#yet because Georgia's a woman no one seems to care

[ingravinoveritas]

I thought I was the only one who weirded out by the fact that a mother can define ON THE INTERNET her own daughter a “drunken accident”. Like??? Everyone find her so funny. Maybe I have no sense of humor, but I can’t tell from experience that knowing to be your parents’ accident hurts A LOT. It isn’t something you want to make public. And yes, she’s definitely bragging. We get it, Georgia, you’re the luckiest woman alive, now chill. There’s no need to remind us about your sex life, unless you have something to prove...

Hi there! I'm so sorry to hear of your negative experience, and that it affected you so deeply. It's a curious thing, too, because in the same post where Georgia wrote that caption, she has Birdie's face censored/covered up. So seeing her kids' faces is too private, but sharing that piece of information (about Birdie and about Georgia's sex life) is somehow okay? Because that seems like a pretty strange disconnect.

I also think what a lot of people are missing is that in many cases, using the word "accident" when referring to a pregnancy also tends to correlate with "unwanted." There is an entire media trope built around this that we see in both TV shows and movies (i.e., an older sibling saying to a younger sibling, "Mom told me you were an accident"). And while this can be and has been played for both comedy and drama, the underlying negative connotation is the same: That Sibling #1 is saying it as an insult/to be hurtful toward Sibling #2. And that feeling of being unwanted is not something lightly brushed aside.

But if the comments on this post are any indication, you are definitely not the only one who felt weirded out by Georgia's caption, and I would not at all say it has anything to do with a sense of humor. This is par for the course for Georgia, as she posted this about Ty on Valentine's Day last year (putting it side by side with today's post, so we have the comparison):

...As well as her repeated use of the hashtag #vaginabragsunday (or just #vaginabrag) when making posts about her kids. She even (inexplicably) used that tag on her post for David's 50th birthday a few years ago.

The common thread with all of these (the post about Birdie, the post about Ty, the post about David) is that these posts are meant to be about someone else, yet she manages to center herself in them instead. That's where I think much of the issue lies for many of us--that this post for Birdie's birthday was phrased as if directed toward her, yet Georgia is using it to brag about her sex life, and clearly aiming that/the post itself at the general public.

Which brings me to your assertion about her having something to prove. As we know by now, Georgia has pretty much built her brand around the concept of--to borrow a terrific turn of phrase from @clayisforgirls--"I shagged David Tennant and you didn’t." But what I feel like some people are missing is that "I had sex with David Tennant" is a world away from and not the same thing as "I had sex with my husband David, the man I love." And if she needs to brag and seek validation from complete strangers--on her own kid's birthday post, of all places--that seems to speak volumes about the state of her and David's relationship, and not in the way that most people commenting today seem to think it does.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. I think folks often feel like they can't speak honestly about these things in the fandom, so I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to do so. Thanks for writing in! x

#nabrrie #reply post #georgia tennant #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #choices #not all of them good #also can we think for a moment how different this would be if the genders were reversed #if G was a man saying he had no self control with wine or his wife #that would seem at least slightly concerning #yet because Georgia's a woman no one seems to care #and any inkling of how David feels about this caption is completely missing #curiouser and curiouser #thoughts #discourse

[melswifeasf]

Safest in your arms pt 7

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Pairing: Georgia Miller x Fem!oc

Summary: Samantha and Georgia go on a late night drive which leads to more.

Warnings: (18+) MDNI cursing, drug use, underage drinking, age gap relationships (18 and 30) grooming, sexual themes

OLIVIA RODRIGO WAS softly playing through the speakers of the white car. there were two slushees in the cup holder and a bag of candy in the drivers lap. Samantha was in the drivers seat, her body twisted so she could look at Georgia whilst she would occasionally toss a sour worm into her mouth. Georgia was beside her mimicking Samantha except she didn't have a bag of candy in her lap, having decided that a slushee was enough for her when Samantha stopped at the gas station. although most of the time she had been steeling most of the candy out of Samantha bag which would usually annoy the fuck out of her and yet she didn't seem to mind when it was Georgia doing it.

"Cynthia's a bitch," Samantha said once Georgia stopped talking. she had been going on about how she and the moms from Austin's class would ignore or glare at her during drop off. Samantha had never talked to Cynthia unless it was while she was working but even then she had heard so many things from other people. especially her friends who have told her all about her being a bitch to them because she knew they smoked weed. it was annoying considering they weren't causing her any harm. Georgia raised a brow at the younger girl with a slight smile tugging at her lips. Samantha shrugged, "what? she is. plus her son is a little devil."

Georgia laughed, "you're right about that. Austin isn't his biggest fan, punched him in the nose, actually." she said very obviously proud that her son had done such a thing.

"holy shit, did he get in trouble?"

Georgia shook her head, "little shit was too embarrassed so he said he broke his nose." she shrugged, a glint in her eyes that made Samantha question how many times Georgia had pulled something like that. honestly she found that amusing more than anything else, especially considering Ellen would kill her for even getting in a verbal fight let alone punching a kid and helping her get away with it. Georgia was a good mom, maybe she had flaws but from the little she had seen, she knew all she wanted was to protect her children.

"remind me to never cross Austin." Samantha said with a nod. Georgia laughed, her back shaking slightly as she did so. when the car fell silent Georgia reached over the console, her face extremely close to Samanthas to the point in which she could feel her breath softly fanning her face. the young girls eyes were trained on the woman's eyes but to no one's surprise they trailed down to her lips that had a slight shine on them from the chapstick she had just applied. it was cherry and it belonged to Samantha but she didn't seem to mind as she put in on without even asking if she could.

in an instant the woman pulled away from the younger girl with three gummies in her hand, she shot Samantha a wink which earned an eye roll from the other girl. "you're such a tease." she grumbled and threw her head to the side where the head rest was, she kept her head there for support as she watched the blonde chew on the gummies happily.

this reminded her a bit of her relationship with her ex. they too could not be seen out in public for reasons she didn't care to think about but it felt eerily similar, the late night drives, the sneaking in and out of houses, the secret glances across the room. she hated doing that with her ex, she felt like a dirty little secret but somehow with Georgia she didn't care. maybe it was the fact that Georgia couldn't announce their 'relationship' because it could ruin their reputation whilst her exes reason was just because she didn't want to hurt someone, someone who should've been happy for them instead of hate them for loving each other. maybe it was also the fact that sneaking around and being Georgias secret was so much hotter, it was exciting and it really filed her fantasies.

the blonde woman seemed to realize the girl in front of her had faded into a deep thought so she cleared her throat to bring her back. "you know you never actually answered my question." she said causing Samantha to finally focus back on her.

"what was your question?" she asked as she played with her vape in her lap. she had realized pretty quickly that the small electric thing annoyed Georgia deeply, she could tell in the way she would glare at it when she would play with it in her lap - although she couldn't really control that, it was a tick and if she didn't have that then she would just be picking at her nails which was more worse. she could also tell in the way she would grab it when she would smoke it and keep in her hold until Samantha would leave. that started happening the first night after they kissed. this time around when she tried to grab it Samantha kissed her as a distraction and hid it. by now Georgia knew she wouldn't be able to take it from her like she had been able to before causing her to give up.

"about your ex. she really did a number on you, huh?" Georgia asked with furrowed brows. the way Samanthas eyebrow twitched and her lips would curl into a small frown without her knowing was pretty obvious that something pretty serious must've happened. especially considering how much she had been avoiding it.

"it's not that." Samantha lied with a shake of her head.

Georgia raised a brow in question, "it isn't? because i told you about my very sad love life and i've yet to hear anything about yours."

a sigh left the young girls lips, her lips grazing a smile. "technically you didn't say anything about your love life, just that your ex husband was rich." she argued, really trying to get out of having to talk about her past.

Georgia shook her head with a smile, "seriously?"

"what?" Samantha asked, "i haven't heard about either one of your baby daddies." she reasoned.

Georgia seemed to contemplate her words and Samantha almost took it as a win, the blonde would just say she didn't want to talk about it meaning Samantha would have a reason to also not talk about it. even though she really did want to know about Georgias past, it wasn't worth  talking about her own.

"okay," Georgia said. "what do you wanna know?"

Samanthas heart beat unnecessarily hard against her chest her eyes widening slightly, "seriously?"

the blonde shrugged, "i've got nothing to hide."

shit. Samantha really wasn't expecting her to open up. Georgia always seemed to be wearing a mask, whether or not she was doing it in purpose Samantha had seen that mask fall only once, the day she had seen her take the money. it was brief and honestly anyone else wouldn't have noticed but Samantha did and maybe that was only because she had a huge crush on her or maybe not, either way she had seen it and she had been craving that small second of clarity ever since.

"should i take about my first baby daddy or my second?" she asked persisting even further. Samantha didn't feel like she had much of a choice so she only smiled.

"obviously the first." she said and brought her vape up to her lips, inhaling deeply to prepare herself for whatever it was Georgia was going to say.

"i met him when i was fifteen," she began and watched as Samantha exhaled the cloud of smoke into the car, the sweet smell invading her space. "i had run away from home" she continued and considering she didn't elaborate on why Samantha didn't pry. that wasn't what the topic of conversation was anyway. "i was at a bar and we hit it off pretty quickly. i kind of traveled around with him until one day i got pregnant." she said distant look in her eyes as she recalled those years.

Samantha could almost see a ghost of a smile on her lips, it wasn't surprising taking into account that she was fifteen and he was probably her first love. "we moved into his parents place and they were nice parents, i don't think they liked me very much but they were good grandparents to Ginny so that didn't really matter." she said. the young girl had placed the vape in the console, long forgotten as she listened intently. "at some point they wanted to adopt her - which i understand now but back then i was scared they were going to take her away so i ran away." she sighed.

Samantha's eyebrows widened slightly. she had run away from a home twice, she couldn't imagine how hard that could've been. "i was young so it didn't last long, i ended up finding out where Zion lived and went back. it wasn't great though, i felt like i was holding him back so i decided to move out again." she continued.

"were you guys together then?" Samantha asked, referring to before she moved.

Georgia shrugged, "kind of. we never really talked about it but that all ended when i moved out. it was then that i met Austin's dad."

"what was that like?"

"well, he had a stable job, a nice car, he seemed pretty responsible so in my mind he was the perfect guy. i got pregnant with Austin a couple months later and he was helpful up until the day i found out he was embezzling money. he ended up in prison." she said.

Samantha nodded, her eyes widened a bit. "damn. that sucks for Austin."

Georgia nodded, "i then met Kenny at this diner i worked at and it went down pretty much like with Austin's dad. he had money, he was sweet and if i'm honest i just wanted my kids to have a better life. like the one i never could." she continued, that same look in her eyes still prominent. "then he had a heart attack and passed away and now here i am."

"with me." Samantha said with a soft smile.

Georgia chuckled but nodded her head regardless, "with you." she confirmed. "not exactly how i envisioned my life, though."

that was probably true and in a way it stung Samantha a bit. she wasn't sure if Georgia meant it in a negative way or not and she didn't actually get the chance to overthink that as the blonde shot her a mischievous smile. Samantha looked at her slightly confused.

"what?"

"it's your turn" she said with a smirk. fuck. it was her turn. did she have a way out of this? she couldn't just change the topic of conversation because Georgia wouldn't budge but she also wasn't ready to talk about it. the only people who had ever known about her relationship with the girl was her five friends and she wasn't sure she wanted to add to that circle. it already felt like a lot of people. what if she told Ginny? that would be horrible, she didn't trust anyone besides her friends. not even Maxine, she had a way of blabbing her mouth when she got nervous which wasn't something she exactly needed in her life.

there was only one thing she could think of, she just hoped Georgia liked her enough to give in to her. all she could do was keep her fingers crossed.

with that Samantha reached over the console and grabbed the back of Georgias head before placing her lips on the blondes. it took her by surprise, that was obvious in the way she was frozen for a second or two before she finally moved her lips against the young girls. never did she think when she moved into Wellsbury that she would end up making out with an eighteen year old girl in the middle of the night, sneaking around like she was a teen and yet here she was. she just couldn't bring herself to care.

Samantha's lips were moving hard against Georgias, pouring her all into it so the blonde would forget all about her question and completely lose herself in it. if only she knew she didn't have to try so hard. hands roamed down the raven girls arms, slightly tickling her. Georgias right hand didn't stop until it was placed on the girls neck where, just hanging loosely without putting any pressure whilst her left hand tangled itself in her hair.

tongues clashed against another in a fight of dominance which Georgia was ahead of, that made Samantha think of about Matthews words from earlier. was Georgia a bottom? nothing screamed that to her but at the same time she had never said she was bisexual or anything so could she just be her experiment? no, that didn't sound like her. she tried not to think about it any longer, just because she didn't label herself did not mean she was 'straight', it's not like Samantha was heavy on labeling herself either. she was definitely a lesbian, she had never kissed or even looked at a boy in a way to suggest otherwise so she did label herself.

her thoughts had been so loud that she hadn't realized Georgias right hand had traveled down to her stomach and under her shirt. her warm hands were caressing the soft skin which made Samantha feel hot all over. who was she kidding? Georgia was definitely not a bottom. she had imitated almost every kiss and even though Samantha initiated this one, Georgia was the one controlling it.

Samantha pulled away from the blondes lips, she leaned in once more for a short kiss that made her lips wet before she began to press them down the blondes jaw. Georgias right hand squeezed her hip and her left squeezed her hair as Samantha reached her neck. no hickeys was a no brainer but that didn't stop her from sucking at the skin softly, just enough pressure to make the blonde but with need but not enough to have to cover with makeup in the morning. her lips stayed on the blondes neck for a couple seconds longer, there was a particular spot that ignited a small noise to leave the older woman's lips and Samantha made sure to engrave that spot into her mind.

she pulled away after, meeting Georgias eyes in a daze. both of their eyes were blown out, eyes dilated and their lips pink from the pressure of the kiss. the blondes chest was heaving too, a sign that Samantha knew what she was doing. Georgia couldn't hold herself back as she pulled the girl back in with her hand that's still tangled in her hair, Samantha didn't fight it, a small smirk that lasted less than a second grazing her lips. this time Samantha didn't shy away from touching the blondes body, one hand was placed on her thigh and the other was on her waist, where the waistband of her jeans were. she wasn't sure how much she could touch and she didn't want to overstep her boundaries. she really wished they had set some in that moment.

her thoughts seemed to be quite loud considering the hand that was once tangled in black locks had been placed on Samanthas that was on the blondes waist. she was slightly confused until she felt Georgia begin to move it inside her shirt. she predicted the blonde would just place it on her stomach like her own hand was but instead she moved it up her shirt until she was cupping her bra. that caused Samantha to pull away and her eyes snapped open. Georgia followed in pursuit. no words needed to be said, the blonde knew Samantha was asking her if this was really happening which she found incredibly cute. she leaned back into the girl, their lips not yet touching though, they were so close and it made Samantha squeeze her thighs together.

"touch me," Georgia whispered in a sultry tone that did nothing but intensify Samantha's already burning body. without another word the blonde began to kiss the raven haired girl again, their lips were rather swollen, the sound of they wet lips moving against each other echoed throughout the car, the obscene noise turning them both on even more. the music that was playing though the speakers was drowned out and neither of them could hear it from how focused they were on each other.

Samantha squeezed the hand that was in the blondes shirt, she could feel the bra and it was slightly lacy. she wondered what color it was, wondered what she would look like without the light green v-neck she was wearing. there was so much going on including Georgias nails that were grazing Samanthas stomach making her shiver. the blonde smirked for a second causing the kiss to stop before it continued with the same hunger.

the bra restricting Samantha from the blondes chest was really starting to annoy her, she thought about taking it off but that would be awkward taking off without the shirt so she instead decided to move it to the side, her hand coming in contact with the blondes hardened nipple. a whimper was swallowed by Samantha and Georgias hips were beginning to move in her seat. like last time the blonde placed her hand on Samantha's that was on her thigh and began to move it further up, she was centimeters from where she needed her most, she could feel the heat radiating on her hand and it was turning Samantha on even more. but before she could give Georgia what she wanted a loud ringtone echoed throughout the car causing them both to jump apart.

they were both breathing heavily, the rising and falling of their chest proof of that exactly. Samantha grabbed her phone that was long forgotten in the cup holder beside her slushee, she didn't bother looking at the contact name since she already knew it was Nia, the ringtone was specifically for her.

"hello?" she said her voice a bit raspy. she could see Georgia fixing her shirt and bra, when it looked intact she brought down the mirror and began to fix her hair as well.

"sorry to interrupt but your mom is awake" Nia said on the other line. her words caused Samanthas already fast beating heart to accelerate even more, she could feel her ears pulsing in effect of that.

"what? why?" she said quickly causing Georgia to turn and look at her.

"i don't know," Nia answered her pitch of voice a bit higher than usual. she was nervous. "i don't think she's noticed your car is gone yet but i heard her downstairs in the kitchen." she explained.

Samantha sighed, "okay i'm on my way home." she says earning a 'bye' and 'be safe' from her friend before she hung up.

"what is it?" Georgia asked with furrowed brows.

"my moms awake. i have to go home before she notices i'm gone," Samantha sighed softly and place her phone in the cup holder once more. "sorry." she said, hating herself for ruining the moment.

Georgia chuckled softly, "it's okay. i think it's better we didn't have sex in your car." she joked making Samantha breathe out a laugh.

"yeah, you're probably right." she said, her hand was on the steering wheel whilst the other was resting on the console as she looked at the blonde. she was so beautiful and knowing she had just kissed her, hell, even had her hands in intimate places because the blonde guided them there, she felt fucking euphoric. Georgia leaned in to kiss her softly one last time before she pulled away completely and began to put on her seatbelt. thankfully she was staring out into the road in front of her meaning she didn't see that it took Samantha a couple of seconds to finally open her eyes.

the raven haired girl ended up dropping Georgia off in an empty parking lot where her car was. it's not like they could be seen in the same car in the middle of night, particularly not by their family so Georgia said it would be better for them to meet up somewhere a couple minutes from their home. she ended up getting a kiss goodbye before the blonde got out of her car. Samantha watched the blonde saunter to her car shamelessly, it's not like Georgia didn't like it.

when she finally got to her house she snuck in through the window that was left unlocked. she could see Nia buried in the blankets with the light from her phone screen reflecting onto her face. when she heard her friend come in she threw the device beside her.

"how was it?" she asked immediately, not caring to tiptoe around the subject. Samantha chuckled at the fact that it was the first thing she heard coming into her room.

she locked the window behind her and went over to her dresser to get a pair of clothes. "it was okay." she said not able to shake the smile off of her lips. Nia noticed that right away.

"uh huh. from that 'i'm in love' smile i think it was more yeah just okay"

Samantha rolled her eyes, "i'm not in love," she began as she took off her jeans and threw them in her hamper. "and it was really good." she shrugged, her attempt in playing it down was useless though.

"did you guys fuck?" Nia asked. Samantha snorted and threw her shirt on. once she was fully dressed she went over to her bed and motioned for her friend to scoot to one side.

"no, you called before we could." she joked and got under the huge pile of blankets.

"fuck, i'm such a cock block" she groaned loudly.

"just go to sleep Nia," Samantha said amused.

"i'll never be able to forgive myself for stopping you from tapping some ass" she shook her head. even though the darkness Samantha could see the disappointed look on the brunettes face.

"yeah, yeah. come on it's late." Samantha responded and threw an arm across her friends waist.

"love you" Nia whispered.

"love you more"

#georgia miller x fem!reader #georgia miller x reader #georgia miller #ginny and georgia #ginny miller #marcus baker #maxine baker #lgbt #lesbian #gxg

[suchawrathfullamb]

whats up dude can we get some young adult headcanons. also their past romantic relationships pretty please

uhh, that's an unusual one!

I don't think neither had serious relationships before, only affairs (like Hannibal and Alana). I think Will probably met other Alanas at work, and some in college, too. Like obviously-pretty type of girls, but more assertive than Alana, so he hardly had to make the first move. He is canonically attractive (ref: in the first script they say his students are giving him heart eyes, and in the georgia m. episode they say he is "a handsome man") and because he is extremely intelligent, I'm sure he is *very* aware of that, although he plays it off in s1. I don't think his affairs lasted more than a month, I can see him getting overwhelmed and feeling suffocated easily and being all avoidant. Oh my god, this just made me realize that Will probably has the avoidant attachment style lol anyway.

I think Hannibal had plenty of Alanas, not sure he had plenty of Bedelias, though (those who knew who he truly was), pretty sure some guys, too because of the hint at the blood exam episode. But again, I think part of their obsession with each other is the fact that they've never had a deep connection with anyone and were never able to fully commit to anyone else before, simply because they didn't feel the desire, they always felt like something was missing.

I think Hannibal did it for fun, for entertainment, because he wanted to, found the individuals attractive. Also, lol, Hannibal gives off kinky vibes, I can totally see him having threesomes with attractive couples, two woman, and maybe some orgies, too? Who knows, he loves taboos.

And I think Will did for pure sexual drive and neediness. We see a little bit of that with his reactions to Alana's touch, how starved he is, and how he craves connection yet avoids and/or doesn't know how to handle it when presented. So I think he would either have affairs just because he was attracted, just because he wanted to have sex. And sometimes some Alanas would show up, which he'd subconsciously (or not?) sensed it, as narcissists attract the sensitive, nurturing types. Those who wanted to care and had a savior complex would attract him because they'd feed that need for affection and of course, he grew up without a mother and he seems to be oblivious to this type of care, so he naturally feels the lack of it. Freud would love to analyze him lol.

Now, for YA headcanons, hmmmm, I thought a lot more about Hannibal as a young adult, just because we have more material and we have close to zero on Will. Hannibal was in his Il Mostro era, right? Not sure how old he was, but definitely looked "young adulty" to me. Or are we considering young adult when he was already in the United States, when he got the internship?

I think I thought a lot more about kid!will, just because there's this whole mystery of his mother, haha. Then, I had this crazy theory (it's not actually that possible BUT) that Hannibal actually taught Will how to do his crime scene mojo on command, and that's why we see the pendulum that looks like Hannibal's tool. But he just Miriam Lass-ed Will into forgetting everything lol. In my mind that happened a few years before the show started, maybe when Will got stabbed as a cop. Which somehow my mind also related to a secret Hannibal connection.

#now i want to know what u guys headcanon about young adult hannigram #cause i have no idea but i will ponder hardly on this rest assured #headcanons #ask the lamb #hannigram #nbc hannibal #hannibal #will graham #murder husbands #hannibal lecter #fanfic

[m0tel6mxzzy]

rue bennett, ginny miller, and lack of nuanced perception in how mental illness in black women works

i think the tragedy of euphoria (if i had to list just one) is partially the fandom’s lack of understanding of rue, leslie, and gia…cultural attitudes in the black community have a lot to do w why leslie acts the way she does. and then race is never mentioned bc sam levinson doesn’t comprehend the nuances of race and mental health in the black community.

he can comprehend addiction, but nothing like the fact rue being a black woman will have her heavily stigmatized by the black community as well as the predominantly white one she lives in as her “proving black stereotypes.”

he can comprehend addiction, but nothing like the fact rue being a black woman will have her heavily stigmatized by the black community as well as the predominantly white one she lives in as her “proving black stereotypes.”

that just hits a lot harder knowing in the beginning of s1, she has zero hope and so it feels very hollow when lexi encourages her sobriety, and again in s2 from jules when she’s going thru withdrawals. she is tired of being the scapegoat by everyone around her, even if they have valid reasons for wanting her to get clean and she is making decisions that harm others. and she feels during the s2 interaction with cassie that she is being pitied, simply cannot take it anymore, and retaliates bc she is just so tired of everyone around her being believed to be innocent and pure when they are not, and her being expected to be even in the throes of addiction and it being perceived as “not her.”

bc in a sense, rue is not her addiction. however, she’s lived with it so long that she is used to it, practically revels in the deviant label her entire schools mocks her with, and thus feels like she cannot leave. jules conflicts with this, because she cares for rue as a friend and romantically but is not going to associate with her if she continues. but even when she is sober, people like nate are shit talking her efforts to stay clean when they simply have no idea what she’s gone through, yet jules is proud of her despite rue finding it hard to stay clean. cassie only does the same as nate because she needs a defense for having gotten with him but not taking accountability for how that hurt maddy, even if she was right rue’s friendship with lexi was incredibly toxic and transactional. the issue here is everyone has valid points abt rue except for nate, but no one is seeing the nuances of her situation. it’s either “she’s good because she’s clean” or “she’s bad because she’s not” and jules seemed to be the only one blurring that line because she’s dealt with addiction in her family before.

leslie kind of reminds me of my mom in that she did help me thru mental issues, but it was a very “deviant” thing to do bc of how in most of black american society, racism is seen as something you need to be “stronger” than and thus stronger than any other obstacle. so realistically, some black ppl in rue’s extended family might actually ridicule her or attribute her addiction to personal flaws or solely her father’s death. rue is an atheist, but also her mother was this religious church girl in her youth and rue is seen in church settings during rehab. there’s a possibility leslie didn’t even tell others abt rue’s hospitalizations or if she did and word got around, she had to fabricate some sort of lie so rue would not be judged for her addiction.

and ppl perceive leslie as “overreacting” as they do gia and that’s very suspicious to me. idk like, as compared to ginny and georgia ginny has severe depression and georgia is like, praised for a lot of the manipulative shit she says to ginny when that’s a huge contribution to her mental issues not being resolved for as long as they were in the first place. i personally think a lot of the g&g fandom missed the point of the show—georgia is not perfect. loving your kids does not mean they don’t get to feel traumatized when you admit to murdering their step father. generational trauma is a thing and you cannot love someone into not acknowledging or feeling their extent of their own.

ginny and georgia somewhat makes that distinction in the therapy sessions by explaining bc georgia is white there is a lot of experiences she cant understand ginny has, so she cant just invalidate them. however the fandom is so corny and anti black that they will compare ginny’s trauma to georgia’s to undermine her. and then praise georgia for doing what she should’ve done as a parent which is support ginny and complain how ginny should be “more grateful to have her.” and say the same abt her father. that truly just paints an insidious lack of compassion for black women dealing w/ mental health issues. bc abby and marcus, dealing with their own, have quite never been given such animosity for having mental issues, they’ve actually been given much more sympathy.

#y’all. this took me 45 minutes to write #euphoria hbo #ginny and georgia #rue bennett #ginny miller #mazzy makes a giant ramble

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2023 PRESHOW - Part 4: Acts I can Respect, I guess.

Some songs aren’t for me. But they still bring something new or different to the table and I can respect that. Here are five songs on the cusp between almost good and almost meh.

25. GEORGIA Iru - “Echo” Semi 2, #slot11

Iru set a weird new standard for eurofandom cabin fever when they concluded that Georgia were GIVING OFF WINNER vibes based A FUCKING PHOTOGRAPH.

OMG SO FIERCE SHE’S GONNA SLAY -- really stupid people. 

Fortunately, “Echo” soon released and instantly erased this nonsense 🙂. And let “nonsense” be the ideal word to describe “Echo” with. Dear Georgia, the fuck’s this chorus?

Days in a row I'm thinking, I know I've got a big faith My love is my crown Will be better way Will be better day now It is not a secret

Eurovision is no stranger to word salads, especially from Georgia, but “Echo” is a word casserole. It follows the Barkerian approach of throwing logic out of the window and treating words as merely another layer of sound. You cannot PRETEND to have meaning and also do this, sorry that doesn’t work! Come back when ur sober...x. 

But what about the rest of the song? I suppose there is an interesting structure here where “Echo” just discards a beginning and ending, and just jumps into three minutes of straight action. Breaking conventional norms! The interest is fully academic though because it just doesn’t work. If you’re thrust into the action immediately and unprepared as a first time viewer, nothing is going to fucking stick, innit?

Like yeah, I know. This is Georgia and they’re a bit different than most other countries and we’re expect to believe they’re MASTERING the avant garde genre after delighting us with “Midnight Gold” and “Visionary Dream”... and yet I’m not buying into it this year. “Echo” is no less of a sham than “Jezinky” or “Secreto del Aqua” (or, dare I say, that other Blanca Paloma song?) in that it just showboats baseline artistry + power vocals while neglecting to deliver the base product of a good song - and they get away with ALL of it because Iru is a woman!

In terms of personal enjoyment, Georgia probably should have been a part of the last update (Iru’s virtually tied with Alika), but eh. “Echo” is a lot of things (at once.), but it’s not BORING. It tries to bring something different to the table and I can respect the attempt. The result’s just... kinda stupid and nonsensical, that’s all. 🤷‍♀️

Odds at Eurovision - Georgia

“Echo” is one of several borderlines in semi 2, so it really depends on how well Georgia stage it and how awful the other BLs are. 

The main hurdle they face is general appeal. “Echo” lacks a clear beginning or end, let alone a base fucking narrative which makes it very difficult to get into. The only trump card Georgia have are Iru’s vocals, but what advantage would this screaming woman have over an Alika or a Diljá? a draw in the middle of the favourite (and directly after the criminally underrated Slovene entry) won’t do them much favours either. 

It all boils down to how well Georgia get their artistic vision across and this has been tried and ruled to be televote repellent for the past seven contests. 

If Georgia do qualify, it would be a good indicator that there is some mass appeal there and, I could see “Echo” getting a midtable result with moderately positive acclaim from both vote bases. 

I do NOT believe Georgia are coming top 10 though. 🙂 12th is their celing, sorry to disappoint you now BUT IT’ S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD TO GET USED TO DISAPPOINTMENT ONCE SHE DOES WORSE THAN THAT IN LIVERPOOL. 

Qualifier Tier: C Projected placement: 7th-14th (Semi), 

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

24. DENMARK Reiley - “Breaking my heart” Semi 2, slot #01

This lil’ fucker is twenty-five.

Weeerq? 

This seems like a good point to eliminate Reiley. You know my taste by now, and are fully aware that “K-pop loving twink” is NOT a flavour I particularly like or care for, in any medium or universe.

However, I don’t really mind Reiley at all oops. Should I? I know people loved that uncanny valley rock song and that awkward marriage duet, but when I heard the Danish hopefuls (only once, I assure you) I was surprised to like the TikTok twink the most. And then he won, HOORAY!

Unfortunately we’re sort of in the ReDDI zone here where I liked Reiley the most at DMGP and wanted him to win... but DMGP is always kinda shit, so once he won and one has to compare “Breaking my heart” to songs that are actually, you know, better than “just okay”, he immediately dropped to upper yellow and stayed there forevermore.

For me personally the big dealbreaker isn’t so much the K-pop inspired music or the twinkishness or the fact that he’s a fucking INFLUENCER with a clearly fake follower count - it’s the fucking aggro autotune. the “IF WE COULD GO BACK TO THE START”s of “Breaking my heart”  should have been THE slope I could have slid down into embracing a Danish entry just this once (in a similar way to how allowing “Ciutoooo tuuuuto” to dwell rent-free in my brain made me enjoy “Stay” way more than I should), but the robot voice ruins it for me. You sir, are no Olson brother. 😌

Odds at Eurovision - Denmark

Another one of those Semi 2 borderline qualifiers, eh? Well, I’m tempted to say Denmark make it through in their usual 10th place since at Eurovision there’s always a place for upbeat bouncy pop (and also, semi 2 is generally just kinda miserable) and Reiley does have a (clearly fake but still) large enough follower count. 

However, Denmark are on first and this may be just my wrong impression, but I think “Breaking my heart” is a shittttt opener. Semi 2 doesn’t exactly have good opening material in its first half, but i would have let Belgium kick it off, surely?  Semi 2 has a slow start and by being a fairly meh first act Reiley is in part responsible FOR the early show lethargy. 

If Denmark do qualify, I think they’ll get a lowish result in the Grand Final. Unless they get massive traction from juries in a Lake Malawi sort of way (which I doubt because “Breakin’ my heart” is sadly, not very catchy), I’d guesstimate they’ll come crashing into a bottom 5 position. 

Qualifier Tier: C+ Projected placement: 8th-12th (semi), 23rd-26th (Grand Final)

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

23. SPAIN Blanca Paloma - “Eaea”  Autoqualifier

I am going to regret this, am I not? 🙄😣

So yeah, Spain’s entry is fine. I HATED that Blanca won with such overwhelming force, beating Nochentera and Arcadia (two of the best, if not the two best acts of the NF season), but w/e I’m over it. I don’t think anyone can deny that Blanca Paloma is a visionary artist with a clear understanding of both visual spectacle and musical fusion. She manages to really NAIL a flamenco punk vocal (arguably one of the three best vocalists in the year, the other two being Gustaph and Andrejs from Sudden Lights) and supports it with an act that is a feast for the eyes.

In sum,  Everything about “Eaea” is great!

Except for the fucking song. 

Ya see, Spain’s really in the same ballpark as Georgia for me: Their song is basically a bunch of nonsense that should be deemed unviable on the spot through sheer logic, but is revered by the fandom through a combination of latent misandry and stockholm syndrome. “Eaea is at least more of a song than than “Echo” is - its lyrics make sense and the song follows a clear narrative. Hence the Reiley-sized gap between them on the ranking. 

However, “Eaea” has a different Big Problem in that it builds promise right at the start, and then seemingly devolves into a two-minute vocal masturbation exercise, and that’s where it loses me.  I LIKE the flamenco vocals, but I don’t like the way it is used in the song. It’s exhausting. The music plays second fiddle to the vocals and I feel like it should be the other way around! I really don’t fucking CARE about the Where I Ams of this world, sorry, never have, never shall!

So what do I fucking do with an act that I enjoy looking at and DON’T enjoy listening to? I suppose I use them as the dividing line between what I like and what I don’t like, I guess? Everything else about Spain is great this year, so idk, maybe I’ll like it at the end? 

Basically, I need more time to ruminate over where I like “Eaea” or not, and in what capacity. I don’t fucking know right now, and thinking about it (and the reaction of the Spaintard when they stumble across this post) ages me. I’ve decded that I’ll give an answer after Blanca’s ESC journey has been completed, so I’ll just dump her here and you’ll just have to deal. :-) 

Which brings me to:

Odds at Eurovision - SPAIN

To be fair, when Eaea first won I thought it would be the usual overrated Spanish entry that would flop at ESC. Like genuinely, mid-table? Honestly, I feel like that could have been the result in a competitive year.

However, I have to retract my words here. As more entries poured in and the year became  progressively less competitive, it also became clear to me that Spain will indeed do very well in Liverpool. For the gripes that I have about her song, Blanca has consistently been excellent live in both vocals and acting. As the days pass, the more convinced I am she will be able to bluff her way into the hearts of juries and televoters and eke out another top five for Spain. 

I doubt she wins though, which is what the Blancaheads would like you to believe. On paper, Spain is a dark horse contender, the most likely winner after Finland and Sweden, but let’s be fair, it really just is Sweden or Finland, with zero chance of anyone else? It’s looking more and more like a Loreen coronation to a point I want to vomit one could even argue Käärijä is a Dark Horse to win it now.

But yeah, I no longer believe she’s midtable anymore, and I will be very angry with myself if she does flop (she won’t) for not sticking to my first impression. 🙂

Cool electric guitar though. 🙂

Projected Placement: 2nd-5th (prediction: 3rd)

22. GERMANY Lord of the Lost - “Blood and glitter” Autoqualifier

Okay, so Lord of the Lost are the first act on this ranking that I will say I ~like~, but only just. 🙂

Let’s start with the good bits. CAMPY SCHLAGER METAL YESSSS  😍 INSTANTLY MEMORABLE VISUAL SPECTACLE YESSSS  😍 ENERGY SPIKES DURING A BORINGDULL LIVE SHOW YESSSS 😍

Added bonus: Germany FINALLY selecting something entertaining and non-conformist in forever. Bag that safe and insipid era!!!

Now, the not good bits. Which us honestly  just one big thing: “Blood and glitter” is not very exciting. DESPITE BEING WHAT IT IS. 

I feel like there are several smaller reasons why it doesn’t excite me as much: The cadence of the verses is arrhythmic and disturbs the flow they’re going for, and while Lord of the Lost went far enough on their campy gore for a shitshow like Unser Lied, I don’t think they go far enough for Eurovision (at least not yet). I’m taking about both music AND staging btw.

The biggest killer for me though is that I feel like “Blood and glitter” just lasts too fucking long. Around the halfway point Lord of the Lost just start to repeat the chorus in different music styles and that makes the second half tedious and, dare I say it, kinda boring? It’s like the end of Return of the King, except the Fellowship are all Orcs.

Overall though, I do feel like Germany show promise and I like them... but they have a long road ahead if they want to rise on this ranking come May. 😶

Odds at Eurovision - Germany

This one’s easy: midtable result at best, probably in the third quadrant of the scoreboard. If the Unser Lied vote was any indicator, we’re in for a very low jury and high-ish televote. 

I do NOT buy that the televote by itself will be enough to carry Germany into the top 10, which is a take I’ve heard from others. Like, they’ll get points, enough to avoid the bottom five, but surely we should realize by now that Käärijâ will receive the bulk of the metalheads’ votes, followed distantly by Voyager. Lord of the Lost’s tally will be whatever crumbs those two didn’t eat. (like Finland’s TV for instance).

Germany need to make Blood and Glitter more exciting through its staging, but I also don’t trust ARD at all. Germany have had too many outright failures as of late. Which may be Germany’s biggest hurdle overall. When most people expect you to be bad, it’s a LOT of work to convince them you’re worthy of being given a chance, regardless of whether you are or not. 

And a song with six final choruses may not be the best at achieving that lofty goal.

Projected placement: 14th-20th

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

21. AZERBAIJAN TuralTuranX - “Tell me more” Semi 1, slot #12

WEIRDO TWINBEASTS <3333

After last year’s Nadir debacle I promised myself to hate  Azerbaijan’s crap no matter what!! 

Once they announced their act, a pair emaciated gremlin twinks with a stage name straight from MySpace, I convinced myself they would be shit and I would HATE them! 

And yet, “Tell me more” released and against every impulse, I liked it almost immediately! Socially awkward and yet touchingly naive, it’s a song that lights up like Napolean Dynamite. It feels like a very fitting choice for a contest set in the same city that produced The Beatles. 😁

Out of the many things you can say about Azerbaijan at ESC, their most prominent trait has always been the steady stream of Swedish McSongs performed by jazz singers who clearly despised the experience. 

It is refreshing to have that very same country send an awkward, unpretentious self-composed Britrock song by two young men that actually seem to embrace the experience for once. Tural and Turan not only attended a few of the preparties (which the Azerbaijani NEVER do), they actually joined the afterparty in Amsterdam as well, where they -to my delight- appeared to deliberately avoid Ell -who was also present :/ - before mingling with the fans. Clearly Tural and Turan are guys willing to live their best live, and I support it.

So why rank them only 21st in spite of the praise? Well, BECAUSE I HAVE SMELLED BLOOD. 😈😈😈😈

Odds at Eurovision - AZERBAIJAN

We’re finally getting it: The rare Azerbaijani NQ, and I’m SO excited for it. Yes, it of course is going to happen when Azer are sending their most risky, quirky and authentic entry in years, that’s just how the universe works. It is unfortunate whenever daring and originality are rewarded with failure, but guess what - recompense for last year, bitches. 

The Nadir tomfoolery was inexcusable (Andrea was ROBBED!) and we’re owned payment in the form of a cold hard NQ. 

In that regard, I absolutely believe Tural and Turan will deliver because (1) awkward twinbeasts (2) “Tell Me More” is already strange and unvoteable in itself (3) they’re up right after Loreen. Three strikes and ur OWT. 

Like realistically, I could see Azer finish ahead Ireland and Netherlands... and maybe Shitzerland in the televote. But who is going to pick up their phone for a despised jury pet? The Brits who cannot vote in semi 1 anyway? Latvia?

The cherry on the sundae: I honestly do believe “Tell Me More” would be Q with juries, or even Q *thanks to* the juries, if juries were to play a part in the semfinal. But they won’t, so OOPS can’t resort to your old tactics this time around Azer! Too bad! So sad! 🙂

Projected placement: 11th-15th (Semifinal)

THE RANKING:

Part 1: The BAD entries   (Switzerland / Croatia / Israel / Greece) Part 2: the IRRELEVANT entries  (Ireland / Albania / Netherlands / San Marino) Part 3: The Borewhores (Estonia / Ukraine / Cyprus / Italy) next up, entries I enjoy! Hooray!

#Eurovision 2023 #ESC 2023 #Eurovision #Eurovision Song Contest #Liverpool 2023 #Spain #Blanca Paloma #Eaea #Azerbaijan #TuralTuranX #Tell Me more #Germany #Lord of the lost #Blood and Glitter #Denmark #Reiley #Breaking my heart #Georgia #Iru #Echo

[malspinningyarns]

US Midterm Election Update

It’s 1:45 AM EST and I have been watching MSNBC for the past several hours. Here’s some stuff

A lot of races are still too close to call. Most of these are for House & Senate seats that could flip and we knew were likely to be close

That being said, it looks like Democrat John Fetterman is going to beat Dr. Oz for Pennsylvania Senator

Georgia’s Senate seat might have to have a run-off election because no one has won at least 50% of the vote yet.

It looks like the Georgia Republicans are going to win the governorship though

Florida and Texas especially continue to be the worst because the hard-core Republicans are expected to win the Governor’s offices even though Abbott of Texas and DeSantis of Florida continue to be attention-seeking assholes who don’t seem to care about serving the people. Like, Texas, my dudes, Republicans have been in control there for over 20 years and the grid system keeps getting worse

Florida did elect the first Gen Zer to Congress (a Democrat) so congrats!

Maryland has elected their first black governor, Wes Moore. He is only the third black governor in US history

Maryland has also voted to legalize recreational cannabis use

Massachusetts has elected their first woman governor, Maura Healey. She is also the first openly lesbian governor is US History.

In the biggest twist of the night: Republican nightmare Lauren Boebert might lose her seat in Congress, something that very few saw coming. It’s still too close to call though

Overall, it’s a nail biter for most of 45’s endorsed candidates, other than JD Vance from Ohio

Republicans might take the US House, but by a much narrower margin than any of the polls suggested.

The Senate is close as well, but with a lean towards the Democrats keeping it.

Considering what polls said and what history has suggested (it’s normal for at least one of the chambers of Congress to flip to the opposite party of the sitting President), the Dems are doing very well tonight. And especially impressive considering what Biden has been working against: inflation, high gas prices, two Democratic spoilers in the Senate, a Supreme Court highly stacked in the Republicans’ favor, etc. Maybe putting dangerous extremists on the ballot were bad for Republicans. Maybe it was bad to ignore or make fun of an attempted assassination on the Speaker of the House. Maybe it was bad for Roe to be overturned. Maybe voters just really fucking love successful infrastructure plans.

#us politics #politics #2022 midterm elections

[ankhmutes]

I had a Wife. Part 3

I had to continue this, so... Another part is up! (ish). Not up on A03 yet, though. Sorry, folks.

He was dreaming. He knew it, but he didn't want it to end.

He could feel the warmth of the flannel sheets, the ones that his girl always put on right when he would go for hunting season. The green sheets with the brown outline of the deer. He smelled coffee, fresh coffee. He could hear the girls shrieking at each other, fighting over a sweater. The littlest children running around with the dog, nails clicking on the cool wooden floor in the kitchen, their stocking feet becoming louder as they moved down the hallway to his door.

PAPA!

he could hear them shriek, feel their weight as they fell on the bed next to him, one kneeing him dangerously close to his berries, but he didn't care. He could feel the warmth, the cool dryness of their lips as they kissed him good morning, traces of sticky syrup at the edges of their mouths. He reached out, feeling the heavy weight of his shadow in one arm, and the smaller one bouncing on his legs.

"Riker, Diego, c'mon. Let papa up, Merle is here." cries of delight got the children to bounce off the bed, pattering down the hallway in search of their beloved Uncle Merle. Crying could be heard further down in the house, somewhere a young woman was singing to a baby. Daryl opened an eye, and could no longer smell the coffee, see the sun-filled bedroom, or hear the voices anymore. The cool stark darkness welcomed him like a old friend.

Alexandria. He was still in Alexandria, Virginia. He wasn't in Georgia anymore, with his girl. He was somewhere… with a new family. A family he loved, but didn't quite feel at home with. The closest he had come was Beth, because she was so much like his girl had been when she was that age, or Carol, who reflected his girl more in their current age. He was so awkward around women, uncertain if his girl was still out there.. or not. He didn't want to betray his girl, and had no interest in anything but survival. He understood biological urges, and he had decided to trust Rick on that. He and his girl had discussed it during one of their crazy alcohol-fueled discussions and had opted for same-sex relationships if shit ever went down. He chuckled softly to himself as he thought of his girl, with another girl. He knew she didn't like girls, like he didn't like boys, neither… but he knew sex was sex, sometimes. Closeness. Warmth. Companionship.

For what? a traitorous voice whispered in his head. Merle was gone. Kids were gone. Girl was gone. Tigger, everybody was gone. He was the last man standing.

He'd know if someone was alive. Like in the books and movies. He'd feel it in his gut if someone died. At least, he would like to think that would have happened to him. Daryl was pulled out of his deep thoughts as he heard rick's boots ambling on the ground, the familiar click of his cowboy boots hitting wood.

"g' mornin' to ya." Daryl mumbled, glancing up at Rick through greying hair. He hadn't really noticed it until a few days ago.

"We got some new people comin' in. Jesus and Aaron found them down south, near a lake and a river. They had a cabin, but it got tore up by a herd. They said they'd be bringing them back, they apparently had a run-in with our friendly neighbor Negan, and were eager to get to a bigger settlement." Rick said with a dark frown.Daryl shook his head and leaned back against the post, vaguely hoping someone would be a mechanic. It was difficult, being almost the only one in the small settlement that could hunt, track, shoot, and repair things. Abe was a godsend, but between him and Abe, there was only so much they could do to keep Alexandria running, and Negan had not been helping things along. They hadn't met Negan yet, but he had just fried to a crisp several of Negan's people. Negan didn't seem like a good fella, and word apparently had spread.

Daryl heard the gates opening, the creaking of the chains and the clatter of metal signaling to him that they really should grease the wheels again, he didn't want walkers right up at the gates again. He returned his attention to the vehicle before him, and his brain couldn't go back to where it had been. Defeated, Daryl moved up from his work and turned, looking at the filthiest white Ford F-250 he had ever seen with Georgia plates. The back was filled with people and things, and modifications had been made to the grill to prevent walkers from spattering all over the hood and gumming up the engine.

From a distance, Daryl could see two long-haired children were being helped out of the bed of the truck by Jesus and Aaron, doors opening and more people stepped out. The children seemed to be older than Judy, but still small and younger than Carl. Another man got out of the car. A familiar sound of a metal clank hit the ground, and Daryl could see a below the knee prosthetic. Nowadays it was more common to see injuries from walkers, and people had learned that limbs could be a casualty, but they would survive, as Hershel's adventure had displayed. The prosthetic was surprisingly, a actual suction socket prosthetic. Daryl had learned a bit about prosthetics from Merle and Hershel, when they were trying to rig one up for him. They had raided the infirmary and Hershel had described to Daryl what he needed to substitute for specific things. He was mildly surprised at the ingenuity of what he saw of the rigged up prosthetic.

Then he saw something he had thought he would never see before. Daryl walked closer, not sure if he was seeing things or not. He had his moments, when he had been with Beth, in that shack with all of that moonshine, he had thought Beth was his girl, but stopped himself before he actually could have done something. That felt like a lifetime ago, and he hadn't touched moonshine since. But this.. he knew he was stone sober. He hadn't smoked anything other than cigarettes, and… no. There was no explanation for this.

A familiar face. A face he had seen before the walkers had taken over. His own blue eyes stared back at him, wide and frozen in shock.

#the walking dead #i read too much fanfiction #rickyl #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #twd fanfiction #daryl x female oc #ankhmutes writes something

[docholligay]

Eurovision Rehearsal quick takes: Day 3

Everything I said before still applies! I know I didn’t get this up yesterday, but.

Estonia: This is essentially what I expected from her. It looks pretty good! But I do hate her pantsuit

Iceland: I see an NQ for this. Whatever it is they have going onstage just can’t help this song along, it’s one of those situations where everyone LIKES it, but no one LOVES it enough to vote for it.

Greece: Boy, this whole Steve Irwin chic thing is an entire choice he’s making. I feel like we need to stop sending babies to Eurovision, especially given the sort of iron fist Greek production tends to have with their contestants, which is a lot of WHY they tend to pick tiny children--a 16 year old with no career can’t really advocate for themselves. This is going to be a tough choice of whether it’ll qualify or not.

Poland: Boy, she’s lucky she’s not in the same semi with Israel. Her dance break is awkward, and it seems like she can’t really sell it. I do still think this will qualify, though, it’s the kind of summer bop that does really well, most people don’t know or care about the politics behind it, and they’ve got some stage tricks.

Slovenia: I feel like these nice kids are also going to NQ given that there’s not really a stage show here. I could be wrong! They’re very charming, and we won’t know how things are going to look in camera yet, but still.

Georgia: She basically brought the music video to the stage. I have no idea how I think this is going to do given the strangeness of both the lyrics and the semi it’s in.

San Marino: I am smelling NQ, like an animal, given both the song and the difficulty of San Marino’s microstate situation within Eurovision. Every year they complain about microstates having no place at Eurovision and granted, I’m not sure this is the song for that argument, but they ain’t wrong.

Austria: They sounded off in the clip, i’m hoping that’s just a sound issue as I’ve seen them do this song live multiple times. I DO HATE the staging. I haven’t seen it in camera obviously, but on stage, I think the outfits and the actual Edgar Allan Poe in the background is too “do it for the meme” It will qualify EASILY for this semi, but I do go on record as a touch disappointed in the staging.

Albania: THis looks almost EXACTLY like I thought it was going to. THis is going to be a problem for them, because other than pyro and some scraf choreo, it’s mostly them all standing around onstage.

Lithuania: Who put this woman in orange on an orange background? She clearly loves orange, and that’s great for her, but it is absolutely not the look she needs to be giving here. I’m fairly certain this will NQ

Australia: I feel like this is not his final outfit for the night, as I’ve seen him wear it to preparties. Anyway, they brought a CAR onstage, and the whole thing is so infused with glorious 80s cheese and nonsense, I’m very much looking forward to this one as a show closer.

Tomorrow is the big five!

#translated from the original European

[dalekofchaos]

One thing I notice about current WWE, in addition to being reliant on the past (Which AEW is also guilty of but I digress) it seems that they want the company to be the star lately, not the wrestlers and that honestly makes it feel like I'm watching 1995 RAW instead of 2022 RAW

It's been like this since Cena's decade of doom ended. All it cares about is the image of the company. No one is allowed to be a star like Hogan, Austin, Rock or Cena. Now? No one is allowed to be as big as Roman Reigns The Four Two Horsewomen(I say Two Horsewomen cause Sasha is Bayley's best friend and I can't see Bayley being okay with how Sasha was treated) and no one is allowed to be bigger than the company.

The wrestlers these days are like props with catchphrases. They read scripts and their promos don’t feel authentic and organic. They are not larger than life, they are not stars and no one cares enough about wanting to be stars. The company doesn't want stars or larger than life personalities. They want to control them and every aspect. And WWE views the “superstars” as replacable and no one is valued in the WWE, they don’t care about anyone who isn’t Roman or Charlotte or D-List Celebrities.

Passion, momentum and creativity dies in WWE. No one is allowed to organically get over on their own. If it’s not a chosen one by Vince, then they are punished for having a genuine connection with the audience.

No one wants to rock the boat. No one wants to make the best possible product, they want to do what Vince wants.

Just look at Sasha Banks as an example. This woman is the very embodiment of a star. She walks and talks like a star. She works like a star. She has mainstream star appeal. Oh let's not forget. SHE WAS IN FUCKING STAR WARS!

WWE never treated Sasha like the star she was born to me. Charlotte won at Wrestlemania 32, when the entire crowd was behind Sasha. Sasha had piss poor title reigns and shitty booking throughout her career. Only when the Golden Role Models era did it feel like they finally treated her right.

Sasha Banks has had a terribly booked run as Smackdown Women’s Champion, a botched feud with Bayley and Bianca but only good matches. WWE NEVER ONCE capitalized on Sasha Banks being IN FUCKING STAR WARS when she was Women’s Champion. Her feud with CHarlotte was dropped and she went out of her way to bring life back to the Women’s Tag Titles. Sasha Banks walked out of WWE twice, and both times it was because they broke their promise to let her build a midcard for the women’s division. This time she gave up a main event title match with Ronda Rousey for it. That’s not selfish, that’s what a leader does.

WWE should build around Sasha Banks the way they have built around Roman Reigns. She is demonstrably excellent at every aspect of her job, is amongst the company's biggest ratings draws, and has crossover appeal. Yet they never capitalize on her mainstream appeal and instead thinks Ronnie Lousey is worth more, OH AND THE FACT THEY NEVER ADVERTISED THAT ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST FUCKING STARS WAS IN FUCKING STAR WARS(NO I WILL NEVER LET THIS FUCKING GO, YOU FUCKING IDIOTS)

Another Example is what happened to NXT. Because Vince is petty and because HHH lost the Wednesday night wars, NXT was killed and replaced with NXT 2.0. I feel like NXT 2.0 is the modern day Black Saturday. Black Saturday refers to Saturday, July 14, 1984, the day when Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (WWF) took over the time slot on Superstation WTBS that had been home to Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and its flagship weekly program, World Championship Wrestling, for 12 years. McMahon’s purchase led to a longstanding rivalry between himself and WTBS owner Ted Turner, who later bought GCW’s successor Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and formed his own company under the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) name. A lot of fans of GCW did NOT like this. This took away their more serious southern, athletic and serious wrestling or as they dubbed it “Gordon Solie” wrestling and replaced it with McMahon’s cartoonish, gimmicky and silly alternative. I feel the same has happened with NXT. HHH’s NXT was like the old days of NWA wrestling, it had a more focus on wrestling, a dark and gritty feel and it felt like what the WWE needed to evolve into. When NXT 2.0 came around. It made everything more bright and colorful(quite literally lol) more gimmicks, cartoony, phony and fake and it just feels like Vince taking NXT in the back of the barn and shooting it and replacing a prized horse with a jackass. And as Bronson Reed said recently “NXT was the professional wrestling show, now it’s just another entertainment show.”

And honestly? Modern WWE is like WCW 2000. Terrible booking, bad comedy, legends forced down our throat at the expense of the young hungry talent, 3 hours of television and a product no one, not even the people in charge care about.

#WWE #Anti WWE #Anti Vince McMahon #Sasha Banks

[ingravinoveritas]

turquoisedata replied to your post "I don't know if this is just me or what, but…”

This kid will start school in September. Fuck knows what older kids will yell at her. As mum of a kid who is currently off long term sick at least in part because of bullying, I'm genuinely horrified that she would SAY THIS TO THE ENTIRE INTERNET.

I was also someone who was bullied horrifically at school, and the last thing that I think any kid would want is for their parent to add to it, even unintentionally.

There were so many responses earlier that were people praising Georgia and saying how hilarious this is. And I know Georgia has built a brand on being "irreverent" and not having a filter, but nothing changes the fact that it's weird as hell to write a birthday post for your 4-year-old with a caption like this. As others have said, it's likely Birdie will see this at some point, and bullying now is unquestionably worse now than it was years ago because with social media, it doesn't stop when you get home from school. So even if this is a "joke," it comes across as being at Birdie's expense, which is also an odd thing to do on a kid's birthday.

That's not even getting into the numerous implications of the last sentence. I know we only have this little slice of their lives that Georgia chooses to share, but on social media, optics become truth, so why would you even want your relationship to be presented in this way, regardless of whether it reflects the truth? It just comes across as her finding an excuse to brag about having sex with David (again, no cap, I think we'd all love to be Georgia or Michael in this instance), but it makes it seem like she is trying to prove something, and if you're already married to/sleeping with David Tennant, I'm not sure what else is left to prove.

Just...so many choices going on here, and I'm at a loss to understand most of them...

#turquoisedata #reply post #georgia tennant #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #also can we think for a moment how different this would be if the genders were reversed #if G was a man saying he had no self control with wine or his wife #that would seem at least slightly concerning #yet because Georgia's a woman no one seems to care #curiouser and curiouser #thoughts #discourse

[boldlyvoid]

can u do a blurb about reader wanting a baby and asking her co-worker Spencer to be the donor because he's smart and nice and she wants a cute baby?

you said blurb and i read 2K word fic apparently lmao

Late nights behind a desk were the worst. Y/N hated reading over case file, after case file, of horrific things as she tried to choose where they went next.

The only plus side was that she wasn’t alone, Spencer was at his desk just beside her. Like he always was. They had an interesting friendship, to say the least.

Ever since Y/N joined the BAU, Spencer and her were glued at the hip. They had all the same interests, liked the same music and movies, and they spat out information the same way, they were like each other’s dorky other half— but it was just a friendship.

They had a tradition to watch at least one movie together after a case, to just chill for a bit together. Always randomly picking one of their apartments to go to, spending the night together until one of them eventually wandered off to bed. Leaving the other on the couch.

They weren’t aware of their feelings for each other for a while. Both of them being so used to being alone, and never having anyone be interested in them before. It was hard to understand if the feelings they had were pure friendship, or if it could ever be more. If the sex would fuck everything up and take away that perfect happy place they found in each other, or would it make the bond stronger?

She noticed the crush before Spencer showed any signs of liking her back. She woke up every morning thinking of him, that's when she came to the conclusion that it was more than just a friendship. She wanted him in her life forever, she wanted to kiss his perfect lips and hug his soft body, wake up beside his messy hair and just love him for the rest of eternity.

She sighed as she picked up another file, not excited to learn about the horrible acts taking place in what people called, “the best country in the world.” She’d disagree any day of the week.

This one was a file about some missing kids apparently being spotted in a van altogether in Georgia, it looked interesting enough to be the next case. She hated reading all the info, seeing every kid's happy face in the file knowing that’s not how they looked now.

“Good god,” she groaned as she flipped through the case.

“What’s wrong?” Spencer asked over the divider.

“Nothing,” she shrugged, “just a bad case.”

She handed it to him over the desk, hearing him flip through all the sheets as he read a million words a minute. “We should show this to Emily first thing,” Spencer agreed, pushing himself over to her desk in his wheely chair.

“I will,” she smiled softly, taking the file back from him and placing it on her desk.

Spencer stood then, making his way into her space and rubbing his hand over her back slightly. “Are you okay?”

She sighed, “actually. no, I was telling Garcia I want to have a baby soon, and then I see things like this and I’m scared to do it alone but I don’t have any other option?” Ranting to him like he was her therapist.

“What do you mean?”

She turned in her chair to look up at him, his soft brown eyes really caring to hear the answer. “Sit,” she insisted.

He pulled the chair over more, sitting close enough that their knees touched. “I’m 36, I’m not having any luck finding a husband or a wife, I want a baby and if I have to do it myself I will, but what if I’m not enough? What if I have a boy and he grows up to be a killer cause he never had a dad?”

“Y/N,” Spencer’s voice was soft as he looked at her with a confused scrunch on his face. “That couldn’t happen, you’re a wonderful person, I love having you on the team and in my life, I know you’d raise good kids, you should do it.”

“Really?” She beamed at him, the words touching her heart and making her swoon a bit.

“I mean, it would be hard,” he added reason to the conversation. “You’d have to take time off, which would be good for bonding. My mother raised me alone and I turned out semi-fine, I don't hold any resentment for her not finding someone for me to call dad or even step-mom for that matter. I think if you give them all the love in the world like I know you’re capable of, your child will love you like you’re their whole world.”

She laughed as she noticed the tears welling in her eyes, waving her hand's in front of her face so she wouldn’t fully sob. “Do you want to be the donor?” She made a joke to change the topic.

Spencer laughed then too, “sure!”

Everything got serious again then, she looked at him a little differently. “Really? Cause honestly, you’re like a Grade A donor profile in the most expensive clinic!” She couldn’t help herself from laughing again at the absurdity.

“I’ve always wanted to be a dad, 40 isn’t too old to have a child, is it?” He seemed to have decided that rather fast.

“Okay,” she nodded with a smile, “okay. That’s cool, sick,” she felt the words get smaller as she thought it over.

“I get it if you were kidding,” Spencer spat out. “I realize now that you might have been making a joke, I hope it’s not weird that I agreed so fast, it’s just that I think you’re a very beautiful and smart woman and the idea of helping you make a child makes me really excited. I think it would be a very good idea if you were being serious, but I get it if you’re not.”

She let him get it all out, always loving when he got like this on a case or in person, nervous or just because he wanted to talk, she loved to listen. And no one ever let him finish his thoughts, always wanting to beat him to the punch.

“Spence, I think you’re really handsome and smart too,” she smiled. “If you’re also serious, I am too.”

“How would we?” He asked as he pulled at the top button of his dress shirt, swallowing like he couldn't breathe all of a sudden.

“If you’re not opposed, I’m sure the good old-fashioned way would work?” She laughed, laying her hand on his knee softly.

It was like sparks flew at that moment as if all the fluorescent lights in the bullpen could have exploded and she wouldn’t have even noticed. Captivated by Spencer's eyes as he gasped at her touch.

“Not opposed in the slightest,” he said softly as he held his own hand over hers.

She couldn’t help herself from smiling. “Well, I think I’m all done here if you want to come to my place for a movie?”

“Sure,” he replied, offering her a hand as they stood up together.

He returned his chair to his desk, both of them grabbing their coats and bags and rejoining at the door.

“I should go say goodnight to Penny,” Y/N said softly. “Wanna come?”

“Yeah,” he followed her through the door and down the hall to the tech room.

“Knock knock,” Y/N said as she walked through the open door. “Oh great and knowledgeable one, I’ve come with my nightly farewell.”

“Oh my knight, I shall miss you,” Penelope played along, sauntering over to her and wrapping her up in a hug. “I leave you with this until your return.”

“Through scorching deserts, and blistering winds, I will make it back to you, always,” she tried not to laugh as she hugged her back. “I also brought forth the jester.”

Spencer was laughing in the doorway as the two of them looked at him, “hi?”

“The pretty boy, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Um,” Y/N smiled, “Spencer and I are just going back for our nightly movie.”

Penelope looked at both of them, jaw slightly gaped, “nightly? I thought it was a case by case thing?”

“It’s a good excuse for us to talk,” Spencer smiled at her.

“Mhmm,” she smirked, “well have fun.”

She pulled Y/N back into another hug, hiding her face from Spencer, “I need all the dirty deets in the morning.”

Y/N smacked her arm softly as she pulled back, “goodnight pretty penny.”

“Farewell brave knight, handle with care, Jester,” Penelope pointed her finger at him, giving him a knowing glance.

“Yes, oh Knowledgeable one, always,” he blushed.

He reached out his hand for Y/N, interlocking their fingers as they left her office and headed towards the elevator. A rare moment of bravery on his part, holding hands like this didn’t spread a lot of germs.

“We’re going to have to discuss a lot of logistics like realistically this isn’t going to be just a fuck and oh look its a baby. This is a real live baby that we need to raise and care for,” she reminded him as the elevator doors shut.

“I’d like to be as involved as you’d let me be,” Spencer replied. “I don’t have to be 'dad' to them, I could be uncle Spence that’s fine too.”

“Oh no, you’d be Dad for sure,” she nudged him slightly. “I mean like, weekends and holidays and birthdays, your mom will want to see them surely, my parents will want to see them. Housing,” she looked at him horrified. “I have an apartment with 2 bedrooms, I don’t think I could let them sleep somewhere without me.”

“I have been looking at houses,” Spencer added before the doors opened to the garage, “you’re driving right?”

“Yeah, you were saying?” She replied, digging her keys out of her purse and leading him towards the car.

“Derek Morgan, I’m not sure if you’ve met him yet, he fixes up old homes in DC and Virginia now. He just finished one and I helped him with it. I think I’m going to buy it from him. It has 4 bedrooms, we could all live under the same roof? It would be easier to co-parent.”

She was amazed at how fast he adapted to this as if he’d been having the same thoughts she was having. At a certain point wanting kids becomes a pipe dream filled with desperation and emptiness, he looks like he’s experienced it too.

She opened her door and sat down before replying to him again. Thinking about how wonderful he was going to be during this process, “thank you, Spencer.”

“For what?” He asked as they both closed their doors.

She sighed, relaxing into her seat as she started the car. She turned to him softly, not wanting to cry as she spoke softly. “Being a mom is more of a dream to me than joining the BAU was, this is the best gift you could give me.”

He reached his hand out again, holding it softly. Running his thumb over her knuckles. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Yeah,” she nodded softly.

He couldn’t make eye contact with her, staring at their hands as he rubbed her skin.

“Um, I’ve been pretty infatuated with you since you joined,” he let it out finally. Like a ton of bricks off his back he relaxed a bit, “after everything with Maeve, Cat and Max… oh god, and JJ... I was so worried that if I got too close to you I’d lose you. I tried to keep the feelings in, that's why I said what I did to Penelope. She knows how I feel about you.”

It was like fireworks were going off in her chest as the butterflies erupted inside of her. She sat up, turning to him more and ripping her hand from his grasp.

It startled him, he looked at her anxiously as if she was going to yell at him. But she placed both hands on his cheeks and pulled him into a kiss.

His arms snaked around her waist, wishing they could get closer if it wasn’t for the damn centre console of her car. Pressing their lips together, hard, as they breathed each other in. Desperation taking control, she wasn’t able to let go of him.

When she finally did pull away, however, the look on his face was priceless. Like expensive art, every line and freckle had a meaning. He was surprised, enamoured, grateful, desperate for more.

She smiled softly, rubbing her thumbs over his cheek. “Good, cause it would be awkward having your baby and not getting to love you every day too.”

taglist: @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria @spookyspence @reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @samuel-de-champagne-problems @jswessie187 @k-k0129 @calm-and-doctor

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid request #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine

[critterfloozy]

Campaign 2 Yarns

Explanation/Masterpost Campaign 1 YarnsCampaign 3, NPC, and Miscellaneous YarnsKnit Objects

Campaign 2 Yarns:

(There was more; I either used it or gave it away. But more under the cut!)

Veth

A 3 ply

Yellow is the same that’s used for the Caleb Yarn (Hidden Valley’s Bob’s Dandelions)

A very nice and colorful wool blend

it was inexpensive but I did have to listen to the seller’s sales pitch for her online classes to get it

I ended up thinking of that as ‘Felderwin’.

4 ounces of random llama in a hefty ziplock bag

Not sure where that came from.

Nott The Brave

Retroactively decided Nott the Brave was the first yarn I ever spun

It’s both lumpy and ugly and yet incredibly charming

I am always proud of it.

Fjord

Made with this absolutely gorgeous blue-green malabrigo rios

Malabrigo: gorgeous colors, great yarn, difficult fiber

Also bleeds all over

Anyway, great at being deceptive seems like a Fjord thing

Fractal Plied (because seashells, like the sea)

Thinner than you’d expect - laceweight

But a good amount of it.

Like, 800 yards of it

I was thinking of four plying it to get it up to, like, a fingering (still a very thin yarn) but was kind of done with this fiber at that point

Not a commentary on Fjord, 800 yards is just a lot and my hands were very green

Caduceus

First part is this Malabrigo Nube that was this fantastic color. WIldbros get the same fiber!

This one also bled all over

Needed a lot of slow, careful handling

The other half was this magenta and white alpaca that I got on basis of softness alone

I just stuck my hand into the fiber and purchased it without a thought it was so soft

Like 5,000 baby rabbits

Would give good hugs

I don’t even like magenta

Anyway, initial attempt combination didn’t quite gel so I thought I’d overdye it with this a blue/grey

For whatever reason I assumed the malabrigo half wouldn’t take the dye

Mostly because it kept on bleeding all over me

Turns out that the fiber takes dye just fine (whoops)

Which is why this color scheme is very Subdued for Cad

Became a nice (cow)l and fingerless mitt set

Jester

A bright blue with some darker tones to it

It’s acrylic! But soft and not horrible to spin ‘Faux Cashmere’ (from wildhare on etsy). A true trickster

A two ply - for duplicity

Became a baby hat and an ornament (see Finished Objects)

Yasha

Took some black and white fiber, split it in half, then twisted/plied it against itself

Then took some purple, blue, and white fiber, and then twisted/plied it against itself

THEN PLIED THOSE TWO TOGETHER

It’s called a cable ply

It’s super strong and ropey (like Yasha)

The final result reminds me of a 90’s solo cup

Somehow perfect for the woman who smells like a crayon

I love that about her. Do not take this from me. She looks like a solo cup.

Beauregard

Cobalt Soul Blues and Browns

Chain Plied (flurry of blows, chain attacks

Sport Weight, like a real jock

Done on a drop spindle, as it’s surprisingly good for meditation, and Beau’s surprisingly okay with stillness of mind

Caleb

Started off with the yellow that’s the same as Veth (Hidden Valley Farms)

Got some one-off yarn from Hello Yarn Called Blaze- this reddish-brown

The third fiber was a red/orange/brown handpainted roving (Sweet Georgia, called ‘Phoenix Rising)

Then overdyed the whole thing with some orange to make it an amber color

Extremely pretty

Practically glowed

Looks like a flame flickering

A+ would do again

Made a scarf with it with Essek

Molly

A weird one

Half this combination of red and blue fiber that looked like a sunbleached cubs fan

Also prepped so that instead of it moving from one color to the other, it had both colors side by side at all times?

Claimed to be made of corn silk? Partially corn silk? Not really sure

Dubious exotic origins seemed perfect for Molly

Other half was a perfectly normal lavender (from SweetGeorgia)

Fingering weight, because I never get tired of that joke.

#Critical Role #Campaign 2 #Mighty Nein #Yarn #Essek isn't in this batch because of the ten photo limit #and I typically take the pictures portrait but tumblr does better with landscape #Mollymauk Tealeaf #Fjord Stone #jester lavorre #caleb widogast #beauregard lionett #yasha nydoorin #cadeuces clay #Veth Brenatto #critical yarns

[lilacmeadows]

Made For You pt.1

Okay so this is gonna be a series. My FIRST series. So go easy on me pretty please. I’ve never written smut, and I know nobody wants badly written smut. So we’ll see about that. But this one is definitely gonna be more of a slow burn. Maybe 4 chapters? Yeah. I like that. 4 chapters. I’ve just been thinking about this idea for a while and I wanna get into writing. I hope someone likes this.

BUCKY X READER

Summary: Hydra had just finished training you to be the Winter Soldier’s perfect mate when the Avengers saved him. But what’s going to happen to you now that Hydra has deleted your old life and left you with nothing but a soldier that needs to learn to love himself before he can love someone else.

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3 (coming soon)

WARNINGS: explicit sexual content, explicit language, eventual dom/sub dynamics, mentions of captivity and kidnapping. violence- guns, mutual pining, eventual smut, fluff, angst if you squint (must be 18+)

WORD COUNT: 2k 

PART ONE

She’s so used to quiet in her quaint bedroom. The faint whirring of the air conditioner, sounds of footsteps and machinery being rolled outside her door, the music they would play for her when she was extra good that week.

So when she was awoken to gunshots and yelling, y/n was anxious and didn’t know what to do. She backed into the corner of the room furthest from the door and shut her eyes. Hopefully, if she stayed quiet and unseen, things would resolve itself, and she wouldn’t see any violence come her way.

Luckily for her, after what felt like hours later, the sounds quieted down. The gunshots were less frequent and finally came to a stop. She waited for a few moments before sitting on her bed with intentions of continuing her knitting. She wasn’t allowed many activities, but this was one luxury the Men didn’t mind since she hadn’t had any violent outbursts in a long time. She hated being shocked, and she liked knitting.

But the quiet didn’t last long. Minutes later, she could hear footsteps approaching her room. Too late to go back into her corner without being heard through the ‘doggie door’ the Men used to pass her food twice a day, she sat still and slowed her breathing.

‘Anything on that floor?’ She heard one male voice say from further away.

‘Not yet. Mostly supply closets on this floor, but I’ll check them all.’ Said a voice from much closer. He couldn’t have been more than 10 feet away from her door. She could tell they were American like her because they didn’t have the funny accents the Men all had. Gripping her plastic knitting needles tightly in one hand she braced herself for the intrusion.

Her door cracked open a little, then quickly opened all the way.

“Cap, you need to see this.” The man called over his shoulder. “Are you alright ma’am?”

“Yes. I’m fine, sir.” Her small voice replied, a little rough from lack of use, but still remarkably sweet.

“Who are you? Do you know where you are?” He approached her slowly, taking in her meager appearance, but also watching out for the pointy sticks she has a death grip on.

“My name is y/n. I’m in my room.” She replied. Starting to feel very uneasy by this stranger, but also not thinking that he would hurt him. She had been here for so long, it was strange seeing a tall, black man enter her bedroom. Only trainers and watchers were allowed to enter her bedroom.

“What is it?” Another, taller man asked, but his question was soon answered when his eyes landed on the girl sitting on her bed with her tucked gently under her. He immediately noticed her lack of decent clothing, and it caused a blush to creep up his neck.

“We have a girl here, possibly a hostage, maybe an experiment. She doesn’t look like she particularly wants to be rescued.” The first man said to the other, who’s slowly entering the room while trying not to stare at her thin, flimsy, cotton dress.

“Hi, I’m Steve, this is Sam. Do you know where you’re from?” The blonde man said to her while crouching down to be at her eye level. She nodded her head yes. “Well we’re the good guys. We’re here to save you. Do you want to come with us so we can take you home?”

She had to contemplate for a minute. It had been so long since she got here that she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to leave. These men looked sincere, but she knew if she left and was caught, she’d be punished terribly. But if the gunshots meant anything, there would be nobody to punish her. Which means she can’t stay regardless because there would be nobody to take care of her either.

“Did you kill my watchers?” She looked at the blond man after a few quiet seconds. Steve and Sam made eye contact and had a whole argument in silence before Sam spoke up.

‘Yes, we did. But they were bad men. They were keeping you here. But you’re free now. You just gotta follow us, and we’ll get you out of here.’ Sam said, gently. Not wanting her to think they’re cold blooded murderers, but also trying to rush this meeting along so they can board the quinjet, where the rest of the team was waiting.

Steve held one of his hands out to her, which she hesitantly took- knitting needles and purple ball of yarn in her other hand. She thought about grabbing her sweaters, but they weren’t kept in her room. Quite frankly, she had no idea where they were. The Men didn’t allow her to keep the things she learned to knit in her room. But they would give her back a sweater during the cold months. So she just followed the two men awkwardly. Them taking large, hard steps towards parts of the building she had never seen, and her dainty footsteps lagging behind. The trainers taught her to walk with a ladylike gait, on the balls of her feet with barely any pressure to her heels.

After many hallways and stairwells, they found themselves outside the building. The quinjet was parked close by, and y/n’s eyes almost jumped out of her head. Of course she had never seen anything like that before. The men led her onto the loading area which closed behind them.

“Take a break for sightseeing?” Said one man from the front of the jet. They couldn’t see her because of her small stature behind the two men.

“Actually, we found someone. Her name is y/n. She was in one of the rooms, top floor.” Steve said to the man, while fishing you out from behind his back.

She was met with eyes. Many pairs of eyes. All looking directly at her. Not used to all the attention, she looked down at her feet, which were bare as usual and slightly irritated from walking on various terrains. Her toes painted baby pink. Another luxury the Men allowed her. Some watchers were nicer than others. The shorter, fat one that came every other night would bring her a light, barely noticeable, polish that she was only allowed to put on her toes.

Being there wasn’t so terrible. She was 10 when they took her in 2006. She had a mom and older brother, and they lived in a town in Georgia. She often wonders what happened to them that morning when the Men put a rag over her face, and she woke up on a bed in the room that would become her new bedroom.

She didn’t leave the room often. There was a small bathroom across the hall from her room. The watcher would be standing guard outside her door, and she would let him know she would like to use the bathroom or bathe. He would have to stand in the room with her while she bathed, but after a while, they were kind enough to face the wall. She fought for a long time. Refusing to eat the food (which wasn’t terrible), screaming and crying, she even plotted the occasional failed attack. But then they started the shock therapy, and she learned. Being in that chair was brutal. Rewiring her brain into submission. Submission to the Men so they could train her. She had to be ready for the Soldat when he needed her. Why her? She didn’t ask and they didn’t tell her. She learned very quickly that she was only allowed to speak when spoken to.

Make the Soldat happy. That was her mission. She had been told that phrase so many times that she heard it in her sleep. She had never seen or met him, but she was being trained to be his. A possession he could have control over during the brief times he was unfrozen. She was to listen to him, obey, sleep with him, and just make him happy because the mind controlling words were having less and less of an effect, and the Men were afraid he would lash out and massacre them all.

But it doesn’t seem like she’ll be fulfilling her life goal after all because now she’s in the air with a group of people looking at her like she has two heads. A woman with pretty red hair, a man with a large bow, and a man with nice glasses towards the front of the jet, were on one side. On the other was a blond man with very long hair, standing up to talk to a man in a purple shirt, and a man sitting by himself with long brown hair. All of their stares were pointed at her, but his seemed to go through her. Like he had x-ray vision and could read her mind.

“Y/n, you can have a seat right there.” Sam said, pointing to an empty seat next to the redhead who only squinted at her. “That’s Natasha. She’s nicer than she looks.”

“No, I’m not.” She said, making eye contact with y/n. “But we’re glad to have you aboard.” Natasha finished, the slightest smile forming at the girl.

“Um... Cap, where are her clothes?” The man from before asked Steve.

“I don’t know. This is what she was wearing, and I didn’t see a wardrobe anywhere, Tony.” Steve sighed, obviously exasperated by even the thought of a conversation with Tony.

Tony looked at the girl expectantly. Was he waiting for her to chime in? Because he’d be waiting a long time. She was trained very well. Talking out of turn was one of the first rules she learned.

“Sweetheart, are you alright? Do you want something to cover up? We have blankets. What about water? You thirsty? Does she even understand a word I’m saying?” Tony’s last question was aimed at the men she entered with.

“I understand. I’m sorry. I’m alright, sir.” And if the team was trying to keep their staring inconspicuous at first, they completely abandoned that when she spoke. Her voice was so small and smooth. Just a little weak from not talking much.

“How about we get you a blanket anyway so I can be a little more comfortable” He nodded towards Sam who left the room and returned with a large blanket. She hadn’t realized how cold she was or that her nipples were pointing through her thin dress. Or that the cotton dress was really just a white slip that was damn near see through.

Maybe the grumpy looking man on the other side of the jet does have x-ray vision.

“Thank you, sir.” Everyone had to be called Sir. She hadn’t been around any women, but she was pretty sure if they looked as serious as the one next to her, she’d call them Ma’am.

“Tony is fine.” He smiled at her.

“Hey. I’m Clint, by the way.” The man on Natasha’s other side said, turning his body to address her. “So, umm... What were you doing up there? Are you working for Hydra?” Other members of the team groaned and scolded him for being so blunt, even though they were secretly happy he asked because they also wanted to know.

“I was knitting.” She said simply. She was going to leave it at that, but she could see the way Clint’s eyebrows almost touched his hairline at her short reply. So she continued with the mantra she was raised with. “My purpose is to make the Soldat happy. He is my mission.”

She had never seen a room of people’s heads turn so fast. Eyes darting from her to the brooding man on the other side of the jet. He squinted his eyes, looking equally as confused.

She hadn’t realized that her mission was right in front of her.

part 2

#bucky #bucky x reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #the avengers #steve rodgers smut #thor smut #bucky imagine #bucky fanfic #bucky x y/n #bucky fluff #chubby!bucky #winter solider x reader #winter soldier smut

[theramseyloft]

4/11/22 Report

Had a late night last night waiting to get forgotten laundry into the dryer.

So I had a late start this morning.

But, I did get plenty of sleep.

And a filling breakfast.

The inside birds' feed container had to be refilled this morning.

This fill was 3/5 Royal Wing Classic Mix to 2/5 Versele-Laga classic blend 15% no corn.

Washed and bleached the mats and mesh I forgot to yesterday.

Took the garbage out from all three receptacles.

I got both 50lb bags of Royal Wing Classic Mix from the trunk to the storage building and loft porch, respectively, but needed a rest on the sofa, a drink, and a snack immediately after.

Royal Wing Classic Mix is contained in a woven plastic bag that's pretty durable, so, of the two feeds, it's the easier to carry.

Versele-Laga feeds are in double layer paper bags. So, if I lose my grip or balance and have to drop the bag to avoid injury, it will split on impact with the ground.

It has also split from my attempt to readjust a bag that got stuck to my skin.

So that blend is much harder to lift, and takes much more time, concentration, and strain to cary it without ripping the fragile packaging.

I had three of those to move out, and had to ask my dear husband to get the last one for me.

While I was eating lunch and resting from getting the two Versele Laga bags I could cary unaided out into storage, we got a visit from an agent of the Georgia Department of Human Services.

It seems one or more of my dear followers called the DHS with claims that I was too sickly to care for myself or my birds.

Despite having publicly documented every step of the diagnostic process, the progress of the flockmembers who are still actively sick, my increased dose of metformin to deal with the increased frequency of blood sugar spikes, my IUD placement to treat the intense endometriosis pain, AND my habit of hiring loft help when I physically cannot do the manual work.

I do not believe that woman's time was wasted out of any genuine concern for my well-being, but she has my primary care physician's information to follow up and confirm the measures being taken to improve my physical function.

Cheeto and Cotta's left overs measured just below 5/8 cup.

Meaning they ate just over 3/8 cup since yesterday.

They will continue to be fed 1 cup until Sunday.

Titan drank most of his water.

His samples are more substantial today, and much closer to solid.

Since a few people have asked, I am checking fecal samples because changes in those are often the first warning you get that a bird feels off, and the last symptom to clear up as they recover from having been sick.

Of the 67 birds that did sicken (the ringneck doves, ice boys, and Storm were the only individuals who never did), Only three ever developed respiratory symptoms; Banner, Fiesta, and Kimi.

All three of those only developed them when their body temperature had dropped after about three days of being unable to keep food down.

According to the lab report, the fungal element is not infectious on its own.

It was not able to colonize until the viral infection had those three individuals at death's door.

And of those three, only two died.

Kimi made a full recovery.

Of the total 67 who sickened, we lost a total of ten, all in the first week.

There have been no more losses since.

Only two have yet to fully recover, and Titan has been improving markedly over the last three days.

Ibis also drank most of her water.

No improvement in her samples from yesterday. Identical spoiled mashed potatoes appearance to yesterday's reference photo.

Disheartening, but yesterday was an improvement over the day before and that she didn't get any worse is still good news.

Samples on the loft's social surfaces remain ideal.

Individuals returned to the flock still active, clean faced, and in good feather with no relapse of hunching, fluffing, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Checked under Sugar on a hunch, and found an egg she tried to sneak by me.

It was about a week along, which is why I need to obsessively check them.

A shame to have to toss it, but letting it hatch right now would have put the peep at unacceptable potential risk.

Soot's second egg was removed.

Still no news from the lab.

Depending on whether they started the Friday the tests were ordered or the following monday, the earliest I expect to hear back is Wednesday or Friday.

And I don't know if there is a difference in the length of time the pathogens they are looking to ID now take to culture.

[cactiem]

coming back to you // m.b

Pairing: Marcus Baker x OC

Requested: Nope

Summary: How does Victoria Lexington know Marcus Baker?

GIF Not Mine

Everyone knows everything about everyone in Welsbury. That’s what is part of the charm. Deep in the roots of the picture-perfect town are secrets and lies, feeding its residents. Maybe that’s what brought Georgia to this quaint town. She was intrigued by the flawless front the town presented, a place where nothing could go wrong. It did go wrong though. One fateful summer afternoon, Caroline Lexington was found dead in her home leaving a giant hole in the Lexington home and one in the town she put all her a time and effort in to.

No one had heard from Victoria Lexington after her mom’s funeral. She just disappeared off the face of the planet without telling anyone. Her classmates just thought that she moved away or something after the traumatic year she had but the stares and whispers said otherwise. Her hair was straight, and lips painted a deep red, hips swinging as she walked down the hallway with everyone’s eyes on her. Nothing had changed. It was like the whole summer didn’t exist.

“Who’s that?” Ginny asked, intrigued by the presence Victoria had.

“That is Victoria Lexington.” Abby said as if it was obvious.

Seeing Ginny’s puzzled look, Max couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You’re so cute.” Ginny just gave her a deadpanned look before she continued. “Her family like owns this town and her mom died at the start of the summer so we’re all waiting for a breakdown to happen.”

Ginny looked at the brunette taking in her appearance as the rest of MANG fell into conversation. She didn’t look like she just lost her mom. Her red lips were pursed as she rummaged through her locker, aware of all the attention that was on her and loving every bit of it. Victoria was well put together. Ginny knew everyone handled loss in their own way, but something didn’t sit well with her, she just couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

There was one thing that was getting on Victoria’s nerves as she went through her first day back at school and that was everyone asking her if she was okay. Was she okay? She didn’t know. Nothing was ever black and white. There were many levels to being okay and right now Victoria was okay enough. That didn’t stop her from plastering on a fake smile and thanking everyone for their forced condolences as if they cared. They didn’t. The only person who really cared about her was Marcus and she fucked that up. He saw at her lowest and Victoria couldn’t allow that. After all Lexington’s don’t cry in front of people.

She heard her mom’s voice clear as day, feel her claws digging into her jaw as she gripped it forcing Victoria to look up at her mom. “If you cry at any inconvenience then you’ll never stop crying. Crying is a weakness and Lexington’s aren’t weak.” Deep breath in. “You’ve gotten fat. Please don’t make me alter this dress so close to the gala.” Deep breath out. “This is all your fault. He’s dead because of you.” Deep breath in. “You stupid ungrateful bitch!” Deep breath out.

“Hey, its okay.” Victoria heard Marcus’s familiar voice and felt his hands clasp hers to stop her from hurting herself any further. She opened her eyes to a concerned brown pair looking back at her. He cupped her cheek, wiping away the tears she didn’t even know fell. Victoria quickly brushed him off, stepping away from him and wiping away her own tears.

“I’m fine.” She said, her smile forced.

“Tori, you don’t have to lie to me. I won’t judge.” Marcus slowly walked back over to her, making sure it was okay.

“I know I should feel sad today but I-I don’t. Does that make me a bad person?”

“There’s no wrong or right way on how you should be feeling.” Marcus said and Victoria such collapsed into his arms, gripping his lapels of his jacket as she cried, letting everything out.

At least when she got home, Victoria could count on some sense of normalcy. Her dad in his office doing work leaving the house to herself. That’s at least what she was hoping when she walked through the big oak front doors. Instead, a woman’s laugh could be heard from the kitchen along with her dad’s. Victoria slowly walked into the room, observing what was happening. “Hey, sweetie.” Her dad greeted, happier than he has been in a while. “This is Georgia from the mayor’s office. She’s helping with the business.”

“You must be Ginny’s mom, right?” Victoria said after a moment, looking the blonde women over.

“I am. Are you two friends?” She asked, her smile growing even bigger and her southern drawl thick.

“Great friends.” The brunette returned the smile, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the island before going upstairs, a plan hatching in her head.

Looking in the mirror, Victoria finished touching up her hair, her hand knocking over her drink all over Ginny who had just come over to wash her hands. “I am so sorry!” She gasped, feigning shock. “Here let me help you.” She quickly grabbed paper towels to try and help Ginny even though her efforts were pointless knowing the top will stain.

“Thanks.” She mumbled taking the towels to try and salvage her top.

Victoria leaned against the side, looking over Ginny with a sly grin. “If I was you I’d keep my hands to yourself.” Ginny gave the girl an incredulous look as she made her way to the door. “Same goes for your mom.”

Ginny was speechless, standing alone in the bathroom. She couldn’t believe what had happened, well she could but still. Her friends told her not to retaliate knowing that Victoria will make her life a living hell. What they didn’t know though was that Ginny also had a mean sting in her and never pulls her punches. She was a woman on a mission and made a beeline for Victoria after the final bell rang. That was why her friends followed her and Marcus hung around to see what was going to go.

“Can I help you?” She asked, already bored of the conversation that hadn’t started yet.

“You owe me a new top.” Ginny simply said, her arms crossed to help seem more intimidating.

“I told you it was an accident.” Victoria said innocently.

“Oh, please, you and I both know you did this on purpose.” She scoffed. “Why did you this?”

“Because, as classy as ever your mom has already got her claws into a new man, a recently widowed one at that.”

“You mean your dad, right?” Ginny asked before continuing not waiting for an answer because she already knew. “Because let’s not forget why he is a widow in the first place. You killed her, right? Your mom?”

“Ginny.” Victoria heard Marcus warn her, but she held her hand up.

“No, I wanna hear what she has to say.” She clenched her jaw trying to hide the tears that were threatening to fall.

“You killed your mom because you had enough of all the shit she put you through since your brother’s death which, was also your fault.” The silence that had fallen onto the group was suffocating. Everyone was waiting to see Victoria’s reaction, expecting her to breakdown or something. She didn’t though, the many years of hiding her emotions coming handy.

“You’ve what, been here five minutes and you think you know everything? Well, you don’t so how about you keep that pretty mouth of yours shut and run along unless you want me to destroy you and everything your mom built.” Victoria warned, walking away from the stunned crowd.

Her chest rose and her eyes burned from the tears she was holding back. Victoria ended up in the nearest bathroom, not caring if it was the boy’s or not. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the sink hard, trying to calm herself down. “What Ginny said isn’t true, you know that, right?” Victoria should’ve known that Marcus would have followed her. She continued to ignore him, staring down at the floor. “Hey, look at me.” He said, gently lift her chin up so she could see him.

“Why are you being nice to me? I pushed you away, remember? I treated you like shit.” Victoria said.

“Because even though you did that I still find my way back to you just like you find your way back to me.” Marcus leaned down, his lips ghosting hers. The same electric feeling coming back from their first kiss.

A/N: if you have any requests for Marcus please send them in

Tag List: @mayaslifeinabox @princess-of-the-fandoms @live--aloud @les-bio-lie @ivvitm1109 @seninjakitey @dontdowhatisayandnobodygetshurt @genius2050 @tiannawashere

#marcus baker imagine #marcus baker x oc #marcus baker #ginny and georgia imagine #ginny and georgia

[phoenixblack89]

Fera Ingris

Chapter 1 - Dealing with Dixons

It's finally here people! Eekkk! It'll be up on A03 later when I turned my laptop on. Been teasing this for soooo long.

My wonderful tag list:

@lilythemadqueen @boondoctorwho @darylsgirl @autocon23 @browneyes528 @fandomsaremykryponite @writingdeadangel

"Yer take care of yourself lass, don't worry about us."

Phoenix sighed at the man on the other end of the phone, twisting the silver rosary he had given her for her birthday many years ago. The world had changed dramatically for them all since that day. Their history bloody and violent and God sent. 

"Are ye listening lass?" 

"Of course, I'm listening! It's you who isn't! I'm on the way to Atlanta now!  As in I'm already in Georgia! I can't let you three rot in there when we've got things to do!" 

"Lass, we can take care of ourselves. Connor wants to know if ye got our package?" He asked, she stifled a laugh at the noise of the pair fighting over the phone she could hear. 

"Yea I got it. Haven't opened it yet though" she replied, the bike's engine growing colder under her. "What's in it? You guys shouldn't be sending anything. You're lucky Duffy and Dolly got it t' me before I left Boston."

"I know lass but ye need t' keep those safe fer us." She smiled hearing her other friend's voice, clearly having won the battle for the phone. "Look things are getting bad here. You're safe now but things are gettin' weird, we'd never forgive ourselves if anything happened to ye. I love ye too much" 

"I love ya too, you idiot! I'm gonna get you all out. We have a mission! I've got a bag full of your stuff right here on my bike, your clothes, coats, guns." 

"Aye. What?! No? Yea. Let me say goodbye a' least?" Phoenix knitted her eyebrows, hearing the man talking to someone else. A prison guard maybe. "Lass we have t' go. I'll call ye back when things settle aye?" 

"Yea. Just tell me where you are at least?" 

"Sorry lass I got to -" 

The line suddenly died on her and she frowned, shaking the phone and seeing no signal. She ran her hand through her short dark red hair and started the bike up, speeding quickly towards Atlanta and her boys. 

                                                      **********

The sun shined through the thin, flimsy material of the tent, shining directly down into the sleeping pairs eyes. The short, spiky, dyed haired young woman groaned and threw her arm over her face. She sat slowly and yawned. She'd had that dream for weeks, wondering what had happened to her friends. 

Had the prison been overrun by the monsters that lurked in every corner? Were they dead? Or worse... Had they become one of those things? 

She'd slept after her watch shift, which surprised the girl as she had been having a bad bout of insomnia for the last two weeks. Ever since... 

No, she thought don't think about it. 

She glanced at the young boy laid next to her and smiled. When Carl asked if he could sleep in her tent with her the night before she had been hesitant (mainly because Lori rarely let him out her sight) but Lori had said it was okay and she was not going to fight against the long-haired beauty. 

Lori had also said it would be good for her, get her to trust others again. And honestly the boy reminded her so much of her old friend with his boundless energy and smiles. 

A gentle tap to the roof of her tent set her senses on guard. She grabbed her long calf length boots and her Bowie knife and slowly pulled the zipper up. A sigh released from her throat as she squinted up at the crossbow welding man in front of her. 

"We goin' hunting or what?" He snarled at her, obviously still mad at the woman from their disagreement yesterday. It wasn't her fault. He had spooked her... 

Merle approached the dark red haired girl sat by the quarry lake silently. Something was up with her and he was determined to find out what. The sight in front of him worried him slightly, she was nervous and kept flicking her head around. Had she been bit? He was thankful the darkness of the twilight hid him somewhat as he watched. She hissed as she pulled the bloody bandage off her left hand, flexing it and hissing through her teeth. The soft sound of something hitting the surface of the water, made his heart thump. It wasn't raining so why did it sound like it was? 

He came right behind her and watched as she rubbed at the wound, it oozed blood and yellowish white pus as she gritted her teeth. Infection was setting in. Daryl called out his name from camp and the girl spun and noticed him there. 

"Ya shouldn't be down 'ere by herself girlie." He whispered, kneeling and gently taking her hand, examining the injury intently. "Now wha' we gonna do abou' yer hand? Yer can't take what I offered yer."

"Burn it again. Only thing we can do. Not like we can wander to nearest pharmacy, throw my hand on the counter and say fix it, is it?" She hissed as he prodded a sensitive spot, Merle chuckled slightly and helped her to her feet. 

"Nah but China is headed t' the city tomorrow. I'ma go too. I know my meds and I'll get yer what yer need t' be right as rain again, Lil sis." He said with a smirk as they climbed back up the slope to the camp. Daryl and Shane spun round at their footsteps and Merle smirked. Officer ass-hat was on one about something. 

"Phoenix! Where have you been?! We told you to stay in camp until you could fight!" Shane whisper-yelled in her face. 

"Easy there officer. Girl just needed a second by 'erself... Gets a bit loud round here." Merle defended her, placing himself between the well musculared man and the girl who seemed to shrink into herself. "She's fine. I was a watchin' her." 

"I bet you were Dixon." Lori said under her breath. Phoenix glanced at the woman with eyes narrowed. The majority of the camp thought the Dixons were rude, brash and shouldn't be there. Only Phoenix, Glenn, Andrea and Shane knew of the incident that had cemented the brothers in the camp's good graces, well in their good graces. 

Phoenix sat down at the small fire infront of her tent and sighed, her ears picking up on raised voices coming from the Dixon tent. It sounded like Daryl was majorly pissed about something and Merle was defending himself.

Isn't any of your business she thought ignore them.

She gazed deep into the fire, the heat warming her frozen limbs nicely. She hated the cold, not that it was cold but she felt like she was sat on a box of ice in just her underwear. She had experienced working in much colder situations, hell the Irish rain was colder than this. The sweat on her brow made her eyes ache and she closed them, leaning her head back.

"Ahh!" She shrieked, jumping up and thrusting her knife backwards towards whatever had grabbed her shoulder. A deep grunt sounded and her hand was twisted, causing her to release her grip of the blade's handle. 

"Ain't no need t' try t' gut me girl." Daryl growled, his gruff voice instantly calming the nervous woman. She sighed and held her hand out, Daryl raised his chin and regarded whether to return her knife or not for a moment. He relented at her raised eyebrow and dropped it into her left hand. She hissed in pain and clutched at her wrist. Quicker than she could pull away, he'd wrapped his hand around her wrist yanking her closer and pulling the bandage off her injury. He could see how raised and angry it look, grimacing slightly as it oozed at his poking. Tears of pain welled in her eyes as she grit her teeth, he grumbled under his breath and glanced over his shoulder at his older brother. Merle nodded and raised the half empty bottle of whiskey in a salute. "This why Merle is leavin' right?"

"Yea, told him he didn't have to." She whispered as he released her arm, her skin tingled at the lose of contact. Daryl ran his hand over his neck and bit his lip. 

"Ye need meds. Ain't happy a' him, riskin' his neck fer someone like ya." He groaned under his breath. Her mood soured and she shoved him away. He stumbled for a second and threw her a glare. "What the hell is ya problem girl?"

"Someone like me Dixon? Huh? What exactly do you mean by that?!" She folded her arms across her chest. Daryl's eyes flickered downwards for a second to how her arms pushed her breasts higher and more together. 

God she's gorgeous when she's mad he thought, his cock twitching in his jeans. He ducked his head and scoffed.

"Ya know what I mean, can't even hunt without hurtin' yaself." 

"Go away Dixon." She turned on her heel and stormed off up the bank, and climbing up the RV ladder to take watch. Daryl sighed and slopped off back to his brother, who was laughing, finding the whole scene hilarious.

                                                    **********

Phoenix nodded up at the hunter and pulled on her boots and grabbed her bow. She followed Daryl over to his tent where his brother was preparing to go into the city. Merle gave her a once over as she approached, his eyes narrowed at the bow across her back and the stains on the bandage around her left hand.

"Mornin' Firebug." He drawled as the pair stopped. She nodded and heaved her backpack tighter to her shoulder beside her quiver of arrows. "Y'all gonna be alright t' hunt wit' tha' hand?" He questioned, giving his brother a glance. Daryl gave Merle a hooded lidded look and nodded his head up. "Don't wanna waste my time if ya gonna drop down dead on poor Darlena 'ere."

The girl smirked and shoved the older man's shoulder playfully before flipping him off, striding towards the treeline.

"You watch 'er baby brother. She's one of us now."

"Hmm" Daryl said, glancing at the girl as she waited just under the cover of the trees for him. Merle gave a low chuckle and Daryl glared at him. "Stop."

"Come on baby brother, don't be like that." Merle stood and patted him on the shoulder. "Ya been pining after 'er for weeks now. Just give her some of the ol' Dixon charm. If ya even have any!" He barked out a laugh as his brother scoffed and walked away, joining the girl and disappearing into the woods.

                                                    **********

A low whistle drew her attention and she glanced in the direction of it. Daryl raised his hand and pointed off towards the copse of trees in front of him. Keeping her body low to the ground and her steps feather light she approached him. Her eyes darting out at the small herd of deer in front of them, they'd finally found them after two days in the woods. She raised her hand and pointed to the smaller of the two bucks. Daryl nodded and gestured he was going to try and get around them so if they darted he could take a shot. She nodded and crouched lower, using the shrubs to hide her. Daryl wandered away silently as she waited for his signal. 

A loud shriek pierced the air and the deer scattered. Daryl swore and took off after the smaller buck, Phoenix following him at a distance. 

                                                    **********

They stopped by a small creak, Phoenix dipping her hand into it and running it over the back of her neck. She felt like she was on fire, yet icy cold at the same time. The infection in her hand had well and truly set in, she needed to be careful or she'd drop and not get back up.

"We go a littl' further then stop fer the night." Daryl mummered beside her, wiping his soaked red rag over the back of his neck and down his face. She nodded, eyes staring off into the stream. He watched her carefully, the way her hair at the back of her neck was slightly curly, the way her ears twitched as if she was a rabbit or a deer hearing a predator. He found her beautiful and mysterious. A riddle he wanted to solve. He couldn't help his attraction to her physique either, the woman was beautiful. Not perhaps every man's wet dream but he found her incredibly sexy. 

He admired how she wore gothic, all black, metal studded and chained clothes despite the heat, her short dyed dark red hair, the regrowth hinting at sandy blond, spiked with sweat these days that cried out to be tugged as she was kissed, the slight thicker set of her thighs, buttocks and stomach, he much preferred a girl with a bit of weight than the skinny, almost starved look some of the women up at camp had; the ink he could spy under her clothes was calling out for him to discover exactly how many tattoos she had and why she'd chosen them. He had seen a glimpse of the tattoos on her by accident when he'd stumbled upon her at the lake having a quick swim and also when he'd found her in the woods. She kept herself well covered normally, she said she got sunburn easily. He could spy an interesting shaped scar across her collar bone when she wore lower cut shirts, not that she did very much now. 

Not since he'd saved her in the woods a week or so ago. 

He loved how well they worked as hunters together. She knew enough to track decently and was surprisingly quiet on her feet, despite the heavy metal covered, thick platform soled boots she chose to wear. They're only issue seemed to be that they butted heads constantly when not hunting, both taking verbal swipes at each other whenever they tried to have a conversation, sometimes she'd slap him on the arm; Merle finding it hilarious and entertaining to join in. Damn Merle, was his fault she got hurt in the first place. If he hadn't egged her on about her lack of hunting abilities, she wouldn't have been out in the woods by herself in the first place. 

He sighed quietly as she raised to her feet and moved away, eyes scanning the forest floor for the deer's tracks, finding them and leading the way.

                                                    **********

Daryl grunted as he lowered himself down beside the girl, who was turning a stick through the weak fire in front of her. The night was silent except for the light wind. He silently settled down against the log and took out of one of the squirrel for the pair to eat. Daryl made quick work of gutting and skinning the small rodent and shoved it on a stick to slowly roast over the flames. The girl's eyes drifting upwards towards the stars. She looked so peaceful that he didn't want to disturb her. 

"We gotta head back in the morning if we don't find the deer." She nodded and pulled her arms around her own shoulders, shivering slightly. "Come 'ere." He said, holding his arms open for her to settle beside him. Daryl usually hated touching others and being touched was a rarity for him but he'd made the exception for her while they hunted. It was simply for survival he told himself. If she got too cold she'd get sick and then the group wouldn't have a hunter when he and Merle left. And he'd feel that guilt all his life, the kids needed fresh meat so he was doing something for the group. Nothing to do with his stupid little crush. Nope, he was doing it for the group. She shuffled closer and wrapped an arm around his waist. Her head found his chest and she sighed, feeling the heat from Daryl seep into her cold bones. Daryl frowned, she felt hot yet she was shivering like crazy. 

That damn hand. 

He pulled her closer and ran his hand cautiously up and down her arm. She flinched at first then relaxed into his embrace. 

"Ya alright?" 

"Yea. Just cold." She whispered, her warm breath causing goose bumps across Daryl's chest. She blinked slowly, feeling sleep call her. The smell of Daryl's warm body lulling her, she had missed falling asleep in a man's arms. It was familiar and comforting. She felt safe, warm and protected despite the dead walking. 

                                                    **********

The sharp whistle drew her attention to the left. She nocked her arrow and let it fly, hitting the deer in the hind leg causing it to run. The two hunters had caught up to the deer earlier and were driving it towards camp. Daryl was in the rear urging it forward, while she made it turn in the right direction when it veered too far to the left. 

She spotted the steep banks that marked the outer edges of the quarry and smiled. 

Almost home.

Taking another shot to steer the deer towards the lower bank she smiled. The group would eat well tonight. She stumbled and shot at the hind leg again. The deer in one last desperate burst of energy slipped out of her sight but it was very close to camp. Wouldn't take long for them to catch up.

                                                          **********

Phoenix paused and braced her arms on her knees, Daryl whistled in question, asking if she was alright as he walked by her. She held up a hand in reply. He grumbled and walked away. She could hear yells and the sounds of stomping as she neared the rocks that hid camp. 

Daryl was knelt on the ground and looking over the deer. 

"Think we could cut around the chewed up part?" He said looking up at Dale and the others. Phoenix's eyes narrowed as she spotted a new face amongst the men. The group of men didn't seem to notice her as she joined Daryl at his side, subconsciously seeking his protection from the stranger. Fear made her heart pound loudly in her ears as Daryl stood. 

"I wouldn't risk that" Shane said quietly, Daryl sighed dejectedly frustrated he hadn't been able to feed the group more. 

"That's a damn shame. We got us some squirrels... About a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

"Oh my god!" Amy gasped as the head of the walker suddenly began to gnash its teeth. 

"Come on people! What the hell?!" Daryl exclaims as he releases a bolt through its undead head. "It's gotta be the brain! Don't y'all know nothin'?!" 

Phoenix smirked, shouldering her bow as she followed Daryl back into camp. She gave a glance over her shoulder at the group behind her, noticing the exchange of looks between them. 

"MERLE! MERLE! Get ya ugly ass out here! Got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up!" Daryl calls out, Phoenix swivelling her head to see where the elder Dixon was.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane called, his hands on his hips as the group avoids Daryl and Phoenix's eyes. 

"About what?" Daryl queries, pausing his march around the camp. Phoenix, instinctively, taking Daryl's back with a bad feeling in her gut. 

"DD... Hear him out." She whispers as Daryl narrows his eyes in suspicion. Daryl glances at her briefly before turning back to Shane. 

"About Merle... There was a... There was a problem in Atlanta." The former officer sighs, his hand reaching out as if to pacify the man. Phoenix grits her teeth and reaches for the gun hidden behind her shirt slowly, sensing this was not going to end well. 

"He dead? "

"We're not sure..."

OH shitttt Phoenix thought, slipping the brace of squirrels and her bow off her shoulder. 

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl stated, his voice raising in anger as his face grew more dark. 

"No easy way to say this so I'll just say it." The newcomer said quietly, stepping into the discussion. 

"Who are you?!" Daryl asked, confused slightly as to what this stranger had to do with his brother's disappearance. 

"Rick Grimes." 

"Rick Grimes?!" Daryl spat aggressively, his face a mask to the hurt and anger underneath. "You got summit ya want t' tell me?" 

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I... I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal... He's still there." 

"What the fuck!?" Phoenix snarled as her eyes narrowed at the newcomer. Her stance widening, readying herself for a fight. Daryl began pacing, his eyes meeting hers, she gave a barely there nod in agreement with him. 

"Hold on... Let me process this. You're sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there!?" Daryl growled as he paced, the woman edging towards Shane, out of Daryl's path to Rick. 

"Yeah." 

Daryl growls loudly as he throws his rope of squirrels at Rick, who dodges them easily. 

"Hey! Watch the knife!" T-Dog yells as Daryl pulls his knife. Shane dodges Phoenix and gets behind Daryl, quickly putting him into a chokehold. Phoenix steps up behind Shane, her own knife slipping into her grip, her gun giving a low click as she removed the safety and pointed it at the curls of Shane's hair. 

"Okay... Okay..." Shane whispers, lowering Daryl and himself to the ground. 

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl gasped, struggling to free himself. 

"Do as he says!" Phoenix snarls, her Beretta a mere breath away from Shane's skull. 

"Chokehold's illegal!" Daryl grunts, thrashing his legs. Phoenix lowers her gun to Shane's shoulder, ready to pull the trigger if needed. 

"You can file a complaint!" Shane laughs weakly. "Come on man. We'll keep this up all day."

"Like shite we will. I'll shoot ya first mate!" The red head growled as Rick kneels in front of Daryl and Shane, his head tilting to the side. 

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" 

Daryl grunts, ceasing to struggle, slapping his hand out to the side of him; silently signalling to the woman to stand down as Shane hums in question. 

"Mmm...Yeah." Daryl replies. 

Shane releases him quickly and steps away as the younger man raises himself to his feet. Shane's eyebrows raised as Phoenix pulls herself to her full height, him and Rick giving her a worried glance. She smirks and makes a show of putting her knife and gun back into their places. Rick turns to Daryl and rubs the back of his neck slowly. 

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work or play well with others."

"It’s not Rick's fault!" T-Dog interrupted, the large man stepping closer. "I had the key... I dropped it!"

Phoenix scoffed, glaring at the man. 

"Ya couldn't pick it up?!" Daryl questioned, his anger disappearing and being replaced by worry and anxiety. 

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

"If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl snapped as he shook his head, pacing in a small circle. Phoenix joining him at his side and glaring daggers at T-Dog. 

"Maybe this will... Look, I chained the door to the roof... So geeks couldn't get at him... With a big ass chain and padlock. Its got to count for something!"

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is... So that I can go get him." Daryl choked out, his voice cracking with tears as Phoenix gently placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"So we can go get him." She declared, daring anyone to argue with her. Daryl gave her a tiny up nod at her and squeezed her hand on his shoulder lightly. 

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori spoke up from the door of the RV, she looked to Rick quietly awaiting his reply. 

"I'm going back." He stated quietly. Lori sighed and walked into the RV. 

                                                   *********

Phoenix pulled on her long studded leather jacket and secured her axe into the specialised holster on her back. Daryl stood beside her silently, chewing his lip. The Brit have a slight wobble as she got lighter headed and Daryl's mind came to only one solution to a major issue between the pair.  

"Hey." 

"Hey DD. You ready to go get Merle?" She asked, bending to tie her boot laces.  "Yea... Ya not comin' though."  

"What!? You can't be serious DD! You need me with you so those picks don't leave you there as well!" She snapped back as he turned to walk away. 

"Daryl!" 

"Nah. Ya hurt. Too many geeks in the city fer ya axe. Stay here. Keep safe." He argued back, she growled in her throat and pushed by him. His hand wrapped around her arm in a bruising grip.  

"Dixon..."  

"Listen... Stay here. I don't... Just... Fuck." He hissed. "Merle will be pissed. Real pissed." 

"He'll of been baked in the sun ya mean! He is gonna be stir fried from the heat! He's gonna need someone to calm him down. He ain't gonna hurt me DD... He wouldn't hurt me." She sighed, her head beginning to throb. "I have to Daryl. I owe him one!"  

"Nah ya don't!" 

"Yes I fucking do!"  

"No. Ya stayin' here!" 

 "I'm going!" She yelled, hands on her hips.  

"No!" 

"Yes!" 

"NO! And that's final!"  

The pair continued to argue for several more minutes until Shane interrupted them, the pair literally chest to chest and needing to be pulled apart before fists began to fly. Phoenix huffed and stormed away into the woods as the man agreed with Daryl. Daryl glared after the fiery woman before stomping off to the truck, missing her turning back towards the camp and leaning against a tree with her arm crossed against her chest.    

Phoenix glanced at the truck Daryl stood in. She wanted to wish them luck but knew Daryl was still angry with her. He looked in her direction and nodded his head, a small smile gracing the corner of his mouth. She sighed and walked towards him, he knelt down at the open shutter and tilted his head towards her.  "Keep safe in the city DD." She whispered, gazing upwards into the man's sky blue eyes. He nodded and chewed his thumb. "Bring Merle back. Wouldn't be the same round here without that dickhead." 

"Yea. Be quieter fer sure." He chuckled, smiling fondly at the girl. Phoenix reached up and pulled at Daryl, forcing him to brace himself against the ledge as she hugged him with one arm against her chest. Daryl slowly relaxed enough to enjoy her closeness and leaned his head on top of hers.  

"Please come back." She whispered into his ear as he pulled back slightly, his eyes flitting around camp to make sure no one was witnessing the exchange.  He nodded lightly into her neck, his arm coming to loosely hold her waist. He breathed in her soothing subtle scent and closed his eyes to help him memorise thee moment, just in case. He cleared his throat and pulled away, feeling a certain part of his anatomy starting to stir. She smiled weakly at him with teary eyes and walked away.  

"Hey!"  

Phoenix turned slightly, the breeze making her hair wave over her face softly. Thee sun shining behind her making her hair look like flames licking across the crown of her head. The bruises and cuts across her face hidden in the shadows of her face and hair.  So beautiful Daryl thought, smiling slightly. His mind locking the sight into his memory as he stood and waved to her.  

"Stay safe!" He called to her, she nodded and waved back. Her cheeks tinting pink at his loud show of concern as she smiled softly.   

NEXT

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