#psychoanthrowalker

Psychoanthrowalker commented that Maggie was definitely thrown by seeing the walker in the trunk of the car. I read it differently, but when I watched the episode again, I found I completely agree. Maggie is clearly jolted from her numbness at the sight, and her conscience takes over when she decides she needs to put the woman out of her misery. I also agree she clearly has a moment of realization that as far as she knows, her sister experienced something comparable.

Special thanks to TWD for making the walker a small, long-haired, blonde woman, because otherwise how would we make the connection? By the way, it's exactly this that makes TWD less of a show than it could be -- if they aren't completely ignoring and underexplaining things, they are using the most obvious, heavy-handed symbolism imaginable. Wouldn't it have been more powerful if the trunk walker didn't look like Beth, and because of the universal human condition, Maggie was still able to still see her sister in that woman?

As the person who made the original posts about...

wait. was that Merle with a baby on his back, or was he carrying around a human head in a back pack for some...

That's Lego Judith.

I was tagged by the inimitable leas-celyn

1) Your first online fandom?

Stargate SG-1. That show introduced me to fanfic, too.  I made crosswords, and took quizzes, read silly fan-comics, and read endless pages of quotes from episodes I'd already watched.  Jack O'Neill had a huge effect upon the development of my particular sense of humour.  And dang, Sam Carter was amazing. 2) Your most hated foods?

The NEARLY EVERYTHING that makes me sick!  But especially chili.  The texture of baked beans is an incarnation of primal evil. 3) What’s your favorite artistic style? 

Probably realistic-painting, with a love of some impressionism - Van Gogh rather than Monet.  Rembrandt and Caravaggio are in a category and league all their own, of course.  (My love of and fascination with Rembrandt's "Bathsheba at her Bath" really should have clued me into the whole bisexuality/pansexuality thing) 4) Top 5 favorite characters?

Oh God.  This causes me pain.  In no particular order because I hate decision making:

Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead - I have never seen such a good portrayal of the mannerisms of survivors of abuse; plus he's hot, and adorable, and ACTUALLY CAPABLE OF PLATONIC FRIENDSHIPS WITH WOMEN (whoever you ship him with, he's left with at least 3 women - Carol, Michonne, Beth, Lori -  with whom he has close relationships; that is awesome).

Carol Peletier from The Walking Dead - my queen. What paean can I offer that might dare be worthy to sing her praises? She is strength embodied, determination in human form, intelligence shines in her every motion, and dannnnnnnnng she is gorgeous.  She is the kind of human I want to be.  She's not the prototypical ass-kicking female (see: Black Widow, Nikita, etc., or even Michonne and Maggie who are shown to have strength and physical prowess), she's not the prototypical romantic-type female who exists to be a potential love interest (see: nearly every tv show and movie ever), she's not the prototypical damsel in distress (THAT'S FOR DANG SURE) because she takes care of others as much as they take care of her.  And God, her fantastic spirit - her brazen firtiness with Daryl is just beautiful.  How often do we get to see the female as the 'pursuer' (for lack of a better, less-stupid term)?  Especially one who has suffered abuse?  Carol is everything.

Nasir from Spartacus (can I include Agron here, because let's face it, if there's a Nasir, there's an Agron; probably a grumpy frantic Agron yelling "Where is Nasir? I must find him!" and being all desperate and adorable).  He's just adorable.  He's tiny, which I love, he's still scary, which I love, and he does courageous things even though they're hard, while defending and caring for people that nobody else wants to give compassion (for instance, the Roman captives who he feeds).  How can anyone not love a POC queer character who is also, incidentally, sweet and brave and awesome and stands up to guys a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than him on a regular basis?

Col. Jack O'Neill from Stargate SG-1 - I'm pretty sure he formed half of my personality.  I was always tired in school, because my local tv station broadcast an episode of Stargate every night at midnight. Sarcastic, stubborn, wiling to give people a chance and then standing up for them (see: Teal'C). 

D.S. James Hathaway from Lewis - I think he might actually be me, if I let my mopiness be more apparent and grew like a foot and a half taller.  He's one of the only tv geeks who is an Engish nerd, not a science nerd: he spouts off quotations and poems, he's sort of religious but also very insistent on logic, he has reams and reams of random facts for every occasion, he's so very, incredibly awkward with people, and is monumentally insecure.  Basically, yeah, me.  Not to mention he's a cop, but has an undefined sexuality, and actually gives his superior officer/investigative partner (the also terribly sweet Inspector Lewis) a speech about how people always think gayness and straightness are either/or (though unfortunately the episode this occurred in was problematic due to its VERY iffy depiction of a possibly trans individual, sighhhh).  Lewis, I believe, was the first show that made my typically homophobic family sit down and think about homosexuality as a non-abstract concept.  Here was a character they liked, being asked if he was gay, and avoiding the question; a character they liked feeling horrible guilt over the palpable harm his religious homophobia had caused others; a character they liked who might be gay and who definitely saw sexuality as complex - in a cop show they didn't expect it from.  Hathaway also helped me introduce the concept of bisexuality to my folks, weeks before I actually came out.  He's a great character to exist. Wow.  Uh.  So, an essay!  That just happened, there.

5) Do you have any notps? If so what are they?

Ohhhhh yes. 

Daryl/Beth in TWD (I can understand if others ship it, and will definitely still be friends with such shippers, but I personally do not like the idea of having a 40-something guy paired with a girl who is, at most, 18, and has just lost her father, been separated from her remaining family, had her boyfriend die, and been kidnapped.  Not cool power-relations, and use of a female character as a self-insert for young female viewers, in my opinion).

Nasir/Castus, because dangit, I love Nagron - if Agron had actually died (gods forbid), I'd be cool with it, though.  I don't blame Nasir for being attracted to Castus: Castus was adorable, and was interested in him not as a slave, or as a freed slave in need of guidance, but as just plain Nasir.  Nasir hasn't had a lot of genuine flirting in his life.  And looking - and being attracted to - is nowhere near infidelity, so I disagree when people imply Nasir was at all unfaithful or behaved questionably.  Castus is awesome, Nasir is awesome, just I'd prefer not together.

On NCIS (which I used to be super into, shut up), Tiva, aka Tony and Ziva.  Ziva wanted to kill Tony.  That's a big deal.  She also belittled him constantly, which always bothered me.  There's friendly teasing, then there's meanness. 

This is thoroughly random, but Emily Byrd Starr and Teddy from the Emily of New Moon series.  TEDDY IS SO BLAND.  DEAR GOD.  Also that creepy guy who started crushing on her and almost grooming her when she was like 12, ew.  Dean Priest!  That was his name.  Shudders abound.

6) What Hogwarts house are you?

Every quiz I take says Ravenclaw, though alas, in truth I would long to be Hufflepuff.

7) If you could pick one fictional pet from a book or movie etc who would you pick and why? Oh God.  Uhhh.  Are there any movies where someone has a pet bat?  Because that would be awesome.  Because bats are cool.

8) The last song you listened to?

The Thinkers by Horrible Histories, probably.  Shut up, for truly, 'tis awesome, and astoundingly helpful in philosophy classes.  9) What’s your preferred shampoo smell?  Coconut.

10) Have you drank at least two glasses of water today? No, water makes me feel sick.  Yes, that is stupid.  I drink coffee instead.

11) What’s your favorite instrument to listen to? Bagpipes.  Yes, seriously, no hipster.  I love bagpipes.  I bought vinyl records of bagpipe music to listen to as a teenager. 

I shall now tag: leas-celyn (mwahaha), moralwounds, yeahwellyourface, claufeltonblack, psychoanthrowalker, sparklemotion74, lovesdaryl, allthatglitters-love, and anybody else who might like to!

Questions:

1) What is your favourite flavour and brand of chips?

2) Do you think you'd genuinely have trouble liking or being friends with someone if they didn't like a certain character?  Maybe not even because of the character themselves, but because of the qualities of the character that you find admirable.  If so, who is that character? 3) What is your go-to movie or tv show when you feel sad or crappy?

4) How many languages can you say "hello" in?

5) What character's (or heck, person's) sense of style would you love to have? Hate to have?

6) What is your birth month's flower?  Do you like that flower?

7) What is the dumbest way you have ever injured yourself?

8) How many words can you think of that rhyme with your name?

9) Do you say "roof" and "route" to sound, respectively, like the vowels in "aloof" and "boot", or "should" and "trout"?

10) What was the last parcel or package you received in the mail?