the angst in your zombie au bREAKS MY HEART INTO PIECES (I LOVE IT VERY MUCH)
okay, okay, so!! if the kagebros got separated from reigen and teru when mob is still fine, i imagine that their reunion would be hEARTWRENCHING also, i'm a bit curious, would mob still be able to recognize teru and reigen? or would he thought about them as strangers?
(tbh, following your lore, i imagine mob would act a similarly like nezuko from demon slayer? but instead of little hums, his zombie sounds would more like babbling and incoherent mumbles :"D)
the reunion is fuckin AWFUL man it's SO gut-wrenching. both reigen and teru feared this for Months while looking for the brothers; pretty much the worst case scenario was that mob or ritsu or Both turned—a lot of humans prefer death over being a zombie any day, so the idea of ritsu or mob having to go through that and wander around aimlessly until starvation or smth else gets them,,,
it hurts them so much to think about. teru forces himself not to dwell on it and he's pretty good at that but reigen thinks abt it a lot and he's honestly not sure what scenario is worse. best case is that they're both alive and unturned, obviously, but what's the worst case? you'd think it's both of them getting killed, or turning, but reigen also knows that if One of them got killed/turned, the other would probably lose their mind, especially if they had to watch. the fact that they're kids makes this all three times worse and reigen has to act like he's Not worrying himself sick over the brothers while he tries to keep teru in high spirits
the reunion itself is rly fuckin gut-wrenching for them. they see mob from afar, wandered off just a bit from ritsu and tome who are just around the bend looting a place, and they book it bc ofc they do, it's mob!! but then they see how pale he is, and when he turns around they don't see that light in his eyes that's usually there and the red is dulled and dead looking,, teru almost moves in for a hug before he realizes mob looks vastly different when he Rly takes him in, and mob doesn't rly react too much besides staring at them blankly. the obvious answer is almost too horrifying to even consider, so it takes them a minute to rly,,realize what's going on
tome comes around the bend and shouts, cuz when humans and zombies mix it's usually guns pointed at zombie heads. ritsu comes running out after her and when he sees reigen and teru his thoughts go, in order: holy shit is that reigen and tero ohmygod oh my god they're alive they're alive ohmy god i could fucking cry, and ohmy god they see shige ohno oh no oh no
ritsu sounds like a lunatic when he pulls mob away from them on instinct and says that he's safe to be around and that he's "still him" and he's "not gone" and he's very aware of that. he's very, intimately aware that he sounds fuckin crazy, bc ofc he does, this is what all the crazy people in zombie movies sound like. but he doesn't care, he doesn't care if reigen or teru dismiss him as nuts—he has to make them understand that his brother is still in there somewhere
and yeah, they both kinda think that ritsu's lost his marbles a little bit, but while teru is focused on that and the fact that mob doesn't look like he's rly tuned into Anything that's happening rn, reigen is a bit more focused on the fact that both ritsu and mob look awful? they're both very skinny and very dirty, obviously barely scraping by. they're cut up and ritsu's jacket is basically blood and dirt with a little bit of green fabric mixed in. and just by the look in ritsu's eyes, reigen can tell, man ... reigen can tell ritsu is like.not okay at this point he's kinda lost it.
i think the most painful thing about this whole reunion in general is that later that night, when reigen and teru r finally like ok we get it he's,, he's still mob. we believe you (they want to believe him... [they Do believe him, later, wholeheartedly]) and they settle down someplace safe, teru asks how long mob's been like this. and ritsu has to answer "since we got separated" and they both have that to stew over while everybody else sleeps
they realize that ritsu likely watched mob turn, watched the entire process, and that process takes a long time. it's at least a week of deteriorating motor functions and cognitive skill, and the fact that ritsu stayed for that to keep mob company is .ough. and it doesn't end there bc ritsu obviously stayed after that too
given how these things usually go, ritsu probably did think about killing mob. it probably did cross his mind, bc that's basically what everybody's been told to do. kill them before they have a chance to do any more damage. and it's obvious that ritsu did not have it in him
ritsu not only did not have it in him to kill him, he didn't even have it in him to leave him there. the kid fucking took him with him. a zombie. and he's somehow made it work, for months. and the next few days are filled with watching him still treat mob like a brother and take care of him and gently steer him away from a bird he tries to follow down the wrong street.ritsu is as gentle and kind as he's ever been with his brother. and even tho they're both hungry and tired and barely making it, ritsu is doing a rly good job taking care of mob with what he's been given
the kid obviously wholeheartedly believes in a cure and that mob is still There. he's gone through the trouble to take care of him, and the grief of continuously seeing a loved one that many would consider effectively dead, to get him that cure. to get him his brother back. and mob doesn't seem to be in any pain or distress, so reigen and teru think that this path ritsu has followed is probably infinitely kinder than the mercy kill method they've been taught to do
i think they have a new respect for ritsu, after that reunion
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This was a quick write and I put in my own experiences in. It’s a bit rushed but I ended up writing more then what I meant to 👀 pretty much I’m projecting my overstimulation on Eddie, plus I love to think Steve doesn’t just babysit the group but other smaller kids as well and he becomes very aware of their needs.
Just- Eddie gets overstimulated all the damn time and has to either bites something or does his overwhelmed bat hands. Flapping them aggressively as he runs away from a situation making Goblin noises. Before he’s putting his hands to his ears and just letting all the noises off from his chest. The amount of times he’s just done that with the group of hellfire boys, it’s become a normal thing. Garett, Jeff and Grant all got used to this years ago. So they knew about how the other got.
Meanwhile Dustin, Mike and Lucas could all get a tad overwhelming. Which is why the other boys all just decide to try and teach them that Eddie gets overstimulated really easily and it takes him more effort to understand peoples tones. Because he puts all his energy into that his tone sometimes doesn’t come off as friendly, and he doesn’t realize it half the time.
But anywho back to the being on course. All of them are somewhat used to it, and they are all shocked by how well Eddie is handling everything in the upside down. Besides a few clicking noises and popping noises he doesn’t run away from them. And when he looks like hes getting overwhelmed he has to close his eyes and rub his head back to hold himself back.
So when everything is finally done and the other is in the hospital. He’s so fucking overstimulated that he’s not even crying because of the pain anymore. The doctors don’t know what to do, not until they start to catch on and they try to help the other be as comfortable as possible. Then Eddie’s ok for a bit.
Then when he leaves the hospital, that’s when everything hits him all at once. It had always strained him a bit to hold himself back from doing what normally helps him with being overstimulated. So he has on and off days but soon enough it’s all good days and he’s with Robin and Steve. The two are energetic just like him but today he can feel himself getting overstimulated and he doesn’t want to embarrass himself. Though something on the radio turns to a high pitched static and robins making noise that doesn’t make since jumping up and down and holding her ears as Steve is quick to shut it off. Quickly and gently not touching her the best he can, moves and has her sit in the back room in the dark with a window open so she can breathe. He moves back out apoligizing to eddie who is really trying not to do the bat flap and just run away with goblin noises.
Steve looks at him and raises a eyebrow. You see he’s been helping Robin out for a while, plus he’s been babysitting smaller kids for a while and he doesn’t know what it’s called but he knows when someone’s getting overwhelmed. He moves over closer to the other as he hums. “Are your stims loud or are they quite?” He asks curiously. That’s what one of the parents used for their child, who was in the process of being diagnosed for autism. And it seemed to be the only word that would fit Robin and Eddie at the moment.
“My what?” Eddie asks confused.
“Stims? Oh shit sorry I have this kid who gets overwhelmed really easily, and well he does these things when he is. He does a bird flap with his hands, starts to click his tongue, whistle or just say certain words over and over again because he likes how they sound. His parents call them stims, and Robin has them as well when she gets overwhelmed and you have the same face that the kid I babysit gets when he’s trying to act normal so- that and the kids told me you apparently turn goblin sometimes.” Steve explains looking at the other with curiousity.
And if Eddie wasn’t about to cry from how overwhelming everything was he would shamelessly fall in love with the other. No one’s ever treated what he has done normal for the first time he does it in his life. Though he’s quick to stammer out a sentence. Breathing picking up. “I get loud.”
“Well, Robin gets overwhelmed by loud or i else I would let you chill with her.” Steve frowns. “What normally helps?” He asks curiously. And Eddie flushed.
“I don’t know.”
“Ok- um come here. The kid I babysit when he gets overwhelmed really likes to cuddle. Maybe you’re the same?” Steve hums and Eddie’s face is flushing as he moves shamelessly over. If the other thought he could help then he would take it. He would cry if it didn’t work.
Steve moves letting the other in and he pulls the other into a warm hug gently rubbing his back and playing with his curls. It was a little overwhelming at first but when Eddie finally lets himself have a moment to close his eyes and breath, Steve’s the first person to properly bring him down. Though Steve does ask him what it means for him to turn “goblin” so he does end up making the noises he normally does acting as if he was saying normal words. Steve doesn’t laugh and nods his head as he helps the other to the best of his abilities.
When Robin comes out shes a little tired but a lot better. Eddie finally lets go when he feels better and Steve hums. “Weighted blankets normally help that kid I was telling you about, if you want I have a extra if you want it.”
And boy does Eddie fall in love.
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So in “Back in Action”, it is claimed that if Porky dropped his stutter, he would be rendered unfunny. Do you think this is true?
i think there’s a big misconception that Porky’s stutter pulls more weight than it actually does. it can absolutely add its own humor and certainly a lot of charm, but i wholeheartedly disagree that he needs it to be funny
the stutter can be an avenue for a lot of fun or charming gags (the ever reliable bait and eh-sweh-swee-eh-swetch-swi—beh-bai-eh-bait and eh-seh-sweh—the ever reliable switcheroo is always a favorite, but the rare occasions where it’s actually acknowledged by Porky himself make for some fun situations too), but Porky’s personality is i think wholly independent from his speech patterns and many of his best cartoons aren’t because he has a stutter and nothing else. it can help with charisma for sure, and i definitely think it would be an odd if he didn’t have it, but… it’s like a topper for what’s already there. stutter or no stutter, he’s a bumbling, oblivious but endearing innocent. the stutter i think helps to convey all that, but is like a compliment to an already founded ensemble
outside of the bait-n-switch wordplay (which can be genius in its own right but IS often used as a crutch by directors when they’re having trouble finding inspiration for him), it’s rare that Porky or other characters really comment on the stutter. likewise, very rarely is it made fun of, and if it is it’s usually by characters who are purposefully supposed to be conveyed as assholes in the moment. which, y’know, is good! it’s not something that’s often noted by other characters and i think that does help in showing that he’s more than just a guy who stutters and doesn’t really single him out.
and you have clips like this for example—i didn’t notice anything odd about it until i noticed there wasn’t a stutter, and even then the personality is still all there in the voice (and mannerisms.) likewise, there’s quite a bit of his dialogue that he goes through without stuttering because having him stutter on every single sentence ever WOULD be excessive. it’s definitely an art, all of the varying directors have different variations of his stutter and as i said before, sometimes you CAN tell when the directors are struggling with inspiration because that’s when the switcheroos come out in close concentration; i don’t think it’s Porky being an unfunny character so much as it is the occasional lack of inspiration. the personality is VERY much there, but sometimes it can be hard to find depending on the circumstances. i have a hard time pinning that as a problem exclusive to Porky
i guess it depends who you ask. i am a Porky nut and often make a point to try and get people to come to The Pork Side because i feel he’s very underrepresented and a very FUNNY character at that! so i’m a bit biased—some other people may think he IS only funny because of the stutter. i personally think that’s very false and puts a lot of faith on the stutter when (at least in the originals) it’s not something given a lot of importance from the characters themselves. i can only really think of one cartoon where the stutter is central to the plot (two if you count the days with his original voice actor, whose stutter was natural)—it would certainly be odd without it, and i can see how it adds a lot of charm and some personality, but people who say he’s ONLY funny because of the stutter are usually people who don’t know how to write him to begin with
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