#carl xii

[illustratus]

The Fire at the Royal Palace, Stockholm, 7th May, 1697

by Johan Fredrik Höckert

[postcard-from-the-past]

Carl XII of Sweden's Statue in Stockholm

Swedish vintage postcard

[flyinghellfish]

[liberty1776]

In 1700, a triple alliance of Denmark–Norway, Saxony–Poland–Lithuania and Russia launched a threefold attack on the Swedish protectorate of Holstein-Gottorp and provinces of Livonia and Ingria, aiming to draw advantage as the Swedish Empire was unaligned and ruled by a young and inexperienced king, thus initiating the Great Northern War. Leading the Swedish army against the alliance, Charles won multiple victories despite being significantly outnumbered. A major victory over a Russian army some three times the size in 1700, at the Battle of Narva, compelled Peter the Great to sue for peace, an offer that Charles subsequently rejected. By 1706, Charles, now 24 years old, had forced all of his foes into submission including, in that year, a decisively devastating victory by Swedish forces under general Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld over a combined army of Saxony and Russia at the Battle of Fraustadt. Russia was now the sole remaining hostile power.

Charles's subsequent march on Moscow met with initial success as victory followed victory, the most significant of which was the Battle of Holowczyn where the smaller Swedish army routed a Russian army twice the size. The campaign ended with disaster when the Swedish army suffered heavy losses to a Russian force more than twice its size at Poltava. Charles had been incapacitated by a wound prior to the battle, rendering him unable to take command. The defeat was followed by the Surrender at Perevolochna. Charles spent the following years in exile in the Ottoman Empire before returning to lead an assault on Norway, trying to evict the Danish king from the war once more in order to aim all his forces at the Russians. Two campaigns met with frustration and ultimate failure, concluding with his death at the Siege of Fredriksten in 1718. At the time, most of the Swedish Empire was under foreign military occupation, though Sweden itself was still free. This situation was later formalized, albeit moderated in the subsequent Treaty of Nystad. The result was the end of the Swedish Empire, and also of its effectively organized absolute monarchy and war machine, commencing a parliamentary government unique for continental Europe, which would last for half a century until royal autocracy was restored by Gustav III.[3]

Charles was an exceptionally skilled military leader and tactician as well as an able politician, credited with introducing important tax and legal reforms. As for his famous reluctance towards peace efforts, he is quoted by Voltaire as saying upon the outbreak of the war: "I have resolved never to start an unjust war but never to end a legitimate one except by defeating my enemies". With the war consuming more than half his life and nearly all his reign, he never married and fathered no children. He was succeeded by his sister Ulrika Eleonora, who in turn was coerced to hand over all substantial powers to the Riksdag of the Estates and opted to surrender the throne to her husband Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel, who became King Frederick I of Sweden.[4]

Bringing Home the Body of King Karl XII of Sweden by Gustaf Cederström, 1884.

[misguidedasgardian]

Wildcats

A WALKING DEAD STORY

Summary: You had been alone for a while when you come across Carl, Rick and Michonne, and joining them proved to be challenging but worth it, since you not only met your new family, but also the love of your life: Daryl Dixon.

But life in the apocalypse proved to be full of challenges, not only the living dead, but other humans too, but whatever it comes, you'll face it together.

The dead were walking, and the living have become wild again.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Reader: Fem reader, on her mid-late twenties, use of pronouns she/her.

Warnings: Zombie apocalypse AU, living dead, zombies, guts, blood, guns, injures, cannibalism, cursing, slowburn, age gap (Daryl 40+, reader 25+), smut, fluff, angst, more tags to be added by chapter, this will be OCC for many characters since I'm not the creator or writer to the OG comic/series.

+18, MINORS DNI

Era: This will start after the fall of the prison (Season 4), when everyone is on their own, separately, and go from there.

Main Story

I. Roof cats

II. On the road

III. A leader worth following

IV. Hunter or Prey

V. The need

VI. A time to mourn

VII. A time to break down

Special chapter 0. The Exterminators Inc

VIII. A time to embrace

IX. The road ahead

X. At the brink

XI. Like animals

XII. Hardhome

XIII. The promised land

XIV. Alexandria

XV. The Canary

XVI. Invading species

XVII. Home

XVIII. For survival purposes

XIX. Keep an eye on the horizon

XX. I want it

XXI. AC/DC

XXII. The 97th Hour

XXIII. No one like you ❤️

XXIV. O Children

XXV. When a good man goes to war

XXVI. If that's a savior...

XXVII. ... I'm better off in danger

XXVIII. While you were gone

XXIX. The aftermath

XXX. Out in the cold

XXXI. Lonely Day

XXXII. Prosper season

XXXIII. We are on easy street

XXXIV. In the hen house

XXXV. The rules of the game

[bakerstreetdoctor]

Okay, I finallyyyyy sent the goddamn fucking email, putting what I wrote under the cut, as usual, google translate it yourself

Sehr geehrter Dr. (...),

ich bedanke mich sehr herzlich für Ihre so freundliche Antwort, auch wenn Sie mir zur Emailportraitdose nichts weiter sagen können. Ich bin sehr froh, dass mein Vorschlag auf Interesse stößt und freue mich über einen weiteren Austausch diesbezüglich.

Die bisher von mir gelesenen Bücher mit Quellenwert bzgl. des Prinzen sind folgende:

1730, Johann Wendel Bardili: Des Weyland Durchl. Printzens Maximilian Emanuels Hertzogs in Würtemberg etc. Obristen über ein Schwedisch Dragoner-Regiment Reisen und Campagnen (…):

Dies ist die wertvollste Primärquelle, welche das Leben des Prinzen von seiner Abreise in Stuttgart bis zu seiner Beisetzung dokumentiert, geschrieben von seinem Prediger/Sekretär, digitalisiert online verfügbar.

Bardili beschreibt die Vorbereitungen, die nach dem Ableben des Prinzen getroffen wurden, um seine Überreste nach Byczyna/Pitschen zu überführen, und erwähnt hier auch die Anfertigung in Wrocław/Breslau und Aufstellung des Grabmals an seinem ursprünglichen Ort in der evangelischen Kirche in Byczyna.

1839, Sigmund Schott: Max Emanuel, Prinz von Würtemberg, und sein Freund Karl XII., König von Schweden:

Stützt sich in größten Teilen auf Bardili, bietet aber mehr Einordnung bzgl der Abstammung und Familie des Prinzen und anderer involvierter Personen, digitalisiert online verfügbar

1956, Rudolf Grieser: Die Memoiren des Kammerherrn Friedrich Ernst von Fabrice:

Bietet am Rande drei kleinere Anekdoten über den Prinzen, die weiteren Einblick in seinen Charakter ermöglichen als Bardili vielleicht Interesse hatte ihn darzustellen, habe ich nur als Buch gefunden

1938, Max Schürer von Waldheim: Prinz Maximilian Emanuel von Württemberg – Ein tapferer Dragoneroberst in Karls XII. Armee:

Als Vorwort zum Autoren ist zu sagen, dass dieser Beziehungen zu deutschen Nazis unterhielt und sich die Gesinnung in seiner Interpretation des Lebenslaufes und seinem Gesamtausdruck deutlich abzeichnet. (Ich möchte hier als Nebenbemerkung hinzufügen, dass dieser interessanterweise mit Hans Scholl in Kontakt stand. Hier kann ich das Buch von Robert M. Zoske: Flamme sein! Hans Scholl und die Weiße Rose für mehr Kontext über den Autoren empfehlen) Jedoch ist er die wertvollste Quelle, die es vermutlich gibt, wenn es um den Werdegang des Grabmals sowie die sterblichen Überresten des Prinzen geht aufgrund seiner persönlichen Nachforschungen, später im Text dazu mehr. Die deutsche Ausgabe habe ich nur als Buch gefunden, die schwedische, 1913 erschienene Ausgabe (Prins Maximilian Emanuel af Württemberg, en tapper dragoneröfverste i Karl XII:s armé) ist online verfügbar, doch fehlt diesem die Dokumentation von Schürer von Waldheims späteren Arbeiten zum Grab und Neubestattung, dafür enthält dieses aber einige Briefe von der Mutter des Prinzen an König Karl XII und Graf Carl Piper.

Diese Quelle schildert in verkürzter Form die Überführung und Beerdigung des Prinzen, und merkt auch die Aufstellung des Grabmals in Byczyna an. Dort blieb dieses bis 1887, bevor es für 300 Mark nach Württemberg gesendet wurde, um die Renovierungsarbeiten an der Kirche zu finanzieren. In Stuttgart wurde es dann an seinem jetzigen Platz aufgestellt. Nachdem der Autor dies wiedergefunden hatte in 1913, wurden Verhandlungen eingeleitet, es zurück nach Byczyna zu bringen, was jedoch vom 1. Weltkrieg unterbrochen und schlussendlich 1923 durch sich wandelnde Gemüter endgültig zurückgewiesen wurde.

Im selben Jahr wurden daraufhin Spenden für ein neues Grabmal in Byczyna gesammelt. In diesem Zuge wurden die sterblichen Überreste exhumiert, zumindest was von diesen noch übrig geblieben war, da sie sich wohl in einem schlechten Erhaltungszustand befanden. Sie wurden in einem verlöteten Zinnsarg zusammen mit einem Bericht der Untersuchung der Überreste aufbewahrt in einer Flasche wieder beigesetzt, und im September wurde das schwedisch gestiftete neue Grabmal enthüllt.

Ich habe meine persönlichen Recherchen noch nicht abgeschlossen, aber ich denke, dass diese Quellen ein gutes Gesamtbild liefern können, und somit hoffe ich, dass ich Ihnen hiermit einen ersten Überblick verschaffen konnte und Ihnen diese preliminären Informationen weiterhelfen.

Ich verbleibe dankend, dass Sie sich die Zeit für eine Antwort genommen haben, und mit vielen Grüßen,

[aurianavaloria]

Kingdom of Heaven OST - The King (Harry Gregson-Williams)

This has been playing on repeat while I've been brainstorming headcanons and writing blurbs from my new WIP crossover fanfic, Sicut In Cælo Et In Terra.

Though Star Trek enables me to create the kind of AU content I want, the whole fic will lean far more heavily in favor of KoH, and King Baldwin IV in particular will play a very large role in this drastically-changed timeline and universe. The king himself will be a hybridized version of his historical and KoH selves, as will most of the other characters in the story.

For those interested, here are a few of these headcanons:

His chambers are frequented by an old and battle-scarred silver Egyptian Mau street cat. Baldwin has dubbed him "Carles Li Magnes" (Charlemagne).

His warhorse is named Vielantiu, after the horse of the legendary Roland.

His sword is called Enseigne, an Oakeshott XII-type pattern-welded blade with a bone hilt, blue and white enameling, and decorative gilding. According to the Old Norman dictionary, this word can mean everything from "sign" or "prophecy" to "paragon" and "exemplar", and even "war cry", depending on context. The engraving in the fuller reads "Virtue, Faith, Will" in Latin. As for the design, see the WIP sketch below.

If I've piqued your interest, be sure to check out the WIP first chapter I posted here!

[royalty-nobility]

Portrait of Charles XII

Artist: Johan David Schwartz (Swedish, 1678–1729)

Date: 1706

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden

Charles XII of Sweden

Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII (Swedish: Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718) was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of Wittelsbach. Charles was the only surviving son of Charles XI and Ulrika Eleonora the Elder. He assumed power, after a seven-month caretaker government, at the age of fifteen.

[phaedoe]

Oddly enough, the paradox is one of our most valuable spiritual possessions, while uniformity of meaning is a sign of weakness.

Carl Jung, Collected Works (V. XII)

[birdeebees]

act i, xii. big bear, little bear (snippet)

He's pulling a pair of bunny ears into place when a door at the end of the hall clicks shut. He looks up to see Lori raising a hand to her face while turning her back to him. He's too far away to hear her sniffles or see her tears, but he's sure they're there. He's familiar with the sight as he's seen his mother do the same after leaving his father alone in a room. Mason wonders if she and Rick are fighting again and if he has anything to do with her tears. He remembers Carl coming to school with red eyes the morning Rick got shot. It wasn't until recess when Mason found out it was because of what Lori had said to Rick. What was it? Sometimes, I wonder if you even care about us at all? Something like that.

Read the rest here ⤵️

[1sonic2tdpi3]

Tell me which ship that includes my Rebecca Simpson OC, you want to see my best art of.

1. Sideshow Bob X Rebecca

2. Krusty X Rebecca

3. Milhouse X Rebecca

4. Moe X Rebecca

5. Mr. Burns X Rebecca

6. Principal Skinner X Rebecca

7. Sean Bont X Rebecca

8. Apu X Rebecca

9. Barney X Rebecca

10. Blake Black X Rebecca

11. Bode Wright X Rebecca

12. Chief Wiggum X Rebecca

13. Colin X Rebecca

14. Jack DeForest X Rebecca

15. Frank Grimes X Rebecca

16. Superintendent Chalmers X Rebecca

17. Ol' Gil X Rebecca

18. Hank Scorpio X Rebecca

19. Hubert Wong X Rebecca

20. Ralph X Rebecca

21. Jacques Brunswick X Rebecca

22. Jimbo X Rebecca

23. Professor Frink X Rebecca

24. Julio Franco X Rebecca

25. Karl (Simpson and Delilah) X Rebecca

26. Lenny X Rebecca

27. Luke Stetson X Rebecca

28. Sideshow Mel X Rebecca

29. Ned Flanders X Rebecca

30. Nelson X Rebecca

31. Brenden Biederbecke X Rebecca

32. Nick (the Daughter Also Rises) X Rebecca

33. Stonecutter Number One X Rebecca

34. Otto X Rebecca

35. Grady X Rebecca

36. Lucas Porter X Rebecca

37. Snake Jailbird X Rebecca

38. Thelonious (Trilogy of Error) X Rebecca

39. Troy McClure X Rebecca

40. Freddie Scorpio X Rebecca

41. Lionel Hutz X Rebecca

42. Hugh Parkfield X Rebecca

43. Dr. Nick X Rebecca

44. Cecil Terwilliger X Rebecca

45. Fat Tony X Rebecca

46. Edmund (Tweenlight) X Rebecca

47. Reverend Lovejoy X Rebecca

48. Todd Flanders X Rebecca

49. Walt Warren (the Bob Next Door) X Rebecca

50. Willie X Rebecca

51. Bart X Rebecca

52. Herbert Powell X Rebecca

53. Homer X Rebecca

54. Jack Lassen X Rebecca

55. Artie Ziff X Rebecca

56. Jack Crowley X Rebecca

57. Dwight Diddlehopper X Rebecca

58. Mr. Bergstrom X Rebecca

59. Freddy Quimby X Rebecca

60. Comic Book Guy X Rebecca

61. Bleeding Gums Murphy X Rebecca

62. Cletus Spuckler X Rebecca

63. Disco Stu X Rebecca

64. Larry Burns X Rebecca

65. Officer Eddie X Rebecca

66. Hans Moleman X Rebecca

67. Mayor Quimby X Rebecca

68. Michael D'Amico X Rebecca

69. Bartigula the Jerk (I, Carambus) X Rebecca

70. Dr. Marvin Monroe X Rebecca

71. Wayne Slater (The Falcon and the D'ohman) X Rebecca

72. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) (The Simpsons Movie) X Rebecca

73. Kent Brockman X Rebecca

74. Carl Carlson X Rebecca

75. Langdon Alger (Simpsons Comics) X Rebecca

76. Charlie (Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?) X Rebecca

77. Portuguese Boy (A Totally Fun Thing Bart Will Never Do Again) X Rebecca

78. Peta (Dry Hard) X Rebecca

79. Pita (Dry Hard) X Rebecca

80. Martin Prince X Rebecca

81. Kirk Van Houten X Rebecca

82. Blake (Three Dreams Denied) X Rebecca

83. Corey Masterson X Rebecca

84. Dolph X Rebecca

85. Donny (The deBarted) X Rebecca

86. Digby Diggs (Diggs) X Rebecca

87. Kevin (Stealing First Base) X Rebecca

88. Zachary Vaughn (Bart Gets a Z) X Rebecca

89. The Rich Texan/Richard Texan X Rebecca

90. Rainier Wolfcastle X Rebecca

91. Marv Szyslak X Rebecca

92. Michael De Graaf X Rebecca

93. August Steffan X Rebecca

94. Homer Simpson (Not It) X Rebecca

95. Erik X Rebecca

96. Moe Szyslak (Not It) X Rebecca

97. David (Treehouse of Horror XVI: Bartificial Intelligence) X Rebecca

98. Roger (Treehouse of Horror XXI: Master and Cadaver) X Rebecca

99. Hugo (Treehouse of Horror VII: The Thing and I) X Rebecca

100. Vampire Burns (Treehouse of Horror IV: Bart Simpson's Dracula) X Rebecca

101. John (Homer's Phobia) X Rebecca

102. Mike Wegman (Go Big or Go Homer) X Rebecca

103. Lyle Lanley (Marge vs. the Monorail) X Rebecca

104. Roger (Every Man's Dream) X Rebecca

105. Devil Flanders (Treehouse of Horror IV: The Devil and Homer Simpson) X Rebecca

106. Harry Potter (Treehouse of Horror XII: Wiz Kids) X Rebecca

107. The Fat in the Hat (Treehouse of Horror XXIV: The Fat in the Hat) X Rebecca

108. Reaper Homer (Treehouse of Horror XIV: Reaper Madness) X Rebecca

109. John Frink Sr. Robot (Treehouse of Horror XIV: Frinkenstein) X Rebecca

110. Mutant Burns (Treehouse of Horror VIII: Homega Man) X Rebecca

111. Hansel Bart (Treehouse of Horror XI: Scary Tales Can Come True) X Rebecca

112. Noir Homer (Treehouse of Horror XXXI: Into the Homerverse) X Rebecca

113. Dracula (Treehouse of Horror XX opening & Treehouse of Horror XXI: Tweenlight) X Rebecca

114. Stephen King (Treehouse of Horror XXIV opening) X Rebecca

115. Vampire Bart (Treehouse of Horror IV: Bart Simpson's Dracula) X Rebecca

116. Dr. Bartley (Treehouse of Horror XV: Four Beheadings and a Funeral) X Rebecca

[bluedalahorse]

17 and 18 from the Fanfic Writer Asks!

Before I start, the ask box game is linked here in case anyone else wants to ask me something.

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

Two learnings! Food and fashion!

A food-related piece of information to start: somehow I ended up reading about kåldolmar (cabbage rolls) and how they are allegedly linked to time in the 18th century when Carl XII was staying in the Ottoman Empire. Apparently (according to what I read at least) they’re a Swedish adaptation of dolmas. Which is kinda cool to learn, especially since I’m someone who likes food from the eastern Mediterranean.

And now, fashion: Because I’m writing something set in 1809, I did end up reading about clothes closures, and the different ways that clothes were closed with pins and drawstrings and the like. I think spicy scenes in fanfic tend to fall back on buttons a lot, whether those fics are historical or contemporary. But strings! Laces! Pins! Imagine the ways they can be used to amplify the spiciness content, whether that’s through humor or through sensory surprises or whatever else. I’m just saying.

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

Oh gosh. I have a few lines I really like, but I like them so much I want readers to discover them in context. So instead I’m going to grandstandingly share a few passages from Heart and Homeland, one for each of the primary viewpoint characters I write, and say what I like about them.

So anyway, to preview… queer-and-questioning Felice! Poetry-influenced Sara! Unreliable August! Protestant Kristina!

Felice

“My father is not easy to discuss while dancing,” Simon was quiet for a moment, as if letting the air swallow the entire topic of fathers. Then a boyish smile, almost shy, came to his face. “But I heard you and Wilhelm have met before?” Ah, so the smile was for Wilhelm. “Tell me about that.”

“We were six years old,” said Felice. “Mamma has been eyeing us all night. I swear she wants me to marry him now.”

“Would you? Would you consider it a love match if your parents arranged it?”

What a strange question, Felice thought. “I’m not a foreign princess and Sweden needs an alliance. So I couldn’t.”

“I couldn’t marry Wilhelm either,” Simon said.

Although Simon and Felice both laughed at the latter comment, Felice felt Simon’s hand twitch suddenly in her own, as if he were startled. What did that mean? The music in the background did not change key or tempo, as if the orchestra itself was pressuring her not to ask. 

So instead Felice only said, “Such a droll remark, Mr. Eriksson.”

It left her heart feeling sad and a little rain-soaked, after she said it. She needed more of their secret language to say Wilhelm has a hold on you and I would like to understand it more, if you judged us friends enough to tell me about him. But she was still only a baby babbling syllables in a tongue where Simon was more fluent, and now the progression of the dance was forcing them apart from one another again. Felice’s feet grew heavy, even as her steps remained perfect.

Okay, something I like about this passage is that Felice and Simon are bonding, which is something canon should give us more of. I like being able to play with the politeness demanded of Felice by society at large, versus what Felice actually wants to say in a conversation, and how she negotiates that.

Felice is also on the verge of discovering her queerness here—something that Simon already understands about himself and has language for—but that Felice doesn’t quite have words for yet. She senses a kinship between herself and Simon, but she doesn’t quite know how to articulate it. In the passages and chapters that follow, Felice discovers more about herself and begins to embrace it. I was very conscious to make platonic friendships an important part of her queer self-acceptance journey. Felice’s choice to elevate friendships to the same level as the romantic relationship she eventually becomes part of… that’s important to me!

Queer friendship hits different and sometimes it makes me sad when queer texts over-emphasize the romantic aspects of being queer while downplaying the platonic stuff. So I decided to write what I wanted to see in the world.

Sara

When Sara and Simon were children, their Pappa told them about the whales he’d seen on his voyages. Pappa narrated grand bedtime stories about the creatures, moving his hands and changing the volume of his voice so that Sara could imagine the suddenness of a splash, the massive arc of a tail breaking through the waves. If you were patient, he said, you could see a whale coming up for air. Sara used to cling to Simon as she listened, half scared and half exhilarated. For Sara to be able to sleep at all, Simon had to remind her that the whales couldn’t get them on land.

Secrets, Sara later came to understand, swam under her skin like whales swam under the water. They moved with just as much magnitude. Sometimes, for a moment, she could forget about a secret and it wouldn’t bother her. Given enough time, however, a secret needed air. It too would force itself to the surface so that Sara could keep breathing.

Sara is probably the POV character I write who is the most influenced by the work I’ve done in poetry. My MFA advisor last fall really worked with me on images, and we spent a lot of time studying image systems in novels-in-verse. I’m pretty sure these two paragraphs were influenced by that study. Like, whales = secrets. Okay, Blue.

Sara’s memories play an important role for me in shaping her motivations and core emotions. I like including lots of glimpses of what her and Simon were like as little kids. I know we’re all hoping to get more Eriksson family backstory in season 3, and I hope for that too, so it’s something I try to include in my writing. As difficult and horrifying as things probably got with Micke at times, I think it’s also important to show moments where he’s taking care of Simon and Sara and being their father. These memories are now sad and bittersweet for Sara because of Micke’s abuse, and  they’re also an important part of understanding her and how she views herself.

August

He cast his gaze in another direction, where Sara Eriksson was curtseying to Prince Wilhelm and taking her leave. Thank goodness those two would not be dancing another set together. Now why was His Highness going off on his own again? Didn’t he understand that you could win over influential families by flirting with their daughters? And if Wilhelm was going to be king someday, August thought, he ought to have at least one mistress, for the sake of convention. Though August would never say such a thing to his cousin the queen, he could not understand why Wilhelm so insisted on cultivating a chaste appearance. It made no sense, given his position.

Anyhow! If everyone wanted to dismantle the social hierarchy this evening, why couldn’t August ask Sara Eriksson to dance and make Felice feel as slighted as he did? He wouldn’t of course, since Miss Eriksson had started the trouble between him and Felice in the first place, and August wanted to prove he could avoid such trouble. Flexing his fingers, he made his way through the crowd, toward the doors that opened onto the garden terrace. If he was going to let himself pine and rage, he might as well do it in the darkness. The English Lord Byron, with all his poetry of ill repute, could only approve of such a pose.

OH AUGUST. I wrote this passage as an homage to Susanna Clarke, whose descriptions of Lord Byron in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell had me in stitches. Clarke is divinely talented at writing self-important men and their warped perspectives of the world, so I find myself inspired by her a lot when I’m writing from August’s point of view.

August is not a reliable narrator, obviously, and I like playing with how his perceptions of events change with time. Like, no, Sara did not start the trouble between him and Felice; he started it and flirted with Sara. But of course, August is the most wounded ever, you guys. He is so brooding he could just write (bad) poetry about it. In the next few paragraphs (not shared here) August’s thoughts start to drift toward more in the direction of Freudian death drive ideations (maybe with some Freudian sex drive thrown in, I mean why the hell not.) I found it an interesting writing challenge in terms of transitioning over-the-top ridiculousness toward the more more serious stuff that sort of hints at the traumatized core of the character.

I highly encourage that every Young Royals fan (who can do so from a place of emotional safety) try writing from August’s perspective at least once. It is a solid exercise and you will learn a lot from it!

Kristina

As a devout monarch, Kristina knew that the world to come offered far more than the world she’d been placed in charge of. The Lord had brought so many of her dear family members home to heaven—her father, her husband Ludwig, her cousin Karl Johan, one unnamed daughter who only lived three days, and most recently Erik. Especially during the Easter season, Kristina could push through the hollowness of her grief and tell herself that at the end of life, salvation waited for those dear to her. If anything had happened to her Wilhelm last night, however, it would have shaken her faith the way cannonfire might shake the windows of a building.

Wilhelm was Kristina’s miracle; she had thought of him that way since he was very little, fighting through his sick spells. At that age, when he felt well enough, he would sit at her knee in the evenings and listen to her stories of what she’d done as queen during the day. He would often repeat back the details of a particular state visit or conflict between nobles, and would do so in such a way that Kristina felt more equipped to solve the problem at hand. Then at night, Wilhelm would sleep with his arms tucked around a pillow, looking so angelic that Kristina couldn’t help reaching out stroking her son’s silk-soft hair in a way she didn’t when he was awake. No, she did not want Wilhelm among the angels just yet. So she thanked God, and then thanked Him again, and then asked Him to guide Wilhelm as he got closer to taking the throne.

Sigh. Kristina. You do love your son, you are just… so bad at showing it. And in this universe you are so, so very Protestant. I like how I managed to tie all that together here, and give this little flashback into who Kristina has lost and how she thinks back on her life. I often access a core emotion when writing each of my POV characters, and Kristina’s emotion is grief. I also think you can tell Kristina sees the similarities between Wilhelm and herself. Sometimes that means she sees him as an extension of herself, which is I think where the conflicts between them start.

Similarly to August, I highly encourage every Young Royals fan (who can do so from a place of emotional safety) to write from Kristina’s perspective at least once. She’s worth the investment of your writing time!

Anyway I hope that was all a fun behind the scenes…

[villanevehaus]

Ch XII

Amused but not surprised to find that Eve’s love language is violence. So much kicking.

Enjoyed the “Russian smile” call out. I like thinking that it’s Eve’s way of seeing Oksana, even if she doesn’t realize that’s what she’s seeing.

I’m fascinated with how maladjusted Eve is and am enjoying that we continue to get little morsels about her childhood. Everyone experiences trauma differently, but contrasting her and Villanelle’s memories… it’s wild seeing where they’ve ended up.

Makes me happy to read about the pair of them flirting and playing together. Are they both chock full of cruelty and homicide? Sure. But it’s super cute.

Awkward acknowledgment and gratitude for the body contact/compression. Hopeful for an upcoming perspective swap where we can read how it made Eve feel, if Eve even knows.

Is it weird how much I like their interpersonal confrontations? I feel like fights with Niko centered on Niko’s needs and feelings, but when Eve gets testy with Villanelle, Villanelle pushes back differently. Villanelle centers the dialogue in a way that forces Eve to acknowledge her own feelings—and it makes Eve recognize how she’s treating Villanelle without making her more defensive. Cathartic as fuck.

Another one of Villanelle’s cheeky wordplays. “…fucked the life out of someone… .” Hooo boy, did she ever. Love, love, love it.

Oksana’s breakdown about family. :((( How are these moments so much harder to read than descriptions of fingers digging into intercostal muscle tissue? You know the scene in season 1 where Eve says Villanelle has earned the right to kill whoever? That’s how I feel about Oksana whenever I reread Oksana or Uncle or little moments like this family scene. You go ahead and murder whoever you want, sweet girl. *gentle pat on the head*

I’ll be honest, I have never liked Hélène’s character. Every moment she’s in the show, my brain screams SKIP. But I trust you and look forward to how you’ll leverage her character for something interesting and intrinsic to the plot.

As ever, thank you for a lovely chapter after the last few weeks you’ve had. I have this saying, “One too many rides at the fair”—whether it’s good or bad things, sometimes we experience one too many things and it ends up overwhelming. It sounds like you had a lot of rides at the fair. I’ve had a lot of rides at the fair lately, too, and it was such a kindness to still have a new chapter of TME to read. Really, thank you, haus.

tme anon

Postscript - let me know what you think of The Cell, if you get around to watching it. I triggered my own worms and have rewatched it twice myself since mentioning it.

TME: i am so glad you like their conflicts bc thats exactly what vil (and i) are trying to do! eve may not know how shes feeling but she sure is feeling it.

THE CELL: here are the notes i took while watching it in the dark on my Big Screen:

- JENNIFER LOPEZ

- VINCE VAUGHN!??!?!?

- VINCENT D'NOFRIO?!?!?

- music by howard shore hello???

- what da hell

- "directed by tarsem singh" yea that tracks

- please tell me that [carl] isnt vince vaughn w hair

- i love when movies toss u in and are like good luck!!! :) feels very "this is MY movie and I get to make the sense"

- jlo being frustrated that she cant sleep while in a room that has all the lights AND the television on. girl the call is coming from inside the house!!!

- how is he spiking himself up like that wadda hell

- oh hey its the guy from breaking bad

- oh my god its vince vaughn with hair

- "i thought you were gonna go home, get some rest, clean up" [brushing his teeth in the break room] "i did" - VERY tme eve

- im loving the camera work in this

- oh my god vincent d'onofrio is carl???

- yet again arts and crafts from found materials are demonized </3

- the cinnamontography :D

- i have decided that catherine and the other scientist lady are gal pals

- the water scene??? the baptism w the crane shots?? i go crazy i go stupid

- HORSE GLASS PANES!!!!!!!!!! giving damien hirst (neg) (fuck damien hirst)

- already fucking hard w this movie ngl

- vince vaughn is so bad at smoking cigarettes wtf why are so many of his butts half smoked

- what if we hooked carl and edward up like what would happen beyond Horrible time for edward. dyou think it'd throw adult/god carl off to have another boy in the house

- uh oh [do not remember when this was]

- i GASPED when the new collar came out

- vince vaughn has entered the chat

- as a bitch who Exclusively has lucid dreams i choose to believe i would be excellent at this

- vfx off da fucken CHAINS

- jlo dont chase the rabbit or whatever they say in pacific rim

- vulture :D

- this is one of if not the wildest movies ive ever seen

- cant believe thats vincent d'onofrio disemboweling vince vaughn in front of sexy jlo

- i want props from this

- they simply dont do costumes like this anymore

- or sets

- you guys are idiots obviously the weird shape line drawing thing goes with his back hooks come on man

- theyre girlfriends your honour

- said "whoa" out loud when adult carl's voice came outta child carl's mouth

- dude this movie fucks crazy hard tysm for showing it to me

- as someone who used to have nipple piercings i feel for carl

- me got boy, boy me got :(

- we love pieta imagery!!!

- i am forcing my gf to watch this w me tomorrow

- :(

- :(((

- SHE'S KEEPING HIS DOG i am emotional

- this movie rly said there is no escaping the inner child

i will have better, more succinct thoughts once the worms have had more time to digest and i have shared them w my gf but oh my god i loved it!!! so stylish, so unique, so?????!?!?! SO!!!!!!!! one of the movies of all time truly tysm for reccomending it to me

[suffernotindoubt]

'The Simpsons' Disneybriations

Ongoing, likely-inexhaustible compendium of edits applied after, to episodes produced and aired before, Disney acquired 'The Simpsons'.

Episode: 'Weekend at Burnsie's'

Edit: Homer does not smoke joint with Smithers; in the end, he is not lying to his family regarding smoking marijuana.

'The monkey suit'

Girl checks off 'kiss 100 boys' instead of '10,000'.

'Marge's son poisoning'

Milhouse does not say 'I will bring yu back eyecare pamphlets'.

'Ziff who came to dinner'

'Bubbles can burst?!' Homer does not say amidst Arnie's go-go '90s flashback.

'Fat man and little boy'

Sea captain does not get to respond 'I just want friends who are not work friends' to Bart's 'Viking funeral' because Bart does not say 'I really do not want to talk about it'.

'T.o.H. XVII'

In third act, Carl does Not start to take off his shoes, so Chief Wiggum does not say, 'shoes are part of uniform.'

'Homer Simpson this is your wife'

Homer not allowed to say 'you can see the soulless emptiness in Charlie Sheen's eyes'.

'Homer's paternity coot'

Edited out 'Well my hat size is six...'

H.S. 'Aaah! Wait -  is that small?'

'Smaller than average.'

H.S. 'Aaah!'

'Behind the laughter'

At end, the closed captions do not, yet in-episode voiceover does, name 'Southern Missouri' as opposed to 'Northern Kentucky' as The Simpsons' home state.

'Last temptation of Krusty'

Krusty is not given 5 minutes after schilling for the Canyonero - 'o I am not going back out there' to which stage manager would have said, 'No, 5 minutes to pack up your stuff and get out of here'.

'The wizard of evergreen terrace'

Carl: 'James Watt invented the steam engine.'

Homer: 'That's boring. Stop boring everybody.'

'T.o.H. iii'

'Doll without pity' 

Homer wraps up conversation with store's proprietor, who continues to pile on 'poison pills' to the sale terms before getting to say: 'I am going to go now.'

'Homie the Clown'

At the Ace awards, the presenter who knows Woody Allen is not allowed to identify himself as Dick Cavett.

'King-size Homer'

Edit removes gifting of perpetul motion toy from Lisa to Homer. He does not say: 'In this house, we obey the laws of physics!'

Also, he does not set up the toy to push the Y button or mention to Marge that he tripled his productivity by only typing 'Y' of 'Yes'.

'T.o.H. X'

'I know what you diddily-did' - Homer does not sing the Super Sugar Crisp theme song, only the phrase 'guess I forgot to put the fog-lights in' to its tune.

'T.o.H. XII'

'Hex and the city'

Lisa does her hoof scratch but Homer does not say, 'see, 2 means yes'.

'They saved Lisa's Brain'

Lenny does not say, 'If only I had somewhere to go' after illustrating the benefit of only red and yellow traffic lights.

'Bye-bye nerdie'

(Screenshot taken 2022-11-18 7.05.53 P.M.; no product placement in original...)

'Old-yeller belly'

'Hit her in the spleen with a frozen Jimmy Dean' from 'spleen with a broken tambourine'.

'Simple Simpson'

Homer says 'I cannot stand to serve anyone. I just can't!' instead of 'I'll serve anyone but the community!' and we are not allowed to see picture shown to Marge as 'proof' that Homie is not Pie-man.

[tarnishedxknight]

ROLEPLAY HISTORY !

the rules are simple! post characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back . then tag others to do the same . please repost, don’t reblog !

{ out of dalmasca } I'm only going to do canon muses for this so it's not a crazy long list, haha. Below the cut for length.

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ

{ I'm including all canon muses that are currently open for threads, even if I haven't really been writing them due to a lack of activity for them. }

Luther Donovan (TV series Red Widow) Vincent (80s TV series Beauty and the Beast) Ardeth Bay (1999 movie The Mummy / 2001 movie The Mummy Returns) Wanda Maximoff (MCU) Pietro Maximoff (MCU) Red Vision / White Vision (MCU) Tony Stark (MCU) Natasha Romanoff (MCU) Stephen Strange (MCU) Clint Barton (MCU) Matt Addison / Nemesis (Resident Evil, Anderson films) Carlos Oliveira (Resident Evil, Anderson films) Chad Kaplan (Resident Evil, Anderson films) Basch fon Ronsenburg (Final Fantasy XII) Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca (Final Fantasy XII) Judge Magister Noah Gabranth (Final Fantasy XII) Judge Magister Drace (Final Fantasy XII) Nuada Bethmoora (2008 movie Hellboy II: The Golden Army) Gizmo (1984 movie Gremlins / 1990 movie Gremlins 2: The New Batch) Raiden (Metal Gear Solid / Rising game franchise) Jared Nomak (2002 movie Blade II) Carl Lucas (2010 movie Death Race 2 / 2013 movie Death Race 3: Inferno) Archangel Michael (2010 movie Legion) Priest (2011 movie Priest) Priestess (2011 movie Priest) Eric (2012 movie Snow White and the Huntsman / 2016 movie The Huntsman: Winter's War) Freya (2016 movie The Huntsman: Winter's War) Marie Sebastian (2013 remake of movie Oldboy) Martha Reynolds (2011 movie Martha Marcy May Marlene) Ben Leonard (2012 movie Savages) Leeloo (1997 movie The Fifth Element) Wade (2015 movie The Night Crew)

ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ (ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜʏ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇɴ'ᴛ ʏᴇᴛ)

Archangel Gabriel (2007 movie Gabriel) - His actor died tragically at a very young age. I thought his performance was amazing and I wouldn't want to use any other FC, but at the same time, I just feel it's inappropriate to use images of him, out of respect for his family. I actually had an OC that I used him for and have since changed to another actor because I felt uncomfortable using his images going forward.

Alice Abernathy (Resident Evil, Anderson films) - As much as I adore her, I don't feel I understand her well enough nor could I get her "voice" down well enough to write her to my own standards.

Fran (Final Fantasy XII) - I'm not sure I could write her well enough, but also she's in a totally different circle of characters than all my other FFXII muses, so she'd feel a bit isolated and extraneous if I added her to that blog. Also, she's kindof joined at the hip to Balthier, whom I know I could never write properly in a million years, heh.

Eyal Lavine (TV show Current Affairs) - I've wanted to write him for years now, but with certain things going on in the news, writing an Israeli Mossad agent just isn't the best thing to do right now, I feel. I would constantly worry about offending people or being dragged into political conversations relevant to real world events that I really don't want to get into on my blogs.

Yuna (Final Fantasy X) - To bring her to this site would be an impossible amount of new added activity for me. The FFX fandom is a lot larger than FFXII and I'd be afraid of too much activity or even those with muses from other FF games wanting to write with her. I just can't add a popular character right now. if anything, I need to be downsizing, heh.

The town of Silent Hill (Silent Hill game franchise, 2006 movie Silent Hill, 2012 movie Silent Hill: Revelation) - It's just too complicated and would require too much startup time and effort for me to manage right now. But I am keeping it in mind for the future!

ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ, ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ (ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜʏ)

Ned Stark (ASoIaF book series / GoT TV show) - Ned only survived Season 1 (actually, technically, he didn't even survive that). So much happened in subsequent Seasons, and now we've got HotD too. I stopped reading after the third book and stopped watching after the third Season, so... I'm way behind on the world, the lore, the characters, the countries, the Houses, etc. I wouldn't feel that I'm coming from enough of a place of knowledge to write Ned, even though I really adore him and would love to. And someone like him, who was in positions of power, would have that knowledge, he'd know about the major and minor Houses and the politics and the history, etc., so it would affect my portrayal of him to not know all of that myself.

Ygritte (ASoIaF book series / GoT TV show) - Kindof the same problem as Ned, although Ygritte survived a bit longer... but also I'm just not sure how relevant she'd be to most characters other people in the fandom would write. As a wildling, she was somewhat isolated from much of the plot and other characters of the world. Also, I'm afraid of Jon Snows everywhere just wanting to ship with her, heh, since I really hated that ship, personally.

The White Queen (Resident Evil, Anderson films) - Her FC is a child, and as much as I liked the character, the way I developed her was to add an OC origin muse for her that used the same actress as an FC. After a certain point, I just felt like I was doing something wrong by using a child FC and didn't feel comfortable doing it anymore.

ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ, ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ (ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜʏ)

Luther West (Resident Evil, Anderson films) - I liked Luther, he was pretty cool, and since I write a lot of other RE muses, he'd fit right in. The only reason I stopped writing him was because hardly anyone was interested in him, so it became too much to keep maintaining his blog if no one wanted to write with him.

The Creature (2004 mini-series Frankenstein) - I've always liked Adam, I read the original Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and I've seen various movies and mini-series on the subject. I like this specific version because the actor who played him is a favorite of mine, but also it was fairly faithful to the book as well. The reason I stopped was because I felt I wasn't writing him up to my own standards, but I'd be willing to give it another try.

Tagged by: I stole it! ^_^ Tagging: Anyone who wants to do this! =)

[misguidedasgardian]

Wild Cats (Part XII)

XII. Hardhome

MASTERLIST

Summary: A ray of hope after weeks of… darkness

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Zombie apocalypse AU, living dead, zombies, guts, blood, guns, injures, cannibalism, they eat dogs :(, might miss some warnings but you know what this is about, right?

+18, MINORS DNI

Notes: Sorry for the rambles, In this chapter i break the remaining ice and the doubts of reader, she had been getting too much into her own head… you know? weeks on the road not knowing what they were gonna find, going hungry and walking all day, one tends to get in their own heads… anyways… things finally get to a halt here…

You were near Noah’s place.

According to him, it was a safe community, with gates and all, and if we played our cards nicely, we could all stay there, he was over excited and Beth was too, and you had a sinking feeling on your stomach you couldn’t quite identify, you didn’t know if it was because you were nervous about going into someone else’s community, or for imminent danger.

You had found two cars, both runned down and in the brink of exploding, one of then was an old chevy SUV, and the other was an even older van

Only the SUV was working, Abraham insisted he could fix the Van, and as he, Rosita and Eugene did, Rick went forwards and formed a group, which was going to be the advanced group. Those were Rick, Michonne, Tyresse, Glenn, Beth, and Noah. And they left, starting driving north, you were shy of 200 miles from reaching Noah’s community

You stayed back with the rest

As the mechanical team tried to fix the van, you set guards with Daryk and the others

Carol and him went first, and you stayed back with Tara.

Maggie stayed inside the warehouse with Carl and Judith. 

You took turns to mount guard, and now, it was your turn to go inside with the rest, the sun had already set, and it was pitch dark already outside, a cold lingering in the environment. The Warehouse was nice, very modern, it had a hard cement floor and a floor and a half of height, no rooms but a small office. You had lit a fire inside of a cut out oil drum, and all of the giruo gathered around it.

Maggie walked towards you, with baby Judith in her arms.

You didn’t want to sound dramatic or even paranoid, but they were all looking at you, seemingly watching your reaction, as they had been talking about you

They had been, but you didn’t know that, they had been talking about how you had become distant, and they wanted to change that.

“Here, hold her for sec”, said Maggie, handing you Judith over

“Oh no…”, you tried to deny her, but it was useless, you took the baby girl into your arms, as you looked at you with her big eyes. You were not a monster, and, she was so sweet. 

The only babies you had ever held were your nephews and nieces, all of them far away from now. Rick had neve asked you to hold his daughter, and you believed that it was because he didn’t trust you with her.

But this… you looked at Maggie as she gave you  reassuring smile, and you smiled back at her

She trusted you, so did Rick, so did Daryl…

You accommodate her more into your hip as she seemed contented as she smiled at you, she was so small, a year and a half maybe, but she was a sweet baby

“She likes you”, said Carl with a soft smile, nodding at you, you smiled back

It felt nice, to hold a baby in your arms, like you said, it's been a while, and her very existence was the irrefutable proof that the world might be healing… that there was a chance for human kind.

You started rocking her, cooing at her, making funny faces until you got a couple of giggles out of her. 

“Who is the sweetest girl in all the land?”, you asked teasingly. She reminded you so much of the babies in your family you felt your chest tightening. But at the same time, it felt kind of comforting. “You?”, you teased, tickling her with one of your hands, she giggled even louder, “is that you?”

Daryl entered the room at this point, the scene made hims top on his tracks, looking at you wide-eyed

“Look who’s there, uncle Daryl”, you teased, turning around

Oh this was doing things to him

But he smiled softly, as he was watching you finally clicking inside of the group, as the past few weeks you had been drifting a bit

“She tends to do that,”, Maggie whispered in his ear making him jump on his spot, “cheering people up”, she said, referring to baby Judith.

How could you ever think about leaving the group? Daryl had said it, and you now were believing it.

You were aprt of the family

And together, with this strange group of different people

You could do anything

You were going to face DC and whatever lies within

You were going to make it, you were going to face whatever it came, and someday, hopefully soon, you were going to find a home in which you could settle, maybe lay on some roots, and grow.

You didn’t return Judith to Maggie, that night, she curled up against you, you cuddled her against your chest and she slept in your arms until you placed her in a wooden box you found in the office, of course made comfortable by a bunch of blankets the team carried with them

Only after you had made sure she was fast asleep, you dared to found a comfortable spot and remove your boots

Your dirty socks were now bloodied, and take them out had ripped off the thin layer of a new scab that was forming, making the small wounds on your feet to bleed again

“Here, I found this”, muttered Rosita, giving you a small first aid kits

“No, what if someone needs them?”, you asked her

“You need them, those could get infected, and that will be an issue”, she said, you nodded, “need some help?”

“I think I’m fine”, you said, you had to bite your own lip not to scream at the sharp pain, when you cleaned them with alcohol, you felt a bit cowardly, but those motherfuckers stung!, but you managed to patch yourself up pretty decently

“Ya’ alright?”, asked Daryl, sitting by your side

“Yeah”, you muttered, with a soft smile, “just a couple of blisters exploded inside my thick boots”, you said crudely, you had to let the wounds “breathe”, so they were going to heal better and faster, tomorrow you’ll apply some more alcohol and that…

“Wanna sleep a bit?”, you asked him

“Ya’ go to sleep”, he said a bit defensively 

“Fine”, you said with a smile, you watched around, Carl was asleep with Judith in the office, Abraham and Rosita had taken the van, you tried to ignore the wobble of the whole thing.

Maggie was on watch duty too, with Tara

You went to sleep that night, in turns, with a smile on your face, feeling safe, like they have your back, because they did.

You had to keep that hope up, no matter how you were hurt. 

No matter also that the very next day Rick hit you up in the walkie talkie, as you just went into the rute with the freshly fixed Van

“It’s gone”, he said over the radio, and everybody could listen it, “all of it, it’s gone”

There was a silence on the vehicle, you could actually hear dreams breaking, hope being destroyed, and you could only think about Noah, as you cradled Judith, although you were not specially excited about becoming her primary caretaker right now…

But anyways

It was something that had been on your mind, Noah’s community being runned, but it was a reality now.

“What are we gonna do?”, you asked, Carol looked back at you

“We meet at the “rendezvous” point”, she said firmly, “we go from there”

“What the hell does that mean?”, asked Daryl

“it’s french, it means meeting”, you said softly, he frowned at you

“Ya’ speak french?”

“I just know the more popular words”, you answered with a soft smile

You felt a lump in your throat, the reality hitting you in waves, the fact that you didn’t have a safe place to be yet, and you were on the wind… once again.

And the worst piled up, as you received new that the team’s SUV didn’t work anymore and they were on foot, as it was magic, your own van dropped shortly after, leaving you roughly a hundred miles separated from your friends.

What a shitty situation

But you were not going to let go of your new found hope so easily, if everything was happening, is because you were certain there was something betterfor you all, you had to believe it.

So you were on your feet again, walking and then walking some more.

You walked in the rearguard, hand in your holdster and the other in your ax, you had come across some fuckers, but nothing you couldn’t handle

Eugene and Maggie with the kids were walking in the middle of the group, flanked by Rosita and Abraham, Tara and Sasha were walking behind, Carol was leading the group, followed closely by Gabriel, 

It’s like everybody took their spots naturally at this point

Daryl always disappeared in the flanks, appearing after a couple of hours with a fresh hunt

And when he was near you, he was walking by your side. You looked at him and smiled softly, you enjoyed his company, always a soft and comfortable silence as you were

“Tell me something I don’t know”, you invited him, he looked at you and raised one of his eyebrows in question

“wha’?”, he asked

“Tell me something about you”, you said, “did you have a family?”

“I had a brother”, he said shortly, “i lost him a year back”

“I’m sorry”, you said

“He was a prick, but he was still my brother”, he said lightly, he looked back at you and seemed like he had so much to say, a story behind it, but he didn’t say a anything else, “got a dad when this shit started too”, he kept drawling, with his accent you liked so much. You just looked at him in question, “I ain’t sad he is gone though”, he said shortly

And you understood it

“He was more of a prick uh?”, you asked

“Yeah”, he said lightly, “How ‘bout you?”

“I had a mother, a stepfather, two siblings and nephews and nieces”, you said, “and many more before this started… I don’t know if… I still have someone out there”, you said, trying not to think about it, in our mind, they were all fine, together, on an island.

The uncertainty would have killed you if you didn’t have to fight for your life every day, distracting you. 

“DId you live in Atlanta?”, you asked then, he looked back at you

“Yeah”, he said simply, “you?”, you smiled at him, and the name of your country just flew out of your mouth like it was nothing, it seemed so foreign, you didn’t think you had said it since this started, and it sounded weird

You miss it, you miss the world as it was, but, who didn’t?

“What were you doing after this?”, you asked him, you remembered that night and conversation with Abraham, how tense he got, he hadn't answered, and know you felt like you were in prison, nobody asked you who you were “before”, is not how things worked anymore. But you really wanted to get to know him better, and for that great rewards, you had to take some risks 

“I…”, he seemed to doubt, to think about it, “didn’ do much”, he said, “just going around with my brother, up to no good”, he seemed conflicted at his confession, and then he raised his eyes from the road ahead of him and looked at you, frowning

Quick! change the subject

“When did you met Rick and the others?”, you asked

“First I met Carol, and Glenn of those who are left”, he said, “of a trafficjam outside of Atlanta”, he said softly

He didn’t have the heart to tell you that he and Merle decided to camp with the others to rob them, but then he decided against it, despite Merle’s protests and insults.

It had been so long ago

He was a different person now.

“How did you found RIck and Carl?”

“Carl found me on a roof”, you said with a smile, “decided to take me in”, he chuckled

“He asked you the questions?”

“He did”, you said with a soft smile, he nodded with a soft smile, “great kid”, you admitted, looking at wearer of the sheriff hat walking in front of you

He wanted to ask you back more questions, but you walked on silence, one step at a time

It took you two days to meet Rick’s gorup again, and their tiredness and hopelessness was evident.

Contrary to what you believed, the soldier trio as you called them were not the first ones to break, it seemed like Eugene had squashed whatever hope they had the hardest, so they now were hopeful to anything they could find, so they were the pens who kept it together.

You had formed a friendship with Rosita, Tara and Maggie, the former teaching you so many cool survival stuff, like how to create a water filter, with just different kinds of rocks.

You kept walking towards DC, now wordlessly, you didn’t even know where to start.

The group was crumbling, but you tried to keep it together, taking care of Judith, mounting guard, helped to keep the hunter of the group more comfortable, making sure he stayed hydrated and took some decent hours of sleep each night, as he slept by yours or Carol’s side. 

It was sad to say, that you were getting used to being in the wild

That is, until resources started to be dangerously scarce…

Starting by the water.

You were starving, you were dehydrated, and you felt like you were about to collapse

“What this it?”

You looked back at the small horde of walkers that were coming after you, like vultures, hoping one of you lost the footing and fell, for you to make a mistake

It was until you were on a bridge that RIck decided to command you to take care of them

It wasn’t confrontational, but you were to push them down towards a ditch.

You were so tired you didn’t think you’d had the energy for anything else.

You let them reach you and you grabbed the first one and threw him off the bridge. the second one proved itself more feisty, so you had to take out your axe

You did not believe in letting them “keep walking”, you were more into eliminating them permanently. 

You did that until all of them were gone, and then you kept walking 

“I’m starting to think we should have stayed in those houses”, Daryl muttered hopefully, looking at you, you looked back at him. 

“Mee too”, you admitted

“We are close to DC”, Rick said out loud, “we need to keep going”

Yeah, we needed to keep going

A big city meant there were more places where you can find food, canned goods, supplies, they might all be sacked, but in this big world, there were still hidden places with useful things on them.

“Say nothing”, demanded Daryl, as he walked by your side, “I think someone had been following us”

“Really?”, you asked

“Got nothin’ to show for it”, he said, “but yeah”

“Friend or foe?”, you asked

“Don’t know”

But if someone was indeed following you, and you trusted Daryl completely, nobody showed themselves to be. 

And the fact that you had to eat wild dogs to survive the very next day made you hope those who were watching were deterred from doing something to you…

You didn’t feel great about it, but this was about living, surviving, and you hoped you didn’t have to do it again.

The very next day, as your eyesight was tunneling, you found gallons of water on the road, apparently, laid down for you to take

“From a friend”, it read, you watched Daryl carefully, who seemed mistrustful of it

To the surprise of all, Eugene took one bottle, ready to try it, but Abraham slapped it off of his hands.

“We cannot trust this”, said Rick angrily

You were going to take a bottle and drink it yourself, but Daryl grabbed you by the hand the second you were going to move, preventing you from doing so.

But as you were going to protest, you were interrupted by a lightning, sounding far away, but with it, came rain.

It hit you from one moment and to the next, you were soaked 

You actually cheered when you felt the liquid of life hitting your face, you spread your arms wide and enjoyed it. Everyone in the group were so excited, except JUdith, who cried as she didn’t like it at all, but it was still a very enjoyable moment

“Grab what you can! with whatever you have!”, said Rick and he was right, you needed to gather it. You used a trekking water bottle, those with wide necks, to gather some water.

But the joy suddenly turned to worry, as darker and darker clouds were on the horizon.

“I know somewhere we can go!”, said Daryl, leading you away from the bottles and into the woods 

You saw a small barn where you could seek shelter, and the rain started to become more and more intense.

A whole storm broke out, as you took a walker that was in the small room in the back of the barn, a woman, who couldn’t take it anymore. It was sad, really

“She had a gun, she could have shot herself”, muttered Carol, watching the scene

“Some people can’t give up”, said Daryl, “like us”, he gave you a look and returned to the main space

The night quickly fall over you and with it, a full storm started to rage, to shake the barn to its core. 

Carl had fallen asleep like a log, after eating the squirrels Daryl had hunted for you.

You curled up on the floor, the archer by your side and Rosita on your other side. Rick ont he other side of Daryl

They had managed to set a fire, and you tried to relax, but the storm raging outside was proving to be difficult to that endeavor 

“I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now…”, said Rick, as he was talking to Carol, but now he was talking to the rest of you, “In this.. But now I think I got it wrong… Growing up is getting used to the world, it will be easier for them”

His words weighed on you, and what they meant, Rick looked positively feral, he had been through so much, twice as much because of the weight of his children on him.

“This isn’t the world”, said Michonne, the ambience was tense, many had gone to sleep, you couldn’t hold yourself up any longer and leaned into Daryl, he didn’t seem to mind as he relaxed his stance, ”this isn’t it”, said Michonne

It was idiotic to think you were going to live long enough to see the world back to the way it was before, eliminate the virus so the dead didn’t rise again? reinstate governments? start to create infrastructure again? you didn’t see it

“It might be”, said Gleen, looking at the flame in front of him

“That’s giving up!”, continued Michonne

“It’s reality”, he said back

“Until we see otherwise, that is what we have to deal with”, the sound of the storm was lulling you to sleep, going completely slack against the archer, who seeme to mold to your comfort.

“When I was a kid… I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war…”, Rick’s voice felt further and further away, “...he wouldn’t answer, he said that was grown up stuff… so i asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him, but he got real quiet, he said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory…”

You took a long breath, breathing Daryl in, the warmth of his skin against your cheek

“Every day he woke up and told himself… “rest in peace, now get up and go to war”, and then after a few years that he pretended he was dead… he made it out alive. That’s the trick of it, I think”

His rambles made more and more sense into your head

“We do what we need to do and then we get to libe… but no matter what we find in DC, I know we’ll be okay… because this is how we survive. we tell ourselves… that we… are the walking dead”, just as you were embracing this new reality, point of view, or whatever it was, Daryl whole body shook softly with the rumble of his voice

“We ain’t them”, he said decisively, he accommodated you even more against his side, placing his arm around your shoulders, and you finally fell asleep, cuddled against him.

You woke up startled, the sounds of wood crushing shook you to your core.

The doors of the barn threatened to burst open, and if the growling outside was of any indication, the storm wasn’t the only thing seeking destruction in the night.

Daryl was the first one to place his hands on the wood, pushing, perhaps that is why you realized what was happening

You were the second

“We need all hands in!”, you called, Rosita’s and Abraham’s hands were the next, and all of them followed, pushing the doors back to their place. 

The gods forbid you have one peaceful night. 

You didn't know then, then the very next day… you were going to find everything you were looking for. 

Post chapter notes: yeah didn’t kill Tyresse either, I’m a softie 

@crazyunsexycool