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1. Why do you like or dislike this character?
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?
4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?
5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?
6. What's something you have in common with this character?
7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?
8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?
9. Could you be roommates with this character?
10. Could you be best friends with this character?
11. Would you date this character?
12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?
13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?
14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.
15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)
16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?
17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?
18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?
19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?
20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?
21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?
22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like?
23. Favorite picture of this character?
24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?
25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?
26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?
27. What is a color or colors that you think of when you think of this character, be it their canon color(s) or not?
28. If you could have this character meet another in another media, who would you have them meet?
29. Could you live as this character, would you? If not, what would you change so that you could?
Dom L’antio not being in the movie was a tragedy, like the relief they felt when they could get the watermelon, Collie sharing his piece with Garraty and him sharing it with Mcvries; they sharing is so important to me but also that’s a clear sign of resistance, people might be desensitized but if you show them kindness they will respond with it (like the public giving space to Dom so he can give the watermelon to the walkers)
Do you by any chance have tlw fic recs? I'm not a fan of parkovitch (also did I miss something??? It's like really rampant on ao3 but to my memory their biggest interaction was barkovitch being told to fuck off after telling Collie that they were similar) but I'll put up with it if the gavries is Really good
Love your blog!!!! I'm a tad new to the fandom, the movie made me so sad!! Hope you have a good day :D
oh my gosh i have. So Many fic recs. especially gavries.
(also parkovitch originated as an early 2010s crackship, was forgotten for literally like 10 years and then the movie came out and it’s what it is now. i suspect it’s only as popular as it is because people liked the skinny white boy option better than ray. i liked it for a while because it’s one of the easiest ways to get collie parker content and i thought the dynamic had a lot of potential, but a lot of parkovitch fans are fundamentally wrong about collie (among others) and how he is and a lot of the works perpetuate harmful stereotypes for. so many different people. reading parkovitch will have you seeing some of the worst mischaracterization and blatant racism this fandom has to offer. and then i think it really all culminated with this one fic that pissed me off so bad it gave me an actual migraine and i realized that i don’t even like barkovitch enough to deal with this.) <- fully aware that this probably became incoherent after a while but i hope you understand what im saying 😭
but. fic recs. these are some of my favorites, some are gavries some are character centric. a couple of them are based off of them in the book so i hope you’re ok with that! i’ll leave like. a brief description for each. warning that my formatting is ass so this will look absolutely horrible
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
god i love this one. it’s from before the movie came out but the characterization is so similar. it’s gavries and a fix it of sorts for if they had found a way to escape the walk after Hank died.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
also pre-movie! also gavries! it’s if Hank’s rebellion had worked and they’re mapping out the next steps. <- the pun was not! intended but it’s funny anyway
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
time loop fic!! Pete POV and this one is from after the movie. i love it so bad and its hadestown inspired so it leans into the orpheus & eurydice parallels.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
also pre-movie. gavries soulmate au. it has a Priscilla POV in it which is so cool To Me.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
another book based one! they sit down at the same time au. i’ve read it at least 4 times.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
book based. gen fic. automatically has to go on the list because it’s like the only fic with the Abe, Collie, Art joint slay friend group. Art centric and it’s during/directly after the Dom L’antio scene. it’s so sweet and i come back to it often.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Collie fic, post movie. if he had woken up after the walk. it’s So Good.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Curley fic. its his motivations for joining the walk, movie based/canon and it makes me soo sad. i love it.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
oh my god this one. pre-movie so it’s before Stebbins got an official first name. gen fic. his motivations for joining the walk.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
based off the book and came out before the movie but the beginning is honestly a great example of apollo’s dodgeball. another what if they stopped moving at the same time au. i’ve reread it so much.
tumblr unfortunately has a limit on how many links you can share so this it for now!! thank you for the ask and i hope you had a good day as well! and that you enjoy the fics!
“you ship jancilla to get jan out of the way of ray and pete!” actually i ship gavries to get ray out of the way of jan and pris. fuck raymond garraty and peter mcvries. janice nowak and priscilla fischer-torres are the only ones who matter. jancilla nation RISE.
reeling back in disgust every time i remember that my favorite media is also consumed by the greater public and not only my small group of incredibly correct and incredibly autistic mutuals
Have you watched the movie for The Long Walk yet?? Would love to know what you thought about it!
!!!THIS CONTAINS MASSIVE MASSIVE SPOILERS ABOVE AND BELOW THE CUT!!
I saw the film last night with Rowan (BollaceWallace on ao3, ifykyk) and I do, in fact, have opinions. Most of them are negative, but in the interest of fairness I’ll go over some of the things I enjoyed first:
Tut Nyout did a brilliant job as Art Baker. While I have a few criticisms with the way Baker was written, his acting and body language felt so true to the character.
I really loved the southern gothic elements to the visuals! Especially the shot in act i of the woman outside the church. The way she and Ray stare at each other genuinely gave me chills.
The sound design was excellent! The way the soundtracks, screams, fireworks etc all blended together was well-done
Roman Griffin Davies gave a wonderful performance, as always. He’s not in the film for long but boy does he pack a punch
David Jonsson also impressed me throughout the film
I really enjoyed the cadence of Garraty and McVries’ banter, especially in the quieter moments. The ebb and flow of their conversation felt very true to form to me
I’m not going to lie and say that Ray’s last words being “I love you, Pete” hasn’t been playing in my head on loop since I heard it
I did actually get chills when I read Ray’s name at the beginning. Also maybe this is a reach but it did feel a bit like a Stand By Me reference and I did thoroughly enjoy that
The scene where Pearson tries to cheer for the Musketeers and Pete is like ??? Who are you get away did in fact make me laugh
And now, I present: the negatives. I'm putting this under a cut because it's so, so long.
As a quick precursor: I do have some issues with how Pete and Art were written, and I do talk abut them below. I am as white as paper, and so have no lived experience with some of the negative tropes I’m going to bring up. If I handle anything poorly please do reach out and I will correct it.
It really did feel like they were sacrificing emotional depth in favour of gratuitous, drawn-out execution scenes.
I hated Garraty’s motivations. Especially given he thinks his father was an idiot in the book, it felt so unnatural and forced. The rant he went on about how nobody actually has a choice is stupid as fuck as well, especially given how Curley snuck in.
The backstory with his father does not fit in naturally, and explicitly killing him on screen strips the story of all of its intrigue. I’ve always thought getting Squaded was a pretty intentional 1984 reference, with those who dissent simply vanishing.
The exposition about “””the war””” was out of place and the Major’s opening explanation of how the Walk is designed to make America “number one again” contradicts some of the messaging in the original book about the military and Vietnam
As @47-61 said when we were talking about it, McVries’ movie storyline is insulting to both the character and the audience. Frankly, I found it racist as hell. I understand that they were likely hesitant about showing the plotline with Priscilla and accidentally perpetuating the trope of the sexually aggressive Black man, but instead of handling it with care or grace they leaned on a bunch of different, also racist, tropes. Having one of the main Black characters be abused by a family member, become homeless, and getting his scar from “picking a fight with the wrong guy” is not the step up they think it is.
I also think they should have rethought the conversation about money between Ray and Art—it’s a fascinating scene in the book, but in the film it doesn’t sit well with me, mainly because it’s a white man who grew up comfortably telling a Black man who has struggled financially his entire life that he just needs to “stop thinking about money” and to realize that he’s just “buying into the system” when he is, in fact, trying to survive.
ALSO I don’t understand why they cut out all of Art’s mortuary backstory! Some of the conversations Art has with the rest of the Musketeers about his uncle being an undertaker and his role in that are my favourite parts in the book. And the lead-lined coffins line is iconic.
If they were going to include his death and his wife, I really don’t understand why they wouldn’t just put Scramm in the film.
On that note, revealing that Hank was married was so out of left field. It also stripped that reveal of any meaning. In the book, Scramm is sixteen, and his wife is pregnant. He’s joined the Walk out of desperation for them. Personally, I find that so heart-wrenching, and the promise to send Cathy money to help support her and their kid is one of the most human, beautiful moments of the book. Hank is an adult in the film, and his wife isn’t pregnant. It feels like a superfluous detail thrown in at the end, or a sneaky wink to book fans.
WHERE WAS SEEING HOW THE WALKERS REACTED TO THE CROWD!
WHERE WAS THE CROWD
WHERE WAS THE FUCKING CROWD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The ending. I was genuinely shocked that Ray died, but that didn’t piss me off. What pissed me off was the Major dying. This is just interpretation, but To Me a lot of the tragedy of the final act is that we’ve been experiencing all of this horror, and we know that nothing is going to change. It’s going to happen again. The cheering children in the crowd are going to sign up next year. The Major is still everybody’s father. They were just another cog in the wheel. Killing the major strips the story of the military-esque horror that this will happen again. Nothing will change.
