#tumblr search is so terrible i NEED to find this post | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hellishjoel · 6 months

Text

delicate - chapter one: someone new

3.4k / pairing: joel miller x f!reader

Series Masterlist | Next Chapter

summary: Sarah decides it’s time for her dad to start dating again. Joel isn’t sure he needs to, but decides if it’s for Sarah, he’s willing to give it a go. After a few failed attempts, he finally stumbles across someone new.

A/N: This is the first chapter of a new fic co-written with @thetriumphantpanda - we’re both so excited for you all to finally read what we’ve been working on. You’ll be able to find the masterlist on both of our Tumblrs, and we’ll be taking turns in posting chapters, so if you want to keep up to date with posting, please make sure you’re following us both!

warnings: Joel being terrible at dating apps, mentions of being a single parent, flirting, rom-com vibes, allusions to more mature themes but nothing explicit as of now, foul language, mentions of food & alcohol, Sarah & Tommy being menaces.

“Dad, have you thought about settling down soon?”

Joel had nearly just sat down at the dining table, a warm bowl of chili stinging his hands as he set down a glass of water with a quiet huff.

“Am settled down.” He grumbled, diving straight into the warm bowl with ferocity.

Sarah sighed quietly and circled her fingertip over the rim of her water glass.

“I mean,” she tries again, “settled down with someone.”

Sarah knows this is a weird topic to bring up over dinner. She can see it in the way her father stops chewing on his food, his water glass halfway to his lips now frozen midair.

Since she was a small girl, her father’s world revolved around her. She put the sun in the sky and the smiles on his face. He put her through years of soccer practice and clarinet lessons, drove her across the state for tournaments, and made her favorite dinner when it was her birthday. She was his little girl.

Sarah knew she had a very loving father, always lucky in that regard, but that love felt a little lost when she started attending university. All she could think about was leaving her dad in an empty house with no one to cook for, no one to bug about cleaning their room. He didn’t have anyone besides Uncle Tommy. And Sarah was sure that was the last person he wanted to spend his free time with.

Fresh from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Texas State University, Sarah opted to live at home for a year in the hopes of saving up money for med school. And perhaps she could complete the side quest of finding a potential date for her dad.

Joel clears his throat and wipes his hand on a paper towel, smearing it a reddish-orange from the chili.

“Don’t need anyone else when I’ve got you, peanut.” He gave a lopsided smile and continued eating.

Why would she ask something like that? Why was she thinking about finding someone for him?

Joel thought of himself as an independent man. Never went looking for love, going on about his business, so why start now?

Sarah looked unsure of what to say next, wanting to push the conversation and letting that uncertainty fill the air between them.

Joel sighs, his spoon sputtering in the bowl and listening to it clang around the rim.

“You don’t gotta worry about me, kid. I’m fine on my own.” He insisted, shrugging casually.

“Uncle Tommy and I were talking about you, more specifically about you dating-”

Joel buried his face in his hands, letting out a loud, exasperated sigh as he ran his hands down his face, calloused palms scraping against beard stubble.

“Sarah, what did I tell you about talkin’ to Uncle Tommy? Take nothin’a substance from those conversations.”

“Dad, please.” His little girl was frowning now, desperate puppy dog eyes searching his own. “How bad would it be if Uncle Tommy and I put you on a few dating apps, y’know? You could meet a nice woman, take her out for dinner, do whatever you want, but you can’t not try anymore.”

Joel snuffed out a scoff, quickly dialing it down once he was receiving daggers.

“Peanut, ya just… you get to a certain age where you give up on that type of stuff. Love n’all. M’an old dog, been outta the game for too long.” Joel returned to his dinner, thinking the conversation was done and over with.

Sarah let out a heavy breath through her nostrils and crossed her arms. “Dad, we’re finding you someone, or at least we’re going to try. You can’t just-just shrug off your feelings!”

Sarah’s chair scraped backward, standing up suddenly and commandeering the room.

“It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. What happened with Mom was a long time ago. You can’t shut off trying to find love. I saw you go on two dates when I was growing up. Two! You can’t say you’ve tried, you can’t say you don’t want it, everyone wants to find their special someone. And you,” she said with wide, frantic eyes. “You are not done trying. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Joel sat in silence as Sarah retrieved her bowl of chili and glass of water, fleeing up the stairs to her room. He sat back in his chair, shifting his jaw from side to side in thought.

Guilt festered in his chest. Seeing Sarah so adamant about something like his love life was telling it was something she thought a fair amount about. She worried about his happiness, his life alone.

Though he thought a life of solitude worked well for him, he couldn’t deny that small part of him that wished he had someone to share the little moments with. Sarah wouldn’t be living at home forever, and she would never be replaced in Joel’s heart, but maybe she was right that it was time for him to start trying again.

“Okay, so I downloaded Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, eHarmony, and Farmer’s Only.”

Sarah paraded around Joel’s smartphone, downloading different online dating apps left and right while he watched helplessly beside her on the couch. He could feel a headache spark in his temple already.

“M’not a farmer.”

Sarah simply shrugged and opened up the first app, Tinder. “True, but we’re trying to keep our options open.”

Joel sighed and leaned back into the couch cushions, hearing the front door open without a knock. His brother, Tommy, paraded inside, a six-pack of beer in his hand and a jean jacket in the other.

“The hell are you doin’ here?” Joel asked as he saddled his hands on his knees and pushed himself off the couch, eyes narrowed on his younger brother.

“What? You think I would miss Sarah putting you up for auction?”

“Hey,” Sarah said defensively, disliking that her Uncle Tommy was making fun of her genuine attempt to find Joel a woman. “Don’t make him feel bad. It took several hours of convincing just to get him to hand me his phone.”

Tommy sneered and plopped down into Joel’s recliner, cracking open a beer despite it only being late afternoon. Hell, he might need one too.

“Okay, Dad, focus. We need to fill out some of the Tinder prompts.” Sarah patted the section of the couch beside hers, Joel joining her after a few grumbles of resistance.

“Prompts? What sorta prompts?” He asked, craning his neck to look at the phone screen she held up in her hands.

“Prompts to get to know you better. You know, like, what are your likes and dislikes, what are you looking for in a relationship, where would you want to take someone for a first date,” Sarah continued the list until Tommy’s chuckle broke her concentration.

“Ain’t Tinder for hookin’ up with chicks?” Tommy asked, making Joel’s head snap to Sarah.

“Sarah, the hell are you doin’ to me?”

“It’s not just for hookups, dad-”

“Yes, it is.” Tommy snicked, making Sarah glare at him.

“C’mon, we’re trying everything to see what sticks.”

Joel felt rather hopeless about the whole ordeal. They added pictures, and Sarah crafted answers for his prompts. He didn’t really know what the hell he was doing with the whole left, right, swiping action. At one point, he expanded the age search by accident and didn’t realize it the next morning until he got a very forward message from a young woman.

Hey, good looking ;) you look like a big man in more ways than one, if you catch what I mean… how about you come over to mine and show me a good time, I bet we can make it fit if we try hard enough.

Joel storms into the kitchen, shoving his phone at Sarah’s face, “Take that damn app off,” He demands, “It ain’t for me.”

“What did she say to you?” Sarah snorts, taking the phone from him, Joel watching as she holds her finger on the icon until it wobbles.

“That ain’t for you to know,” Joel shakes his head, “Just delete the damn thing off my phone.”

He watches as Sarah presses the cross in the corner of the icon, making a mental note of how he can delete the rest of them later when she’s not watching, she hands his phone back to him, taking a sip of orange juice, whilst he pockets the phone.

Despite his first attempt at dating apps failing horribly, he was intrigued. A lot of the women out there were beautiful, some with children of their own from past relationships just like him.

Joel was trying to watch the first Dallas Cowboys pre-season game with Sarah when his phone buzzed with a notification. It was just one of those that stated he had potential matches out there on Bumble.

He chewed at the inside of his cheek, flicked his eyes up to the television screen, and clocked he wasn’t missing anything before he opened his phone.

A few profiles later, he landed on a woman he found with a nice smile. He read through her profile, even letting out a quiet chuckle.

Sarah’s eyebrows were drawn together with curiosity, watching her father smile goofily at his phone.

“What’s goin’ on with you? You’re scaring me.” She teased as she pushed herself off the couch and leaned over his shoulder to see he was actually on one of the dating apps. A small sense of pride filled her.

“I like ‘er. Got a nice smile, funny too.” Joel affirmed with a nod. He swiped like he was directed to, but then there was nothing.

His face fell, smile and happiness swirling down the drain as he grew frustrated.

“How the hell do I message ‘er?” He asked, neck craning as he held up his phone to Sarah, his silent way of asking for support.

“You can’t message women first on Bumble. They have to like you back and message you first.” Sarah said with a shrug, snagging her dad’s beer from his hand and taking a quick swig.

Joel was only scowling in disappointment and frustration. “Y’mean, I can’t even talk to ‘er? I can’t be a proper gentleman and make the first goddamn move?”

He grunted in annoyance, swiped back his beer, and threw up the glass bottle to drain the last of its contents as he deleted the app. “Sick of these damn datin’ apps already. None of them are worth a damn.”

Sarah sighed quietly and found her way back to the couch, nervousness settling inside of her. He wasn’t a very disagreeable person, in fact, her dad was neutral about a lot of things. What did he want to have for dinner tonight? Anything was fine. Which movie did he want to watch? He didn’t care, said she could pick. So why was he finding so many excuses with the apps? Not even the women, but the apps.

Part of her thought about him trying to find a woman the old-school way, but he was maybe too out of the game to brush up a conversation with a random stranger. He might fail miserably, but maybe it would help with his confidence. He only had a few apps left, ticking off one by one.

Joel stared at the ceiling, encapsulated by the slow-circling fan overhead. Darkness laid a dark veil over his bedroom, a sliver of moonlight being cast through the window. His head laid back into the pillows, jaw ticking from side to side as he lay wide awake. He lightly scratched his chest, feeling the dark hair that clustered at his sternum as his head rolled to the side and read the digital numbers on his clock.

Another sigh left his parted lips. It was late, far too late for someone who worked the early mornings to be awake. At least tomorrow as Friday.

His phone vibrated gently on his nightstand, a little chime he wasn’t accustomed to. He plucked his phone from the charger and squinted at its brightness, sitting up on his forearm to read the text. It was a message from a woman on Hinge. They had matched.

Joel grunted and stared blankly at his lock screen until it went black with inactivity. No. Just go to sleep, Joel. Forget about it. He set his phone on the bed and laid on his side, digging his cheek into a pillow and forcing his eyes closed. Well, what was she doing awake at this hour?

He opens his phone, clicking on the ‘H’ icon with its tiny red notification dot. He pays no mind to reading the message yet, instead clicking onto the mystery womans profile. The first picture is one of her wrapped up in a big coat, plaid scarf wrapped around her neck with a bobble hat and something warm clasped in her hands - it looks like she’s in a big city from what he can tell from the blurry background behind her, but he notices how happy she looks - big grin plastered on her face that reaches all the way to her eyes.

Scrolling further down her profile, he finds the first prompt ‘Best Travel Story’ - her answer reading about a time she’d been hiking with her family. She likes the outdoors Joel thinks - something he and Sarah also enjoy, but he shakes his head before he thinks too much about a third person he can take hiking. There’s another photo then, clearly taken in the summer - she’s in a lovely dress, sitting at a table with a young boy on her lap, perhaps a nephew? He tries not to imagine that he’s stumbled across another single parent, what good luck that would be.

Joel doesn’t make it much further down her profile - just to the section with all of her basic information. She’s around his age, shorter than him but not by much, she’s got a yes next to drinking, but a no to smoking and drugs, and she works in marketing. A steady job, he thinks. He’s praying, silently, that when he clicks back to her message, she’s sane.

Good evening Joel! Sorry for such a late message, I’m a slight insomniac. I love your profile, you seem lovely! How are you doing this evening? (Or this morning depending on when you read this!)

The corner of his mouth twitches into a small smile. A slight insomniac who thought he was quite lovely. Her words, not his. Maybe asking Sarah for help on his profile wasn’t such a bad idea. His fingers twitched above the keyboard, but he was unsure of what to say next.

Joel sat up in bed, about to shove the covers off his lap and ask Sarah for help, when he took another look at his digital clock. It’s too late to wake her, he thinks. He’ll have to craft a response on his own. He dreads it, words never really being his strong suit. Would he look creepy if he replied this late back?

Looks like we’re both slight insomniacs. Besides being unable to fall asleep, my evening was fine. How are you doing tonight, ma’am?

Joel sighed and stared at his response, picking it apart and cursing under his breath. Now, he was wide awake.

Ma’am? Way to make me feel 101… charming though, I like it ;) I’m doing okay, thank you. Just enjoying the only peace and quiet I get before I go to sleep. What’s keeping you up then, Joel?

Joel’s face crumpled, pushing a hand through his hair after reading his response over and over again. He meant it in a gentlemanly way, not to make her feel old. He really screwed the pooch on that one. Nipping at his lower lip, he tried again.

No offense intended ma’am, I’m just a Southern man is all. Don’t mind about what’s keeping me up, I want to know about you. You don’t get much peace and quiet until midnight? How’s that?

None taken, just not used to someone being a gentleman on these things - normally at this point someone would be asking for a picture of my tits so you’re doing well so far. It’s usually my son that keeps me up, he’s been asleep a while but I only get so much time to clear up after him, so midnight is me time once that’s all done. You sure you don’t wanna tell me what’s keeping you awake?

Joel’s smile only grew larger as she responded, and rather quickly, too. He imagined they looked quite similar right now. Different towns, different houses, both curled up in bed and staring at their phones, waiting for the other to reply. He wondered if she was smiling like he was, trying to push away an undeniable flutter in his stomach. Making him feel like a damn teenager.

His face softened at her response. My son, she said. That boy on her profile, with chubby cheeks and a toothy smile, a head full of hair, and glee all over his face, was her son. She was a mother, just like he was a father. He wondered if she saw the young woman in his pictures and knew that was his daughter, Sarah. How could he subtly drop the hint?

Those aren’t gentlemen, just boys. Sorry to hear they were wasting your time. I understand your limited personal time. When my daughter Sarah was young, my alone time consisted of sitting in the truck during her soccer practices and after she went to bed. It’s not easy. What’s keeping me up is partially Sarah’s fault. She’s the one who urged me onto Hinge. I don’t really know what I’m doing, to be honest. Just know a pretty flower when I see one.

Is Sarah the young girl on your profile? She’s beautiful if so, you must be so proud of how she’s grown up. Well Joel, you don’t seem clueless, you’re keeping my attention pretty well, especially calling me pretty, I might be blushing. What made her decide now was the time for you to start dating?

He’d never admit it if anyone asked. But it looked like he still had that Southern charm, you never really grow out of it. He reached over and plucked the string to his lamp, sitting up against his bedframe and sipping on a glass of water as he read over her reply again and again. He had a fondness for the way she complimented his baby girl. She got extra points for that.

Yep, that’s my Sarah. She’s going to med school next year, couldn’t be prouder. I suppose she graduated from college and thinks she knows everything now. Thinks I need a love life. I think she’s felt this way for a while, but she knows I’m stubborn. What’s your son’s name? Looks like a good kid.

Smart and beautiful, you must have very good genes Joel. That’s incredible though, I can imagine how proud you are of her. Well, I for one am pleased she’s pushed you here, you seem a really nice guy Joel. My son is Noah, he’s seven so full of beans, I’ve never known anyone have so much damn energy!

And you seem like a real nice woman, ma’am. Sarah had so much energy at seven, that’s when I put her in soccer to run all that damn energy out of her.

His fingers hesitated, typing out the message but not quite pressing send. He liked her. He liked how sweet and funny she was. Plus, she understood what it was like to have a kid, someone who would always be put first.

Since it’s technically 12:57, are you doing anything tonight? Is having a drink okay for a slight insomniac?

Well, thank you very much Joel. I have a feeling Noah and Sarah would have gotten along well if they were the same age, he’s just started soccer practice for that very reason. And, lucky for you, Noah has an evening with his grandparents tonight, so a drink sounds lovely. Just let me know a time and a place.

His heart was thumping in his chest, a tired little grin on his face as he offered to take her to The Aristocrat Lounge on the North side of Austin. They settled on seven, enough time for Joel to get home, shower, and convince Sarah to help clean him up a bit. A daunting feeling pressed into his chest, making his breath snag tight in his lungs. He was nervous, those strange butterflies still fussing around. He shoved them down, persistent on ignoring the feeling.

It’s a date. Try to get some sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, ma’am.

600 notes · View notes

olderthannetfic · 10 months

Note

As someone who's college age: yeah, there's a TON of people my age who don't know how things work and don't try to learn. Can't unzip a zip file, want to know where to download anime but haven't tried looking it up, ask things on subreddits a Google search or quick search on the wiki would answer, ask questions answered in FAQs or by professors or in the syllabus, say they can't download and install a new browser or app or program because they don't know how and they never think to look up how to do so, go months without logging into their student email because no one explained to them how to do so and they never thought to ask anyone how to do it, go months without washing their laundry because they don't know how and they also don't know how to look up instructions on how to do it, don't know how to cook and can't Google a recipe so they throw things in a pan and pray it works out, don't understand how to back up files, don't know how to attach a pdf to an email to send to a professor, cannot manage to put stuff on a USB drive + go to the library + print it off of the library computer, etc.

I spent most of freshman year teaching people things. The year after, my patience got more frayed and "Google it" started coming out of my mouth a lot more. This last year I gave up and now if people fuck themselves over, that's their decision. I'm not going to stand there begging people to do basic things they should already know how to do.

It was really funny when someone from Career Services came to talk to us about resumes and said we didn't need to put down 'can use Microsoft Excel' on there because everyone knew that and all but three people said actually no, they didn't. People who are 40+ really think we're all good at tech by default, like we fall out of the womb clutching a little phone already making spreadsheets in Excel or coding computers or whatever.

Meanwhile in reality you see a ton of people posting on tumblr going, "How do I post fic on tumblr?" whose blogs proudly state that they're under 18. The thought that you could just type into a Word doc and then copy and paste onto here never hits. And it's not going to.

I hate to break it to millennials and older people but yeah, actually, my generation does in fact have morons. We're not a moron-free demographic. I'm pretty sure moron-free demographics don't exist, tbh.

It infuriates me that my father (in his 80s) is always saying to me that he needs to find a 12-year-old to explain his tech to him. I (40s) keep telling him it's more like a bell curve or something. We had a blip of people being taught in school or having their asses kicked about technology. But then it went away again.

I think we made computers and then phones much more accessible, which is great, but we forgot we still need to teach people things. I know not everyone got explicit instruction in school even in my era, but it seems like the US, at least, phased some of that out as we started assuming The Youth automatically knew it all.

That said... in my day, college freshmen were also terrible about doing their laundry, so some things never change.

262 notes · View notes

bengiyo · 10 months

Text

Why Do I Tag So Many Creators in My Posts? It’s About Respect

Earlier today I was talking with @sophsloveskpop in the notes of a post, and was asked about all of the interaction between blogs in the posts and essays about the shows. I’ve noticed an uptick in new names interacting with posts (and making great posts of their own!) and wanted to talk about why I do it and why I like fandom on Tumblr.

Fundamentally, I think it’s generally good courtesy to acknowledge when someone else has expressed a similar idea to your, or an idea that intrigues you. I think it’s best to tag that person and link to their post so that others can also experience it. It also opens you up to a dialogue with them and others.

People Like Getting Their Flowers

If someone posts an analysis or even a quirky idea that I felt the need to think about, I will mention them in my posts. None of the great content we get on here is necessarily quick to make. I absolutely love all of the gifmakers who fight against Photoshop, Tumblr, and God Himself to post snippets of shows on here for us. I wouldn’t be able to flesh out some of my posts, illustrates points, or otherwise breakup walls of text without @liyazaki, @wanderlust-in-my-soul, @pharawee, or @gabrielokun. Whenever I can’t find the gif I’m looking for through Tumblr’s terrible gif search, I reach out to one of them for permission to use their gifs directly.

Also, many of us just like being acknowledged that someone we wrote meant something to someone else. Every time I get tagged by someone in an essay I’m like:

It’s a Conversation

I don’t think fandom is about being the smartest person or the most correct person. My basic framework I’m writing from is Black Gay Nerd Who Watches a Lot of Stuff. It’s what I’m most familiar with personally, and I find that people have really responded to that.

I’ve been around for a very long time, and have been seeing folks like @so-much-yet-to-learn around the entire time, who often has more specific information about fandom life during the airing of shows. @absolutebl and @heretherebedork have watched more BL than I have, and I’ve seen at least 250 productions. ABL has some of the most comprehensive posts collecting some of the history.

I made so many friends after diving into @shortpplfedup DMs to talk about sustainable urbanism and bonding over our shared geography. Now we run @the-conversation-pod together. Through them I befriended so many others, like @elnotwoods and @kyr-kun-chan.

I’m not a color theory expert, and so I love reading posts from @respectthepetty and others (I think @sliceduplife writes about color too).

We wouldn't even have my favorite show without @isaksbestpillow.

I know what shows are coming because of @clairificusrex.

I don’t know much about music theory, but @iguessitsjustme write some great stuff about the music in these shows.

I don’t always read the body language of hands as closely as someone like @wen-kexing-apologist might.

I am not Asian, and so I like reading from @waitmyturtles, @telomeke-bbs, and @neuroticbookworm. I know that @recentadultburnout and @airenyah offer useful perspective on Thai language.

Sometimes folks are going to narrow down on specific shows and consistently write about them for years on side blogs like @miscellar.

Some people have studied so much and bring specific academic lenses to the genre that I find compelling, like @emotionallychargedtowel.

In many cases, I just vibe with them really hard, like @ginnymoonbeam.

I actually didn’t always post as much as I do, but I try to keep up my Stray Thoughts project so that people can keep track of what I’m watching. I used to write less meta, but then I befriended @waitmyturtles and @lurkingshan. Any time I say anything remotely thoughtful Shan is like:

Also, though, this is Tumblr! It’s easy to tag each other and link to each other’s posts! This is what makes us different from every

Isn’t It Just More Fun?

I don’t enjoy shows passively. I grew up in a family that watched things together. My mom, dad, sister, and I all have differing tastes from each other, but we watched a lot of different things together. My friends and I discussed the things we watched at school.

I’m a big fan of the water cooler approach to TV show distribution, which basically says you want your show to be the show people are talking about on their breaks at work. I always like Film Crit Hulk’s theory that movies (and our dramas) are the proverbial campfires around which we gather to share ourselves with each other.

This is all supposed to be fun, and I have more fun when we interact. I get tagged daily by @blmpff about updates from sets, or when we all need to rush to IG to make sure Fluke Pongsakorn doesn’t cut his hair. When @bl-bam-beyond makes a new set or post they let me know, and they recently rewatched Noah’s Arc! I made friends with @gillianthecat in the last year or so, and it’s been fun seeing her make her way through fandom. I always get excited with @troubled-mind pings me in a post because I know it’s going to give me something to chew on. I didn’t have a genuine appreciation for kink culture until I watched along with @lutawolf. If something funny is happening in fandom I know @benkaaoi is going to tag me. I still get excited when @heukheuk pops up in my mentions.

I know I’ve probably forgotten so many people alone the way here, and I’m sorry if I didn’t mention you.

Tag Because It’s the Right Thing to Do

So seriously, tag people and link to their posts. Try to use the giffmakers specific tags when you’re using the search feature. Fandom is better when we all interact respectfully and enthusiastically with each other. Tumblr is special because it lets us create goofy little essays like this and tag dozens of people just to get their attention.

If you have a cool thought about a show I’m watching, tag me. If you see something funny, tag me in the comments. If you wanna hash out an idea before posting it, DM me. This is Tumblr. Don’t be shy with your thoughts. It’s okay to be wrong on the internet. It’s actually fun to be wrong on the internet about show predictions!

Thank you as always for coming to my post.

#Ben writes #fandom life #tumblr life

219 notes · View notes

yeehaww-sims · 2 years

Photo

MORE PRIDE FLAGS v2

Happy belated pride month everyone! I had intended to have this done during June, but ended up getting busy and having to delay it a bit. Better late than never!! I present: The biggest CC project I’ve done so far.

BGC, 3 .package versions

Merged, unmerged, and 500 swatch version. Note that the 500 swatch version has some issues and will not be maintained.

There’s also a file labeled REQUESTS, this is for flag requests I get in the future, and is an optional download.

500 swatches, including remakes and variations/alternatives.

I realize this is a LOT of flags. It’s a lot for me to even remember. Feel free to remove swatches you’re not going to use, the original will always remain up if you want any back!

This is NOT an override, it’s a separate object

In BB it’s separated into 5 different objects, 100 swatches each.

75-79 Simoleons, to keep them in order, in the Wall Decorations, Paintings & Posters, and Outdoor Wall Decoration Categories

The CC wrench icon covers up some flag names in the thumbnails, and I didn’t realize this until I finished all 500, and I don’t want to do them all again. An image is included in the folder to help with this, and you can find CC wrench icon replacers HERE: [x] [x] [x] [x]

Don’t claim it as your own, and please feel free to tag me if you use it!

Most textures were sourced from Pride-Flags Deviant art, LGBTA Wiki, Tumblr, Twitter, or google search. Most flags will have the term definitions/sources linked.

Don’t download this if you’re a T[SW]ERF/Queerphobe/Bigot or anything like that, fuck you.

[ @maxismatchccworld @ts4pride @emilyccfinds @mmfinds @sssvitlanz ]

Below is a list of every flag I’ve included, as well as the download link, just in case it needs to be edited/updated in the future. A recolor file is included in the zip. Other information and term sources are also below.

DOWNLOAD [SFS] | [MF]

NOTE: IF LINKS ARE NOT WORKING/SHOWING UP ON MY BLOG, OPEN THE PAGE IN THE DASHBOARD. You can do this by clicking the Eye icon in the top right corner of my blog. I don’t know why it’s happening either. This will also show all the links to all the flag’s sources/definitions.

Or just copy/paste the link: https://simfileshare.net/folder/165549/ https://www.mediafire.com/folder/w14lc3zrc46zw/Pride_Flags_v2

See also: Original 83 swatch post [HERE] 103 swatch update post [HERE] Pride Hoodies [HERE] Pronoun Hoodies [HERE]

And if you would like a flag added: Flag Requests

DISCLAIMER: I will not be taking any flags/terms out. Some flags included are reclaimed, uncensored slurs that people genuinely, in good faith, are and identify as. These include D-ke [y], f-gg-t [a,o], F-mb-y [e,o], and Q---r [uee]. There are also some “controversial” flags/indentities, such as Bi Lesbian and similar terms. I personally support these terms, and any good faith identity. As well as this, a couple of the flags included are by creators who are absolutely terrible people, such as the person who made the original bigender flag and the lipstick lesbian flag, among a few others. I chose to include these still for many reasons, one being some people still choose to use these flags for many non-bigoted, often reclaimed, reasons. Another being for gameplay that takes place in specific times, those flags are the ones that would’ve been used then. I am aware of the history of these flags, I respect the people that choose to use/reclaim them, and hope that you understand this decision. Some flags were also added for occult sims, along with being real terms. I just thought they were fun. I am nonbinary, and self-describe as an inclusionist, so if you don’t care for/disagree with a term, just delete it from the file. I do not care, I will not be involved in any discourse, and if you message me about it, I will just ignore you. Please respect my boundaries. Thank you. 🧡🧡🧡

FLAG LIST:

Top row: 🏳‍🌈 Rainbow, Original Gilbert Baker, Gilbert Baker’s Diversity Flag, Philly Pride, Progress Pride, Gilbert Baker Progress flag, QPOC Pride, Gay Anarchy, Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism

Bottom row: Gay & Jewish, Gay & Muslim, Gay & Pagan, Gay & Christian, Gay & Hindu, Gay & Sikh, Gay & Buddhist, Gay & Confucianism, Gay & Shinto, Gay & Taoism [Note: I ended up making all the religious gay flags except for Pagan and Buddhist, if anyone would like a full version of them let me know!]

Top row: Gay & Druidism, COEXIST, Rainbow Love, Gay Furry, Abinary, Abrogender, Abrosexual, Aceflux x2, Asexual Spectrum

Bottom row: Achillean, AegoAroAce x2 [x] [x], Aegoromantic, Aegosexual, Aemotional, Aesthetigender, Agender, Agenderflux/Librafluid, Aliengender

Top row: Aliengender, AlloAce, AlloAro, Altersex, Amatopunk, Ambiamorous, Analterous, Anarchogender x2, Androgynous

Bottom Row: Angeligender x2, Angenital, Angled AroAce, Anthetic, Apagender/Gender Apathetic [originally requested by @maddylena13], Aphysical, Aplatonic x2, Aponian

Top row: Aporagender, Apothiromantic, Apothisexual, AroAce, AroAce Spectrum x2, Aroflux x2, Aromantic, Aromantic Spectrum

Bottom Row: Asensual, Asexual, Aurorasexual/Genderfluid Lesbian, Aurorian, Autiace, Autiaro, Autigender, Autisexual, Bear Brotherhood, Bellusromantic

Top row: Bellussexual, Bi Gay, Bigender x3, Bi Lesbian x2 [x] [x], Bisexual, Boyflux, Buggender

Bottom Row: Bungender x2, Bunnygender x2, Butch, Butch Lesbian, Caedromantic, Caedsexual, Calypsian, Cassgender

Top row: Catgender x4, requested by @fridgethesimmer, Halloween Catgender x2, requested by @darkheartthestccat, Ceterosexual x2, Cinthean, Cisn’t

Bottom row: Cupioromantic, Cupiosexual, Daimogender, Demialterous, Demi-Bi, Demiboy, Demiflux, Demi-Gay, Demigender/Deminonbinary, Demigirl

Top row: Demi-Omni, Demi-Pan, Demiplatonic, Demi-Ply, Demiromantic, Demisensual, Demisexual, Demiromantic, Doggender x2

Bottom Row: Doggender x4, Dollboy x2, Dollgender x3 Drag Community

Top row: Drag Community, Dreadromantic x2, Dyke, Eclipsian, Enbian, Enboric, Ethical Non-Monogamy/ENM, Fa’afafine, Faegender

Bottom row: Faggot, Faunagender x2, Faygender, Femaric, Femboy, Feminamoric, Floragender x3

Top row: Fluidflux x2, Frayromantic, Fraysexual, Futch x3 [x] [x] [x], Gai, Galaxian, Gay Man/MLM

Bottom row: Gay Man/MLM, Gay Man Double Mars, Gay Man by Pequodz x2, Gay Man by Sleepygender [both requested by anonymous], It/Its gay x2 [x] [The second was made by a user called magiciansrabbit, but it appears they have deactivated and I no longer can find the source], Neopronoun Gay, She/Her gay x2 [x] [x]

Top row: They/them gay, [pronouns & gay flags requested by anonymous] GENDERANARCHY x6, Genderfae, Genderfaun, Genderflor

Bottom row: Genderfluid, Genderflux, Genderfrith, Genderfruct, Gender Hoarder, Genderless, GenderNH/Gender Non-Human, Genderpunk x2, Genderqueer

Top row: Gendersatyr, Genderselkie, Gendersylph, Gendervoid x5, Ghostgender x2 [I cannot for the life of me find the source for this one] [x]

Bottom row: Ghostgender x2 [Again, I cannot find the proper source for this one] [x], Ghostgender [the other definition], Girlflux, Gender Non-Conforming/GNC, Greygender, Greyromantic, Greysexual, Heartless Aromantic, Heteroflexible

Top row: Hijra x2 [x] [x], Homoflexible, Intergender x2, Intersex x2, Juparian x2, Juxera

Bottom row: Juxera, Kenochoric, Kingender, Lavender Boy, Leather Community, Lesbian x5 [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [APL’s originally requested by anonymous]

Top row: Labrys Lesbian x2, Trans Labrys Lesbian x2, Lesbian Double Venus, Lesbian Anarchist, He/Him Lesbian x4

Bottom row: It/Its Lesbian x4, Neopronoun Lesbian x2, They/Them Lesbian x4 [pronouns & gay flags requested by anonymous]

Top row: Lesboy, Librafeminine, Libramasculine, Libranonbinary, Lithosexual, Loveless Aromantic x2 [x] [x], Loveloose Aromantic, Lovequeer, Lunagender

Bottom row: Lunagender, Lunarian x2, Lunettian x2, Magicgender x2, apparently mislabeled in their thumbnails oops [x] [x], Māhū, Marsic, Mascic

Top row: Maverique, Mercurian x2, Mergender x2, Mermaidgender x3 [x] [x], MOGAI, Moobloomio [requested by @fridgethesimmer]

Bottom row: Moobloomgender x2 [requested by @fridgethesimmer], Moongender x3, Multisexual Spectrum/M-Spec, M-Spec Gay, M-Spec Lesbian, Multigender, Multisexual

Top row: Muxe, Nebularian, Nebularomantic, Nebulasexual, Neptunian, Neptunic, Neurogender, Neutric, Neutrois, Non-SAM Aromantic

Bottom row: Nonbinary, Nonbinary Boy, Nonbinary Girl, Novarian, Nuumian, Objectum Sexual, Obligender, Omnisexual, Omni Gay, Omni Lesbian

Top row: Orchidromantic, Orchidsexual, Oriented Aroace, Pan Gay, Pan Lesbian x2 [x] [x], Panromantic, Pangender, Paraboy

Bottom row: Paragender, Paragirl, Paranonbinary, Plantgender x4 [x] [x], Plato-Ambivalent, Plato-Indifferent, Plato-Negative

Top row: Plato-Positive, Polyamorous Relationship Collector, Polyamorous x5 [x] [x] [x] [x] [x], Polygender, Polysexual, Ply Gay

Bottom row: Ply Lesbian x2 [x] [x], Pomogender, Pomoromantic, Pomosexual x2, Proxvir x2, Pupgender x2

Top row: Pupgender x2, Queer Anarchy, Queer x2 [chevrons originally requested by anonymous], Queerplatonic x2 [x] [x], Questioning, Quoiromantic, Quoisexual

Bottom row: Quoigender, Relationship Anarchy x3, Robotgender x4, [x] [x] [x] Robotogender x2

Top row: Romance-Ambivalent, Romance-Indifferent, Romance-Negative, Romance-Positive, Roseromantic, Rosesexual, Dual Rose, Sapphillean x2, Sapphic

Bottom row: Saturnic, Sex-Ambivalent, Sex-Indifferent, Sex-Negative, Sex-Positive, Singualarian, Solarian x2, Solaric, Sonnian

Top row: Spacialian, Stargender x2, Stellarian x2, Stellaric, Straight Gay x3 [x] [x], Straight Lesbian

Bottom row: Straight Lesbian, Strayt, Sungender x2, Systemfluid, T4T/Trans for Trans, Technosexual x2 [x] [x], Term Collector, Terraric

Top row: Torensexual, Toric, Therian, Tomboy, Transgender, Trans Man, Trans Woman, Transandrogynous, Transaporine, Transfeminine

Bottom row: Transfeminine, Transfemme Gay, Trans Gay x5 [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [requested by anonymous], TransHet, Trans Lesbian x2 [x] [x] [requested by anonymous]

Top row: Trans Lesbian x3 [x] [x] [x] [requested by anonymous], Transmasculine x2, Transmasc Gay, TransNeuFem x2, TransNeuMasc x2

Bottom row: Transneutral AFAB, Transneutral AMAB, Transneutral x2, Transoutherine, Transxenine, Black & Trans, Trigender, Trixensexual, Trixic

Top row: Twink, Two-Spirit x5 [x] [x] [x] [x] [x], Unlabeled x2, Unlabeled Gender, Uranic

Bottom row: Vampiregender x7 [x] [x] [x], Venusian x2, Venusic

Top row: Viramoric, Voidpunk, Voidrian, Warlockgender, Weregender x2, Werewolfgender x3 [x] [x], Witchgender

Bottom row: Witchgender, Wizardgender x3 [x] [x], Xenic, Xenogender x3 [x] [x] [x], Xyric, Zodiacgender

🌈🏳‍🌈🌈🏳‍🌈🌈🏳‍🌈🌈🏳‍🌈🌈🏳‍🌈🌈

1K notes · View notes

fatphobiabusters · 3 months

Note

hello!! i love seeing your fatshion and fat art posts on my dash :]) they really brighten my day! how do you find these posts? I've gone back to the original source of them and they aren't often tagged with "plus size" or anything :o

Hi, I'm glad you enjoy the posts. I've created many strategies to find fat positive content on this website since, sadly, fat representation is very difficult to find.

The easiest strategy is to search popular fat positive tags, like "fatshion" or "fat positive." However, most people don't tag fat representation, and many fat-related tags are overrun by thinspo blogs, fat fetishists, and fatphobes.

Sometimes I search "plus size" and another word to try to find specific posts. For example, I queued posts with a Valentine's Day theme for Valentine's Day. One of the strategies I used for that was to search "plus size pink," "plus size red," "plus size lovecore," "plus size valentines day," etc. I have to get creative like this when trying to find content of specific groups of fat people. As another example, when I want to find content for fat Asian people, I may search "plus size hanfu," "plus size jfashion," "Vietnamese fatshion," and any combination of words involving fatness and usually either a specific cultural clothing or country. If I just use normal search terms, I likely won't find anything.

Sometimes I look at popular tags like "artists on tumblr" and scroll through hundreds of posts to find a single drawing of a fat person. Usually said drawing didn't use any tags for the fat representation. This strategy is extremely based on luck and will involve spending way more time before seeing any posts of fat people, but this is one of the few ways to find posts of fat representation that weren't tagged with words related to fatness. What I would give just to get people to tag their posts of fat representation, you have no idea. Even if no one else started drawing fat people, there would be a mountain of more fat positive posts to reblog if those posts were simply tagged in a way to make them possible for fat positive blogs to find.

Some tags are more likely to include fat people, like tags for Mermay. Fat people are barely represented, but some artists are willing to be slightly inclusive when drawing mermaids. The likelihood of size inclusivity also goes up with events like Mermay since some of the artists who participate will draw a different mermaid design for every day of the month. It's hard to not draw a single fat mermaid design when a person is drawing 31 mermaids.

When I find an old fat positive or fatshion blog, I'll usually comb through the entire blog for posts. Not only do I find posts that way, but I also usually find other blogs with posts I can also queue. This ends up with me going through a chain of old blogs and why you'll see us post content that was made anywhere from 5 to a whopping 12 years ago. I usually keep at least one post from each of these blogs in my queue at all times to remind me to continue searching the blogs for fat positive content. I've had some posts in the queue of Fatphobia Busters for two years because I keep them as reminders for what blogs I need to search. For every post we share, I try to thoroughly look through the blog of the op for any other scraps of fat positivity I can queue. This is another reason why some posts stay in the queue for months or years. Since fat representation on this website is abysmal, I usually only put posts at the front of the queue that were either made by blogs I've already combed, blogs that still have posts in the queue so I can search those blogs a different day, or if the post was queued by Mod Squirrel. I don't have a lot of energy to search blogs, which is why those posts stay in the queue for so long. That's also why you may notice certain blogs being posted a lot for a period of time—they're blogs I'm safe to post without missing any content I could have queued.

Tumblr has a pretty terrible search function, and I've basically never been recommended a blog by Tumblr that actually posted fat representation. However, the one helpful function Tumblr has actually been good at is the similar posts section called "More like this," which looks like this on desktop:

It's to the right of whatever post you look at on a blog. On mobile, it looks like this:

I looked at the same post for both of these screenshots. In the "More like this" (or "More posts like this") section, Tumblr will usually include other posts by the user, posts by other blogs who interact with the user, posts with similar tags, etc. etc. For whatever reason, I'll sometimes be able to use this Tumblr function to find more fat representation. As an example, Tumblr showed me the same grayscale drawing of a fat person in both of these screenshots. That drawing was posted by an entirely different blog and with no tags related to fatness or fat positivity at all, but the "More like this" Tumblr function is the only time that Tumblr realizes "Oh, for the past five years of running and modding for fat positive blogs, you've actually wanted to see posts of fat people and not all of the posts of thin people I've suggested to you all this time?"

Sometimes I'll try my luck with certain fandoms when I know the media the fandom is for actually has a fat character or if I know that the fandom is somewhat size inclusive. There are times where an artist who draws the media's fat character also has fat OCs or draws other fat people. For instance, I'll probably have more luck finding artists who draw fat people in the Magnus Archives fandom than I will in a fandom for a media that's very fatphobic or pretends thinness is an art style, like Hazbin Hotel.

If I find a fat person who posts selfies or photography of themself, I'll look at their tags to try to decipher what tags they use for posting those photos. They may have a specific tag just for their photos, like "my face," or they may tag all of their photos with a tag like "ootd," "melanin," "cosplay," "black girl magic," "lolita," "jfashion," etc. It's also important to make sure not to share any posts that have tags like "do not reblog." If a post has the tag "personal," I'll usually either skip it or ask the user if they're okay with the post being reblogged. This is especially important for text posts about fatphobia since sometimes a person just wanted to vent and doesn't want their post to be shared. Whenever I'm in doubt, I write a reply on the post and ask the op if they're okay with me reblogging it.

On some occasions, I'll see the url or tags of someone on our posts that makes me think they may have more fat positive content. When that is the case, I'll queue posts that a follower made. Said posts are usually selfies or text posts. Sometimes this means queuing a post they made about a specific product they sell on Etsy that otherwise isn't accessible for fat people, or this could mean queueing a well-written rant that they've okayed for people to reblog.

That's basically the gist of most of my strategies I can think of. You can see that running and modding for fat positive blogs involves a lot of work and strategizing just to find content. But you can help make it easier. If you:

Tag your posts of fat representation with fat positive tags

Send posts you find of fat people to fat positive blogs

Tell artists who draw fat people to tag their art with fat positive tags

Ask artists who only draw thin people to make their art size inclusive

Make posts about fatphobia and tag those posts with tags like "fatphobia" to make them searchable

Or even just reblog posts from fat positive blogs to help spread them and encourage those OPs to keep representing fat people

By doing those things, you help us a lot and also help more fat people see themselves in the media they look at.

If you do tag your posts for this purpose, I strongly suggest using more than just tags like "body positivity." That tag on Tumblr is full of mostly porn, thin people, and celebrations of weight loss, so I've given up on looking at that tag at all and would assume many other fat positive blogs don't use that tag either.

-Mod Worthy

#fat representation #fat art #fat liberation #fat positive #fatphobia #Mod Worthy #ask #citricsinger76

48 notes · View notes

thedawningofthehour · 2 months

Note

I really hope you are doing well.

Maybe sealed is not the right word, more like bottled, I think Donnie could have awakened his mystical abilities if he really tried. I don't see ninpo as the source of his power if not as an enhancer, in the sense that turtles have their abilities and what ninpo does is enhance them, almost like super saiyan, but with extra benefits, like creating weapons. Donnie has his own powers, but I think it has been established that mystic is pretty much conected to the soul which still contains the connection to his family, which is what Draxum's spell is there to suppress, after the incident with the mercenaries I was under the impression that even if Donnie manages to tap into his mystic abilities these would end up damaging him like a pipe with too much pressure.

To be honest, before finishing book 2, you said book 3 would be the shortest, which led me and others to assume you meant it would be the shortest in the series, THEN you said it would be shorter than book 2, which didn't contradict our earlier idea, I'm trying to find the posts, but Tumblr post search will be danm. Not to mention that every time I mentioned it you said nothing!!! .... 30 chapters.... * Goes to cry in a corner *

I have a theory that a lot of people find that when a fic is going to be pretty angsty these wait until it's complete to read it, rip off the band-aid in one go and all that, at least that's what I usually do, and I would do it with this fic if it weren't for the fact that I wouldn't be able to log in to the blog afterwards to avoid spoilers!

And I like your posts.

I checked my bank balance and it turns out I have more money than I thought so the urge to die isn't quite so immediate.

The reason the power spike hurt him so badly was because he overextended himself. He had no framework to put his ability into, no sense of how much he could control or even the presence of mind to know he needed to. In canon he knew roughly what was happening and had his brothers around to help him regulate, plus he knew he had to go rescue his dads afterwards and would need his energy. Here, he had no thought other than 'keep these creeps away.' The possibility of what he was feeling welling up being his own mystic powers didn't occur to him because Gale was pretty certain he didn't have any powers. And, you know, he'd been tased and shit.

But it is true that his powers are stronger when he's with his family, and even though he sees Cass as such it really is not the same. Under normal circumstances Draxum's expertise would actually be very helpful in developing his powers-but Draxum joined them in canon, so they had access to his help there too.

All that said, Draxum isn't too terribly bothered by this. He wanted Donnie for his brain, not for Hamato family magic or any potential mystical ability. He started training Gale is the mystics because he was legitimately curious what he could do, (plus it's deffo not healthy to suppress your powers if you do have them-one of the reasons Bella lived with her uncle on and off throughout her childhood) but he really has no plans to utilize his abilities. Galois is more useful to him in the lab than on the battlefield, and any potential combat use would have to be pretty fucking spectacular to justify the risk of that brain being damaged. (plus, you know, that's his son now)

I'm going to be honest, I hate it when people do that. And I don't get it. I'm disappointed when I come onto a fic that's already been completed; half the fun of fandom is interacting with creators and other readers and going absolutely mental for weeks at a time. You're missing out on the experience when you just hop on at the end.

And it just feels very entitled to me? Like, fanworks are made to be interacted with. There are exceptions, of course, but in general the people who wait until a fic is finished aren't interacting with the story as it was meant to, if at all. Like, if I hadn't gotten any interaction with doth, I would have dropped it. It took quite a while for it to pick up any meaningful interaction at all, and honestly the only reason I stuck it out that long was because I had a bunch of the story already written. If I had been writing one or two chapters at a time back then, I would have gotten discouraged and quit. If everyone waited until the end to bother reading, then they wouldn't have any completed longfics to read. Fanfiction isn't paid, we have no incentive to keep going if we're just screaming into the void.

Sorry, that came out really angry. I'm not saying people have to interaction with every fanwork they come across; god knows I don't comment on everything I read. (I am trying to be better about this though) I just had a bad experience with people not reading the tags/author's notes on doth and thinking it was completed and then bitching at me for 'tricking' them into reading an unfinished fic. Honestly, it's kind of degrading to work on something for months, (a year and a half at this point) and then have people want to consume it all at once and then leave. Like bro. You're gonna get indigestion.

#doth asks

22 notes · View notes

mcdynamite · 10 months

Text

mcdynamite's (mc)masterlist

Hello! I finally made a masterlist! This includes the stories I've written both here on Tumblr and on AO3 to make things easier to find. You'll find all of my Steddie and Wolfstar fics listed below, and I will be updating this list as I continue to post more.

Author's favorites are noted with a little 🌟 emoji!

All of the writing I post on here will also be tagged with "#mcdynamite writes" if you want to search for it that way.

(Note: Since I am not currently planning on continuing to write Drarry, my fics for that ship are not on this list, but they are still up on my AO3 account! You can find them here.)

Stranger Things

Steddie

AO3 Fics: 🌟 Made It This Far (T) - 13k

It’s not ideal, keeping these recurrent headaches a secret from all of his friends, and sure, Steve's had his fair share of days where he’s been forced to just work through the pain, but he’s making it work. He’s managing. He’s fine. In which Steve Harrington is determined to suffer his migraines in silence, alone, and Eddie Munson is determined not to let him. Major tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sickfic (sort of), Steve Harrington Gets Migraines Warning(s): past head trauma, Steve's shitty parents

Tumblr Blurbs: Physically affectionate Eddie (tags: getting together, cuddles, first kiss)

Nancy gives Steve a lil nudge (tags: platonic Stancy, pining Steve, getting together, side Ronance)

🌟 Hawkins assistant basketball coach Steve (tags: pining Eddie, Steve being a hot jock, Eddie being horny for jock-mode Steve, getting together)

First "I love you" (tags: established relationship, soft Steddie, cuddles)

🌟 Demisexual Steve (tags: demisexuality, supportive Eddie, soft Steddie; CWs for discussions of sexuality and references to Steve's past sexual relationships)

Sleepy Steve x Bartender Eddie (tags: established relationship, extremely soft, Eddie being a sweetheart, Steve being a needy dork)

Harry Potter

Wolfstar

AO3 Fics: The Scientific Method (E) - 62k

Remus Lupin has been in love with Sirius Black for ages, so when an unexpected opportunity arises for him to have everything he's been dreaming of, he can't possibly say no (even if it's only for one night). After all, it's just an experiment. Nothing really needs to change. Right? In which Remus and Sirius are tragically terrible communicators, Peter just wants to help, and James is forced to reconcile with the fact that his friends may truly be idiots. Major tags: Hogwarts Seventh Year, Mutual Pining, Miscommunication, Sexual Content Warning(s): Sirius's shitty parents, canon-typical werewolf injuries

Until We're Grey and Old (M) - 4.7k

“What on earth are you doing?” Remus asked, a fond, confused smile on his lips. “We’re going outside,” Sirius replied simply, grinning and tugging on Remus’s hand. Remus just laughed, but allowed Sirius to pull him outside and into the rain anyway. “But it’s the middle of the night! And it’s pouring!” he protested with a grin, looking up to the sky as both of them began to feel cool droplets of rain against their skin. It was already soaking through the fabric of Remus’s t-shirt. “I know!” OR Remus has a bad night, and Sirius is determined to turn it around by showing him exactly how loved he is. Major tags: Established Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mild Sexual Content, Fluff Warning(s): N/A

🌟 As the Moon Knows the Stars (T) - 48k

On the day Sirius Black turned seventeen, he had his soulmark removed in order to protect the soulmate he'd never met from the wrath of his own family. In the eight years since, he's managed to make his peace with living the rest of his life without falling in love. Though he mourns his lost soulmate every day, he's confident he made the right choice to protect them, and no one has ever made him question that. Until, of course, Lily Evans brings her childhood friend along for a pub night, and Sirius finds himself utterly enamored with the kind, mysterious stranger. But Remus Lupin surely has a soulmate of his own waiting out there somewhere, and Sirius won't let himself get in the way of that. He just wishes Remus weren't so damn easy to love. Major tags: Soulmates AU, Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies, Slow Burn, Remus Never Went to Hogwarts, Neurodivergent Sirius Warning(s): implied/referenced abuse and homophobia (all takes place in the past and is limited to Sirius's shitty parents)

🌟 Hold Back the River (T) - 3.3k

“There are nights where I don’t really dream, or at least, not that I remember, you know?” Sirius continues. “But I can’t remember the last time I dreamt about something that was good. Something that made me happy.” Remus’s heart beats unsteadily in his chest, because this, strangely enough, is not something he can relate to. Remus does have good dreams, on occasion, and a great many of them feature the boy with whom he is currently sharing a couch. He’s done his best to shove them to the back of his mind, whenever he wakes up from them. He relegates them to that ever-expanding box of Sirius-related memories that would be better off forgotten and moves on, only now… Sirius is right beside him, prodding at the box with long, aristocratic fingers, and Remus can feel the lid beginning to slip. Major tags: Post Prank, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Forgiveness, First Kiss Warning(s): dealing with the aftermath of The Prank, mentions of Sirius's shitty parents

(everybody here was) someone else before (M) - 13k

“No?” the man said. “And where might this dashing fellow countryman of mine be?” “Right here, actually,” Remus said with a lopsided grin, finally turning to face the newcomer. “I’m Re-” He stopped halfway through his introduction to gape at the man in front of him. His pale skin was littered with tattoos – most of them black as his hair, which fell in waves that just barely touched his slim shoulders – and the grey v-neck tee he wore left little of his toned figure to the imagination. But none of these things were the primary focus of Remus’s attention. That honour would go to the man’s eyes – grey and sparkling with the vivacity of a summer storm, flecked with golds and blues if one only looked closely enough. They were eyes Remus would recognize anywhere. Because Remus had seen them before. OR A chance meeting in Remus's least favorite city on Earth forces him to reckon with the fact that he may never have fallen out of love with an old friend. Major tags: Muggle AU, Childhood Friends Reconnecting, Sexual Tension/Content, Idiots in Love Warning(s): Sirius's shitty parents, mentioned Jegulus

#mcdynamite writes #wolfstar #steddie #masterlist #mcdynamite masterlist #wolfstar fic #steddie fic #steddie ficlet

63 notes · View notes

julietthereaper · 1 year

Text

A Not-So-Hollow Christmas

~ A PrinceFox fanfic ~

Author’s Note -

prompt I seen from @jackstheprinceofhearts ! their account is amazing, especially if you are in some desperate need for broken heart content. thank you for posting your wonderful prompt! It was too cute for me to pass up

this IS my first post on tumblr, although this fic will also be posted to my ouabh collection on wattpad (my handle is jennacanread if ur interested!). I haven’t read tbona since the release date so I hope no one’s too out of character?

(obviously) spoilers for tbona | minor uses of swearing | set during the Hollow chapters and briefly after the end of tbona | not canon compliant

Summary -

After discovering Jacks isn’t the biggest fan of Christmas, Evangeline plots to turn him into a festive softy, even if it means making a few extra deals with a Fate.

Evangeline always had a sixth sense, just like how bells did. Although her sixth sense wasn't nearly as helpful as it was for bells. She could sense it when she woke up that morning it was time to start celebrating her favourite holiday of the year.

Christmas.

She squealed giddily as she launched herself out of bed, choosing a pretty Christmas-red dress to get festive, her pink hair blending nicely with the red silk. Evangeline slipped on some gold jewellery to spice it up before heading to the main area in the Hollow.

When Evangeline passed by the dining room, Jacks was already sitting at the table, sipping on a mug of spiced cider. He arched an amused eyebrow at her. "What's got you grinning like a fox?"

Evangeline snickered lightly at his wordplay. "It's Christmas season!"

Jacks amused expression fell. "Oh, of course you're one of those people."

"You don't like Christmas?"

He set his mug down on the table. "It's all awful singing, terrible gifts that no one wants, and distasteful decorations."

Despite Jacks's bahumbug attitude towards the holidays, it did not dampen her mood. In fact, all that rang through her mind was challenge accepted.

Evangeline was going to make Jacks enjoy Christmas, no matter what it took.

She took hold of his cold wrist, tugging him up. "We need a tree."

"We already have some outside."

"A Christmas tree, Jacks. We need to go hunting for a Christmas tree. A big one, to fit in the main room."

"Absolutely not."

Jacks was, unsurprisingly, being difficult. Evangeline had planned for this. "Alright, Prince of Hearts. I'd like to make another deal."

"You haven't even completed your first one." Although his tone was low, his mouth stretched into a grin.

"Think of this like a side quest. What do you want in exchange for a Christmas tree?"

He hooked a finger under her chin, tilting her head back slightly. Her heart picked up in speed. "Another night."

Evangeline's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. But before she could ask, he continued.

"Another night of you being mine."

Evangeline could have sworn her heart was going to explode from her chest.

Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea-

Evangeline hushed that voice in her head. She held out her hand. "Deal."

Jacks shook it. "Haven't you heard the warnings about making more than one deal with a Fate, Little Fox?"

"I'm choosing to ignore those warnings in favour of Christmas spirit."

Jacks bent his head to nibble the shell of her ear. "Bad choice."

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

It was the first time, Evangeline had realized, that she had been a distance from the Hollow since she arrived. They needed to find a Christmas tree farm so they could find the perfect tree.

Evangeline noted how rigid Jacks was beside her, his jaw was set, shoulders tight, and his gaze kept flicking towards her. Was there danger somewhere? Had she said something wrong since they left the Hollow?

Evangeline bumped him with her shoulder. "Why are you so tense?"

Jacks' eyes narrowed at her, blue eyes searching hers analytically. "Do you feel any different?"

"About what?"

His eyes fleeted to the sky a moment as they walked. "In general. Do you want to run away from me, Little Fox?"

Jacks was acting strange, and she didn't understand why. She tried to ease him with a joke. "Not anymore than usual."

He exhaled, breath visible in the chilled air around them. Jacks' lips formed a smile. His shoulders relaxed and his steps came more natural than soldier-reporting-for-duty.

Evangeline liked him a lot when he was happy. She tried not to. Tried telling herself that he was a Fate and it was such a bad idea.

Instead, she grabbed his hand.

Her mouth went dry and her head emptied as she realized what she had done, the only thing she could think about was his hand in hers.

Jacks removed his hand from hers quickly. "What are you doing?"

His words sent her mind in a panic. Despite the snow falling and how cold it was, hot embarrassment fled to her cheeks, face aflame. "I was just... forget about it."

Evangeline gnawed on her cheek, keeping her eyes ahead and refusing to look his way.

That was when rough fingers fiddled with her hand until both of their fingers were intertwined.

She looked up at Jacks. His eyes softened as he caught her gaze from the corner of his eye.

Her lips parted into a wide smile that Evangeline couldn't contain. Jacks was holding her hand. There was something so intimate about the action, it shushed all of the warning voices in her head. His palm pressed to hers warmly, their arms lightly swinging in unison.

Evangeline looked up from their hands to see Miller's Tree Farm.

"We're here!" Evangeline exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the sign with the hand that wasn't holding Jacks'.

"Alright, go pick one out." Jacks nodded towards the trees.

"You have to help, too. It's part of our deal."

He groaned as Evangeline tugged him forward.

"Come on, you stubborn prince!" She laughed, using her strength to drag him.

"Only because I never fail to uphold my ends of deals."

Evangeline secretly hoped that he actually wanted to pick out a tree with her.

"We have to find the perfect one, Jacks. It can't be any old tree. It has to be the tree."

"Are you even hearing yourself right now?"

"You'll know it when you feel it."

Reluctantly, Jacks trailed beside her, hands still attached as they walked through the farm. Evangeline spotted a pretty tree around the corner. She dropped his hand to dash towards it.

Evangeline heard him mutter Dead Saints, Little Fox, under his breath. She inspected the tree when she reached it, pine needles lightly prickling her hands as they moved along it.

A mischievous thought popped up in her head when she realized it wasn't the right tree. She bent down to scoop up some snow in her hand before Jacks reached her. She stood up abruptly, hiding the snow behind her back.

"What's wrong with this one?" Jacks looked it up and down.

"It's too tall. But that one over there..."

When Jacks turned his back to find the tree she nodded towards, Evangeline lanced the snowball at his fur doublet.

Jacks' body went still. He slowly turned around, lips parted as an offended demeanour took over his face. He tilted his head at her as Evangeline brought a cold hand up to her face, trying to stifle her giggles. She failed.

"You better run, pet."

A deep belly laugh emerged from her mouth as her feet sunk in the snow quickly. It slowed her down, but it didn't stop her from rushing away from him. She dodged trees, weaving in and out of them as she tried to escape Jacks.

The ice cold hit her back before the hard thump did. Evangeline squealed, her hand reaching at her back, freezing nipping at her hands. Melted snow slowly seeped through her cape as she turned around to see Jacks smirking proudly.

She quickly formed a snowball in her hands, whipping it at Jacks swiftly. He dodged it with ease before stalking towards her, already hitting her again with another snowball.

"No, no, no!" Evangeline eventually found a tree to hide behind, gathering her breath. She made another snow ball, waiting for Jacks to come from where he last seen her. But he wasn't in sight.

Her heart pounded in her ears as her eyes darted around the farm. A flash of blond hair emerged and Evangeline ran towards him. She threw the snowball at his side, but the moment it hit him Jacks tossed one at her in exchange, landing in the middle of her chest.

Jacks chuckled deeply, she imagined from how quickly her mouth drooped down.

"I wasn't even ahead of you for five seconds," Evangeline whined, walking towards him in defeat.

"Say it, Little Fox. I win."

She sighed. "You..."

Evangeline smooshed snow into his blonde hair. Jacks' mouth formed an o shape as his eyes squeezed shut, melted snow running down the back of his neck.

"...Are tied with me," Evangeline finished, flaunting a pearly grin in his face.

Jacks pulled her in by her waist, Evangeline's heart skipping a beat. "Trust me, pet, there will be another round, and you will lose sourly." One of his hands drifted to her rose gold hair, tangling it in his hand before tilting her head back. “And you’ll be sorry you pulled that stunt with the snow in my hair.”

His fingers massaged her scalp briefly, a challenge lit up in his eyes. Just as Evangeline began to respond, she peered up at the tree they were standing in front of. "This one, Jacks. It's perfect for the Hollow!"

He shifted his head to examine it. "You like this one?"

"It's the right size, it's branches are in lovely condition, and it has a nice memory tied to it."

"Then this is the one we'll get."

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

After Jacks used his magic to persuade the owner to ship the tree over to the Hollow for free, Evangeline attempted to persuade Jacks to get decorations for the tree.

"It's not a Christmas tree without ornaments, it's just a pine tree. You agreed to getting a Christmas tree."

"I taught you too well," Jacks grumbled, shoulders brushing as they walked into the town square.

Little sparks ignited everywhere Jacks touched her accidentally.

Evangeline beamed in success. "Enjoying Christmas yet?"

"No, still hate it.”

Town square was decked out in every inch with Christmas decor. Lights glowed everywhere, trees, pine or not, were littered with all different sorts of ornaments, tinsel was strung everywhere, and a small band was playing Christmas tunes beneath a street lantern.

Evangeline took it all in, joy filling her up from head to toe.

"The North takes Christmas pretty serious."

She twirled around, delighting in the festivity. "You're from here. What has Christmas ever done to you to make you such a scrooge?"

Jacks shook his head. "Why do you like it so much?"

"Stop deflecting the question."

"I'm not. I'm giving you the answer."

Evangeline worried her bottom lip between her teeth as they neared a shop selling decorations. "It gives everyone a reason to be merry. You get to spend time with your family, give and get gifts, amazing food, silly carols, funny, romantic kisses under the mistletoe..."

Evangeline realized why Jacks did not like Christmas.

"By all means, Little Fox, keep going. I just love those funny, deadly kisses underneath the mistletoe. It's a romantic experience as women drop dead in front of me." He gave her a wicked twist of his mouth, as if he enjoyed killing women, as if it truly didn't affect him. Jacks didn't even touch on the matter of family.

But Evangeline noticed his eyes. Her father used to tell her how you found people's truths; in their eyes. She seen the forced smile in them, the hurt hidden behind it.

"Jacks-"

"We're at your ornament shop."

Evangeline exhaled deeply, kicking the snow off her boots on the steps of the store before entering. Jacks did not have the same care about trekking snow in the store.

"Pick out some ornaments for the tree," Evangeline urged him, searching for pretty ones too.

"That wasn't part of our deal." Jacks side eyed her.

She turned so that she was directly facing him. "Please, Jacks."

He stared at her intently, but she did not break his gaze.

"I'll make you cookies," Evangeline offered brightly.

Jacks looked away, groaning. "For Fates' sake."

She clapped, knowing he gave in to her. "Pick out some pretty ones!"

As he walked away from her and to a different part of the store, he tossed his head over his shoulder. "They better be good cookies."

There was an extra pep in Evangeline's step as she walked around the shop, finding some lovely green and red ornaments. She stuffed the box underneath her arm and continued her search.

Fake icicles caught her eye, and Evangeline was entranced by them. They glittered when light hit them at the right angle, reflecting little rainbows. She tucked those under her arm too.

After getting a basket and finding a few other ornaments, including a star topper, Jacks returned to her.

He only said one word. "These."

Evangeline peeked inside the box, eyes widening at his choice of blue and pink ornaments. There were even little foxes painted on some of them.

"Aw, these are adorable!"

Jacks glared at her. "Call them adorable one more time. I dare you."

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

After popping cookies into the oven at the Hollow, Evangeline spent the rest of her evening decorating the Christmas tree. The minute she tried to convince Jacks to help her, he scoffed not this time, Little Fox, and strutted away.

Although he was hiding it well, Evangeline knew Jacks was starting to warm up to Christmas. Even if it was just the smallest hints of it, it was still something. But her challenge wouldn't be completed until Jacks truly enjoyed Christmas.

After placing the last of the tinsel and ornaments on the tree, it was time for the star.

Evangeline set her hands on her hips, contemplating how she would reach the top. She tried jumping, she tried dragging a chair over, but it was still just out of reach.

"What, pray tell, are you trying to accomplish?" Jacks leaned against the door way to the main room, arms crossed as he regarded her amusedly.

"I'm trying-" Evangeline hopped, "to reach-" she leapt, "the top!" She ran out of breath.

She came to the realization that Jacks might put the star on top for her. He would decorate the tree with her!

Maybe.

"As much as I'm enjoying you bouncing all over the place, there's a much easier approach to this, Little Fox."

"Uh huh," Evangeline raised her eyebrows challengingly. "And what's that?"

Jacks took four large steps towards her, and when she thought he was going to take the star from her hand, he grabbed her waist gently, lifting her up and on top of his shoulders.

Evangeline let out a gasp, heart picking up again.

"Hurry up, your dress is in my face." Jacks' voice came out muffled.

Her thighs were also around his neck.

Evangeline quickly placed the star on top, breathing quickly. "I'm done!"

He placed her back on the floor, brushing a cool finger over her cheeks. "It's so easy to make you blush."

Evangeline poked his nose in turn, Jacks swatting her hand away. "Admit it. You're beginning to like Christmas."

"Has this become a personal mission for you, pet?"

A quiet ding interrupted them.

"The cookies!" Evangeline grinned, rushing to the kitchen, slipping on a pair of oven mitts and removing them from the oven.

She stepped back, admiring her work.

"Christmas cookies?" Jacks' tone was flat and unamused.

Despite how hot the cookie was, Evangeline picked one up between her fingers, ignoring the slight burn. "Ha! Look, it's Santa."

Jacks darted his head quickly towards her and took a large bite out of the cookie she held. "Headless Santa now," he mumbled as he chewed on the sugar cookie.

"Fiend," Evangeline retorted.

Jacks reached for another one, but Evangeline smacked his hand. "I need to decorate them!"

"Someone's going on the naughty list. It's not nice to hit people, Little Fox."

"It's not nice to bite cookies out of people's hands, Jacks."

"I'm already on the naughty list, why should I care?"

"Shoo, unless you're going to help me decorate these."

"I'd almost mistake you for a Fate with how many deals you're trying to make." Jacks walked away, obviously not interested in decorating.

Evangeline sighed. She picked up the bag of icing she'd prepared earlier, piping little designs onto her first cookie. Her festive mood was beginning to dampen. Jacks really wasn't going to come around to Christmas, was he? Of course, no matter how hard she tried, she failed. He was a Fate after all. Why had she expected Jacks to look at Christmas different for her?

One decorated cookie later, strong arms wrapped around her waist and a head leaned against her shoulder, the smell of apples and something distinctly male filled her senses. Evangeline could have melted into his touch, despite her earlier frustration.

"I thought you didn't want to decorate. You know, since you despise Christmas."

"Hush, Little Fox, or I might change my mind."

Evangeline couldn't fight the smile on her face. He grabbed the icing bag, still leaning on her shoulder and reaching through her waist. Jacks tried to pipe a design, but he squeezed too hard, a bunch of icing coming out at once. He growled.

Evangeline giggled. "Here, I'll squeeze, you keep your hands on mine, guiding the bag, okay?"

Jacks grunted in acknowledgment, placing his hands over hers. He guided her slowly, drawing little snowflakes on the snowman shaped cookie.

A warm feeling rose through Evangeline. "Next one."

This time it was a tree. Jacks drew ornaments and lights, actually taking it seriously. They continued like that until all the cookies were decorated, and Evangeline couldn't have cared less that she only decorated one. She was elated that Jacks had partook in something festive without motivation. It also helped his hands were on hers and how his body fit with hers.

He set down the piping bag, grabbing her hand and twirling Evangeline around, leaning her against the counter. "Happy?"

"You have no idea."

Jacks leaned in close, close enough that they were breathing the same breaths. His lips were dangerously close to hers. "Remember your part of the deal."

Another night of you being mine.

Evangeline hadn't a problem with it. She was already his, anyway.

"I couldn't forget."

Jacks laced his fingers with hers again, leading her to his room. On their way, Evangeline pulled him to a stop.

"Mistletoe, Jacks."

He looked up quickly at the strategically placed mistletoe above their heads. His eyes creased with worry. "Little Fox-"

Evangeline stood on her tip-toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, letting her lips linger on his cool skin. She hadn't known whether or not a lip-on-lip kiss would follow them outside the Hollow, and she didn't want Jacks to have to deal with that guilt, so she opted for his cheek instead. Evangeline had desperately wanted to feel his lips against hers. She wanted to have a true mistletoe experience with Jacks. But, as fate allowed, Evangeline would settle for a peck on the cheek.

"There," Evangeline whispered as she pulled away. "Now you have a pleasant memory under the mistletoe."

Jacks looked at her, really looked at her, with a vulnerability in his eyes that he rarely showed. His arms engulfed her and his head buried in her pink hair.

"When we leave here for good, Little Fox, please do not forget this."

"I'll never forget this," she mumbled into his shirt.

He pulled away to look at her. "Mine."

"I'm yours," Evangeline repeated as she had a few nights ago.

Jacks scooped her up, carrying her to his bedroom, holding her close to his chest. She loved how delicately he held her, how careful he was.

When they reached his room, Jacks tugged on the hem of her dress in question.

Evangeline nodded wordlessly.

He lifted it off of her, leaving Evangeline in solely a tiny slip that didn’t leave much to the imagination. Although she was sure Jacks had seen much more of her when he bandaged her up a few nights ago. She reached for the buttons of his shirt, popping them off until the item of clothing was removed completely.

Jacks then laid her down, falling on the bed beside her.

Evangeline brushed a soft lock of blond hair from his face. "I know you hate Christmas for good reasons, Jacks. But the holidays are about spending time with people you care about. I know how good you are at hiding it, but I think deep down, you care about me, at least a little bit. So I hope I changed your mind about Christmas."

Jacks knotted his hands in her hair, bringing her head close. "I care about you a lot." He frowned. "More than I should."

Evangeline's eyes fluttered closed. "I care about you too."

"I know."

Their limbs began to tangle together as they shifted in the bed. Jacks held her as if she was about to be ripped from his grasp. Evangeline nuzzled her head in his chest, letting herself lull to sleep.

"Little Fox?"

"Mm?"

"Christmas isn't so bad."

"Jacks!" she whined against his skin.

"Fine. I like spending Christmas with you."

Jacks’ reluctant words reverberated through her head a million times. Finally. Evangeline had warmed him up to the holidays, even if it took a bit out of her. It made her cheeks hot that she knew she was the reason for his new take on Christmas.

She tilted her head up to look in his eyes. “I knew you’d come around.”

“Don’t you dare start up carolling, pet, or I will take back my previous statement. The tree in the main room will be destroyed before you wake up in the morning if you pipe up with those god awful tunes.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of annoying Jacks of the Hollow.”

His hand smoothed over her hair idly and his voice was soft from tiredness. “Good.”

Evangeline waited until his eyes fluttered shut before murmuring quietly, “Deck the halls with boughs of holly fa-la-la-la-la-”

The hand that had been in her hair moments before clamped over her mouth. “Shut up,” Jacks groaned.

She laughed behind his hand, amused by his distaste for carols. Once her giggles died down, he removed his hand and closed his eyes again.

“‘’Tis the season to be jolly-”

Jacks rolled them over so that she was underneath him, his chest over top of her mouth. Despite her voice being incredibly muffled, she still sang.

“Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.”

“Are you done yet?” Jacks moved into a plank position, uncovering her mouth.

“Maybe.”

“You are insufferable.”

Evangeline smiled brightly at him. “Will you change your mind if you found out I got you a present?”

One of his eyebrows raised. “When?”

“When you weren’t looking. It isn’t much, but it’s something.” Evangeline shifted to reach beside the bed, pulling the small box out of her dress pocket. “Merry Christmas, Jacks.”

Evangeline didn’t think she’d ever seen his features so soft. Blond eyebrows knitted together, and his eyes regarded the present with a delicacy he’d only ever used with her. He moved them so that they both sat up, hands carefully holding the box she handed him. She bit her lip in anticipation of his reaction.

“Open it!” She urged, hoping he wouldn’t hate the gift inside.

Jacks pulled the ribbon around the box until it untied, popping the lid open and peering inside. His lips curved into a smile.

“I couldn’t think of what to get you, but you’re always dressing fancy, so when I saw those golden apple cuff links, I immediately thought of you.” Evangeline watched as his finger brushed over the cuff links curiously. “Everyone deserves a Christmas present, no matter how far down they are on the naughty list.”

His eyes flashed to hers, amusement laced in his expression. Still, Jacks hadn’t said a word.

“Well? Do you like them?” Evangeline demanded, palms beginning to sweat. She hoped from the bottom of her heart he adored them. That every time he would wear them, he’d think of her. His Little Fox.

“I do.”

Jacks spoke those two words with so much gentleness, yet so much force that made Evangeline believe there were a billion other things he wanted to say.

He set his gift on his nightstand, pulling Evangeline back down into a lying position. Jacks moved his lips over her neck, sucking and biting at her skin. She let out a moan at the feeling, at how fast he could send her brain into a frenzy.

“Thank you, Little Fox.” His words tickled her neck.

She hadn’t thought him capable of the words thank you.

“I’m glad you like them,” she whispered back.

Evangeline swore to never forget how soft he was at the Hollow. With her. How his expression turned so breathtaking when he looked at his present. At her. How badly Evangeline had wished she was his true love. She finally let herself fall asleep, a deathly pair of lips on her mind as sleep claimed her.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Jacks looked up at the winter night sky sourly, wondering if the stars were laughing at him. How many times had they watched happily ever after be wretched from his hands so despicably?

This one hurt the most.

His teeth clashed together as Jacks grind his jaw, thinking of the way Evangeline had been taken from him. Jacks had briefly pondered over if things could have been different if he’d realized Donatella hadn’t meant to him what he thought she did sooner.

He’d never loved Donatella. She was never his true love. That Jacks was sure of, he felt it all the way down to his cold bones.

Evangeline. Sweet Evangeline.

Nothing had ever meant as much to him as his Little Fox did.

Jacks touched his golden apple cuff links, taking a small comfort in how the cold metal felt against his finger. He had many regrets over all of the things he never said to Evangeline. He especially wished he’d told her how much the gift meant to him. How much she meant to him.

No one had given him anything remotely close to a present in centuries. Jacks couldn’t even remember the last time someone had did something selfless for him, like giving him a present. It meant Evangeline cared about him, almost as much as he cared for her.

She hadn’t even done it in the presence of the Mirth stone. She’d been far from it when retrieving his cuff links. Evangeline had simply wanted to give him a Christmas gift.

Jacks was taken from his thoughts as the crunching of boots trekking through snow hinted at his ears. He turned towards her, hidden by the brick building beside him and the darkness it provided.

She sniffed loudly, the back of her hand coming up to wipe her nose.

“Nothing makes sense,” she cried to the sky. “Things aren’t adding up, no matter how hard I try. Every time I think I start to remember something important, it’s like I run into a wall!”

Jacks wanted to go to her, pull her close, whisper in her ear that it would be alright. How he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. He’d torture whoever tried to lay a finger on his Little Fox.

“Apollo says he loves me, and I love him, even if I can’t remember. But… that feels like a kind of thing that the heart would remember. I just feel so alone. So empty. I don’t even know if I should trust him. He is my husband, so I should.”

Evangeline kicked the snow in frustration. “I don’t even know who I’m talking to. The stars?” She laughed humourlessly. “It just truly feels like I have no one.”

You have me, Little Fox.

Evangeline spun around. “Who said that?”

Fuck. He hadn’t meant to project his thoughts.

“Hello?”

Jacks closed his eyes, leaning into the wall so Evangeline couldn’t see him. When he first discovered she didn’t remember him, Evangeline became terrified of him. He was a fool to think Time let him off of the hook for how much pain he suffered. A bloody fool.

Jacks swore to himself he’d do whatever it took to return Evangeline’s memories to her. He would disembowel whoever had done this to her. Jacks vowed to become their worst nightmare. He would become the exact monster the stories about Fates made him out to be.

He heard Evangeline sigh. “Now I’m crazy, too.”

He felt sick for her. Jacks knew this was ultimately better than her being dead, but why couldn’t he just be happy for once? Jacks always knew Time would never have allowed them to exist, he should have never let himself hope that it might be different.

Hope. Hopeful Evangeline.

Jacks remembered when he was like her. Back before he realized he was never meant to be happy. Not for long, at least.

But he was happy with her. It was why he knew, in the end, they would never work. Curses couldn’t be deceived. They knew the truth. No matter how much one tried to hide it.

It was one week and one day from the end of Cold Season, marking it Christmas Eve. In a perfect world, he and Evangeline would be at the Hollow, curled up by the fireplace. Jacks would be kissing her breathless, and her heart would still be beating, beating fast for him. His would do the same.

He’d get her a gift that she’d squeal about, blushing furiously like the helpless romantic she was. They would both be happy together.

Instead they were here, in this awful mess.

“Evangeline, my heart, there you are!”

Jacks had felt the overwhelming urge to slash a knife through Apollo’s throat, to watch him beg and bleed mercilessly for how he was taking advantage of his Evangeline-

“Apollo! Sorry, I just… wanted to catch snowflakes on Christmas Eve.”

Apollo wrapped his arms around Evangeline’s waist, pulling her flush against him. Jacks should have walked away, saved himself from this pain. But it was as he told Evangeline before; broken hearts constructed masochists.

Apollo laughed. “How darling you are. Come inside, we’re about to sing holiday carols by the piano.”

Jacks remembered when Evangeline sang for him. She did it to annoy him, but Jacks always looked forward to her pushing his buttons. He would listen to every foul, off pitch, Christmas carol Evangeline sung if it meant that she would remember him.

Jacks had a fleeting idea.

Don’t trust him, Little Fox. He is not your friend. He is not your lover-

“That sounds lovely, Apollo.” Evangeline’s words were loud and held a warning to them.

It meant she heard him.

He just hoped she would listen.

Jacks really needed to stop hoping.

He watched as Apollo led Evangeline inside, a wet sensation trailing down his cheek as Jacks’ eyes burned.

Using the back of his palm to rub at it, his eyes quickly caught the gold flecked blood that now stained his skin. Jacks hadn’t even realized he was crying.

His breath shook as he inhaled. He closed his eyes, the image of Evangeline flashed before him. Jacks imagined her saying don’t lose hope, Jacks. Not when you just got it back.

There was nothing of equal value to him than her. He established that already. Jacks needed to get a grip of himself.

He would find Honora. She would be the best person to go to when it came to cures to curses like this. Although every time he seeked Honora’s help, it always ended miserably. Fate be damned. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Jacks would rack in his favours he built up over the years, and fuck it, Jacks was going to hope.

His fingers traced over his apple cuff links.

This Christmas would not be his and Evangeline’s last.

144 notes · View notes

stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 2 years

Text

after a year long break, I replayed TFS

I haven’t been too active in the twdg fandom for about a year now, only popping in from time to time to talk about the Clementine comic or to answer the occasional ask.

A lot has happened- I got into the Dragon Age series and created a side blog dedicated to it, got a new job, played a LOT of Stardew Valley, read Clementine Book One enough times to make me weep all for the sake of a review, gave Skyrim a second chance and that went terribly, went on the search for a good sapphic romance novel but have yet to find one, replayed Fallout: New Vegas and remembered why it’s my favorite Fallout game, and it’s November so I’m crying about nanowrimo.

I haven’t touched The Final Season, or any Telltale game, since September of last year. My interactions with the fandom on this blog have been scarce, especially when you look at the way I used to post in 2018-2021 by comparison. But I got an email the other day from tumblr telling me that this blog turned 4 years old. I began looking through all of my old content and that inspired me to boot up TFS and experience it once again to see if my opinions changed.

Spoiler alert: A lot have.

I wasn’t planning on writing a post like this when I did my replay. After all, as I’m working on this it’s nanowrimo. I may or may not be an anxious mess, it’s fine, I’m fine.

I’m aware that the fandom isn’t exactly thriving at the moment but I feel like I need to get these feelings out of my system.

Y’see, it’s fascinating. I spent years running this blog- so many themed nights, talking with you guys and answering asks, writing fics, getting into dumb arguments, saying dumb things, and streaming the series on Mixer and Twitch, and for the most part? My views/opinions on the series were fairly consistent. There are a few exceptions, like my feelings on Minerva as a character changing or why I now choose to leave Lee at the end of S1 rather than shoot him, but everything else I was rather sure of.

So imagine my surprise when I finished and many of my opinions changed.

Turns out, time makes a fool of us all and spending a year away from the fandom and the series has shifted my perspective quite a bit. I’m able to set aside those rose-tinted glasses, but not get rid of them entirely.

I still stand by TFS as being a fantastic conclusion to the series. It was the ending Clementine deserved, and it’s still my favorite.

I believe the overall plot holds up great- Clementine and AJ find a new home. They have to fight to protect the people that become their found family. Clementine potentially falls in love or finds herself a best friend. The bond between Clementine and AJ is strong but tested in each episode. And to make matters emotionally complicated, the antagonist is someone from S1.

It’s flawed, sure, but point me in the direction of a plot you believe isn’t and I’ll find something to nitpick just to spite you.

I couldn’t imagine a better continuation/end point for Clementine’s story, and I will forever be grateful that this is just as much AJ’s story as it is Clementine’s.

I think this is the best looking game of the series. The school is something to admire for how beat up and overgrown it is, and the walkers are so decayed they’re practically walking skeletons with some flesh clinging to their bones. The character designs are great. The controls are easy, gameplay for Telltale games always are. The only time I had any trouble is the section where you have to distract the walkers so that James can retrieve his mask. I died three times before I was able to complete it without killing a single walker.... I did it all for you, James!

I also prefer the over-the-shoulder camera versus the fixed camera of the previous games. A lovely change, that one.

Oh, and the collectables! I love the collectables, that was such a great feature to implement into this game. Giving Clementine and AJ their own dorm that you can decorate with things you’ve collected makes it feel like home, like this is where Clementine is going to stay. For a lot of people, the last time Clementine had a room was back in S1 at the motor-inn, and she does have a room with AJ if you stayed at Wellington. I just like collecting things, man, it’s fun! Love it, I collect every item!

A big problem I do still have with this season is it’s only four episodes. Yes, it’s still a damn good season, but it always gives me a sense that it’s this close to being the best game Telltale ever created. So many things fall short and it sucks because they were so close, y’know? If they had just one more episode, they could’ve had time to cross the finish line.

I know that some of the developers have said they only needed four episodes to tell the story they wanted to tell and that’s why a fifth episode was cut. If that’s true, then I believe that might’ve been a mistake. If they said it was just a budget thing [and knowing Telltale, that probably was the more important factor] so they cut an episode and had to find a story they could tell in four, or cutting an episode meant they could improve things previous games were criticized for. I’d be more inclined to forgive it if that were the case.

But if it was just a creative choice and they could’ve easily had five episodes, it’s one that prevented it from surpassing two games that I would consider the best they ever made: Tales from the Borderlands and Batman: Enemy Within.

However, I’m aware that adding one more episode could’ve caused the season to crash and burn. Fair enough. We’ll never actually know how things would’ve turned out had they stuck to the five episode structure the previous installments followed. It might’ve become bloated, or dragged into boring territories, or more characters would’ve been killed off to fulfill a kill count, or more choices would need to be implemented that would’ve only furthered the illusion of choice these games are often criticized about.

The pacing can feel really rushed in a lot of spots, especially with the final episode. And yes, I know the fast pace was intentional, I watched the commentaries. Just because it was intentional doesn’t magically fix anything, it’s still a problem I have with it.

Lilly and the delta could’ve used more fleshing out. Most of the Ericson crew are underdeveloped. I would’ve liked to interact with Louis and Violet more before the Marlon confrontation, as well as more opportunities to interact with the others.

Speaking of characters, as much as I would love to write these grand essays about each character and what worked, what didn’t, all that… I don’t have time. Some will get longer sections than others, and I’ll discuss any opinions that have changed, as well as things that stuck out to me as I was playing.

Normally I’d start Clementine and work my way down to the antagonists, but fuck it, let’s start with our antagonists and work our way up.

Lilly, Abel, and the delta are terrible but in a good way

Fighting the raiders in this game feels like a final stand, y’know? These delta assholes want to kidnap people to fight in their war and they feel justified in this because they see those opposing them as worse. The delta aren’t the real baddies, they’re just trying to survive by any means necessary and they need people to fight, otherwise they’ll lose everything they worked for... but a lot of morals get muddied and downright tossed out in the process where these kids they’re taking, abusing, and traumatizing aren’t really people to them until they submit.

Lilly can have Louis’ tongue cut out and not bat an eye because he isn’t a person to her, he’s a “recruit” who stepped out of line. They’re all “recruits,” but that gets complicated when she sees Clementine as a person.

The raiders are a bunch of pieces of shit, no doubt, and they deserve what they got in the end for what they did, but I do like that you can look at them and say “I understand you want to protect your home and your people, that’s an honorable goal, one that mirrors our goal.... but this isn’t the way to do it, you’ve lost too much of your humanity and it will be your downfall.”

Honestly, I think the Delta vs Ericson group dynamics and what they’re willing to do to survive is interesting to compare and contrast.

Like the delta loses Abel in ep2 during the fight, and we get to interrogate him at the beginning of ep3. He tries to tell Clementine that Lilly’s on her way to get him but we all know that’s not true. The delta cut their losses. Despite needing people to fight in their war, they’re quick to kill, maim, or abandon and it has little effect on the group as a whole. They’ll just get more recruits, Abel is expendable, replaceable. Lilly’s upset when she hears what his ultimate fate was, but I wouldn’t say she’s distraught because she cared deeply about him as a person.

But then you have Ericson where losing two members, Marlon and Brody, rocks the entire foundation of the group. It causes rifts in relationships because they value each other a lot more as individuals. They’re younger, and the group is way smaller. Marlon’s betrayal left wounds, Brody’s death scared them, and the decision of what to do with Clementine and AJ wasn’t an easy one and they fought about it. When Aasim, Omar, and Louis/Violet get captured, the group doesn’t decide to cut their losses and more forward. That’s something Marlon would do. Instead, they risk so much to infiltrate the boat and save them. They’re not just three lost bodies, they’re people, friends. They plan to blow up the boat to kill the raiders so that they can’t harm anyone ever again.

I like an antagonist who mirrors the protagonist. Lilly and Clementine, delta and Ericson, what are they trying to do? Protect their home and people against an enemy, to survive, to have food and water and a chance to live in a world where the dead roam. But their methods? Very different. They’re not on the same scale and again, the moral compasses are all over the place, and they treat their people differently.

Both Clementine and Lilly are leaders who go to great lengths to protect their communities, they’ve both suffered a lot of trauma, their father figures play a big role in who they eventually become for better or worse. They both wandered alone until they found people and a home, a reason to keep going, and now they’re desperate to protect that because without it, they will have nothing left and that’s terrifying.

Plus, there’s the bonus of realizing Clementine could potentially become Lilly if she went down the wrong path. I mean, look at some of the shit she pulls in ANF. No one wants to hear that but there is it. What’s important is Clementine makes it clear that she’s not Lilly... and I hate to say it, but if Lilly lives, there is a possibility that she could change for the better, too, and I kinda like that.

Not excusing the bullshit she pulled. The only reason she’s even alive is because she manipulated her way into murdering James before the boat exploded. It’s hard to believe a woman who forced Minerva to relive the trauma of being forced to murder her own twin sister just so that Lilly could make a point to Clementine, or as mentioned before, having Louis’ tongue cut out. Or murdering Mitch... kidnapping children in the name of survival, brainwashing.... just a lot of bad stuff- it’s hard to believe a woman who did all of that could ever possibly change. She certainly appears unredeemable.

However, in the end she’s left with nothing but the weight of everything she did and knowing she did this to herself yet again. Might be the push she needs, and I’ve seen worse characters not waste their second chance.

Or you can just have AJ shoot her and then she rots. After all, your choices do matter, yes?

I know I’ve given Lilly as an antagonist shit in the past, complained about how they could’ve picked a better character to bring back, she sucks and I hate having to deal with her, blah blah blah...

but well actually Lilly is a great antagonist, ignore past CJ, past CJ doesn’t know anything and she’s dumb.

In my opinion, Lilly was the best option for a character to make a return as an antagonist. Yeah, yeah, “what about Christa??” I hear you, but Christa wouldn’t be nearly as compelling and this whole cry for what happened to Christa is old and tired and I think we should just accept that we will never, ever know.

Lilly is such a piece of shit, she’s so terrible, I hate her but I also really, really like her as the central antagonist.

And look, I know so many people in this fandom don’t like nuance, they want a simple good or bad answer, especially with characters and other things they don’t like because it’s easier since “brain thinkies made hurt happen no like.” Which fair enough, I can totally relate, that’s an exact quote from me whenever someone tries to talk to me about Loghain from Dragon Age: Origins and I don’t have the emotional energy to deal with everything I know of him from the books that play into the game so I go sit in my sad corner and ignore everything.

but c’mon, look at Lilly and tell me she’s a poorly written, one-dimensional villain. You can’t! If you do, I will point my little finger at you and loudly declare, “I respectfully disagree.”

She’s fucked up, she’s got her head up her own ass, she really wants to be in control as this intimidating, scary bitch who won’t hesitate to put a knife to your throat whenever she feels like it. She uses her power to manipulate and cause harm so that she never has to experience the helplessness she felt when she was alone and had nothing. She waltzes into Clementine’s cell with such threatening energy, but she’s also relaxed because she knows Clementine can’t do shit. And she’s impressed. She’s genuinely impressed at what Clementine almost accomplished. She sees that Clementine is the golden goose that made this entire trip and its losses worth it. Even if the delta lost everyone they captured but still had Clementine [and AJ] then it would still work in their favor.

With Clementine, she hesitates. She shows little sprinkles of humanity and it throws her off kilter. Honestly, it almost feels like a performance in the cells, y��know? I’ve given Lilly shit for appearing sympathetic in ep2 only to turn around and be a nasty asshole in ep3 which I still do somewhat think, but this time around? Watching Lilly’s body language and the way she speaks does make me believe it’s all a part of some game she’s playing. Deep down, she’s still the scared little girl who wants to pretend she’s a tough bitch no one can hurt, and that’s the performance. And everyone buys it. It only cracks with Clementine.

To me, that shows just how far gone she is. The others aren’t people, they’re “recruits.” They’re expendable despite the fact that the delta are supposedly at war and need people to fight. Lilly doesn’t want to see someone like Louis as a person because then she has to face the reality that she’s become a monster who believes cutting someone’s tongue out is necessary. She’s become the St. John’s who definitely didn’t see Mark as a person, and justified cannibalism with “all the dead do is eat people, it’s a waste! We were brought up not to waste, those folks were gonna die anyway, we do what is necessary to survive!”

THAT is the kind of shit she’s going to have to face if you spare her and she’s alone again.

It gets worse when she goes on about her father and it gives me this eerie feeling to hear the way she speaks knowing that Larry probably did more to traumatize her than just “he let our power get cut to teach me a lesson about turning the lights off, no more ice cream” like....... what the fuck bruh

I could honestly go on and on about Lilly as the main antagonist but I still have everyone else to cover, so I want to cover Abel next.

Stinky man bad and that’s good

I think he’s another great character. The dude’s name is Abel and he smokes hand-rolled bible cigarettes. He survives losing an arm. He’s a fucking dumpster fire who spends most of his screen time getting the shit beat outta him. He’s a huge creep, and he looks like the kind of man who wouldn’t shower for a month but then drench himself in axe body spray as if that’s the same thing as bathing.

But he’s a damn good character. I love that AJ is scared of him, that Abel is what AJ has nightmares about. It fleshes out AJ’s character while also establishing that Abel is scary. We meet him and you watch him approach Clementine and you just know this dude is a creep, you know he’s hiding something beneath the false chill he seems to have, and you know he won’t hesitate to hurt Clementine or AJ over some food.

He also has no attachment to Clementine like Lilly does and he’s all “what the fuck is this??” when Lilly wastes time talking to her, trying to convince her to come peacefully. Abel is focused on the job and he’s got unfinished business with them if you pushed him out the window. Oh, speaking of which, the dude gets bit and survives because he either chopped off his own arm or he made it back in time for the raiders to do it... hate him all you want, but I’m impressed he survived. The dude’s like a cockroach- a scrawny, ugly little cockroach.

Also he has a magic shotgun that somehow misses Clementine but manages to hit AJ so that’s pretty cool.

And the fight with him at the end of ep2 is soooo good. He gets his shit rocked and it’s great! Then the shot of him realizing he’s fucked as the Ericson crew surround him is *chef kiss*

His interrogation scene in ep3 where he breaks down, begging to not become a walker is my favorite from him. Like Lilly, he’s a piece of shit, but he’s at the point where he knows he’s going to die and everything hits him all at once. He talks about how it wasn’t supposed to end up like this and things got out of hand. The dude is broken, he knows he’s lost and all he wants is to be put out of his misery so that he doesn’t turn.

He shows some humanity in the end and again, I know some of you don’t like it when antagonists do that, it’s so much easier when they’re one-dimensional and pure evil… but that humanity, that’s the beauty and horror of it! Abel’s an unredeemable piece of shit but he’s human and that’s scary.

Minerva is not only a victim of the delta but of “uwu-ification” and it upsets me because she’s a fascinating, tragic character but the Minnie crowd are more interested in sexualizing/romanticizing her because they think she’s hot

....is the title of this section too blunt? Meh, I don’t really care.

Look, If you like Minerva, great. So do I. Even if you like the uwu-ification of her but aren’t pushy or obnoxious about it, then fine. I’m not criticizing you, I’m criticizing the “Minnie crowd” who are usually found mostly on instagram, but also on reddit, sometimes they pop up on here, and there are a few on wattpad and AO3. Or in my inbox under anon... I’ve gotten my fair share of Minnie crowd anons that were rather unpleasant.

I wrote an entire post about her and why I keep cringing at the Minnie crowd who seem to either toss away her trauma [and let’s be real, her character as a whole] because they feel it gets in the way of their fanon or they romanticize it because heeeeyyyy wouldn’t it hot if she and Clementine fought and then made out? Wouldn’t it be hot if she tried to kill Clementine and Violet?? CJ, you just don’t get it! Man, it’s soooo hot that Minnie’s tortured and sad and fucked up and feral and traumatized, like she killed her twin sister, let’s give her a new girlfriend to fix her trauma or turn her into a caricature to add some questionable drama to violentine~

Hm? What’s that about “a chip on my shoulder?” His name is Tim and he hates this shit, too, what of it?

Listen, I will never not have a bone to pick with the uwu-ification of Minerva, okay? I fully admit it. I think it’s an insult to the well-written character we were given and it only happened because she didn’t meet the flowery expectations of thirsty fans.

It personally annoys me that over time fans stopped caring about Minerva as she’s portrayed in the game in favor of turning her into a caricature who’s main character traits are that she likes girls and she’s mean. She is an excellent, complex antagonist with one of the most memorable death scenes in all of TWDG. She’s a tragedy.

She’s an example of what the delta does to its recruits and.... I don’t understand how you can say you love her as a character when you erase everything about her except her sexuality just so that you can ship her with someone she canonically hates and attempts to murder more than once, or force her back together with Violet which Vi doesn’t deserve that, I’m sorry, but she doesn’t!

Actually it kinda reminds me of what some DA fans will do to Anders. Listen, I shamefully, bitterly admit to being a serial Anders romancer in DA2, okay? And uwu-ification happens to him and it makes my brain mad!

I know uwu-ification happens to most characters to some degree within fandoms and it’s usually fairly harmless. I’ve heard every counter-argument and excuse you could possibly throw at me to justify it with Minerva. And look, I’ve definitely taken part in uwu-ification of characters in the past and I’m not proud to admit that, I’m trying to be better at appreciating characters for what they are while not being overtaken by fanon, y’know? So I get it, but at the same time this is an exception where it makes me physically uncomfortable due to the attitude of the Minnie crowd and I hate it.

Minerva's a goddamn tragedy. She was traded away with her sister and the raiders broke her! They broke everything about her!

Y’all wanted her to do a 180 and turn on the delta for us and that was never going to happen! We knew that from the moment we finally met her! She’s too far gone, she’s only in two outta four episodes, there isn’t enough time to develop a redemption arc for her! She wasn’t ever going to have a change of heart! She’s not the Grinch, you can’t just say some pretty words and then her heart grows three sizes and suddenly a years worth of brainwashing and trauma are gone! She is a broken person now who would need years of professional therapy and god knows what else to recover! She considers the delta, the people who forced her to murder Sophie, her home now, her FAMILY! She is a tragedy we were never going to save!

She’s surrounded by a shit ton of walkers, shooting and chopping away as she watches the raiders, the people she now calls family, fall one by one. She’s yelling at the walkers to get away from them, she doesn’t give a single shit about the Ericson crew, she doesn’t even wonder where Tenn is.

Then a walker bites her and she keeps going! A fucking walker bites off part of her face! And she just fucking shoots it and touches the wound! This girl was so far gone from reality that she’s turning into the undead herself but instead of giving up, she wanders through the forest, singing Don’t Be Afraid, all because she wants to find Tenn so that she can murder him so they can be with their family again and y’all don’t care! Why don’t y’all care?? Erase it, none of that actually matters!!

She’s such a great, complex character but hardly anyone gives a shit about her unless it’s in the context of her sexuality. It is so goddamn frustrating that I know only one person willing to have a discussion with me about her actual character instead of just going “no, you’re wrong!” and then refusing to elaborate on why I’m apparently such a piece of shit for thinking clemerva is toxic.

I just- what else can I say that I haven’t already said? This playthrough made me appreciate her so much as a character and as a “final boss,” so to speak, and knowing in the end that she got what she wanted because I chose to trust AJ makes my skin crawl and I love it. What a good consequence to that choice, as tragic and unfair as it is, holy shit. I take back any shit I might’ve said about it being a shitty choice, I was wrong and dumb.

God, what a tragic antagonist, she’s so good and I wish she had more actual appreciation.

Dude, Marlon’s pretty great ngl

I have an entire character analysis I wrote for Marlon already, so I won’t spend too much time on him.

I believe Marlon holds up wonderfully as ep1′s secret antagonist. He’s a great character and the writers did a great job of establishing him as friendly but cautious when Clementine first meets him, then elaborates on how he handles his position as the group’s leader. He’s stressed, he’s holding a lot of guilt, fear, and shame for what happened to the twins, and now he’s brought two more mouths to feed into the group. We get an idea of his longtime friendship with Louis, how he butts heads with Aasim over the safe zone, and how he handles his frustration and anger… as in he usually doesn’t handle it well and opts for the “everything is fine” route when things are clearly not fine.

And I know I’ve said this a million times… but the final confrontation with him at the end of ep1 is perfect. The rain, the thunder and lightning, the confusion, everyone rushing outside to find AJ pointing a gun at Marlon who is covered in Brody’s blood, so many emotions and accusations being thrown around, god it’s so good.

Though there is one thing that has changed for me after doing the replay after all this time: I’m glad Marlon died in ep1.

I know that sounds terrible coming from someone who used to always go off about, “Man, Marlon should’ve been determinant! AU where AJ shoots him non-fatally and he survives the season! He gets kicked out of the school and picked up by the raiders and has a redemption arc!”

Not so much now. I think Marlon’s role as it is in ep1 is perfect. The only things I would change would be a bit more information on his friendship with Louis and the other characters commenting their feelings about his leadership. But other than that? They nailed it.

This season didn’t need a Marlon redemption arc. Sure, it would’ve been nice, and I would’ve liked more Marlon just for Ray Chase’s performance alone. However, this season isn’t equipped for something like that which would need time and great care to do well. Three episodes wouldn’t be enough, and it wouldn’t be important enough for the overall plot that it’s entirely possible it would’ve ruined an already great character, or taken away from the other great elements of the story and its characters.

Just like Minerva, Marlon was never going to get redeemed. He wasn’t built for that.

His death is great, though. He, Brody, and Minerva have the best executed deaths this season for sure. It’s built up well considering it’s the confrontation in the rain that ends with a confession, only for AJ to shoot him in the back of the head and kickstart a huge conflict within the story.

Marlon’s a great character, he serves his purpose well and once again, I found myself truly appreciating him for what he is rather than being butthurt that he didn’t get a redemption arc that wouldn’t’ve worked anyway.

James is so damn interesting, where is his spin off story? Oh wait, Skybound nO, IGNORE THAT-

Dude, I fucking love James.

This guy is fascinating as hell and if I had any faith in Skybound producing good content related to TWDG, I would ask for a spinoff story about James.... but they made the Clementine comic instead and so I’m politely asking them to keep their stinky, greasy fingers off of him instead.

God, where do I even begin with James? How about the fact that this dude is an ex-whisperer who wanders around wearing walker skin so he can blend in with herds? He keeps a barn full of walkers as a means of “protecting” them from harm? because he’s so alone with his own thoughts and memories of who he used to be that it warped his perception of the walkers? to where he now views them as “something in between” and he believes being a walker sounds peaceful? and when you consider that walkers don’t think, they don’t remember, they just wander and eat and exist? that’s something that would sound appealing to someone so lonely and full of shame?

Like… James is so sad. I feel bad for him. Even if I don’t agree with this idea that walkers have something human in them, more so because I hope they don’t, I still respect his wishes to not kill the walkers when he asks. I’m willing to listen to him explain how he thinks, and I try to respond as politely as I can while also keeping my Clementine’s attitude in mind.

And he’s STILL sad in the end no matter what his fate ends up being. Either he’s stabbed in the back by Lilly and left to become a walker, or he witnesses a child kill Lilly and it breaks a piece inside of him where he loses it and tries to separate AJ and Clementine.

Which can I just say that while I understand not liking James because he’s a hypocrite if he makes it to the cave scene, I can’t agree that it’s poor writing.

Yes, you’re right, James IS a hypocrite and that’s the point!

It makes sense with his character! He’s pulling the “I will make peace with violence” card and it’s irrational, it’s bullshit. It’s a huge breaking point for him. This whole time he’s been on about wanting peace, that walkers are something in between and that’s why he protects them, why he feels conflicted about giving his aid to Clementine to save her friends. It’s like he’s so worried and afraid that he’s going to revert back to who he was, or that others are going to become like he was that he’s overcompensating. It’s bad enough that it blinds him to the danger Lilly still possesses even if she’s down with a gun pointed at her. It’s as AJ says, James didn’t see what she did, he has little context for who she is, and he’s more concerned that AJ is the one with the gun. Though, I would argue that he’d still try to stop you if it was Clementine holding the gun, but either way.

In the end, he’s either killed as your friend, or you’re forced to confront him as a friend turned antagonist and try to convince him that his argument isn’t as cut and clear as he wants it to be.

I find him compelling and I love what they were able to do with him in such a short amount of time.

Also, in my playthrough, I spared Lilly so James died and came back as a walker and I can’t look at him like that without remembering the nightmare that was half the fandom talking about how hot walker James is and how they’d let him eat them........ that happened and I wish I could pretend it didn’t hhnnngggg-

Rosie is best girl

Telltale giving us an animal companion and NOT killing her off for dramatic effect? Nawwww but it worked soooo well in MCSM with Rueben!

Oh wait, no it didn’t, Rueben’s death was hilariously bad. Whoops.

I want to kick off getting into the Ericson crew by informing everyone that Rosie is best girl and I am forever thankful she survived to the end of the season. I love that they brought back Clementine’s trauma with dogs from S2 and allowed her to warm up to Rosie at her own pace.

I like to think of Rosie as an apology to us from Telltale for what they did with Sam in S2... y’know, forcing us to deal with a smaller Clementine getting attacked by a dog and forcing her to either kill him or leave him to suffer.

Instead of that, we have Rosie who mostly chills out around Ericson, fights off walkers, bites the shit outta Abel, and goes on a fishing trip with AJ at the end.

What else can I say? She’s a lovely addition, thank you.

Omar exists

Omar is a character who exists in TFS and really, that’s about it.

I mean, sure, he’s the group cook and he gets shot and kidnapped, and he survives to the end, which good for him.

Yeeeeeeah so I don’t feel strongly about Omar one way or the other. The most entertaining thing about him is knowing his history as The Chef God Omar and how Telltale got in on the joke by actually thanking Omar in the credits alongside Clementine’s eyebrows. That’s a lot of fun.

I do have my own backstory for him that I wrote forever ago but just Omar in-game? Meh. He’s there. He does some stuff. He survives. That’s about it.

Unfortunately Willy is a character I don’t feel that strongly about

I feel bad for not liking Willy as much as I used to while doing this replay. Really, he only becomes interesting in ep3 when we get development with him coming to terms with Mitch’s death.

I don’t have any real complaints about Willy, other than maybe the chronic masturbation joke which was pretty cringe. Though the game still got a chuckle outta me for Clementine pointing at Louis like “Don’t you dare” when AJ asks what that is, only for Tenn to lean over and tell him anyway.

I like how Willy’s reaction to Mitch’s death was handled even if their relationship was severely underdeveloped. They’re both side characters so I give it a small pass, especially with showing Willy mourn and lash out at Tenn. I do appreciate how Willy came to the conclusion that it wasn’t Tenn’s fault and that he shouldn’t have shoved Tenn down, and he knows he should apologize. It’s good to see younger characters admit when they’re wrong, be sincere in their apologies and move forward in a better way. I also like that he takes over as the Ericson crew’s bomb maker, following Mitch’s notes and doing research in books, all that.

Y’know, I would split the Ericson crew into two categories, with the first being the more fleshed out, essential characters who fill an important role, such as Louis and Violet. You can’t remove one of them without removing a huge part of the story.

The second is the category Willy falls into, which is characters who are given a bare minimum of development but don’t carry as much significance, they’re there to fill a seat at the table during the happy ending. If you wanted to, you could switch characters around, or remove them, and not much would change about the plot. Willy could’ve died and Mitch lived, and things would’ve played out the same just with Mitch mourning Willy’s death then making a bomb to blow up the boat.

Willy’s fine, he’s likable enough. That’s all I got.

Mitch is.....not great uh oh what the fuck

.........................no seriously what the fuck?

Yeah, so Mitch isn’t a great character, and as I type that I can feel myself taking a sledgehammer to a huge chunk of the foundation holding this blog up.

Aside from Louis and Clementine, y’know who was a big player in my blog content? Mitch!

Y’know what other ship along side clouis had a big impact on my blog? Jamitch!

Now I’m sitting here with a lot of questions.

He’s not a bad character, that’s not what I mean when I say he’s not great. No, he’s a fine character who fulfils his role in the game. He can be a dick, he’s the one who calls the vote to get Clementine and AJ kicked out, but he can also be quite funny at times. There is a moment of softness with him that you only get when you choose to burn Ms. Martin. It’s interesting that he knows how to make bombs... but then he dies so that we can have a kill count and it’s like.... huh. I remember being a lot more pissed about that.

His death is still dumb, don’t get me wrong. Running at Lilly like that was a stupid thing to do and it lead to a gruesome, painful death for him.

But someone had to die and Omar wouldn’t’ve impacted anyone soooo.... Mitch got some development so that we’d feel bad seeing him get killed, a true The Walking Dead death.

One thing that’s apparent to me now that I’m revisiting this after so long is how bloated my head was with canon, fanon, headcanon, “I don’t like this so it’s bad and it should’ve been this instead,” fixating on things outside of the game rather than it in, building off of each other and creating au’s....

It’s me taking off those rose tinted glasses to look at a game with characters I adore and knowing I only thought some of them were so great was because I projected my ideal version onto them. I have fics written about Mitch that explore his character because I liked him, he died, and I was like, “I don’t like that, I can fix it, I can fix everything I don’t like and then it will be better,” so I did.

But now I look at Mitch and he’s in the same category as Willy, but he’s also just another tally on the death quota. He’s not a favorite anymore and that’s kind of a bitter thing for me to swallow.

I will say, I’m still curious about the idea of jamitch as far as “what would these characters say to each other if they met?” but would I say it’s a big ship for me now...? Not really, and not just because they’re two characters who never canonically meet or because I no longer think them meeting would be interesting.... it’s just, I’m no longer attached to Mitch so any ships with him hold little appeal to me. It’s actually bizarre to go back and read my jamitch stuff because it doesn’t even feel like it came from me. I don’t think I ship it anymore.

Oh look, my foundation is crumbling, aaaaaaaahh-!

I like Mitch, he’s a jackass, he didn’t deserve to die, but he’s definitely not a favorite anymore and it gives me a lot of mixed feelings that I don’t quite know where to put yet.

Brody is… okay

So… it’s probably not a great sign when my favorite Brody scene is when she turns into a walker and hunts Clementine in the basement, huh?

Here’s the problem with Brody… you only get more character development with her if you go fishing in ep1, which I never do. Because of this, my interactions of her consist of her introducing herself, then the next day she panics and calls me stupid for pushing Abel out the window… then she tells me the truth about the twins and Marlon kills her…. So I can’t say I’m invested in her character until we get down in the basement, and by then it’s too late. She’s another character who exists in this story to give crucial information before dying.

But damn, fighting off walker Brody is one of the best parts of the game. The atmosphere, the guttural groaning, the thunder, moving through the dark with only a flashlight as a defense, wonderfully executed scene.

Other than that, though… I can’t say she really compelled me. I even watched Violet’s full romance on youtube for her section, and it obviously included everything for when you go fishing and yeah, Brody’s nice and she does have a great purpose in the episode. You get a sense of loneliness from her but this scene isn’t really about her… well, it is but the main focus is on Violet and us interacting with her to help repair the relationship with Brody more so than the scene being about Brody herself.

And yes, her being the only other person to know about the twins and keeping the secret with Marlon is interesting. You can tell she’s reaching a boiling point that Marlon’s trying to keep a lid over but the steam's rising, water’s boiling over, and Brody confesses everything to Clementine… then Marlon kills her and tries to pin it on Clementine.

I do think there’s a discussion to be had about why Brody didn’t come clean before and what that says about her character. I just wish the game wanted to have that discussion a little more before she died.

She completely points the finger at Marlon whereas he claims they’re in everything together. So, is Marlon lying or is Brody unwilling to accept she’s just as responsible for not stepping in or coming clean earlier? Did Brody keep everything a secret because she was scared of Marlon or was it to save her own ass? Perhaps some of both? I dunno, and I’ll never know because she died.

Oh, also... this is probably the point where I should mention my history as a briolet shipper.

I don’t think it’s a good ship anymore.

You can’t hear it, but I’m laughing... I’m laughing because aside from clouis, all of my other ships are just crumbling and I can’t save them.

Looking back I’m pretty sure I only shipped it because I felt pressure to give Violet a girlfriend after all the shit people gave me. Sure, I genuinely liked it at the time but let’s be real, it’s another case of slapping two pretty girls together and saying, “look, girlfriends” because we’re dumb and easy and like to pretend as if that’s enough... which I don’t believe it is. I hate when people do that and here I am... just slap a walker mask on my head and call me James because whoops, I did the thing I hate! I am shame! I’m trying not to do that anymore!

But yeah, Brody’s fine, she served the story fine, and her walker scene is bitchin’.

TWDG where everything is the same but Aasim wears a shirt that says “wasted potential”

I’m actually kinda mad about Aasim.

No, really, I’m mad. I still look at this dude in ep1 and say, “wow they really set you up as important and then did nothing with you, huh?”

Because yeah, why have a character who pointedly challenges Marlon, who you can choose to spend time with, who stood in between extremes when it came to the vote, why set up an interesting character with pay off when you can just NOT do that?

Why pay off his conflict with Marlon by having him act as leader, effectively leaving both Louis and Violet out of the leadership position to bring in more balance? I’m sorry, I know the Violet crowd hates me for saying Aasim should’ve been leader instead of her but I truly believe he was the better option.

I don’t like the direction of putting her in a leadership position because I believe that should’ve gone to a neutral party between her and Louis..... y’know, Aasim. I understand a lot of people look at that as part of Violet’s arc of a not liking people to suddenly being in charge of a group, and fair enough, it should make sense but I look at the way she's written and I can’t help but think she’s not a good leader, I’m sorry.

She doesn’t have the skillset and she doesn’t gain the skillset over time. Yelling and belittling people, not trying to level with them or see things through their eyes, not taking the entire group into consideration when having Tenn bring Clementine and AJ to the funeral, it’s not good and it unbalances things.

Aside from Clementine, no one wants to talk to her when there’s an issue. It’s actually one of the funniest moments in ep2 when Aasim and Willy are arguing, Violet yells at them “guys, what the fuck!?” and instead of telling her the problem, they immediately turn to fucking Louis who is just standing there like “I don’t... you don’t have to scream at each other? stop looking at me, I’m not in charge??” They should feel comfortable talking to their leader but they don’t and that’s a problem! And it doesn’t even get better in ep3 because Clementine pretty much takes charge from that point no matter what! So?? What are we doin’ here??

“Oh but Aasim would be a bad leader because he got mad at Willy! He doesn’t have the skillset!”

Character assassination might be too big of a term for this case... but I’d call this character abandonment, as in they set Aasim up for this position and then didn’t follow through with it so he’s left behind in a puddle of mud to sink slowly.

In ep1, Aasim does show some leadership qualities in the way he puts the group first and develops back up plans. He challenges Marlon about the safe zone, he’s not unkind to anyone other than Louis, but you get the sense that that’s just their dynamic and it’s nothing malicious. Aasim’s responsible and he clearly cares about the group’s future. The dude keeps a journal to document everything so that they don’t repeat their mistakes.

When it comes to Clementine and AJ, he isn’t blinded by his feelings of either “AJ murdered Marlon! He’s dangerous!” or “Marlon sucked anyway, it’s fine, I want them to stay.”

He votes for them to stay because he knows Clementine and AJ are capable survivors and them staying increases their odds of surviving what’s to come, but he doesn’t just brush what happened under the rug or pretend it’s all fine and dandy.

Don’t you dare tell me no one else stepped up when you made it clear Aasim was willing to stand up in ep1. His character made the most sense! Plus, he always ends up getting taken away by the raiders. If he were the leader, then that’s another blow to the Ericson crew- they’re without a leader once again, and now it’s Clementine’s turn to step up.

But noooooo, instead we get “Oh uh.... I guess he has a crush on Ruby now... and he’s mean to Willy.... that’s about it. Oh and there he goes, getting kidnapped byeeee Aasiiiiiim~”

Nonsense, I say!

I like Aasim, he had a great start and no pay off. He and Brody were characters partnered up with Louis and Violet, suggesting they’re both important. Brody’s character had a pay off, and Aasim’s didn’t.... unless you count him getting together with Ruby as pay off but rusim is a bland ship.

Yeah, I said it, rusim has very little going for it and I don’t know why any of us shipped it. I mean, they don’t talk to each other. We never get an actual conversation between them. They don’t flirt. They don’t have chemistry. He gets dared to give her a kiss and she punches him. She never shows any affection toward him and his affection toward her comes outta no where because they didn’t know what else to do with him and I think that’s a waste!

The writers just pointed at them and said, “they’re holding hands,” and the fandom went “ohmuhgawd they’re holding hands!” because we’re easy and dumb and predictable!

They could’ve had chemistry if the game didn’t wait until the last five minutes to show them holding hands and feeding each other. Sure, it’s cute that they hold hands [though the feeding each other thing is weird] but any npcs could hold hands? Ruby could’ve held hands with Omar and I still would’ve gone “oh that’s cute.”

Hell, now that I say that, Ruby and Omar getting together would’ve at least been funny after they set up Aasim liking her.... well, okay not funny for Aasim, but I would’ve laughed and I’m more important, buddy.

Aasim is yet another case of this season almost having it but falling short. Should’ve had him replace Marlon, both Louis and Violet would’ve benefited from it.

Ruby is great, I reeeeeeally like Ruby

I’ve always liked Ruby but I feel like this time around I truly appreciated her.

She’s a character who teeters between the two categories I’ve talked about. She’s one of the more fleshed out characters in the Ericson crew, but she’s not quite on the same level as Louis and Violet, y’know? We see her consistently throughout the season, we learn more about her each episode, and she lives to the end to fill a seat at the table… where she spoon feeds Aasim and I quietly judge them for it.

Ruby has one of the best introductions, too. She literally stomps up to us like, “‘Bout time you woke up! yer little boy bit me! >:[ shoulda took a boot to his head!” and then she stomps away! It’s so good! Plus, AJ’s apology scene with her is sweet.

Ruby’s a charming character with a lot going for her. She’s established as the groups nurse, she learned to patch people up from Ms. Martin and that scene where the two are “reunited” in the greenhouse is heartbreaking. Ruby was a little girl with anger issues and you feel her grief when she looks at Ms. Martin’s decayed and overgrown corpse and says, “I just wish I could make her look like she did.”

It’s a great character moment to show us how deeply Ruby feels things, y’know? She doesn’t try to hide her feelings, she wears her heart on her sleeve and there’s no shame in that.

She throws a party [”hootenanny”] in ep3 when we’re at our lowest point. She wants everyone together the night before a dangerous rescue mission so no one has to be alone and scared. Hell, she even tries setting up some games so they can laugh and forget reality for a little bit... only for it to bite her in the butt when she brings out the student records and the reality of how many students have died since the start sinks in, then Louis/Violet share their backstories and Ruby is just like “....I guess I’m not a game person, I’m sorry” like she’s so damn sweet, I can’t.

I loved having Ruby around, what a great character.

Weirdly, I don’t have that much to say about Tenn but I feel like I should since he’s one of the more important characters in TFS

I think Tenn’s a sweet kid albeit naïve and somewhat of a screw up, but I don’t think those flaws are “bad,” y’know?

Lots of people put Tenn in the same category as Ben, Nick, Sarah, and Gabe and act like the flaws these characters carry are poorly written or straight up bad just because they don’t like that character.

The character gets in the way and messes things up for the group, therefore they’re a bad character, all that. I disagree with that logic. A character can be a well-written screw up. I believe Tenn is the more well-written “screw up” of the bunch since he has a lot more time devoted to him and you never get the sense that the writers dislike him and just want to kill him off quickly.

His potential death was well-thought out and makes sense for his character- Minerva’s beckoning him to come to her so they can “go to the place where everyone gets to be a person again,” like he knows she wants to kill him and he hesitates before AJ tackles him to the ground. He refuses to cross the bridge because goes back for Minerva and fights against Louis or Violet.

And yeah, people still give him shit because it’s easy to look at this and call him stupid rather than looking at the inner turmoil he’s going through in that moment. He’s witnessing his sister- who he thought was dead- being eaten alive by walkers and he wants to save her even if she’s unsavable at that point. There is no logical thought, he’s not listening to Louis or Violet, Tenn has tunnel vision where his sister is at the end... but so is death and we don’t know if Tenn’s actually aware of that or not.

Everything happens so fast, and a quick decision from AJ seals Tenn’s fate, as well as the fate of Louis/Violet. Someone has to die on the bridge, otherwise you’re going to lose both of them and it’s not fair, it’s bullshit... and it’s great as far as a scene and consequences of your choices go.

For me, Tenn always dies on the bridge. Not only because I’m a selfish hoe who refuses to let Louis die, though I will admit that’s a pretty big part of it... but for me, it makes more sense for Tenn to die on the bridge rather than Louis or Violet. I hate giving Minerva what she wants, but my Clementine would trust AJ and that’s what leads to that decision... and it’s brutal.

Tenn left a big impact on AJ, he was his first real friend and believe me, I see the appeal of the ending where Tenn survives at the cost of Louis or Violet’s life even if it’s not for me.

Tenn’s idea that one day the walkers will be gone is a fun one, if not bittersweet. Sweet because it’s refreshing to meet a character who has an idealistic hope for the future, but bitter because that future may never happen, and if it does, it won’t be anytime soon.

He’s a neat character to have thrown into the cast, as well as a tragic addition to the kill count.

Violet and I have a long history together

Ruh roh, Shaggy, we’ve reached Violet’s section. I’m sure some of you scrolled right over everything else to get here and since you’re in such a hurry, allow me to not waste your time:

In my opinion, Violet’s okay. For me, she’s at her best in ep1, but after that she loses me. I can’t even say I like her anymore because her character falls flat, especially in Louis’ route. But her route doesn’t hold up any better. I can’t help but compare her romance with other wlw romances in games I’ve played and they beat her out by an alarming amount... well, with the exception of Chloe and Rachel from LiS. Those two are some of the shittiest love interests I’ve ever come across and Violet is leaps better than them. So... a point to her, I guess.

I don’t see the appeal of her as a love interest and it never feels like her scenes are hers. They feel more like things the writers jotted down and said, “hey that’s cute” but they don’t tie into her character well and I think that’s a waste. In fact, give Violet a “wasted potential” t-shirt, too, she and Aasim can be twins.

There it is, take it and run. For the rest of you, allow me to go more into detail.

And just as a note: when I refer to the “Violet crowd,” I’m not talking about ALL Violet fans. Like with the Minnie crowd, I’m talking about certain fans that irritate me. They’re the ones with an agenda to convince people Violet’s the only valid character/love interest/route in TFS while ignoring or romanticizing her flaws/mistakes in an unhealthy way but try to convince you they’re ideal. They’re incredibly hostile to everyone who disagrees with them. They’re the ones who have blown up my inbox for years.

Violet and I have a long history together that goes- “Oh yeah, I love Violet, I just prefer to romance Louis!” to “I like Violet, she’s a good character but she has a lot of flaws, I wish I liked her romance as much as you guys do but I get it,” to “yeah, she’s fine, I like her...” to now where I’m like, “......yeah she’s not great, I don’t really like her.”

I’m aware that my dislike of her has a lot more to do with the Violet crowd than Violet herself. Y’know, all the anons calling me names and telling me to delete my blog, the one time my discord server was spied on, and vague posts that would cause people to send me like “hey, I think this is about you :/” asks because of who it was and how the timing added up too well. Of course I’m going to associate Violet with that shit and that’s going to affect my overall opinion of her.

I tried, okay? It’s not like I looked at the surface, decided I didn’t like her, and then actively chose to be an ass. I genuinely tried to see her the way Violet fans do but I believe this is just a matter of liking different things, y’know?

It’s been a year, I went into this replay wanting to like Violet so much. I wanted to write this post like, “I finally get it, y’all! I love Violet and I love violentine! Hooray!” and then there would be peace, we’d all hold hands and sing together until dawn! ...but no, that didn’t happen, I’m sorry.

I’ve been away from the shitty side of the Violet crowd, I don’t have pressure on me to be overly nice just to keep the peace in a thriving fandom or fear that my followers are gonna be upset that my opinions have changed or the worry that I’m gonna get Violet anons yelling at me to just admit I hate her and fuck off as if it’s important to them that I say it.

Which now that I think about it, y’all really did the self-fulfilling prophecy thing, didn’t you? Thanks for that, here’s a gold star for your effort⭐I’m sure it was worth it.

And y’know, it doesn’t make any goddamn sense. In theory, I SHOULD like Violet. I should be more into her romance route but I don’t feel the chemistry and Violet’s character is another case of this game almost having it but not quite.

And in the name of being fair, I even rewatched her full romance with Clementine on youtube [sorry, I didn’t want to sit down and do another 10 hour playthrough okay I had no time] because in Louis’ route I’m obviously not going to spend as much time with her. You miss a lot of information which results in her character feeling unfinished.

But before I talk about her romance route, let’s talk a little about Violet’s cell scene in Louis’ route since my opinion has shifted on that: I don’t hate it for what it is because it does it’s job.

Violet loathes you after you let her get taken. She hates and blames you for everything, then she attacks you so that you don’t fuck up again. Because her trust in you is completely broken, the consequence is she stays on the boat with Minerva only to be blinded in the explosion after Minerva ditches her. Her end card even straight up tells you she hates you.

No, I still don’t believe she was brainwashed/tortured on the boat, I still think certain devs are full of it for that. If you wanna interpret the scene that way then you’re welcome to, just don’t get pissy when I don’t.

I feel like I shouldn’t need anyone who worked on TFS to tell me crucial information outside of the game rather than showing it in game. There are signs of manipulation from Minerva, and Violet’s clearly pissed off and in a vulnerable state after being captured. She’s been told that if anyone steps outta line, they’ll kill someone she cares about, so she complies. She’s bitter, she’s hurting, she feels hopeless and betrayed and Clementine is there to take the brunt of those feelings.

If the intention of this scene was to show us she was brainwashed and tortured just as bad as Louis [because remember, the Violet crowd will insist this is the only valid interpretation] then why didn’t it?

Why is she behaving like she’s just pissed off? Why aren’t Aasim and Omar as scared as they are when Louis’ gets his tongue cut out? Why doesn’t her end card say she was traumatized after her time with the raiders like Louis’ end card? Why does her end card say she despises Clementine? Why are you allowed to tell her off when you’re not allowed to tell Louis off in his cell scene? If Violet isn’t just mad then why isn’t that reflected in how Clementine treats her versus how she treats Louis in his scene? Why did you also need to blind her in ep4 if her torture was just as bad if not worse than Louis losing his tongue? Doesn’t trauma dumping onto Violet throw off the balance of things? Why aren’t you making it clear what happened like you did with Louis?

You didn’t need to clear up what happened to Louis outside of the game so why do you have to do it for Violet?

Oh wait, you did make it clear- she pissed at you, no longer trusts you, and she stays on the boat as a result of that.

The end consequence of not saving Louis is he loses his tongue, and not saving Violet results in her being blinded. Violet’s consequence just happens to come later, and because of that fans got pissed that Louis was maimed but Violet was “fine.” And instead of just saying, “There’s one episode left, wait and see,” certain developers got defensive and tried to appease players.

If you look at the scene the way it was written, it’s good. If you look at it the way certain developers told you to, it’s poorly done. And you can argue with me all you want, this is one of those things that you’re never going to change my mind about. We can agree to disagree.

Moving away from that, let’s talk about her romance route.

I give credit to Violet in ep1. I genuinely like her. It does a great job of establishing her character and hinting that she’s a potential love interest.

I still stand by Violet being full of shit that she didn’t know Clementine and AJ were staying in the twins room and used Sophie’s pencil box as an excuse to check on them after things ended awkwardly in the card game. I like that, it shows that she’s not really opposed to us being there even if having someone in the twins’ old room brings back painful memories.

You can tell she hasn’t had anyone else to really talk to since the twins died as she ends up saying a lot more than you’d expect. This is a rare moment where I do feel some chemistry between her and Clementine as they’re sitting on the beds facing each other, especially when you have Clementine admit that she’s not great with first impressions or people in general, too.

I’ll even give Violet a pass for being a jerk to Brody. Yeah, it’s poor behavior. It makes things awkward when Brody is just trying to be friendly with Clementine only to have Violet throw in an unnecessary, sarcastic quip, but it’s the first episode. It’s good to establish flaws so we get to see growth. You understand why there’s tension, and Violet making things weird fits in with her whole “I’m not exactly a people person” thing.

Oh, and when you appeal to her against Marlon, he tries to manipulate her with his bullshit, “they were my friends, too!” and while I heavily disagree with bringing a weapon into the mess as that just escalates things, it makes sense with her character and acts as juxtaposition with Louis deescalating things by stepping forward without a weapon.

So yeah, I actually really like ep1 Violet.... but then the rest of the season happens.

First of all, I love Minerva as a character but god does she hold Violet back. It’s always one step forward, two steps back with Violet and her deal with Minerva. The mentions of her ep1 were fine, but then it just makes me roll my eyes when I realize what they’re doing here.

And to be fair, I think I’m just sick of the whole “queer girl love interest has an ex-girlfriend who causes trouble and gets in between the couple we’re supposed to root for” plot point in games and books that when I see it, I make a disgusted noise so strong that even Cassandra Pentaghast herself would be impressed.

My grievances about that aside, I don’t care much for the star gazing. As a concept, it’s sweet but it never feels like Violet’s scene. I get that the bell tower represents the isolation Violet has from the rest of the group, and we’re supposed to feel special that she’d bring us there... but the mini-game fucks with the pacing and the scene feels disconnected from Violet. Hard to explain, but lemme try.

I made this post about how I think Violet should’ve been into basketball and how a better alternative to the bell tower scene would be her and Clementine shooting hoops together, how an activity Violet’s interested in [and I mean genuinely interested in, she doesn’t actually know anything about stars despite what the Violet crowd claims and that’s why they make up their own constellations] would’ve benefitted her. The writers never seem interested in telling you anything Violet likes, it’s always things she doesn’t like or the things she sad about so it’s hard to get to know her.

That’s the problem, I think. I feel like I never got to actually know Violet as a person during her romance and that’s a problem. I know her backstory, I know she’s conflicted about Minerva, that she’s not a people person, I know she cares about Clementine... but what does Violet like? And I swear on Andraste’s flaming knickers, if you say “chicken nuggies lmao” I’m gonna be very disappointed in you-

Ahem, I mean, what does Violet want? What aspirations does Violet have for the future? What did she want prior to the apocalypse? Why doesn’t she have anything to call her own the same way Louis has music?

It’s like they focused too much on her deal with Minerva that they forgot to make her more than just a romance... if that makes sense? She doesn’t hold up on her own and I believe that’s a waste. Louis stands on his own as an interesting character outside of Clementine and Violet should as well.

The walk back to Ericson starts strong with her admitting she was stupid about Minerva and how she tried not to care about Clementine. That felt like a good character moment... but her wanting to rename the school is meh.

Again y’all, this close to an overall great scene but then it nose dives. She says Ericson never felt like home, she couldn’t picture it as a home, because of the name and then just decides they should rename it and it’s lame. I’m sorry, it’s LAME! Hate to break it to you, Vi, but the name isn’t the problem. You didn’t want to leave because of the name, you don’t want to stay because of a new name.

I like her freak out on AJ after he shoots Tenn, because yeah Violet it turns out excusing murder baby’s actions isn’t so easy when he kills someone you actually care about huh? But, her final talk with AJ at the end isn’t as impactful as it could’ve been, especially when compared to Louis’.

Speaking of which, love that double standard of “Louis is a shitbird for being mad at AJ for killing Marlon and taking two weeks to apologize, he put them in danger, Clementine would never date him!” and “oh my god let Violet be mad at AJ! He killed Tenn and she’s really sad about it okay! She doesn’t have to forgive him after only a few weeks, stop invalidating her feelings, THIS is how Louis should’ve handled things!” yeah because they’re the exact same character in the same exact situation therefore they should react and handle things the exact same, mmhmmm, you’re not full of shit or anything, go off.

Huh? Wha- yes, I know Tim’s on my shoulder and he thinks it’s dumb too, hush-

Violet’s fine, she just isn’t for me and I don’t think that’s ever going to change no matter how much time passes. I wish I liked her more.

Louis is the best non-playable character TWDG has given us, it actually makes me emotional

Look, this post is long. I still have Clementine and AJ to cover and a final thoughts section to write and I don’t have time to give you the in-depth analysis of Louis that you deserve, but I can give you a more tame version while linking some to other posts I have.

Here’s a post diving into his actions in ep2 and why everyone hating him for voting Clementine out is really dumb, and a post ranting about how heartbroken he would be if the Clem comic were actually canon, and this T5F I did of my top 5 favorite Louis moments, and honestly just scroll through the Louis tag on my blog, there is so much that I can’t link without bloating up this entire post. I just... I don’t have time to give you everything and I don’t want to be more repetitive than I already am.

Louis is my favorite character in TWDG across all games. I fucking love him. I was reeeeally worried that I would replay TFS and not be as invested in his character or route but oh my god, his story holds up so fucking good. I’m struggling to put it into words. Even today, Louis remains one of my favorite characters across all the games I’ve played and his romance with Clementine? I die, don’t bother burying me, just toss me into the ocean to be fish food, I cannot handle it-

If I were to make a tier list of all of my favorite male romances from games that I’ve played, he would still be in S-tier with my other absolute favorite male romance, Alistair from DAO. And given that I haven’t been around for about a year, this is a TWDG blog, and I haven’t been comfortable enough to begin gushing on my dragon age blog yet, you don’t know- you don’t have ANY idea how strongly I feel about Alistair fuckin’ Theirin, okay? You have no idea, and if I told you, you’d think I were a crazy person! Which fair enough, I may be BUT that’s not what we’re here to discuss! My point is, my S-tier has two slots and in those slots are Alistair and Louis, THAT is how well Louis holds up.

Louis’ back must ache after carrying this season because without him, TFS would’ve been significantly worse... okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. In reality, Clementine and AJ’s backs must also hurt because the three of them carried this season.

I’m excited, can you tell I’m getting excited? I fucking adore Louis.

I just- where do I even- I want to talk about everything but I can’t. From his introduction to his backstory to his romance route, I have few complaints. As a character he grows so much in a way that feels like natural progression and not once does anyone have to actually say, “Wow Louis has changed so much” because no one has to, we actually get to experience it.

Louis starts off as fun but unreliable, he doesn’t take most survival tactics seriously which annoys characters like Marlon and Aasim, he values living among surviving and knows that any day could be their last so might as well make the most of it, even if that causes him to neglect chores and responsibilities. He’d rather keep his head down and not deal with conflict, he places all of his trust in Marlon, doesn’t ever question his leadership, and let’s face it, he’s a little dramatic.

But god, he breathes so much personality in every scene he’s in. Even if he’s just somewhere in the background, you feel it. He’s a kind person who doesn’t want to fight. Disagreements, sure, he’ll have those with Aasim or Clementine, but he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He doesn’t want the life they’re surviving for to be wasted away and sees the value in enjoying it. He plays piano and music is so heavily weaved into his character and I love what that brings to his backstory and the romance scene in ep2.

Everyone gives him shit and he just takes it, y’know? This dude has self-esteem issues and that is one of the beautiful things about his character, he grows into someone you can depend on, someone who will step forward for what’s right, risk his life to save another. He begins to see the value in his abilities and it’s an uphill struggle for him.

Louis, one of the kindest people at Ericson, was sent to that school in the first place because he caused the divorce of his parents over music lessons. He was a spoiled rich kid who didn’t get what he wanted, he didn’t want to hear what his father had to say, and he was vindictive. He calls himself that, he calls himself a “vindictive fuckhead” with so much bitterness, so much disgust with himself.

For a YEAR, this little shit used his father’s wealth to make it look like he was having an affair and made sure his mom saw everything. Then when they had a big fight, he played right into it. When the divorce was final, he fucking told them everything! That’s awful! Holy shit!

And so they dropped him off at this school and that was that.

If you stay silent after he finishes the story, he even says he doesn’t know the person he’s talking about, it’s like all they have in common are the same name. He has so much shame welled up inside him for who he was and knowing that he’ll never see his parents again, never get to tell them he’s sorry. It’s so well-executed.

Shocking, too. No one could’ve predicted that would be his backstory based on what we knew of him. Hell, most assumed he came from an unkind family and that’s where his self-esteem issues came from but nope! The opposite, actually! Wealthy family, loving parents, and Louis was a brat.

I love it so much, and to get it after the build up of getting to know him for three episodes just.... to quote myself on one of my previous posts: “He finally puts it all out there and now Clementine knows what kind of person he was before he arrived at the school, what he was capable of before she met him. That wall [between them] is gone.... Louis knows first hand what can happen when feelings go unchecked, when resentment is held onto, when you don’t apologize or try to repair mendable relationships, when you’re vindictive and bitter and take it out on others. He’s been there and now he’s here, and he holds a lot of that with him. You can see he does in the way he talks about himself and struggles with confidence in his abilities.”

and then he plays Don’t Be Afraid afterward, it’s beautiful, it makes me emotional seeing how glossy his eyes are and the way he looks up as to not cry, I can’t-

Another scene that I can’t get enough of is when you appeal to him in ep1 and he stands between Clementine and Marlon, hands up, and tries to talk Marlon down... even after a year, I STILL got chills. Appealing to Louis for help is so beautiful, it’s a beautiful scene of conflict. Louis knowing what the right thing to do is vs his loyalty/fear of Marlon, the way he looks at Clementine vs how he looks at Marlon, the moment where you’re holding your breath because it seems like he isn’t going to help you only for him to slid into frame to shield Clementine. Marlon realizing Louis chose Clementine over him, that the one person he thought he had control over has turned on him and with Louis, everyone else does the right thing and steps forward.

And of course, “Your relationship with Louis has changed.” I CAN’T

Okay, another thing I adore is how much emotional depth Louis has. He can be incredibly funny, and he definitely plays into the persona a lot in ep1. Actually, one of my favorite things about both Louis and Violet are how their personalities subvert how open you’d assume they’d be with Clementine.

Violet is presented as intimidating, closed off, bad with people, so you’d think it’d take a lot to get her to open up to Clementine when that’s not the case. The first time she and Clementine are alone [well, AJ’s there but y’know] she opens up a lot more than you’d expect with little effort on Clementine’s part, something that’s a trend in her route.

But Louis is presented as friendly, talkative, and fun, so you’d think he would be open with Clementine right off the bat... except he’s not. Louis doesn’t tell you anything about his past that actually matters in ep1. He doesn’t tell you about his friendship with Marlon, his relationship with the twins, or anything really significant about him. He says small things like how he hates cantaloupe or used to like baseball. You know he likes music due to his introduction.

In ep1, he doesn’t know Clementine. While he likes her well enough, he doesn’t trust her enough yet and trust isn’t easily won from him when it comes to that stuff. But then you go hunting with him, you choose to deal with the walker with him, and he opens up about his view on survival... then he sends you away because oops, too much sharing, too much chemistry.

That’s the thing, though, you don’t get that one moment unless you choose him. Like... actively choosing him is a big point in his route. I know that seems obvious, but I’m serious. Every time you choose him after the hunting scene, he’s genuinely surprised. Appeal to him? Choose to help him with the piano? Choose to save him? Every time he gives you the sense that he’s like “...but why”

He even questions you about it in the dorms if you saved him during the raid. You can straight up tell him it’s because he’s too important to you and he’s still shocked, then pulls a face like “.........but why”

I don’t want to sound mean about Violet, but choices where you choose her feel different, like she’s not surprised you picked her. Especially after ep1, it’s like it’s a given you picked her. She never questions, she never thanks, it’s just assumed “yeah you picked me, of course you did.” and it’s probably because she voted for you to stay, and that’s very different in Louis’ route.

He rarely offers up anything further until you pursue it. That’s a trend in his route. It makes the moments where he chooses to open up unprompted even more significant, like with the piano scene in ep2 or the reveal of his backstory in ep3, and especially the walk back to Ericson in ep4, THAT scene is so fucking good because it’s him finally fully opening up and letting Clementine in and hhhnnnngggggggg sooo goood~

One last thing I wanna bring up that I love: When Louis screams “FUCK YOU!” at Minerva in ep3.... it’s so fucking good. As I said before, Louis is such a kind hearted person, he never wants to hurt anyone and he beats himself up whenever he gets emotional and lashes out at anyone...... but in the cells, he’s fucking pissed. Like, we don’t even see him that pissed off after Marlon dies, and the closest we see him get that upset again is when AJ shoots Tenn. But even then, he didn’t tell AJ to fuck off, he just said, “what the fuck!?” and that’s very different.

And I don’t blame him for being furious in that moment! He just heard all the shit Lilly said and Minerva just let everything happen. Now Lilly has AJ and they’re screwed. Hell, he might even be missing a pinky finger now! And he just calls Minerva out on her bullshit and tells her to fuck off, and her reaction is just perfect.

Oh and then of course, he shoots Dorian and it’s pretty rad... I mean, he doesn’t think so, he’s super upset about that one, too. But I thought it was great.

As for Louis’ romance route, it’s just *chef kiss* holy shit.

I actually did a T5F on the top 5 reasons I love clouis that is still accurate and covers pretty much everything so I won’t get too crazy.... but lemme gush a little more please?

Their chemistry is fantastic, they bounce off each other so well, they’re not afraid to call each other out on their bullshit, they’re not too proud to apologize and move forward together as better, stronger people. Louis is great with AJ even after what happened to Marlon and that speaks volumes for his character.

Louis never looked to the future until he realized he could have a future with Clementine and AJ and that’s why him asking her what their dream home would look like is so significant and Clementine always promised that she and AJ would have a home and they finally found one with someone who would do anything to protect them, someone willing to forgive, apologize, grow, and be emotionally vulnerable when needed, I just-

She carved a heart around their initials, he named the song he wrote after her.

I cry... I cry so much

another quote from myself on my T5F: “Their chemistry is strong, deep, and romantic, they powered through so much unavoidable bullshit, they worked hard for their relationship, they’re comfortable and not afraid to lean on each other when needed, they get comfort from being together but aren’t afraid to disagree on things because they know those disagreements aren’t stronger than they are. With AJ and everyone else at Ericson, they’re a family now rather that a group of misfit survivors, and they’re working to change things for the better for Ericson. I love everything about them and damn it, they will be happy together every single time I replay TFS because that is what they deserve.”

Now that I’ve ranted about how much I love him, what I’m NOT going to cover is the whole thing with AJ and the vote because I’ve gone on and on about that, so I’ll just say this:

If you’re mad at Louis for his vote, valid.

What’s not valid is trying to convince everyone he is solely responsible for Clementine and AJ getting voted out when he was not the only one who voted. The vote was brought up by Mitch, and it probably wouldn’t have been brought up in the first place if Clementine and AJ weren’t at the funeral. Louis is not responsible for Abel and Lilly showing up, and he’s not responsible for AJ getting shot. He’s not any less of a valid love interest for his vote, his vote makes perfect sense with what he is experiencing the morning after what he witnessed the night before. Stating that any relationship between him and Clementine couldn’t work because he voted against them as if it’s a fact is an ignorant dismissal of his character, his trauma, and his apology to Clementine and AJ, and your agenda is very clear.

The endgame stats being higher for Violet does not mean Louis is a bad love interest, and no, Melissa Hutchinson saying she likes violentine does not mean clouis is invalid. You can tell someone is desperate to have their choice validated when they use a voice actor’s opinion as evidence in their argument to convince others that their choice is the only valid option and everyone else is wrong.

We get it, you don’t like him and that’s fine, you don’t have to, but please don’t act as if people who do like him are in the wrong for doing so, and don’t try to cover it up with a “but I DO like Louis though I swear” because it’s transparent. Trust me, I’ve been there with Violet, I understand why you feel pressured to tack that on at the end of your “Louis is a shithead” post but stop, it doesn’t do what you think it does, I can tell you that from experience.

At least if people were honest, I could go into their posts like, “okay they don’t like Louis so they’re going to be more harsh/critical of him,” but when they say they do like him after not saying a single nice thing, that just tells me you’re lying because you’re afraid of getting attacked. Again, I feel that, I’ve been there with Violet. It’s not fun.

I also feel it’s only fair that I talk about the Louis crowd, too. Like the Violet crowd, they’re obnoxious and hostile toward everyone, their arguments are usually surface level, and they annoy the piss outta me. I don’t have as many bad experiences with them since we like the same character, but that’s where our similarities end.

The argument is usually, “Louis is better because Violet’s such a bitch, she BETRAYED Clementine in the cells, she’s a TRAITOR! She’s using Clementine as a rebound and she doesn’t care about AJ and that’s why she stays on the boat with Minerva.”

So y’know... lame, no nuance, no actual discussion or further explanation, nothing.

Also I feel like the Louis crowd attacks Violet’s appearance a lot which is gross and a sign that their arguments ring so hollow that they can’t think of anything better to prove “MY choice is the correct one” so they resort to things that don’t actually matter and then act like it proves their choice is the right one.

“Violet? You did her route? but I think she looks weird, so you’re stupid.”

Like... how is that anything? What is that accomplishing other than making you look stupid?

But yeah, the Louis crowd hyper-fixate on Violet’s betrayal the same way the Violet crowd hyper-fixate on Louis’ vote. It’s treated as a smoking gun of “this proves that YOU are wrong and why MY choice is the only valid one,” but it’s not, it’s not a smoking gun, you’re just being a dingus.

There is a difference between discussing how the reasons behind those choices made by Louis and Violet are a result of the inner turmoil and pain they’re going through and it causes them to make a mistake that they eventually turn around from and just.... “Louis is a shithead who voted them out and Clementine could never love him after that” and “Violet betrayed Clementine on the boat because she loves Minerva more and Clementine could never forgive her after that.”

Why y’all can’t just chill and agree to disagree, I’ll never know.

ANYWAY... I don’t wanna leave Louis’ section on a sour note so here’s a reminder that he had a pet turtle named Geoff, he lost the 3rd grade spelling bee to the word “recommend,” and he still remembers his grandma’s phone number after all these years.

God, I love him.

Boy am I glad AJ didn’t get cut from this game

AJ’s still one of my favorite characters in this game and I’m glad his relationship with Clementine is at the core of this story.

He’s a fascinating character study and I can’t get behind the complaint that “oh but he isn’t a realistic portrayal of a five-year-old!!” like I’m sorry, do you know what a five-year-old is? They’re dumb and loud and if he was written that way, you’d just complain that he’s annoying like Duck was instead.

Sorry, Duck, love ya but you cannot deny that a majority of players hated Duck for being a hyperactive child. Players would be like, “Gawwwwd when is this kid gonna die?? He’s annoying, I hate him!” when S1 was released.

This is a game about zombies, okay? and if everything were realistic then AJ would’ve died in S2. Use your suspension of disbelief.

I find AJ so interesting because he’s a child who was born into this post-apocalyptic world. He doesn’t know what it was like to live in a world before walkers. He never had a long-lasting, stable home and aside from Clementine, all of his other caretakers either died or gave him up. He’s grown up in a world that is cruel, unforgiving, scary, and where killing is normalized as a means of survival. Whether it’s walkers, animals, or other people, he learns early on that that’s just the way it is now. He knows how to shoot a gun and god, what a fucking thing to have to teach a child.

Really think about the lessons Clementine teaches him, too. Some aren’t alarming, like checking for windows or always knowing where an exit is. But then you get into “Always aim for the head,” or “Don’t hesitate,” or the big yikes of, “Save a bullet for yourself.”

I stand by the fact that AJ was in the wrong for shooting Marlon after his surrender, but c’mon, what did you really think he was gonna do the moment he got his hands back on the gun and saw the opportunity to “stop the monster” to protect Clementine and the others?

Clementine isn’t perfect and she isn’t always right, but she’s doing her best to teach AJ how to survive the way Lee and many others taught her... but she’s forgetting that AJ is so young and he doesn’t have a fully developed concept of the world before. She also misses crucial point that Lee made with her when teaching her to shoot, like how if it’s a walker, then aim for the head. But if it’s a person, that’s different. Walkers are always the same, they always have the same goal... people aren’t that easy.

Remember the fight between Javi and David in ANF? Clementine will either point a gun at David to stop the fight, or she’ll shoot him. She doesn’t aim to kill him, she doesn’t want to kill him. She’s aiming to break up the fight, that is a moment where killing isn’t necessary and would only cause more problems with those around her. Gabe would be distraught, Javi would react depending on how you play him, and Kate would freak out, too.

If you choose to shoot Kenny to save Jane in S2, same thing. She shoots him to break up the fight, but the shot happens to kill him after you share some final words.

Hell, the one time she does shoot someone in the head during a fight in ANF, it’s an accident [even though she knows better that to point a gun at anyone without the intention of shooting] and is treated as the wrong thing to do and you can either cover up her mistake or you can make her confront it by telling the truth.

But then you have AJ who doesn’t have the context, that experience. He’s taught to aim for the head, so he does, and it’s a mistake.

AJ shooting Marlon is complicated. He doesn’t realize he did something bad until everyone reacts and then he’s like, “....but I aimed for the head? Marlon was a monster? He was dangerous? Clem?” and you can either reaffirm that he’s justified, or you can teach him why he was wrong and about atonement.

AJ doesn’t want people to hate him, he doesn’t want to hurt them or make them sad. He wants to make friends and have a home. He wants to protect Clementine the way she’s protected him. He has doubts, he doesn’t always know the proper words to explain how he feels, and he gets frustrated which causes him to act out. He wants to play games, and learn, and make connections with people. But, I can see why he would be scary, too. Especially with the way he talks sometimes.

When he calls dibs on Abel, you can express how you don’t like the way he’s talking and tell him it’s not a game, and honestly I don’t think it’s a game to him. He’s had nightmares about Abel, he’s scared of Abel, he’s is a monster and AJ believes that if he can kill the monster, he’ll be gone and everyone will be safer. He’s expressing that in a worrisome way, though.

Or the one some like to point at when arguing that he’s a bad character: when he says he liked killing Lilly. Yeah, not great, and it only manages to set James off more during that whole fight. But AJ explains himself that killing Lilly made him feel powerful [not a great sign] and it made them safe and that feels good.

Plus, YOU told him to do it... I know y’all don’t like taking accountability for your choices when they backfire, I feel that, but he looked to you for what to do in that moment and you said to shoot, so he did and it set him off. Half a clip right into Lilly, whoops, betcha she didn’t see that coming.

There is a discussion to be had about that choice despite it not having a right answer, but I don’t have time to go in depth so just know that I can see both sides.

But both Marlon and Lilly’s deaths are pointed at as a “See?? AJ’s a bad character!” by the anti-AJ crowd.

Yeah funny enough there is a crowd for AJ but this one happens to be viciously hostile against him to where they go out of their way to argue with everyone that he’s “a bratty, stupid, annoying psychopath who loves murder and is badly written and that’s not even how five-year-olds act lmao you’re stupid” and just like the other crowds, they’re desperate for validation and it’s hard to watch as they make asses of themselves.

Again, you don’t have to like AJ and you can be critical of his development and choices, but maybe harassment under the guise of “well it’s just my opinion” isn’t the best outlet for your frustrations. Just sayin.’

So much about AJ gets lost on those people, usually on purpose because god forbid we don’t always deal in absolutes, and it’s a shame to see a character that the writers put so much time and effort into be so underappreciated.

Oh and on the opposite side of things, I do want to point out that flipping it so that AJ’s just a widdle uwu baby who should never held accountable because he baby and everyone else is wrong to dare be mean to him or Clementine.... is also not great. It lacks understanding and depth of the character or the characters around him.

To end on a happier note, another thing I love about AJ is how funny he can be. I mean, his apology to Ruby when you tell him to lay it on thick? When he excitedly informs Aasim that he likes fish? The fact that he interrupts your date to throw a gross ball at your head like “look what I found!!” The way he laughs at the Beat Nick joke but doesn’t understand it? When he catches you smooching Louis/Violet and is just like “what’cha doin’ over there??”

He can be so damn funny. We tend to focus on the more serious side of his character but c’mon, look at his funny little dance during the party. It’s cute as hell!

There’s so much I didn’t cover about AJ but like with the others, I don’t have the time to give you a huge analysis, I can only give you the things that crossed my mind as I was playing... which was also too much to fit in here but still.

AJ’s great, I adore that kid, so glad he wasn’t booted from the story, thanks Telltale.

God what’s there to say about Clementine? She’s complex, flawed, well-written and I adore her

Alright, last character..... but seriously, what can I possibly say that I haven’t said before?

I’ve written a lot of posts about Clementine, like this one about why I have her leave Lee in S1 and how that ripple affects her choices in TFS, or how I feel like putting Clementine up on this pedestal where she can do no wrong and saying players SHOULD agree with everything she wants [namely in ANF] is a disservice to the growth and nuance of her character, gone on and on about why I think Louis is the best option for her as a love interest and how that plays into her development, why her relationship with AJ is so important, why the damn Clementine in the comic doesn’t hold up-

BY THE WAY.... tangent, but I actually feel second-hand embarrassment for the Clementine comic which is a feeling I do not appreciate.

TFS Clementine and Comic Clementine are not the same character. I’ve experienced more depth sitting in the kiddy pool I bought my dog to play in during the summer than I experienced with the comic. My salt levels still haven’t gone down after writing that review... Amos deserved better, good god...

The comic rings hollow because it lacks everything that makes Clementine compelling in the games. You can tell it was written by someone who has only played through the games once or twice instead of a writer who worked on the games and understands the character.

But forget the comic. It’s not canon anyway and if skybound tries to tell me otherwise, I will politely tell them I’ve agreed to disagree. And that they can go suck an egg. Politely.

Back to the one that’s actually good, I believe Clementine is one of the best characters Telltale ever gave us. She’s set a high standard for me when I go into other games. We’re lucky to have four games with her, and while I can’t say I absolutely love all four Clementine’s [I still have a lot of conflicted feelings about ANF Clementine] that’s totally fine because overall? She’s had a helluva bumpy journey and it brings me a lot of joy knowing she’s finally found a home and a family to care for her it.

I feel a connection to Clementine’s personality this season. She’s come a long way from ANF [thankfully] and I love seeing her more balanced out as a hardened survivor who can be a goof sometimes. Having AJ back in her life brings out a softer Clementine that I missed.

She cares so much, y’all. Clementine cares so, so much about AJ and everyone at Ericson that she’s willing to put herself in grave danger to protect and save them. She’s fought for so long, had her heart broken over and over again, has faced death every damn day, and now she finally has a home.

And it’s not even a question. Once her friends are taken by the raiders, she doesn’t even hesitate in telling everyone that they’re going after them, that they’re going to end this.

Then after everything, she gets bit.

Oooohhhh the emotions I feel thinking about the barn scene with Clementine dying and AJ begging her to get up. But she knows, and even worse she knows that AJ now has to deal with her, either by leaving her to turn or by killing her with an axe and just

“I need you.” I CRY

Her bond with AJ is so good, her chemistry with Louis is so good, her determination to fight, her sense of humor, her moments of vulnerability... it’s all so goddamn good.

Also, the Lee flashback with little Clementine. Look, after already being emotional during Louis’ song, only for it to cut to the train and hearing Lee’s voice again... damn it, they knew what they were doing and I’m so damn easy, it made tear up, okay? I admit it!

I honestly don’t have that much else to say? This post is long enough as is so perhaps that’s a good thing. She’s amazing, a beautifully written character that I hold a lot of praise for.

Lemme quote myself once again, this time from my review of the comic because this still sums up how I feel:

“This isn’t like Clementine in TFS where you do feel she’s mature. She has to be, she has a child she’s raising and protecting. She has to be strong and smart for him. She has to be the adult in their relationship… but she has those moments of vulnerability to remind you that she’s not an adult, she’s a teenager who was forced to grow up too fast and it hurts.

In ep4 of TFS, when they’re in the caves after getting separated from the group, she and AJ get into an argument. She tells him that he’s just a child, and he throws it right back at her- “So are you.” and you can see it on her face… y’know?

You want her to be happy, you want to give back the childhood that was taken from her at the start of the apocalypse, you want her to overcome every obstacle thrown her way. You understand her feelings about Lee, why he meant so much to her and why she struggled to let him go even after accepting that he was dead.

You remember that she is a teenager who makes mistakes, she doesn’t know everything, she fucks up. She’s doing everything she can to protect those she loves. You feel that she wouldn’t hesitate to give her life for the little boy she raised. She still has a lot of growing to do but you don’t doubt that she’s gonna do it..... TFS Clementine, amputation or not, she would’ve charged that damn boat herself if it meant saving those she loved.”

In conclusion: I still love TFS, even if things have changed for me

Before I wrap this up, I do hope that everyone understands that my criticisms of characters, story elements, or of the crowds aren’t meant to be a criticism of individuals who may disagree with me. I'm not criticizing people for liking Violet or people who dislike Louis, or even people who view Minerva through an uwu-lense. I'm criticizing the terrible behavior from those crowds that make everyone uncomfortable and accomplish nothing.

Being critical of a character, plot, or of the fandom is fine. If a post is critical or even harsh toward a character, I may not agree and would argue with the points, but that's fine. I’m sure plenty of you will take issue with my points for characters like Violet or Minerva. We all have different interpretations and one of the fun things about fandom is getting to express that, to have discussion and debates, but it’s all in good fun. The point is never to intentionally make someone feel bad or to fight.

It's when people get into guilt tripping, lying, gaslighting, name calling, using accusations of homophobia/racism against people not because they’re displaying those awful behaviors but only because they do/don’t like a character, sending hostile messages to people, or trying to convince everyone that their thing is the correct thing and the other thing is bad therefore they should feel bad, that's what I'm trying to criticize here when I bring up crowds.

They’re an unfortunate part of the whole thing, every fandom has ‘em. What's sad is that crowds who would need to read what I’m saying in this section aren't going to. They're gonna scroll to the parts they know will make them mad and then leave. Oh well.

I want to say that if you made it this far into an incredibly long post, thank you. If I had another gold star I’d put it right on your forehead and then give you a cookie, but I already used my gold star in a comment toward the Violet crowd and then Tim ate all the cookies, so.... sorry about that.

The Final Season is excellent and I had a lot of fun even if I was conflicted with a lot of my previous opinions and work. I know I’ve somewhat moved on from TWDG and Telltale games, but hell, I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere for a while... after all, who else is gonna read the next two Clementine comics 9 times each to write in-depth reviews so you don’t have to read them yourself, hmm? No one, because they’re not ridiculous!

But as far as consistent posting, writing fics, and doing themed nights, I have moved on from that. Not to say that I won’t ever pop in, y’all are always welcome to send in asks but y’know. I spent a long time working on this despite it being nanowrimo and I should be working on my project, but I still have some passion for this series that I wanted to share.

It’s bittersweet, really. While I’m glad my ninja fam held up beautifully, I’m still bummed about the rest of the Ericson crew. Especially Mitch, god he was one of my favorite characters and now I barely feel anything for him, it’s sad.

I will be home all weekend, supposedly working on nanowrimo, but if this post sparked something then feel free to shoot me an ask. I’ll answer a few if any come in, and we’ll see where it goes.

If you want to follow me elsewhere, as I mentioned before I do have a dragon age side blog: @stop-breaking-my-heart-dragonage, and then my main blog is @cj-writes-stuff.

Thanks y’all 💚

119 notes · View notes