody of him. Therefore, no one took custody. Instability and a lack of emotional support continued.

June 18, 1978: Dahmer picked up nineteen year old Steven Mark Hicks hitchhiking. They went back to the house for a few beers. When Hicks tried to leave, Dahmer clubbed him with a barbell and strangled him with it. Over the next couple of weeks he methodically stripped the flesh from the bones, smashed the bones and disposed of the few remains in the back yard.

Dahmer said he killed Hicks because he didn't want him to leave. At least one survivor of a Dahmer attack reported that after he had been at Dahmer's apartment for a while (voluntarily), he mentioned that he wanted to leave, and Jeffrey's attitude changed; his voice became panicky, and then the attack began. However, Dahmer's fascination with death and the dead was already pronounced by the time he picked up Steven Hicks. Friends said he liked to pick up roadkill and take it to a shed behind his house, to skin the bodies. He also had a small animal cemetery. There were rumors that he killed neighborhood dogs and cats and even mounted a dog's head on a stake.

This bizarre behavior must have influenced Jeffrey's decision to kill Hicks. After all, if he just wanted to keep Hicks from leaving, he could have tied him up. Corpses are poor company, generally.

Another explanation for the killer's panicky tone when the prospective victim wanted to leave could simply be the stress of realizing that, if he was going to kill the target, he'd better do it soon. Dahmer did indicate that he never liked the killing much; he only did it to acquire dead bodies.

After his high school graduation Dahmer enrolled in Ohio State University. He stayed only one semester before dropping out. He was now creating his own instability.

December 24, 1978: Lionel remarried.

December 29, 1978: Jeffrey was sworn into the Army. After failing to become an MP he was trained as a medic and assigned to Baumholder, Germany. This was far from a plum assignment. It was also a very few years after the humiliation of Vietnam, when morale and discipline in the armed forces were poor and drug and alcohol abuse wide spread.

In the Army, Dahmer no longer stood out as a clown and prankster. He was noticed, however, for being not only a very heavy drinker, but as an unpleasant, even violent, drunk.

After his arrest in Milwaukee became known around the world, authorities in Germany looked to see if they could connect Dahmer to murders that took place there. Though information is sketchy, it seems likely that a serial killer was active in the area at the time, but that it was not Dahmer. (The victims in Germany were young women. Dahmer killed only men.)

March 26, 1981: Dahmer was discharged from the Army before his enlistment was up because his drinking had reached the point where he simply didn't function any more. Back in the U.S., he went to Florida where he slept on the beach for a few months before returning to Ohio.

October 7, 1981: Dahmer was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and paid a small fine. He was drunk.

August 7, 1982: Dahmer was arrested again for disorderly conduct. He dropped his pants in public. By this time Dahmer was living with his grandmother, in part because she seemed to be the only person he responded to with anything like affection.

September 8, 1986: Jeffrey was arrested when he deliberately exposed himself while urinating in front of a group of children in Milwaukee. Another version of the story has it that he was masturbating.

By this time Dahmer was a frequent visitor to gay bars and bath houses. He was barred from one bath house because of allegations that on at least four separate occasions he took someone to a private booth and drugged them. No charges were filed, though one of the victims was hospitalized for a week or so.

September 15, 1987: The murder of Steven W. Tuomi, age 24. Dahmer claimed he woke up in a hotel room and found the victim dead, with no memory of doing anything to him. He bought a big suitcase, transported the body back to his grandmother's house, and proceeded to dispose of it much as he had the body of Steven Hicks.

Nine years passed between the first and second murders. In a sense, the time was so long that the second murder could be treated, mentally, as another first murder. He spent years working up to it, learning how to approach other men, how to drug them, how much to drug them. He may have been too drunk to remember the murder or he may have avoided the memory because it was unpleasant - he wasn't very skilled at killing yet.

1988

January 1988: James Doxtator, 14, killed. Dahmer offered him money to pose nude for photos, took him back to his grandmother's house. After sex Dahmer drugged and strangled him. By now his pattern of using acid and crushing force to destroy the remains was practiced.

March 24, 1988: Richard Guerrero, 25, came back to Dahmer's grandmother's house for nude photos. Again, after sex, Dahmer drugged and strangled the victim.

September 25, 1988: Dahmer moved into his own place. He offered $50 to a 13-year-old to pose nude, gave him drugged coffee and fondled him. The boy escaped. Dahmer was arrested.

From here on the pace of the murders picked up significantly. Once he had his own place, Dahmer seems to have lost most of what little control he had.

1989

January 1989: Jeffrey was convicted of 2nd degree sexual assault and enticing a child for immoral purposes. (See above) Sentenced on May 23 to five years and three years, sentences to be served concurrently. Actually served ten months, then began five years probation.

March 25: Anthony Sears,24, was last seen alive. Dahmer met him at a club, took him back to his grandmother's house. After sex, he drugged Sears and murdered him. Sears's painted skull was recovered from Dahmer's apartment after his arrest in 1991.

1990

May 29: Ricky Beeks, 33, was last seen alive. Dahmer met him at a club and offered him money to pose for nude pictures. He drugged and strangled him and had sex with the body. The victim's painted skull was recovered from Dahmer's apartment after his arrest in 1991.

June 1990: Edward W. Smith, 28, killed. Dahmer met him at a bar and offered him money for sex and pictures. After sex, Smith was drugged and strangled. Dahmer took some pictures during the process of dismembering the body.

September 2: Ernest Miller, 24, was last seen alive. He met Dahmer in front of a book store. Dahmer offered him money to come home with him. After sex, Dahmer drugged him and cut his throat. He took pictures of the body and dismembered it, putting the biceps in the freezer. He bleached the skeleton and painted the skull, which was in his apartment when he was arrested in 1991.

September 24: David C. Thomas last seen alive. Dahmer met him on the street and offered him money to come home with him. Dahmer drugged Thomas and murdered him without sex, taking pictures as he dismembered the body.

1991

March 7: Curtis Straughter, 18, last seen alive. Dahmer picked him up at a bus stop, offering him money to come home with him. He drugged Straughter and strangled him after sex, taking pictures of the dismembered body. The skull, unpainted, was recovered from Dahmer's apartment after his 1991 arrest. This is at least the third sequence of events Dahmer experimented with. Earlier, it had been sex, drugging then murder. At least once he tried drugs, murder, sex. This is drugs, sex and murder.

April 7: Errol Lindsey, 19, last seen alive. Dahmer met him on the street and offered him money to come home with him. He drugged Lindsey, strangled him and had sex with the body. The unpainted skull was recovered from Dahmer's apartment.

May 17: Dahmer met 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone in front of a mall and offered him money to pose for nude pictures. After the pictures he drugged Konerak, then went out for beer. The boy escaped, naked into the street. Neighbors called police, but Dahmer convinced them that he and the boy were lovers who had merely had a little quarrel. Police, aparently unconcerned that Sinthasomphone was still too drugged to confirm or deny the story, returned him to Dahmer, who strangled him as soon as the police were gone. Dahmer had sex with his body, took pictures and dismembered him. His skull was recovered from Dahmer's apartment.

When the full details of this incident became known, mild disciplinary action was taken against the officers involved. The department was also sued for a large amount of money.

May 24: Tony Hughes, 31, last seen alive. Reportedly, Hughes and Dahmer had known each other for two years. By writing (Hughes was deaf and mute) Dahmer offered him $50.00 to come home with him and pose for nude pictures. Hughes was drugged and murdered without sex. His unpainted skull was recovered from Dahmer's apartment.

June 30: Matt Turner, 20, last seen alive. They met in Chicago at the bus station after a Gay Pride parade. Dahmer offered him money to pose nude, drugged him and strangled him with a strap. After cutting the body up, Dahmer put the head in the freezer and the rest in a barrel of acid he had obtained.

July 6: Jeremiah Weinberger, 23, last seen alive. They met in Chicago at a gay bar, where Dahmer offered him money to come back to Milwaukee. This murder is very unusual in that the victim was not murdered until the day after he came home with Dahmer. When he indicated that he wanted to leave, Dahmer drugged him, strangled him, and dismembered him, taking pictures of the process. Like the last victim, his head went into the freezer, his body into the acid.

July 15: Jeffrey was fired from the Ambrosia Chocolate Co. for bad attendance.

The same day, Oliver Lacy, 23, was last seen alive. They met on the street and went back to Dahmer's apartment for body rubs. Lacy was then drugged and strangled. Dahmer had sex with the body before dismembering it. He put the head in the refrigerator and the heart in the freezer, "to eat later."

July 16: Joseph Bradehoft, 25, last seen alive. They met at a bus stop, where Dahmer offered him money to pose for nude pictures. After sex, Dahmer drugged him and strangled him with a strap. He dismembered the body and, as before, put the head in the freezer and the body in the acid barrel.

July 22, 1991: Shortly after midnight, Tracy Edwards, 32, escaped from Dahmer with one hand in a handcuff and flagged down a police car. He lead the cops back to Dahmer's apartment. They found photos of dismembered victims and body parts in the refrigerator and freezer. Shortly, the sight of crews in biohazard protection suits taking evidence out of Dahmer's apartment was televised all over the world. The suits were necessary because of the smell of decay in the apartment and because of the acid in the barrel.

Caught red-handed, with overwhelming physical evidence against him, it's not surprising that Jeffrey confessed. His dry, unemotional descriptions of murdering a dozen and a half young men belied the reality of brutality and sadism that was revealed in Tracy Edwards' testimony.

It's possible that the sameness of the descriptions (Offers of money to pose, drugs to knock them out) was not entirely accurate. Tracy Edwards claimed he was not offered money, that he only went to Dahmer's apartment for some beers before going out again. He may have been covering up his own indiscretion, or Dahmer may have lied about the ways he lured people back to his apartment in order to make them seem less like innocent victims.

Edwards was drugged, but did not lose consciousness. This raises the possibility that the sedatives Dahmer gave victims were intended only to weaken them, while leaving them aware of what was being done to them. Dahmer had certainly had enough practice by then to have a good idea what dose was needed to knock a man out. Dahmer may have enjoyed taunting the victims about their fate and killing them, slowly, much more than he let on later.

Dahmer also claimed that he needed to drink heavily in order to be able to face killing people, but we know that he was a hard-core alcoholic for much of his life. For him, making excuses for drinking was normal and can not be regarded as likely to be honest.

1992

January 14: Dahmer entered a plea of guilty but insane in 15 of the 17 murders he claimed to have committed.

February 15: By 10-2 majority vote, a jury found Dahmer to be sane in each murder. Testimony from defense and prosecution experts took weeks and was extremely gruesome. One expert testified that Dahmer periodically removed body parts of his victims from the freezer and ate them. Another testified that this was a lie Dahmer told to make himself seem insane. The jury deliberated slightly more than ten hours.

February 17: Dahmer was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms. At the sentencing, Dahmer read a prepared statement in which he expressed sorrow for the pain he had caused.

"I knew I was sick or evil or both. Now I believe I was sick. The doctors have told me about my sickness and now I have some peace. I know now how much harm I have caused. I tried to do the best I could after the arrest to make amends."

"I now know I will be in prison the rest of my life. I know that I will have to turn to God to help me get through each day. I should have stayed with God. I tried and failed and created a holocaust. Thank God there will be no more harm that I can do. I believe that only the Lord Jesus Christ can save me from my sins."

He later pled guilty to aggravated murder in Ohio, in the death of his first victim, Steven Hicks. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

November 28, 1994: Dahmer murdered in prison.

Dahmer and two other inmates were assigned to clean the staff bathroom of the Columbia Correctional Institute gymnasium in Portage, Wisconsin. Guards left them alone to do their work for about twenty minutes, starting at around 7:50 a.m. When Dahmer was discovered, he was unconscious and his head and face were bloody. He died on the way to the hospital from multiple skull fractures and brain trauma.

A bloody broom handle was found near Dahmer, but a broom is probably not sturdy enough to inflict the damage that killed him. Reports in December indicated that he was struck with a steel bar stolen from the prison weight room.

One of the other two inmates in the area with Dahmer was also attacked. Jesse Anderson, 37, was pronounced dead in the hospital at 10:04 a.m. on November 30. Anderson was convicted of stabbing and beating his wife to death in 1992. He was serving a life term.

The third inmate in the work party is twenty-five-year-old Christopher Scarver, a convicted murderer reportedly taking anti-psychotic medication. Scarver murdered a coworker when he was angry at his boss. The boss got away. Scarver claimed his boss was a racist and there has been speculation that Scarver, who is black, wanted revenge for the wrongs Dahmer and Anderson (both white) had done to black people. The majority of Dahmer's victims were black. Anderson tried to blame two fictitious black men for murdering his wife during a mugging. It's been pointed out that a desire for publicity or status may have also been a motive.

Dahmer was attacked last July, also. A convicted drug dealer tried to cut his throat with a razor blade attached to a toothbrush handle, making a crude straight razor, but the weapon fell apart. Dahmer received minimal injuries.

Scarver is said to have delusions that he is Christ. He has been in psychiatrict observation and treatment several times, with diagnoses of bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia. He was found guilty of the murder, though, and sent to prison. A jury apparently did not believe he was insane.

#Jeffrey dahmer #Murderer #Tcc #True crime #True crime community #Ted bundy #Murder #Creepy #Eric harris #Serial killers #Serial killer #Hh Holmes #Dylan klebold #Dylann roof #Nikolas cruz

128 notes · View notes

clexa--warrior · 5 years

Text

Fear The Walking Dead' continues its losing streak in Sunday night's episode 'Ner Tamid.'

Credit: AMC

Sunday night's episode of Fear The Walking Dead was a little bit better than the rest of this half of the season, and I think I know why: There was no Morgan!s

Morgan and Al are off doing their own thing, and miraculously we didn't hear from either one this week. That's good! Sadly, we also didn't get any Alicia. She remains one of the only characters I still like on this show, though the past few episodes have done their level best to character-assassinate her (she's probably off painting more trees at this point).

The rest of the episode was pretty much about as pointless as the rest of the episodes in Season 5. Charlie "runs away" from the convoy to go find some place for them to stay, so that they're not always on the move. Finding a place to stay is a really good idea. Running off on your own in the zombie apocalypse is stupid beyond all reckoning, and I wish the writers and producers would stop making the characters act like such absolute dunces every week.

It appears the real problem is June, who is apparently in charge of the caravan and its 36 members. She's driving them all hard, not letting them stay in one place long, no rest for the weary and all that jazz. Even John Dorie is like "Hey June, baby, I love you but this is ridiculous," but it falls on deaf ears. I'm not sure why June is acting like this, or why she's suddenly in charge, or why they have a caravan instead of a base to begin with, but that doesn't matter. Fear The Walking Dead just does stuff, and we're just supposed to eat it up without questioning anything.

I think that's the only way people can still enjoy this show--just don't ask any questions, don't think about anything too much, don't expect anything remotely like logic or realism or human nature to figure into it at all.

In any case, Charlie makes yet another new friend while out on her own. This time it's a Jewish Rabbi, Jacob Kessner, who lives all by himself at his old synagogue. All his former flock are now zombies, calling to mind Father Gabriel from The Walking Dead (though Kessner is much less annoying than Gabriel, who I still can't stand). Charlie thinks this would be a good place for the survivors to settle down, but things don't work out. Before the end of the episode, the safe haven is overrun and Kessner is out of a home. Shocking. We've never seen the survivors show up and ruin a good thing before! (That's sarcasm, by the way. Everywhere our heroes go falls apart, from the family on the island to the Mexican villa, to the ranch, to the kids' treehouse this season).

June and Dorie show up and there's some zombie action, but we know nobody is going to actually get killed by a zombie. That hardly ever happens on this show. The last time I can think of it actually happening was when Madison died, but she died offscreen so we didn't even see it. There used to be some great zombie kills in previous seasons, but there's no reason to fear anything in Fear The Walking Dead these days.

That applies to Logan and his group of feckless, toothless bad guys. At one point they chase Sarah and Dwight--who looks ridiculous clean-shaven, though I suppose it's symbolic of his being totally neutered by the do-gooder sickness that's befallen the entire cast--and almost catch them but the tank shows up and saves the day. Of course, why they were so worried and running to begin with is beyond me. Recall last week when Morgan and Al were faced with a dozen of Logan's thugs and nothing happened. They just blocked the road and that's all. Are we supposed to think that this week things are so different that they pose an actual threat now?

Of course, it turns out that the whole thing was just a diversion. Logan wanted to distract the convoy. Apparently he's figured out where the oil fields are and he wanted Morgan's group as far away as possible which, uh, kind of sounds like what he did in the very beginning of this season by having them fly off to the nuclear power plant region. They're running out of ideas so fast it isn't even funny.

Is there even a story here? I mean, there are things that happen I guess, but is there a story? Let's try to parse it all together, shall we?

Season 5 starts with Morgan and most of the crew crash-landing a plane because they thought they were helping someone but it was just Logan tricking them so that he could take over the mill. The first half of the season is spent trying to get a new plane or fix the old plane so they can fly it back. There's also a nuclear power plant that's going to melt down, and we meet a new character, Grace, who is trying to prevent that. Eight episodes are spent on this dual-plot, with Strand and Charlie ultimately saving the day by bringing propellers in a hot air balloon to the heroes who then use their years of airplane mechanic experience to fix the plane and then fly successfully back to their own area of Texas because apparently that region has zero roads leading. It is a mystical island within the state of Texas that can only be reached by air (unless you're Dwight or his wife who apparently both managed just fine on solid ground).

So that's the first half of Season 5. Crash plane, fix plane, fly out. Logan has the mill. Then, bizarrely, at the very end of the first half of the season Logan tries to make a deal with them. This deal is not struck, we discover in the Season 5 midseason premiere, and Logan goes back to working with the thugs. I can't tell if they're working for him or he's working for them, because the show has done such a lousy, inconsistent job at explaining things to us.

Speaking of which, we learn that during the break, during the period of time that occurs off-screen between the two halves of this season, that Morgan has discovered where Polar Bear's oil fields are. And I guess he's also figured out how to refine oil into gasoline. And I guess this is what Logan was after the whole time, but they just neglected to introduce that conflict in any remotely comprehensible way. Now, five episodes into the back half of the season, the entire plot seems to be "Morgan and group go around helping people more while Logan tries to figure out where the oil fields are." Five episodes of filler with virtually nothing of any importance happening. Alicia meets the guy painting on all those trees. Morgan and Grace try and fail to spark a romance. Logan is mad at Morgan but does nothing about it. They film a stupid PSA and put it on VCRs with generators wherever they can so that people know that they're out there trying to help people.

None of this qualifies as a story, at least not really. The story, if it had to be boiled down, would be the conflict between Logan and Morgan's two groups. But that conflict barely exists, as evidenced by the times they've actually encountered one another and done nothing. At least Negan did stuff. At least the Saviors posed a threat, no matter how badly produced Seasons 7 and 8 of The Walking Dead were. At least there was a story.

Here we just have people driving around wasting gas, talking on walkie-talkies, rarely having realistic conversations or actually interesting struggles or conflicts. It's all contrived. You could probably boil down the entire 12 episodes we've seen so far into two and not lose anything.

Just take away the whole entire plane crash plot and have them tricked into leaving the mill. Then have Logan realize what he wanted in the mill wasn't there and go to war with Morgan to get the map to the oil fields. The oil fields themselves would be useless to Morgan since he doesn't know how to refine oil into gasoline, but he knows that Logan is bad news so he keeps that information from him anyways. Have Logan kill some of the good guys, and have that test Morgan's resolve to be a good person. Have Dwight show up as one of Logan's dudes, on the other side of the conflict, and have that make him question whether he's made the right choice.

I mean, I think you could probably get eight episodes out of this conflict, and then you could twist things around for the second half of the season. Morgan could snap again, go full killstreak mode. He and Alicia could break into two different groups and the conflict could continue between them somehow. This is all just spit-balling. The fact is, it would be fairly simple to come up with a better story for Season 5, with better and more natural conflicts. Actually, I'd have introduced Logan as a sympathetic character and had him join the group, had his treachery not manifest until it was too late. Make the betrayal sting.

But this is all fantasy. I want the same kind of tense conflict that drove Season 3, with sympathetic characters on both sides and no easy resolution. But what we're getting is a bunch of badly written filler episodes with no real purpose and an overarching conflict that makes no sense. Meanwhile, we get things like Al leaving all her tapes in a safe and then not bothering to even shut the lock boxes, and that's how Logan discovers the oil fields. We get John Dorie shooting a bullet at a hatchet blade so that it can split in two and kill a pair of approaching zombies. That's the kind of vapid writing this show has now. It's just sad.

Next week, Logan will use the oil fields to wipe out half of all living things in the universe and the week after that Al and June and Daniel will send Skidmark back in time in a time machine they built out of spare plane parts, and Skidmark's job will be to kill Polar Bear before he ever planted the oil seeds that eventually grew into the oil fields, but little do they know that Polar Bear is waiting for them . . . . it's a trap!

I just . . . I can't. I don't know what else to say. What a sad joke Fear has become.

#fear the walking dead spoilers

2 notes · View notes

bethgreeneishopeunseen · 6 years

Note

What state do u think she'll return in? I don't know much about brain injuries; would it be possible for her to have survived with her emotional/intellectual/motor abilities more or less intact? How "normal" could she be health wise? I know its fiction, so they could just say "she's alive and fine!" nd not be practical abt it. But this is such a big storyline thats been speculated on for YEARS. They have to execute it perfectly and be as realistic as they can be with this one.

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/bullet-evidence

https://bethgreeneishopeunseen.tumblr.com/tagged/headshot-%3D-death-my-ass

Hey anon! I think when Beth returns she will return relatively intact, just further scarred and hardened as a survivor. The links above are my tags related to her gunshot wound (GSW). For reference, Beth was shot through the left upper side of her forehead and not from under her chin as most viewers believed. Skybound even tweeted this gif two weeks after Coda aired (x). While the wound is still significant, it’s still survivable as the parts of her resemble for basic function wouldn’t be damaged.

(While Tyreese’s hallucination of Beth was inaccurate as she had an exit wound, which increases her odds, this is a good visual of the actual entry point.) Beth’s wound parallels comic!Andrea’s second facial scar, as Andrea was shot and the bullet skimmed her scalp, cutting a groove into her temple. In the early days of TD, people theorized that something similar happened to Beth. Rather than the bullet going straight through her brain, the bullet instead skimmed the inside of the skull. Such a thing has been observed in wartimes and was used in some Law & Order episode I think.

There are numerous cases in real-life and in fiction in which people suffer headshots and survive. In real-life the people may suffer some mild amnesia or a complete personality gage – Phineas Gage is a famous example. He suffered extensive damage to his to left frontal lobe and became a new person, with a breakdown in impulse control and general behavior throughout the remaining twelve years of his life. (Off-topic but serial killers suffered head injuries as children, indicating a connection between emotional empathy, impulse control, and the ability to feel remorse. Have you noticed yet that I’m a psychology nerd?) From what I’ve read about Phineas Gage his injury was considerably worse than Beth, and he lived during the 19th century. Beth is fictional and was last seen in the only known functioning hospital during the apocalypse. Grady was created for her character, and it was left standing for a reason. In a deleted scene from Coda, Dawn gave Edwards the keys to the medicine cabinet (x). He can make the call. If Beth was cured/immune to the virus (which I think she is), and he was horrified by her “death” and likely felt guilty, then he would want to do something. He would definitely want her body if she were immune for scientific purposes – his research. He could give her the medical treatment she would which would mostly consist of antibiotics and bandages as the bullet wouldn’t need to be removed. Furthermore, Beth had heparin in her system before she was shot. (Tagging @bethgreenewarriorprincess since this is her area of expertise.)

Long ago Christy discovered that Beth’s IV was a giant-ass bag of heparin, a strong blood thinner. Heparin will likely serve dual purposes in Beth’s story going forward: her survival and her role in a cure arc. (If you would like to read more about this theory, check out this tag: x.) In zombie literature, heparin is used as a cure. It’s anticoagulant so it keeps the blood from clotting. In TWD zombie blood is thicker than the living’s, so it’s possible heparin is part of a drug cocktail to fight the virus. Beth was bleeding more than normal in Grady because of this. If you go back and watch the opening of Slabtown, the blood on her bandage from the IV needle is more than what would be expected. Heparin also helps treat those with head trauma:

“Heparin is a low molecular weight anticoagulant; aka a medication that thins the blood. She was given this by IV and at a large dose (the reason for this is yet unexplained but I theorize about that here) that would still be in her body at the time she was shot Heparin is used in many cases of TBI (traumatic brain injury), such as as a head-shot like Beth’s, and it’s felt to result in less progression of injury on brain imaging in studies that have been conducted. (x) The fact that she was given heparin beforehand could very well have been the very thing that saved her.” - bethgreenewarriorprincess (x)

About three weeks passed between 5x08 and 5x10. Some blogs theorized that the music box’s resurrection not only symbolized Beth’s survival but also her waking up from a coma. An injury like hers would justify a coma of that duration, and she would have plenty of time to recover. Several months passed between 5x08 and 7x08 (x), for example. She’s going to be an even bigger character when she returns, and I don’t think that the writers will permanently reduce her abilities. This is arc about building her up, not cutting her down.

In regards to possible symptoms of her injury, there are two major theories. The first is that she has reduced eyesight, possible blindness in one of her eyes. This is based mostly in Daryl’s comments about “nothing worth seeing out there” in Still and the one-eyed dog in Alone. I don’t think this will happen. Daryl’s statement reflected his cynicism and loss of hope, and one of the main themes in Still is that Beth is right, not Daryl the seasoned survivor. Furthermore, Father Gabriel already has an eye injury and it would be excessive to give it to Beth. The second theory is that she will have some form of amnesia. In the comics, when Carl wakes up from his eye injury he can’t remember anything from since before the prison fell. He even forgot that his mother and sister had died. Beth might undergo a similar thing during her journey, forgetting some key details about her past. She would likely remember the skills that Daryl had taught her though as that kind of memory is separate from episodic (personal) memory. This theory would explain why Beth as Boots didn’t reach out to Team Family. If Beth has amnesia, I don’t think it would be long-term or be affecting her when she would eventually reunite with her family. The writers would want to take full advantage of the emotions, and amnesia would reduce that, emphasizing the tragedy more than the relief and celebration.

Now this is totally a crack theory, but I could see the writers giving her an amnesia similar to Capgas Delusion.

“Capgras delusion is a psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member (or pet) has been replaced by an identical impostor. The Capgras delusion is classified as a delusional misidentification syndrome, a class of delusional beliefs that involves the misidentification of people, places, or objects.” (x)

youtube

(skip to 1:53)

As Boots, if Beth saw her family she might outright distrust and not believe it when she saw Rick at Alexandria. An amnesia akin to Capgras delusion would be interesting because it echoes the Whisperers, a group that will likely appear in some form this season and have already been foreshadowed. The Whisperers are a large antagonistic group from the comics who wore walker face-masks to move through herds and to camouflage themselves. Gross but affective. Emily’s first project post-TWD even included an egg that connoted the Whisperers and was repeated in season 7 (x).

No matter what happens, I think the missing scenes will help to explain how Beth survived. The Grady set was also built in the studio and included a three-story elevator. Emily was filming into October 2014 when her scenes supposedly wrapped at the end of August (x); she supposedly started filming in mid-June of that year for Slabtown but she a month earlier she was at one missing set (the white houses). There are photographs and statements that confirm all of this. She’s likely filmed material since then too. I think all of that missing footage will be used in another some kind of miniseries/mini movie or flashbacks to explain her journey.

#team delusional #beth greene #bullet evidence #headshot = death my ass #beth was bit #asks #the whisperers

22 notes · View notes

lamportb · 7 years

Conversation

TWD Season 1: Scary! This seems like something that could actually happen. OMG! Rick reunited with his family!! No cure exists. Wow.

TWD Season 2: Tension is ramping up on the farm for Rick and the motley crew of survivors that all seem like real people with interesting back stories that I'm sure will be explored later. Daryl has a heart, Carol has survived abuse and the loss of her daughter, Glenn doesn't want to be walker bait anymore, Hershal has a crisis of conscience, Lori tries to make things right.

TWD Season 3: Thank god for the prison and the chance for this group of people who are family now to find some peace. T-Dog, NOOOOOO! Really? A guy with an eye patch and a tank full of heads? But Merle is back! So, okay.

TWD Season 4: Wait a minute. Carol killed two people? Daryl can throw grenades in a tank and deflect bullets with dead bodies? Rick wants to be a farmer? Shit-balls-mustache-man and the gang from costume-designs-must-be-exactly-like-the-comics-no-matter-how-ridiculous-they-are arrive out of nowhere? (But they save Glenn, so okay). CANNIBALS? REALLY?

TWD Season 5: Episodes of Grady back story because....? CANNIBALS. Just fuck Maggie Greene, am I right? BOB and TYREESE, NOOOOOOOOOO! FIRETRUCK! EXPLOSIONS AND CRASHES! WELCOME TO ALEXANDRIA WHERE WE APPARENTLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON OR HAVE ANY AWARENESS OF SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES EVEN THOUGH WE SEND OUT SEARCH PARTIES ON THE REGULAR. Blonde lady gets abused and Rick doesn't know why Carol cares? Daryl grunts. Rick kills everyone.

TWD Season 6: *Sigh* tell me more about the cheese maker... sure. NOAH, NOOOOOOOO! Can we just get back to the core people we care about? No? Carol needs to live in self-imposed exile? Okay... Wolves, but not literal wolves, because that makes more sense? Not literal Jesus. Hilltop. Saviours. Introduction of 345 characters we give zero fucks about. NEGAN.

TWD Season 7: Kill off the only remaining characters who seem semi-human and sympathetic for the sake of SHOCK! Do it in the most graphic brutal way because the audience wants to see how special effects make eyes pop out of sockets, apparently. KING EZEKIEL HAS A TIGER EVERYONE. EXPLOSIONSSSSSSS!!!! FUCK THE BEACH PEOPLE. GUNS GUNS GUNS. WAR WAR WAR WAR. WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO SURVIVEEEEEEE. GARBAGE PEOPLE ARE ACTUAL GARBAGE? WHAT A TWIST!

TWD Season 8: Characters turn on their friends and family because DRAMA and ANGST. EVERYONE HAS PTSD. MACHINE GUNS. MORE RANDOS DIE. WAR WAR WAR. ZERO HUMAN DECENCY LEFT IN THE WORLD BUT PLENTY OF AMMO!!!! Ooooo! Radioactive walkers? That's new!!! Let's get RG out of his clothes for ratings. WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR! TIME JUMP?! SO EXCITING! Tell me more about what happens when Rick wears a fake beard and Judith has lived to the ripe age of six months old while looking like a ten year old.

TWD Season 9: PIRATES! Daryl replaces his motorcycle for a four-wheeler. His hair has grown past his knees. Carol is still sad and crying somewhere. ANGST! "They killed us! They don't get to live!" "BUT ALL LIFE IS PRECIOUS!" Jail. Can Negan be redeemed? ALEXANDRIA IS ATTACKED BY A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS (the band, not the birds). MORGAN, NOOOOOO! DANCE PARTY. EXPLOSIONS.

TWD Season 10: Daryl wears his hair in a french braid. He and Carol share a meaningful look. He and Jesus share a meaningful look. He and the audience share a meaningful look. THE GANG STUMBLES UPON A TIME MACHINE! DINOSAURS! "We can't trust that Pterodactyl, Judith!" "But he's my friend!" Jesus is killed by a Pterodactyl. Judith blames herself. Michonne looks flawless. THE GANG STUMBLE UPON ANOTHER SETTLEMENT: CLOWN TOWN! Rick demands their balloon guns. EXISTENTIAL CRISIS. OLD MAN RICK HAS A HEART ATTACK AND DIES. PSYCH! IT WAS ALL A DREAM!!!

#twd wank #twd spoilers #I'm in a mood #ignore me #unless you want to wank too #in which case #feel free to add!

46 notes · View notes

paperanddice · 3 years

Text

Rylkar are a species of intelligent, creatures that originated in the upper Underdark and have begun spreading through other regions. They share traits with both rats and social insects such as ants and bees, with a single queen that acts as the center of a group and offspring with different physical characteristics to best suit their position and duties. They are mostly scavengers, living off the remains of the many large predators and dangerous groups of the Underdark, but can be dominant predators themselves when faced with less threatening environments. They have the appearance of diseased rats, being nearly indistinguishable at a basic viewing aside from their size. Cysts of pale green fluid form under their patchy fur and scabbed skin, seeming to have no negative effect on the rylkar even if they burst. In the young, this fluid has a potent and nauseating smell to help act as protection for the rylkspawn, but as they get older this smell weakens.

Most mysterious about the rylkar is their reproduction process, which utilizes fire to spur it forward. The queen harridan gestates large numbers of offspring inside of her body, holding them in suspension or even reabsorbing the fetuses during times of low food, but when fire is applied to her body she can birth entire swarms of young in short order. It's believed that this may be an artificial constraint somehow magically enforced onto the rylkar, suggesting they may have been bred for some purpose and escaped their creators. Other theories suggest this is a way of ensuring the rylkar only expand their numbers when stable enough that the drones and warriors can produce fires that will burn with enough energy to spur the harridan on, ensuring that groups that aren't well established don't waste energy and resources with offspring. The rylkar themselves don't seem to know or care for the reason behind this reproduction method, simply carrying it out when possible.

A harridan is by far the largest of the rylkar, reaching a length of up to 30 feet and weighing up to 16 tons. She requires the majority of the resources the rylkar colony can collect, and will even feed on weakened drones and warriors that she judges as having no value for the colony anymore. The eyes of a harridan wither and go blind as she grows, possibly another source of control from whoever created the rylkar to try and keep the massive creature under control. It seems to have largely failed.

Harridans regenerate rapidly, shrugging off incredible amounts of damage in short order. Fire and acid inflict true damage to the harridan, but this is a trap with her method or reproduction. If burned to end her regeneration, she will give birth to a swarm of rylkspawn, making the fight even more dangerous as the hungry young are capable of devouring an entire person within moments of being born. Even survivors of a battle may die soon, as the terribly unhygienic mouth of the rylkar tends to carry disease, and the harridan's is the most potent of all. Rylkar fever is a terrible infection that quickly overtakes the victim and will usually kill the patient in around a week.

One of the most insidious facts about the harridan is that her presence tends to infect nearby water and organic matter with a type of toxin nourishing to rylkar but toxic to nearly all other creatures. A harridan's presence near a water supply may poison it for all who live downstream, and few animals can live near a rylkar colony for long. Not even magic potions are entirely immune to this toxin, and exposing one to the aerosolized substance can infect them even in the brief moment between opening and drinking it. The toxin has no effect if inhaled in small doses; it must bind to another substance and be introduced to the stomach specifically. This toxin ensures that rylkar have very few predators or environmental competitors, as they quickly poison or drive out all other creatures.

Originally from the 3.5 Monster Manual V. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as a spot on the Paper and Dice Discord server, consider backing me there!

5th Edition

A rylkar harridan that has established itself for at least a week causes regional effects in the vein of some legendary creatures. The region surrounding a harridan's lair experiences one or more of the following effects: • Permanent water sources within 1,000 feet of the lair are contaminated as the harridan's contaminate trait. • The air within 1,000 feet of the lair smells and tastes foul. Creatures other than rylkar that take a long rest in the area must save as if they had eaten or drank food or water contaminated by the harridan. If the harridan dies or moves from its lair, these effects fade over the course of 4d4 days.

Rylkar Harridan Huge monstrosity, unaligned Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 148 (11d12 + 77) Speed 10 ft. Str 23 (+6) Dex 15 (+2) Con 24 (+7) Int 5 (-3) Wis 14 (+2) Cha 17 (+3) Damage Resistances poison Condition Immunities blinded Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius) passive Perception 12 Languages Undercommon, telepathy 10 miles (Rylkar only) Challenge 9 (5000 XP) Blind Senses. The rylkar can't use its blindsight while deafened and unable to smell. Contaminate. Any food or water brought within 20 feet of the rylkar is infected with a toxic substance produced by the rylkar. A magic potion opened within that area has a cumulative 10% chance of being infected each round it is exposed, exposing the drinker to the toxin in addition to the normal benefit of the potion. Any creature except rylkar that eats food or drinks water exposed to the rylkar's toxin must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for one minute. While poisoned in this way, the creature takes 7 (2d6) poison damage at the start of each of its turns, and its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the poison damage taken. The poisoned creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Iron Constitution. The rylkar has advantage on saves against being poisoned. Keen Hearing And Smell. The rylkar has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell. Regeneration. The rylkar regains 20 hit points at the start of its turn. If the rylkar takes acid or fire damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of its next turn. The rylkar dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate. Actions Multiattack. The rylkar can use its Frightful Presence. It then makes 1 bite attack. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (3d10+6) piercing damage plus 22 (5d8) poison damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Until the disease is cured, the target gains 1 level of exhaustion every 24 hours. The diseased creature's exhaustion level can't be lowered until the disease is cured. Frightful Presence. Each creature of the rylkar's choice that is within 120 feet of the rylkar and aware of it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.. If a creature's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the rylkar's Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours. Reactions Spawn Swarm (3/Day). When the rylkar takes at least 5 points of fire damage on a turn, it can immediately spawn a rylkspawn swarm in its space. The swarm rolls initiative immediately and obeys the rylkar's telepathic orders.

13th Age

Rylkar Harridan Large 5th level spoiler [beast] Initiative: +7 Gaping Diseased Bite +10 vs. AC - 40 damage Natural Attack Roll Above Target’s Constitution: The target loses one recovery and is infected with rylkar fever.

As long as the target is infected, its maximum number of recoveries is reduced by 1. The infected target must attempt a DC 30 Constitution check after each full heal-up. Full bed rest under the care of an experienced healer gives the target a +10 bonus to the check, and special ingredients or healing items granted by an icon benefit or a quest can give an additional +5 bonus each. On a success, the target’s maximum number of recoveries increases by 1, and the target recovers from the disease if its maximum recoveries returns to its full normal amount. Each time the target fails the check by 5 or more its maximum number of recoveries is further decreased by 1. Miss: 15 damage. Contaminate: Each time a nearby enemy drinks a potion, it must succeed on a saving throw or else the potion has been contaminated by the rylkar’s presence. The potion doesn’t have its normal effect, and instead the target takes 5 ongoing poison damage. Fear: While engaged with the rylkar, enemies that have 24 hp or fewer are dazed and do not add the escalation die to their attacks. Rylkar Regeneration 15: While a rylkar is damaged, its flesh heals 15 hit points at the start of the rylkar’s turn. It can regenerate 5 times per battle. If it heals to its maximum hit points, then that use of regeneration doesn’t count against the five-use limit. When the rylkar is hit by an attack that does acid or fire damage, it loses one use of its regeneration, and it can’t regenerate during its next turn. Dropping the rylkar to 0 hp doesn’t kill it if it has any uses of regeneration left. Slow: The rylkar can only drag itself along slowly. It takes two move actions to cover the same ground as a single normal move action. Spawn Swarm: 1/battle when the rylkar takes fire damage and the escalation die is 2+, the rylkar can spawn a single rylkspawn swarm nearby. AC 21 PD 20 MD 14 HP 150

#D&D #DnD #Dungeons and Dragons #5th edition #13th Age #homebrew #my homebrew #monster #monstrosity #beast #long post

39 notes · View notes