#can you tell ive been drawing cowboy hats a lot

[fdrsamericanflagduckfloaty]

They ain't quittin' each other fellas

[daaziscoolbesties]

i yearn for one(1) thing only, and that is to have a nice, simplistic, cartoonish artstyle. an artstyle that doesnt rely on anatomy, but the "movement" of the drawing, if you get what i mean.

i dont want realistic proportions and traditional colors and basic poses and gradient shading, i want funky lil dudes in funky poses with funky styles littering my sketchbook :( but alas i havent figured out how to develop that kind of style yet, my brain wants anatomy to look nice but also i dont want to draw eyes. i dont want to take time out of my day to learn how to draw lips i want to draw a line that extends past the characters face. i dont want all my characters to have pointy chins with curved cheeks i want their heads to be round and friend-like or full of sharp edges depending on their personalities and styles. i want to give them all not-quite human ears, blob feet, simple faces, but at the same time i want enough detail to convey the story or emotion im trying to tell.

ive spent so much time recently agonizing over how to use 3d model websites, using real-life references and tracing over them for practice, color-picking from real images to try and do realism and failing miserably, but you know whats easier than that? funky little dudes. little dudes who do not care if their legs are too long or their hair is too bouncy. i dont want my characters to look human.

ive spent enough time on the artfight website to realize that most people who classify their characters as "human" have the most basic ass designs (no offense to people who like basic human designs its just not my thing) or its like dnd-medieval style outfits which i cant draw for the life of me (ive tried). again no offense to people who actively enjoy and draw characters like that. i just need my dudes to have that certain,,, off-ness to them. tails are cool. wings are swag (especially if they arent even like,, fully attached,, ), elf ears are so wonderful to me no matter how much theyre overused, horns are so much fun to draw, and colors!! i have no knowledge in the color theory department so this works great for me!! the only thing i really know is dont shade with black, other than that i just colorpick from references usually but i dont want to do that!! i want the colors to hurt people's eyes but in a satisfying way. like the character's design is so nice to look at that you dont mind your eyes hurting a bit. like how im enjoying writing this post even though its 2 am and the brightness on my computer wont go any lower.

and then another thing ive noticed from being on the artfight website is that a lot of people classify their characters that are anthro/have anthro features under humanoids/monsters. like i made a google form to find some people to attack and someone sent me in a character with some sort of animal (wolf? idk) arms and legs. like dude!! peak character design i love her. but me personally? i cant draw that shit, its so hard for me. i tried a while back and its just Not my thing. nothing against furries i just. cant. and i dont want to either.

and i got another submission that i accidentally deleted that was like full anthro/wolf-like like my comrade,,, i cannot draw animals what makes you think i can draw an animal who acts like a human lmao. i can do like. very basic tails, and also animal ears but i cant do the arms and legs and such i just dont know the anatomy, and i know i was talking about how i dont want to care about anatomy but i feel like for anthros you really do need to know at least basic animal anatomy so you know how the limbs look and shit and i dont have that knowledge and dont feel like gaining it.

and then there were some submissions that i absolutely adored. there was one that like, was vaguely human shaped but definitely was not a human. they had a dark-ish lavender colored skin and horns and tusks and like goat ears and a sorta fluffy tail with spikes on it and they had wings and such and they were such a pleasure to draw i love them. and they had a fairly simple outfit too, nothing too complicated. and then i also enjoy object head characters, theyre so neato to me. i got one of those and i really wish i had the motivation to work on it cause it looks so fun.

i want to make funky characters but id have nothing to do with them because the only book i ever tried writing (key word tried - never got past planning it out) had strictly human characters in it, and most of the books i read are humans/humans with powers in situations specific to them so id have no idea what lore to make with the dudes. assuming i have the motivation to make lore and backstory because honestly i just really enjoy character designing its super duper fun.

(side note a song about trucks doing the deed came on just now and its interrupted my flow, apologies).

i only have three actual characters right now. one is an original roleplay oc whos design is literally athletic shorts, an oversized long sleeved grey sweatshirt, long purple hair, and demon horns. the second one is my persona whos design some sorta medival knight outfit kinda thing? but not ugly it looks really cool (idk one of my friends designed it bc i won some contest from him but the drawing was on a super small scale so idrk the details,,,) with a plague doctor mask and crown, and shoulder length wavy brown hair, dyed bright pink at the end. and then my last one im not too comfortable using other places because theyre a character my friend is using in the story hes writing, and thats really the only place theyve been used. but theyre easily my favorite and im already writing a ton so ill talk about them too.

they're a sorta elf species thing from another planet, with pale green skin and pointed ears. they also have a tail, its like,, super thin, but with a feathery bit at the end. probably not the texture of a feather but i dont know how else to describe it. they have short, curly, almost-draco-malfoy-blonde hair that when it gets too long they can put in a man bun. their eyesight is kinda shitty so when they got to earth, they were exploring some supply closets around the airship. drop off area. thing. like airport but for rocketships and also fancier. yeah. they were exploring that area and found a nice big pair of round glasses with grey frames. and they also found a cowboy-style hat and a sharpie so they wrote their name on the underside of the brim of the hat and stole the hat and glasses (but left the sharpie in the supply closet).

yeah theyre my favorite, my absolute beloved, my child, so cool. i want more characters like them but with maybe a bit more snazzier designs. theyre super cool and all but they could have more pizzazz if they werent in a story where its too late to give them more pizzazz. i just want to be able to give my characters thigh-high boots with a bunch of buckles and fluffy hair with tons of accessories crammed in and abnormally large and long ears that can harbor many piercings and horns that can hold rings on them and special little details on their outfits like who knows what but i dont have any characters to do that too, so i have to make them from scratch, which is always hard especially when you have artblock.

and i also have like 17 characters i need to fully draw, line, and maybe color for artfight before august 1st. so i dont know. i have many things to do and plenty of time to do it but instead i spend my time halfway watching repetitive youtube videos that get boring or sleeping all damn day because i stay up too late doing things like this or i just do nothing at all and its tiring and frustrating but i also feel nothing about it like theres no consequence if i dont do it besides you know. not doing it, not gaining that experience, not making something i enjoy.

so i should do it but i dont for whatever reason, i think its called executive dysfunction but im not sure. this post started out very differently than it ended and i said somewhere up there that i was writing this at 2 am but now its almost 3. this is so many words why couldnt i have put this energy into something productive

[katehuntington]

Title: Ride With Me (part two) Fandom: Supernatural AU Main characters series: Reader, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer, Ellen Singer-Harvelle, Jo Singer (Harvelle), Benny Lafitte, Ash Miles, Garth Fitzgerald IV, Castiel Novek, and many more. Timeline: 2008 Pairing: Dean x Reader (eventually) Word count: ±5400 words Summary series: Y/N is a talented horse rider who is on her way to become a professional. In order to convince her father that she deserves the loan needed to start her own farm, she goes to Arizona for six months, to intern at a ranch owned by Bobby and Ellen Singer. Her future is set out, but then she meets a handsome horseman, who goes by the name of Dean Winchester. A heartwarming series about a cowboy who falls for the girl, letting go of the past and the importance of family.  Summary part two: Jo picks up Y/N from the airport and doesn’t waste any time warning the intern for a notorious wrangler called Dean Winchester. When she arrives at Gold Canyon Ranch, she soon understands why. Warnings series: NSFW, 18+ only! Fluff, angst, eventually smut. Swearing, smoking, alcohol intoxication, alcohol abuse. Mutual pining, heartbreak. Crying, nightmares, childhood trauma. Description of animal abuse, domestic violence, mentions of addiction. Financial problems, stress, mental breakdown. Description of blood and injury, hospital scenes, character death, grief. Music: ‘Broken Halos’ - Chris Stapleton (car scene) and ‘No Good’ - Kaleo (saloon entry). (check out ‘Kate Huntington’s Ride With Me playlist’ on Spotify!) Author’s note: Thank you @kittenofdoomage, @coffee-obsessed-writer and @girl-with-a-fandom-fettish for helping me. You girls are awesome betas.

Ride With Me Masterlist

     It stops raining just as suddenly as it started coming down, but the asphalt in front of the airport entrance still shimmers under the streetlights. Knowing that it's going to take at least forty-five minutes for her ride to arrive, Y/N treated herself to a cup of coffee from Starbucks, which she sips on while seated on her suitcase. Whenever a set of headlights approaches, she looks up hopefully, but up to now, all cars have passed by. With a bored sigh, she tucks her flat-ironed hair behind her ear and yawns, despite the caffeine she’s consuming.      She checks her phone again. “Come on, already…”

     When she looks up from the device, a black pickup pulls up to the curb. It triggers her to straighten her back and seek eye contact with the driver. As the car comes to a stop, a young woman has turned to look outside her downed passenger window.      “Are you Y/N?”      “Yes,” she responds a bit hesitantly as she rises.      The driver grins and signals her to come closer. “Well, get in. I ain’t got all night!” 

     Y/N smiles back somewhat nervously, draws out the grip of her suitcase and rolls it to the side of the car. With difficulty, she manages to push the heavy load in the open cargo area, making sure not to scratch the paint or spill her coffee, after which she hastens to the passenger-door and gets in. Before she settles down, Jo picks up her ivory white cowboy hat from the seat and puts it down behind her, offering her passenger a place to sit. As she does so and closes the door, the driver holds out her hand. Y/N shakes it, surprised by the strength of the young woman’s grip.      “Jo Singer,” she introduces herself. “Welcome on the Gold Canyon Ranch Express.”

     While Jo steers the car back on the road, Y/N takes her in. She’s slender, not very tall, but the confidence she radiates makes up for that. She’s rocking the ripped jeans and western boots, a comfortable loosely knitted sweater covers the skin that her tank-top doesn’t. The young woman has plaited her hair in a messy braid which falls down from her left shoulder. With one hand at twelve o’clock on the wheel and the other casually hanging outside the door, she averts her focus from the road for a brief second, turning to her passenger.

     “Sorry ‘bout the wait. Cattle just came in and Dad got a little caught up. He gets that way sometimes,” Jo apologizes as she lowers the volume of the radio.      “That’s okay,” Y/N assures, holding up her coffee. “I had company.”      “What is that, by the way? Do I smell cinnamon?” Jo eyes the coffee container as if it’s alien.      “It’s a Cinnamon Dolce Latte,” Y/N states before taking a sip.      “A what now?”      Registering Jo’s expression, she sniggers. “Cinnamon, coffee, and milk, basically.”      “Fancy.” The driver grins. “You’re from up north, right?”      “Yeah. Freeport, Maine,” she elaborates. “It’s quite a change of scenery.”      “I’ll bet,” the cowgirl behind the wheel reckons. “Ya’ll have pretty cold winters over there, huh?”

     Curiously, the new girl looks over at Jo. The Southern charm in her voice is rich. Her accent has a lot more soul to it than the ones she picked up in the arrival hall and the coffee place back at the airport. Not even the local taxi drivers who were chatting as they waited for a ride sounded like Jo. 

     “Yeah.” Y/N nods, answering the question after a beat. “Lots of snow too.”      “You won’t ever be cold in Arizona, I can promise ya that, Yankee.”      Y/N chuckles. “Yankee?”      “That’s what us Southerners call Northerners,” she explains. “Better get used to it.”      “I thought Arizona was considered the Southwest,” the intern says.      Now it’s Jo’s turn to smirk, as she gives her a side-eye. “Aren’t you as smart as all get out? But you’re right. My folks are from the South. The ranch belonged to my grandpa back in the day. When he got too old to work the land, Mom and Dad moved in to help and took over when he passed. I was born and raised here in Gold Canyon, but what can I say? It’s hard to lose the slang when you’re around a bunch of Southerners.”

     Jo continues to make small talk. Y/N doesn’t mind it, though. It’s nice to get to know the ranch owner’s daughter and at least there’s not an awkward silence dwelling in the old pickup. Easy conversation about the weather is soon traded for other subjects, like the ranch and the horses.      “Dad mentioned you’re a reining rider. What level are ya?” Jo asks.      “Debuted in Open a couple of months ago.”

     She tries to stay modest, but a proud smile forms on Y/N’s lips anyway. Hours of practice and years of training have brought her to the highest level in reining sport. When the letter from the National Reining Horse Association came in to inform her of the promotion from Non-Pro to Open, she remembered being so excited that she ran through the house screaming high pitched and hugged her parents so tight, she almost suffocated them. It took hard work, blood, sweat, and tears, but she made it. It all paid off.

     “Whoa, you must be pretty damn good then!” Jo responds, eyebrows raised, impressed.      Y/N doesn’t really respond, not sure how to take the compliment. Instead, she looks down at the coffee container in her lap. “What about you?”      “I’m not a reiner,” the cowgirl smiles. “I race barrel.”

     Now, it’s Y/N’s turn to be fascinated. Surely, reining is an exciting discipline of horse riding, but barrel racing is a whole other ballgame. She always enjoys watching it at the rodeo. The speed, the acceleration, the tight corners around the barrels, beating the clock, every fraction of a second counting; it’s the definition of thrilling.

     “What’s your PR?” she wonders.      Jo looks at her sideways, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. “16.1 seconds.”      Y/N huffs, amazed. “That’s fast!”      The ranch owner’s daughter shrugs it off. “I’ve got a very good horse.”      “My grandfather taught me that a  horse will never become extraordinary unless it’s matched with a skilled rider.”    Jo smiles at those wise words and gazes at the road ahead.

     The beams of the headlights reach out several yards in front of them. Everything beyond remains in the darkness of night. Although the rain stopped falling down on the dry and thirsty land, clouds still shield out the frail moon’s radiance. They left Metro Phoenix about ten minutes ago and Y/N can barely see what’s out there, but what she can see, captivates her. For a girl who has never been to the southwest of the US, it seems foreign, not from this planet even. A pair of tail lights glides down the straight two-lane freeway towards an invisible horizon, while a few lights on the mountains give an idea of the relief in the east. Dust, sand, and rocks alongside the road are all that she can make out, joined with tall cacti and small bushes every now and then. This is the first time she has seen a cactus in its natural habitat. She didn’t know they could grow that tall.

     “You should stay away from those when you go on a trail, especially the little fluffy lookin’ ones,” Jo suggests, noticing her passenger’s amazement as she watches the cacti pass by. “There’s nothing fluffy about the damn things when you get too close. I’ve seen the most gentle and laid back horses go full bronc after running their ass into a ‘cholla’.”      Y/N chuckles; she can imagine that happening. Appreciating the tip, she turns her attention back to the driver.      “Any other good advice for my first day tomorrow?” She dares to ask, curious about what lies ahead.      Jo smiles at her, appreciating her eagerness. The girl beside her isn’t the first rookie to ask her this. To her, it’s a sign of insecurity, one that comes along with the lack of experience.

     “You didn’t do a lot of ranch work back in Maine, did ya?” she confronts.      Out of balance, Y/N looks aside at the driver, then averts her gaze. The gentle expression on Jo’s face should tell her that she doesn’t intend to make her feel uncomfortable, but she can’t help herself from moving in her seat a little, lost for words.      “How can you tell?” she replies shyly.      “Your boots are too clean,” Jo grins, nodding at the intern’s feet.

     Somewhat stunned, Y/N looks down at her shoes. Wanting to make a good impression, she polished the brown leather. Honestly, she spent more time cleaning them than she normally would before a show, but it might have been a better idea to leave them dirty. A blush warms her cheeks as she shakes her head slightly; apparently, she’s a little too eager to prove herself.

     “You got me,” she admits. “You’re right, I lack experience when it comes to stable work. But I really want to learn.”      Thankfully, Jo takes away the embarrassment and seems to appreciate her enthusiasm.      “Don’t worry about it. We had workers who didn’t even know how to pick out a hoof, let alone ride a horse,” she reassures. “You’ll be fine. Keep your eyes and ears open, your head low and if there’s anything you need, you can always come to me.”

     Slightly put to ease, Y/N smiles at her shiny boots. Jo is right; she will be okay. There is no need to be nervous about tomorrow, she’s not completely oblivious after all. And with the ranch owner’s daughter as her new ally, she feels confident enough to believe that she will manage just fine.

     A moment of quietness follows as the young blonde takes the exit and directs the pickup onto Superstition Mountain Drive, leaving route 60 behind them. Soft music comes from the amplifiers, a country ballad bathing them in pleasant tunes. Despite her insecurities, Y/N feels comfortable with Jo by her side, and as she glances over at her, a future image of them becoming friends forms in her head. It doesn’t seem unlikely, not at all. Her wit, her confidence, the joy that she seems to have in everything she does; she can appreciate that.

     “There is one other piece of good advice I’m gonna give ya,” Jo continues after a while. “And it’s very, very important that you stick to it.”      Curious, Y/N waits for a follow-up, eager eyes on the blonde cowgirl in the driver’s seat who waits a couple more seconds, underlining the importance of her message.      “Do not, under any circumstances, fall for Dean Winchester.”

     A little underwhelmed, Y/N’s facial expression shifts from confused to amused. She scoffs, for a second thinking she’s joking. Jo’s dramatic build-up prepared for a line she was going to remember during the tough moments while staying at the ranch, so it’s a bit of a downer when it resulted in advice on men.

     “Who’s Dean Winchester?” she asks, unimpressed.      “He’s a wrangler at the ranch,” Jo enlightens her. “Also a shameless womanizer who has broken more hearts than I can count. That bastard lures gals into his bed like it’s a fucking competition. Or in the haystack, his truck, the restroom of the saloon. Whatever place he finds fit to hump somethin’.”

     Y/N’s jaw drops, after which she covers her mouth to muffle her chuckle. And ten minutes ago they were talking about the weather. Well, that escalated quickly.      “I’m serious,” Jo underlines, noticing the cynicism in her passenger’s laugh.      “You don’t have to worry about that. That’s not what I’m here for,” she assures the ranch owner’s daughter.      “That’s what most of them say,” she returns, having heard this before.

     For a second Y/N observes her co-driver as questions start to buzz around in her head. What are Jo’s motives? Might there be something more behind what seems like just good advice?      “Did you…? Did you ever, you know…?”      Insecurity overwhelms her once again, disabling her to form a proper sentence. A little confused, Jo looks over, but at the sight of Y/N’s raised eyebrow and a subtle smile twitching at the corner of her mouth, it suddenly dawns on her what she’s getting at.      “What?! Oh, hell no!” She shudders in disgust. “Christ! He’s my cousin!”

     Y/N eyes grow large when she realizes what she just implied, but then Jo snorts and they both burst out in laughter. How this conversation went from climate and desert flora to sex and men puzzles her completely, but she’s sure that she just gained a friend. When both of them can talk again after another convulsion of giggles, Y/N can’t help but wonder about this wrangler with a reputation.

     “What’s so special about this Dean?”      Jo wipes away tears that came running down her face in the uncontrollable laughing fit she endured. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

     She switches on the turning signal and turns left onto a long driveway. Fenced pastures stretch out on either side, running up towards the hills. Cows are chewing their roughage at the hayracks, but look up when the headlights of the Chevrolet captures them briefly as the car passes. Up ahead, a wooden sign arches over the road. ‘Gold Canyon Ranch’ it says in bold capital letters. The pickup surfaces from underneath the sign and proceeds up the driveway, which fans out into a square. In front of a house - which is built from sandstone and has a red-tiled roof - Jo parks the car and turns off the ignition.

     Amazed by the setting, Y/N gets out of the truck and takes it in. Several buildings, all in the same architectural style, surround the square as well. The soft and easing sounds of horses rummaging around in their stables originate from a large barn to the right of the family home. Then there’s that familiar and soothing smell of the farm, although the scent that’s reaching her senses now is sharper, more earthy than she’s used to up in Maine. Then another sound draws her attention; the sound of a cheerful crowd and country songs. Y/N looks over the top of the Chevrolet and watches Jo walk over to a building complex at the other end of the square.

     “Leave your suitcase. Let’s fix us a drink first.” She hints at the saloon, from where the music is coming. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to the bunch.”      Y/N follows in a fast stride, forking her fingers through her hair and straightening it out quickly, then she tucks her checkered blouse into her jeans, even though she just decided that she was going to leave it hanging over her belt. This is ridiculous, she scolds at herself. Why are you so nervous?

     She doesn’t have time to think about it, because when she’s about to catch up with Jo, the blonde swings open the double doors and makes her entrance. The musk of hard work mixed with beer and nicotine welcomes her, mingling with the lingering heat of the day. The music shifts to a new song, the guitars and a strong beat sounding through the space. Burning stares come her way as they walk into the saloon, making her feel like she got stuck in an old spaghetti western starring Clint Eastwood. Where is that cowboy to save her now?

     “Look what I found out in the rain,” Jo jokes, casually putting an arm around Y/N’s neck. “Our Yankee!”      Cheers rise from the group of men, glad that they made it back. Half-empty beer bottles litter the wooden surface of the table they are seated at; it’s clear that the party has been going for a while now, eyes getting hazy and laughs roaring louder. It’s a good thing that Jo basically drags her inside, because if she had been on her own, she would have frozen on the spot.

     A middle-aged woman with chestnut brown hair steps from behind the counter to meet them halfway. With a dish towel hanging over her shoulder, she approaches the new face, smiling genuinely.      “Y/N, this is my mom,” Jo introduces.      “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Singer,” Y/N greets, humble, remembering her name from the email exchanges they had to arrange her internship.      “Please, call me Ellen. Welcome. Make yourself at home, honey,” she says as her husband flanks her.      “And this is my old man.” Jo pats him on the back, triggering a mutter.      “I’m not that old,” he states, redirecting his attention to the new guest. “I’m Bobby. Nice to meet you. Sorry ‘bout the delay.”      “Oh, that’s alright,” Y/N smiles back at him, starting to feel more at ease.

     The family seems really nice, but the group of men - which Y/N assumes is the ranch crew - still curiously lurks at her. Intimidated, she lets her eyes roam through the bar, trying not to stare. At home she had her brothers to back her up, their presence alone usually enough for guys to take a step back. But yet again she becomes painfully aware of the fact that she is on her own this time.

     Her eyes glide over the workers and wranglers. At the far end of the table, a guy - who she guesses to be in his late twenties - looks back at her from under his cowboy hat. He has two poker cards in one hand and nurses a bottle of beer with the other, resting his strong forearms on the edge of the wood. Emerald green eyes seem to read her like an open book, taking her in with enough confidence in his expression to compensate for what she lacks. He puts his lips against the mouth of his beer bottle and takes a swig, slowly, without breaking eye contact. Did he really take his time or did her mind just process that in slow-motion? Suddenly aware that she’s staring, Y/N looks away and focuses on Jo again, who has continued the introduction.

     “This is Ash, one of our wranglers and in charge of the cattle. Don’t let the hair fool ya, he’s a pretty swell guy under all the craziness.” She walks behind him, peeking into his cards. “Wow, you really just raised with a two and a three?”      The guy next to Ash shoves two piles of chips forward, flashing the bluffer a big grin. Jo has settled between the two men, smirking at Ash’s annoyed face. Resting her folded arm on his shoulder, she turns her head and now puts a hand on her neighbor’s back.      “Benny Lafitte. Best farrier in Arizona. Also, a master on the ground when it comes to starting young horses.”      The man with a nicely trimmed beard tips his hat at Y/N, observing her with his blue eyes for a second before the ranch owner’s daughter moves on.      “Over yonder is Garth. Wrangler and our man in the stables.” She nods at the fragile built guy with dark hair, who shyly looks up and greets the newcomer. “He’s harmless, great mounted shooter by the way.”

     Jo straightens her back and folds her arms in front of her chest as she turns to her cousin. He doesn’t look back, though. His eyes haven’t left the new face, who forces herself to meet his gaze. After everything that Jo told her about this guy, she doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being the spectator for her discomfort and shyness. But my God, she gets why the girls swoon by the sight of him. He has great features, a few days old scruff adding to his strong jawline. Broad shoulders pull at the fabric of his jacket, his strong fingers running slowly up and down the smooth glass of the bottle. He looks like he just walked out of a Marlboro commercial, western hat and all.      “And this is Dean,” Jo states simply, observing them both.      As the guy in question takes another swig of his drink, he finally tears his eyes away from Y/N. The weight that was pressing on her chest is lifted and instantly she finds it easier to breathe.      “What? No catchy intro for me?” he asks Jo. “Now, I know it’s hard to describe a man like me with words--”      “Oh, I already described you just fine, Winchester,” she returns impudently. “Every girl about to encounter you deserves a fair warning.”

     Dean raises his eyebrows at that remark, not sure how to interpret the remark. His eyes flick back to Y/N again, startling her. She must have flinched, because her reaction ignites a grin.      “You know us now, but what’s your name?” Dean asks, even though he is already aware.      Pushing her self-consciousness out of the way, she speaks as clear as she can, not just addressing him, but the entire crew. “I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you all.”

     When their gazes lock again, the cowboy’s smile grows a little wider and he flashes her a short and subtle wink. It’s close to unnoticeable, had she blinked she would’ve missed it, but she caught it, alright. 

     “Your turn, brother,” Benny calls for his attention on the game.      Dean glances down at his cards once more. A pair of queens; surely he’s going along with the raise, but he doesn’t want to be obvious about his good hand. He shoves two stacks of chips forward to meet the stakes and waits for his friend’s response. Translating his expressions and possible tells, the blue-eyed wrangler stares back at him while dealer Garth unfolds the final card; a queen of hearts. Benny seems to ponder, but Dean doesn’t give him an inch. 

     The farrier throws in five more chips. “I raise with five hundred.”      “One thousand,” Dean counters.      Benny chuckles. He’s got to be bluffing, right?      “Fine,” he agrees, adding five more to the pot as he throws down his cards on the table for his opponent to see. “A pair of Aces.”

     A good hand indeed, but not good enough to win. Dean bites his lip, looks down at his cards, then back at the young woman that caught his eye. This time she’s prepared; Y/N doesn’t look away. All she does is stare back into those green orbs, standing her ground. Before it becomes obvious to the others in their company, Dean averts his gaze first. For Y/N it feels like a big win in this strange staring contest that started from the moment she walked in. The hand that Dean lays out on the table is his victory. Three of a kind just won him over three thousand chips. Interesting, how a queen of hearts in the last draw is the key to winning this game of cards.

     “Well, shit!” Benny laughs, leaning back in his seat and admitting his defeat. “Guess the next round’s on me then.”      “Let me pour you a drink, sweety,” Ellen suggests, bumping her shoulder into Y/N lightly. “You can use one after all that traveling.”

     A heavy breath falls from her lips as she joins the ranch owner’s wife at the bar. Ellen isn’t wrong. Boy, she needs a drink, but not because of the long flight. The attention from Dean, him looking at her like he did; it’s unlike any attention she has ever received. It felt exciting and suffocating at the same time. Unable to truly understand what she is experiencing right now, Y/N thinks about what Jo said. The words she spoke in the car are starting to make sense now. The way this man has a grip on her since the moment she laid eyes on him, throws her off. He shouldn’t be having that effect on her, she’s not that kind of girl, after all. She’s the kind that keeps her eye on the ball and doesn’t let anything distract her. And if guys would try? She would give them a run for their money. With three brothers, Y/N learned to stand her ground in order to compete with her siblings. She developed a smart mouth and isn’t easily intimidated by men. But somehow all the lessons learned flew right out the window the moment Dean Winchester laid eyes on her.

     “What are you having?”        The one person who got her drowning in her thoughts settles on a stool on her right. She glances aside at Dean, who has a gentle smile on his surprisingly plump lips.       “A beer would be great.” She turns to Ellen, who is waiting by the fridge for an answer.      The wrangler puts up two fingers as he makes contact with his aunt behind the counter, signaling her to double it. Skillfully, she flips the caps off the bottles and hands them over.      “Here ye go. On the house,” she insists, her expression gentle.      “Thank you,” Y/N returns gratefully with a slight nod of the head.

     As Ellen Singer leaves to join her husband, Y/N is forced to deal with the guy in the seat next to her. Conflicting emotions battle each other inside her chaotic mind. Working on this ranch is going to show her Dad that she can build a company worth his investment. It will teach her everything she needs to know about ranch work. She made an agreement with herself that she is going to use every second of her time to learn. Wasting it by fooling around with one of the wranglers does not fit in her schedule and it certainly isn’t going to deliver the message that she’s taking this internship seriously. But she cannot deny that a part of her is curious about this cowboy. He ignited a downright confusing interest, all that with a few lingering stares and a couple of words.

     When she glances aside at the handsome man, elbows on the bar while holding her beer loosely by its neck, Jo moves into her peripheral vision. With a stack of plates in her hands, the blonde cowgirl enters the area behind the counter and continues to the kitchen, but not before shooting her new friend a glare that asks her what the hell she’s doing and tells her to stop it right now. Jo’s good advice fights its way to the surface and Y/N’s common sense takes over again. Dean didn’t take a seat because he likes her, he took that seat because he wants to get laid tonight.

     “So--” he starts off.      “Just let me get one thing straight,” Y/N interrupts, “I’m here to learn about the ranch management, not to entertain you during lonely moments. You might be able to wind any other girl around your finger, but not me, so forget it.”      It’s out there before she’s able to stop herself. She doesn’t fully understand where the words came from and how she managed to gather the courage to speak up, but the harsh message is out, hovering between them and throwing her admirer off his game. Jo - who spied on them from around the corner - seems impressed and smirks, amused, before disappearing again. 

     She’s not the only one who is left stunned. Dean has raised his eyebrows and needs a moment to recover.      “In my defense, I was gonna ask you if you were looking forward to your first day tomorrow,” he says with a chuckle, rubbing his chin.      “I like to set boundaries,” she states, taking a swig of her beer.      “Apparently.” Dean clears his throat, collecting himself before he speaks a little lower. “Good thing I like to break them.”

     The charismatic man has turned towards her now, his hand holding the beer resting on the counter. He’s not hiding that this hard-to-get demeanor actually intrigues him more. His arrogance, on the other end, only fuels Y/N’s persistence to shut his attempt down.      “It wouldn’t really be breaking boundaries if I’m just a number on the long list of girls you picked up. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long day and tomorrow probably isn’t going to be much shorter, so I’m going to get some sleep.”

     With those words, she knocks back the last of the beer and leaves the bottle on the bar. Before he can stop her, she hops off her stool.      “I’ll show you the way,” Jo offers, surfacing from the backroom again.       With a suppressed grin on her lips, she passes Dean, who watches the two girls walk away from him, flabbergasted.

     It’s then when the puzzle pieces fall in place. That little bitch... Jo just cockblocked him! He bets his lovely cousin told all about his intermezzos with some of the women that have passed through these doors. She just ruined a perfectly good chance to get together with the new girl. 

     Without giving him one more second of her time, Y/N starts to walk towards the exit of the saloon, followed by Jo. “G’night, everyone.”      They all reply, either with words or by waving, all but Dean. He lets out a sigh and shakes his head, turning on the stool to meet his beer again. It doesn’t happen very often, but his pride has taken quite a punch. When he looked at the woman that had him do a double-take when she walked through those doors, he could have sworn he saw her react to him.      Maybe you’re getting sloppy, he thinks to himself. Maybe you’re getting too old for this shit.  

     No, that can’t be it. Just because he’s heading towards those dreadful thirties, doesn’t mean he has to change the way he plays this game. Benny is half a decade older than him, he still lives like a bachelor and will most likely do so for the rest of his days. The intern probably has some history that causes her to act this way, a backpack full of misery; not something he wants to deal with anyway. Too complicated, at least that what he’s tries to convince himself of.

     “Hey, amigo? What’s that on your face?”      Ash looks over at the bar, observing the man who just got rejected. He shuffles the cards for the last game of the night.      “Oh, I see it too,” Garth acknowledges, pretending to be shocked by the sight. “That doesn’t look so good.”      Dean feels his cheek and casts a confused gaze at his friends as Benny starts to snigger.      “That’s one ugly lookin’ red handprint that’s swelling up, man,” Ash continues.

     Garth giggles, his laughter coming out in a high-pitched sniggering sound. By now Dean gets what’s going on and rolls his eyes. Who needs enemies when you have friends like these assholes.      “That’s gotta hurt, Chief. Want me to get some ice for that?” Benny adds, sparkles in his bright blues.      “Y’all can kiss my go-to-hell,” Dean mutters, unable to appreciate the banter.

     Now all three burst out in laughter and even Bobby can’t help but join in a full belly laugh. After the fun, Benny gets up from his chair and walks over to fill the empty spot beside him.      “I think this is a good thing,” he comments, his accent as gentle as Southern comfort. “It'll keep you sharp, a gal like that.”      “She’s quite somethin’, isn’t she?” Dean smiles at his drink.      “She ain’t easy, that’s for sure,” he agrees. “Good thing she ain’t the only lady friend in town.”

     Benny redirects Dean’s eyes to a beautiful dark-haired woman at the pool table. Casey is a guest that enjoys her time at the ranch every holiday, especially since most of that time is spent with a certain wrangler. She must have arrived just now, because he didn’t notice her earlier. Or was that because his eyes and mind were too occupied by someone else? It doesn’t matter, because when Casey makes eye contact before pocketing the striped number thirteen, the sexual tension between them is already stirring up. He might not spend the night between the sheets with Y/N, but he will be satisfied by the end of the night either way.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate every single one of you, but if you do want to give me some extra love, you are free to like or reblog my work, shoot me a message or buy me coffee (Link to Kofi in bio at the top of the page).

Read part three here

[danidoesathing]

Dr. Corenthal is the dad of the Slenderverse AU Part 2: The Electric Boogaloo

HERE WE GO AGAIN LADS

IVE BEEN WRITING THIS FOR DAYS

I’m stealing a lot of ideas from my discord and Tim’s alters are from @jaysbabyknife

Some ideas from: @habitmorelikefuckyou, @benjamin-benny-ben, @cryptidalex, @jaysbabyknife and others (but I don’t have their urls)

I would like to preference this with the fact I do not have DID. If I get anything wrong I’m sorry, please let me know so I can change it.

So anywho, lets get onto the domestic headcanons

—————————————————

-This should be obvious but the Corenthal household is LGBT+ friendly!!! No homophobes and transphobes allowed thanks!!

-Evan and Alex play Overwatch and Forenight together a lot

-“DAD SAYS IT MY TURN TO USE THE XBOX”

-Steph collects bugs! She really likes them and finds them fascinating

-Milo still has Oscar the cat

-Stan has a little garden back behind the house

-Tim and Jay are dating because I said so

-There first date was them exploring the woods together, neither of them thought it was a date until Tim had the impulse to kiss him and he did and then went “K bye see you next time” and they’ve been dating ever sense

-The Corenthal household loves Jay, he’s practically one of my them at this point

-Jay has a bunch of lizards and rats and he bring them over from time to time

-One of them is named Jimothan and he’s a big baby

-Sunday movie nights with family. Friends and datefriends are allowed but if your corenthal’s kid you gotta be there

-Patrick and Michael share a room. They could have separate rooms but when Michael has a nightmare or panic attack (something that used to happen often) Patrick calms him down, and vice versa

-Tim reads a lot of books

-One of the rules of the house: If you see, think or even feel something wrong, you tell someone. It may be nothing, but it could be something

-Everyone still takes medication

-Alex reads a lot of comics and really like superhero movies

-Jeff isn’t really a fan but he’ll take Alex to see them anyway

-Alex dresses up as Spiderman for Halloween

-Tim works at a movie theater not too far from the house

-Roger dragging Vinnie out to the woods to search for Bigfoot and the Mothman

-Michael, Tim and Jeff both love music and play together sometimes

-Patrick still dresses in really fancy outfits whenever he can

-Stan is dating a girl from down the road named Susan

-They’re that cutesy couple who everyone hates for being too cute

-Tim has DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder)

-“Masky” in this universe is name is Vendetta, Ven for short. He saw the movie once and said “that’s my name now”

-He’s selectively mute. He usually uses sign language

-He’s like.... a huge dork. Like he’s still feral and stuff but... he’s a major dork

-He tends to wonder the forest when he wants to be alone

-He’s got a huge crush on Jay. He keeps leaving jay wildflowers (with dirt and roots) and is like “DOES HE LIKE THEM??”

-He keeps wanting to hug and kiss him all the time and Tim is just like “please stop”

-Tim: “Alright we’re going to hang out with ja-“ Ven, forcing himself to the front: “JAY??? JAY?!? 💕JAY!!!”

-He and Jay have to talk by texting for a while

-Jay learning sign language so he can talk to Ven and Ven goes “!!!!!!”

-come on Jay how come you get two boyfriends

-Ven likes to walk around at odd hours. Tim will wake up at Burger King at 3:46 am and be like “Fuck”

-Loves!!! Rain!!!

-Halloween is his time

-Dr. Corenthal has to turn on tracking on his phone so he can find Tim when this happens

-He has a younger alter named Billy, who’s ten years old

-He is baby

-He makes fun of Tim a lot and loves armadillos

-He keeps trying to convince Jay to steal one from the zoo and Jay is so tempted

-Alex is excited because he’s not the youngest anymore!!!

-He wants Tim to be a cowboy for some reason

-Billy: “Dr. Corenthal can we get an armadillo and name it Sprinkles” Corenthal: “It kills me to say no but-“

-He helps Stan with his garden sometimes

-Billy also loves Sparky

-He has an alter named Mary and she is a mom

-She is very calm and respectful to everyone

-She’s so.... soft

-Protective af

-She and Dr. Corenthal like to sit and just talk

-She gets very worried whenever Evan has his knives out cause like... it’s dangerous and Christ he’s gonna hurt himSELF PUT IT DOWN

-She really likes to draw. She’s a really good artist

-Mary would like.... die for this family

-Her favorite band is The Oh Hellos

-Tim: *stays up until 1am watching Netflix eating drunk food* Mary, on the verge of tears: “Please.... just go to bed”

-All of Tim’s alters love Jay. All of them

-When Dr. Corenthal found out Tim had DID he was like “Great!!! More kids!!!”

-Brian will come over a lot and play with Alex

-D&D nights on Tuesdays

-Stan tutors a 3rd grader named Willow from down the road

-Milo still writes in his journal

-Noah really likes photography

-The Rake is there but he’s not... evil or anything he’s just.... there

-Alex and him can talk like, telepathically kinda of

-Alex puts little hats and stuff on the Rake and he’s cool with it

-Milo and Noah will go out at weird times, like they leave at 2am for milkshakes because they just want milkshakes

-Patrick is the go to man for events outfits. He’s got a top notch fashion sense

-Of course living in a house full of people that mostly wear hoodies and flannel gives him a headache

-Once when Alex was 8 he convinced Jeff to perform in his school’s talent show. Jeff really didn’t want to do it but he wanted to make Al happy

-The whole family showed up and were so proud of them

-VERY LOVING AND HAPPY FAMILY

[bebaexoexo]

Shit Oh Sehun did in 2017

-Mistook Jeonghan (svt) for Johnny (nct)

-Movie date with suho

-Slayed at the gaon chart award show with a solo dance

-Paris vacation/date with suho

-Got called best dressed man at a Louis Vuiton catwalk and then proceeded to spend the next day walking around Paris with a hood, baseball cap and a cowboy hat on his head all at one time

-Revealed his bed time snuggle routine with Suho, no shame attached

-Was supposed to debut as an Actor Oh in February, but didn’t…

-Was supposed to debut as an Actor Oh in March, but didn’t…

-Got an award for being himself (popularity award)

-Was supposed to debut as an Actor Oh in April, but didn’t…(NoT EvEn a FRackin TraIleR)

-Waved to a tablet instead of the camera, tried to play it cool by continuing to do so

-Posted about his big chilli… 0.0

-Got 15 points on a drawing game while everyone else got over 100 (he drew love hearts and wrote ‘I’m sorry’ for everything and still couldn’t accept being last)

-Howled because of sour pickles

-Members accuse him of being the prime suspect when food goes missing in the fridge, he agrees

-Used binoculars the wrong way round and couldn’t understand why he couldn’t see (Suho to the rescue and an embarrassed osh as a result)

-Gets driven around by big brother chanyeol

-CAN SING (might as well be in exo’s vocal line)

-Biyak Biyak 4 lyfe

-Rubbed his head on a random guy’s stomach (who looks like he’s his sugar daddy)

-Made suho sad because he didn’t go to a premier with him, but went to a festival with Chanyeol and guy whose stomach he rubbed his head on

-Danced (????) at said music festival. By dance I mean chicken fingers at the crowd wtf @ exo’s main dancer

-Can ya tell iv given up on the debut of Actor Oh

-Graced his instagram with such artistic pictures of rice, spoons and cereal

-Only one ft BoA returns

-KING OF SPOILERS sehun the cereal rice (kokobop) poster

-KING OF SPOILERS PT2 dancing the dance with kai can you all please stop this isn’t good for me

-Comments ‘is this exo’s official account?’ On exo’s official account

-“What did you do in preperation for this album?” “Loyalty”

-Passionately talked about eel reproduction

-“Favorite fruit?” “Water with ice”

-Gave flowers to the members because he’s their cute baby omfh (it was a punishment but same thing)

-*gives Kai a rose* “it fits you, you’re sexy and dark red suits you”

-Baekhyun confirms Sehuns big DIACK

-“Sehun has absolutely no interest I’m women. How do I know? Sehunnie said he has no interest in women”- Baekhyun

-Bragged about a really good noodle place, took 30+ people to eat and payed for them- but the food was disappointing

-“Say something to the EXO-L for their birthday” *sehun claps*

SUPER ELLE

-*brags about his dog at every chance he gets, literal protective father to vivi* “I am a cat person”

-EXOTOURAGRAM AKA SEHO AND FRIENDS

-“We’ve been roommates for 6 years I want to cross the line”

-Producer Oh

-“I’ve arrived!” \(-°o°-)/

-Date in NYC with suho (ft the third wheel JD)

-Pulls out chair for suho

-“Its enough just to film me, suho’ s voice in the background is fine”

-Couldn’t believe that a waitress in NYC can’t speak Korean

-Theatre date with suho (ft the late third wheel JD)

-Kicks suho out of their room

-SBS power fm- more like 2 hours of sehun whinning and crying from embarrassment while suho laughs

-“I really like chocolate milk. I think it’s love”

-“Sehunnie is upset~ upset~ really really upset… huhuu” AEGAO KING WHAY

-“I’ve been having a hard time too. At times like this, we should all embrace each other. There’s something I always tell the members and that is to to ‘hug/embrace (me)’. Let’s cheer each other on, got it everyone? Cheer up always and yea, that’s it” and this is why we love our baby

-Sehun irl- “I love all my hyungs to the moon and back #se-rang-hai-yo” Sehun in manwha- “who cares”

-LA date with suho

-DING DONG

-“Let’s goo” \(^o^!)__

-Just sehun trying to control his face while riding the drift car

-King of being HOT, calm and panicking at the same time when their car stalled

-Also Oh Sehun driving someone hold me

-Heart-shaped sweatpatch on his back

-“Excuse me… sir… ketchup ketchup yahh… thank you”

-“The hardest time isn’t when we have a lot of schedule but when the members have different opinions (argue). It saddens me a lot”

-Me me da

-Fan- “do sehun and i have something in common?” Sehun- “we’re human”

-Las Vegas date with suho

-Volunteers suho to go sky diving first like the little shit he is

-Wears a dress shirt and leather shoes to sky diving

-Acts like he isnt shitting himself on the zipwire

-Shamelessly wore nothing underneath an easily unzip-able hoodie

-MC Oh

-“Who is the scariest hyung?” “All of them”

-Tries to prank suho by putting a sticker on him, fails misrebly and then loses the sticker

-White suit blue shirt

-Chanyeol saying Sehuns voice is so good he wants to produce him PLEs

-Teary eyed sehun as eXO WIN RHE PRIME MINISFERS AWARD WWKBDUDBDJ

-Hello councellor MC’s @ seho “stop touching eachother are you guys coming out right now?”

-Sehun @ LVTN

-Gets customised bags from LVTN

-Sehun @ Moncler (also makes the CEO come out just to take pictures with him we love a powerful man)

-Peace signs in his pockets when hes told not to do it

-Doesnt follow seungri back on insta because aesthetics

-Omfg okay elyxion antics begins here

-SHIRTLESS SEHUN IMDG THAT BOY JUST THREW OFF THAT JACKETS WTF I JUST GOT OUT OF WORK AND THATS THE FIRST THING I SEE ON INSTA WTF OMG MY HEART I DONT EVEN KNOW WHATS GOING ON YET BUT I SAW FOKKIN RIPPED SEHUN AND SHIT THATS JISTVTJE LIFE OMG THIS IS GONNA BE LIT

-Wrote and co produced his solo In At thE CONCERT COZ WE LOVE A TALENTED KING

-Lovingly strokes suhos face during touch it

-Comforts kai, upset because he made a mistske in his solo, during cmb

-Danced to ka-ching with CBX

-Suho “after our concert ended at midnight yesterday, sehun and i went back to our door and boiled 20 eggs. 2 adult men peeled them seriously and ate 10 eggs”

-Kisses baekhyuns neck

-Eats pizza at the concert after holding back for months, members happy give us one last chance at seeing THE ABS

-Went crazy and got chanyeol too drunk on his birthday

-Fansites “please dont crop our watermark we work really hard for these pictures” Sehun ;)

-Cute instalive of him just trying on the filters and telling us not to be stressed and play

-SEHUN IN DEAR HAPPINES OMG GREY SEHUN IS DA BESTZ IN A THIN WHITE SHIRT OMG

-“OK!! goo” *pouts*

-“Hey dog, look at me~”

-“Cheese many manyyy”

-*is just standing there posing* Photographer “youre cute”

-Didnt know it was just him, kai and baekhyun in the lightsaber mv

-“Sehunnie makes the most delicious soju” byun baekhyun

-LEON KOREA

-Makes a personal training room in their dorm that can barely fit his own ass

-Supports suho at his musical despite both going through a tough time

-Struggles with the rudolph hat

-SINGING IN UNIVERSE YES DAS MA BETCH

-Subtly strokes suhos face on a national award show

-Make chanyeol kneel whenever he wants something from him. We love our king

-Curly haired solo on mbc gayo

-A beautiful family picture from Oh Sehun to end 2017

——–

Cr. Lerandomexotic

I had a lot of fun making this, just thought i needed to record sehuns never ending loveble antics etc

Feel free to add whatever else i missed

Hopefully he’ll just keep getting crazier next year too, and exo themselves will grow to be greatet and stronger

Like, reblog & excel

[samanthasroberts]

‘If I had my gun on me, I’d shoot him’: the civil war over statues in New Orleans

As New Orleans begins to take down statues of Confederate leaders, angry protesters are flooding into the city to face off – and nuance is the first victim

The city of New Orleans surrendered early during the actual Civil War, after the Confederates left it poorly defended. This time, though, reinforcements from far afield have arrived to hoist the battle flag.

I will chain myself to that son of a bitch before I let them tear it down, Wilford Seymour said Thursday, waving a hand toward a statue of General PGT Beauregard mounted in a bronze saddle. By God I will ride that horse myself.

Seymour had driven overnight from Arkansas, as soon as he got word that the city of New Orleans was pulling down some of its Confederate monuments. The citys first maneuver was a covert one, carried out at 3am Monday. A crew wearing masks and bulletproof vests, guarded by snipers overhead, dismantled a monument to the Battle of Liberty Place. It was the most obvious of four monuments marked for removal, since it commemorated an ignoble post-war uprising by white supremacists who didnt like the direction New Orleans was headed.

The monuments removal was timed for maximum symbolism. Monday was the day some Southern states celebrate as Confederate Memorial Day.

The push to remove the monuments is the latest skirmish in a conflict that started almost two years ago. Thats when Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, massacred nine black members of Mother Emmanuel church in Charleston, South Carolina. In the days after the shooting, photos emerged of Roof posing with his collection of Confederate battle flags, which led to the removal of such a flag from atop the South Carolina statehouse.

The Robert E Lee statue at Lee Circle in New Orleans. Photograph: Simon Leigh/Alamy

Since then a debate has rolled across the South, with varying degrees of nuance. At one edge, some people continue to wave the rebel flag; at the other, activists call for an outright purge of monuments. Most Southerners seem caught in the middle, pondering the difference between preserving historys lessons and celebrating its atrocities.

Understanding those subtleties is particularly important in New Orleans. Its racial makeup, for instance, is far more complex than any other major Southern city. And the villains and heroes of New Orleanss history can be difficult to distinguish.

Consider old PGT Beauregard, frozen on his horse at the entrance to City Park. During the Confederacy he served as one of only a handful of full generals over the Confederate army, and ordered the first shots of the war, at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. In this role he tore the fabric of the nation, on behalf of the slave-holding side.

After the war, though, he returned to New Orleans and seems to have devoted himself to repairing that damage; he led a group called the Reform Party, pushing for broad civil rights, integrated schools, equal access to public transportation, and extraordinarily, at the time voting rights for black men.

Quentin James at the base of the Robert E Lee monument. Photograph: Matthew Teague

This complex tableau leaves many New Orleanians with a laissez-faire attitude to the citys history. It can frustrate advocates, for or against change, who arrive from elsewhere.

On Thursday afternoon, as a shadow started to creep from Robert E Lees perch a hundred feet above Lee Circle, lifelong resident Quentin James strolled around the columns base. Even as a black man, he said, he felt conflicted about its impending removal.

He did lose the war, thats true, James said. Then for several seconds he thoughtfully scraped the ground with his walking stick. Im in my 60s now, he continued. When I was in school, after class wed say, Wanna go lay under Lee? and wed have a picnic. I have a lot of memories attached to this place, and if they take it down, it will feel like Ive lost something.

That sort of nuance doesnt lend itself to easy outrage. Instead, for simplified anger, unburdened by subtlety, troops from elsewhere in the former Confederacy have traveled great distances.

Late Thursday afternoon, 72-year-old Lolita Villavasso Cherrie, a Creole woman, walked past Beauregards statue and stopped mid-stride. Before her stood James Del Brock, who looked like a time-traveler from the Civil War: a gray beard down to his chest, a Confederate army cap on his head, and on his shoulders several enormous iterations of the rebel flag, which billowed and snapped in the wind.

Where are you from? Cherrie said. Arkansas, he replied.

Cherrie, who is tiny, pointed at him with a single finger. It shook. You take this bullshit back where you came from, she said. We dont do this in New Orleans.

She didnt like Beauregard, she said later, but at least he was local. For Brock and his flags, on the other hand, she felt disgust.

That flag is a living symbol, she said. It reminded her of the suffering and fear her family felt even a single generation ago. It hurts.

Lolita Villavasso Cherrie at the PGT Beauregard monument, telling James Del Brock to go back to Arkansas. Photograph: Matthew Teague

The distinction Cherrie draws, between a historical artefact and a living symbol, is the line that runs through the center of the current conflict.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights advocacy group based in Alabama, has spent the past year sorting which markers preserve the past, and which glorify it.

There are many battlefield memorials, like those in Vicksburg, Mississippi, that remind viewers of the catastrophic loss of human life on both sides. The SPLC doesnt include them in its catalog. But of the other sort, the celebratory sort, the firms report says there are more than 700 scattered around the United States, with the vast majority in Southern states. There are many, many more streets and schools named for Confederate figures.

On Friday the group issued an update to its ongoing report: The SPLC has found that at least 60 such publicly funded symbols of the Confederacy have been removed since the Mother Emanuel massacre.

Simultaneously, the report warned, opposing forces have become more strident: At least one Georgia lawmaker has since introduced a resolution to recognize Confederate History Month and Confederate Memorial Day.

Thats a reference to Georgia Rep Tommy Benton, who cited the election of Donald Trump when he made the proposal.

We just elected a president that said he was tired of political correctness, Benton told a local public radio station. And so that was the reason that we were looking to introduce the resolution.

Its about preserving heritage, he said, not glorifying misdeeds.

Workers dismantle the Liberty Place monument which commemorates whites who tried to topple a biracial post-Civil War government. It was removed overnight on 24 April in an attempt to avoid disruption from protesters. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

That argument was often and loudly repeated this week in New Orleans, at the foot of the Jefferson Davis statue.

Davis was the president of the Confederate states. A group of his admirers from Texas and Oklahoma camped out on the patch of grass around the statue, and engaged any local passerby who objected to the monument.

Its about history, became the refrain. History, not propaganda.

That argument fell apart, though, any time someone pushed through the ranks of the Confederates to read the hagiographic inscription carved into the 40-foot statues base: A profound student of the Constitution; a majestic orator; in character firm; in judgment sound; in character resolute.

Mostly local people regarded the flag-wavers as a curiosity. Students from nearby Loyola University sat on blankets and shared cases of beer while they watched. When a young jogger swerved from the sidewalk, penetrated the Confederate ring, stole a flag and ran away waving it, a cheer went up among the locals.

One of the Confederate leaders, Allen Branch of Oklahoma, glared from beneath a black cowboy hat. If I had my gun on me, Id shoot him.

The protests and counter-protests have been, so far, mostly small and nonviolent. That may change, as more statues come down, and more supporters arrive.

(Mayor Mitch Landrieus office declined to confirm when, or in what order, Davis, Lee, and Beauregard might come down, citing security concerns.)

In the early hours of Friday morning, a car stopped at a traffic light in the roundabout that surrounds Beauregards statue. The driver, 38-year-old Michelle Agosto, lives in New Orleans and drives past the statue daily. She shouted from her car that the Confederates should go home. Similar sentiments had flown from passing cars for two days: some people yelling words of support, others booing the effort, and many, many middle fingers saluting from open car windows. None of it amounted to much more.

This time, though, a blonde woman with a Confederate flag ran to Agostos car and stuck her head inside the window, screaming. Agosto pushed her away. The woman, still screaming, punched Agosto in the face.

Later in the darkness of City Park, Agosto gingerly touched her left ear where the blow had landed.

I just wish they would go back to wherever they came from, she said.

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Source: http://allofbeer.com/if-i-had-my-gun-on-me-id-shoot-him-the-civil-war-over-statues-in-new-orleans/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/12/27/if-i-had-my-gun-on-me-id-shoot-him-the-civil-war-over-statues-in-new-orleans/