Five is not entirely mute; rather, they have selective mutism. Sometimes, when under high stress, they go non-verbal for a period of time. This generally happens a few times a month at most and lasts only around 24 hours or so, but they choose to never speak during missions so it’s harder to tell if they’re panicking. It’s also just easier to let people believe that they can’t talk at all than explain why they suddenly went mute mid-mission.
Evidence for this headcanon:
1) I have selective mutism and like to self-insert
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Hello all! If the musical cast ran a livestream shortly after release, would anyone be interested in hanging out, maybe asking the cast questions or listening to them talk about the musical and ZR?
If so, reblog or reply to let us know!
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what your favorite zombies run character says about you, slightly mean edition:
(no real spoilers, but if you are still in an earlier season you might not know some of these people)
sam yao- hes the boyfriend or best friend you wish you could have but don’t
sara smith- three options: gay, mommy issues, or you enjoy when your friends pick on you
maxine myers- you are probably one of the smartest people in the room, but common sense does not come to you naturally
simon lauchlan- you are into himbos or kind of obnoxious or both
jody marsh- physically, you are five feet tall, but emotionally you are 6’ 7”
paula cohen- you are/were the person that wouldn’t try to remind the teacher that there was homework but you’d go to turn it in (bc you always had it done) and remind them anyways
janine de luca- you alway prefer to work alone over group projects because other people are too much to deal with
amelia spens- you probably let little things ruin your entire month and you hold grudges for the rest of your life
jack holden and/or eugene woods- imma need you to drop your spotify playlist because i know that shit is wack
kefilwe lobatse- you are an expert in compassion and subtle bad ass-ery
peter lynne- i’m sure your therapist enjoys your company just as much as you enjoy theirs
tom de luca- i will venmo $10 to anyone who can explain why exactly he’s so likeable because i have no idea
jamie skeet- so, how many sexy firemen calendars do you own?
archie jensen- you radiate 8 year old dinosaur kid vibes and no i don’t take any form of criticism
phil cheseman and/or zoe crick- you and your friends constantly bitch at each other, but it’s all in good spirits. you nag because you care
owen landis- you like him because you both wore the highlighter fit™️ in middle school
yang, cameo, and kytan- you also only have two friends you constantly roll around with
steve sissay- is it because hes hot? it’s okay if it’s because he’s hot
chris mcshell- how do those 10 lines and 30 seconds of content feel?
nadia al-hanaki- galvanize? is that when you decided you liked her? because if it was before that i do not trust you
anyways i know i’m forgetting a bunch but you get the gist
Quick update from Musical Land. I’m plugging away on Act I, and it’s a good time! It’s amazing how one musical can go from a bouncy Sam/Janine duet to a desperate ballad like A Voice in the Dark to a fun Archie Jensen solo to a pining love song to a dark Van Ark villain song to Simon singing and playing the ukulele while occasionally killing zombies with it…you get the picture. I guess it says something about the variety in ZR that there’s so many different kinds of songs to write, and I’ve really enjoyed exploring that tension so far.
I’ve finished mock-ups for most of the songs in Act I, and I’m working on getting the last few blocked out. Then we’ll jump into the recording phase (and we might have some teasers along the way, we’ll see).
Also! The lyric teaser for this week is from the Act I finale, “To the Fallen and to Freedom.” That’s the song I’m currently working on, and honestly, it’s giving me all the Janine feels.
This next week I’ll be busy with the chaos of moving back to school, so it may be a couple weeks before I get back on track with writing (and updating you all).
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Lmao so I had sort of unofficially stopped but you know what - I love Jamie so had to draw him and Five 💕
@endless-fluffering I am SO SORRY this took so long! I was trying to force myself to finish some crappy WIPs before I started and that took a lot longer than I expected 😭💕💕
Info below the cut for tidiness!
Season 2
Jamie Skeet meets Five and... isn’t really that impressed by them.
I mean, they’re a runner. But so are a lot of people. And this runner doesn’t seem at all special at first glance. They’re quiet and sort of small. Quite honestly, they look like they’re the kind of runner who’d either get kidnapped or eaten within a few weeks.
He doesn’t really speak much to them at first. The only time he really sees them is on runs with Archie, and Archie talks enough to distract most of the attention from them. Still, he gets a better idea of their personality on these runs. He sees their grins, and how they wrinkle their nose with laughter, and its only after the third run together that Jamie’s like “wait - you can’t talk?!”
Everyone just assumed that he knew but Archie talks about them and their conversations without actually explaining that it’s mostly done via BSL. And Five is always so focussed on runs that BSL is rare during them.
A lot of what he knows about them is from Archie, and quite honestly he doubts half the stuff she says. Its not that he thinks Archie’s lying. But hearing about how they survived a helicopter crash, then immediately went on to run 5k leaves him doubtful. Hearing about how they (S2M1) jumped from one skyscraper to another, (S2M4) or survived the Dedlocks, or (S1M7) survived a night outside Abel alone is hard to believe, especially when he sees them trip on their own laces, or catch them waddling along after a line of ducklings, grinning like a little kid.
He decides this whole ‘Runner Five’ thing is propaganda, keeping the people happy with rumours of some sort of superhero facing off against the apocalypse.
Spoilers S2M18: Jamie doesn’t really see what Five’s really like until Archie’s in danger. And it’s like whiplash seeing this goofy kid turn into some sort of agent for Abel. When Archie is shot, he’s horrified, but they order him (with sharp, easy to understand jestures) to stay there whilst they go and check if she’s alive. He argues. He threatens them. He even attempts to shove them aside. But they stand firm, and he’s shocked by their strength. Five is ready to fight him if needed, and they’re confident they can take him after all that training with Sara. Finally, he reluctantly agrees to let them go check on the body.
Spoilers S2M18: Five is sick after emerging from that room, and how quiet they are as they sob is a little unsettling. They’re both picked up and taken home to recover. Jamie spends most of the night in the hospital tent ranting that he would personally kill Van Ark for what he did. He expects Five to talk him down, but the fury in their eyes is a shock. Five nods, insisting they would too. They wouldn’t stop until Van Ark feels the pain Archie did. Once again, Jamie’s unsettled. But he can see they’re serious. It’s seeing that expression on their face that he realises that all the Runner Five rumours are 100% true, and Five is not someone he should get on the wrong side of .
After that mission, they sort of become closer. Five regularly drops in unexpectedly to help him with the kids. Which he half wishes they didn’t because honestly he has enough children to keep an eye on without Five adding to those numbers.
He’s surprised to see how good they are with them though. They always seem to know whats wrong, how to defuse a heated situation, how to comfort those who need it.
Jamie has never been told about the Mildred Vann De Graaf situation so he has no idea why Five brings back so many chicken toys and photos and ornaments. He gets the vague notion it has something to do with Archie though so he appriciates it, always thanking them and earning a big smile in return.
Jamie and Five run more together, and they’re quite the team. Though, there’s more than one occasion when Jamie’s had to pick Five up, throw them over his shoulder and get them out of danger. There’s more occasions when he finds Five distracted by something fun - toys, movies, games. He usually has to grab them and carry them out of there so they don’t waste so much time.
Once it happened after finding Five elbow deep in a bucket of glitter they found in an arts and crafts shop. He stil finds glitter everywhere.
He seriously considers finding one of those child leashes for Five, until Maxine points out why its a bad idea.
Despite how hot headed and impatient Jamie seems, both of them are super fond of each other. It is mostly down to their combined love of Archie, but they know they can rely on each other, and Jamie hates Five a lot less than a bunch of other people, so he doesn’t mind them hanging around.
Season 3
Spoilers for S3M7: The moment Jamie is delcared the rightful king of England, Five is delighted for him. They instantly salute him, and his name sign changes from the letter ‘J’ to the sign for ‘king’. He doesn’t mind it much, because he sees their teasing grin whenever they use it.
When he leaves for london, he’s surprised to find he’s a little disappointed that he won’t be able to hang out with Five anymore. Part of him hopes they’ll follow and work as security for him. But he understands that they’re needed at Abel.
zr characters as wizard staffs/wands (just based on what pops into my head
sam: a cool stick you found while walking in the woods. you slapped some stickers on it even though maybe its not very wizardy. it sparks joy
janine: a beautiful long stick that you meticulously sanded and carved into cool curves. very practical as a weapon or a walking stick, not all that fancy.
maxine: a cool staff you bought at a local fair, its been sanded and polished and sure its a basic staff but you strung some cool baubles onto it and like painted some runes? also it has a syringe on the end (fake dont worry its totally safe) as a piece of world building
paula: you found this stick while out hiking and now you use it as a walking stick, you wrapped some leather around the main part to make it comfier to hold. it has stars painted on it in glow in the dark paint
sara: thats just a straight up baseball bat. you cant just glue some crystals onto a baseball ba- ok fine but- I DONT CARE THAT THE NAILS ARE IRON! THATS NOT A STAF-
jody: its a fairly thin wand made out of a willow branch and yes it can be used as a spare knitting needle in a pinch. it has a small pink stone, a rose quartz a think, on the hilt.
simon: oh hey thats a pretty good wood, really nice dark colour and a neat sha- wait no thats a wooden dick. yes, its well carved and the... moonstone imbedded in the tip is nice but you cant just make a fucking wooden dildo and call it a wand. or i guess you can, fuck it. im not the wand police
chris: ok, thank god we're back onto wands, this one is cool. basic stick shape and you used one of those little burning tools to engrave mathematic formulas and shapes on it, its really cool
evan: you cant just write "magic missile" on a gun. no, gluing a crystal on it doesnt make it any better.
jack: a cricket bat is not a- actually its pretty cool. those ribbons coming off it make it look cool and mystical and i like the crystals hanging off it. painting it to look like its covered in mud and has moss growing on it is cool, real bog witch aura
eugene: oooh, i like how you decked out that crutch, like theres not much to be done with it because you dont wanna impact the usefulness of it as a crutch but the lil crystal spirals going up are cool
jamie: ok, a mid sized stick, not a lot going on, leather grip, plus the little wrist tie? its solid, i like how you can see the bumps where smaller twigs used to be
nadia: ok, carving your wand to look like a bird of prey's talon clutching a cool gemstone was a super cool idea and i love it, plus wrapping some ribbons around it
archie: mid sized stick, natural look, still got some bark on it, i like that you used your first dog's collar to wrap around it and add some personality. dont know how you made those little blue flowers grow out of it but its cool. got a lil feather tied to it too
runner 5: idk how you made a hand axe look so mystical but you did it and its rad, amethyst handguard, and i see you also used some glowing paint, love that 5 motif you went with
anyway, pls describe your runner 5's wand/staff, just go with you gut, you got this!
My Runner Five: a tall, smooth, dark wooden staff topped with carved branches that wrap around a spherical gem of fiery orange. There is a small gold V (because Roman numerals) inlaid in the wood right below the gem. It is somehow simple and incredibly extra at the same time.
...well shoot, now I gotta draw this.
Edit: I CHANGED MY MIND THERE’S ALSO GOTTA BE A DRAGON ON THERE SOMEWHERE
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How about some ZR bookmarks? I noticed I didn’t have a single bookmark lately, and so I turned to some of my favourite Zombies, Run! characters. Really happy with how they turned out!
I am thinking about making them doubled sided and also drawing the back, and/or adding other characters. What do you think? Any ZR character you would like to have a bookmark of?
Feel free to print if your books need protection/emotional support/an unhealthy dose of mind control.
This is how you live forever,
This is how a legend dies…
Hello friends! My plan is to give you guys a progress update at least once per week. General warning, the musical covers the plot of Seasons 1-3, so my updates may have spoilers through all those seasons. I’ll tag accordingly. Each week, I’ll also include a snippet of lyrics from what I’ve been writing (as you can see above!).
We’ve gathered quite the cast in the last few days, and we’re still growing! I’m still stunned by the amazing response this project has gotten. I knew the ZR fandom was cool, but I had no idea that we had THIS MANY talented singers and musical lovers. I love all you guys, and it’s wonderful to start to see this come together.
Update on the creative process: So far, the hardest thing has actually been breaking down the extensive plot of three seasons into two coherent acts. As of right now, Act I deals with Seasons 1-2, and Act II covers the events of Season 3. The difficult part of that breakdown is how to make two mostly separate stories (Van Ark and Moonchild) into one story about Runner Five’s physical, emotional, and psychological journey. I’m still working on that problem, but I think I’ve got an idea about how to work it all together. More on that in future updates.
Speaking of Runner Five, I struggled for a while over whether to cast the show’s protagonist. At first, I wanted to include a singing, speaking Runner Five (hello, Five and Sam duet??), thinking that it would be too hard to write a musical (even just a concept album) without the protagonist’s voice. But as I thought about it, I realized that Five’s silence is actually really important if I’m going to stay true to the source material. Even in an actual stage production (which, of course, I’m not producing!), the goal would be for the audience to imagine themselves in Five’s shoes, so to speak. Having Five speak or sing means making statements about who Five is, when the whole point is that Five is everyone. Obviously, in a full stage production, the directing and production team would probably have to make some visual choices about what Five looks like, just because of the nature of the medium. But the nice thing about a concept album is that I don’t have to make those kinds of decisions. So I won’t! The musical will feature a mute, signing Five. (Although obviously I can’t depict sign language in an audio-only format.) I’m also using they/them pronouns to refer to Five throughout the scripts, again because of the relationship between Five and the audience.
As always, if you have comments or ideas, let me know! Have a fantastic day.
