#but I have also wanted to have the same name as Jess the Squirrel ever since I first read the part where she climbs the abbey

[neverendingford]

.

#see. the problem with names is that I want one that won't make people look weirdly at me when I don't look like the name. #but I have also wanted to have the same name as Jess the Squirrel ever since I first read the part where she climbs the abbey #she's just so fucking cool and I love the name. #I was all like 'I'm not gonna be like those trans people who go through multiple names' but maybe I'm a dirty liar did you think of that? #anyway. that's a future problem. low on the priority list

[lestatslestits]

Um you like Animaniacs.... What is/are some of your favorite moment(s)?

Oh boy! Great question. Potentially absurdly long answer.

As far as the Warners go, I LOVE when they get really good sibling interactions, and also basically any time they get to have nice or just really funny interactions with the humans in their lives.

This bit in “Hercules Unwound” when Dot is having an off day and Yakko offers to skip the cartoon because she’s not feeling it. They’ve already skipped a cartoon earlier in the episode as well. It’s cute to see Yakko and Wakko caring more about their sister than teaching a lesson to their “special friend.”

This very important sequence from Wakko’s Wish, AKA the cutest Yakko and Dot scene. Literally one of my favorite moments in anything ever. This movie is the thesis statement for like…..85% of angsty Yakko content, at least until the reboot.

Dot messing up her name in Cutie and the Beast, and Yakko and Wakko being little shits about it (bonus: Dot swearing like a sailor). It makes me laugh every time. Also hearing Yakko referred to as “Mr. United States Canada Mexico Panama” never gets old.

The “I’m Mad” theatrical short has it all. Peak Warner sib moments and the best Dad!Scratchansniff content. The Warners are from the late 20s/early 30s. They are OLDER than the Looney Tunes, if you look at their canonical creation dates. Seeing them getting to actually act like kids makes me feel emotions. Also Rob Paulsen is voicing HALF of the characters in this very chaotic song.

The entirety of Meatballs or Consequences, but especially this section. It’s so cute watching Yakko and Dot ask to stay with Wakko, and “are we dead, or is this Ohio” makes me laugh every time. And Jess Harnell is both Wakko and Death! I love hearing his different accents.

This scene from “Fear and Laughter in Burbank,” the OTHER angsty Yakko thesis statement. Do you wanna see an animated character have an on-screen panic attack and then almost have his soul eaten? This is the bit for you. I would LOVE to hear Rob Paulsen’s perspective of this moment, because it’s…a lot, given some of his real life circumstances at the time. Also here there be scary clowns, so if you don’t like clowns, skip this one.

“Yakko’s Big Idea” from the segment of the same name. I’m SO normal about this scene where Yakko is inventing the perfect world for him and his sibs to play in.

Drive Insane, especially the bit from around 0:30 to 1:15 seconds in this video. The Warners tormenting Scratchy by making people think he’s their dad is never NOT funny to me.

“It’s New Year’s Eve” from Hooray for North Hollywood Part 2. It’s so cute seeing them have a good time and be accepted by everyone, and it’s cute to see them celebrating Mr. Plotz. Just don’t think about how this fits into the last few episodes. Don’t. Look at Yakko giving Dot a lil kiss on the cheek instead.

Non Warner Segments:

Les Miseranimals is THE iconic Rita and Runt segment. It’s so good. This isn’t the whole thing, but I definitely recommend going and watching it all.

You could blindfold yourself and stick a pin in a list of Pinky and the Brain episodes and be almost guaranteed to get a great one, but Bubba Bo Bob Brain is one of the absolute best.

The first 30 seconds of this video includes probably my favorite Pinky and the Brain exchange of all time, from Wakko’s Wish

Honorable Mentions:

West Side Pigeons (Goodfeathers)

De-Zanitized (The Warners, and I’m only not including it because I could talk about it for about an hour)

Smitten With Kittens (Rita and Runt)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock (Slappy Squirrel, and I’m not sure it’s one of my favorites so much as it makes me want to study Tom Ruegger like a bug because what the hell)

Literally every Chicken Boo segment, I’m not singling any of them out because every Chicken Boo segment is funny to me.

Lookit the Fuzzy Heads (The Warners and Buttons and Mindy, as well as a Tiny Toons Adventures crossover, shhhhh no one tell anyone that I enjoyed an Elmyra segment)

This is embarrassingly long, and I probably still forgot some. Everyone please watch this cartoon.

#animaniacs #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #pinky and the brain #patb #rita and runt #animaniacs 2020

[purrincess-chat]

Cat’s Not-All-Encompassing Character Ranking

Okay, so I have to admit that I omitted a lot of characters I don't have strong opinions on. Most of them were one-off akumas, so don't get your panties in a twist, your faves are probably still on here (and ranked lower than you think).

As a preface again, these are just my personal opinions. They can't hurt you. You can still like characters more or less than me. And I don't care how you feel about them. This list is for me. And the person that asked for it. So shut up. Go make your own rank list if you’re so butthurt. 

We're going in reverse order this time, starting from the bottom:

84. Gabriel Agreste- I mean, is anyone surprised? I am not private about how I think Gabriel should go to jail. Or fall off a cliff. Or be erased from existence. Rip to those that like him, but I’m different.

83. Thomas Astruc- Honestly, he’s down here on principle. Self-inserts are generally a no-no, and I just laugh every time I see him on screen because he really put himself in this show and said boohoo no one appreciates me XD

82. Bob Roth- I feel like this one should also be obvious. He’s just a dick. Terrible human. I give him 0 stars.

81. Tomoe Tsurugi- We all collectively hate her, right? It’s not just me?

80. Su Han- This mans has small peepee energy. And he bad mouthed Fu, so get FUCKED, my dude.

79. Rolland Dupain- Listen, I get it, he liked Marinette in the end, but I could do without the racism.

78. Nathalie Sancoeur- My opinion of Nathalie took a nosedive after the s2 finale. I just do not care that she is in love with her boss. Don’t care that she’s dying. Just do not have it in me.

77. XY- Justin Bieber ass wannabe.

76. Nora Cesiare- I didn’t care for Nora. I know Thomas loves her, but the overbearing sibling trope is tired.

75. Anarka Couffaine- I underestimated how much I don’t really like her. Like, it’s not full-on hate, but I just do not care for her.

74. Otis Cesaire- Got akumatized because a kid said he could outrun a panther. I’m still not over it, Otis.

73. Andre Bourgeois- No love for the crooked mayor. I hope your wife divorces you. 

72. Alec Cataldi- The real villain of Stormy Weather. Like fr why is he such an asshole?

71. Roger Raincomprix- Is Officer Roger just doing his best? Sometimes. But like sometimes this mans just needs to take a chill pill.

70. M. D'Argencourt- Please get out of the 1600s

69. Ella/Etta- These two are basically the same character, and I am indifferent to both of them.

68. KnightOwl/Barbara- Listen, I would have liked you more if you were less controlling.

67. Majestia- Same as above, but like I guess I like you more

66. Theo- *Mean Girls principal voice* Stay away from underaged girls!

65. Andre the ice cream man- I just want a scoop of chocolate, Andre. Is that too much to ask??

64. Amelie Graham de Vanily- We haven’t seen much of her, but she seems like a snake bitch.

63. M. Kubdel- I mean, if my son wanted to resurrect an ancient mummy and believed in aliens, I’d give the family heirloom to my daughter too.

62. Jalil Kubdel- Lolol, buddy, pal, dude, my guy. Chill.

61. Vincent (Adrien's photographer)- Head empty. Mom’s spaghetti. Idk he’s alright.

60. Manon- I don’t hate Manon. She just gets on my nerves every time she talks.

59. M. Ramier- This mans got akumatized a billion times because he gets emotional about pigeons. I mean, honestly mood.

58. Mme. Mendeleiev- She doesn’t put up with Chloe’s shit, and we respect her for this.

57. Baby August- Someone just give this mans some food. He’s a growing boy.

56. Santa Claus- If I were Santa, I too would list Ladybug as the best kid in the world.

55. Art Teacher- He doesn’t even have a name, but I vibe with him. He seems like he likes to paint scenes of nature with his pet squirrels.

54. Prince Ali- Lil mans just wanted to have a good time. I can respect that.

53. Duusu- Duusu, I get that your Miraculous was broken, but get with the program, girl. You is a hostage.

52. Other Kwamis- Idk, all the ones we haven’t seen as much. I don’t have real opinions on them yet. Just neutral.

51. Sass- He gives me dad vibes.

50. M. Damocles- You go, you funky owl man

49. Jean (Chloe's Butler)- He deserves a raise. What is your name, sir? We may never know.

48. Mireille Caquet- She’s pretty cute. No complaints.

47. Aurore Beaureal- Baby’s first akuma. I love her design. She’s a cutie.

46. Claudie Kante (Max’s mom)- This womans just wanted to go to space and live her dream. We stan a hardworking queen.

45. Hot Dog Dan- I like him more than Andre the ice cream fraud. Sure, my hotdog might turn me purple, but if I ask for chili on it, I bet he’d oblige.

44. Nadja Chamack- I mean, she’s doing her best.

43. Audrey Bourgeois- So, as I said in the episode ranking, I have a love-hate relationship with Audrey. She’s the worst, but that’s why I love her. I love her ironically. Like, yeah she’s atrocious, but I just want to watch her burn the world.

42. Luka Couffaine- Directly in the middle, like he’s always been.

41. Nathaniel Kurtzberg- My opinion of Nath improved after Reverser surprisingly. I ship it.

40. Chris Lahiffe- I like Chris better than Ella/Etta. He’s just a little mans out here living life wanting to grow up. Don’t believe it, Chris. Stay little forever. Being an adult suuuuucks.

39. Fang the Crocodile- The goodest boy.

38. Nooroo- I just want to give him a hug.

37. Mlle. Bustier- She’s doing her best, but I mean, when ya whole class keeps getting turned into supervillains, I’m surprised she’s not an alcoholic.

36. Penny Rolling- I just like her. I think she’s neat.

35. Ondine- Mermaid queen! She’s so sweet, and I love her with Kim. I hope we see more of her in the future.

34. Marc Anciel- Marc is a little cutie bean. Idc if he’s based off one of Thomas’s irl friends. He can stay.

33. Wayzz- He loves Master Fu so much I cry.

32. Felix Graham de Vanily- I know everyone hates canon Felix, but tbh he exudes massive chaotic neutral gremlin energy, and I actually kinda vibe with that. And he pisses with his uncle which is a whole ass mood.

31. Tikki- Tikki is very cute, but bby please work on the preaching. You don’t always know what’s right, babe.

30. Sabrina Raincomprix- Sabrina deserves better. I hope we see good things happen for her.

29. Lila Rossi- Surprised? I actually like Lila. The first fic I ever wrote for this fandom was a Lila redemption. I think she is a good antagonist and foil to Marinette. I absolutely want to see her get dunked on in canon, but that doesn’t mean I hate her.

28. Wayhem- I don’t know why, but Wayhem makes me laugh. I love him XD

27. Uncle Cheng- He’s just a good mans with a birb who wants to make you tasty food. What’s not to like?

26. Trixx- Trixx shot up after GoS. Chaotic bean make Eiffel Tower go bendy

25. Jess- She’s pretty cool. She’s a vibe.

24. Aeon- The cutest bean!!! She saw Adrien and Marinette and said yep. Those two are meant to be together. Jess, we gotta make it happen.

23. Ivan Bruel- Ivan is such a gentle bean. We love him.

22. Mylene Haprele- Smol

21. Fei Wu- I still have not watched the Shanghai special with subs, but I liked her.

20. Gina Dupain- The grandma I aspire to be.

19. Marianne Lenoir- I love her. She is good. She and Fu are so cute. And she seems like she would have kicked le ass back in the day. (and even now)

18. Rose Lavillant- I am so excited for Pigella!! Rose is too cute. We love her. 

17. Gorilla- aka Adrien’s real dad. If the series doesn’t end with Gabriel getting yeeted into the stratosphere and Gorilla adopting Adrien, I don’t want it.

16. Clara Nightingale- She’s in love with Marinette. You can’t change my mind. 16 is also how old I hc her to be, so don’t nobody come for me.

15. Tom Dupain- Most. Supportive. Dad. Soft bean. Just wants to make you fresh bread.

14. Sabine Cheng- Good mom vibes. We love to see her.

13. Juleka Couffaine- Shy goth bean. Just wants to have her picture taken. Definitely a lesbian. We stan.

12. Nino Lahiffe- The goodest boy. He’s just out here doing his best, loving his friends.

11. Chloe Bourgeois- Chloe is another one I have a love-hate relationship with. Her brattiness is funny to me. We had high hopes for her. Honestly, she ranks this high because I like to play with her in fic.

10. Max Kante- He smol and smort. And I adore his friendship with Kim and the fact that he made an AI himself at 14. What a legend.

9. Alya Cesaire- Rip to Alya salters, but I’m different. Outside of Chameleon, Alya is fine. She’s a supportive bff. All yall people that are mad she doesn’t kiss Marinette’s ass all the time need to go out and make real friends. I said what I said.

8. Alix Kubdel- I love Alix. I love how she is always so done with all the lovey-dovey bullshit. She is tiny queen, and Bunnix, while OP af, is still super cool. We love to see her.

7. Kagami Tsurugi- I will fight anyone who shits on Kagami. She has done nothing wrong, you guys are just haters. All she did was exist, and yall said, wow what a toxic bitch?? Disgraceful.

6. Jagged Stone- We are going to ignore the deadbeat dad trope that canon thrust upon him. He is a Marinette stan, and we love that.

5. Kim Le Chien- I really love Kim, you guys. Does that surprise you? Listen, my favorite male character types are sweet beans and himbos. Kim is both of these.

4. Master Fu- If you didn’t pick up on how much I love Fu from the episodes ranking, then idk what to tell you. I want him to be my grandpa. I would trust this mans with my life. He did his best. You paint those pictures, you funky little man. I love you.

3. Plagg- My galaxy trash man. Love him. 10/10 chefs kisses all around.

2. Adrien Agreste- The biggest Marinette stan there is. I just want him to kiss her on the face. And marry her. Idk, I just think that would be neat if he could do that. I just want good things for them.

1. Marinette Dupain-Cheng- Honestly, are you surprised? I have always been and always will be a Marinette stan. If you expected anyone else to be in this spot, then clown suit rentals are off to the left.

#cat speaks #cat spoils #character ranking #okay fr tho dont ever ask me for anything ever again #take your complaints to your dashboard button and off my blog #idc if you dont like my ranks #theyre not for you #heck off

[thesearchforbluejello]

Imagine a "Star Trek: Lower Decks" style sitcom in the Stargate universe. Stargate: SG-47... the crew that follows up on all the really boring planets SG-1 goes to once and never again. They always debrief with Walter instead of the General. They annoyed the Nox once and now they show up to pull pranks on SG-47 in revenge. Minor Goa'ulds catch them and are depressed they're not SG-1 or someone more important so they just release them.

My notifications ate this ask; I don't know when it's from, but I'm just seeing it now. Please accept this totally unedited bullshit fic as my apology and thanks for how hard this ask made me laugh. I'm definitely not supposed to be writing a final right now. And I know you said minor Goa'uld but like I couldn't resist this opportunity. Also, me, using a minific to talk about my obsession with what the hieroglyphs in a Goa'uld ship could be? More likely than you think.

​A Soldier, a Linguist, a Botanist, and a Biologist Walk into a Ha'tak

Major Lissa Cannon emerges from the event horizon into the bright, clear sunlight of P4X-737. She takes a deep breath and immediately sneezes. "Great," she says.

Dr. Jess Abubakar passes her on the right, heading down the stone stairs of the gate platform without hesitation. "Better get used to it," he says with a cheerfulness that she doesn't-- and any reasonable person wouldn't-- share.

"Jess, I swear to God," Dr. Beth Rosenberg says as she follows him down the steps.

"You're just salty you have to help us collect samples," Jess counters, more affable than Cannon would have expected anyone to be before she actually started working with him.

Beside her, Dr. Chris Richardson just gives a wry smile before heading down the stairs after their teammates. Cannon sneezes again.

"It's the pollen!" Jess says as she joins the group. "Initial samples brought back by SG-1 indicate that it's at least twice as potent as anything we have on Earth."

"How is that a good thing," Cannon gripes even though she'd sat through the briefing and already listened to Jess and Bill Lee go on about how important it could prove to be.

"I mean, just think of the possibilities!" Jess says, more than happy to repeat himself. "We could synthesize new antihistamines, or even make existing ones more effective. We could develop new crops that are potentially more resistant to blights or unfavorable growing conditions."

"Yay," Beth says, drier than the climate on this planet has likely ever been.

"You're just mad because there are no indigenous people here to talk to," Cannon points out.

"You could talk to the plants," Jess says.

"Studies have proven that talking to plants encourages growth," Chris adds, soft-spoken as always.

"I'm not talking to the plants," Beth says.

"Why not?" Cannon asks. "With this much pollen in the air, after a few hours they might start talking back."

"Oof, like when SG-7 was on P8Q-984," Jess laughs. "That's not an experience I want to have for myself."

"Those were spores, not pollen," Chris corrects amiably as the team starts into the forested area beyond the field in which the gate sits.

"Sentiment's the same," Jess says.

Cannon hears a rustle in the undergrowth and raises her P-90, her team stopping immediately in defensive positions behind her. After a moment of nothing but birdsong and her own breathing, she relaxes. "Must've been an animal," she says.

"SG-1's initial exploration didn't indicate any indigenous animals on the ground," Beth says.

"Well, that's why we get their leftovers, because everything is just 'initial,'" Cannon points out. She takes the lead as they continue between the trees, rifle still ready in her hands just in case.

"Bloodthirsty squirrels is not on my extraterrestrial exploratory bucket list," Jess says.

"Yeah, mine neither," Cannon agrees. She's barely got the sentence out of her mouth when she hits a force field, face-first. "Motherfucker," she tries to say, a natural reaction, but the syllables come out muddled because her face is suddenly very numb. She drops to a knee and raises her rifle, looking for whatever danger has to be in the forest with them. Around her, her team drops the specimen cases they'd been carrying and raise their own weapons. They're not armed for this; SG-1's previous mission and the UAV surveys hadn't revealed anything dangerous enough to warrant coming through armed with anything more than Cannon's P-90, a couple of flash-bangs, and an assortment of 9mils and zats carried by her and her teammates. Except for Cannon, they're scientists, not soldiers.

"Lower your weapons," a voice commands from the trees.

"You lower your force field," Cannon calls back.

"I think not." Around them, Jaffa begin to materialize from the forest.

"Fuck," Cannon says.

*

The Jaffa strip them of their gear, tossing their vests, holsters, and packs in a careless pile on top of the specimen cases they'd dropped when the force field had initially gone up. They're surprisingly respectful about it, which Cannon almost laments because she's pissed off and ready to fight, even if she knows it's a fight she won't win. She watches their gear disappear from view in a flash of light as they're beamed up to a ship she knows must be waiting above.

Gold walls and a polished floor illuminated by dim lights materialize around them. Another group of Jaffa is waiting. One of their captors reports to a man Cannon assumes is his superior. She tries to pick of bits and pieces she recognizes from the language but doesn't get much.

"Wait," Beth says, "can you say that again? That's word isn't in the lexicon we've been developing."

The Jaffa looks at her sidelong in confusion before his superior barks an order.

"This way," he says. The Jaffa behind them push the team roughly forward.

"Yeah, I heard him," Cannon says, her face still numb and her words muddled, "relax."

They spend the next several hours sitting in a cell. Beth whips a notebook out of one of the pockets of her pants and starts making notes on the glyphs in their cell.

"Does that actually say anything?" Jess asks. "I've never been on a Goa'uld ship before."

A chorus of variants on "yeah, me neither" precede Beth's answer.

"It does, actually, though most of it just repeats. A lot of it is just vague, seemingly formulaic stories of someone's victories and conquering and blah blah blah, but the name has been chiseled out," she says, tapping a glyph that's clearly been destroyed deliberately.

Cannon turns her head against the wall from where she's sulking with her arms wrapped loosely around her knees. "Why?"

"My best guess? Whoever owns this ship now stole it from another Goa'uld and had their name erased. Think damnatio memoriae."

"Huh," Jess says, setting his hand of cards down to Chris's obvious annoyance. "But they kept the part about the victories?"

"Why not? Obviously they had someone spend all the time necessary to do this to the whole ship, so keeping the rest saved a hell of a lot of work. Plus, if they bested the guy this ship used to belong to, that's quite a flex." Beth shrugs and goes back to writing in her notebook. Jess picks up his cards again and Cannon can tell by the barest quirk of Chris's lips that they have the winning hand.

"You know what I'm thinking about right now?" Cannon says. "Mashed potatoes."

"Ugh, the mashed potatoes in the mess taste like plastic," Beth says without looking away from the wall.

"I know; once I start eating them, they're so disgusting I just can't stop myself. It's like the flavor gets grosser with every bite."

"They're not bad with the roast beef," Chris says.

"That's because the roast beef is the only palatable thing the mess serves besides jello," Jess points out.

"It was lemon chicken today," Cannon sighs. She rests her head against the wall again. "My vest had all my granola bars. What could these guys possibly want with us," she complains.

"Do you think they've realized that we're only number 47 because they want any potential enemies to think there are more SG teams than there really are?" Jess asks.

"I don't know," Cannon says stiffly, "but say that again a little louder and I'm sure they will."

Jess holds his hands up in placation, tipping his cards towards Cannon. Chris is about to destroy him with that hand.

"Well," Cannon sighs, "the good news is that I can feel my face again."

Heavy footfalls sound in the hallway and Cannon stands, shifting her weight to ease the stiffness in her legs. Beth hurriedly stuffs her notebook back in her pocket and Chris and Jess shove the cards into the pocket of Jess's pants.

"You will come with us," the Jaffa says.

"Sure," Cannon says as she leads her team after him. "I don't suppose you guys have any snacks on board this thing? You've got to eat, right?" He doesn't answer. "Didn't your mom ever teach you to share?"

The Jaffa ignores her and leads them into an open room with a throne at the fall wall. Ba'al surges to his feet as they enter. "Fool," he spits at the Jaffa beside him, who Cannon recognizes as the leader of the group that had captured them. "This isn't SG-1."

"My lord--"

"Who are you?" Ba'al interrupts.

"Major Lissa Cannon, leader of SG-47," she says, raising her chin.

"Forty-seven," Ba'al says in disbelief.

"We're a science team; we were studying the flora of P4X-737 when you so rudely interrupted."

Ba'al just looks at her. "You're scientists."

Jess raises his hand. "Doctor."

"Doctor," Chris agrees.

"Major," Cannon says with a shrug.

"Doctor," Beth says.

"I've seen this episode of M*A*S*H," Chris says.

"I did also once make a baking soda volcano for a sixth-grade science fair," Cannon adds.

Ba'al sits back on his throne, crossing one leg over the other and resting his elbows on the arms, looking the picture of a carefree megalomaniac.

"Bring them back to the surface," he orders the Jaffa with a lazy wave of his hand, without so much as raising his arm from the throne. "Finish studying your plants," Ba'al says, "I have no use for you."

"That's kind of rude," Cannon says.

*

The Jaffa drop them on the planet's surface and beam back up to the ship. Cannon pulls her vest off the pile, slings it over her shoulders, and pulls a granola bar out of the pocket. She rips it open and stuff it into her mouth, chewing as she zips her vest and secures her holsters around her legs.

"That was easier than I expected," Beth admits.

"Sometimes I think the only reason the Goa'uld try to capture SG teams is just because SG-1 pisses them off so much," Jess adds.

Cannon snorts at that. "Let's get our samples and haul it back to the gate before the mess runs out of mashed potatoes."

"You realize that's extremely unlikely, right?" Chris deadpans.

Cannon shrugs and stuffs the wrapper of her granola bar into her pocket. "Even so, let's get a move on."

#I wrote this in the drafts of my uni email so I could type it and MAN did tumblr botch the formatting when I pasted it #anyway I'm now extremely obsessed with this concept and with these random characters #I couldn't make it through this without making a jello joke #and also apparently a joke about Cam's obsession with the mess roast beef even though this is for some reason set pre Cam idk #reasonably it should be s9 or s10 but #also catch me handwaving how ba'al has braming technology pre s9 idk man look #he's crafty and he's smart just let him think he's the shit instead of just a little shit #minific #asked and answered #my fic #I have so many ideas for these characters rip #stargate sg 1 #unabletocomply #ETA I wrote this with the singular thought of 'let SG 47 say fuck'

[icecreambeach]

Hi! If you still have some mchanzo prompts open, may you please write “meeting in the park like that scene in 101 Dalmatians where they get tangled by their dogs”

I’m a huge sap because I ran away with this like Jesse’s dog is about to. Thank you for this excellent fluffy prompt

-       -       -

Jesse loves seeing dog owners who resemble their dogs. The park is especially full of them today, probably because it’s spring and everyone is out with their loved ones, eager to take part in the grand transformation. He sees a young, stocky man with his crew and a strapping young Rottweiler waiting for a frisbee to be thrown. There’s a family with a tiny, excitable daughter holding the leash to a prancing Papillon. A nervous-looking older man in a turtleneck clings to his leather brief and a lanky gray Weimaraner. There’s even a pair of old ladies with two equally old Westies, both of them wearing matching tracksuits. The dogs and the ladies.

But there’s no way anyone wouldn’t look at Jesse and Ria and make the same correlation. For a tall half-gringo with brown hair, brown eyes, and an unmistakably Western aesthetic, a lanky mutt that looks more like a coyote than any known breed of domestic canine works just perfect. Even their meeting seemed arranged by fate. Jesse picked her out of his dumpster one night and almost got his other hand bitten off for his trouble. After a few weeks of leaving out food and talking nice and soft, they became wary friends. A few more weeks, a few more treats, and Ria had her name and access to Jesse’s lumpy leather couch. Few women or men have ever taken his heart so easily. For a lonely ex-gangster turned soldier turned bounty hunter, Ria is more than Jesse feels like he deserves: fun, loyal, and a good listener, especially when it comes to the kind of dark sins he could never confess to anyone else. He has his suspicions, giving Ria’s wild nature and the manner in which they met, that she has her own rough and tumble past, but she only ever looks at him with big honey-colored eyes. Yowls for his attention, yowls at passing cats and squirrels. Yowls for any damn reason at all.

She’s doing it now at some tense Border Collie that caught her attention for whatever reason. Jesse gives her a gentle tug – he got the retractable leash to give her some freedom but, much like her owner, it’s impossible to know when she’s about to run. “Easy, girl.”

Ria stops at his voice but stays alert, tail swishing. Ears perked. The other dog owners steer their Collie away with distrusting looks and Jesse can’t say he blames them. Even without such a wild-looking dog, Jesse’s prosthetic arm and rough face are enough reason for most city-dwelling civilians to give a wide berth. He certainly wouldn’t want to see either he nor Ria locked and loaded and staring to kill. Even if he did tie a bright red bandana over her collar to cute her up some.

But he’d be lying if he said it doesn’t sting a bit. “Back up, now. C’mon.”

Ria comes back to the path and Jesse hands her one of the twisty-treats he keeps inside a baggie in his back pocket. Then he loosens the retractable leash to let her lead. A responsible dog owner shouldn’t give her so much freedom, but he can’t help it. He knows the scars on her paws and muzzle, figures she’s earned an easy life. A younger McCree would never have been so soft, but time and miles make suckers out of even the toughest old gunslingers.

Jesse tilts his hat up to see where they should head next. There’s a reservoir in the center of the park, but everyone tends to head that way. There are climbing rocks and open meadow up ahead, but there’ll be a lot of small children and running dogs for Ria to chase. They could just keep to the smaller paths, maybe get an ice cream or a hot dog. It’s not what Jesse would choose for either of them, but he’s got a big yard. He can run her at home. The walks are for the novelty and the people-watching anyway.

But, not surprisingly, Ria has other plans. She barks, loud and rapid-fire, and Jesse looks up to see the new object of her fancy.

It’s an Akita. Not one of the smaller ones either – a burly, heavy-boned type of spitz that Jesse recognizes from when he used to research breeds for the Blackwatch K-9 unit. He can’t remember ever seeing so fine a specimen, even from all that reading. This dog is powerful beyond its stature. Its black-and-white coat is more a top layer of dark gray wash, as if watery ink had been spilled over paper, like those sumi-e drawings from ancient Japan. The fluffy white underside is pristine along with the rest of the dog, bright, healthy – obviously well-taken care of, with a shiny leather collar to boot.

The Akita’s near-black face is also pointed right at them. Its front legs are braced in a defensive position. It lets out a disgruntled huff and suddenly all the notes about the Akita’s intolerance of strangers comes shooting back to Jesse. He’s never seen a dog that wasn’t at least a little intimidated by Ria, but this dog is squared up.

And so is the owner. Jesse’s eyes widen. It’s practically absurd at this point, but this man also looks exactly like his dog: stocky, powerful, impeccable in expensive athleisure gear. His jet black hair is tied in an elegant knot with smooth shaved sides, his nasal bridge piercing matches the studs in each ear. An intricate tattoo peaks out from the half-rolled sleeves of his sweater and his obviously ripped physique is just as proud as his dark, hawk-like eyes.

Jesse can’t remember the last time he saw such a handsome face, let alone on such an obvious yakuza. It completely distracts him from the situation at hand until Ria jerks against the leash.

“Easy, girl!”

The man and the Akita may have stopped, but only for a moment. Once the man seems to recognize that Ria is controlled, he grazes his eyes over Jesse and then goes on his way. The Akita follows dutifully, not even stressing its short leash.

Jesse sighs with relief. That could have been bad. Ria is more friendly than aggressive, but he can’t say the same for any other dog, and that one didn’t look like it’d have the patience for her shenanigans.“Let’s go home, girl. I think you need some ball time in the yard.”

Jesse turns. With relief still flooding his system, his hand is slack. And he may or may not still be recalling the handsome face that had looked him over so cooly, so confidently.

It stands to reason that Ria would take advantage of that.

She bolts. Jesse whirls around, high-alert, but his finger hesitates on the retractable leash. At her pace, she’d most likely strangle herself if he stopped it now.

“Fuck– Ria! Stop!”

So he does the only other thing he can and chases after her, hoping to at least match her pace so he can ease her back.

“No, girl!”

Ria isn’t listening. She moves like a fish taking line and makes a B-line for the Akita. By the time Jesse has retracted more leash, the Akita has pranced away, and there’s still a lot of slack line – enough for Ria, chasing the Akita, to wind around Jesse and the strange man’s legs.

“Oh, hell–” Jesse tries to push away from the other man’s chest but they both nearly lose their balance in the process.

The other man reacts similarly, but staggers at the last second, keeps Jesse at bay with his hand around his phone. “Nanndayo–?”

Jesse tries to steady him, yanks his hands away. “Fuck, oh, I’m so sorry–”

The man grabs at Jesse’s jacket, releases him, staggers again. “What the hell are you–fuck, oh–”

“I’m sorry, oh– she’s just– dang it, Ria–”

“Get your– damn it–”

“Fuck, don’t–!”

“Stop pushing, you will–!”

But Ria keeps tugging, and the Akita keeps evading her, and then Jesse and the man are falling over one another into a heap of wildflowers. A few people laugh in surprise, some gasp. Jesse releases the retractable leash entirely as both men scramble away from one another and it sucks up line after Ria, untangling around their feet as she bounds after the Akita.

Luckily, the other dog simply stops to sniff her. Unluckily, the damage is done. Jesse pushes back his hat to see bright yellow pollen all over the stranger’s expensive outfit. When he curses in Japanese, bits of leaf and petal and dirt fly off his ruined hair. A few people who’d asked if they were okay take one look at the yakuza’s face and keep walking.

“Ah, shit… I’m so sorry, she ain’t usually that– let me help you–”

“Get off,” the man sneers, clamoring to his feet, “Look what you’ve done, you fool.”

“I’m sorry, I really am, I…” Jesse keeps his offered hand hovering, the other removing his hat. “She’s never bolted like that before, honest. I couldn’t be more–”He stops when the stranger looks right at his face and snorts with suppressed laughter.Jesse can’t help but smile back – he had no idea such a serious face could make such a handsome grin. “What?”The man points. “Your beard.”

With a swipe of his hand, Jesse realizes what he means. His fingers are smeared with pollen, which means his beard must look like he dusted it with yellow powder before leaving his house. And with brows as bushy as his, he assumes they look much the same way.

“Well…” Jesse drifts off, unable to suppress his own snort of laughter. It descends into raucous snickering, which the stranger also seems to find funny, because he answers with an actual laugh, a low scoff-chuckle that is still subdued but definitely genuine. He reaches out and plucks an actual pink flower from Jesse’s beard and Jesse loses it, throws his head back and guffaws, takes the flower with a tip of his hat, “You shouldn’t have,” and the stranger barks out a laugh that carries for a mile.

The dogs have since relaxed and now sniff and circle each other, both tails wagging.

“I really am sorry,” Jesse says once they’ve both calmed down. “I can pay to have it cleaned–”

“Feh,” the man waves him off, “It is nothing.” He dusts the pollen off of himself, glancing up at Jesse a few times. “A retractable leash is not appropriate for such a willful dog. You reward her for pulling by allowing her to get where she wants to go.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jesse mutters, ruffling his beard to get the pollen out. “Only had her for a few months now. I been soft. She’s had a hard time.”

“Hn. As has mine.” The man loosens his hair, letting it spill past his shoulders, and strokes it clean with his fingers while eyeing Jesse like a lord. “But she would benefit from a firmer hand.”

“Yeah, well…” Jesse smiles that smile he knows people like, slings his thumbs into his jeans waistband. Maybe it’s just springtime, but something’s got him feeling a bit dopey. “That makes two of us.”

The stranger raises a brow, looks away, but Jesse can see a coy smile playing at a corner of his mouth.

“What’s’name?”

The man looks to his dog, then to Jesse. “Choco.”

“Oh, ah, no – I meant, what’s your name?”

The man straightens his shoulders, looks Jesse up and down again. “Hanzo.”

“Nice to meet you, Hanzo,” Jesse extends a hand (clean) and takes Hanzo’s firmly. Hat still pressed to his chest. “I’m Jesse.”

Hanzo seems pleased with the polite gesture. “Pleasure.”“Hey,” Jesse grins again, “Anyone ever tell you that you ‘n Choco kinda–”

“Resemble one another?” Hanzo finishes with a smirk.

They both smile at each other, then look down at their dogs, both of whom are now looking back up at them.

Jesse leans over to take Ria’s leash, gives her a look that is equal parts exasperation and gratitude, then looks at Hanzo with what he hopes is a relatively confident smile. “Well,” he adjusts his hat back on his head, “He’s a real good-lookin’ dog.”“She is.” Hanzo fixes him with an almost-smile, one hand in his pocket. He still hasn’t reached for Choco’s leash.

Which just makes Jesse’s nerves vibrate even harder. “Real well-trained, too.”“Thank you.”

“And I… I dig that collar.”

“Not as handsome as a red bandana.”

Jesse chuckles, thumbs his jaw before he remembers that it’s probably still got pollen on it. When was the last time he felt this flustered trying to ask someone out?

“Well, uh…”

Hanzo just stands there, still sort-of-smiling. Even with grass poking out of his loose hair, he looks like a million bucks. He also looks like he’s either waiting for a sign or looking for a place to bury a knife.

But Jesse knows how to bait a wild animal. “Guess I outta get lil’ Ria here some obedience training.”

“I doubt you need go to such lengths,” Hanzo replies. And then, right on cue: “I could give you some guidance, if you like. Do you drink coffee?”Jesse grins. “I love coffee. My treat, o’course.”“Of course.”Hanzo whistles and Choco comes trotting up to his side. He bends to take her leash and Jesse swears he can see just the briefest flash of a pleased smile.He nods down at Choco. “That Akita is one loyal breed, huh?”“Yes,” Hanzo effortlessly smooths his hair back up into its knot. “If their trust is earned,” he drops his hands, looks at Jesse, and smiles at the ground as he steps back onto the path, “They can be very loyal indeed.”

Jesse tries to mask the thrill that rockets over his face by dipping his chin, boots stuttering onto the gravel. Ria stays close by his leg this time, lets out a happy bark. Without taking his eyes off of Hanzo, Jesse dips a hand deep into his back pocket and gives her a whole fistful of treats.

“Good girl.”

#mchanzo #mchanzo fanfic #mchanzo prompts #overwatch fanfic

[twdmusicboxmystery]

9x07: Details

Okay, let's talk about details.

***As always, spoilers abound for 9x07. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!!!***

Rosita/Eugene

I talked yesterday about Rosita running out in the woods alone about how we didn't see where she left Eugene behind. I'll talk about this more tomorrow because I'm going to do a predictions post, but this whole situation is still super suspicious to me.

We also saw her try to drink from empty water bottle. We've seen a lot of water bottles over the seasons that were all similar. I still have been wanting to do a post about all of them, but haven't gotten around to it. But remember that we did see a lot of all-around death. At the very least.

Jesus and Aaron find Rosita and she tells them she left Eugene in the barn. I think this is super-significant guys, but I will talk more about tomorrow in my predictions post. For now, just know that the barn reference and everything about Eugene being there is important.

Hilltop:

Hilltop is thriving under Tara and Jesus’s leadership. I don't know why Tara just doesn't take over as leader. I get that Jesus might be a figurehead for people because he was Maggie's right-hand guy, but Tara is obviously better at logistical aspects and the day-to-day running of things, so she might as well just take over that part of it.

At one point, she said they had a noise complaint from trailer seven. This is a very minor detail, but the noise came from a kazoo which is technically a musical instrument or noisemaker and seven, in terms of biblical numerology, also caught my attention.

Aaron and Jesus training out in the woods together, which I think is kind of cool. I noticed at one point, one of them said "Same boat, my friend." So, another boat reference, but also a call back to episode 6x13, which was called The Same Boat. It was one about Carol and Maggie being kidnapped by the saviors. Not sure what to make of this reference, but it's interesting. (I actually have some theories, but this is such a minor point, I’m gonna wait to see what happens next episode first.)

Tara tells Jesus that Rosita will be okay. She was just dehydrated and on IV. They said almost the exact same thing about Yumiko last episode when she got hurt, and I compared it to Beth. Just feels like more Grady parallels to me. Also in this part, Tara says of Maggie, "She's not here. You are." We could relate that to the “here” symbolism and especially Morgan's Here’s Not Here episode. I won't say too much more about that except that we’ve seen these themes before.

Music/Magna’s Group:

Michonne breaks the violin while guarding Magna's group. I do still think that the musical instrument could represent Beth being shot, and I’ll talk about possible implications of that tomorrow.

The musical discussion the group has is really interesting. It’s kind of a rehash of the discussion Beth and Edwards had at Grady, but more detailed. Edwards says art is transcendent and not about survival, and Beth suggests it’s something they can and should still do. (“I still sing.”) So this was the first suggestion of this idea that, despite needing to put survival first in this world, art and transcendence are still important for the survival of the human race.

Luke says the same thing here. “They came together as an answer to defeat. They sat around a campfire. They shared their stories with each other in the form of music, and paintings. And they created a common identity. And then they, you know, built communities. And then, as thy grew, Neanderthal retreated, and then after a while they just died out…this is the one thing that separates us from the animals. For better or for worse, it brings us together. And if we’re trying to rebuild something, you can’t ignore that.” So we have a major parallel between this and episode and Slabtown.

At one point on the road with Magna’s group, we heard frogs. So just frog symbolism and more callbacks to Them.

Daryl/Carol/Henry

 By far most of the details I saw came from Daryl’s scenes. (Naturally 😉)

Daryl’s camp is pockmarked with walker traps. Many of them are pits in the ground that the walkers step in and get caught. That reminded me a lot of the fire pit the Beth dug in Still.

Carol says, "You haven't fixed the boat since last time?" We’ve ever seen Daryl with a boat before, so I'm thinking this has something to do with the 6 year time jump that we don't entirely understand. But, I also can't help but remember the boats that were so prevalent in 5b at Alexandria. Sam played with one, there was one on the water with a red balloon when Rick stood beside the pond. I always thought that was a Beth thing, having to do with all the water and ship symbolism we seen around her, though we don't quite know what it means yet.

I mean, if nothing else, Daryl is pretty much living on a boat, now. Given all the boat/ocean/sailor/water imagery we’ve seen, that’s super-important.

We also saw a “wrecked” boat in 7x15 near Oceanside. There was definitely some Beth symbolism going on there, so if Daryl’s boat is “broken” it could be the same symbolism.

I said yesterday that pretty much everything I said in my dog post was confirmed here, right? Well, it occurred to me when Carol asked Daryl when he’d eaten last, and Daryl replied, "the dog ate yesterday," that was him associating himself with the dog. She asked when he ate, and he answered by talking about the dog. So, very similar to Buttons, Daryl pretty much named himself the dog. So, everything I said before, (black dog equals Daryl, white dog equals Beth) is definitely true.

Daryl shot a snake! Yep, an actual snake. I thought this was a combination of two things from Still. In Still, he tried to shoot a squirrel on a tree and missed, breaking one of his arrows. Later, he kills the snake slithering on the ground with his knife. In this case, he actually did kill the animal on the tree, but it was the snake. Then he cut its head off with his knife, similar to what he did in Still. So, I'm wondering if we should be reading into the differences as well as the similarities. Maybe Daryl missing squirrel in Still in some way foreshadowed his and Beth's arc. Like that he would lose her in some way, so the squirrel escaped. Something like that. But in this case, he hits it dead on, maybe because things will be better for him this time around. I don’t know. Just throwing out ideas.

I also noticed that Daryl specifically doesn’t bury walkers. He kills one of them and Carol asked if he’s just going to leave it there. He says yes, because it keeps animals away. So this is completely the opposite of what he was in 4B. Remember Beth taught him that it was important to bury people, even walkers and people they didn't know. This started out with the Rich Bitch lady, and he helped Beth cover her. We saw it extended after Lenny was killed by the Claimers. But now, he doesn't care at all. He’s just leaving walkers where they fall.

He also refuses to protect people. At least at the beginning. Carol asks him to go protect Henry and he flat out refuses. In a lot of ways, Henry is very similar to how Beth was when she and Daryl left the prison. He’s strong and can take care of himself, but he's also very young and very new to being outside the walls. So was Beth. So, this would be very similar to if, when the prison went down, Daryl simply refused to watch over Beth. I think that's only important to show that he's sort of in the opposite place he was in S4.

Daryl also skins the snake, just like Still. We haven't seen him do this since 4x12 so this is very significant. Also, kind of a fun reversal of 7x10, when Carol cooked for him. I’m sure they were calling back to that here a little bit as well.

Then we have Carol cutting his hair with a knife. Okay, a couple of important things to recognize here. I thought it was really significant that they specifically did not have her use scissors. We know they had scissors in Alexandria because Jesse used them to cut hair and killed kill a she-wolf. And I'm sure the Kingdom has them as well. Maybe Carol just decided on the spur of the moment to cut Daryl's hair, but even so, they could have her pull out a pair scissors or even had Daryl have one in his camp and it wouldn't have been unrealistic. But they specifically have her use a knife rather than scissors to cut his hair.

Why is that important? I think it's because scissors are Beth symbol. Tptb use them very specifically in the show for stuff about Beth and Grady, and they very specifically did not want to put that symbol in here because it was not applicable to the situation. If we’re totally crazy and reading into the symbolism way too much, Carol would've just used a pair of scissors. She didn't, which means the scissors are important and specifically could not be used in the scene.

@frangipanilove also made an amazing observation about this scene. Certain shippers are freaking out because Carol touched Daryl’s hair and face and their misconstruing that as romantic. But 

1) we talked in our group about how that was very much about his scar. The show is trying to draw attention to it, and Carol playing with the hair right over it gave us an excellent look. 

2) @frangipanilove pointed out that this is a PERFECT parallel to the scene in Them (5x10) where Carol gives Daryl Beth’s knife. Think about it. That was a tender moment between them too. She played his hair. And there was a knife present. That’s awesome! Not only is it a callback to a Beth scene, but I’ll talk in a minute about Henry/Beth parallels, so this works well with those as well. And then there’s my predictions post tomorrow. It works well as evidence for all three. Go @frangipanilove!

 We also found out that Daryl originally went out there to look for Rick's body. That's a super-tragic development because it means that when Daryl walked away at the end of 9x05, he was already going out to look for Rick's body. That makes my heart hurt.

Carol tells him, “You have to let that go.” And I think that’s super-interesting considering he told Rick to let Carl go just before the bridge blew, and now he hasn’t really stopped looking for Rick’s body. He never let it go, any more than he ever let Beth go. Just proves that even though he was preaching that, he doesn’t let things go himself.

It's also super significant in a TD way. We’ve said for years that Daryl looked for Beth's body and couldn't find it, and eventually Rick made the whole group move on. So, it's yet another parallel between Rick and Beth where Daryl looked for the body and never found it. And, you know, Rick's alive so…

Let's talk about Daryl scars. Henry asked about the scar on his face, and Daryl is very standoffish about it. He refuses to answer and then gets up to look for his dog, sending the message that he'd rather hang with his dog than with Henry.

Later, we see Daryl's back and find that he has several new scars, including a prominent X scar on his top right shoulder, two parallel lines further down, and then another X scar in exactly the same place as Michonne’s. Yeah, that’s weird. The top X may have already been there. Back in S3, he has something similar, and they may have just changed it so it looks more prominent now. But he definitely didn’t have the same X as Michonne or the parallel lines. As I said yesterday, these are way too clean and even to be normal battle scars.

Several people have suggested they might be brands. If that's the case, we have no idea what they are, or where they came from. Who the hell could have branded Michonne and Daryl of all people? It's not like the two of them would have sat still for it. So, we really don't know what this is pointing to, but it’s quite bizarre.

Daryl’s dog (Dog) gets caught in one of his walker traps. This had major callbacks to Alone, not only because it was dark, and the dog was barking with walkers around, but because Henry's foot got caught in the trap, too, just like when Beth’s foot got caught in the small game trap.

Henry moved to kill a walker (just like Beth did) and his foot got caught in the trap like her. We even had Daryl helping Henry pull his foot out, getting him unstuck. 

Which is exactly what he did with Beth. Then he asks if he's okay. Henry says yes, it's just a scratch, which parallels to Daryl asking Beth if she can move it in her saying yes.

We also had some missing foot symbolism in this scene because the walker Henry kills is originally caught in the trap and trying to pull itself out. When it does, it pulls it’s own foot off. That’s why Henry had to jump in and help him. Remember that two of the major times we saw the symbolism, specifically an unattached foot, was in Inmates when Beth saw the unattached foot by the train tracks and then with Rick and Michonne in 7x12, which was also a major retelling of Still.

Then of course Daryl says to Henry, "I told you to stay back," which pretty much everyone in the entire fandom picked up on. These parallels are pretty undeniable at this point.

Henry even shows Beth’s sarcasm. Beth said, “Thanks for the help,” while Henry says, “Yeah, you’re welcome.” Again, the fact that they’re strong and get right back in Daryl’s face makes him respect them more.

This is where things get really interesting with Henry and Daryl. Very much like with Beth, once Daryl goes through an experience with Henry, where they survive together, and especially when he can see that Henry strong, he instantly has more respect for him. The dynamic between Daryl and Henry here was very similar to Beth and Daryl’s in Still and Alone. At first, Daryl is very robotic and closed off to Henry, but after Henry helped save his dog, and Daryl himself, Daryl sat down and opened up to Henry without being prompted, telling to him about how the dog checked walker traps and thanking Henry for his help.

Then, also like Beth, Henry kind of calls Daryl on his crap. When Daryl says that if Carol needs him, she knows where to find him, Henry says she shouldn't have to. Daryl then asks if Henry truly wants Daryl looking over his shoulder all the time.

(Oh, I forgot to mention the whole chaperone thing. The Beth razzed Daryl about being her chaperone at the moonshine shack, and they use the same verbology here with Henry asking Carol if she thinks he needs a chaperone. So yet another parallel there.)

 Henry replies that it's not just about him, which seems to impress Daryl. Henry really doesn't want a chaperone, but he'll do it so Carol has peace of mind, and I think Daryl seems impressed by that. 

So, much like Beth, Henry and his goodness and innocence pulls Daryl out of his robotic survival state and kind of guilts him into being a human being again, which brings them back to civilization. Major, MAJOR parallels here. I’ll talk more about where we think this Daryl/Henry arc may be headed tomorrow.

Another thing to note, though it’s not specifically a TD thing, is that Carol allowed Daryl and Henry to interact on their own. She was always in the background, watching, but didn’t tell them she was there. I think that’s significant for a couple of reasons. 

Carol knows both these guys can handle themselves, but she’s still around, being Mama Carol and making sure they’re okay. But I think she knew going into this that she wouldn’t be able to convince Daryl to go to Hilltop on her own. She’s not the one who changes his mind about stuff. (Think Beth: “What changed your mind.”) But Carol was hoping that Henry could change Daryl’s mind, and he did. This might be an indication of the insight Carol has into Beth and Daryl’s relationship, or if not that, into Daryl himself. She knows the effect people like Beth and Henry have on Daryl and was banking on Henry getting through to him. That’s why she didn’t interfere, and also why she was smiling when Daryl agreed to go at the end of the episode: she was right.

So at the end, we get Daryl and Carol finally getting to hilltop and kind of reuniting with some people. Michonne isn’t actually there yet, but she probably will be by the time Daryl, Jesus, and Aaron get back with Eugene, so we'll have a reunion of sorts.

So the structure of this arc is feeling very much like 4b to me. After the prison fell, everybody was divided into little groups, right? We had the same thing here. Michonne in Alexandria, Carol at the Kingdom, Tara at hilltop, Maggie off with the Commonwealth. And, of course, Daryl out on his own.

So this confirms @thegloriouscollectorlady’s 4 Arcs for 4 Communities theory. I’m also thinking about the fact that in 4x15/4x16, all the little groups reunited at Terminus. Now we’re seeing something of a reunion in 9x08 and a further introduction of a bad group (the Whisperers) to mirror the Termites.

So, we might argue that if 9x07/9x08 mirrors 4x15/16, well, we didn’t actually see Beth until four episodes after that in 5x04. So, maybe they’ll give us something in the MSF, or maybe they’ll make us wait until 9b or the finale to see her. As always we will just have to wait and see.

Okay, I’ll stop there. I have a lot more to say but it’s more about where we think these arcs may be going. I’ll talk about that tomorrow. Anything I missed?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[firstpuffin]

Eighth (point two) in a series: Review of Redwall episode Thirteen

Episode 13: The Final Conflict

Is it any surprise that I’m disappointed? Still, I am relieved about finishing this first series so let’s unpack the last episode.

  You might remember that in a previous review I mentioned how they almost seemed to be foreshadowing future events, that or straight-up stealing them, and this is how the episode opens: we see a family of dormice get captured by Cluny’s horde and the father, Plumpen, has to sneak into the abbey and open the gates. Something that he has done before, even the fact that it was a dormouse whose family is being threatened is the same. Meanwhile, Matthias leads a group of volunteers to find shrew reinforcements, because the writers needed a way to get him out of the abbey so that he could return with a shrew army. Which they could have done by simply not having him return to the abbey in the previous episode. Like the book. And I’ll return to this in a bit.

  We are shown Cornflower and Basil discussing how their supplies won’t last much longer, as Cluny’s subordinates doubt their leader’s sanity. This is shown by him laughing a lot, because the only reason people ever laugh is because they are insane. Naturally. Still, by night they have set up decoys to look like they are still at the camp as they instead sneak into the abbey, helped by Plumpen and they capture the sleeping abbey.

  Dunwing informs Matthias of the attack and the sparrows help him and the shrews to sneak in. Cluny is lording over his captives, dressed in their nightgowns or apparently whatever the animators decided they sleep in, and orders them to be slaughtered rather than kept as slaves when Matthias, in Martin’s armour, approaches with tacky levels of melodrama. Cluny panics (because the infamous Cluny whose reputation was so terrible that people assumed it couldn’t be real and assumed he was a bogeyman, is apparently also a coward) and flees as shrews attack. The rat I assume is Redtooth (the names are never really very clear) gets his face eaten by Constance, not in the fun way mind, which wraps up their feud which should have ended with Sela the fox.

  Best part of the episode happens when we see the nightshirt-clad Abbot smacking vermin with a stick. This is the best we’ve seen him for the entire series.

  Cluny grabs Cornflower (because what’s the point of a love interest if she doesn’t get captured, ammirite?) and runs to the bell tower. Matthias starts stripping his armour off, (presumably he was feeling hot?) and they fight. Cornflower is released, doesn’t run away and Cluny captured her again. So at this point, Cluny is at ground level and Matthias is at the top of the tower. Matthias persuades Cluny to let her go and the rat is bragging about his victory when Matthias cuts the bell’s rope, and the bell drops on Cluny and crashed through the wooded floor. All in all that was pretty cool.

  WHERE DID SQUIRE JULIEN AND CAPTAIN SNOW COME FROM?! They are just chilling under a tree, apparently watching the carnage and murder with interest.

  Aaaand- the Abbot is dying. And fully dressed? When did he get fatally injured? When did he get dressed? And which did he do first?

  There is a dialogue between him and Matthias which could have been touching were it not for the weird clothes-change and the fact that he apparently didn’t know that Matthias had found Martin’s sword, despite the young mouse making a big fuss about it in the episode just prior. Again, they shouldn’t have brought Matthias back to the abbey in the episode before, or simply have kept things consistent here.

  And then the Abbot dies. I couldn’t really care less.

  Finally there is an undefined time-skip where we see an older mouse writing in a diary. He explains how things have been since the events of the story and we see both Matthias and Cornflower looking exactly the same. It is important that we understand that they both look very young still, as we find out they have a child. And what age? *shudders*

 And that’s that. We don’t see any of the other useful characters from the series, like Matthias’s good friend Warbeak (who I believe should be sparrow queen), or Jess Squirrel and her son, and I could go on but I know you don’t want me to. Nope, we just get a brief cameo of two unimportant characters during the chaos of battle and that’s it for closure.

  As for the episode, it felt rushed. Ideally, one of the made-for-tv episodes should have been cut out and the events of this episode should have been spread into two; highly refined and carefully thought out. Instead it started off with a contrivance to make up for a stupid choice in the previous episode; it was the same, honestly not that great, quality as all of the previous episodes and had a number of mistakes that I have already pointed out. It wasn’t exciting and they completely ruined a really good villain.

I’m not sure that I would have finished the series had I not been reviewing it, and I personally hate it when someone starts something but doesn’t finish it so I did. That same part of me wants to review the next two series for the same reason, but I don’t really want to go through it episode-by-episode.

  My current train of thought is that when I have time I may binge the next two series and review them each as a whole. If the quality happens to have shot up then maybe I’ll return to the episode-by-episode format, but I am also thinking of making the reviews somewhat sparser. I’ve struggled to keep up with two uploads a week on top of university, and I have a few more projects that I’d like to start so I am considering only reviewing fortnightly or even monthly. If I were to review the next two series as a whole I would need some extra time to watch them all anyway.

I’ll give it some more thought and put my answer up on the blog. I will be continuing to upload weekly articles on whatever I manage to complete, so the blog will be staying active.

#first puffin #redwall #review #cartoon #books #children's books #children's literature

[theseventhhex]

LIZ Interview

LIZ

Photo by Nikko LaMere

LIZ, a champion of ‘underground Pop’ has returned to the limelight with the release of her new single ‘Super Duper Nova’, the single is a classic example of unique and remarkable talent from the unapologetically pop princess. The single comes in the wake of double a-side ‘Could U Love Me’ and the addictive ‘Queen of Me’ - an ode to loving yourself first and foremost. Previously named as The First Lady of Mad Decent, Diplo’s sprawling EDM empire, smart, stylish LIZ - like her seminal influence Madonna before her - offers just as much pulse as pomp in her riveting brand of joyful dance-music. There’s something ‘real’ about all her stylistic incarnations - mixing future-kitsch + R&B and ’90s/00s influences with an inspiring sense of can-do artistry that fuses this funky girl next door into pop’s newest come-as-you-are culture icon. LIZ continues to blossom as one of pop music’s incandescent lights, possessing the ability to turn the page and embrace pop’s guilty excesses without ever seeming contrived… The Seventh Hex talks to LIZ about playing it by ear, loving London and pizza…

TSH: In the lead-up to your current single releases, what sort of subject matter and themes were you drawn towards expressing?

LIZ: Lately, I’ve loved singing and writing about fantasies. I’ve always had an active imagination and I’m a very detailed dreamer. I'm an empath, so from a young age, I taught myself to almost be numb to my surroundings otherwise I got emotionally overwhelmed all the time. It’s made me somewhat an inhibited and self-conscious person, so I tend to feel a lot more raw emotional freedom in my dreams than in my daily life. I suppose I try to tap into that said freedom in my music.

TSH: Each latest single complements the other sonically via a diverse spectrum of sounds, was it key for you to give each track an individual identity?

LIZ: I have a variety of influences that I pull from, but the sounds I end up using are all pretty much part of a consistent palette – bright, colourful, weird, early 00’s vibes. Every song is like a child of mine and like it’s a character in my world.

TSH: How liberating is it for you to create your own world and alter ego with your musical outlooks?

LIZ: It’s SO much fun and very liberating to chase nothing but your best. I’m also very lucky to have some incredible visual and sonic collaborators on team LIZ. We just geek out together, laugh a lot, experiment with bizarre ideas and end up manifesting fantasies through art.

TSH: When it comes to forming new music, is your preferred method still to play it by ear?

LIZ: Yep. I mean, sometimes I’ll go into a session with some kind of idea of what I wanna do, but most of the time, I honestly leave it up to the universe and choose to bounce energy off of my collaborators and just see what happens.

TSH: With ‘Could U Love Me’ you took the course of writing something really raw and revealing, what was it like to state such emotions?

LIZ: It was super freeing to be really raw with that song. But I still gave the production a fun twist. Like you wanna dance and cry at the same time – I like that sweet spot.

TSH: Also, talk us through the process in how you went about layering and fleshing out ‘Super Duper Nova’?

LIZ: I had just gotten back from Tokyo so was in a freaky j-pop kinda mood. Sarah Hudson and Jesse Saint John and I wrote it really quickly. They are the most fun writers I’ve ever worked with and are dear friends of mine. They champion individuality and they’re like rainbow guardian angels in this industry. Big Taste (the producer) has a fun sense of humour too so he was super on board with the concept, and this intergalactic alien fantasy pop star bop was born!

TSH: How vital is the aspect of creative control for you?

LIZ: Creative control is extremely vital to my sense of self. My thing may not be for everyone, but at least at the end of the day, I can sleep at night because I know I’m doing ME. I love experimenting, changing and evolving too.

TSH: What sort of anime do you mostly admire and gravitate towards?

LIZ: I like anime with powerful yet relatable female characters. If you follow me on social media, you’ll see I’m a huge Sailor Moon fan.

TSH: Having been raised in a Hindu household by way of Jewish and Christian origins, what does spirituality mean to you in this day and age?

LIZ: To me, spirituality is about constantly striving to tap into a higher consciousness. I don’t want to be the same person I was last year. Growth takes time, but also self-awareness and a willingness to be brutally honest with yourself. I also think it’s a balance between being proactive and letting certain things go and trusting the universe has a plan for you – that no matter how painful or frustrating something may be, it’s happening for you, not to you.

TSH: Over the years, you’ve spent a lot of time in London working with a plethora of producers and writers. Tell us more about some of your favourite London preferences…

LIZ: I love London so so much. I feel like it’s my second home! I prefer not having the stress of driving in the city, so taking the tube or walking is super nice. I like how there’s so many people out on the street - you meet some pretty interesting people that way. I’m really into Soho. That may be my favourite part. Holy crap, how could I not mention the parks though? They are gorgeous. My dream is to bring my dogs over and see them run free and frolic in the grass, chasing squirrels.

TSH: What was it like to visit St. Hanshaugen in the lead-up to Christmas?

LIZ: Norway was a trip. I was only there for a few days to shoot a music video with Rytmeklubben and it was dark the majority of the time! But, when the sun was up, the snow covered the land and the trees looked like an illustration in a fairy-tale book. Everything was just white for miles. I was really sick at the time, but almost felt like the extreme cold knocked the sickness out of me. Next time, I’ll come a little bit more prepared for the weather!

TSH: Also, compliments on the LIZ Y2Krunch bar, which contains some awesome ingredients. Where did the idea come from to include such a wide range, including Fruity Pebbles and Pretzels?

LIZ:I wanted my chocolate bar to be kawaii and aesthetically pleasing. It HAD to be rainbow, of course. But it needed to have a little salty crunch in there to balance the super sweetness. Kind of like me - I’m definitely sweet n’ salty.

TSH: Have you been viewing any other compelling TV other than The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?

LIZ:I love love love television. Recently, I’ve been into The Chi, Trust, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Killing Eve... and when I want to just veg out and enjoy a guilty pleasure, I’m kinda obsessed with the Real Housewives shows - especially Beverly Hills and New York City.

TSH: Also, when you need to unwind, is pizza still your go to comfort food?

LIZ: Yes! Pizza with ranch dressing, or Mac n cheese with green Tabasco.

TSH: Finally, looking ahead with your musical ambitions, do you very much aspire to continue to play with different genres in fresh and innovative ways, whilst always offering variety?

LIZ: Hell yeah, I look forward to experimenting constantly with my sound and my visuals.

LIZ - “Could U Love Me”

Super Duper Nova - Single

#Interview #LIZ #LIZY2K

[daughterofanarchangel]

The thoughts of a sixteen year old part one - FRIENDS

On this blog there is AJ Winchester, a fictional character created as an OC in the Supernatural universe, and there is the mod/owner of the blog aka me. And I believe that I haven’t posted on this blog since before the season 12 premiere which makes it ideal for me to just say stuff that I need to say and work out without certian people seeing it before it’s time. So let’s get started.

The first issue is friends. And before I start I want to make it clear that I love my friends and they are some of the greatest most awesomeness people I know. But as everyone should know, everyone has problems and my friends are no expection. And neither am I. I should probably start with myself.

As a young kid I had two really close friends. They are Lara and Sarah M. I use their names because as far as I know they don’t have tumblr and will probably never see this post because of reasons that I will explain later. Lara, Sarah M and I saw each other on a regular basis; we all went to the same church. We’re all the same age with me being the oldest. At our church at the time of my early childhood we were literally the only ones our age; both Lara and Sarah M had older brothers and Sarah M and I both had younger brothers. I guess it was out of nesscessity that we all became friends. And we were really close. I mean for our fifth birthdays we got matching kiddie purses (although mine and Sarah M’s were “from Lara” and Lara’s was from her parents) how much closer could we get? I will admit looking back that I was probably closer to lara than I was Sarah M. Anyway during the summer when I was seven, Lara’s family moved away. I had gone on holiday for Christmas thinking I’d be able to see Lara one last time when I got back. When I got back she had already gone. We never really said a propper goodbye. My friendship with Sarah M soon became nothing. I still see her regularly - it’s hard not to when you both still go to the same church every week and go to the same high school. Lara and I have seen each other since she moved with the latest actually being just under a year ago. Our dads are friends on facebook so I occasionally hear how she’s doing with her rowing. But that was my first real lost with friendship.

In my first two and a half years of primary school (half a year of Year 0, with the other two years being Years 1 and 2) I don’t recall having any real close friends that I kept for long. Our short friendships lastest a few months and strangely enough the two friendships I can remember I now know their grandmothers and one old friend’s grandfather because I play the same sport as them. Towards the end of Year 2 I made a few friendships with people who would later become my friends for the rest of my time at primary.

These were Gemma and Sarah W. Again I was the oldest. At least I was until we became good friends with Jess who was three weeks older than me the year later. Jess and I being in the same class for Year 3 while Sarah W and Gemma were in the same class. We had other people come and go from the group but we were good friends. In Year 4 I was the only one who wasn’t in the same class as everyone else. Year 5 was another repeat. These two years I was alone in class but I knew I had friends who liked me and we remained friends. Year 6 being our final year at Primary, I was finally in a class with all my friends bar one. Our friendship was strong enough that we remained friends despite rarely being in the same class. But it wasn’t perfect. Looking back, Sarah W was abusive. She would often hit us and once she threw an apple at another friend’s head that made the apple split into pieces. I think younger me knew what Sarah W was doing was not right because I remember that she gave me a chinese burn so hard that I yelled at her with tears in my eyes that I no longer wanted to be friends with her because she hurt me for the last time. I didn’t speak to her for a few days but I ended up becoming friends with her again. I don’t remember exactly when this happened, because I try to block as much memories of primary as I can and I also have little memory of this time anyway, but I do remember that one day Sarah W and Gemma told me something that I still find to sting a little today. Let’s get something staright - I’ve never been popular and that hasn’t really bothered me. But it did when Sarah W and Gemma told me that they gave up their popularity to be friends with me back in Year 2. Their comment made me realise how unimportant I was to them as well as how unpopular I knew I was.

I didn’t stay friends with that group. The next two years were Intermediate and they were great compared to Primary. In Year 7 I made a great guy friend who really boasted my confidence. He was also my first lgbt friend. Back then I didn’t even know what lgbt was (i grew up in religious home and my parents never told me about gay people. They also never gave me the birds and the bees talk. Yep that’s right, I had shitty ‘health’ lessions, which literally had one lesson on the sex part of sex ed and all the other lessons about emotions and stuff which is important and all, teach me the birds and the bees in Year 7 at age 12 and even then it wasn’t until Year 9 that I really learnt anything sex ed). And while we remained friends in Year 8, I became better friends with a girl in my class in the year below me whom I still friends with today. I will mention her as Demon in future.

Year 9 was my first year of High School. For the first two terms I was almost basically a loner - I had a guy friend in the year above who sat with me and we watched the first season of Geronimo Stilton on his ipad. Then I become friends with Squirrel. Squirrel and I bonded over our mutal love for Supernatural and Teen Wolf. In Year 10, Demon joined me and Squirrel as friends, with Angel literally joining the group the next day.

We’re all still good friends today. We added Squish and Small to the group last year in Year 11. Then there’s Home. Home is a friend of mine who I’ve been friends with since I was 10. They’re home schooled but know Squirrel, Demon, Angel and Squish because of me. So what I started out with one friend became five, six when you include Home. But I don’t feel like its going to keep like this for 2018.

Angel had a fucked up childhood. Its left her with scars and believe me when I say that it’s still messing with her now three years after she left that toxic environment. As much as I care about them and love them, sometimes they bring me down. They were one third of what I like to call my emotional overload around the time of my practice exams. It’s not their fault that I feel the way I did - it’s mine because I don’t have a good handle on what I’m feeling.

Squrriel has recently opened up about her problems that I should have noticed or at least picked up on a little. They’ve decided to not sit with us this year as they are taking care of themselves because we weren’t there like they were for us. I dont blame them for that decision - we created a toxic environment and to be honest, especially towards the end of Year 11, I always felt that this was going to happen anyway since it seemed back then that they were always sitting with their other group of friends and to be fair that group of friends is a lot more mature (it seems) and less toxic than our group of friends.

Demon. There’s a reason I gave them that name. Demon is a little piece of shit. In light of Squirrel’s confession, they made their own. They admitted that they were a piece of shit, walking the fine line between joke and insult. Having been frends with them for almost four years now, I’ve learnt to take all the insults they give as jokes. At the end of last year I wrote her a four page essay letter about my feelings about some stuff that I needed to say to someone but I couldn’t go to my usual person because they’d asked not to get involved. That was the first time I ever really had a deep and meaningful thing with them.

Then there’s Home. Out of all my friends I’ve known her the longest. But last year in particular I started feeling like we weren’t going to be friends for much longer. There were some things said, written and unsaid (thankfully) between us that really got to me. Although now I feel we’ll continue being friends for a long time, I still have a small scab from that time thatI occasionally pick at.

I don’t have any problems with Squish and Small because we haven’t been friends for all that long.

I’m also a problem. I’m most definitely an introvert - always have been. During breaktimes I generally have something to do like read or scroll tumblr while only listening into my friend’s conversations, and saying a few words here and there. In the group chats or in one-on-one chats I am mostly silent and if I do take part in a conversation I usually end up ignoring notifications because I don’t want to talk.

Some day I hope that I can work out what to do because I don’t want to be truly alone. I’m scared of losing the group of friends that are so important to me and are probably the best group of friends I’ve had to date. I don’t want to lose them but sometimes I wonder why I’m even friends with them

[survivor-guyana]

Episode 8 - "One of the best moves in the history of this series." - Devon

I'M FREE OF THE PURPLE SQUIRREL MAN !!!! Mitchell you were great, but i couldn't let you stay in the game when i knew you were after me <3 at least you made jury though so that's good :) ALSO FUC FUCKF FUCK FUFKC FUCK WE MADE JURYYYYYYYYYY I'M GONNA PEE MY ACTUAL PANTS now all i have to do is make single digits and i'll be satisfied. but then after that,,, it's winning :$ also alyssa and jess are a v obvious f2 they aren't even hiding it anymore wowowow

So I’m already starting to plan how I can go about this next round. I think I would need to go after Sammy next. We don’t have as much of a connection as I thought we did, he is closer to Jones and Alyssa than I am, and this helps me get back into the middle like I need/want to be. I regain the trust of Aidan and Dani, and probably could gain a stronger connection with Devon and Jess (if they’d be open to this vote).

so,,, Jess keeps saying stuff,,, and it's making me uncomfortable,,,,,,??? IT'S NOT LIKE SHE'S BEING CREEPY OR ANYTHIGN AT ALL but,, she's saying stuff that's like,, freaking me out about my game? she basically told me and Maynor over call that everyone on the first swap tribe Hosororo made a video that I SHOULD WIN THE GAME??? like,, k AND THEN!! then,,, then,,, she says that everyone thinks i'm really cool? like "oh yeah i'm okay with Jones!!" LIKE??? wow??? like,, that's a good position,, but also i have to be super slick from now on yk? so yay! love being stressed the fuck out lkdsjafldskfj also,, i have a bad feeling we might have an unmerge. it's like,, a stretch, but we merged so early?? F13 merge is wildt kdsafldksaf idk what to expect just know i'm probs gonna get voted out next lskajdfaldkjf

So, without having to do too much extra work, people also saw the same thing as me and want to get Sammy out; awesome. But now I have to find a way to make sure that it comes into fruition. There's a line between keeping this secret but also building those connections that come with blindsiding someone with someone else... Like can I trust Tim not to go back and tell Sammy? I think I can, but there's a risk in telling another person.

I'm telling you right now, there is no one in the game playing with fire more than me.

1. I made 5 different fake idol charts in the fans vs favs stage to gain trust 2. I jumped ship on the fans and committed to Sammy, Chelsea, and Alyssa after the swap 3. I'm pinning the whole entire cast against one another and taking out the biggest threat in Sammy.

If I can successfully get Aidan to flush his advantage and knock out Sammy, this could go down as one of the best moves in the history of this series. It would be a true tale of going from the top to the bottom in one single round.

I won a challenge *Happy dance* Fuck social challenges *still dancing* Not here to make friends *still dancing* Fuck you Mitchell

hahah, right okay so a confession.... I was super stressed with this the BUZZ challenge really but like, I cleaned my room and still went to play DnD and still one. Extra bonus of the night, I didn't die and my character leveled up. yay's all around.  

THE GAME IS A FOOT!

Things are really happening strategically now and after being on the wrong side of the vote last week I want to be very intentional about every move that I make going forward. Right now there are a few names bouncing around but mainly Dani and Sammy in retaliation.

I don't know why this Sammy/Chelsea/JD/Jonesy or whatever faction is all voting one way but they're all boring so whatever. Apparently JD has Maynor on her ass and a lot of people are sniffing Jonesy' boring ass pussy juice for whatever reason. The game is sort of divided right now and it's weird... and there's currently a plan in place to divert a few votes onto Chelsea to skew idol suspicion and avoid a deadlock. Imagine we pulled a 6-5-1 or 6-4-2 or something?

I really don't want Dani to leave because she's somebody I need in this game but it just seems like the boring bitches want to go after my friends and I'm trying to fake it til I make it with them but it's not working?

***FUN FACT I WROTE HALF OF THIS CONFESSIONAL ON SATURDAY BEFORE I FOUND OUT ABOUT SNAKE.. I MEAN SAMMY****

So JD winning immunity was LITERALLY worst case scenario for me. They say don't meet your heroes because you'll be disappointed well... that's how I feel about JD.

I'm really scared I'm not going to make it out of this round alive. I just hope if there's a push for me to go I can play my idol correctly and not leave this game looking like an idiot because I didn't play an idol I had.

Hypothetically speaking..... maybe I can see votes going down like this?

People that would POTENTIALLY vote for me? 1. Sammy 2. Chelsea 3. Tim 4. JD

I really wanted a favourite to go this round too so I'm super disappointed. I kind of want to push for TIM to go now because out of all of the people left aside from JD I talk to him the least. HOWEVER, I don't want to be "Mitchell'd" so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut and hope for the best.

plot twist.

Apparently I'm a COMP BEAST? ME? JESS? BEING TARGETED FOR BEING A COMP BEAST? I C-A-N-N-O-T.

I'm being targeted because people are scared of someone with an ACTUAL PERSONALITY.

What ended up happening was: Devon called myself/Alyssa and spilled all of the tea about Sammy targeting us. This was HUGE of Devon so I hope he's not lying. What kind of sketched me out during that call was Alyssa seemed kind of relieved that they switched from her to me when I was generally SHOOK about them targeting her too? So that was something? I'm not gonna look to into it though lmfao. Devon not telling us for a couple of days is amood though. That kind of is a giant red flag.

Jones hasn't told Alyssa about that alliance which I personally find WEIRD. I thought Jones and Alyssa were confirmed final 2. Maybe this will cause some doubt OR maybe Jones already told Alyssa and she's lying. I have no idea at this point.

My plan for this round was to get Dani to throw out Chelsea's name as her counter. That way if Sammy or any of them have an idol they'll waste it on Chelsea while we target Sammy. We need to throw off his scent.

I typed a long ass answer and lost it so FUCK you Johnny but honestly this round is a mess and everybody is lying and talking shit

I’m,,, worried. So I lost immunity, right? I got 3rd place behind Maynor and JD. BUT like,,,,,,,,,,, SURE I’m feeling mostly covered, and SURe we have the numbers for Dani,, but what if Dani or Aidan have an idol? Like we know aidan has a vote steal that’s pretty obvious,, but like,,, what if yk? I’m super fucking scared. I know I said I don’t WANt to have immunity,,,, but now I want immunity AJSKNDJD but ummm yeah :( I’m ooky spookied. I have a really bad feeling, but hopefully everything works out.

So Aidan wouldn't reveal his advantage which sucks but I'm working on gaining trust with him.

Pretty sure I’m going home so that’s fun..but Sammy might go home for being too chaotic. Idk djdjdjdjd. I really enjoyed playing though

So, once again I am potentially on the chopping block and I don't understand why. My squad is voting for Dani but I'm over people wanting me out. ughhhhh. I am normally a very likable person and those 5 votes I got last tribal were the most I have ever received in a game. I'm a decent player, but not really a threat so idk why people just want to vote me. Anywho, I am hoping my squad of people can save me yet again (gross, I don't want to be in the position where people have to save me) and people stop trying to come for me.

Tonights vote is going to be very interesting. Its Dani vs Sammy. I hope Sammy goes because he doesnt trust me and he wants me gone. I hpe nothing crazy happens and he goes. Dani and I got back to talking and everything was smoothed over so thats good.

[roxy-davenport]

Hard Habit to Break

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 1,522

Beta: Huge thanks to @seenashwrite

A/N: This was written for @mrs-squirrel-chester’s Album Challenge. I choose the album, “Ash & Ice” by the Kills which is a hella angsty album. Whoops. I love angsty indie rock. This was written for the third song on the album, “Hard Habit to Break.” This is a bit deep which I’m blaming on the album. :) This is told from Dean’s POV.

Also on A03 

You're really getting close to me

So far so close to me

So point me to a yes no yes no yes

Don't tell me maybe

 I knew that I could never have a normal life. Intellectually, I knew that. It was too dangerous. I mean look what happened to Dad, Mom and then Sam’s girlfriend, Jess. So how could I willingly choose to put the woman I love through that? What kind of monster would that make me? Mom and Jess both died in agony, burning on frickin’ ceilings. Come on. Yeah, we ganked the bastard who did it, but so what? There will always be some other black eyed scum around to take away the love of my life.

 Demons have it out for Winchesters. I understand the hatred toward my family. Hell, how many demons have Sam and I taken out just this year? Of course they’d hold a grudge, and that’s why I shouldn’t get entangled with anyone.

 When I get the itch, I sleep with women at bars. I let them know upfront that it’s one night. They’re okay with it; I’m okay with it. There are no strings, no drama. I move on, and I don’t think about the girl. She’s safer that way. No real connections. At least, that’s what I’d always tell myself, but then… But then, why? Why can’t I leave her?

 I mean, I go through the same motions every time. I come into town every few months. I tell her goodbye and I actually believe it every time. I believe that this will be the time I’ll be strong enough to truly leave. Then I can’t. I can never really leave her. She’s all I think about, all I want. I try and sleep her away with other girls but it never works. I call out her name when I orgasm more often than not.

 When it’s over, when I’m done with the girls on the side, I close my eyes and I see her face, that sly smile she gives me when she’s half-awake. The way she stretches like a cat, arching her back and presenting her perfect breasts to my lustful gaze. How she turns to me and says my name. The way she says it half-sleepy, half-reverently, almost like a prayer. The sound that not only makes me instantly hard but make me fall in love with her more. I hold her tight for a long time, letting my mind go blank. I am reassured in her touch. I feel whole in her arms. And all the while, I know I’m putting her at risk, just by being close to her. If any monsters found out how much I cared, her head would be on the chopping block; maybe literally. But I can’t give her up. She’s in my blood, in my mind. As selfish as this may sound, we belong together.

 The months when I will myself to stay away are hell on me. I break down. I cry, I scream, I get angry. I’m really not okay without her. Nothing else matters when I’m like this.

I don’t have my heart in the hunt. Sometimes, I’m even reckless. The alcohol tastes horrible, the women don’t feel the same, and I don’t feel the same. I feel guilt-ridden and horrible every time I flirt with anyone else; much less touch another woman.

I’m gruffer with Sammy and shit, he doesn’t deserve that. I just get so angry with him. I want to apologize but I mean, how would that go? I can’t let him know why I’m acting this way. So what lie would explain all this? The less people that know about her; the safer she is. Or am I keeping her quiet because I want to keep her a secret? Because I want her all to myself? Why is love so confusing? And for the record? I didn’t want to fall in love with her, it just happened.

 You think you're there to hold my hair

To come and drag me home

You think you're gonna dress me up

From head to toe and then I'll go?

 Well I'm a hard hard habit to break

I'm a hard hard habit to break

 Your mind's playing tricks on me

You got me where you want me

I'm going left right left right left right

Through the city

 Every time I leave, I see the heartbreak in her eyes. Every time, she wants to ask me to stay. I know she wants to know why I always have to leave but I can’t tell her, and somehow she never asks. She just looks at me pointedly as I leave. I want to be happy. I want the white picket fence life, I do, and that’s why I keep coming back. She’s the one habit I can’t break. I will always keep coming back.

 It may not be fair to either of us, but she hasn’t kicked me out. She hasn’t moved on or changed the locks. She simply opens the door with a big smile, grabbing me and drawing me into her arms. She gives me the most passionate kiss and the sex is dynamic, wild, uninhibited, a true show of our passion for each other. Maybe one day, I’ll have the balls to either marry her or finally leave her.

 And I can't get enough of the heat

And I can't shake it off in a beat

You gotta fix me up or let me go

And I'll quit it

 It's a hard hard habit to break

It's a hard hard habit to break

A hard hard habit to break

It's a hard hard habit to break

 It's a hard hard habit to break

It's a hard hard habit to break

A hard hard habit to break

It's a hard hard habit to break

 But right now, for tonight and tomorrow, all I need is her. She is my drug and I can’t get enough. She is the air I breathe. I know it’s reckless and stupid to come to her when I’m broken and wounded. Even Sammy wonders where I’m going. He’s calling me, but I don’t care. This was a rough hunt and I need her. I need her to heal me, body and soul. I need her hands on my body, reassuring me that I deserve to be loved by her.

 I stand on her doorstep bleeding onto her mat, tears in my eyes, worried that she’ll reject me, but what does she do? She ushers me inside. Her soft hands get to work on my wounds. Never once does she ask questions. She just looks at me, silently begging me to stop doing whatever has left me in this state. And in this moment, I wish I could say yes. I want to say yes. That look of fear and worry on her face, that look destroys me.

 I send a quick message to Sam, so he knows I’m still alive and well. I promise to explain. What I’ll say, how much I’ll divulge to him, I don’t know. All I know is that I can’t quit her, ever.

 She fixes my wounds and the worry is replaced by a smile as we cuddle silently. There’s no need for any words to be said. She’s mine and I’m hers. For whatever happens next.

 Always talking about change

What change, what change?

Maybe when the lights fade

Maybe it's my mistake

 Always talking about change

What change, what change?

Maybe it's your mistake

Always talking about change

What change, what change?

Maybe it's our mistake

 What change? What change?

 Tagging

 Forevers: @purgatoan, @killerofthesouth, @charliebradbury1104, @chaos-and-the-calm67, @chelsea072498, @everday-supernatural-af, @kalliravennee, @toogardenenthusiast, @winchesterprincessbride, @one-shots-supernatural, @take-me-tonirvana, @hellsmother, @ellen-reincarnated1967, @faegal04, @deals-with-demons, @mamaredd123, @atc74, @hamartiamacguffin

Dean Folks from my list: @buckymetallicstump, @faith-in-dean, @bennyyh, @ruprecht0420 @supernatural-jackles, @jesspfly, @webcricket

@aprofoundbondwithdean, @thing-you-do-with-that-thing, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @dr-dean, @nichelle-my-belle, @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid, @thegreatficmaster, @salvachester, @blushingsamgirl, @bkwrm523, @whispersandwhiskerburn, @lipstickandwhiskey, @impala-dreamer, @samsgoddess, @frenchybell, @scorpiongirl1, @for-the-love-of-dean, @cici0507, @fiveleaf, @deansleather, @curliesallovertheplace, @whywhydoyouwantmetosaymyname, @waywardjoy, @imadeangirl-butimsamcurious, @kayteonline, @supernatural-jackles, @idreamofhazel, @wevegotworktodo, @ilovedean-spn2 , @quiddy-writes, @wi-deangirl77, @deantbh, @mysaintsasinner, @chelsea-winchester, @sinceriouslyamellpadalecki, @fandommaniacx, @teamfreewillimagines, @deanwinchesterforpromqueen, @castieltrash1, @supernaturallyobsessed, @memariana91, @writingbeautifulmen, @captain-princess-rose, @plaidstiel-wormstache, @idreamofhazel, @revwinchester, @supermoonpanda, @ageekchiclife, @i-dont-know-how-to-write, @vintagevalentinexx, @ohwritever, @ruinedbydestiel, @winchester-writes, @mysupernaturalfics, @thinkwritexpress, @sammit-janet @bowtiesandapplepie, @itsemmyb, @ezauraemmaline, @matteson-crazed, @castielspahdehrah, @charliesbackbitches, @crzcorgi, @gryffindorable713, @deerlululucy, @walkingencyclopediaoffandom, @MrsJohnSmith, @manawhaat, @growleytria, @thegleegeneration, @samtomydeanwinchester, @sinceriouslyamellpadalecki, @i-never-said-a-pilot, @thewinchestielboys, @supermoonpanda, @sis-tafics, @amaranthinecastiel, @kittenofdoomage, @samanddeanwinchester67, @prettyxwickedxthings, @ferferelli @lilyoflothlorien, @myfand0msandm0re, @olitzisbae, @iridianuniverse, @the-morning-star-falls,  @shortandlongstories, @strange-inhumanity, @ackleslaugh @noisilyyoungpuppy, @fangirling-instead-of-working, @eyes-of-a-disney-princess, @chrisatplay, @kayteonline, @spnsimpleman, @faith-in-dean, @gimmethepieandnoonegetshurt, @for-the-love-of-dean, @mamaimpala, @winchesterfiesta, @zanthiasplace, @sleep-silent-angel, @pada-ackles-reads, @thing-you-do-with-that-thing, @gadreelsforbiddenfruit, @trenchcoats-and-bees, @curliesallovertheplace, @jencharlan, @not-so-natural-spn, @skybinx-blog, @thebunkerismyhome, @feelmyroarrrr, @beachy2014, @fandom-book-nerd, @tia58, @@sams-little-toy, @sunriserose1023, @saving-things-hunting-family, @winchesterswoonathon, @jotink78, @lucifer-in-leather,  @babypieandwhiskey, @howmanytuesdaysdidyouhave, @supernatural-jackles, @avasmommy224, @angelwingsandsupernaturalthings, @mysaintsasinner, @chelsea-winchester, @spn-fan-girl-173, @besslincoln-bruh, @wheresthekillswitch, @shelovesallthethings @maraisabellegrey, @notnaturalanahi

#dean x reader #dean x reader fanfic #dean x reader fanfiction #dean x reader angst #dean #dean winchester #dean angst #supernatural #spn #supernatural fanfic #supernatural fanfiction #spn fanfic #spn fanfiction #dean winchester fanfic #dean winchester fanfiction #dean fanfic #dean fanfiction #dean x reader angst fanfiction #dean x reader angst fanfic #dean winchester angst #supernatural angst #spn angst #supernatural oneshot #spn oneshot #dean & reader #dean & reader fanfic #dean & reader fanfiction #supernatural reader insert #spn reader insert

[deniscollins]

People Are Taking Emotional Support Animals Everywhere. States Are Cracking Down

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act service animals must be allowed in restaurants, stores and other public places, even where animals are otherwise barred. Emotional support animals, which provide comfort with their presence but generally have no special training, do not have the same status under the disabilities act. If you were an airline executive, what would you do if a passenger insisted that she needed to be accompanied on the plane by an emotional support dog and she had a certificate stating so: (1) allow the dog on the plane, (2) refuse? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

A 26-year-old Starbucks barista in the suburbs of Tampa known as Vayne Myers has suffered from anxiety ever since he was a child. A co-worker suggested he try an emotional support animal.

So Mr. Myers bought a duck and named it Primadonna. The snow-white bird has worked wonders for his state of mind.

“Whenever I felt like I didn’t matter in the world,” he said, Primadonna would waddle over and remind him that “something does love you.”

But Mr. Myers’s landlord objected, and demanded proof that Primadonna was a medical necessity and not simply a pet. Mr. Myers provided a letter from a therapist in California who spoke to him over a video chat, and then another note from a counselor who met in person with him (and the duck). But neither document satisfied the landlord, who threatened eviction.

Mr. Myers hired a lawyer and filed a complaint of housing discrimination with the Department of Housing and Urban Development using his legal name, Jesse Calfas. His filing was one of more than a thousand similar complaints the agency has received nationwide so far this year.

The number of people claiming they have a right to live with animals for their mental health — as well as to take them onto planes and into restaurants and stores — has been growing rapidly.

In 2011, the National Service Animal Registry, a for-profit company that sells official-looking vests and certificates for owners, had 2,400 service and emotional support animals in its registry. Now the number is nearly 200,000.

But the spread of such animals — the vast majority of them dogs — has also been met by concerns from landlords, airlines and other businesses that many Americans may be abusing the system. Critics say that pet owners are obtaining phony certifications or letters from online therapists to avoid paying fees or to get permission to bring creatures where they wouldn’t normally be allowed.

“We’ve seen everything from reptiles to insects,” said Amanda Gill, government affairs director for the Florida Apartment Association, which represents landlords.

“Obviously, you want to accommodate people with legitimate requests, but that’s harder to do when you have so many bogus requests,” Ms. Gill said. “Everyone is recognizing that this is a growing problem right now.”

More than two dozen state legislatures have enacted new laws to crack down on fraud.

A law passed in Utah this year makes it a misdemeanor to lie about a pet being an emotional support animal, or E.S.A., expanding a law already on the books that made it a crime to misrepresent a pet as a Seeing Eye dog.

Oklahoma just passed a law clarifying that restaurants and stores have a right to keep support animals out. Virginia’s law cracks down on websites that promise to provide E.S.A. verification letters for a fee, without having any therapeutic relationship with the animal’s owner.

“A true service animal is a highly trained dog,” said Tammy Townley, a state representative in Oklahoma who supports her state’s new law. “When someone comes in with an emotional support animal, they are saying, ‘It’s my service animal.’ No — it’s something you bought a vest for.”

Advocates point out that therapy animals are protected by the Fair Housing Act, which requires landlords to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities, like a wheelchair-accessible parking space. They worry that the new laws will embolden landlords to deny animals to tenants who need them.

Even some supporters of the new measures struggle over how to distinguish a legitimate need from a fraud.

“It’s really hard to draw a bright line,” said Todd Weiler, a state senator in Utah who said that an old high school classmate of his keeps an emotional support pig. “To a large extent, everybody could benefit from having a pet,” Mr. Weiler said. “When is it an emotional support animal and when it is a pet?”

Sam Killebrew, a Florida state lawmaker who sponsored a bill to curb emotional support animal claims, said he went online and registered Ophelia, a stuffed baboon in his office, as his “emotional support animal,” even though she’s been frozen, her fang-filled mouth agape, by a taxidermist.

“As long as you pay your money, you’re going to get that card,” he said.

He sponsored a bill this year that would allow landlords to require that tenants who claim a need for an animal obtain a letter from a licensed medical professional based in Florida. Mr. Killibrew later withdrew the bill, but he said he planned to reintroduce it next year.

Sara Pratt, former assistant secretary for fair housing at HUD, agreed that the certificates sold online can be a problem. “They are useless,” she said. But she warned that state lawmakers who rush to criminalize people for seeking documentation of a need for a support animal are sending the wrong message to landlords, who are at risk of getting slapped with hefty federal fines.

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines service animals as dogs or small horses that are trained to perform specialized tasks, like leading a blind person or detecting seizures. Service animals must be allowed in restaurants, stores and other public places, even where animals are otherwise barred.

Emotional support animals, which provide comfort with their presence but generally have no special training, do not have the same status under the disabilities act. But when it comes to keeping an animal at home in a rental unit, federal law has been interpreted to give tenants a right to live with an animal if it helps treat depression or anxiety.

Skepticism surrounding emotional support animals has increased with their rising numbers, especially at airports, where another law — the Air Carrier Access Act — gives airlines wide latitude over how various creatures are handled. Some airlines refuse to allow hedgehogs, snakes and rodents, along with dogs, into the passenger cabin for flights longer than eight hours. A number of widely publicized incidents — a dog allegedly mauling a passengerand an emotional support squirrel causing an entire flight to deplane — have added to the anxiety over anxiety-soothing animals.

Some people who require Seeing Eye dogs have complained that their animals have been attacked in airports or restaurants by untrained emotional support dogs, and that the explosion in support animals has led to more skepticism of true service dogs.

Mr. Myers, who says his anxiety stems from being abused as a child by his mother’s boyfriend, bought his duck from a farm around Easter, when he was just a fuzzy duckling a few days old. He knew he wanted Primadonna when the duckling snuggled in his open hand.

They quickly grew attached to one another.

“I take him in the shower, in the bath, and outside,” he said, adding that the duck wears a diaper inside the house to avoid messes. “He will follow me wherever I go.”

Mr. Myers said that Primadonna mostly stays in a private yard, and that his neighbors have been unaware of the feathered creature in their midst. The duck’s presence was discovered during an unrelated maintenance visit. His landlord, who charges a fee for tenants who keep cats, said that ducks were not allowed, and demanded proof that the duck had been prescribed by a doctor before making an exception.

After Mr. Myers was threatened with eviction, he found Matthew Dietz, litigation director of the Disability Independence Group, a nonprofit legal advocacy center in Florida.

Mr. Dietz does not deny that some people pretend to need an animal when they merely want one. But that does not worry him nearly as much, he said, as situations like the one confronting a homeless veteran he has been helping recently. The veteran had finally found housing, he said, but was now being asked to give up two dogs that had lived with him throughout his years on the street.

“My basic stance is that mental illness is tough,” Mr. Dietz said. “Anything that makes somebody feel better, why not? As long as you don’t hurt anybody else, what’s the big deal?”

Lawyer after lawyer turned down Mr. Myers’s case, but Mr. Dietz took it right away. And with the help of HUD, he successfully negotiated with the landlord for Primadonna to stay.

If a client says he needs a duck, he needs a duck, Mr. Dietz said. “Why would somebody lie about something like that?”

#Emotional Support Animals