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bedlamsbard · 14 days

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I know this is kind of out of nowhere but for the longest time I was super weird and mentally dismissive of your burning out of Star Wars because I was someone who survived the OEU's insanity back in the day and managed not to burn out of Star Wars in the face of ridiculous nonsense like the Yuuzhan Vong and Killiks, so if I could survive that, you were of course entitled to dislike Star Wars but I still found it silly. Anyway I just finished watching Tales of the Jedi(Resolve) and I Get It Now.

...I recognise that may not be the most hinged thing to say to someone I don't actually know, and apologise for my mild to moderate insanity; I slept three hours, am very sick, it's shark week, and my brain seized on you as someone who'd Get It and who I had been hard on in my thoughts in the past, but, like, none of that actually affected you until I randomly said it? So anyway sorry for babbling at you like that lmfao, I'll stop talking now

Okay. I've been thinking about these since I saw them; I saw the first one before the second one arrived, which was a hell of a thing to wake up to since I saw it first thing in the morning. While my usual policy is to leave messages along these lines in my inbox, I was genuinely upset and wanted to respond once I had a more coherent reaction than "why me, gods, why does this always happen to me."

So, first of all, I'm sorry that you had an installment in canon that didn't do it for you; it happens to the best of us and there are very few people in fandom who uncritically (or even critically) enjoy everything in canon, especially in a fandom as big and long-running as Star Wars.

It's also very common for people to fall out of love with a fandom, even a fandom they've been in for a very long time; I would say that fen who have consistently been in one fandom for an extended period of time are probably rarer than those who haven't. It's not always because there is one installment that is just The Worst; often that's just a tipping point for fen who have been on the edge for a while. (Ask your average former MCU fan who left after Avengers Endgame.) Other times fen just drift away from a fandom without a reason to push them out. Maybe their favorite characters have died, maybe the canon is no longer telling stories they're interested in even if none of those stories are "bad," maybe it's a closed canon and without new stories there's nothing to keep them there; there's any number of factors.

I had a very dramatic breakup with Star Wars three years ago, and it was about three years after I really should have gotten out of the fandom, because I had not been having a good time for a while at that point. And honestly, considering that I hadn't had a healthy relationship with either Star Wars or the fandom for a while before that, for various reasons that go well beyond what was happening in canon, arguably I should have gotten out even earlier. However, I'm monofannish to a fault and I really needed something that would actually kick me to a new fandom -- which meant it couldn't come from Star Wars.

I don't really dislike Star Wars as a whole. There are individual installments that I quite dislike, there are some that I still love, and the vast majority of Star Wars I'm neutral on. I do however have a very fucked up relationship with Star Wars, including the canon, the PTB, and the fandom itself. I have gotten regular abuse on Wake and Gambit for the past ten years, which really screwed up my relationship with AO3 and with the prequel era. There is canon that I really, really dislike, some of it because it personally does nothing for me (the ST), some of it because from my point of view, it completely fucked over a story I love (Rebels S4, TCW S7, some other stuff that contradicts stuff from the EU I love; I came out of the EU too), some of it because I just plain don't like it (THR, most of the comics), and some of it because watching it just plain made me feel like I was being gaslit, which is not something I say lightly (Mando is the worst offender, but there are others). A lot of these are problems that could come out of any fandom, especially a large, long-running, multi-media fandom; I know a lot of Marvel people who have very similar problems, though I think the scale tends to be slightly different there just because the canon is set up differently.

When I switched fandoms, I had to recalibrate my entire relationship to fandom, to canon, to AO3, and to how I interacted with all of them. I still have to check myself in most of those places because my relationship with Star Wars had screwed me up so much. I had to train myself into being able to post on AO3 again; I do talk regularly about how a lot of what I write is shaped by trying to avoid getting the kind of reactions I got and still get from my Star Wars fic, even years later. I have to make conscious decisions not to engage with every part of the canon without feeling like a failed fan, especially the installments I'm pretty sure I'll dislike, because I tried to do that in Star Wars and it regularly messed me up. As a cosplayer, I still have a fairly bad reaction to even seeing the word "approvable," and it took a while for me not to have a similar reaction to "screen-accurate." I'm still destashing most of my Star Wars merch and right now, my reaction to seeing new Marvel merch isn't "ooh, would I wear/use this?" it's "when I inevitably have a horrendous breakup with this fandom will I be able to resell it?" which is not a really healthy relationship to have with a fandom. (I have mostly moved off this but not entirely.) I knew that Star Wars had screwed my relationship with Disney World, when I had a panic attack on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind because I was so terrified that it was going to be ~necessary canon, even though Marvel has never operated that way; Star Wars does with Galaxy's Edge, which I don't really like being in anymore either.

And yes, I'm aware all of these are an extreme overreaction to getting out of a fandom. I'm not happy about it either and I wish it wasn't happening. It's better now than it was a couple years ago and I'm frankly glad I'm not in the fandom anymore; I'm happy for people who are or who have gotten back into it and are having a good time. I am not one of them; I may some day be one again, but probably not anytime soon.

But even if I didn't have this specific fucked up relationship with Star Wars, a fandom I have not been in for three years at this point, sometimes people just burn out on a fandom. I'm not a CSI:NY fan anymore, either. (Which my last big fandom prior to Narnia, which I just drifted away from. I've only been in five big writing fandoms over twenty years.)

#thelearnedsoldier #bedlam replies #I haven't been in star wars fandom for THREE YEARS #THREE YEARS

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doizy · 4 months

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Wonderful Precure First Impressions!

I stayed up until way past my bedtime for the reveal (it was hard, I'm way too much of a morning person for this). I'll go go character by character first:

Cure Wonderful/ Kumogi

She is indeed a dog! And a cute one, the plushie leaks didn't do her justice. She's Friendy's pet, but i wonder if she's a magical dog that ended up as a pet, our if she's similar too Mofurun i.e. a normal dog that acquired speech/a human mind recently. I love her civilian design, it's really fun and cute, i love the ponytail.

Cure Friendy/ Iroha

When I first saw the leaks I was afraid that she was going to be too close to Mashiro in terms of personality, and we would have a similar dynamic with the lead than last season, but i was completely wrong! She looks like a pretty extroverted and energetic character! Also i like that she have a pretty different hairstyle than her cure form. She gave her last name to Kumogi, so I'm guessing they'll end up with a sibling like dynamic?

Cure Niammy:

Most likely a white cure with a blue subcolor. Probably my favorite design, she looks like she has a fun personality too, a bit full or herself. She's definitely the white cat Yuki-chan, even if it hasn't been confirmed yet. I'm very curious to see her civilian design too!

Cure Lillian:

Obviously she's Mayu. She look maybe a little bit older than Iroha. On the promo pic she's taking pictures of Yuki-chan so I'm expecting her to be the kind of person that is obsessed with taking picture of their pets (she's just like me for real).

Miscellaneous :

So we have those to character Satoru and Daifuku, and it once again it's pretty obvious who our midseason cure(s) will be. I'm expecting Satoru to have a similar supportive role to Ageha in the early episodes and to become a cure on his own later. Like Toei is going to pass the occasion to make a bunny themed character/mascot! And his outfit is suspiciously color themed (There's a quote on Cure Soleil's Wiki page where that says that yellow/orange cures are bit more free to be experimental than the pink and purple who have to be more marketable, so I think that's why he'll have a similar color to Wing). His design instantly reminded me of Yukito from Card Captor Sakura, and apparently the character designers does a lot of Clamp fanart that might actually be an inspiration.

The kirarin animals are the other mascot that will be included in this year tamagochi like toy. I'm expecting them to have a similar role to the star princesses or the elements spirits and that they will give the cures specific powers to collect as they rescue them etc.

About the merchandise it seems that we're getting different transformation item/wand for each pairs (RIP to the collectors wallet), so no hope to find the Mid season cure there, it's probably absent from the mirror pad update, just like majesty was, so it seems that they're hiding them well... The wonderful pact is really pretty I love how shiny it is!

There seems to be a lot of women in the staff this year which is really cool to see!

I think the season looks super adorable, and i can't wait for it to start!

#precure #wonderful precure #cure wonderful #cure friendy #cure nyammy #cure lillian

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keenzinemugstudent · 1 year

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Superman x black reader! You get saved by Superman and accidentally call him by his name.

Okay this isn't how you thought you'd spend your night out all you wanted to do was just spend the day at home baking cookies and binge watching your favorite TV series but no you were forced you go out on a date and now your hanging from the roof top trying not to die! Just great the only reason why you went on a date was because Y/B/N (your Best friend name) thought it'd be nice if you went out and have fun so they set you up with some dude from their job some guy named John don't get me wrong the guy wasn't an asshole but only thing he could do was just talk about himself and how perfect he was he was a total snob the only person you can think about spending a night dinner with was Clark Kent your best friend but no he has feelings for Lois freaking Lane! I mean you can understand she's pretty you can give her that but she is a reporter and he's the freaking Man of Steel like come on dude how's that even gonna work?! Okay maybe the main reason why you don't like her is because you were secretly jealous that she had Clark's attention I mean you've known him nearly your whole entire life she's known him for like a couple of weeks and boom he's all cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs for her! Ugh It must be the red hair the redheads always get all the attention. You snap out of your thoughts as you could hear the rooftop breaking apart.

"Wow looks like this is how I die, ha and I didn't even get to finish House of the Dragon!"

With that you lost your grip and was sent flying through the sky screaming your head off you had your eyes closed waiting for your death but than you'd felt someone holding you tightly.

"It's okay, your safe now ma'am." You open your eyes too see the man of steel himself holding you in his arms with a soft smile on his handsome face, hey maybe almost dying wasn't such a bad thing after all if you get to live like this hehe.

He lands on top of an apartment building he puts you down gently checking for any bruises.

"I'm glad I was able to get to you on time don't worry about the others I took care of the robbers." I let of a sigh of relief giving him a smile.

"Oh man what a relief...Thanks Clark." You stand on your tippy toes to give him a hug but you felt him tense up hmm guess he's not a hugger............wait oh shit you said 'Thanks Clark and not 'Thanks Superman' oh shit! Did you forget to mention that Clark had absolutely no idea that you knew about his powers yeah you accidentally caught him using his powers when you were to go visit him on the farm. We both just stood in silence starring at each other he was able to say something but I cut him off.

"Uh oh wow you caught me in such a perfect timing! Thanks for everything but I'm pretty sure you're busy and I mean super busy well I'll just uh be on my way thanks for everything Clark I mean Superman I mean!" You covered your face with embarrassment you were honestly just making things worst for yourself at this point.

"Y/N?"

I peek through my hands hiding my red face only to see him smiling like a big ass teeth and all smile.

"How long have you known?"

"Since I caught you lifting up your dad's old truck behind the farm.." he looked shocked.

"You've known that long and didn't say anything?!"

"How the hell was I supposed to tell you?! 'Hey Clark I saw you lifting up your dad's truck with one arm want to go fishing later?' Not a great way to start the day Clark Kent!" You say arms crossed he just lets out a laugh walking towards you grabbing you by the waist spinning you around causing you to let out a screech of alarm hands on his shoulders.

"Clark! Put me down!" He does but was still smiling arms around your waist.

"I'm sorry, 'm just happy that you know it makes it easy for me now."

"Huh? Easy for what?"

That's when he gave you a kiss on the forehead causing you to blush he pulled away looking down at you straight in the eye.

"Easy for me to tell you that I love you Y/n." He gives you a tight hug you let out a sign hiding your face in his shoulder smiling.

You'd have to definitely thank Y/B/N after this!

Meanwhile somewhere in metropolis Y/B/N was sitting down eating popcorn watching The House of Dragon until they sneezed

"Is someone talking shit?"

#clark kent #superman #henry cavill #black reader #chubby reader #y/n #superman x reader #superman x you #clark kent x you #clark kent x ofc #superman headcanons #clark kent x female reader #henry cavill headcanon #henry cavill superman #henry cavill x reader

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slayerkitty · 6 months

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Narrative Frameworks in Only Friends

Something I have been tracking as part of the ongoing discussions about Only Friends is the use of the narrative framework for each episode.

So, I’m making this list specifically for tracking purposes, to note which framework was used for which episodes, if they repeat, and what they may be paying homage to. The goal is to update it every week. Due to suggestions, I am also tracking the end credit scenes, as well as any specific visual or audio formats used in the episodes.

Frameworks so far:

1. Voiceovers: gives the audience specific insight into a characters thoughts and feelings; also a great way to provide exposition. It’s more of an audio than visual framework, as we don’t always see the character doing the voice-over because it plays over other scenes.

2. “Talking Heads” (is there a better descriptor for this?): The characters talk directly to the camera, interview/documentary style. We get to see exactly how they feel about a given moment because they are reacting to it at that time. Audio and visual. Homage to Love8009 (per P'Jojo).

3. Social Media (ft The Artist Formerly Known as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook): Not as insightful as the other two frameworks but does give context and a way for interaction, commentary, and exposition on a given plot. Visual. Probable homage to Together With Me, one of the first spicy BLs starring our kings, MaxTul.

(Side Note: I was re-watching some scenes from Never Let me Go and realized P'Jojo uses yellow text on the screen in it too. So maybe he just likes the yellow text or maybe it means something, idk, idk.)

Discussion: Ding, dong! Are the narrative frameworks dead? P'Jojo posted on The Artist Formerly Known as Twitter some pictures that implied the talking heads framework was coming back; they included Sand, Ray and Boston (I cannot find the link to Boston's, if someone has it please let me know and I'll update the post). Their clothing matches up with this episode. Very clearly the framework was not used. This is the second time that P'Jojo has actively chosen to remove a framework from an episode (that we know of) and I'm super curious if he will say anything about why he cut it.

Having said that, do we think this means the frameworks are dead?

I had been positing that the show started out as a BL with the various frameworks and that we left the BL genre for a bit, with the idea that frameworks would be coming back as we headed back into the BL genre. I still think that is what the show is kind of doing, however, I'm waffling on if the frameworks are permanently gone. One one hand - they were used brilliantly and it was fascinating to watch. On the other hand - we haven't had them for five episodes and bringing them back now might feel jarring? The show also stands just as well on it's own without them.

Do we need them back? Is it better with them gone? Will we get them back?

Discuss!!!

Episode 1

Framework: Voiceover

Title: What’s Your Role in a Bar?

Narrator: Mew

Visual Moment: Yellow title cards listing everyone’s “roles” as well as the month and days of the week

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank

Episode 2

Framework: Talking Heads

Title: M.F.M. My Favorite Man

Narrator: Everyone

Visual Moment: The talking heads scenes

End Credit Shot: Ray driving

Episode 3

Framework: Social Media (Twitter and Instagram)

Title: What Am I to You?

Narrator: Nick and Boston

Audible Moment: Nick listening to the TopBoston sex audio

End Credit Shot: Nick listening to TopBoston sex audio

Episode 4

Framework: Voiceover

Title: Emergency Contact

Narrator: Ray

Visual Moment: The flashback of RayMew is in 4:3 ratio; meaning it looks like recorded footage versus a memory, yellow text onscreen indicates flashback

End Credit Shot: Ray driving (repeat from episode 2)

Episode 5:

Framework: Voiceover

Title: The Extra Hour

Narrator: Sand

Visual Moment: Intro and Outro are animated; black and white (made me think of the Take on Me MV by A-ha but I’m open to suggestions on what this might be referring to)

End Credit Shot: Sand driving his motorcycle

Episode 6:

Framework: None

Title: Happy Fucking Birthday

Narrator: None

Audible Moment: Ray listens to the TopBoston sex audio; Mew plays the TopBoston sex audio for Top

Visual Moment: Top draws Mew sleeping/gives Mew a book of drawings he did of Mew

End Credit Shot: Top in his bathtub alone looking angsty

Episode 7:

Framework: None

Title: After Effect

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Mew setting the drawing on fire; Boston’s sex tape; the “super zooms”

End Credit Shot: Mew sitting on the floor in front of his fish tank (repeat from episode 1)

Episode 8:

Framework: None

Title: Save Me

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Facebook party invite/everyone’s reactions to the invite; Everyone’s costumes at the party

End Credit Shot: Boston looking angsty at the hostel

Episode 9:

Framework: None

Title: The Return

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: Boston’s photo of Atom; Top recording SandRay kissing, BOEING (I had to, lmao)

End Credit Shot: Top in his bathtub alone looking angsty (repeat from episode 6)

Episode 10:

Framework: None

Title: Redemption

Narrator: None

Visual Moment: The "I will never leave you"/"I will never love you" neon sign; Boston's photos of Atom; Nick's photo as Boston's lock screen (I'm fine!); Boeing's Instagram

End Credit Shot: Ray driving (repeat from episode 2 and episode 4)

If anyone can think of anything else to add, please let me know! If you would like to be tagged in this post or any other meta, let me know and I’ll add you.

Tagging the Ephemerality Squad: @lurkingshan, @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist, @chickenstrangers, @ranchthoughts, @twig-tea, @clara-maybe-ontheroad, @distant-screaming, @thatgirl4815, @elizabethsebestianhedgehog

Tagging @sandrayy by request

Apologies to anyone I forgot!

#only friends the series #only friends meta #thai bl #ephemerality squad

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kaylinalexanderbooks · 19 days

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Personality through quote

Thanks @willtheweaver here, @elsie-writes here, @somethingclevermahogony here, and @dyrewrites here.

Rules: write a quote from your character(s) following a given prompt

Tagging @mk-writes-stuff @little-peril-stories @ohnomybreadsticks @oh-no-another-idea @sarahlizziewrites @sleepywriter00 @mysticstarlightduck @emilynotfound @elsie-writes + OPEN

Your prompt: "What's a song/type of music that you can listen to when you need comfort?"

Due to these building up, they're under the cut

Will's prompt: Go-to meal when they are sick

Lexi: "When I'm in Ceteri, it's a classic grilled cheese. Alium though has this weird purple soup that's made of...I actually don't know what it is, but it's super good and totally effective."

Maddie: "Pia makes really good soup. I think that usually helps when I'm sick."

Ash: "Mary makes some good Texas toast. I'll take that, maybe dip it in some soup."

Gwen: "Does tea count as a meal? Because that's what I have when I'm sick."

Robbie: "My mom makes good stew and very healthy meals when we're sick. She knows exactly what to do whenever we don't feel well."

Akash: "Literally everything Mrs. Stafford makes. Everything."

Jedi: "I really enjoy hinoniku, which is like bulgogi from your side of the portal, but the meat is from the firefox. I would eat that when sick because of what it reminds me of."

Carmen: "I guess Atsila's family made good meals with unibison and bearfalo meat. They made a good stew."

Elsie's prompt: A quote about love

Lexi: "I guess love is... I guess grounding? Is that what it's called? It makes me feel good. Like things are normal. If I'm having some anxiety attack, if someone is just...there, I can usually calm down.

Maddie: "Hm. I guess the small things people do can be love. Like Kelsey making me Wilfredo. Wasn't for my birthday or anything. Or Lexi watching sci-fi with me, playing Mario Kart even though she always loses."

Ash: "Whenever someone doesn't put so much pressure on you to do something specific. Be something specific. Love is that, I think. When they like you for you."

Gwen: "Love is something that transcends time and space. It will never stop - not for anything. I love spending time with my friends, but I'd love them no matter what. Akash and I are in a long distance relationship, but we see each other over the weekends. That doesn't matter to me. We still are together."

Robbie: "There are people I can't stop thinking about. That are on my mind all the time, y'know? It's like they physically are there, in my mind. If my mind was, like, a building, they'd have rooms to themselves, completely dedicated to who they are. That's kinda how I see it. Does that make sense? I'm probably not making sense."

Akash: "I feel like love is knowing you can always go to them. For refuge, y'know? Knowing they'll accept you and protect you. And you right back at them."

Jedi: "Love is sinking into warmth. It feels warming to be with someone. No matter how horrible you feel, being with them is comforting."

Carmen: (we'll pretend you actually got her to answer this question) "It's not being afraid to let them see you at your worst."

C's prompt: A quote about a reoccurring dream

Lexi: "I have dreams about all of my friends. Often, we're at Main Event, bowling. Getting pizza. Laser tag. A lot of stuff like that. Sometimes it gets weird, like a character appears, or someone I haven't seen in years. Sometimes Shelby is there. Usually I... I feel like I'm giving too much information, but I always get so angry when I see her. I've thrown a bowling ball at her a few times. Every time I've woken up, completely shaken. Sometimes I'll get a nightmare in the middle of a dream where everyone suddenly vanished. [Pause] I've spoken way too much about this."

Maddie: "My dreams are usually weird and nonsensical. I don't think any of them reoccur. A lot of them are combinations of things I'm watching. A lot of superheroes or Star Trek."

Ash: "Sometimes I have this dream where I'm like...not physically there. Like I'm an observer from above. It's unsettling. Nothing too bad, but it's just weird, I guess."

Gwen: "I've had a recurring dream topic where I meet my evil twin, though none have been the same. I was actually a twin. Not identical, but my sister died in the womb. I always was scared of those episodes where there's an evil clone or twin, so I have dreams where she lived and became evil. Not sure if this is a nightmare or not. Sounds silly saying it out loud actually (laughs)."

Robbie: "Okay, I have this dream where I'm running through the city. I don't actually know what city. It looks like Metropolis from Superman: The Animated Series. Y'know, the 90s one? But like, I know it's not Metropolis. I think it's New York, but I've never been, so that doesn't make sense. Anyways, I'm running through the city, and there are cars pulled off to the side of the road while people are screaming and running. There's this destruction going on behind me. I turn around, and coming through the buildings is this giant inflatable duck floaty. Like one little kids would take to the pool. I dunno, man. I don't even have a fear of them."

Akash: "Bro, most of my dreams take place in Walmart. WALMART. What does that even mean?? It doesn't make any sense! There's never the same thing happening. I'm just constantly in Walmart."

Jedi: "My insomnia causes vivid dreams whenever I get to sleep. It is not always terrible, but at the worst, I do have dreams where I am responsible for my mother's death. I know that is not the case, but it appears I may have some guilt left over from it."

Carmen: [pause, pause, pause] "I am not going to answer a question about what goes on in my subconscious. What kind of sick person do you have to be to ask that?!"

Amber's prompt: A quote about someone they miss

Lexi: "Everyone I left behind in elementary school. Daniella, Laurie, Ryan, Amber. It sounds silly, since I wasn't particularly close to them, but they were my friends. I still follow them on social media, but I haven't exactly met up with them in a while. I need to change that."

Maddie: "I dunno. Brycen pre-bully? I was friends with him for a time. I don't miss him but I miss the person he was."

Ash: "Sometimes I find myself missing Shelby or even Frank. They were awful, but... Shelby did make me feel like I found someone I could talk to. And Frank was a second dad for a little bit until he turned out to be a jerk. I dunno. It's complicated."

Gwen: "My cat. Poor thing was suffering and we had to put her down. I miss her so, so much. And even if we get another one, it won't be the same. It won't be her."

Robbie: "I miss Lalika, Akash's mom. She was such a good lady, like another mother or maybe an aunt. I knew her most of my life. How could I not miss her?"

Akash: "More than anyone, I miss my mom. I didn't get enough time with my dad to know him, but... Mom I did. And... I just wish I got more time with her, y'know?"

Jedi: "I miss seeing my sister Kirstie all the time. We were very close as children. And my mother.... Eomma did everything to keep me safe. I will never be able to repay that."

Carmen: "Of course I miss Atsila. I knew her for a while." [She's holding back more]

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

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httaod · 1 month

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Yeah, I just pointed to all of you

I rambled too much in the other one, time to get serious!

First of all, the star of the show, the man himself, the goober, raw vikingsness contained in just one- Oh wait that last part was Astrid-

Anyway, Hiccup. We stan an uncomfy king.

Autism. Not extremely super much is gonna change, but due to incredibly self-indulgent reasons, my mans is gonna get another scoop of the tism ice creme. I really wanna dig into the alienation and isolation that's going to linger in his bones still, really shovel into that sense of self, how he fears he'll return to who he used to be without Toothless, coming to accept and embrace that version of himself, that his deeds don't determine his worth. The fear of not being useful enough after only getting praise after doing something grand, learning how to just be and finding out who he really wants to be, how to carve his own space somewhere

Leading Berk, look, mans loves Berk and he does a very good job, but in this version we're gonna let him explore what it is he actually wants to do, having Hiccup make space for himself as the scrunkly dragon boy or the genuis engineer instead of just Hiccup the Son of the Chief and Future Chief himself. Lots of finding yourself, trying things and noticing maybe they're not right for you or maybe they are and you just needed to look at other things to be sure. (I'm fairly certain he does a lot of finding himself in RttE, but we're currently only at Season 1 and I need that series to shovel coal into my hyperfixation train when the fuel gets low ok, so we're just gonna have to deal)

This is getting too long again, this was supposed to be a list of bullet points, frigglesnaggle, ok Hiccup centric post and cut and dry bullet points next and I'll just slowly elaborate over time

People are gonna be a bit nicer..? Talking about Movie 3 specifically. I mean we're gonna try and dig into those relationships a bit more anyway, though mostly the series I've seen so far have done a pretty funky job of making the characters bond and I'd like to have that reflected in the story. Gimme group hug friends who geniuenly like each other and work together like a well oiled machine heck yeee

How do we handle dragons? That's a topic I find really interesting for Hiccup, especially faced with Drago and Grimmel. There's definitely gonna be some 'trust vs control', and I really want us to dig into the topic of dragon trappers. Mans has his work cut out for him. But looking at how he could attempt to mediate and educate others and how to deal with those refusing to play nice is gonna be interesting to look at at more than surface level

I'm starting to lose sight of what I actually wanted to talk about, so here's some funny Hiccups to distract you, while I comply to the whims of fate my brain and write a cut and dry bullet point list

Ah yes. And he gets ear piercings because I'm a hoe, k bye

#httyd #httoad #httaod #hiccup #httyd hiccup #httyd headcanon

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boygiwrites · 8 months

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Harley D. Dixon 2

An amazing edit inspired by this story! (Cred to Cora_Line99) Harley D. Dixon's Pinterest Board! Harley D. Dixon's Playlist!

📖Chapter List.

Author's Note. Get ready for the first major change in the canon story-line hehe

Please enjoy reading! :)

"You want me to sing tonight, chicken?"

It's way past my bed-time. The sky looks like a giant film of blue cellophane above us, with millions of little white holes poked through. I pick out the shiniest one, 'cause that one's my Momma. Then I realise I gotta pick one out for Uncle Merle, now, too, so I pick the one right next to Momma's and wish him goodnight in my head.

After my Dad dragged all our stuff further into the woods, because we shouldn't sleep next to people we don't trust, we curled up in his camping chair and we haven't moved since. I'm wrapped up in a grubby gray blanket that I think used to be white, 'cause it's all we got, and I'm wearing two pairs of socks plus my Dad's jacket but it's still cold. I feel like a baby joey in a Momma kangaroo's pouch. Through the trees, I can see the main camp's fires all glittering like tiny orange fireflies and I can hear 'em all laughing. I think they're celebrating. Me and my Dad — We're mourning.

Tomorrow, they're heading back to the city to look for my Uncle Merle, even though we all know he's dead already. He's dead and he's gone and he ain't never coming back, so why does my Daddy wanna go get killed, too? Don't he know I need him?

"I don't wanna go to sleep."

"Well," He reminds me, "Sometimes it don't matter what little girls want. I'm sayin' it's time to sleep, so it's time to sleep."

If he wanted to talk about it, I'd tell him that I don't wanna go to sleep because it means that when I wake up, it'll be the day my Daddy either dies in the city or he doesn't, and then I'll be all alone forever. I don't wanna pick a star out for my Dad. But I don't tell him any of this.

"Now, you want me to sing, or not?" He asks me again.

"I said," And half-way through I'm huffing this out, I know I've made a mistake, but I keep goin', anyway, because at least if I make him super angry, he might wanna talk. Unlike Officer Rick, my Dad is easy to make angry. "I don't wanna go to sleep."

I feel his stomach fill with air underneath me. "Scuse me?"

I twist to face him. Half his face is glowing from the fire, and the other half is glowing just from how mad he is.

"I... don't... wanna," I spell it out real slow. That's what people do when someone's not listenin' properly. "Go... to... sleep."

I hear main camp laughing again. For just a second, I wish I was over there, instead.

I look my Dad in the eye. It's really hard.

"You lookin' for a spanking, Harley Dixon?"

"No," My voice wobbles.

"'Cause you keep back-chattin' me, that's where you're headed."

"But—"

"What I just say?"

I snap my mouth shut like a kettle lid. Does he even have the words in him? Do I gotta beat on his chest 'till they come flying out? Do I gotta kick and yell and scream 'till he can't hold 'em in anymore? What do I gotta do to make him talk? How am I meant to like it over here, in this lonely camp with no Momma and no Uncle and maybe after tomorrow, no Dad, neither?

"Quit that look, Harley Dixon. I'm warnin' you."

"No."

"You really gonna make me repeat myself?"

I snap.

"Maybe I'on care!" I shout. We're both shocked. Then, he's about to lay me over his knee and whoop me 'till I'm black and blue, but I don't stop for nothin'. "Maybe I'on give a crap! I said I don't wanna go to sleep, so why you makin' me? I don't wanna! Uncle Merle's dead! He's dead and you don't even care!"

"How can you say tha—"

"You don't care because you're goin' back to the city tomorrow and you're gonna die, and I'm gonna be alone again, and you don't even care! Uncle Merle is dead! Just like Momma, he's dead!"

"We don't know that, Harley."

"Yeah, we do! Rick killed 'im, and now he's dead."

"That ain't true. Harley, you listen—"

He grabs my arms, but I smack him away. He gets angrier.

He points a finger in my face. "Do not fuckin' hit me, girl."

"I'on care."

Now he really grabs me, and it's so tight I can't smack him at all, or wriggle, or even look away. I see two miniature versions of our campfire in his eyes, burning away. It's a familiar look. I start to cry. I wish I wasn't here. I wanna be in main camp, where they're laughing.

"You stop this bullshit right now, Harley." He says, low. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but if it don't stop right this second, you're gonna regret it. You understand? Don't you ever hit me again. I'm leavin' tomorrow, and that's final."

"But why?"

"'Cause I'm choosin' to believe in yer Uncle Merle. You heard what all them said. There's a chance he ain't dead, and that's a chance I'm gonna take, because I'm a Dixon. Dixons look out for each other." He gives me a little shake. "If it were either one of us in that city, he'd be raisin' Hell on his way there already. Now, I don't wanna hear another word outcher mouth 'bout this. No more tears, neither. Got it?"

It's still not good enough. I want more.

"You wouldn't go back for Momma." I mutter, before I even realise that's what I've chosen to say. Somehow, that's the worst thing I've told my Dad all night, and I didn't even need to shout it. We stare at each other for a bit. "You wouldn't go back for her. You killed her."

I promised I'd never bring it up again, but there it is. I said it.

I think I might throw up again.

Just like that, our argument is over. He doesn't say anything, and then I don't say anything, either, and the not-saying-anything keeps going until we're back to sitting against each other in silence. The moon is high in the trees, now. One by one, the orange blips in the distance die. The chatter gets quieter and quieter until it's gone, and then me and my Dad are truly alone. He holds me tight, but it doesn't feel nice like it did before. It just feels like we're back to square one, because we are, and everything is a little to the left. Like when you get a pebble in the corner of your shoe, and you gotta walk a little funny to pretend it's not there, but it is, and you can feel it, and you hate it.

"You want me to sing for you, chicken?"

This time, I just say yes.

I watch the cube van drive into the distance until it's a white speck.

Dale stands next to me, even after everyone else has shuffled back to camp. "You've probably heard this from ten other people by now," Dale says, holding onto the strap of his heavy sniper rifle, "But your Dad? Well, he's going to be just fine. Toughest man in camp, I'd say."

My Dad, he's tough as nails, and he could shoot a walnut off a fencepost from a mile away, but he's also just a man. He's just skin and bones and blood like everyone else, like me, like deer and squirrels, and a bite from a dead person will kill him just the same. I don't say this to Dale.

He doesn't seem to mind. "Do you remember your first day here?"

A strange thing to ask. 'Course I remember. "What about it?"

"Things were a little more desperate, back then. We'd just ran out of our last tin of beans. People were hungry. I remember your Dad spent the whole morning telling people to leave him alone, because everybody was just begging him to go hunting. I think I did, too." Dale laughs. "One by one, he shot them all down. We were all so sure we'd have to start rationing. Then, the next morning, I go to wash my face behind the RV, and what do I see? Your Dad, dinged up and covered in sweat, dragging this... just... huge, simply huge... deer, into camp. I was gobsmacked. I remember thinking, 'who on Earth could have possibly convinced this stubborn man to go hunting'? Then, later in the day, I see him handing you a bowl of fried deer meat, happy as a clam, and that's when I knew he did it all for you. Tooth and nail, he made sure you were fed. And that's how I know he's coming back."

I think about all the times my Dad's done somethin' like that for me, like with Ronnie, and I feel a little better. My Momma once said my Dad would crawl back out of Hell on hot coals for me, and that I should never forget that. I feel bad for forgetting.

"I didn't tell him I love him, before he left." I admit to Dale. "I was real mean to him last night. I wish I told him."

"That's okay," Dale bumps my shoulder, and when I look up, there's a smile in his white beard. He winks. "I think he knows. Dads always know."

Something about Dale's cheeky attitude makes me giggle. I think I believe him.

"Now, lucky for us, we're certainly not short on food around here anymore. So, how about we go get you some breakfast?"

The day goes by like it always does, 'cause it don't know any better.

I can see Amy and Andrea fishing from the bank of the lake. Their boat looks like a little grain of salt in the middle of a giant green coin.

I'm up to my knees in the water. I'm trying to catch frogs. I'm missing. Shane and Carl are here, too, because even though we ate a whole sleeve of cheese and onion crackers for breakfast, Officer Shane says frog legs are gonna be all the rave, soon, when the peaches and jerky run out. We told him that's super gross, but he just smacked his lips and told us to grab our hats. We gotta do things like this, now. Things like sharing one tube of toothpaste, and only using two squares of toilet paper when you gotta go, and the adults gotta try and make it sound fun.

I hear Carl somewhere down the rocks, going awww and man 'cause he keeps missing, too. All I know 'bout Carl is he can't spell 'adventure'.

"Hey, man, it happens. How you doin' over there, Harley?" Officer Shane asks me. "You managed to catch any of the little suckers yet?"

"No, not yet." I say. "But I can see 'em."

When we first got down here, Shane asked us kids to provide a little muscle for him. Shane's got plenty of muscle, already. He was just kiddin'. He does that a lot, and his laugh is real loud. He also gives high fives that knock you on your butt, and he's got a heavy walk and a dog tag. I think he must have taught little league, or somethin', before, 'cause he talks like a teacher. All fun and games, but also lots of rules. Like how if you say a bad word, he flicks you on the ear and tells you to mind your language.

I'm still not used to any of these people talking to me. I think they're just glad I ain't biting and hitting on them, anymore.

"How many's in there?" Shane wades over to me.

The only reason I trust Shane is because he's an adult, and adults can be trusted.

I count the frogs. "Um... Three."

"Three? Hm, talk about a gold mine, huh?" He laughs and, yep, it's real loud. "Let's see if I can't help you out here."

He sets our bucket down, which has two wet frogs slipping around inside it.

He rubs his hands together. "C'mon, girl. Let's catch us some frog legs."

He says they eat frog legs in France. I never knew that before today. French people are weirdos.

"You gotta get 'em quick, 'cause they're quicker." I warn Shane. It's something my Dad says 'bout squirrels and possums, so I say it now, too.

"Sure are." Shane agrees. "How 'bout I scare 'em out, and you try grabbin' one?"

"With my hands?"

"What? You plannin' on using your feet?" Shane grins, and he splashes me. I giggle. "C'mon. Get ready."

Officer Shane rolls up his blue sleeves. I take three long steps backward and squat a little, like I'm playin' basketball or somethin', and then Shane grabs the metal bucket and clangs it against the rocks, and all three of the fat froggies come bursting out into the water like wind-up toys. I almost panic — almost — but that's what idiots do, so I steel myself, which means I'm not an idiot. I lunge at the closest frog and wrap my hands around the green blob it makes under the ripples.

When I pull my hands out, I realise I've caught it. It's real wriggly and its skin is cold.

I jump a little, smiling wide. "Look, Shane! I got one!"

"Way to go, Harley!" Shane says, and if I pretend hard enough, it sounds like my Dad's accent praising me instead. "Look at you!"

I drop the frog in the bucket. I hear cheering, and when I look out, I see it's Amy and Andrea. They're clapping. I guess they were watching. Carl comes hopping over, too, and tells me I did a good job. I know he's a bastard cop, and I know his friend murdered my Uncle, but maybe Shane ain't so bad. He makes me miss my teachers. Maybe this group ain't so bad. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

We call it a day after that, and we squeeze out all the water in our clothes on the gravel shore.

"C'mon, y'all," Shane says, "Time to haul butt back to camp."

What he really means to say is ass.

The sky goes from blue to purple, and soon, it'll be black.

We're gonna have a feast tonight. A fish feast.

Dale, who's sitting up on the RV, because he's like a barnacle on a boat, reads us a poetry book while we scrape scales off of fish with plastic spoons. After the book runs out, we pop cassettes in the radio. It's nothin' like what my Dad listens to. It's too nice.

I try really hard not to think about my stomach. It hurts real bad, which is what happens when you're nervous. I realise, a little guiltily, that I almost haven't thought about my Daddy or my Uncle Merle all day, until just now. I say sorry to them in my head, because I didn't do it on purpose, I promise. I was just focused on other things, like doing dishes, and getting my hair brushed by Lori, and strippin' fish skin. It was easy, during the day. But it's gettin' late, now, and every minute that goes by, I'm closer to being the only kid in camp with nobody to tuck me into bed.

I'm standing on a crate, which means I'm almost as tall as all the ladies. Makes me feel a little better. All women remind me of my Momma.

Maybe if I ask, Lori can tuck me in tonight.

"Hey, Harley, you're doin' real good over there." Jacqui tells me. The sun's on her shoulder. "Doin' better than me, at least."

I mumble a thank you, because it's good manners. I done dressed plenty of fish before. It's easy. Like peelin' bananas.

"Our Dad used to take us girls fishing all the time." Andrea tells us. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you name it. We were out on the water."

"Sounds fun," Lori says. "I always wanted to go fishing with Rick and Carl, but it never happened. We were indoor people."

Jacqui laughs. "Not anymore, you're not."

Lori makes a face. "You don't gotta tell me twice."

"What about you, Harley?" Asks Amy. "Your Dad ever take you fishing?"

There it is again; my stomach climbing up the back of my throat like a balloon. "Uh," I mumble. "Yeah. A lot."

Carol asks me, "You like it? Being on the water?"

"It's okay if you don't." Amy scrunches up her nose, smiling. "I was never that into it. Motion sickness 'n all."

I'm about to say no, I didn't like it, but something stops me. It's true, I never liked stabbing the alive worms on the hook, or gettin' sunscreen smeared all over my face, or carrying all them heavy buckets full of crayfish and bluegills back to the truck, but that doesn't matter. I was with my Dad. And I liked that. So, "I liked it," I say. "We went every weekend, in Dad's boat. It was sorta old, but he liked it a whole lot. He let me name it."

Lori smiles. Lori loves when people tell nice stories. "What'd you choose?"

"I named it after our old dog." I tell her. Hey, I'm smiling. "His name was Tank. So, Dad's boat was, 'The Tank'."

Lori pouts. She loves animals, too. "Aw. That's nice. We had a dog."

"What was his name?"

"Fido," She scoffs. "You can thank Carl for that one."

"I can't imagine Daryl lettin' anybody tell him what to do," Amy chuckles. "He's always so grouchy."

Dale must be eavesdropping, because he leans over his fold-out chair and calls down to us, "Now, now, remember that time with the deer?"

The story he told me this morning, to make me feel better.

All at once, the women start giggling together, and nodding, yes, they do remember that time with the deer. I catch it, like a stomach bug, and I start giggling, too, because I guess it is kinda funny. My Dad, with his squinty eyes and angry mouth and big, scarred fists, doin' whatever I tell him to. I never saw it like that, because it's always the other way 'round. For the first time today, I'm thinking of my Dad, and it doesn't hurt, not one bit.

"Like a gaggle of geese over there," Shane shakes his head from the fire. He's laughin', too. Bunch of eavesdroppers, these people. "Get back to work!"

"Yes, sir!" Andrea salutes, rolling her eyes.

We can't stop giggling.

The fish fry is, basically, a family barbeque.

My dinner is hot, and greasy, and it's even got yellow rice and onions in it, like takeaway. Takeaway is always good. Around the fire, all I see are happy faces and all I hear are jokes, and gasps, and laughter. They're talking about college, and how Lori used to wear the ugliest skirts, and how, yes, Shane can confirm, he was there to see it and, no, it wasn't pretty. When I look through the trees, I imagine me and my Daddy's sad little camp on the other side, abandoned. I was right. It is better over here. I hope he would think so, too.

"W— Hey! They were in style, back then!" Lori holds her fork up, like a pointing finger. "Everyone was wearin' them!"

"Oh, I remember." Shane shakes his head. "N— No, listen, I remember, alright! So short it was like a damn belt!"

Amy slides off her tennis shoe and launches it at Shane's legs. "You can't argue with fashion, Shane!"

He laughs. "Oh, that's what that was? Fashion?"

"Hey, I got some pretty nasty pictures of you with that damn perm on your head, so you might wanna quit while you're ahead." Lori sasses.

We all picture Shane with a mop of curly poodle hair, prolly posing like He-Man, and we all roar with laughter again.

Up until the very last grain of rice gets eaten, we talk about everything and anything, because stories are all we got to give each other anymore, Dale says. Dale talks about how he planned to take a trip around the state with his wife, in their RV, but she passed away before it could happen. So, when the world ended, he was in a gas station, buying ice creams and lookin' at maps, 'cause he was doin' the trip on his own. He says he's glad that all the small decisions he's made in life has led him to this quarry, with these people. Everybody calls him a sap, but he gets a side-hug from Jacqui. He smiles over the fire at me. Andrea and Amy talk more about their Dad.

I talk about the tyre swing I used to have, in my yard. Shange suggests building one here, too.

Jim talks a little about his old job as a mechanic. Morales talks about how much he misses his recliner.

"Aw, man, I'm telling you," He groans, like he's in a deep, deep pain. "It was remote-controlled, and it had blue-tooth, and everything."

Shane slaps him on the back. "Too bad the world ended; Had to get off your fat ass!"

More and more warm, silly laughter.

It's around us kid's bed-time when Dale checks his watch.

The other kids all complain straight away, but we get dragged away, anyway. I can hear my Daddy's voice in my head, telling me sometimes it don't matter what little girls want. Lori and Carol take us around the back of Shane's Jeep, where all the bathroom stuff gets kept, like the gallon jugs of water, the towels, and stuff Glenn brings back from runs. We brush our teeth, and splash our hair with water, and use baby wipes on our armpits.

I can see the tippy-tops of the city's tallest buildings from here, like skinny black popsicle sticks in the smog. I keep lookin' back, for my Dad.

I'm lookin' right now. Everyone else is trying to find Sophia's hairbrush in one of the bags, but I'm not helping. I can't look away.

There's a figure, stumbling up the road.

At first, I think it's my Dad, somehow. When you're expecting somethin' so much and for so long, and with all your heart, it's the first thing you think of. Even if it makes no sense. If they were really back, they'd all be together; Glenn, T-Dog, Daddy, and Rick, because my Daddy would make them all stick together, 'cause he's smart like that. But the shadow's alone. And he's got a limp. Just a little one. He hop-shuffle-hop-shuffles closer to us. No, no it's not my Dad. There's no crossbow; no big boots, no backpack. The shoulders aren't wide enough. Actually, the shoulders aren't wide at all. They're droopy. Too droopy, like they're... like they're melting off the bone, like hot cheese melts off pizza.

I hear a gurgle through the night. That's when it all makes sense.

"Walkers!"

And one second after that, the fish feast goes to Hell.

Someone snatches my wrist. We go rushing back into camp, where there's people, and lights, and noise. And shouting. Lots and lots of shouting; so much shouting it's like being stuck inside a beehive. I see flashes of legs and t-shirts and hands pulling me around, toward the bonfire. The bonfire must be brighter than a lighthouse out here, in the dark. Suddenly, I'm noticing everything wrong with the fish fry. The smells, the noise. I'm remembering my Daddy's rules, 'bout how loud is dangerous and dangerous is stupid and oh God — I can hear Amy shrieking like a piglet, near the RV. I hear shotguns pumping and bullets exploding and sloppy plops of skin falling of the dead people afterwards. I'm screaming.

The bag — The emergency bag, the one in our tent. I should grab it, right? That's what I'm supposed to do, right? So we can live?

"Lori!" Shane's hollering. "Carl! Harley! Where are you?"

"We're over here!" Lori cries.

"Start moving!"

Everywhere, everywhere, legs, legs, legs, all rotten and slimy and dead. Then, a gap, filled with darkness. The tent is out there. The bag.

I can make it. I know I can.

"Harley!"

That's Lori, screaming like she's never screamed before, because I just broke away from her, and I can feel something hot sliding down my arm, and it must be blood, 'cause she must have ripped my arm open with her short razor nails. I run straight for the gap in the wall of dead people, and I throw myself past them, like they're bowling pins and I'm the ball, and then I'm on the other side, in the dark, dark woods, running, running, running, all by myself. I remember the path to our camp. Big rock, little tree, old fence. It's all there, it's just covered in night.

I hear Shane yelling for me, and Morales, too, and more screaming, more dying.

A dead man slams into me. We go tumbling into the branches and the leaves, and then down a little hill, and then into a ditch. I smack his growling face away from mine, and I kick his stomach, and I wriggle away. The dirt is slipping away from underneath me, like dust, but the roots are easy to climb so I climb those, and the dead man follows me out. He's swiping at my ankles, scampering for my legs, slobbering on his lips.

His nails catch my arm.

I see the tent.

I'm running again, but only for a second. It's my pants. They're stuck. The dead man's grabbing onto them. I kick his fingers off.

"Get away," I grunt.

The pebbly ground barks under my shoes when I tear off again, and it only takes a couple heartbeats for me to reach my Dad's camping chair, and then the black fire pit, and then the truck, and then the tent. I rip open the zipper and fall inside. The bag, the bag, the bag. I scramble for my Dad's sleeping cot, and drop to my knees, and pat around all the spare shirts and pants and socks and blankets he's got stuffed under here, praying, please God, it's gotta be here, like he says it is. My fingers hit something soft, then something hard. A buckle. I grab. I pull.

It's the bag. It's the bag, with the compass and the rope and the matches. I did it.

A branch cracks. I look over my shoul—

The dead man crashes on top of me, all two hundred pounds, through the tent lining. He squirms against me like a finger in a glove.

I scuttle backward as fast I can, under the cot. The dead man flops and turns and twists until he finds the tent opening, and he slithers inside, 'cause he's a hungry animal and I'm his food. An electric lamp clicks on underneath my foot. The dead man's shadow gets projected onto all four of the tent walls; big, like the bogeyman. I hug the bag like a teddy bear and then that's it, and there's nowhere else to go. His fingers reach for me, and they look like big, black, dead spiders, all curled up. I see his face, now. It's shredded. It's beaten.

It's Sophia's Dad.

Something clamps around my shoe, and it's his teeth. A whole row of thick, white teeth. A bite.

I squeeze my eyes closed and hope my shoe's thick enough to keep me safe. There's nothin' else I can do.

Then, a great, big bang.

Then, hot, slippery puddles of blood, and little bits of neck and skin and jaw, splattered across my face. He slumps. Is it over? It's over? His head's cracked open like an egg, and his brains are leaking out like yolk. There's a bullet hole between my two feet. That means — That means someone shot his shadow, through the tent. Only someone with a very good shot could have made that, without killing me at the same time. I claw my way out from under all the blankets, and the body, and the cot. I can hear voices shouting, Oh Fuck, Oh God, and, Where are you, baby, and, If you hit my daughter, I will fucking end you.

The electric lamp flutters off.

The tent is ripped open.

I look up. I'm blinded by big, white circles of flashlight light. Someone gasps.

My chin crumples 'cause I'm crying, like a little baby.

Rick's standin' there, Sherriff's hat on, revolver smoking. Shane's there, too, wild-eyed, and very, very sweaty, with a shotgun. There's Glenn, panting. They look at the blood on the blankets, and the blood on my face, and their dead friend on the floor, with half a head. Then, they see the scratches on my arm, and for some reason, some of them look like they're about to throw up all over themselves. But the person in front, the person that got here first, that's my Dad. It's my Dad, and he's alive. He doesn't even stop to look, like the others. He doesn't care.

"Harley," He chokes, like he's been punched, and he drops to his knees in front of me. He presses me into his chest. He's alive. He's alive.

I'm alive.

"Daddy," I cough-sob, 'cause I can't help it.

I only ever call him Daddy instead of Dad in my head, or when I'm really, really upset.

He must notice, 'cause the hug gets tighter; safer. "Baby, I'm here. You're alright. You're alright. S'alright, now."

I bury my face in his sweaty, stinky, dirt-smeared neck, and I never wanna come back out. I sob and I sob and I sob, and I sob some more. He pets my hair and shushes me, like how he does when I get nightmares. We rock back and forth. I sob, sob, sob.

Someone says my Dad's name real weird, like they're boutta keel over, and only then I remember me and my Dad aren't the only two people in the world. Footsteps crinkle on the tent canvas. Someone kneels next to me. It's Rick. He takes off his hat and sucks in a breath, glances at the others — He steels himself — and then he gently grabs my green sleeve, and I wriggle into my Dad, who's lettin' him do this, and he slides it up my arm. Fresh claw marks, and blood, pouring down my skin. We stare at my arm for a long time. They glance at Sophia's Dad. Why are we staring at my arm?

I look at Rick. I look at Glenn; at Shane. I look at my Dad. He's gone white as a ghost.

"Harley, what is that?" He whispers to me.

I look back at my arm. It's just some stupid scratches. I wipe 'em away, 'cause I want 'em gone. "It's nothin'."

"Harley," He says again, this time with a very clear, very angry, no-nonsense voice. "You look me in the eye. What is that?"

Something is very, very wrong.

Glenn has to walk away.

"Wh—?" I shake my head, sniffing. Why do I feel like I'm in trouble? I didn't do nothin' wrong. "It's nothin'. Lori, she scratched me."

"It was Lori?" Rick raises his eyebrows, like it's very, very important that I'm not lying right now.

I'm not lying. Rick, he's a liar, but not me.

"Uh-huh." I nod hard, so they believe me. "It was Lori. H— He got me, too, I think, but it don't hurt. I promise. He ain't do it too hard."

I didn't say the right thing.

They're all looking at each other. They're speaking without talking, and I don't like it.

"Daddy, what's goin' on?" I'm mumbling now, 'cause I only want my Daddy to hear me, 'cause I'm scared. I'm really scared. I don't know what I did wrong, and I don't know what they're thinking about, but I'm sorry, and I'll never do it again. I was so busy worrying about the teeth in my shoe that I wasn't thinking about anything else. I think I should've been, though, and I'm sorry I wasn't. I'm sorry. All I know is that I'm sorry. I don't know why, but I'm sorry. Daddy picks me up, even though he's told me over and over I'm too old for that, now. He's shuddering.

"We'll check Lori's nails." Rick tells him, nice and steady. His police-man voice. "If there's blood under them—"

"This bastard's got blood unn'er his nails!" Dad gives Sophia's Dad a hard kick in the head. I shriek. "The stupid fuck! It don't fuckin' matter!"

"It does matter. It does." Rick keeps saying. "We can't make any conclusions. Not 'til then. We just can't."

"You wanna talk 'conclusions', officer? Let's talk 'conclusions'."

"Daryl, we'll figure this out."

"How the Hell did y'all even let this fuckin' happen?" Dad yells. "You're like a fuckin' bad luck charm, you people!"

"This is nobody's fault." Rick says, but he sounds like he knows he's lying.

I can hear people panicking far away, back at camp, in whispers. Glenn ran back there a few minutes ago.

"First my brother, now my—?" Dad cuts himself off. He's about to cry.

Nobody's got anything to say.

We listen to the sounds of leaves rustling and crickets chirping and the distant yelling and the breeze and my Daddy's big strong heartbeat, which is goin' buh-bump, buh-bump, buh-bump under my ear, real, real fast.

Shane steps forward, but it's all over already.

This is what it was like the night Tank got put down. I realise that I'm like Tank. Tank was dying. I'm a dying dog. The scratches on my arm, I get it now. They're from the dead man and they're from Lori at the exact same time, and until we know which it is, that means I'm dying. He scratched me — I remember, now. He got me. He did. I don't wanna be dying. I was alive just a second ago. I swear I was.

Unlike yesterday, Daddy doesn't bat Rick off when puts a hand on his shoulder. Something changed in the city today. I think we're all one team, now, even if my Daddy likes to bite and snap and blame. There's no more line between them and us. There's not two camps, anymore. Only one.

The stars are bright, tonight. I watch them twinkle over my Dad's head.

"If this happens," Daddy's voice cracks. "Every single one of you are gonna be real, real sorry."

Author's Note. Yep, you guessed it, Jim survives! And Harley is the one that gets attacked.

No more ominous hole-digging for you, Jim. Sorry.

Phew. This took a long time to write. I had to re-work almost every scene about four times, because some things just weren't working, and I had to delete some others. It all worked out in the end, though. Here we are with chapter two.

Please let me know what you think! :)

#the walking dead #twd fanfiction #twd #daryl dixon #parent daryl dixon #daryl dixon daughter #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon twd #rick grimes #angst #ao3 fanfic #fanfic #daryl dixon x reader

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hangmanbradshaw · 6 months

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inspiration sunday (oops thursday) :) :) :) (this took me forever oops but it's fun so I had to do it)

tagged by @satanssugar (<3 you)

I'll do two. For IWTBY, I'd been thinking about Set It Up, and I'd just gone to the Super Bowl and was missing football so started thinking about how to combine worlds in my head. My original idea was actually that Jake was the QB for the cowboys. He was supposed to be this big star but he got injured and was written off. So he goes through rehab and recovers but Dallas has replaced him. Nat is his agent, and she tries to convince him to come play for Philly. So he goes to meet with her there, and he’s like Nat I don’t know. She also happens to be Bradley’s agent. Bradley plays for the Phillies. She asks bradley to show him around, make him fall in love with Philly. Bradley does, but it’s also cuz he watched Jake play and admired him, and he’s like man you gotta come play for the eagles. This town needs you. So Jake decides to. They fall in love and were the like royal sports couple of Philly. I started thinking about what if a star QB like Brady came out in his prime and then I started thinking what if Bradley never lost his parents but maybe they parallel each other, one with a good family but lost his dream of baseball and the other with a bad family but has his dream of football, what could they teach each other, and it snowballed to IWTBY. (also Jake and Javy's QB/TE duo is based off Mahomes/Kelce)

The fic I just finished that I'm posting shortly....well that one was simply me sitting in AMC watching the Eras movie this weekend and during a song I was like "OH SHIT WHAT IF." And started thinking about scenarios that take in aspects of Taylor's songs, like how I used her music for chapter inspo for IWTBY, and my brain ran with it and well...you'll see :) (I may have gone home and written all 33k in a few days lmao)

No pressure tags xxxx @jaggedstartalk @itshoneywhatever @acetonitril

#tag games #this is fun I love seeing how people think

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doobs · 4 months

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What bands/genre of music do you think each of the Nostromo crewmembers listen to?

Okay I love this ask. A lot. I love this question!!!

If you guys have other thoughts feel free to reply! I'd love to know what you all have to think!

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Ash: Classical

Okay, for Ash I wasn't too sure, but then I was thinking about Walter/David (I forget which one) in Prometheus or Alien: Covenant, point is it was one of them, and they liked classical music. I figured it must be an android thing right? And so I thought, Bishop and Call would totally like classical music. For sure. Right? Anyway, I think for Ash I'll have to go with classical music. It kinda matches his whole vibe of admiring purity and all that, I think classical is a very 'pure' genre if that makes sense.

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Brett: Reggae

Brett is such a chill guy. I had a few ideas for him, right, maybe he listens to blues? I thought that was a good idea. But then I had this super awesome memory that he wears a Hawaiian shirt. MY MAN TOTALLY LISTENS TO REGGAE. C'mon. He totally vibes to reggae music, he's just that guy. In a good way.

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Dallas: Rock n' Roll or Jazz. Not sure.

At first I didn't really know. Right now I'm thinking about it haha. So, I'm thinking, he doesn't really show his emotions, even in the vents (I think?) when trying to hunt the alien all he said was 'get me the hell outta here' he wasn't really showing that much. So maybe he's a rock n' roll or heavy metal sorta guy? Usually people who like those genres are the quietest. But then I'm like... Dallas is totally a jazz guy! I just can't explain it. I dunno. Help me decide haha.

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Kane: 70s

Kane is such a mellow fellow. Those two words specifically. I feel like Kane would enjoy drinking a cup of coffee while listening to 70s music. He's a David Bowie guy. 100%. Well, at least I think so? Haha. Maybe he'd listen to Fleetwood Mac too.

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Lambert: Country

This wasn't hard for me. Personally I wouldn't have picked this for her, but LOOK AT HER BOOTS. Look at them. They're cowboy boots. Let's all think about that. Yes? Yes. And I know that people are all 'just because you wear cowboy boots doesn't mean you like country music!! 🤬', but golly gee does it increase those chances.

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Parker: Hip hop

My boy Parker 10000% listens to soul, blues, R&B, reggae my boy's a sucker for music of black descent. But his one shining star is definitely hip hop. I know some people are gonna be like 'that's offensive 🤬' but c'mon now. C'mon. Parker is like the most black black guy we know. Not even Apone in Aliens was on his level. I actually think it's fantastic. Unapologetically true to himself! But I do think he'd like hip hop more. Oh and he also tries to convince Brett to listen to something other than reggae but Brett's like nah.

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Ripley: i'm biased so she listens to rock n' roll but also 70s with Kane

Okay so I'm probably very biased (completely biased) because Ripley is my favourite crew member. I love her so much. She's just amazing. ANYWAY- I think Ripley listens to rock n' roll while petting Jonesy. And yes that is my favourite genre but I honestly had no idea with Ripley. Actually I think she listens to 70s music with Kane sometimes. That's cute.

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What did you think? This was stressful making this hahaha.

#alien movie #alien 1979 #alien #xenomorph #nostromo #nostromo crew #ash #samuel brett #arthur dallas #thomas kane #joan lambert #dennis parker #ellen ripley #GOD I LOVE THIS FILM #incorrect quotes #ripley #sigourney weaver

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burritowitch · 1 year

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okay- so- Justice League Twitch streamer au anyone???

So maybe the league itself is just a group of streamers who've been all doing their own thing but they all meet online and do streams together a lot. they'll play a lot of multiplayer together, ya'know? but what about what each of them does individually?

Bruce- man still wears the cowl. its just rubber but that man wears it like his life depends on it, and he makes all of his kids wear masks in front of the camera too. he's just this gruff muscular dude with a low voice but he's just like playing celeste and star dew valley and shit. alfred will pop up on his streams from time to time to bring him food, all the viewers love him. Dream levels of popularity, but he's just a good guy and he donates a lot of the streamer income cause he's already rich. all his kids also have channels, i'll probably expand on those in a later post.

Clark: you know he's being the hero in every game he plays. he chooses the nicest option possible, he can't bare to break the npc's hearts. plays a lot of strange games that no one is quite sure how he finds, but he'll also play minecraft with his sons. lois is also a staple, regularly popping in to say hi to the stream and will occasionally take the controller or whatever and absolutely decimate the game, when he's struggling he calls her and she figures it out almost immediately

Diana: assassins creed, cod, apex, she's playing those games. everytime people see her in person they're shocked to discover that she is 6'8" and absolutely towers over everyone else at cons. she'll occasionally go on rants about history and different greek myths during eight hour streams and no one can quite figure out how old she is. especially when she talks about world war one as if she was there.

barry: racing games, just any racing game. he definitely plays sonic. he talks really fast and half the time no one knows what he's saying, and if the signals bad enough you can't see his fingers, they're moving too fast. lots of rambling rants, he's an adhd icon in the streamer community. everyone loves iris, they just love her. same with wally, half his viewers just migrated to wally's streams when he started.

Oliver: he seems like the kinda guy to enjoy stuff like elden ring, god of war, skyrim, shit like that. he also occasionally brings a real bow on camera and from time to time his streams will be interuppted by him picking up the webcam and going outside to do some archery as a weird form of rage quitting. he and dinah are a streaming couple, she has her own channel tho i'll discuss more later

Hal: a halo dude for sure, that and doom. unlike the others, he's a part of a company. he streams with the other lanterns a lot by contractual obligation so those streams are pretty weird, like hal is playing halo while Kyle is drawing and jessica is playing super mario brothers and guy is playing the sims 2, no ones really sure whats happening.

Arthur: yknow all those raft games where you're lost at sea? those. all of them. hes got a hot tub set up in his gaming room so he'll be streaming from there a lot and theres the occasional beach and surfing streams where he just goes off talking about sharks and dolphins for twelve hours and it seems like he knows more than hes letting on anytime the topic of the lost city of atlantis comes up. (which is weirdly common for him)

Billy: he's a vtuber. everyone is sure he's an adult, but he's actually a kid streaming from his and freddy's shared computer at the vasquez's. he opens all his streams by yelling shazam, something that all of his siblings have taken to doing as well. definitely a zelda guy. actually, anything nintendo. he got a switch for his 12th birthday and he loves that thing so much. animal crossing, splatoon, mario cart, smash bros with his siblings. everyone is certain he's an adult until he shows up to a con panel with the league and he's backstage and people are like 'where'd this kid come from?' and he's like. 'oh yeah im here for the panel lol btw batman says we're on in five.'

Dinah: she's playing gta and cod along with the last of us and silent hill, but sometimes she'll just stream coming up with a new song and half her viewers don't even watch gamers or anything, theyre just fans of her music so they come to support her. she has a lot of simps, like a lot. nothing will get rid of them. like i said in oliver's section, they stream together a lot. but, they never stream in the same room. their gaming rooms are on opposite sides of the house, the only time they run into each other while streaming is during snack runs.

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codecicle · 2 months

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Ok so. Chip star wars au backstory. Basically, what I'm thinking is that the story is pretty much the same, with some obvious adjustments.

Chip grows up on board the Midnight Rose (a space ship this time, not an ocean one lol). It's the early years of the Empire, and the Black Rose pirates are both pirates and kind of an early rebel cell? sorta? They're still pretty powerful, like in the riptide canon, as the Empire is still kind of getting its shit together. And when I say they're *sort of* rebels what i mean is that, while they do actively dislike the Empire, they're not fighting them directly so much as they're being a general nuisance for them and stealing their shit and disrupting their plans.

As for the hole in the sea...well, I have two ideas for that would be.

Number one is that it's, like, a weird Force thing, which there are A Lot of in Star Wars. It's sort of like that weird fucking cube-planet-thing they get stranded on in The Clone Wars for that one arc with the Father the Daughter the Son--it's that sort of batshit fucking star wars thing, and it basically, like...sucks them in and the events of the Hole in the Sea oneshot play out pretty much the same way. This one I like because it has the wackass magical element to it and could thus account for the wackass Chip Lore that we're currently being insane about in the hiatus.

(The aforementioned Wackass Chip Lore does throw a bit of a wrench into the AU, since we don't know anything for certain about it, so when Riptide starts back again and we find out more this part of the au could be pretty much derailed, but adjustments can always be made and the sw lore is crazy enough that I'll probably be able to figure something out).

Second option is that the "Hole in the Sea" is a weapon of sorts--something the Empire is maybe working on in secret, something that they maybe found that was like, the ruins of an ancient space-civilization with super weird, cool technology yknow? And the black rose pirates end up there somehow (one idea is that it's like a gravity well, like they had in Rebels I think??? It might have been tcw i can't remember. Something that can pluck ships out of hyperspace like it's nothing). It could also be a combination of these two options--maybe it's some weird space magic thing the Empire was studying but then some Weird Magical Bullshit happened and drove them all out, but the Magic was like, awake, or something, idk I'm tired and that's all I have for now. This ask was not originally this long LMAO

Oh my fucking god I understand I get it. What if the hole in the sea was the Empire experimenting with the dark side of the force to build the superweapon that can just. Yoink a fuckin ship out of hyperspace and send them to some form of a rebel prison, but it ended up malfunctioning because the original designs were ones they stole from that ancient space-civilization you mentioned were made with the light side of the force/jedi use in mind. it ends up creating a sort of whackass void/black hole of the force in this pit deeeep deep into outer space and just like the Allport blockade, the Empire ends up telling any ships that try to leave the docks not to go there. the only people that can go anywhere near it are the ones that live on the nearby planets (like the underground towns and crew the albatrio found while in the black sea when chip got his heart ripped out), the Empire visiting bases (like the navy base from 114), or any rebel trader that's either stupid enough or skilled enough to disobey the Empire and make it all the way there and back alive. Since Captain Rose was one of the pirate lords, maybe it was an intentional and direct attack that just ended up backfiring and left them with no other option than to quarantine that set of planets and hope nothing else happened and no-one survived (they literally all did LMAOO)

#i make yet anothet post just for me 👍#we have mail :]#jrwi #ohhhh those bg3 brainworms have infested my head and its just this au. losing it rn #only question because im soso insane about them: how would the leviathans and the navy studying them work?#what would the star wars equivalent of that be. WAIT. WHAT IF THE DEATH STAR WAS THE ARTIFICIAL LEVIATHANS #put that in ur pipe and smoke it

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bloodyshadow1 · 7 months

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I know it's a bit late in the season to do this, but I have adhd and finally got my meds so I can put stuff down on paper. This is a list of things I want and dont' want to happen on the 4th season of lower decks. And of course these are just my thoughts on the series, please don't try to yell at me about how my opinions are wrong. I would love to discuss anything here in a civilized manner, even if I have to speak like Mark Twain

Wants:

I want a mariner and Rutherford episode. Not a trio episode, but the an episode where the two of them have an A or B plot story to themselves. They're the only 2 of the original 4 to not have a story for just the 2 of them. I know they're friends and kind of close, but we only get it when they're attached to Tendi or Boimler. I just want them interacting as a pair so we can see their relationship, maybe they don't get along well together when they're not with other people. It's been 4 seasons, they deserve an episode together. (I dont' count the least dangerous game, because while their plots interact, and Mariner specifically tries to break the rules to rescue him, they don't interact as characters)

Tendi and Mariner getting into a fight, like a fist fight for real. Mariner is amazing in a fight, we've seen it multiple times and she's able to trounce Boimler and Rutherford at the same time easily. Tendi is a secret monster too when it comes to battle curbstomping 4 Romulan guards on her own when the mission didn't even come to that, other Orions are terrified of her and while she 'lost' the fight with her super assassin younger sister, the sister had an actual sword and wasn't tired from running around on the planet looking for her 'kidnapped' sister. I don't want it to be a super emotional thing, though it could be

I'm on the fence about wanting any romance, I think Mariner and Jennifer was done terribly, like one of the worst ways to write romance (I'll get to that on my don't wants). But as a lesbian woman, I am always thirsty for sci-fi sapphics. I would love a love story between 2 (or more) women, cis/trans/or nonbinary, even if I'm not sure I can trust the writers do do it justice. I'm just built the way I am. I would also like two or more men in the similar way, it's not my thing, but it's somebodies, and I'm always here for more queer rep.

I'd like to see Boimler and Rutherford interact with Shax more. I know they're not security but they are official members of the bear pack and he seems to have a soft spot for them. I really like that side of him and I like that the two soft but underestimated boys of the original 4 bring out that side of him.

Something Something Enterprise related. I was a very casual view of Enterprise growing up, I didn't watch a lot of star trek just episodes that my brother watched when he got the chance to. But I watched a few of enterprise and it has a soft spot in my heart. Lower Decks is full of easter eggs and references, I hope they have some for enterprise as they had a whole episode about Deep Space Nine and Voyager in the series already. I don't have a particular care, since I'm more of a lower decks fan than star trek, but I know Enterprise isn't everyone's cup of tea but I liked what I saw, (except for the finale)

Something the series always does really good is introducing or reintroducing different alien races that they don't really do any more on the live action because makeup and cgi take time and money and even then can look fake or uncanny valley, but that's the beauty of animation (not that it doesn't cost money, just that you can add any alien race to any scene and it feels like they're meant to be there and they live in that world). It's just really cool to see the variety of aliens that populate the star trek universe and it's easier to include them in Lower Decks than anything.

Scene between Mariner and her mother. I feel like the ending was rushed in season 3 and brushed off as Mariner making the mistakes. When the season her character development was that she could admit that she loved the Cerritos and the people aboard only to be judged and stabbed in the back by her own mother and basically kicked out of her home. Carol had her own reasons, and I get it if it was season 1 mariner, but it rubbed me the wrong way and was done too quickly.

Don't want:

Jennifer to come back in any speaking capacity, especially with Mariner. This is probably controversial, but it's how I feel. I actually liked the character before season 3 and still do really, but I feel like the writers didn't know what to do with her and wrote one of the worst romantic relationships I've ever seen. I can go on and on about this, and probably will on another post I've been saving since season3 ended, but after watching Mike McMahan's interview with Jessie gender (on her youtube channel jessie Gender after dark, I highly recommend it and the rest of her videos, I'm a huge fan) I genuinely don't think that they put much thought into the relationship other than they're going to break up. I don't think if they wrote a scene with Jennifer talking to Mariner they could ever do it justice. Even if it's just been as a background character Jennifer has already been in as many episodes as she was in season 3 which says enough about how little screen time their relationship got. Let it just be dead and let Jennifer be a background character with a cool design

No romance between the main 4. I don't really like the idea of romance between the original 4 lower deckers, (Tendi and Rutherford kind of get a pass since they were genuinely sweet but I haven't gotten any ship tease moments from them in season 3 so maybe the writers forgot about them) I love romantic relationships, but I also love platonic relationships too and the 4 of them are genuinely sweet as friends. I'm not going to hate the show or stop watching it, but I will sigh because for the most part it always seems like 'romantic tension' amounts to this is a boy and this is a girl and they're going to get together because that's life. Which as a queer woman isn't really for me. Note T'lyn is not part of this, she can be with any of the main 4 as long as it feels right and naturally written for all I care. I like her character but she doesn't have the history that the other 4 have that would make me dislike it. Hell let her date all 4 of them and have them remain platonic dating their awesome Vulcan girlfriend

No Peanut Hamper like episodes in season 3 please. I don't even think the episode was bad, it was very funny and very star trek. The issue is that when the older shows did the bizzaro/lower decks/character we never thought of episodes, they had over 20 episodes in their seasons, and I believe were 40 minutes long, (it's been so long since I've seen older live action star trek), they had time to do these episodes without taking time form the plot or the characters that we love. Lower decks has 10 episodes a season like SNW, as is the modern season for networks. 1/10 of the time of the season devoted to a character that some might consider annoying feels like a huge waste in a short season. I know they're probably setting up something for this season's finale or next seasons plot like since Peanut Hamper went to the Daystrom institute with the other evil super intelligences, but it still felt like a lot of time to spend on her when there was to flesh out with characters I liked.

This is all for me for now, I'd like to get peoples opinons on this and honestly anything for lower decks. I like talking with other fans even if it's just through reblogs and replies

#sam rutherford #lower decks #star trek #star trek lower decks #beckett mariner #d'vana tendi #bradward boimler #stld #t'lyn

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