#the squirrels are just constantly harassing people and I love it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

graniairish · 4 years ago

Text

Walking on eggshells

So this is my first own story here. I hope it is written in an understandable way. (Please ignore any grammatical errors. English is not my mother tongue.)

Title: Walking on eggshells

Words: 6761

Warnings: language (some explicit words), harassment and insults, heartbreak

Summary:

Daryl and reader have been close friends since the early days in Atlanta. They are deeply in love with each other but have no clue about it.

At some point new people join the community, including a young woman who is immediately after Daryl.

Reader is not exactly thin, no size zero, but also not fat, rather curvy, feminine. Even in this apocalyptic time. (you are just the way you are.)

Daryl has withdrawn more and more from reader, avoids contact. Reader believes he does that because he now has a perfect woman by his side.

However, Daryl avoids reader because he does not know how to deal with his feelings.

One day reader goes on a run that goes wrong. To save their group, the reader does a suicide stunt, that can cost her life.

--------------------------------------------------

"Ya even know what ya're doin’?"

Those were the first words Daryl Dixon had ever said to you.

It was still at camp in Atlanta. Daryl stood over you, the sun behind him, as he looked down at you as you made a stew from a basket full of leaves and mushrooms.

“Believe it or not, I know what I'm doing here. My mother taught me as a child which mushrooms and plants are edible, and which can be used as medicine."

He nudged his nose up in a nod.

"If ya say so."

With that he dropped something in front of you.

"Maybe the whole thin’ tastes like somethin’ with that," he said before he turned around and made his way back to his brother.

Your eyes followed him - confused. Only then did you notice that he had thrown about a dozen freshly hunted squirrels in front of you.

Maybe the grumpy redneck was not that bad after all, you thought to yourself with a smile as you started to skin and gut the dead animals.

It was not long before a friendship developed between you. You were the only one he really let near him after the disappearance of his brother and Sophia's death. And after the farm was overrun by Walkers, he was by your side to comfort you.

He was always there for you, just as you were for him. You cared for each other.

But you only noticed how deep the feelings really were on your side when Daryl - after the incident with Woodbury - had turned his back on you and everyone else and disappeared into the woods. Just to be with his brother.

The realization that you were infinitely in love with the withdrawn redneck hit you hard. And just seeing him walk away hurt you so much that you could not breathe.

Without knowing it, Daryl had broken your heart into a million pieces.

It felt like he took a part of you with him.

More and more you withdrew from the others. From time to time, you even slept in the old management office of the Prison, far away from the cell block, from everyone else, from your family. You just wanted to be left alone in your grief and heartbreak.

In the first time you had gone through hell emotionally and a psychological breakdown would not have been long in coming. And if it had not been for Maggie, you probably would not have found your way back.

She had been your solid rock and, without you really noticing, had become your best friend - your sister.

And after a while it got better. It did not hurt that much anymore. Although it was not quite true. It still hurt - hurt infinitely - but the distances that those waves of grief hit you grew larger.

And then suddenly Daryl was back.

It was a shock to you.

And the moment he moved back into his cell in the cell block, you moved out. There was no trace of you or your belongings in the whole building anymore.

Quietly, and without anyone noticing, you moved into the management's office - permanently. The thought of being so close to him - physically - without actually being able to be close to him was just unbearable for you.

And so you had retreated.

Daryl did not seem to mind. It almost seemed as if he had not even really noticed it.

You hardly had any contact with each other. He rarely talked to you, and if he did, then only what was necessary and as monosyllabic as possible. He even seemed to be avoiding you.

But that's how life works - hard and unfair.

And you cannot choose who to fall in love with.

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return. But it only worked like that in movies and love songs, right? It did not work that way in real life, at least not for you.

As time goes by you had devoted all your concentration to your small farm. Your mother taught you how to handle plants as a child. In your previous life - before the apocalypse - you also had a vegetable garden with which you mostly tended yourself. So you knew the job and it was easy for you.

You lived in your own little world where you worked side by side with Rick and spent your meager free time with Maggie. Sometimes Carol would join you, but you had already noticed that she somehow always dropped a few comments about Daryl.

You did not want to talk about the redneck, let alone think about him. So, you ignored her as best you could - or at least her suggestions.

But it was not that easy. Your whole prison family knew how deep your feelings were for Daryl. No matter how hard you try to hide it, hide yourself from it.

Then Woodbury fell. New people came to the Prison and with them a young woman - Michelle. Probably only in her mid-twenties, model type, blonde, pretty. A typical homecoming queen.

To you, she made it seem like she had never worked hard in her entire life. She was the type of person who always muddled through, for her own benefit.

And just a few days after moving in, she was permanently on Daryl's heels. She asked questions, talked to him, spent most of the days near him.

But worst of all, she was openly flirting with the man you loved, and he did not seem to mind. Your stomach cramped painfully at the sight, and you had not been able to eat for two days.

Your heart, painstakingly patched together, broke one more time. After that you had avoided Daryl and his blond girl for almost a week, avoided them like the devil had shunned holy water.

But it could not go on like that. And at a certain point you realized: as long as Daryl was happy, nothing else mattered. At least for you.

To make matters worse, there was that cruel little voice in your head that kept whispering to you why Daryl was interested in Michelle and not you. It kept talking to you, all the time.

And then the little wheels in your head started spinning until you were caught in a vortex of thoughts.

She was thin and delicate; you were rather well built.

Her shoulders were narrow; yours were broad.

Her stomach was flat; but you had unmistakable love handles.

She had a firm, shaped ass; you childbearing hips - as your mother used to call it.

Her golden blonde hair always fell in gentle waves down her back. You always had your y/h/c ones in a messy bun. And after hours of hard work in the gardens, you always looked like a half-plucked chicken.

You would never have any chance of comparing yourself with this beautiful, gorgeous woman. Michelle was perfect.

You were just you.

But the worst part of this whole thing was that this woman could not leave you alone. She had won, the man was hers. What else did she want from you?!

Every now and then she dropped small comments, out of the earshot of others. But so that you could hear them very well.

"Hard to believe how one can be so well fed.”

“Are you secretly eating your way through our supplies?"

"Given your size, a whole bunch of Walkers could get fed up with you for a week."

It hurt, hurt infinitely. But you were willing to endure everything. You did not want to make a scene. Did not want to get upset, maybe to draw more unwanted attention to yourself.

In the depths of your heart, you only wanted one thing. You just wanted Daryl to be happy. Everything else does not matter to you.

But what you failed to notice in all your self-doubt and self-sacrifice was: Daryl was not happy.

You were both blind to each other's intentions, had no idea why the other acted the way he was doing.

But the inner circle of your family, especially Maggie and Carol, knew what was going on. And having to watch the two of you - while you did not notice it yourself - slowly but surely drove everyone to despair.

The whole thing was like a fucking soap opera!

You and Daryl had barely spent time together and avoided each other as best you could, so you had not noticed all the little signs that spoke volumes to all the others.

How his ears turn red when you have been near him.

How he sometimes looked at you a little longer than others.

How he changed his shifts in the guard tower just so he could take care of you when you were near the fences during your work.

The moment Daryl faced you for the first time since his return, the floor was torn from under his feet. When he saw your y/e/c eyes looking at him, he felt his heart swell. Warmth spread in his chest and he had thousands of butterflies in his stomach. The redneck had never felt anything like that before and it terrified him.

It was something he could not handle.

He knew he screwed up when he left you because of his brother. The way you behaved towards him was unmistakable. Daryl did not want to endanger the little friendship that was still between you. He could not risk losing you for good.

So he gave you your freedom and just adored from a distance - without you noticing.

But from a certain point in time all his thinking was focused only on you. Or rather, to hide what he really felt about you - how much he loved you.

Daryl was so busy hiding the love he felt for you that he did not even notice how much this young woman from Woodbury was constantly flirting with him. Of course, it had not escaped him that she ran after him like a lost puppy; and yes that annoyed him.

But weren't all of these newcomers a pain in the ass?

He was not interested in this blonde woman, not a little bit. Daryl does not care about her; he does not even listen to her most of the time.

If he was honest, he did not even know her name.

---------------------------------

In the last few weeks, it had become routine for the redneck to be on guard duty in the early hours of the morning. Not just because he was an early riser- and finally got some peace up here from the intrusive people from Woodbury - but because you went to work in the vegetable gardens shortly after sunrise every day.

And from high up there he had the opportunity to watch and admire you unnoticed.

You have always been used to working hard, and everyone who saw you knew that you had no problem with it and that you could lend a hand. Rick once joked that you could overshadow any Amish when it came to your work ethic. You just shrugged your shoulders and replied that you had no problem with that as long as you didn't have to pray for hours.

So you and Daryl spent the mornings together - without your having a clue about it. You, lovingly watching over the plants in the vegetable patches, he on the guard tower, lovingly watching over you.

As the sun rose higher and higher on its way across the sky, it made the sweat shimmer on your skin as you patiently devoted yourself to each of your tasks without taking a break. The black tank top you wore on that hot summer day stuck to your body and framed it perfectly. Your figure was like an hourglass, and each of your curves came out sensually.

At least as far as Daryl could tell. For him you were perfect, just like you were. He could watch you for hours without getting tired of it, could watch you for the rest of his life.

Only when the crotch of his jeans became uncomfortably tight did the redneck look away from you. His thoughts had taken a suggestive course, and the images that emerged in his head were by far no longer suitable for minors. Daryl would surely spend this evening in his fist again - dreaming of how you would feel lying under him, how you would smell, how you would taste, and what sweet noises would come over your lips if he would touch you where you needed it most.

"Everything's okay," he heard a familiar voice next to him.

Damn it, did the time really go that fast? Was his shift already over?

"Are you okay? You seem a little distracted to me."

Carol had come to relieve him. But Daryl, in his fascination for you, had not even noticed her.

"’m okay."

"Yes, of course, and your thoughts were on the task in front of you the whole time."

There was unmistakable amusement in Carol's voice. With a knowing smile, the woman leaned on the railing and watched you work for a while.

"Can you please finally tell Y/N that you love her. So that we can finally all get on with our lives? It's really not nice to see you two walking around each other on eggshells."

Daryl was embarrassed. He was caught with his hand in the cookie jar by Carol. Still, he tried to stay as cool as possible.

"I have no idea what ya're talkin’ about."

But the woman was not easily fooled. She knew very well what was going on in the man in front of her. Just as she knew how you felt about him.

"I hear what you say, but your ears say something else.”

Daryl flinched. Sometimes he hated the way his body betrayed him.

“What the hell,” Carol had to keep from laughing “I didn't even know that they could get so red."

"Stop it woman."

Again and again, Carol tried to get her friend to finally confess his love to you. Because in her eyes you were both wasting valuable time. And being able to spend time with loved ones was the most important thing now.

You had not noticed any of this. You were too busy tying up the tomato plants and removing the leaves so that they brought the greatest possible yield. After all, many mouths had to be fed, and you all needed supplies for the coming winter.

And it was precisely these necessary supplies that prompted Rick to ask you to go on a run the next day with others. Of course, you immediately agreed, after all, everyone went on these runs at some point. It wouldn't be your first time, and certainly not your last time, that you would take part in something like this.

But who could say that in these uncertain times?

What you did not know at the time was, that Michelle would be there too. Maybe then you would have refused. But now you sat in the back seat of the pickup truck in silence, staring stubbornly out the window.

Michelle just a few inches away from you.

It had been clear to Maggie from the start that this constellation would not bring any good. However, even the young woman would not have expected what dimensions the whole thing would take. And in what a heartbreaking catastrophe it would end.

During the entire journey Glenn and Maggie tried to break the mood. The four of you sat in the truck and drove a few hours until you finally arrived at your destination.

It should be a simple thing - in and out, quietly, quickly, unseen.

But what no one had expected was the behavior that Michelle had displayed when it came to doing her part. She had absolutely no desire to be actually a part in this job.

And Michelle let the three of you feel that very clearly.

She neither wanted to help find the necessary supplies nor carry them; even found it outrageous that she had been asked by Rick to join in and risk her life. She had never had to do this before, why now?

It took you so much strength to stay calm and not yell your opinion on Michelle's face - or beat her across the street.

You did not like this woman, not a bit. For you, she was a narrow-minded, self-centered, selfish slut who cared about only herself. And what Daryl saw in her was incomprehensible to you.

But when Michelle began to risk all of your lives because of her loud behavior, even Maggie's patience ran out. The eternal insults in your direction were just the cherry on top. Maggie would have liked nothing more than to give this snotty brat a huge slap in the face.

But to make a shitty day even more shitty, that was unfortunately your smallest problem.

Michelle's loud complaints drew the attention of more and more walkers, and at some point, you had difficulties getting back to your car.

You had just successfully cleared a pharmacy when you saw the horde slowly approaching on the street.

That was by far the worst scenario, and your greatest fear.

It was all happening so quickly, and the only thing you thought was that Michelle had to make it back to the Prison alive. You could not risk Daryl losing someone he loved again. No matter what a fucking bitch she was. You knew it would destroy him.

The way back to the pickup was long and the Walkers unfortunately closer than wanted. The heavy backpacks did not make it any easier to escape them quickly. So you stayed back when Maggie, Glenn, and Michelle started running back towards the truck. You knew your partners needed a distraction to make it through.

And what could be a better distraction than you.

"Come to me you damn motherfuckers! Here I am! Come and catch me you bloody bastards! You ugly fuckers!" you screamed on top of your lungs, tried to make as much noise as possible.

The walkers slowly turned to you and came to hunt you down - to kill you. You would be their lunch. Scared to death your heart was beating so hard in your chest that you thought it was about to pop out.

From that point on, you could not remember anything. Your brain just shut down, went into survival mode. You only ran on instinct, no more active thinking.

In a way, like the Walkers you tried to escape from.

Maggie turned when she heard your voice, and the blood froze in her veins. She thought you were right behind her, but you were still near the entrance to the pharmacy and the horde of walkers was on the way to you.

"Y/N!" her voice was desperate.

She was about to turn back to you – to help you - but Glenn could not and would not let that happen.

"Come on Maggie, we have to get the car. We'll come back for her; I promise."

Glenn took his girlfriend's hand and pulled her forcefully with him.

Michelle had not noticed anything of that, she was the first to take a seat in the pickup and firmly locked the passenger door behind her.

When Glenn finally started the engine and Maggie - now in the back seat - turned her eyes back to the pharmacy entrance, you were gone.

Your best friend was in a panic.

"Where is she? Oh my god, where is she?"

Only then did she see you on the canopy of the building - the backpack with the bandages still firmly strapped around you.

"On the roof, Glenn, she's on the roof! We have to get her!" the young woman screamed in desperation.

She could not and did not want to lose her friend. Not now and not like this.

“and preferably before these things figure out how to climb”, was Glenn's addition when he turned the truck and drove towards the pharmacy.

"Are you crazy," squeaked Michelle, "do you want to die just to maybe save her life?"

Maggie's eyes darkened, and Glenn realized immediately that she had now reached the limit. Another word from Michelle and his girlfriend would feed this woman to the Walkers with no trace of guilt.

"You shut up now, bitch! You're to blame for all this shit. If you’d shut your damn mouth and done what we've all done hundreds of times before, none of this would have happened! These fucking things would never have noticed us."

Michelle gasped to give Maggie a neat answer, but Maggie was faster.

"If I hear one more word from you, if you just beep, I'll feed you to these Walkers!"

Michelle's reply was interrupted by the gruesome sound of breaking bones as Glenn brutally drove through the horde of walkers who were now confused and trying to understand what was going on around them.

You were still standing on the roof. Your gaze was focused on the scene before you but not fearful, as if your self was not there at that moment.

"You have to jump," Glenn called to you when he brought the pickup to a stop right under the roof.

And with that you jumped onto the back of the truck. The fall was higher than expected, and there was a thump as you hit the flatbed. Immediately Glenn had accelerated the car again and drove away as fast as he could in the direction of Prison.

Desperate, Maggie kept calling your name, but you just did not answer. Maybe you were in shock. After all, it was not common practice to voluntarily sacrifice oneself as a meal for these monsters.

A few miles out of town, Glenn finally stopped the car, and Maggie was by your side in an instant. But she was not prepared for what she saw. You were passed out and a small pool of blood had formed under your head. The thud she had heard - when you landed - had been your head when it hit the loading wall.

"Oh my God."

Immediately Maggie was at your side, looking for your pulse with trembling hands. And there it was - weak - but she felt it.

"Please open your eyes Y/N/N", the young woman pleaded as she lovingly brushed the hair off your face.

"Maggie?" Glenn's voice was timid, almost frightened, as he stood next to the pickup and stared at your broken body.

"We have to get her to my father as soon as possible!"

Maggie's harsh words seemed to loosen Glenn from his stupor.

"Okay, no problem, I can do that."

And with that Glenn was back behind the wheel and gave full throttle. Maggie stayed with you on the flatbed, took off your backpack and trying to stop the bleeding on your head.

-------------------------------------

Rick and Daryl were in the courtyard of the prison, discussing the next runs when the pickup truck drove through the gates with screeching tires. It was immediately clear to both of them that something bad must have happened.

Without wasting time, the two men ran towards the car.

"What happened", Rick called out.

But Daryl could not hear Glenn’s answer. Everything around him fell silent and vanished when he saw you - bleeding, passed out - in Maggie's arms.

Without thinking further, he jumped on the flatbed and leaned over you. He caressed your pale cheek with trembling fingertips before desperately looking for a pulse on your neck.

Frightened, he held his breath until he felt it, your heartbeat.

Even but so weak.

"We have to take her to my father."

Maggie had not even finished the sentence when Daryl had already taken you in his arms - bridal style - and was on the way to the infirmary with you.

With a lover's desperation, he clung to you as he ran all the way.

“Don't do this to me. I beg ya, please don't die to me."

-----------------------------------

Daryl never left your side for a moment. He sat like a statue and held your hand. He did not say a word, did not move. Neither when Hershel examined you, nor when he sewed your laceration.

He listened quietly to the vet's diagnosis and what he thought might happen in the next few hours or days.

Only when Maggie came with a bowl of water and a cloth to wash off the dirt and blood did he break free.

"Let me …" Daryls voice cracked, and the knot in his throat made it difficult for him to say anything else.

He took everything from Maggie's hand and put it on the little table next to your bed.

The redneck looked broken. The young woman could clearly see how much he loved you. And she knew that if you died, Daryl would vanish. He would just cease to exist.

“I'm so sorry,” Maggie said quietly, and a tear rolled down her cheek, “I thought she was right behind me. But … but she wasn't."

"It's not ya’ fault." Daryl's voice was barely perceptible.

Slowly he dipped the cloth into the warm water and began to carefully wash the blood off your face.

"Daryl I’m ... I’m"

"I know."

“Y/N is strong, she is tough. She will be okay."

Daryl just nodded absently while he concentrated fully on washing the blood off your temple.

And so Maggie left the redneck alone with you in the infirmary.

With trembling hands, he began to clean your neck. Little by little he washed your whole body- took care of you quietly and lovingly- making dirt, blood and sweat disappear, made you as clean as he saw you before you went on that fucking run.

Then he sat there, hour after hour, just looking at you, holding your hand. You looked so fragile. You lay there injured and pale, almost like a corpse. Only your quiet, even breathing told Daryl that you were still with him.

Inside Daryl, everything contracted painfully at the thought that you might not wake up again. Slowly he leaned towards your face. He looked at every birthmark, every wrinkle, every freckle, as if he wanted to burn them into his memory.

“I don't know if ya can hear me,” he finally began with a trembling voice.

“But I ... I ... I “, he had to laugh bitterly.

“’m a bloody coward. Why can' I jus’ say it?"

Daryl took a deep breath, he had to get his fear under control somehow. He had to tell you. He would never forgive himself if he did not do it now.

What if you died.

"I love ya Y/N. 've been in love with ya since ... I actually have no idea how long. But I love ya. I should have told ya much earlier. I don' know why I didn't. But I love ya."

Daryl fought back tears but lost.

"Oh God please, I beg ya, please come back to me. Give me a chance to show ya how much I love ya. Just one chance to prove myself to ya." and with that Daryl collapsed on top of you, crying and sobbing.

----------------------------------

It took you two days to open your eyes again. Two days in which Daryl had not left your side. Two days of going through hell and back again. In which even he had sent a quick prayer or two towards heaven.

It was as if you had been awakened from a deep sleep far too abruptly. And it took a while before you knew where you were. You felt dizzy and tired. Your head hurt like hell. And you were confused.

First, why you were in the infirmary, and second, why Daryl was sitting next to your bed looking like he had not slept in days – your hand in his.

"Hey," he whispered, "how are ya feelin’?"

"Tired", your voice was scratchy from not using it for a long time, "my head hurts."

“You hit ya head bad. Hershel had to patch ya up."

"What happened?"

"Can't ya remember."

"No ... Yes …. but not ... not really ... only up to a certain point."

You were nervous, were not used to Daryl being so close to you. You did not want to make a fuss about yourself, and yet you liked the attention this man was giving you.

“I can still remember the horde of Walkers who came up to me, but then … nothing ... I can't remember what happened then."

You had not noticed that tears had started to run down your temples until Daryl lovingly wiped them away with his thumb.

"Hey ... shh ... take it easy. Everythin’ is okay. Everyone’s fine. Please don't get upset, ya have a concussion. Hershel says ya need a lot of rest now."

And suddenly you were silent. Never before had Daryl spoken to you with such a loving tone in his voice or had touched you in this way. You did not understand what was happening here.

But he said you had a concussion. Perhaps it was to blame for this filter through which you noticed this whole interaction.

“I'll let Hershel know that ya woke up. I'll be right back; promise."

Confused, you looked after the redneck. Something had happened that you had no idea about. But you did not want to worry about it now. Your head hurt too much, and you just wanted to sleep.

---------------------------------------

When you opened your eyes again, Hershel was sitting in the chair on which you had previously seen Daryl.

"It's nice to see you again with your eyes open Y/N," said the older man with a friendly smile, "you worried us very much."

"‘m sorry. "

"It's okay. How do you feel?"

"Okay. Tired, head hurts."

"Something else?"

"No, except that I feel like I'm wrapped in cotton wool."

Hershel sat and listened to you before nodding.

"Daryl said you can't remember what happened."

"Not really."

"Don't worry, that's nothing unusual with this type of head injury."

He patted your shoulder encouragingly.

"Will I be able to remember one day?"

"You know kid, sometimes it is really good not to be able to remember some things."

"Probably."

“But now you should rest first. I know you have questions, but answers will come later. After all, you have to regain your strength."

------------------------------------------

You knew you had slept, but not for how long. Because the next time you opened your eyes, Carol was sitting on that same chair. But there was something else. Could it be that it smelled of her venison ragout?

"How are you, Y/N/N?"

"Still tired, but the headache is almost gone."

"Good to hear. You gave us all a real scare."

"I'm sorry."

"Especially Daryl. I've never seen him so frightened."

You looked questioningly at the older woman next to you. You were used to it that she kept dropping allusions about Daryl - at least when she talked to you. But you just did not understand that statement at all.

Daryl was never afraid of anything. Why would he ...

"Well. Are you hungry?" Carol had a friendly smile on her face when it broke your train of thought.

At that moment, your stomach made a loud rumbling noise.

“I'll take that as a yes,” smirked the gray-haired woman, “Daryl went hunting so that I could cook this. He knows it’s your favorite."

Unsure you looked at Carol before you took the bowl from her hand and slowly began to eat. It was true, that was your favorite food - if there was such a thing at all in times like this.

"You know that he loves you," she suddenly began out of nowhere

"Of course, we are family," did you try to belittle the matter.

“Okay, let's reformulate the whole thing again. Daryl is in love with you, absolutely and one hundred percent madly in love with you. A 'you're the only one for me' love. Without any misunderstanding."

When she said that, you choked on the stew right away and now you sat in front of her, coughing and snorting.

“And I know you love him too. So don't try to deny it at all. Everyone here knows that. Or how blind do you think we are? Although ... apart from Daryl. He has no idea. He probably wouldn't even understand if it bites his ass.”

At this picture you had to laugh.

“Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith in order to reach their goal. You two really have to start talking clearly to each other. You two belong together like pepper and salt Do you actually notice how much you waste your precious time? Neither of us knows how much of it is left. You should know that now, because honey it was damn close."

---------------------------------------------

Sleeping was your main occupation right now. A concussion took time and a lot of rest to heal. So it wasn't uncommon for your life to consist of short scenes at the moment.

With a sound - like a purring cat - you stretched in the hospital bed before opening your eyes. You no longer had any sense of time, and only the sunlight falling through the barred windows told you that it was probably afternoon.

"Hey."

Only now did you notice that Daryl was with you again.

"Ya feel better?"

"Yes."

Daryl seemed kind of nervous. But that wasn't possible, why should he?

"I've been here before, but ya slept and I don't want to wake ya", his words just gushed out of him.

Could it be? Was he nervous?

"Okay ... yes ... uhm ..."

You were easily overwhelmed with this situation, and somehow your head just seemed to have been swept clean. You could not find any words.

"We take turns. Hershel thinks there should always be someone with ya. Because of the concussion. Rick has already been here, and Maggie of course."

"And Carol."

"Yea."

"I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For the food. Carol said you went hunting especially for it."

"No problem."

“I still appreciate it. And for ... that you are here ... with me."

He nudged his nose up in a nod.

And then there was silence. The conversation with Carol kept going through your head. What she said. Could it really be true?

You knew that Daryl has always been more of a man of action than a man of words. And it was clear to you that if you did not take the first step now, you two would probably never get anywhere.

"Carol spoke to me", you started when you sat up

The man across from you was obviously nervous now. You could tell all too clearly by the fact that he was starting to chew the inside of his cheek.

"With me too."

"Apparently something like an intervention is going on here, could that be", you smiled, trying to loosen up the mood a bit.

"Seems so."

Daryl looked at you for a few moments. You could see the wheels turning in his head.

"I'm a coward, Y/N," he finally began.

You had expected a lot, but not a statement like that.

"No, you’re not. How did you come up with such an idea?"

"I was a complete idiot and too cowardly."

"What are you talking about Daryl."

In your opinion, this was going completely wrong right now. You actually wanted to tell him you loved him, and now it seemed to end in a vortex of self-doubt.

"I love ya, Y/N.”

And with that your thoughts became silent.

“I am terribly in love with ya. And out of fear I didn't say anything. But then I saw ya lying on the flatbed of that fucking truck, covered in blood and passed out. At that moment, my heart stopped. And I swore to myself that when ya're okay again, when ya've got throu’ this, that I'll finally tell ya what I feel for ya. Y/N I love ya. "

During Daryl's monologue you forgot how to breathe and just listened intently while thousands of butterflies fluttered around in your stomach like they're having a bloody party there.

It took you some time to realize that Daryl was waiting for a reaction from you as he gnawed his thumb in fear.

"I love you too," it gushed out of you before you even realized you had said something.

And then there was silence again. You and Daryl just looked at each other. Unsure what to do now. After all, you were both in uncharted waters.

"And ... and now," you asked uncertainly.

"Don't know," Daryl just shrugged.

"I mean ... um ... are ... are we ... together now?"

You carefully ventured out of cover.

"Um, yea ... if ya ... if ya want that."

"Oh my god, yes please", you replied in one breath.

Suddenly the tension between you had dissolved and you both had to laugh. It was so surreal. Two adults acted like teenagers in love who had no idea what to do.

But then Daryl slowly leaned in towards you. Your heart was pounding when you could finally feel his breath on your face. But before your lips touched, he stopped. He wanted to give you the opportunity to evade him if you did not want this.

But you wanted it, wanted it more than anything else in your life. And when you had overcome the last few inches, you finally felt his lips on yours.

The feeling was amazing. As if at that moment an electric shock had run through your whole body, and at the same time it was like coming home.

Everything around you no longer existed, was no longer important. Here and now, it was just you and Daryl. The way his lips moved with yours, how his fingers slowly ran up your arms until they were in your hair.

Everything was so intense. And when you finally parted to take a much-needed breath, Daryl leaned his forehead against yours.

"Ya have no idea how long I've been dreamin’ about this."

"Probably as long as me."

-------------------------

When Rick was about to visit Y/N in the early evening hours, he saw Carol and Maggie standing in the door to the infirmary.

"Everything's okay," he wanted to know.

The two women turned around with their index fingers over their lips.

"Shhhh."

Both did at the same time.

"Be quiet and come here," Carol whispered, "you really have to see that."

Rick approached the two women curiously. What could be so interesting that Carol and Maggie were half-hidden behind the door, staring into the infirmary?

He was confused, but when he saw what fascinated them so much, his heart swell. A satisfied smile played on his lips, as he was seeing what was going on less than five paces away.

Daryl was lying - half sitting - on the bed. His back supported on the wall behind him. Y/N was snuggled close to him, head on his chest and her arm wrapped around him. Absently, the fingers of his right hand traced patterns on her upper arm as he read to her from an old paperback.

Everyone could see the love that bound these two people. And thank God the two finally understood that.

"Seems like we finally have a happy ending," said the former deputy with a broad smile.

"Thank God", Maggie exhaled, "nobody wanted to watch this puppy love shit anymore."

“Yes,” laughed Rick, “but you have to admit there was something exciting about the whole thing. As if it had been our very own little soap opera."

"You're right, but I prefer my best friend happy."

"And what do we do now. I mean this seemingly endless heartbreak theater has come obviously to an end."

"Gossip- Rick is afraid he'll get bored?"

Maggie's voice was teasing.

"No, that's not how it was meant."

"Don't worry, Rick," said Carol with a smile, "I think the whole thing has a sequel anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, has someone told Michelle yet?"

All three looked at each other with big eyes before they having to resist laughing convulsively.

This story could get really interesting after all, they agreed.

part two

#Daryl Dixon #Daryl Dixon x Reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #Daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon x plus size reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon #daryl imagines #daryl x reader #daryl dixon drabbles #daryl dixon fluff #daryl dixon imagine

429 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

Text

Animaniacs: King Yakko Review (Comission by BlahDiddy)

Hello my beautiful technicolor rainbow! It’s time for Animaniacs, and while there is no balonga in my slacks there is one last christmas review for my friend to finish up, and after two visits to Acme Lab for the spinoff we’re finishing up with a look at Animaniacs proper. Suprisingly for a show that stands so easily on it’s own it’s existance is entirely thanks to another show: Tiny Toon Adventures, which had largely the same staff, including ep and co-creator stephen speilberg and Todd Ruegger, who was brought aboard from A Pup Named Scooby Doo. Since TIny Toon was a colossal hit with tons of awards and merch, including some very good video games I wish Warner would find a way to re-release, I mean.. come on if disney can rerelease the disney afternoon games (If...not..for..switch), and LIon King and Aladdin games (If somehow FOR switch), then Warner, which has it’s own game stuido no less, can put together a collection of the good Tiny Toons games when the new show comes out soon.

Point is it was a mass sucess and Warner Bros likes money, so they had Speilberg try to get Rutger to come up with another show for the two of them to do, something with name value. Rutger found his inpsiration when seeing the iconic warner water tower and taking some platypus characters, came up with our heroes and the rest is history.. well okay he retooled them from plataups’ to early looney tunes and other toons style characters minus the racisim of say bosko the tall ink kid but still, the rest after that is history. And the rest of this review is after the cut

The show was, and KINDA still is, a variety show: taking a page from looney tunes, as well as tex avery’s other work, the crew decided rather than just focus on the warners, to instead create a whole cast with various ensembles to work with so we got Pinky and the Brain, The Goodfeathers, Rita and Runt, the Hip HIppos, Katie Kaboom, Chicken Boo, and my personal faviorite Slappy Squirrel.. and the bane of my existance, Buttons and Mindy.. or rather Mindy’s Mom. The kid did nothing wrong. So naturally the first thing Animaniacs related I cover.. is an episode entirely breaking from format for one 20 something minute Warners cartoon. I do intend to do more animanics stuff in the future, so i’ll hopefully get a chance to talk about everyone, I just feel unlike with say house of mouse most people reading this probably know who they all are, and I can save any deep dives for if I cover the characters specifically. Spoilers: there’s probably never going to be a buttons and mindy deep dive unless someone tourtues me by paying for it.

So with that out of the way, we can dive into the episode.. which I won’t be covering in my usual recap it point by point because the writers have freely admitted that’s not what Animaniacs is about. While some of i’ts SEGMENTS are more story based like Pinky and the Brain, Goodfeathers and Rita and Runt, most are just based on simple set ups to reams and reams of gags. And I love it. I grew up with this stuff not just Tiny Tunes and Animaniacs but the classic Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and Droopy shorts.

Their well timed, well executed feats of comedy and most have aged pretty well.. emphasis on MOST. I’m keenly aware why there are several gaps in the shorts for both Tom and Jerry and The Looney Tunes on HBO Max, including all of the Pepe LePew and Speedy Gonzalez shorts. Also all of Droopy is missing.

My grumblin aside though, it is VERY NICE to have all the classic Warner and Tom and Jerry shorts at my fingertips and it was one of the biggest selling points of Max for me. Last year I gained an intrest in the old disney theatrical shorts, hence my various birthday specials, so I BADLY wanted to revisit the theatrical shorts I grew up with. And honestly.. Max is the best way to do that: their in crisp hd, in neat season collections (Though the Looney Tunes one is better sorted, tom and jerry’s seasons are just.. random smatterings of shorts across various eras), and most importantly EVERY SHORT they felt comfortable with putting up there is on there. Every. Single. One. I make a big deal about this because Disney.. has only maybe 30-40 of their hundreds of shorts on there. Now lucky for me the vast majority are still on youtube and I get why some really arne’t suitable.. we probably don’t need the donald duck short where he prepares to shoot a penguin in the face or the Goofy short where his own reflection, the goofy equilvent of tyler durden I guess?, keeps saying “Hey Fat” to him. And yes BOTH of these actually happened. But.. there’s MANY shorts with no clear excuse why their absent like the triplets first apperance, gus’ only apperance, and one a friend told me about.. that time mickey built a robot to box a gorillia. Again not making this up, just wondering why you can’t restore the rest of these for plus. They’ve ADDED shorts ocasionally, but it still dosen’t make a whole lot of sense to just.. not have them all up there. and to not put them in some sorta collection for easier consumption but hey it’s Disney. They either full ass things or half ass it. There is no middle ground. Point is Warner.. actually cares about their heritage in shorts and honors it and thus has everything avaliable in the best quality, so tha’ts nice.

My point after that detour is I really love this kind of humor, and now as an adult I can see the effort the timing, pacing and character chemistry these shorts had takes. And Rugger and co.. they got it. They got it down perfect. And this episode is a great show of that and just how they barely updated this format for the 90′s. But as I said it’s more about the jokes and basic setup, our heroes are slotted into x scenario and just left to run wild. It’s been the basic seutp for looney tunes, tom and jerry and all the gag based greats, and it works perfectly here. Sure there’s some setting and continuity with the warner lot, scratch n sniff, ralph, plotz and in the reboot Rita, but it’s mostly just our heroes go up against “X asshole” and it just works.

And that’s.. entirley what this episode is. The short is an homage to the graucho marx film Duck Soup, which given the warners were based on the marx brothers that isn’t a huge suprise, a film like brian’s song I have not seen, but genuinely want to. The basic setup is the same: An underqualified womanizer, though since htis is Yakko it dosen’t get past hitting on his chancelor, played by hello nurse, constantly, which is still.. ewwwww... but clearly not the same thing, becomes king of a small nation and ends up at war with another country. There were spies and other stuff in the original short but that was left out to streamline things. But this homage stands on it’s own fine: The basic plot is this: Yakko, due to being a distant relative and the last one alive, becomes king of the small happy and very musical, as the wonderful opening number shows, country of Anvilania, which makes anvils and why yes there is one MASSIVE anvil gag as a result at the end. Yakko says he’ll try his best and geninely tries to with the shenanigans you’d expect, including Dot not gettnig Polka Dot’s are a thing and instead taknig any mention of it as a sign to polka, Yakko again hitting on his colleague and wanting ot get a new anthem because the current one by “Perry Coma’ puts people to sleep. Honeslty that gag didn’t do it for me: Partly because I genuinely know next to nothing about Como and he’s far past my generation.. and because despite this, SCTV did a MUCH better Perry Como gag over a decade before this episode that while still left me baffled as to why anyone cared about mocking him, was 80 times funnier and felt far less like you needed to know who he was to be funny.

youtube

That being said it’s one of only three running gags, and jokes period that didn’t land for me. The other ones being the hello nurse bits, because it’s aged really badly to have Yakko harass one of his employees and his age is hte only thing that keeps it from scuttling the episode as he’s just 13 or 14. Maybe 15.

So SO glad I now have that on hand whenever i need it. The other being the “Your highness” joke as it just.. dosen’t make much sense and isn’t very funny. But that’s it: a refrence i specfically don’t get and I doubt most of you will, and if you do fine we all have our frames of refrences, a joke that’s dated very poorly, and one that just.. didn’t land. And even then the Perry Coma thing’s third use to knock out the opposing army DID work for me as did the VERY clever joke of “Sire” “Maybe later”, so even the weaker bits still had some legs. But getting back to what little plot there is the king of the rival country, upon hearing this, assumes he can easily intimidate a child into giving him the throne and goes to a royal reception. Instead, as you’d expect, the Warners mistake him for a party clown, show him no respect and fail to take his delcration of war seriously, and while in a REALLY great gag, and the reason i’m not doing a strict summary is 90% of the review would be me saying something to that effect, Yakkos’ call to action for his troops ends up having them all run off in fear, the Warners take out the army as noted above and then in one of the most GLORIOUS climaxes in the series history...

In which the Warners give the bad guy “all the anvils” as he requested. I sadly coulnd’t find a clip of it but seek it out if you got hulu, my words can’t do it justice as they hit him with anvil after anvil in increasingly clever and insane ways till the guy finally gives up and it .. is glorious. Other highlights not already mentioned include: The opening song, the bad guy dictator from the other nation not being able to hear because of his helmet and his attendee having to lift it, leading to Yakko taking off his helmet just to end the “what’ running gag, Yakko’s bit explaning his distant relation and more. So yeah not a ton to say on this one. It’s a very good, very funny episode but also very typical of a warner cartoon in structure, just stretched over 22 or so minutes. As I said with few exceptions the jokes work, the anmation is crisp as always, and the climax is one of the series best. A crisp, quick watch and a nice quick review after a week of with some really tough ones behind me and ahead of me and a month of rather large ones a few weeks out. So yeah if you like animaniacs, even ifyou’ve seen this one worth a watch, if you have any more animaniacs you’d like me to take a look at feel free to comment or comission and until the next rainbow..

#animaniacs #yakko warner #dot warner #wakko warner #anvilania #hello nurse #king yakko #duck soup #goodnight everybody #hulu #warner bros #kids wb

14 notes · View notes

akamaiden · 6 years ago

Text

Ragnarssons' Reactions: Dragon Queen

A/N: I wish I have your creative minds, honestly. I loved that request because I'm mad for dragons. 🐉 None of the gifs are mine, all credits to the rightful owners. Enjoy! 💕

Another note: This style of headcanon with bigger paragraphs it's something that the amazing @laketaj24 uses, so all credits to her.

Requested by: @rabeccablake

Björn

Since Björn hears about a dragon queen he's determined to get to know her, he needs to see with his own eyes if it's true the wonders people talk about you;

Once you arrive at Kattegat, he's the first one to welcome you, totally enchanted by your beauty;

“Looks who's here, Y/N, the dragon queen,” he says smiling at you and offering you a hand to get you out of the ship. “You can call me, Y/N, my Lord,” you say blushing lightly;

After the feast that Aslaug had prepared for you, Björn invites you to take a walk by the shore. The conversation flows between yourselves. You feel at ease around him, even though his constantly flirting;

“Y/N, I must confess that I never saw a woman like you. It's like I'm bewitched by you. I can't get you out of my mind,” he says getting closer and closer to you and when his hands are about to touch you both Sapphira and Roarixs land at your side and roar right at Björn's face;

For one second, Björn thinks that he's about to die, he's certain that your dragons will kill him. And their roars almost got him deaf. But you quickly pet them, whispering that everything is okay and Björn wouldn't hurt you, and that he's nothing but a friend. In other situations he'd be offended to be rejected that way, but he'd rather be just your friend than die burned – or something even worse, – by your dragons.

Ubbe

Say that Ubbe is curious about you and your dragons is an understatement. Firstly, how did you get them? Do you ride them? What they eat? Do you use them in battles? Do you have more dragon's eggs? His mind has uncountable questions for you;

But he's aware that Björn almost died and your dragons didn't even touch him. So he asks to the slaves about your schedule, if you have any compromises etc;

Once he finds you under a tree admiring your dragons and enjoying one of the rare sunny days, he approaches you;

“Hello, Queen Y/N,” he says politely. “Prince Ubbe,” you greet him. “Can I sit with you?” he asks and you nod. “I'm not gonna lie, my queen, but people talked a lot about you and of course, about your dragons,” he starts. “Aren't they the sweetest things?” you say smiling. “My brother doesn't think that way,” “If your brother could keep in his pants, my dragons wouldn't have acted that way,” you say and Ubbe do nothing but agree with you;

“Would you mind satisfying my curiosity, my queen?” he asks almost teasingly. “Ask away,” you say blushing;

By the end of the day you answered all the questions Ubbe made you. “See? All you have to do to stay alive is not harassing me,” you say. Ubbe just smiles at you. Well, if he treat you with respect and make slow moves he could conquer both your heart and the sympathy of your dragons. Because the no way in hel(l) for him to not be fascinated by you.

Hvitserk

Hvitserk is scared of your dragons for obvious reasons but just the fact that people used to talk that you never were with a man before it's enough to make him suppreses his fear;

But he also knows that both Björn and Ubbe tried hitting on you and didn't make it, so he makes sure to do something different from his brothers' actions;

That's why he invites you to the cabin he used to pass some time with his brothers and he simply prepares a feast for you two and for your dragons. He just have to think how he'll explain to his mother why he needed so many goats for;

The conversation flows easily, his charming way is something that makes you feel confident, wanted and powerful;

But you truly believe that animals feel people's energy and when Hvitserk holds your hand, Roarixs roars and he simply open his mouth and you know what's about to come and you shove Hvitserk off and he got by surprise falls on the floor exactly when your dragon starts spitting fire;

Roarixs roars louder and gets closer to you, his wings almost hiding your body. You try to calm him down and when he seems more calm you go check on Hvitserk. “Sorry. Are you okay?” you ask. “I-i am fine. It's needed much more to scare me,” he tries to sound confident but you can see that his hands are shaking. “Yeah, sure. Thanks for this lovely surprise, Prince Hvitserk. But I guess it's better I go before something else happen,” you say giving him a kiss on his cheek, what made Roarixs roars again.

Sigurd

Sigurd really likes you, during the short time you spend in Kattegat he got really close to you. Not in a romantic way, in a friendly way;

Sigurd admires you. You two had a childhood alike. Middle children that were forgotten by your parents. That's why he understands your shyness, the fear of not being good enough, etc;

It's curious how in such a quick time you got yourself telling him your most deepest secrets until how you, the forgotten child, avenged your parents' deaths and reconquered the respect and glory of your family. He wishes the same happens to him, that he can do something great that make his parents proud of him, even though just for once;

Your dragons? Well, they tolerate Sigurd. But this doesn't mean that he can touch them. You tried to make Sigurd pet Sapphira and when his hand was almost touching her neck, she roared at both of you;

Sometimes you and Sigurd just lay down on the grass, with your dragons around both of you and you start telling him about how his brothers are so desperate to have something else with you;

“Listen, Y/N, Ubbe is a great man but I don't know if you two are gonna work together,” he says. “What about Hvitserk and Björn?” you say. “Have you lost your mind? Don't you think that the way your dragons reacted to them is a good signal for you to stay away from them?” Sigurd says. “And the other one... Ivar, right?” you say. “Björn and Hvitserk look perfect in comparison with Ivar. He's crazy, stay away from him, okay?” he says. “Okay, okay,” you say but you can't deny that you're curious about Ivar. He was the only one that didn't try to flirt with you.

Ivar

Ivar is totally fascinated with your dragons. He likes to watch them flying, he likes they way they're beautiful, powerful and still lethal creatures;

One day he's smiling at your dragons while they're flying freely on the sky. He's sitting alone and he looks like a child admiring one toy that he wants so badly;

“They're beautiful, aren't they?” you say catching him by surprise. “They're so fascinating. I'd give anything to have one of them,” he says. Before you can say something he continues, “But it'd be useless I couldn't ride them like you do,” he says looking at his legs with such a disgusted expression that you can feel your heart sinking;

“Why are you so hard on yourself?” you say. “I'm being sincere, it's different,” he says. Before you can say something else, Sapphira and Roarixs land next to both of you and you can see Ivar's beautiful blue eyes shining in excitement, he had never been that close to them before;

“How did you name them?” he asks. “The blue one is Sapphira and the dark one is Roarixs,” you say. The dragons look at you when they hear you calling their name. And you finally notice that different from the other thousand times that someone strange is close to you, they don't roar, actually they look at Ivar and seem pretty calm;

“Would you like to touch them?” you ask to Ivar. “Are you crazy? They almost killed my brothers,” he scoffs. “No, they won't hurt you. Trust me,” you say. And going against all senses Ivar follows you to even closer to your dragons. Roarixs shifts on it's place, but don't roar or something. Sapphira on the other hand looks attentively at Ivar;

“Sapphira, this is Ivar. He's a friend, he won't hurt you,” you say caressing her softly. “He'll touch you now, okay?” you continue and Ivar is looking at you totally mesmerized by the way you have such a power upon a damn dragon. He moves his hand hesitantly and when he touches her, she lets out something like a sigh and moves her head closer to Ivar, it's like she's asking him to pet her. “She likes you,” you attest. “She's beautiful. You are beautiful, Sapphira,” Ivar says excitedly, smiling from ear to ear;

You and Ivar spend the entire day petting Sapphira. Roarixs didn't let Ivar touch him, but he didn't try to kill him either;

Time passes quickly and when you're about to leave Kattegat you look for Ivar, he has to say goodbye to you and Sapphira – who likes him a lot, probably as much as she likes you. “I'll miss you,” he says to her and when he turns to you, he smiles and says “Maybe I'll miss you too, Dragon Queen.” “I should be offended. Anyway, I have something for you,” you say handing him a big egg. “This is...” he starts. “You were wrong, Ivar the Boneless. You don't need legs, you need wings,” you say and kiss his lips softly, hesitantly, afraid of the possibility of being rejected. But the rejection never comes, all you feel is his trembling lips, he's nervous, just like you. “I hope you don't forget me when you conquer the world,” you say touching your lips, wanting to memorize his taste forever. “It's impossible to forget you, my queen,” he says. And even though that you want to stay, you leave with the certain that you'll meet him again, you feel this deep in your bones.

Tags: @amour-quinn @haliannej @ivarsshieldmadien @ivarswickedqueen @nothingeverdies @mblaqgi @dangerousvikings @feistybaby @plantagenet-queen @attorneyl @readsalot73 @dewy-biitch @rekdreams247 @jade770 @lisinfleur @filthy-lil-thing @ivarslittlebadgirl @laketaj24 @threewintersoldiers @tephi101 @ivaraddict @captstefanbrandt @grungyblonde @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla @funmadnessandbadassvikings @alicedopey @moose-squirrel-asstiel @moondustmemories @cbouvier23 @float-autumn-leave @lokigoddess @ivarlothbroks @thisishowdynastiesareborn

2K notes · View notes

they-call-me-hades · 5 years ago

Text

{Cinderella AU} Night and Day

CHAPTER THREE

The manor of the estate, though it housed few people was actually quite a big home. Some rooms were closed off due to the bills it racked up and the spending habits of it’s occupants but none the less Gabriel expected all of them to be cleaned spotless each and every day.

Kit let out a sigh as he peered over the list and then looked at Honey who stood with quite a few cleaning supplies of her own as did Crowley.

“Right, I’ll take the top floor, Crowley you’ve got the third floor, Honey ground floor and we’ll meet up on the second and get to work on the bedrooms and hopefully avoid Drake’s bath all together agreed?” Kit asked when neither of the other two argued they split up each taking a broom and a bucket.

Kit started with dusting all the tops, lamps and other things around bringing up a cloud of dust that he knew would settle on everything else. Next he stripped the beds (though all they’d done is collect the dust) and threw them down the stairs onto Crowley’s floor they’d both kick them down to the next floor and end the day with helping Honey with laundry and mending.

Of course there were other interruptions, Constantly hearing a bell ring and calls through the pipes for Kit to go do something or other. It was always Kit having to run down the different flights of stairs and fetch the tea, clean up a mess, among anything else his brothers and father could think of really, Honey would sometimes take over for him and so would Crowley in attempts to make life easier. Kit honestly didn’t know why they stayed there, Gabriel paid them next to nothing and was verbally abusive to all of them so why did they stay?

Kit made his way to the top floor for the billionth time that day only to find Honey was already on her hands and knees scrubbing

“Thought we were meeting on the second floor?” Kit asked frowning as she looked up at him “Did the second floor, Crowley is starting the wash grab a scrub and start at the other end of the hall and then we’ll go down and you’re going to have lunch.” Honey told him it wasn’t an option to argue with her, Kit knew there were several occasions that he probably would have died of starvation of Honey and Crowley weren’t constantly harassing him to take care of himself. On the plus side, if they kept going at the pace they were they were going to finish the days chores by lunch! Sure there were other things that needed to be done like cooking and laundry but that didn’t mean anything.

“Crowley left a section of the garden for you to attend to as well, your mothers roses prefer you over him.” Honey said

Kit’s mother had grown the most beautiful roses in all of the kingdom, they were Kit’s most prized possessions in the whole world Crowley never touched them because he knew it was Kit’s favorite thing, it still made him feel connected to her. Kit smiled and shook his head a little they were the only people who made Gabriel and his hell of a home bearable.

Kit’s assumptions ahd been right, by lunch time all there was left to do was prepare lunch and Honey refused to let him help and shooed him out to the garden before Gabriel could call him on another request. Walking among the lush green garden that had only grown brighter with Crowley’s peculiar care methods was wonderfully relaxing, It melted away the stress of his home, seeing this garden no one would ever have known the chaos that was inside.

Kit grabbed the watering can and began his work with the roses by rusted black metal fence that Kit and Crowley used to play on, ironically pretending to escape prison with some of the other boys who had grown up at the estate chasing after them and pretending to try and catch them before they did.

How had such fond memories been formed in a place that was now just a living hell? There were many times that Kit had thought of running away, climbing over that fence just like the only times running and never looking back. But the estate had always meant so much to his mother, some day he was going to inherit it he just had to get married first. It was difficult to find someone you loved when you never left though so Kit was fairly convinced he was going to be working for Gabriel for the rest of his miserable life.

As we all know, fate has much different plans though.

~*~

Hades rode along the dirt path through the trees, Felicity sat on the horse in front of him as they trotted through the trees they were far from the castle and much farther than the little princess had been before now.

“Papa where are we going?” Felicity asked now dressed in blue dress Hades himself wore a rather flowy white shirt and brown leather vest, not looking like the prince he was in hopes that they wouldn’t be seen or bothered though Felicity still looked the little princess she was a much happier one now.

“There is a lovely meadow filled with wild flowers deep in these woods that your mother and I used to visit, I thought you’d like to see it” Hades told her and from the way she lit up and looked so wonderfully excited he knew that he had thought right. They trotted along until Hades saw something shift in the woods and pulled the reigns gently to halt the horse. everything was so dead silent as he looked around were they perhaps being followed? It could always be a bird or perhaps a squirrel but....well Hades knew with his luck it wasn’t any of those things.

“Stay here my little dear and don’t make a sound.” Hades told her softly he kissed her head before he climbed down and drew his sword walking off the path a short was, Felicity watched worriedly as he stepped closer and closer to where her father had seen the shape go. Hades approached and quickly moved the brush aside to reveal.....a doe. A lovely little doe grazing in the grass and he sighed relieved before he turned to leave and stepped on a stick causing it to snap. THe doe perked up, spotted Hades and took off running past him and then nearly into the horse.

The horse panicked rearing up and making Felicity have to grab the reigns before like a shot the horse took off up the path and Hades felt the twist of dread and horror in his gut “Felicity!!” he yelled chasing after on foot, what else could he do? that horse had the most important person in the world to him! “Stop that horse!!” he shouted uselessly after all there was no one around to hear him.

~*~

Kit had just finished the garden when Vlad revealed that he was going to be going to a friends house, he politely asked Kit if he could prepare his horse for him and Kit agreed going to the stable and getting Vlad’s horse all made up and ready before he heard shouting out in the distance, who in their right mind was way out here? Kit looked out the window as he heard rushing hooves and a small shriek from the horses rider and he went a ghostly shade of white realizing that it was a runaway horse! Kit didn’t even remember climbing onto Achilles but none the less he was suddenly chasing after the horse on Achilles, catching up to the magnificent horse fast as he just saw the shade of blue and he hurried to the horses side and saw the tiniest passenger aboard her, the little ones eyes were clenched shut and she trembled with fear, Kit reached out on his horse and quickly seized the others reigns and pulled on both his and the other horse causing them both to slow down, at first the other horse screeched and jumped a bit as Kit climbed down from Achilles and held his arms up trying to soothe the spooked horse until he had calmed down and kit was stroking his nose gently and cooing soothing words and when he was certain the horse was calm he moved on to it’s tiny rider who still clung and trembled with tears flowing down her cheeks and Kit could only give a gentle smile

“Hey,” he said softly and she looked up at him panicked as he held out his arms

“It’s alright, it’s all over you can come down now.” He assured her Felicity blinked away tears for a moment before she slowly sat up and swung her leg over still shaking as she slid down, Kit caught her and immediately felt her go from clinging to the horse and crying, to clinging to him and crying. Kit was alarmed at first he was never really good with children but he couldn’t be so cruel as to turn this one away either. He just offered a small smile and held her close cooing softly to her as he rubbed her back and assured she was alright.

That was when a man came running along the road, no doubt the little ones care taker and instantly Kit’s soft smile turned into a full on glare as he eyed the man

“What the hell is wrong with you letting a child ride off by herself?! you know she could have been hurt!” Kit shouted probably just his adrenaline still running the other man was totally baffled but returned the glare

“I didn’t let her do anything! a deer ran out while i was investigating and spooked the horse, I’m not a wolf who can just run and catch up!!” Hades yelled back as Felicity peeked out and Hades remembered that she was actually there and he was relieved that she was safe and seemed unharmed his temper cooling as he remembered she didn’t like shouting and looked at the beautiful stranger

“I’m sorry, Thank you for saving my little girl.” Hades said he held his arms out and Kit passed her off Felicity had stopped trembling at this point but she still clung to Hades and looked up at him

“Hi papa,” she said softly before she looked at Kit then “Thank you,” she said and Kit couldn’t help but grin, she was a cute kid, at least she seemed polite as well. Kit smiled and reached out ruffling her hair “Just be careful next time alright?” he asked before he looked up at her father, gosh he was beautiful from his dark hair to his beautiful dark eyes and his....wait.

Kit suddenly found himself laughing a little as he noticed more about this situation

“I’m sorry did you actually try to catch a rampaging horse on foot?” Kit asked eyeing the man who was now covered in mud and leaves from trying to chase after them. Hades let out an irritated huff

“Well what else was I supposed to do? Sprout wings and fly?” Hades asked and Kit just burst into laughter again the idea of the man just chasing after him was probably one of the funniest things Kit had seen all day. Hades scowled and shook his head a little bit before he set Felicity down Kit just looked at him before he noted Felicity was distracted hurrying back down the road towards the estate that was until he realized that some of the flowers had grown over the fence and obviously the little dear was distracted by such vibrant colors.

“Felicity don’t run off I just got you back.” Hades told her as he followed after her Kit followed them towing the two horses behind him. Hades looked at Kit and smiled

“Thank you, I’m so sorry she’s just....a bit distracted.”

“Well with a father as distracting as you are can you blame her?” Kit asked quirking a brow and he had to say he did enjoy the slight shade of pink that coated the other’s cheeks at the compliment Kit put the horses in the stable before he went to rejoin them in the garden and Kit held his hand out to the other

“Kit Marlowe, it’s nice to meet you.” Kit said Hades was surprised usually people were falling all over him by now but....well this man didn’t seem to recognize him at all

“Uh Hades, and this is Felicity.” Hades said as he watched her with a careful eye as Felicity wandered through the rows of vibrant flowers that grew for quite a while “Are you a gardener then?” hades asked he wondered if this was the gardner that perhaps Aziraphale had kissed at the “Coming out” party but he remembered him having vibrant red hair rather than lovely blonde curls it was absolutely stunning seeing him he almost reminded Kit of his Persephone.

“Would you...would you perhaps want to join us for lunch?” Hades asked him “as a thank you, you did save my little girl after all”

Kit blushed a bit, it would be wonderful to go but...what if someone here needed him “I...can’t I have to work eventually and-” “No he doesn’t!” Crowley called Kit jumped a mile out of his skin not realizing that the ginger had come out to see who the little fiend going through the garden was “No he has the rest of the afternoon off and he’ll be happy to go with you” Crowley told Hades a shit eating grin written all across his face as Kit glared his face going redder

Hades ignored it and chuckled “Fantastic, we have plenty of food we were just going up to a meadow up in the woods I used to frequent as a youngster.” hades said Kit had to bite his lip and even then he snorted a little bit

“Youngster?” Kit asked him bursting into giggles “How old are you exactly?”

Hades rolled his eyes and groaned he really had been spending far to much time with his brother.

#cinderella au #DO NOT REBLOG #unless you're anna

1 note · View note

bubonickitten · 6 years ago

Text

a post in which i shame new jersey wildlife

carpenter bees: round, fuzzy little friends. in the morning i hear them munching on the wood paneling of the house. i only put them on this list because they’re more bumbling than bumble bees and they have a tendency to bump into windows and human faces, which is a bit silly, but also harmless and kind of cute. 11/10 because despite their eternal clumsiness, they are wholesome creatures and i welcome them in my life.

cicadas: i mention them because they!! are!! Loud!! but other than that, you have to admire a species whose life cycle consists of Sleep, Scream, Fuck, Die, and the sound is actually nice once you get used to it (and as long as one isn’t right near your head), and they’re ultimately harmless, and I Just Think They’re Neat (and kinda cute), so 10/10.

wild turkeys. some mornings i wake up and we have a dozen or two turkeys yelling at each other on the front lawn. they have no fear of traffic and will not move any faster when you honk at them. i have been late to work on several occasions because of this one turkey who lives on this one street corner and constantly decides to stand in the middle of the road for no apparent reason and stare down oncoming cars in an eternal “no, you move” standoff. 8/10 for sheer bravado.

squirrels: little monsters who destroy bird feeders, build nests in gutters, harass my cat, drop acorns on the roof at 5 in the morning, and are road hazards who will panic and run back toward a car even if they’re already mostly across the street when one comes along. 7/10 because they are cute and actually pretty good Cat TV.

guinea hens: not native wildlife, but occasionally introduced deliberately to help control the tick population, which they do admirably. would be excellent tiny guard dogs, except for them the ground is always lava and a gentle breeze is equivalent to an impending cat 5 hurricane and the jaws theme is always playing on a loop in their silly little brains, so they’re just panicked 100% of the time. we had a flock of them living on my street for years and it was just all cacophony all the time 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. 8/10 because they’re tick-destroying monsters and they’re kinda charming when you get past how Loud and Obnoxious they are.

Lymantria dispar dispar: i’ll use their scientific nomenclature since their colloquial species name has a slur in it. i used to love collecting the caterpillars growing up (they are Extraordinarily Fuzzy), and moths are universally cute. but, they are also an invasive species and a plague against trees -- the word Lymantria means “destroyer,” which is accurate, considering how they consume foliage like a swarm of locusts -- so i need to dock them several points. i will, however, return a point for having such a metal scientific name. 5/10.

camel crickets/cave crickets/spider crickets/“sprickets”: call them whatever you want but they look like horrible little mutant arthropods either way. which is kind of cool, but not when their #1 defense mechanism is to launch themselves at your face in droves. they like damp, dark places and have no self-preservation instinct and will aggressively jump at whatever seems threatening. i used to hate having to open the shed because it was infested with them and they would jump out at me in waves. i’m not put off by most bugs, but these ones are on thin fucking ice just for activating my startle reflex so easily. they don’t even make nice cricket songs. 1/10. one point for filling an ecological niche or whatever, but minus 9 points because they harass me specifically.

ticks: horrible. despicable. unavoidable. i was stunned the first time i encountered someone who had never seen a tick before. they’re just so ubiquitous around here that tick checks for kids every time they come in from playing outside, and checking for days on end for bullseye rashes after pulling a tick off a kid, is a natural summer routine. you’re as likely to hear someone say “it’s a really bad tick season this year” as you are to hear people talk about unusually high pollen counts or bad hurricane seasons. we had a “tick jar” in my house growing up, which was basically an empty aspirin bottle filled with rubbing alcohol and dozens of tick corpses. 0/10 because tick-borne illnesses are hellish and because i vividly remember one time when i was camping as a child i had to sit for half an hour while my girl scout leader dug an embedded tick out of my back and i never forgave that little fucker.

wasps. i know they’re important to the ecosystem but honestly??? Fuck Wasps. 0/100000.

actually i’m gonna put a specific kind of wasp on blast for a minute: red velvet ants aka (i shit you not) “cow killer ants”. i nervously await the day i accidentally step on one. 3/10 because they’re beautiful and fascinating, and i like looking at them from a safe distance, but also: Fuck Wasps.

i may add to this later. and feel free to add and shame your local wildlife if the inspiration strikes.

#important animals #Important But Shameful #long post #spider mention cw #insect cw #let me know if this needs additional tags

60 notes · View notes

5hfanfiction · 7 years ago

Text

Camp Hansen (Chapter 10)

“Lauren, wait up!”

The older girl stopped and waited for Camila to catch up before turning back around. “We’re heading to the creek, but we’ll take a different way. It takes longer, but it’ll keep them from following us.”

“Okay,” Camila said, but her eyes darted from tree to tree. “You know what you’re doing, right? Because I kind of don’t want to get lost in this forest. And I don’t think you want it either. Just think about the theories our fans will have when it becomes known that you and I have gotten lost in the woods. Together. They’d probably say we ran away and eloped and they’re gonna write hundreds of fanfics about it or something and we’ll be stuck here until we die while they trend something about Camren.”

“Ha, ha,” the green-eyed girl said dryly and trudged forward. “Don’t worry, I have it all planned out. It’s pure logic. If we keep going straight ahead and then take a sharp right, we’re going to find the creek with no trouble at all.”

“Except that creeks don’t flow in a straight line. Or that it’s nearly impossible to walk a straight line on your own.”

Almost unnoticeable, Lauren paused. “I knew that. Nevertheless, we’ll find it. One way or the other.”

The unconvincing answer didn’t assure Camila in the slightest. She glanced over her shoulder, only to be met with more trees and bushes. They were already too far away to see or hear the others. They were completely alone. She crossed her arms and looked back to Lauren who kept marching forward, unbothered by the possible danger they could find themselves in.

“One way or the other…” Camila scoffed quietly. “Lauren, you know I love you, but sometimes you do rash things without thinking them through. We’re in the middle of an unknown forest with no paths or maps or even a GPS signal or a compass to help us. If we get lost, our only chance for survival is screaming for help and hoping that the girls will somehow find us without getting lost themselves. We can’t just aimlessly walk around and hope for the best. Or do you want to ask a squirrel for directions? Or a bear?”

Stopping suddenly, Lauren swiftly turned around. The glare that she gave the younger girl was bone-chilling. “I didn’t ask you to follow me and I certainly didn’t force you either. If you’re that scared about getting lost in the woods or getting eaten by a bear, how about you turn around and leave me the fuck alone?!”

Not intimidated in the slightest, Camila crossed her arms and evenly met the furious eyes of her once best friend. “I’m sorry for worrying about our lives. I’ll try to be as reckless as you from now on.”

“You are so full of yourself, it’s astounding! Have you ever worried about anyone else in your life? Because I kinda see a pattern here.”

Confused, Camila furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about? I worry for the both of us. We have no idea what kind of animals live in these woods –”

“This is not about some stupid animals!”

“It’s…” Camila blinked. “it’s not?”

“Fucking hell,” Lauren cursed, “I can’t believe you! You can’t be that daft, Camila! I’m talking about you constantly brushing off the concerns of others because they don’t seem important to you until it’s suddenly about yourself!”

“If this is about Camren –”

“OF COURSE THIS IS ABOUT FUCKING CAMREN!” The younger girl winced at the volume. Above them dozens of birds fled from the treetops, screeching in fear. Lauren glared at them and grudgingly lowered her voice a few notches. “When have you ever tried to see it from my point of view?! ‘It’s what fans do, Lauren. Don’t be so mean to them, Lauren. They don’t do it to hurt you, Lauren. It’s just all in good fun, Lauren.’ But they do hurt me and it’s not fun for me, Camila! Don’t my feelings matter at all in this? If I tell you that I can’t go on like this – that I can’t live with them sexualizing our friendship, with them harassing people I love – shouldn’t my opinion matter too? Shouldn’t my feelings be considered too?!”

Wide-eyed, Camila took a step back. “Of… of course… but –”

“Even my friends –“ Lauren pointed towards the way they came from, her arm shaking with rage. “Even my friends are now questioning me – are talking about all of these ridiculous rumors…are believing them. My own family asked me if they were true.”

“Lauren…”

“You could have helped me to put a stop to all of this, but you never did. You kept protecting those lunatics that harassed me time and time again –”

“They don’t do it to be mean –”

“See?!” Lauren pointed at her. “You turn the other way. It didn’t matter to you how many times I begged you to deny it. And you know how they take your silence –”

“That’s not fair,” Camila firmly interrupted her. “You can’t just stand there and accuse me of being selfish. You used to loveCamren, Lauren. You were the one who hashtagged all of our pictures with it. You were the one who encouraged our fans to ship us. You were the one who started this whole… this whole flirtatious friendship of ours in the first place. You can’t blame me just because I don’t want to make our fans unhappy over something as trivial as a fictional ship.”

Lauren scoffed. “First of all, we never had a… flirtatious friendship –”

“I beg to differ.” Camila rolled her eyes. “We were always flirting in public with each other and you know it. You heard Dinah and Normani. They didn’t talk about Camren because of those rumors. Theynoticed that our friendship is not strictly platonic – or at least that it hasn’t always been platonic.”

“I’m not –”

“Gay?” Camila finished Lauren’s sentence. She sighed in exhaustion and shook her head. “You really need to stop saying that. It’s just me, Lauren. Look around, we’re alone. It’s just… me.” She glanced back up to the green eyes of her friend. “We used to tell each other everything. I was there through it all. We might not be as close to each other as we used to, but… you’re still one of the most important people to me. I still love you. You know that.”

“You know nothing.” It was supposed to sound angry, even intimidating – but it only came out as a broken whisper. “You hear me? You know nothing, Camila. Nothing. Drop it.”

They fell silent for a while. The unspoken words hung in the air around them. When Lauren finally broke the intense eye-contact, Camila deflated, but her eyes shone with determination as she took in the vulnerable girl in front of her. After a few seconds she nodded to herself, obviously having made a decision.

“I don’t like boys.”

Lauren’s head spun around so quickly that her neck made an audible crack, but the green-eyed girl didn’t seem to notice. Stunned, she stared at the younger girl as if she was seeing her for the first time. “What?!”

Camila helplessly shrugged and her cheeks turned into a pale shade of red. “I don’t like boys. I mean, sometimes I do. Or maybe I just like the idea of them. Of having a boyfriend. Like in the movies and books, you know? But it’s like there’s something missing… I don’t know. I thought a kiss would be this amazing thing that you keep wanting to do again, that it was something magical, but… kissing boys is just… it’s nothing. It doesn’t really do anything to me. I tried to convince myself that I liked it, but it was just… it was boring. And their hands are too big and rough and… I don’t know, I like holding hands with girls much better. Or hugging girls. Or kissing girls…” Glancing away, Camila cleared her throat. “Girls are prettier too. Boys can be good looking, but girls are… they’re really beautiful.”

Lauren opened her mouth, only to close it again. Blinking, she ran her fingers through her hair. Her previous anger was forgotten as she tried to come to terms with this new information. “You… you like girls? You’re… gay? B-but… Austin?”

“Austin was…” Camila trailed off, staring into the distance. “Austin was the first boy who actually wanted to date me. I don’t know, it sounds kind of silly now, but… I really wanted to feel normal for once. Our lives were so busy and everyone kept asking me about my non-existent first kiss – I wanted to be a normal teenage girl for once and have a boyfriend. You had Luis and later Brad –”

“Don’t. Just… don’t,” Lauren muttered, grimacing slightly. “Everything was a lie then? You constantly gushed over him, Camila. You were barely leaving his sight. You were obsessed with that idiot. And you were heartbroken when he ended it. Don’t even dare to deny it, I was there. We all held you when you cried your eyes out.”

Biting her lip, Camila shrugged again. “Of course I was hurt when he left me after we just went public. I wasn’t in love with him, though. I mean, I obviously thought I was, but I wasn’t. Sexuality is a really confusing thing and it takes time to come to terms with your own. You should know that.”

“Yes, I –“ Lauren stopped herself and glared at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Camila sighed. “Oh please, Lauren. Not only does our less than platonic past give me a clue, but you act just like me. You’re just a little more… aggressive in your denial.”

“Stop bringing up the fucking past!” Lauren hissed, looking around as if she was expecting the other girls to eavesdrop. “That didn’t mean anything. We were confused, Camila. That’s what it was. We were lonely and confused. It was… an experiment, okay? It’s totally normal and healthy to try stuff like that, but there were no feelings whatsoever involved. I’m not gay. Stop saying that I am! We agreed to never talk about any of this again. Why do you always have to bring this up?!”

Camila clenched her jaw, but otherwise remained completely calm. “And Lucy? Is she an experiment too?”

“Don’t bring her into this,” Lauren snarled, taking a step closer. “Shut the fuck up.”

The younger girl put her hands up in defense. “I understand that you want the Camren rumors to go away, but even if you and I posted a joined statement online, it wouldn’t help anyone. It would just hurt our fans and draw attention. Tabloids would write about it. It wouldn’t go away, you know that, Lauren. You would only make it worse.”

Lauren took a deep breath and turned away from her. “I hate this. Everything we do or don’t do gets scrutinized. We look at each other? We’re in love. We keep our distance? We’re obviously fighting. Why is our private life so important for everyone? It’s not fucking fair. I don’t know what to do…”

“For one, you could stop fighting the gay label,” Camila mumbled. Lauren snapped her head around to glare at her, but she quickly continued. “Yes, I know, you’re not gay, but you’re not straight either. I’m just saying you could avoid putting any kind of label on you. It worked for me. Like, I use gender neutral pronouns most of the time whenever they ask us something about love. I call them out for assuming we’re straight. I drop hints for the time when I actually do come out.”

Lauren furrowed her brow. “But that would only increase Camren rumors…”

Exasperated, Camila closed her eyes and tilted her head back. A deep sigh escaped her lips. “Right. And being completely furious whenever someone mentions Camren is not suspicious at all. You and your goddamn double standards.” She clenched her jaw and looked back to the girl in front of her. “You could have just ignored it all, you know? You could have acted like you do with the other girls. You could have brushed it off and kept being my friend in public. Fans usually pick two group members and ship them, it’s not unusual. It could have been nothing, Lauren. You made it a big deal. You gave them ammunition with each tweet, with each rant you posted. I’m sick of it.”

“You’re sick of it?!” Lauren laughed coldly, shaking her head in disbelief. “You are the one benefiting from all of this! You get all the support from Camren shippers because I’m the bad guy in this!”

“Benefiting?” Camila replied stunned. “I lost my best friend because of this bullshit you put me through! I got hurt. I felt alone. How did that benefit me?!”

“I don’t think distancing ourselves in public was too much to ask for!”

“It certainly is when in public suddenly changes to everywhere!”

“You know very well how sneaky our fans are!”

“But I don’t let them dictate my life,” Camila hissed, eyes narrowed in anger. Her hands had curled into fists and shook with barely suppressed raged. “I don’t drop my friends because of something as silly as this. I don’t ask them to stop holding my hand. To stop looking at them. To stop hugging them. Being afraid and in denial of your sexuality is no excuse of how you treated me. I felt like shit, Lauren. I thought I had hurt you in some way! I thought you were disgusted by me. You can’t treat people like that and expect them to be fine with it. It was not my fault that you think liking girls is something bad!”

Lauren opened her mouth, only to close it soon after. She looked as if she had bitten into a lemon.

“Why couldn’t you just act naturally around me, like you’re doing with the other girls?” Camila asked again, sounding slightly dejected. “Who cares if you’re gay or bi or straight? Our fandom doesn’t. Our families won’t. Liking girls is not wrong, Lauren. You should finally start to live by the things you preach.”

Lauren crossed her arms defensively and narrowed her eyes. “It’s none of their business. How can you be so calm about this? They’re telling everyone we’re in love, Camila. They’re telling our families and our friends that we’re lesbians. Don’t you want to come out on your own terms? How can that make you not mad? They are way past the line. They crossed it a long time ago.”

“Our fandom says worse things to me and about me than linking me to you romantically. I don’t know, I’m kind of flattered that they deem me good enough for you,” Camila joked, but the hopeful smile on her lips dimmed as Lauren only continued to glare at her. “You seriously need to let go of that anger. Being gay or bi is not a bad thing.”

Lauren scoffed. “I’m not seeing you out and proud either.”

“Of course not, my family wouldn’t be ready for that yet,” Camila waved off as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. “But I accept myself the way I am. If I like girls, who cares? It’s okay. I am what I am, right? We’re always preaching love and acceptance to our fans. We should follow our own advice. If you tell a fan that it’s okay if she’s gay or bi or whatever, how can you look at yourself in the mirror and think it’s not? Would you say that to your fan? No, of course you wouldn’t. So don’t say that to yourself either.”

“It’s not even about that! It’s about people assuming Camren is real and attacking my friends!”

Barely hiding the roll of her eyes, Camila sighed. “Yes, some of them cross the line in messing with our private life, but… Lauren, what are you going to do with Lucy?”

Lauren furrowed her brow, obviously thrown off by the sudden topic change. “Lucy?”

“I mean that you can’t let it destroy your relationship like it destroyed ours.” She held Lauren’s gaze, waiting for her to start fuming, to start attacking her, to start denying, but the older girl only pressed her lips together to a firm line. “Some fans are starting to ship you guys, some have always been, but it’s growing. I know you’ve seen it. Don’t repeat your mistake and pull away from her. She doesn’t deserve this, Lauren.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I have eyes. And I’ve been there.” Camila gave her a sad smile and shrugged. “It’s okay. I always suspected that you two had history of some sort. If I was the person who made you realize… who made you comfortable enough to pursue it…” She took a deep breath and looked away from the green eyes. “Well, then I’m okay with having been your experiment. It’s obvious that you never felt the same for me with how you acted afterwards. I’m not mad at you for that. I’m disappointed that you destroyed our friendship, but… I’m not mad.”

Lauren clenched her jaw. “I didn’t destroy our friendship, Camila. You became more and more distant. We could have remained friends in private, but you avoided me like the plague.”

“Seriously? You’re blaming me for…” Camila trailed off and shook her head, stunned. “You know what? Fine. Have it your way. When everything I have just said to you doesn’t mean a thing, then continue to bath in self-pity. Just keep thinking you’re the only victim here and that nothing is your fault.”

“It was not my fault. Hey – where are you going?” Lauren frowned as Camila turned around and walked away. “Are you seriously leaving? On your own?”

“There’s obviously nothing I can say or do to help you,” she called over her shoulder and continued in the direction that would hopefully lead her back to camp. “I’m not standing here and let you blame me for things beyond my control.”

“Camila, it’s not safe…” Lauren trailed off as the younger girl kept walking through the bushes and slowly disappeared from her view. “Fuck.”

Groaning, she looked up to the treetops and shook her head in exasperation before looking back to where her group mate had gone. With a roll of her eyes, she started to run as fast as the uneven ground allowed her to, trying to catch up.

════════════

♦ tumblr wattpad ♦

#UPDATE #series #non AU #angst drama #submission #Camp Hansen

16 notes · View notes

autographedcat · 7 years ago

Text

2017: A Year Of Reading In Review

Reading is something I used to do constantly. And then somewhere, I stopped making the time for it, and have been determined in recent years to make an effort to make it my default habit again. To that end, last year I decided to try and track the books I read, and periodically discuss them.

Unfortunately, after just one post, in January, I fell behind on writing about the books, and then in May I got very busy and ended up both not reading as much as I’d planned and also stopped tracking the books. After which, I never picked up logging again.

So I’ve reconstructed what I can from my memory, but my memory being what it is, I can’t be sure what I’ve missed. So that puts my total at 48. That includes quite a few comic book collections. 1

The following highlights are taken from a series of prompts from my friend Jessica F. Hebert.2

First book of 2017: “Winter’s Tale” by Mark Helpin This is my favourite novel, and an annual re-read. This would mark the 30th or so time I’ve read it, and it was magical as always. I was once asked, after listing it as my favourite novel, what it was about, and I summed it thusly:

“It’s a story about love. It’s a story about the love of passion, the love of seasons, the love of family, and the love of place. It’s a story about justice, and transcendence, and redemption. It’s a story about seeking, and wanting, and needing. It’s a story about what changes, and what never changes, and the bridge between the two. It’s a story about magic, and reality, and about the wall of clouds that separate one from the other and then weave them together as tightly as the threads in a tapestry.

But more than anything, it’s the story of a city, and the story of a girl, and the story of a man, and the story of a horse.”

Last book of 2017: “The Design Of Everyday Things” by Donald A Norman This is a classic text that dissects the elements of design that factor into every single thing we touch and interact with, and the psychology behind how that design works, or in many cases, entirely fails to work. I’ve heard of this book for years, but never got around to reading it, and when i came across a reference to it I ordered it on a whim. Terrific read.3

Book I couldn’t shut up about: “A Colony In A Nation” by Chris Hayes This is the book I’ve most recommended over the course of the year. It’s an examination of race relations in the US, and I think it’s very much worth the time to sit and digest it. Chris Hayes is one of the smarter people working in journalism right now, and I’ve been a big fan of his work since back when he was still writing for The Nation.

Most devastating book: “Crash Override” by Zoe Quinn In many ways, GamerGate was the canary in the coal mine of our national discourse that warned us all that something very ugly was not just brewing but bubbling over. Quinn’s account of her experience as the original target of the harassment campaign is chilling to read, and it made me angry all over again at the entire fiasco. It does include some constructive thoughts towards the end, where Quinn details the activism she’s been working on to help others who have been targeted, and some suggestions towards making the Internet a better, safer place for everyone.

Book my friends all liked that I finally read and…didn’t: No entry. The only book I read that I’d had hanging around my to-do list for ages was “Ready Player One”, by Earnest Cline, but I quite liked it. While it does have some problematic elements, it’s a popcorn book, and I consumed it as such.

Book my friends didn’t like that I finally read and…did: “Aftermath” by Chuck Wendig The Aftermath trilogy was one of the first major Star Wars novels to come out after Disney announced they were rebranding the old Expanded Universe as “Legends” and that all future Star Wars novels and comics would be considered part of the “canon” of the Star Wars universe.4 And the response to them was largely negative, so I didn’t really drop everything I was doing to read them. But while on a cruise to Alaska this summer, I found a copy of the first book in the trilogy in the ships library, and lacking for something breezy and fun to read, I took it back to my room and started on it. And quite honestly, I enjoyed them thoroughly. The first book is a bit slow to start, and Wendig’s present-tense prose style takes some getting used to. 5 But the characters are wonderful, and there’s some terrific stories there filling out what was going on immediately after the destruction of the Second Death Star.

From here, I went on to read several more recent Star Wars novels, all of which I’ve enjoyed, and a couple of which6 were superb.

Most read author: Ryan North and Erica Henderson North and Henderson are the writer and artist responsible for the Marvel comic “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl”, of which I read five volumes all in a row while spending a lovely weekend of isolation and natural splendor at Lake Crescent. I am an unabashed fan of Squirrel Girl, who never fails to delight me.

Best surprise: “Tove Jansson: Work and Love” by Tuula Karjalainen I’ve been a fan of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books since I was a child, and I first read “The Adventures of Moominpapa”.7 They are books I continually return to and reread, and the whimsy and magic of those stories are something I always want to make room for in my life. But despite this, I really didn’t know a lot about Jansson herself, and when I saw a notice of this biography, I ordered it. It was a tremendous read, and I learned a lot about an author I already greatly admired.

Works I’m Looking Forward to in 2018: I haven’t really looked ahead to see what’s on the horizon. On the comics front, I’m greatly looking forward to the first collection Gail Simone and Cat Stagg’s “Crosswind”, which is coming out in March. And I have the short story collection “Star Wars: From A Certain Point of View” sitting on the top of my to-read pile, waiting for me to finish what I’m currently reading, which is “Mad Men: Carousel”, which is a series of critical essays by Matt Zoller Seitz about the TV series “Mad Men” that I’ve been meaning to get around to since it came out.

In any event, I’m looking to keep better track this year, and to make more periodic updates like I planned to do last year. Onward and upward.

I’m only including collected paperbacks of comics, because honestly that’s the only way I buy them anymore. ↩

Upon whose Facebook post this entry was originally a comment upon. ↩

I was reading “The Holy Or The Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of ‘Hallelujah'”, but I didn’t finish it until today, so it goes on the 2018 list. ↩

I have some extended thoughts on this subject that are the subject of a future essay I’m writing. Watch this space. ↩

I admit I normally hate this particular technique, but honestly, by midway through the first book I’d stopped noticing it entirely. ↩

“Phasma” by Delilah S. Dawson and “Thrawn” by Timothy Zahn ↩

A few years ago, I recorded a substantial portion of an audiobook of this novel, as a gift to one of my girlfriends at the time, who was also a huge Jansson fan. I never finished it, but I keep meaning to ↩

#books #reading

1 note · View note

fireandgloryrpg · 7 years ago

Photo

Congratulations Britt and welcome! We’re so happy to accept your application to play Blossom Yeamens with the faceclaim of Olivia Holt in Fire & Glory RPG! We can’t wait to begin roleplaying with you so please remember to look over our checklist!

!! tw: bullying !!

Out of Character Information:

Name: Brittany

Pronouns: she/her

Age: 18 (but I’ll be 19 on February 5th ;) ayyee)

Timezone: EST

Activity: Gonna be honest and say I have no idea. I’m in my first semester of college (I know, it’s weird) so I’m still lowkey/highkey adjusting to college life so I may be spotty due to homework and the four clubs I’m in (why did I do that to myself my freshman year? I have no idea, good question. Wish I knew). But, I will try my hardest to at least get some replies through daily. On the weekends, however I’ll probably be more active since most of my friends go home on the weekend and I’m left all by myself (*queue Whitney Houston*) because I live further away from school.

Anything Else?: Please be patient with me because I literally haven’t rped since RoL so I barely remember how to use themes and cut posts and shit, but I’m sure after the first few times I’ll be a pro again. Also I’m very sad the rp opened during my hell, aka midterms. Felt like that was a personal attack (jk).

Original Character Application:

Name: Blossom Yeamans

Age and Birthday: 18. June 2nd

Faceclaim: First: Olivia Holt. Second: Auli'i Cravalho.

Heritage: Daughter of Eirene

ABILITIES: None

Affiliation: Fourth Cohort

Headcanons:

Although Blossom comes off as a ray of sunshine, she does have a badass side to her. She takes her training very seriously, training almost everyday. Due to her kindness and peaceful nature, she is often assumed to be weak. She is a very strong warrior, when need be. This developing from her being bullied while in school in New York City. She was seen as a weak freak, and quickly wanted to change that. She started going to the gym more, and even took a few boxing classes to improve her skills. Once she went to Camp Half Blood, she was able to be properly trained and now can handle a sword and dagger pretty well. Of course, she would never use her skills to hurt someone, only to prove that she is not as weak as she may seem. She also developed her skills to be able to protect herself and others if a monster were to attack.

Music was always the most calming for Blossom, besides yoga of course. All she needed was a ukelele and she was good to go. She even was able to write a few songs of her own, although she never dared to share those songs with anyone else. Those songs were her own private, little secrets. Although she never would share her own songs, she was never afraid to share her talents. She always finds her ukelele and sings a song if someone is sad. Sometimes music helps a person more than communicating with them. Plus, who doesn’t like music? Music always brings a smile to everyone’s face, and a little upbeat tune never hurt nobody.

Biography:

!! tw: bullying !!

Blossom Yeamans and her father lived in Eugene, Oregon, also know as the hippiest town in the United States. Her father raised her based on his beliefs of peace and harmony, which allowed them to fit right into the hippy town. She was raised on flowers, tie-dye, and pure happiness. Everyone in the small town was so kind, so insightful, and she soaked in every second and every lesson she learned while she lived there. Her father was also a yoga instructor in Eugene, which fascinated her for as long as she could remember. The whole idea of being able to find your center and be at peace, it was what made her feel most alive. She started learning yoga at age ten, when her father finally let her be exposed to this other side of his life. Ever since, she has practiced yoga every single day of her life. To this day, she wakes up every morning at five a.m and goes outside to do her yoga, watching the sun rise. By doing this, she is able to start her day feeling relaxed, awake, and at ease. Before she was able to have a love for yoga, she had a strong love for animals. While her father was off doing his yoga lessons, she would sneak off and go feed the squirrels, birds, or any other animal she could come across. She would pet them, love them, give them all names. Animals were her friends, and at a young age she decided to stop eating meat. With Eugene having a high growth of organic plants, she was able to eat as many organic vegetables and food as she pleased, making it easy for her to become a vegetarian. As she was a young teenager, she learned what it meant to be vegan, and then decided to cut all animal products from her diet. She hasn’t ate any animal products since the day she learned about veganism, now making her a vegan for four years and a vegetarian for eight.

Although Eugene was a wonderful place to live, full of people who practiced the hippie culture just like Blossom and her father, her father had a bigger dream. He wanted to open up a yoga shop in New York City. When Blossom turned fourteen, they picked up everything and went off to chase her father’s dreams. As any daughter would be, she was supportive of her father’s decisions, but was sad to leave the town she loved so dearly. She knew nothing different, the town of tie-dye and peace was her normal. Once they made it to New York City, reality soon hit her. As she started going to school, people would make fun of her, and for the first time in her life the term “hippie” had negative connotations attached to it. She was called a freak, loser, weirdo, everything and anything. She was bullied beyond belief, and was extremely unhappy with her new life in the city. But, when she got away from school and went home, she could see how thrilled her father was about yoga shop’s success. Between her father and yoga, she was able to find peace, despite the names she would be called at school. She focused on her grades, and soon made it to number one in her class. She still spoke her beliefs and practice yoga as much as she pleased, not letting other’s negative words destroy something she loved.

Once her father found out Blossom was being teased at school, he decided to help her learn how to defend herself, incase someone were to take their harassment to an extreme. He taught her how to dodge things quickly, how to get out of difficult situations, and what to do if someone did harm her. Little did she know, this was also a little introduction to what she would need to learn at Camp Half Blood. She became fast, and could honestly kick some ass when she needed to. Of course, she never did. She was an advocate of peace, she would never lay a hand on someone unless it was for her own protection. Even though she was good at moving fast and defending herself, she never thought she would need these skills.

The older she got, the more curious she got about her mother. Her mother was never discussed, but she did have one piece of her. A necklace, a necklace that she wore all day everyday. Her father said that her mother had left it for her, as a piece to remember her by. The necklace was simple, but meaningful. It had the universal sign for piece on a simple chain, and inside of it were flowers that always smelt amazing no matter how long she wore it. It was a keepsake, something to remind her of her culture, and of the mother she never had the pleasure of meeting. While living in New York City, she figured she had nothing to lose. She started to ask questions. Who was her mother? Where had she gone? Did she care about her? Eventually, her father cracked and explained that her mother was a Greek goddess, Eirene, the goddess of peace. The necklace her mother had given her was a hint. The peace sign on it indicated her mother was the goddess of peace, and the smell of the flowers protected her from dangerous monsters. It all made sense, why Blossom felt so passionate about the world being a better, peaceful place. But, there was more. There was camp, a camp full of people that were children of gods and goddess, just like her. She decided she had nothing to lose, since her school life wasn’t exactly the best. For the second time, she packed everything up and moved to a new place, Camp Half Blood. After being at Camp Half Blood, she decided to transfer to Camp Jupiter, where she was put in the fourth cohort.

Para Sample:

“You’re weak.”

“You fight like a girl.”

“You’re such a freak.”

“Go be a hippie somewhere else.”

“You don’t belong here.”

Although these were harsh words, these words always motivated Blossom. Those words were said by very unhappy individuals. People who wanted to take their anger and sadness out on her. Hurt people hurt people, but that didn’t mean that Blossom had to continue that chain.

One punch.

One punch into the punching bag for the guy who constantly followed her around for the sole purpose of tormenting her. He constantly told her she was weak. She believed in world peace, an “idiotic notion that was never going to happen”, according to him. How was he so sure? Did he have no faith in humanity? He obviously had not faith in her. If he did, he would leave her alone. Why was he so persistent in trying to bring her down?

Two punches.

Two punches into the punching bag for her trainer who told her she fought like a girl. Yes, fought like a girl. What does that even mean? Anyone can fight, when did gender become part of that? Did fighting like a girl mean she was weak? As a response, she worked out more, more specifically worked out her arms. She developed more muscle. With more muscle, she couldn’t be weak, right?

Three punches.

Three punches for the girl who always would look at her outfits and call her a freak. What was so freaky? Was it the fact that she always had on the brightest colors in the room while everyone else wore the darkest shades of each color? She liked bright colors, it wasn’t her fault that everyone else was so dull and enjoyed darkness. Or was it just freaky that someone could possibly stand out so much? Personally, Blossom never met another person that stood out quite like she did. She liked that part about herself though, it made her unique. Why did no one else like it? What was so hard for them to understand?

Four punches.

Four punches for the girls she tried to become friends with. She tried so hard to gain their friendship, until one of them told her to go be a hippie somewhere else. What did that even mean? Where was she supposed to go? New York was her home now, not by choice but by chance. She was supposed to be her hippie self here. Why was no one else like her? Why did no one understand her culture here?

Five final punches.

Five final punches for the guy who said she didn’t belong. Belong where? On this Earth? In the school? In this state? In this country? On this continent? There were so many possibilities, how was she supposed to know which one he meant? He must of meant at the school, because she knew that she didn’t belong there. She didn’t fit in, but that was okay. Believe it or not she liked not fitting in. It gave her freedom, it taught her not to care what other people think. It taught her what anger felt like, an emotion she never had before moving to New York with her father. She was always the happy kid, and to be thrown into a school with such hateful kids was life changing to stay the least.

She kept punching.

“Blossom? Hey, Blossom?” She faintly heard. It sounded like the voice was miles away. Suddenly, she was sucked out of her trance has she felt a light hand fall on her shoulder. “I think you’ve done enough. We’ll see you again next week, right?” her defence instructor asked with a bit of a worried look on her face.

“Right. Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” she assured her instructor with a bright smile. “I’ll come back stronger next week,” she stated and simply walked out of the room after that.

She would come back stronger next week because plenty more of rude things would be said to her at school, but she knew that their words wouldn’t hurt her, not in the slightest. Their words would make her stronger. Their words would make her faster. Their words would make her into a warrior, a warrior that fought for peace and love (and could also kick some serious ass if needed).

#accepted #Blossom Yeamans #tw bullying #bullying tw

1 note · View note

wbwest · 8 years ago

Text

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/04/21/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-42117/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 4/21/17

youtube

Star Wars Celebration (I can’t say that without thinking of Dave Chappelle’s Rick James yelling “It’s a celebration, bitches!”) happened in Florida last weekend, and we got our first teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Folks seemed to like it alright. I’ve never claimed to be the biggest Star Wars fan, but nothing about this really gave me a Force Boner or anything. That’s probably because Rogue One left such a bad taste in my mouth. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll see it, but it’s not really on my radar.

In other movie “news”, we got the track listing for Awesome Mix Vol 2 from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2., which comes out today. Is it just me, or is it weird that Mama Quill gave Peter mixtapes of all the songs that played while she was banging dudes in Camaros? Come on – she was totally that chick! Anyway, there are no real surprises here, as it seems to be in-line thematically with the first volume. Personally, I’m ecstatic that “Come A Little Bit Closer” will be introduced to a new generation, as I’m a huge fan of Jay and the Americans (check out “Cara Mia” if you’ve never heard it).

This rumor came out a few weeks ago, but it kinda floated under my radar: apparently Warner Bros wants to release 4 Batman-centered films in 2019 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Detective Comics. This slate would include Nightwing, Gotham City Sirens, the Joss Whedon Batgirl, and the oft-delayed The Batman. Nice idea, but there’s no way this happens. DC just doesn’t have its shit together enough to pull this off. Marvel could do it, but they would’ve been planning it since 2012. It’s already 2017 and they expect to crank out 4 movies in 2 years? Shit ain’t happening.

Bring on the teen angst train, as we’ve got two more comic-based series just dripping with it! First up is Cloak and Dagger on Freeform, which looks like the Freeformiest show that ever Freeformed. It’ll be right at home between the show about the deaf girl and the show about the foster kids. I’ve never been a huge Cloak and Dagger fan, but the series follows teen runaways Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, who were kidnapped and injected with an experimental drug. The drug left Tandy (Dagger) with “light daggers”, while Tyrone (Cloak) has a mystical cloak that transports people and things to a dark dimension. Oh, and there’s that sweet, sweet interracial love/Jungle Fever aspect to things. Based on the trailer, it’s gonna focus more on the love thing than the power thing, which is understandable since powers are expensive on a weekly TV budget. I haven’t heard if this is actually considered part of the MCU, but it’s nice to see the Roxxon sign at the end, so there are clear ties to the universe itself.

The angst doesn’t end there, though, kids! We also got a trailer for Syfy’s Krypton series (which has since been yanked down) – ya know, the one that nobody asked for. It’s hard for me to get excited about Krypton when very little about that planet has ever seemed appealing. It’s most recently been painted as a cold, stoic, science-based society. And since they don’t have our sun, it means they’re powerless. Here’s what I don’t get about the trailer: the show takes place approximately 200 years prior to Man of Steel (I guess making it the first series to be an official part of the DCEU), but the monologue is of Kal El’s grandfather leaving a message for him. Um, how does he KNOW his grandson’s name is Kal El if he hasn’t been born yet? Anyway, it’s about Grandpa El, who happens to be a sexy, CW-ish twenty something, trying to restore honor to the disgraced House of El. The effects look nice (AKA expensive), but nothing about this show makes me want to see it.

There’s some laughter coming from a different comic-based series, however, in the form of Freeform’s New Warriors. I mentioned it a few weeks ago, but it’s been confirmed that Kevin Biegel of Enlisted/Cougar Town will be the showrunner, and we got a confirmation of the roster. Led by Squirrel Girl (who has never been a New Warrior in the comics, but I won’t harp on that), the team is comprised of Speedball, Night Thrasher, Microbe, Mister Immortal, and Debrii. I’m familiar with career Warriors Speedball and Night Thrasher, but I don’t know anything about the others. Considering Mr. Immortal and Squirrel Girl are Great Lakes Avengers characters, this is something of a hybrid team.

I’m the furthest thing from a foodie, but I love a good dairy-based gimmick drink, and this week featured TWO of them! First up, I’d read online that Burger King had been testing a Froot Loops Shake at certain East Coast locations, with plans to roll it out nationally today. Well, I traveled around until I found one that had it early (well, I didn’t travel too far – it was down the street from my apartment), as I had to see what the fuss was all about. I had heard it described as made from vanilla soft serve, with Froot Loops pieces, topped off with a sweet, syrupy drizzle. Sounds exotic, right? WRONG. Whoever thought of this probably got a bonus for the idea, but it lacks in the execution. It’s basically a vanilla shake with edible confetti in it. From Loops don’t really have a strong fruity flavor to them, so it’s not like it’s rubbing off into the soft serve. And when you do get some Froot Loop chunks through the straw, they just taste like flavorless corn cereal. I didn’t taste any kind of drizzle, and I kept waiting for the WOW to kick in. It never did. I drank this so that you don’t have to and, trust me, you really don’t have to.

Next up was the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino. I hadn’t even heard of the thing until Wednesday morning, when everyone and their mom was talking about it. Looking at it, I was reminded of the Birthday Cake Frappuccino that comes out in March (I remember this because it was out at the time Evie was born). I LIVED on those things for the two weeks or so that they were in stores, so I was expecting this to be more of the same. I wasn’t sure what flavor this one was supposed to be, but there were certainly visual similarities. Anyway, after dinner Wednesday night, I snuck off to the corner Starbucks to try it out. You’ve heard of a Butterface, right? Well, this is a Buttertaste. It looks cool and everything, but the taste…THE TASTE! Its marketing emphasizes that it magically changes flavors while you drink it, but I could never really nail down what those flavors were supposed to be. There was a pervasive muskiness to it, making me feel like I’d basically sucked off a real unicorn. Of course, that would be silly – everyone knows you’ve got to buy a unicorn dinner before it lets you do that! Then, near the end, the muskiness gives way to a hyper berry taste, reminiscent of the Blue Raspberry that candy scientists seemed to have discovered in 1992. At no point in the drink was it what I would call “enjoyable”, and even the whipped cream on top was disappointing. As far as I’m concerned, this drink can fuck off back to Narnia where it came from.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Bill O’Reilly was fired from Fox News following sexual harassment allegations. See, if he’d told Billy Bush he only grabbed ‘em by the pussy, he’d be President by now!

Nintendo officially ended production on the NES Classic, followed by rumors that an SNES Classic is coming later this year

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were announced as the directors for Captain Marvel. I’ve never seen anything they’ve done (Half Nelson, episodes of Billions, and The Affair), so I’ve got no real opinion right now

Speaking of Marvel films, Black Panther wrapped production this week, as Hollywood braces for the return of every living Black actor

Will Smith is in talks to take on the classic Robin Williams role of The Genie in Guy Ritchie’s live action Aladdin adaptation. Obviously, Jaden Smith will probably get the role of Aladdin.

Stranger Things co-star Shannon Purser came out as bisexual on Twitter. Well, she’s bisexual in real life. She just used Twitter to announce it.

Director James Gunn announced that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 would be the final iteration of this lineup of the team

Black-ish was sold into off-network syndication, launching in Fall 2018

Jane The Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez will voice Carmen Sandiego in a new animated series coming to Netflix

Steve Harvey will host a revival of Showtime At the Apollo for Fox

Fate of the Furious debuted to $532 million internationally, beating the record-setting $529 million earned by Star Wars: The Force Awakens

With its original pilot rejected by Fox a few years ago, Joe Hill’s comic Locke & Key will have a new pilot filmed for Hulu

The X-Files has been renewed for a 10-episode 11th season. I couldn’t even make it through the last 6-episode batch they gave us, so I think this is a pass for me.

For the past 6 seasons, I have pretty much hate-watched HBO’s Girls. I hated Lena Dunham’s dumpy, Play-Doh body which was constantly on nude display. I hated all of her character Hannah’s “problems”. I hated her boyfriend Adam. I had convinced myself that I was really just watching, hoping that the characters would eventually be hit by a truck or something. Then, this season came along. Even through all my hate, I had to admit that this was a pretty strong season. From Hannah’s odd interaction with a bestselling author to Marnie finally realizing she sucks at life, there were some great episodes of television to be found in this season of the show. I was also forced to admit things about myself.

First off, I always knew I liked Shoshana because she had enough sense to know that she deserved better than the friends with which she’d found herself. And I definitely missed her once she decided to finally distance herself from them. I also realized there was much more to the Ray character and, while they didn’t exactly put a bow on it, I’m glad they led us to believe that he had found a happy ending. Even a character as originally unlikable as Elijah had some strong development this season, and he was truly missed in the finale, even though this chapter of his story had come to a close. As I already admitted in my Get Out review, I had to come to terms with my crush on Allison Williams and, by extension, Marnie Michaels. Yeah, she sucked at life, but she seemed like the one out of the four who had Tony Starked her way into that situation; she was the cause of her own problems. Once she began to realize that, the character held more promise. And I realized I hated Jessa because she reminded me too much of girls I’d hooked up with in college: damaged, tattooed, pseudo-junkies who are lucky to still be alive. And I guess Hannah reminded me of girls I’d hooked up with post college. Yeah, I hated a lot about Girls because, I guess, I hated a lot about myself.

This Sunday saw the series finale of the show, and I wasn’t quite sure I was ready for it. After a season that had given us a pregnant Hannah, but also showcased the dissolution of the group’s friendship, I didn’t really know how they could “end” the story. I was further distraught when I read an article last week saying that Jessa and Shosh’s final appearances had been in the penultimate episode that had just aired. While I would miss them in the final half hour, I had to admit that their chapters had also come to a close.

When we get to the finale, there’s a five-month time jump, where Marnie and Hannah are living in a remote house upstate, raising Hannah’s baby, Grover. Yes, that’s what she named him. Anyway, it was 30 minutes about what it means to be happy, but also what it means to be an adult and a parent. I like to think that Hannah finally grew up once she realized that Grover wasn’t another problem that she could simply run away from. The entire episode, she’s freaking out because Grover won’t breastfeed, but in the final seconds he finally takes to her breast. The look on her face is a mix of relief and maturity. It was then that I realized the show had to end at that point, as Hannah was no longer a girl. The entire series had been about millennial drama, as they skirted adulthood, but those times were over. The title Girls no longer applied to Hannah because she was now a Woman, with all the responsibilities that entailed. I used to worry about Hannah, and I sure as Hell worried about Grover when we learned she was pregnant. After Sunday’s finale, though, I think they’re gonna be OK. It was a finale that I had to give some thought to, but it didn’t leave me unfulfilled like Don Draper creating a Coke jingle only to end up hocking tax prep software six months later. For this reason, Girls had the West Week Ever.

#Batman #Comics #DC #Indie #Marvel #Movies #Music #Politics #Race #Relationships #Star Wars #Syndication #Television #Video Games #West Week Ever

2 notes · View notes