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alucardens · 4 days

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Yeah though seriously- you might not ship Buck and Tommy and that's okay- everyone is entitled to their opinion as long as it doesn't harm anyone- what makes it not okay is when you say things like you're being queerbaited- in a show that *literally* has a canon lesbian couple (where one half of the couple is a main character) SINCE the first episode of the show, that, 1) consistently, as a couple, have storylines that get resolved in a way that shows the writers aren't brushing the characters away, and arcs that show character growth.

2) NONE. NONE. Of the canonically queer characters have been harmed in a way that resulted in permanent death. And when they do get in harms way (which is inevitable- this is the nature of the show), it's done in a thoughtful way- their actions and risk of death/ injury WOULD add something to the plot/ storyline. Their loss would have an impact on us as the viewer. They would not be meaningless deaths. And aside from death, even queer characters who 'exit the main storyline of the show' but are otherwise alive, are still done with thought and care. I mean, (and spoilers for the first few seasons of the show,) Michael's storyline lasted (iirc) about 3-5? seasons. (We are not talking about meta events such as why they removed the actor from the show). He and his (named AND on-screen) husband, David, move to help people. His husband is literally a neurosurgeon. There was literally an episode revolving around Michael's proposal to David. Even after they've moved away, they're STILL referenced and talked about. They're not pushed away or ignored like the way some shows treat characters who aren't there anymore.

Josh (my bby fr), who's also been canonically gay since his first appearance, also has a arc that's real and very very relatable to most of us. The show takes it fucking seriously as well. And Josh is GOOD. Even as a side character, he's not reduced to the 'gay best friend'. As I said, he has his own storyline and arc, he has his own opinions, he's good at his job.

Aside from the main characters, imo, 911 also does a damn good job of showing that queer people exist. You might not like it because 'oh they're showing queer people who are in danger/ not happy/ dying.' To which I'd respond by saying that you're watching a show about paramedics. As much as we like to say this is the gay firefighter show (accurate lmao), we need to remember that there's going to be dark themes in this show.

I don't remember every call they've come across that involved queer people, but we for sure remember the 'we ever only wanted to go together' scene, with the elderly husbands. Yes it involves death. That's why we're seeing this scene in the first place- the engine wouldn't have to respond to a call if there wasn't a call in the first place. But it also fucking shows queer people growing old together and making a life for themselves. The opening scene is literally a montage of the husbands' relationship over the years. I don't know how many mainstream shows put that much fucking care in queer characters.

And then there's also the wlw couple in that car accident thing- not as significant as the husbands but like, that's the point, is it not? Not all their calls are significant- we don't even see all of them. The point is that they just show queer people existing as a general thing. It's not strange that the two women who were in the same car in a crash are both gay. There's no weird over-sexualised kiss. There's no show or mention or even hint of homophobia or confusion by the firefighters. It's fucking normal. So yeah. Do I ship endgame Tevan? Not at this moment. Do I like them together as a couple right now? Fucking yes. My personal opinion is that I like Buck and Eddie together more (at least for now), but why would I not ship Tommy and Buck right now? It makes no fucking sense not to. Buck is in a happy (queer) relationship, he's still figuring himself out as a bi man in his 30s, he's dating a masc man, who's past is messy and has since grown (oh look at that, another character arc revolving around a queer person), and they're clearly fucking happy together.

Anyway. I have a lot of feelings about this lmao. You want proper bi representation? Bro. I don't know what to tell you but you're looking at it.

#buddie #911 abc #911 spoilers #911 season 7 #tevan #evan buckley #eddie diaz #tommy kinard #911 discourse

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houseofevanbuckley · 19 days

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hc that Buck will keep Tommy company while he works on his machinery and Tommy watches documentaries with Buck 💕

Buck visiting Tommy and complaining about his car making a weird noise and having to bring it to the mechanic for the 3rd time in as many months.

His jeep is getting a bit old now but it’s filled with memories and he refuses to change it.

Tommy who go trained on various vehicles throughout his life. A neighbor teaching him when he was a teenager. Training at the army. Training at the fire academy and then flying academy.

He’s been tinkering in various machineries for years and he’s not going to let a simple jeep best him. Buck is happy to let Tommy look at it, it will save him some money he could use otherwise. Like for a date maybe.

The issue tho? It’s that Tommy has working clothes, and by working clothes I mean an old pair of jeans, covered in old oil stains, a white tank top which is clean but has old stains that dried, but still quite white, and some heavy boots in case something fall on his feet. It happened before and Tommy learned from it.

Buck never thought jeans would drive him insane, but the way it curves around Tommy’s thighs? The way a black stains is just under his left cheek like he rubbed himself there to clean his hand, actually Buck can even divine the form of fingers on that stains and it’s calling to him.

To forget about the heat pooling inside him he gets close to the car and Tommy who just opened it and moving things around and just watch, until he says “you know, my dad never taught me anything about cars. Is it weird?”

And Tommy just goes “you wanna learn?” With a soft smile, just offering, no judgement whatever Buck decides

And so Tommy work and talk during the whole process, he knows Buck loves knowledge, trivia, information and Tommy is more than happy to info dump his boyfriend for once.

Once Tommy fix what the issue was, it was just regular stuff but a mechanic would have either ignore it so Buck would come back and spend more or spend only like 30 minutes on it to fix it since it was quite simple.

They get clean together, Tommy getting his regulars clothes back on him while Buck has to change bc he got some stains on him even just while looking but it doesn’t care about it. The price was more than worth paying.

And then they go on Tommy’s couch, Buck still doesn’t have one but he doesn’t need one anymore, not when Tommy’s so comfy. Tommy who pick up the remote while Buck get some snack ready for them and he goes through the channels until he reaches National Geographic and it’s the opening for a new documentary about volcanoes and he gets distracted from the tv when Buck comes back with their drink so he doesn’t change the channel and then see how Buck is already entranced by it even 3 minutes after the opening, and he’s gonna ask if Buck want to watch it when Buck goes “did you know that the biggest volcano in on mars?”

And Tommy knows he doesn’t have to ask anymore, he just hums while picking some food off the coffee table and listen to every facts from Buck and watches him get so animated as they watch it

Buck even going against what the narrator is saying and being right about it when the narrator a few minutes later elaborate more which goes toward what Buck was saying and Tommy is just so smitten by his clever boy. Kissing him on his temple and pulling him against his side while Buck keep randomly shoutings facts and going on his phone to assess the veracity of what the narrator is talking about.

They spend their evening like that, documentaries replacing one an other, Buck leaning against him and talking freely for hours, showing Tommy how interesting the world can be.

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gab-has-adhd · 3 months

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HELLO, I AM CURRENTLY IN A GREAT NEED OF HELP ⚠️⚠️⚠️

PLEASE STOP SCROLLING FOR A MINUTE AND READ THIS POST 🙏🏼

Thank you.

My name is Gabriel, I'm a 28 years old disabled agender person. I have ADHD, BPD, generalized anxiety, chronic depression and untreated PTSD. I am an artist, and I have no other job besides this one, for now.

This is my girlfriend, Olivia. She is 30, agender just like me, disabled just like me. She has BPD as well as untreated PTSD, and she is autistic.

For the last three years, we were surviving thanks to a monthly allowance she was given due to her being disabled and unable to find or keep a job. This allowance has been stopped due to her being judged "not disabled enough" and "capable of finding a job". She isn't. I don't want to give too many details about our life, but she is currently deeply incapacitated and cannot work. She has asked to get her autism diagnosed on a psychiatric level, which is necessary for her to be given the proper care for her issues.

We will now be given an allowance for job seekers. But we have learned today that this allowance, for the next two months, will be much less than it usually is because of complicated details I do not have the right mind to explain right now.

We will be given around 700€ for a month. 1400€ total, for the months of March and April. You can imagine how 1400€ for two months is a ridiculously low amount of money for two people.

I will try to find a tiny job that is compatible with my own struggles. In the meantime, getting help from other sources will really, really come in handy.

I AM AN ARTIST. I DRAW DIGITAL ILLUSTRATIONS, AND I AM OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS. ALTHOUGH I AM STILL STRUGGLING TO GET OUT OF A HIATUS, I WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO GET MORE COMMISSIONS. HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF WHAT I CAN DRAW.

AND HERE IS MY PRICE CHART:

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COMMISSIONNING ME, YOU CAN CONTACT ME ON THIS TUMBLR ACCOUNT OR ON @lubelzoldyck-artworks , YOU CAN ALSO SEND ME A MAIL AT [email protected] 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

IF YOU ARE UNINTERESTED IN COMMISSIONNING ME, PLEASE CONSIDER D0NAT1NG, EVEN A SINGLE BUCK CAN HELP. YOU CAN D0NAT3 ON THIS LINK:

IF YOU CANNOT COMMISSION NOR D0N4T3 (AND I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY) PLEASE, PLEASE AT LEAST SHARE THIS POST AROUND. REBLOG IT, SHARE IT ON OTHER WEBSITES, GIVE IT VISIBILITY, I AM PRACTICALLY BEGGING HERE. PLEASE HELP US.

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thatsmzbitchtoyou · 1 month

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Sugar Mama Chapter 1

And another one! New story involving #sugarbabybucky Summary: Bucky is overworked and struggling to get by. The bills are piling up and he’s consistently in the red with no end in sight. Y/N is a billionaire’s daughter, entrepreneur and philanthropist having a hard time finding true friends or love. She has a proposition for him.

bucky barnes x curvy!reader

Warnings: eventual smut, sexual assault (not from Bucky)

Bucky was exhausted. He had been working three jobs for four years now just trying to get by, and this was his sixth sixteen hour day in a row. Student loans and credit card debt was eating him out of house and home, in the most literal sense. Even living in a rent controlled building wasn’t helping with the bills piling up. He had gone to college for architecture and interior design, which he was doing now working as an assistant during normal working hours for one of the many local interior designers. Then he would go straight to his second job as a waiter in a high end restaurant in downtown Manhattan, then at the end of the night go home and do a few more hours of online tutoring. He had ended his 20s and entered his 30s feeling like an old man, with no end in sight of ever getting a break or being able to break even with his debt. Forget about dating or having a family someday. That all seemed like a ridiculous pipe dream now.

“Heeeeyyyy Buckaroo?” Steve sidled up to him as he was cleaning off wine glasses.

“No,” Bucky cut him off.

“But it’s just–”

“Steve, it’s Friday night, I’d really like to go home and get in bed at a normal time tonight,” Bucky interrupted him, the dark circles under his eyes that he tried to ignore looking more prominent by the day.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. But Peggy has been hounding me about going to that new burlesque club that just opened and I told her I was working but we haven’t had a date night in a long time–”

“Ugh, fine. But I’m not sharing tips,” Bucky sighed, rubbing his face as he pulled a 5 Hour Energy out of his apron pocket and quickly downed it like a shot.

“Those are bad for you, Buck,” Steve gave his friend a worried look.

“Well maybe a heart attack in my 30s will put me out of my misery,” Bucky half-joked. Steve was silent. Bucky turned to him and scoffed. “It’s a joke. Go, I’ll take the closing shift. Say hi to Peg for me.”

“I’ll take your next closing, I promise. Thanks punk,” Steve gave him a quick hug.

“Yeah whatever, jerk,” Bucky laughed. As Steve went to the back to change, Bucky went to the host stand and figured out who was his next table.

“Whatcha got for me, witchy woman?” he leaned against the stand. Wanda gave him a quick glance.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” she sighed, looking back down at the list.

“It’s not my fault you got witch eyes. And I never said that was a bad thing,” Bucky said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah whatever,” she rolled her amber eyes. “You’re gonna love this one. A Wall Street investment heiress, with some famous friends,” she gave him an unimpressed look.

“An heiress, huh? Well maybe she’ll be my next sugar mama,” he joked, giving her a wink as he adjusted his apron.

“You wouldn’t know how to be a sugar baby even if you tried,” she sassed back at him. “Table 42. She’s all yours.”

“Thanks babes,” he sing-songed at her before heading towards his section. As he approached table 42 he tried to see who the heiress was, but she was unfortunately facing away from him. Her friends, though, he easily recognized from some of the most recent films that had just hit theaters: Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov. Jackpot, he thought with a wry smile.

“Good evening, folks, welcome to Marea. My name is Bucky and I’ll be your server tonight. Could I get you started with some drinks? Or a review of our wine list?” He gave them all a friendly smile as he looked each of them in the eye at least once. The actors gave him quick smiles and glances before ordering generic wines and waters, then the heiress caught his eye. He almost did a double take once he realized who she was. Y/N Y/L/N, the daughter of Wall Street Tycoon Gerald Y/L/N. She was set for life and beyond. Her father was the investment king, knowing just when to buy in or sell out. She had taken on his legacy by doing the same but instead of investing in huge corporations she was investing in smaller businesses and projects, being the key investor until the business could truly thrive, giving her investment a return and getting a chance to grow in an area like New York City. She was the reason the new burlesque club opened that Steve was going to with Peggy. Not only was she wealthy, she was beautiful. Short in stature and plus size, she was an anomaly surrounded by her tall and slim friends, but she embraced her size and used it as a way to both literally and figuratively take up space in the industry and bring attention to the issues of body image, fatphobia, and investing in plus size companies and designers who she exclusively worked with for clothing her for events.

Bucky tried not to ogle and quickly gave her his best flirtatious smile. “And for you?” he asked her.

Y/N gave him an appreciative smile and her bright Y/C/E eyes seemed to really look at him rather than a passing glance like her friends. “I’d like to hear the wine menu, please.”

“Wonderful, we have a…” As he listed off the wines Y/N watched him intently, her eyes searching his face. He felt like he was the one being ogled and yet he persevered, trying not to sound nervous while serving some of the most influential and popular people in the world.

“It all sounds delicious, but I’m a creature of habit, so I think I’ll stick with my favorite Rose, the Billecart-Salmon. And I’ll also have water on the side.”

“Excellent choice, ma’am. Give me a moment and I’ll get those drinks out to you all,” he glanced at them all again before slipping away to the bar for the drinks.

Y/N watched him leave, a small smile on her face, before turning back to her friends. They eyed her ruefully with mischievous smiles. “What?” she asked.

“He’s cute,” Natasha commented, one eyebrow raised at her.

“Very cute. One could even say hot,” Clint added, watching Bucky walk back to the bar. “He’s got a great ass. Too bad he’s working here. He’d look divine in a Prada campaign.”

“You two stop it,” Y/N whispered, giving them a wide eyed glare. “Yes he’s cute.”

“You gonna go for it?” Natasha asked, her grin twisting into something conspiratorial.

“Oh do it! If you won’t, I’ll try my luck,” Clint shifted in his seat as he continued watching Bucky. “See if he goes both ways.”

Bucky was walking back with the drinks on a tray. Y/N narrowed her eyes and made the gesture for them to zip it.

“Alright, here are your drinks! Your waters, and the Sauvignon blanc for you,” he set it in front of Clint, “the Stella Artois for you,” he set it in front of Natasha, “and the Billecart-Salmon Rose for you.” He delicately set it in front of Y/N giving her another warm smile. She reciprocated it as she reached for her wine. She took a quick sip and her eyes fluttered shut.

“Perfect, thank you Bucky,” she said as she licked her lips.

Bucky’s eyes widened slightly before he caught himself. “Well, would you like to start with any appetizers? Or jump right into the good stuff?” he huffed a laugh.

“I’d like the lobster with the salad,” Clint ordered. “And could you make sure that the lobster is really big and thick. I like them meaty.”

Y/N’s eyes widened at him and his not-so-subtle innuendo. Bucky knew what he was doing and just let it slide, nodding in agreement. “I’ll put in a good word with the chef.”

Natasha next to him giggled before ordering. “I’ll just take the scallops and shrimp.”

Bucky nodded before turning to Y/N. “I’ll have the crab cakes and risotto, please.” He nodded again and gave her a smirk.

“My favorite,” he gave her a wink, making her blush. “I’ll get those in and come back to check on you all in a little bit,” he swept the table with a smile before walking back to the kitchen.

“Stop it, don’t embarrass him,” Y/N chastised Clint. “I’m sure he and the other servers get enough grief from creepy patrons all the time.”

“Oh it was just a little fun. Besides, he’s all eyes for you, honey, he barely even looked at me,” he shot back at her as he sipped his wine.

“It’s true,” Natasha said, then gave her an exaggerated wink. Y/N rolled her eyes. “I think you should ask him out. Or maybe he can be your next sugar baby.”

“Oh don’t bring that up again,” Y/N groaned. “It was a one time thing and ended badly. I just wanted to try it.”

“It ended badly because he was an ass, not because of anything you did. You gave him charity and he gave you an attitude. This guy seems sweet, nothing can hurt from just asking,” Natasha chided her, reaching out and pinching Y/N’s arm lightly.

Y/N considered her words. She had wanted to try out the lifestyle of being a sugar mama to a sugar baby. She had a lot of events to go to throughout the year, and as much as she enjoyed spending time with her friends and networking with people, she was getting really tired of these high-class, ridiculous men who thought that just by being famous or wealthy that she would throw herself at them. They wanted to use her for her name and connections. They never really cared about her. So she had tried being a sugar mama to a man who wasn’t famous, down on his luck, and just trying to get a leg up in life to escort her to these functions and give her companionship. But once he’d gotten his debts paid off by her and a taste of luxury he quickly became influenced by the rich douchebags around him and started treating Y/N disrespectfully, so much so that he’d made front page news of some tabloids and embarrassed her. She kicked him out after that and blacklisted him from any upcoming events. If there was one thing that she would never condone it was when others tried, directly or indirectly, to humiliate or embarrass her.

Bucky did seem nice, and very tired. The dark circles under his eyes and his shirt not being as ironed as some of the other servers were small giveaways that he was struggling. She didn’t want to embarrass him either by asking to be her sugar baby and assuming that he was struggling financially.

“He is very handsome,” she conceded, a larger smile spreading across her face.

Natasha squealed, clapping her hands joyfully. “Do it!”

The night dragged on as they ate their delicious meals and ordered more glasses of wine. Other patrons were clearing out as it got later and closer to closing time. As tired as Bucky was, doing his nightly closing duties quietly and discreetly so his table couldn’t see, he was banking on their tips. High end restaurants meant high end clients meant high end tips, and he had rent coming due next week. He packed on the compliments to Y/N and her friends, gave them warm and flirty smiles, offered complimentary items, and gave all his attention to them exclusively. Y/N had asked to compliment the chef and when he came out and talked to her table she whispered something to him that he quickly agreed to and jogged back to the kitchen. Bucky gave him a questioning glance but the chef waved him off.

Bucky watched carefully until he saw Y/N’s hand raise and her eyes searched for him. His cue for the check, which he quickly grabbed and brought it over to her. As he glanced at the insane price he noticed an extra meal that wasn’t supposed to be on there as he got to the table.

“Oh, I’m sorry Miss Y/L/N, there seems to be a mistake on the bill, I apologize, let me go–”

“No mistake, Bucky,” Y/N reassured him just as the chef came back out with a doggy box. He handed it to her and thanked her for coming. Y/N shook his hand and slipped something into it before he disappeared back to the kitchen wearing a rare smile. “Thank you,” she reached for the bill and slid her black American Express into the folder.

“Oh, alright, I’ll be right back then,” Bucky composed himself after the mini heart attack he just had from thinking the bill was wrong as he walked back to the stand to take her payment. Once everything was paid he brought back the folder, this time seeing her friends standing and putting on their coats while she stayed seated.

“Thank you, Bucky,” Natasha said his name seductively as she passed him. Clint gave him a little wave and a smirk as he left with her.

“Have a good night!” He called after them. He approached the table as Y/N was opening her wallet. “Here’s the receipt Miss Y/L/N. Thank you for coming in tonight.”

“No thank you for such excellent service, Bucky,” she complimented him as she took the folder again. “Will you sit with me for a moment?”

Bucky’s eyebrows raised and he glanced back at the bar. The manager, Pietro, and Wanda motioned to him to do as she asked. “Yes, of course,” Bucky accepted and sat himself in the chair across from her where Clint sat previously.

Her gaze flicked over him as she opened the folder, took the pen provided and filled out the parts of the receipt meant for her. She closed it and slid it over to Bucky who thanked her and placed it in front of himself.

“I have a proposition for you, Bucky. And please understand when I ask this that you are under no obligation to accept it and I don’t mean to embarrass you,” she started, looking a little nervous.

“Okay,” Bucky stated lamely as he watched her.

Y/N cleared her throat and put her fidgeting hands down in her lap. “I would like to offer you a type of job. As an escort, a sugar baby, to me.” Bucky’s eyes widened comically as he processed what she said. “I know it’s a strange request. But it’s something that I enjoy trying and it helps others…sometimes. I don’t want to assume anything of you, but I can tell when someone is struggling, and you look like life has not always been the easiest or kindest to you. I mean no offense.”

“None taken,” he replied automatically. “I…yes,” he looked down as he confessed to her. “It’s been, uh, rough, to say the least.”

“Hm,” Y/N hummed. She reached a finger out and pointed to the closed folder. She gestured for him to open it. He did and took a look over the receipt, nearly choking when he saw the amount on the tip line.

“No, no Miss Y/L/N, this is too much,” Bucky protested as he stared at the number.

“That’s what your service was worth. You are worth every cent, and more,” Y/N praised him. “You don’t have to decide tonight, Bucky, but in the meantime, here’s my card,” she slipped a business card over to him. “Think about it,” she said as she stood up. Bucky quickly stood up with her. Y/N stepped closer to him and reached for his hand. They shook hands and she leaned in and whispered to him, “By the way, you’re very handsome.” Bucky’s eyes bulged and he swallowed hard as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then turned and left. Bucky realized as he watched her leave that she had slipped something into his hand. He opened his hand to find a small folded wad of one hundred dollar bills in his palm. “Oh and that’s for you!” She called out and motioned towards the doggy box still sitting on the table. “Your favorite. Dinner’s on me,” she said and gave him a wink then twirled back around and out the door.

After she was out of the restaurant and beyond hearing Wanda and Pietro ran up to him. “How much did she give you?” Wanda squealed as she looked at the bills in his hand. He quickly counted it.

“$1000,” he whispered as he gawked at the money.

“Give me that,” Pietro demanded as he took the folder from Bucky. He opened it and gasped. “She gave you a $2500 card tip?? What did you do, Barnes, give her and everybody at her table a blow job?”

“Wow…I don’t know if I want to be her or be on her,” Wanda said wistfully as she looked back out the glass door where Y/N had already gotten into her car and drove off.

Bucky felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he stared at the bills, the $2500 floating around in his mind. He was not comprehending just how much she had given him. He looked at her business card again and knew he had to at least meet with her and find out what she was offering. But to become an actual sugar baby? To have a sugar mama? To have his debt disappear? To be taken care of? He smiled as his fingers touched where her lips had been.

**this picture has me SALIVATING. This is what I imagine sugar baby!Bucky to look like in this. Hope y'all like it!**

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes x reader #marvel #smut #sugarbaby!bucky barnes #sugarbaby #sugar mama #sugarmama!reader #chapter 1 #curvy reader #bucky barnes x curvy!reader

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callsign-dexter · 8 months

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Runaway

Summary: Buck gets into a fight with Baby Buckley-Diaz. She runs away to the only person (s) she trusts.

Pairings: Eddie Diaz x Daughter!Reader, Evan Buckley x Daughter!Reader, Eddie Diaz x Evan Buckley

Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing, twisted ankle, scarped knee, blood

Masterlist

The Firehouse Miracle

Honestly, it was a stupid petty fight that had Y/N running away from her house and to Atheha and Bobby. Some very hurtful things were said on both ends and Eddie was there trying to defuse the situation. Neither of the fathers thought their 10-year-old daughter would run away from home at 10 PM on a Friday.

Everyone was stressed for many different reasons. Chris wasn't but he's always in good spirits. Eddie was too but he tried to keep his cool for his kid's sake. Buck and Y/N are very similar in many ways than one can think even if they aren't biologically related. They got stressed easily and were the ones to show it more. Buck and Y/N both had a hot-tempered attitude. They also shared the same expressions and handled certain ways the same. Even though she was like Buck she was a lot like Eddie too. Eddie and his daughter could think quickly on their feet and they handled certain situations the same too but if it got too much then forget about it.

So when the fight broke out she tried to stay calm she really did but her temper was quickly rising. The fight was about how she wanted to go out to a friend's house, who was having a party. Both parents had said no but she really wanted to go so she kept pushing until it got too much and Buck exploded in anger and so did she.

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When they went and picked her up from school Friday afternoon is when the asking to go started. Both Eddie and Buck were already stressed from the all-day stressful calls they were getting. Chris had already been picked up from school by Carla and now they were picking her up. Eddie parked the truck as Buck got out and went into the school to get her.

He walked in and to the desk and the receptionist was already looking up and calling on her phone. They talked small talk and then she walked in.

"Hi, Daddy." She said and hugged him and he hugged her back embracing the warm and calming feeling she lets off.

"Hey, Baby. How was your day?" He asked as he let her go and shouldered her backpack.

"It was good! Jordan has a birthday party this weekend and I was wondering if I could go." She asked hopefully usually they let her go to things like that but they weren't feeling particularly well at the moment.

"I don't know, Baby. We'll have to see what your father says. I think we already made plans." He told her and watched her face fall.

"Oh ok." She said and they walked in silence to the black truck that is her other dad's. When they got there Buck helped her into the truck and buckled her up. Eddie looked at her face and noticed she wasn't her usually smiling self.

"Hey, Princesa. How was school?" He asked and she just shrugged her shoulders as Buck got into the passenger side of the truck. Eddie frowned "Everything ok?" He asked both of them. She was silent.

"Jordan is having a birthday this weekend at her house and I wanted to go." She said quietly looking down. Eddie sighed and looked at Buck and they seemed to have silent conversation with each other.

"Princesa, we have some things planned this weekend. You're not going to be able to go." He said calmly and she nodded and looked down. The question was dropped as they rode home. She knew not to test them but she really wanted to go but she dropped it for now and decided to ask again later, maybe they would forget that she asked beforehand.

When they got home everyone got out of the truck and walked inside. Chris greeted them happily and they all smiled. He was such a happy kid. Y/N sat at the table and started her homework, which wasn't much. Buck and Eddie were working on dinner since they got home around 5 PM and they usually eat supper at 6:30 PM.

"Papa, Daddy?" She asked addressing both of them.

"Yes, Princesa?" Eddie asked

"Yes, Baby?" Buck asked at the same time.

"Can I go to Jordan's birthday party?" She asked them and looked up and they sighed.

"We've already been over this, Princesa. We already have some plans for the weekend." Eddie said and she pouted but wasn't about to give up.

"Please?" She asked giving them puppy dog eyes. Buck's temper was slowly rising they'd already said no but her stubbornness, which she got from Buck, wasn't going to let her stop.

"No. End of discussion. Now clear the table dinner is ready." Buck said sternly. She groaned but did what she was told. She wasn't happy about it.

Dinner was tense and Chris could feel it and tried to make it less tense and it helped but it wasn't for very long. "Hey, Dad. What are we doing this weekend?" Chris asked.

"We have a firehouse event we have to attend to." Eddie said and that made Y/N frown.

"Do I have to go to it?" She asked really wanting to go to Jordan's birthday party.

"Yes, you have to. We already said everyone was going to be there." Buck said temper running high as they all finished their food and started collecting plates. It was dark now and had started raining. She followed them to the kitchen carrying her plate and sat it on the counter.

"But daddy." She began pouting and Buck looked at her.

"No means no Y/N. You're not going and that's final." He said turning around. Eddie was getting mad that she kept asking but why have both parents fight? It would just cause more tension.

"You always say no though." She said temper rising.

"You're not going and that is final." Buck said turning around to look at her.

"Please." She tried pleading one more time and saw the look on his face. "You never let me have fun." She said crossing her arms.

"We're trying to keep you safe. We've seen how crazy parties get." Buck said while wiping down dishes and putting them in the drying rack.

"So? It won't happen there." She said starting to get sassy.

"You don't know that. You're not going and that is final. Now get ready for bed." Buck said.

"Papa." She said whining. He knew he was going to get roped into this he calmly turned to her.

"Princesa, you can't go. We've already made plans for the firehouse event." Eddie said

"It's only one event I'll be missing. It's not a big deal." She said angrily.

"Yes it is a big. We told you no and that's final. Now stop asking." Buck butted in and that's when her temper exploded.

"I hate you." She said turning to walk away.

"Yea well, I hate you right now too." Buck said and she stopped and tears filled her eyes.

"Buck." Eddie said not mad anymore at her but at him. She turned to them and said something that would crush any parents heart.

"I wish I wasn't born. I wish you would've just let me die in that car accident." She said. They never kept her from the truth when she asked why she didn't have a mother.

"Yea? So do I. Right now you're acting like a little spoiled brat." Buck said out of anger. Eddie looked at him shocked and then anger.

"Evan Buckley." He said and then turned towards their daughter.

"Princesa, he didn't mean it." Walking over to her but she was already out the door and taking off running. He turned towards Buck. "If she gets hurt and worse. It's on you." He said Buck had a look of regret on his face.

"I didn't mean it but she was acting out." Buck said now starting to worry.

"I get that but so were you. I get that we are stressed but we never ever take it out on our children. We made that promise." Eddie said angrily.

"I know ok. I know. I didn't mean it. It was stupid. I wish I could take it back." Buck said just as Chris walked into the room.

"What's going on?" He asked

"Y/N and Buck had a fight and she took off. Are you ok here alone while we go look for her?" Eddie said and Chris nodded.

"Yes. Bring my sister back home." He said and Eddie nodded and then looked at Buck.

"Are you coming?" He said a little irritated at him.

"Yes of course. Why wouldn't I?" He asked.

"I don't know Buck maybe because you did say you wished she wasn't born or that wished that we didn't save her. Start calling her friends and we'll go to some of their houses." Eddie said and Buck nodded doing just that he didn't say a word. The words he said hit him like a ton of bricks.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

When Y/N had run out of the house she didn't think about grabbing a rain jacket. She just took off. She had turned off her tracker. While she was running she had slipped on the wet asphalt and twisted her ankle when she slammed into a stop sign cutting her.

When she was far enough away from the house she called her Aunt Maddie and Uncle Chimney. She was hoping they were home.

"Hello?" Maddie asked tiredly

"Aunt Maddie." Y/N began crying

"Honey, are you ok?" She asked

"I'm sorry for bothering you. It sounds like I woke you up." Y/N said, "I'll let you go." She finished.

"No Honey. Where are you it sounds like it's raining." She said

"Dad and I fought. I ran away. Are you home?" She asked and she heard her sigh.

"No, Honey. We're not. We took a little trip out of the city." Maddie said.

"Are you ok?" Chimney asked the youngest Buckley-Diaz.

"No. I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll leave you guys alone. I love you." Y/N said sniffling.

"Y/N/N wait." Maddie began but Y/N had already ended the call.

She started to limp off in the direction of another house she knew the way to very well. She went off onto a beaten path and as she was climbing a hill she slipped and got mud all over her while twisting her knee in the process and she just started crying harder.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Buck and Eddie had stopped at Y/N's best friend's, Liz, house. They parked the car and went up to the door and knocked. They waited for a second until it opened.

"Hey Eddie, Buck. What can I do for you?" Mrs. Waters asked.

"Y/N and I had a fight and ran out. We were wondering if she came here." Buck said

"No. I'm sorry. If she does turn up I'll give you a call." She said and they nodded.

"Thank you. We appreciate it. Sorry to bother you." Eddie said

"It's not a problem. Have a goodnight boys." She said

"You too." Buck said and they walked off and got into the truck and headed off. Eddie pulled off the side of the road and they began talking.

"Ok so she's not there or any other of her friends. Maddie is out of town. Do you think she would go to Hen?" Buck asked

"It's worth a shot." Eddie said and so they took towards her place. They drove to Hen's place and parked in her driveway. They walked up and knocked on the door. It didn't take long for her and Karen to answer the door.

"Eddie? Buck? Everything ok?" She asked

"No Buck and and Y/N fought some words were said and she took off. We've been trying to find her. Thought she would come here." Eddie said.

"Why don't you come in and we'll figure this out together." Karen said worried for the couple and their daughter. They walked in and sat down on the couch and they began trying to figure it out.

As they sat down Buck had gotten a call from his very angry sister. He got up and walked into the kitchen away from the others for privacy.

"Evan Buckley, explain to me why my niece calls me crying and what sounded like she was standing out in the pouring rain. You know how she deals with stress. She's too much like you." Maddie said any tiredness gone from her voice.

"Maddie it was a big misunderstanding. We had a fight and somethings were said." Buck said trying to justify himself.

"Why was so in the pouring rain?" She asked at the same time as Chimney asked the same question.

"She ran away and we can't find her." Buck said

"You better find her." She said and hung up.

Buck walked back into the living room "Maddie and Chim just chewed me out."

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

When Y/N reached Athena and Bobby's she soaking wet and shivering. She was also limping and bleeding. She had year tracks going down her face but you could hardly tell with the rain. She limped her way to the door and rang the doorbell. She waited and waited she turned around and was about to limp her way back home when the door opened.

"Y/N?" Bobby said and she turned around but almost fell. He was in his sleepwear.

"I didn't know where else to go." She said and started sobbing. He looked her over and noticed some bleeding from under her right eyebrow and running into her eye.

"Come on get out of the rain." He said and helped her into the house and down the stairs. About that time Athena had walked in.

"Bobby? What's going on?" She asked but then saw him with her. "What happened, Sweetheart?" She asked coming over to the young girl. They guided her to the couch and sat her down.

"Dad and I fought he said that he wished that you guys never saved me. I also said that I wished I was never born." She said and they looked at her.

"What brought this on?" Bobby asked

"I wanted to go to Jordan's birthday party this weekend but Papa and Dad said that we already had plans. Plans for an event for the firehouse. They said I wasn't allowed to miss it." She said taking a breath "So I ran away. I tried to call Maddie and Chim but they went out of the city. I slipped on the asphalt and hit a stop sign and twisted my ankle. Then as I was climbing a hill I slipped and fell in the mud and hurt my knee." She finished with fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I take they don't know you're here." Bobby said and she shook her head.

"No." She said quietly

"I'm gonna go get you some dry clothes and then we're going to clean you up and check out that ankle and knee." Athena said and went into May's room and got some clothes she left that she didn't want or fit into then came out. Athena helped her change and then went out to where Bobby had the first aid kit.

Bobby started dabbing at the cut and she flinched but didn't make a sound. Athena took your clothes and threw them in the washer. "You know we're going to have to call them right?" He asked her and she nodded. "Well, good news is that you don't need stitches." He said and then went on examining her knee and ankle, which were both swollen. "Looks to be just twisted and sprained." He said and she nodded and yawned.

"Why don't you lay down on the couch and we'll call your parents." Athena said and Y/N nodded and laid down. Bobby threw a blanket over her. They walked into the kitchen and talked in a hushed whisper. Bobby got his phone out and called Eddie.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Eddie and Buck were still at Hen's and Karen's. "We tried her friends. We went to her favorite places. We can't find her anywhere." Eddie said.

"She couldn't have gone far. Do you have the find my family app?" Karen asked and they nodded.

"But she turned it off." Buck said and before anyone could speak Eddie's phone rang.

"Hey its Bobby." He said confused

"Hey, Bobby. What's up" Eddie asked

"Y/N showed up at our place soaking wet, shivering, covered in mud, sprained ankle, a twisted knee, and cut above her right eyebrow. She said that her and Buck got into a fight." He said and Eddie sighed and put him on speaker.

"She's telling the truth. She ran away when some hurtful things were said on both sides.

"She's sleeping on the couch as we speak. Athena is with her." Bobby said.

"Thank you, Bobby. We're on our way." Eddie said

"Be safe, it is still pouring down rain." Bobby said

"We will be." Eddie said and they hung up.

Buck and Eddie bid Karen and Hen a goodbye and they gave each other a hug and they were on their way to get their little girl.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

When Eddie and Buck got to Bobby's and Athena's it had stopped raining. Eddie parked the truck and they walked to the door at 10 PM. Buck knocked on the door and Bobby answered the door. He let them in and took them to Y/N. Their hearts broke at the sight of their little girl, she was curled up and looking so small.

"She's ok. She doesn't need stitches. Her clothes are in the washer. I'll bring them to our next shift." Bobby said and they nodded and he walked away letting them deal with their little girl. Athena got up and joined her husband. They bent down in front of her and Eddie ran a hand on top of her head. She slowly stirred and opened her eyes.

"Papa?" She asked and he nodded and then she looked over at Buck and tensed and her eyes went wide and she sat up.

"Hey it's ok." Buck said and reached out to put a hair behind her ears. "Y/N, I'm sorry I said those things. I didn't mean it. You're one of the best things to happen to me. I love you with all of my heart. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Buck said and she relaxed and looked at him.

"I'm sorry too for running out and saying I hate you." She said in a small voice.

"Are you ready to go home?" Eddie asked and she nodded.

"Yea." She said with a yawn. Bobby and Athena walked in.

"Thank you guys." Buck said standing up at the same time as Eddie.

"Anytime guys. Y/N get better soon." Bobby said and she nodded and tried to stand up but winced.

"I'll carry you." Buck said and picked her up and she snuggled into him. Eddie opened the door for them all and they walked out. Eddie opened the passenger side of the truck and Buck gently put her in.

Eddie and Buck got in and started their drive back home. While at a stoplight they looked back and saw Y/N asleep. They smiled at their little girl. Yes hurtful things were said and she may have ran away but she ran to people she trusted. Running away was not the smartest but it was in the heat of the moement.

They got home and but got her out of the truck once it was parked and they headed inside Chris was already in bed and asleep. "I'll go tuck her in." Buck said and Eddie nodded. When he didn't come back after 5 minutes he went and looked in on them. What he found was Buck cuddling their little girl fast asleep and her gripping his shirt like her life depended on it. He walked in and planted a kiss on both of their foreheads

"Goodnight you two. I love you both." He said and covered them up and left the room. He went to check on Chris who woke up when his door cracked.

"Did you find Y/N?" He asked sleepily and Eddie nodded smiling. He walked into the room and sat on his bed.

"We did. She and Buck are fast asleep in her room. Go back to sleep bud." Eddie said to him and he nodded and rolled over and went to sleep. He kissed his forehead and left the room.

Eddie got ready for bed. He didn't like sleeping alone but knew that Buck needed this and let them be. They were both stressed and it could've been handled better but everyone was safe. Their safety is all that he cared about as he rolled over and went to sleep. Their family was complete again and nothing was going to change that.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 5 months

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Am I the AH for refusing to be friends with someone who flat out hated me?

From ages 22-26 I was friends with R 29-33. R had only worked once in her life which was mcdonalds for 3 months to buy anime merchandise her grandma didn't want to buy her. R's grandma is in her late 80's now just for reference. R's granny had married a rich military dude who was on his 3rd marriage or so then died, so she got all his assets which included like 5 houses, 3 were being rented out which is how she'd get her income. So R never worked and just sat at home getting into internet fights. My friend had invited her into our discord and I'd be civil with her despite knowing how shes been with others. I was working full time for shit pay and going to school full time too. R was very, idk how else to say it, but she always demanded our attention. The other people in the server were 5 from ages from 16-22, we never used how much older she was against her, but she really didn't acknowledge or respect alot of us were in school. Many times we'd had to tell her to step back and set boundaries with us. It did result in people leaving the server. So, in summer of 2019 R decided to go to college. She got alot of financial aid and said her goal was to become a therapist cause she was everyone's "mom". That stuff wasn't even remotely true, she was always a total bitch to everyone. R unfortunately didn't understand that going to school means having to put the work in. She was more interested in spending the financial aid on gacha, anime merch, and other stuff. She lost her financial aid after the spring semester of 2020, and refused to talk to her school about the pandemic stress and other shit. During this time, she tried making me do her assignments and I kept saying no or only helped a little. I had my own assignments, school, and I was stressed. Well, when she lost her financial aid due to academic probation, she blamed me. When the pandemic hit my school did this thing where you'd get partially refunded your semester depending on how you did. I was so thankful for that since I barely scraped by to pay for school. R was so fucking nasty about it. I didn't tell my friends that to gloat, I actually said that before she lost her financial aid. She said I didn't deserve it, cause people like her struggled more. Which is fucking weird since I'm a first gen POC and made a few bucks above minimum wage where I live. I didn't even enjoy my time at school cause of the stress and never having money. So she kept harassing me for getting government aid. I wasn't eligible for financial aid! My parents weren't even eligible for food stamps and we always fucking struggled. But I didn't deserve help, who cares if R is a cis white woman in her 30's that only worked once for a few months, she has it harder. Then R left our server when the pandemic started getting nastier, alot of us struggled but we stayed close in the discord. Then one day I reached out to R in late 2021 to say happy birthday and she said "whose this? New phone." I was hurt she didn't keep my number, but whatever. In 2022 she reached out to me for gossip cause I broke up with someone. Then now in 2023 she reached out cause she wants resources to be a vtuber. I'm sorry, she was shitty to me, I've been struggling, and she reaches out for that? Idk even know how I'd be able to help her with that. I told a friend from our old server and she told me how she had been doing R's assignments for school, but stopped cause she was getting stressed cause she had her capstone class that semester. So wow. R basically didn't do shit for school and gets pissy i get some financial relief. I then had another mutual friend tell me how R had told them she sent me a gift and I didn't send her one, one year. Uh? I tried. I ordered something online for her, and the company sold out, but kept my shit on back order. So R got it like a month late, it was a Christmas gift and I explained it to her, sent her screenshot of when i placed the order and sent her an Amazon gift card as an apology. So she bad mouths me for something out of my control?

I've been getting "hey" messages from R lately, and idk. I'm so done with her.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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thecinematichorse · 4 months

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As we all know, many horse films produced by Hollywood are poorly done and riddled with inaccuracies in terms of how horses should be properly ridden and handled. Evidently Redford was determined to not let this happen with The Horse Whisperer because he recruited two of the best trainers in the horse business, Buck Brannaman and Rex Peterson, to help with the film. Buck, who lives near Sheridan, Wyo., ranks as one of the very best equine clinicians today and could certainly be called a horse whisperer. In fact, author Nicholas Evans spent a great deal of time with Buck while researching horse behavior and horse handling for the book. Evans, who lives in England, also visited with Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance.

More on the Horses

In THW, four horses are used for the role of Pilgrim, Grace’s horse who becomes so dangerous after the accident. Rex Peterson owns the three horses – High Tower, Cash, and Maverick- who play the traumatized Pilgrim who rears, strikes, and bites at anyone approaching him. One of Buck Brannaman’s horses, a registered Thoroughbred gelding named Kentucky Pet, is the “gentle” Pilgrim.

Rex Peterson provided three of what he refers to as “fighting” horses. On cue, such a horse rears, charges, paws, or bites … whatever the scene calls for. Rex’s No. 1 fighting horse is the 14-year-old gelding High Tower. A race-bred Quarter Horse, High Tower is not registered because he was a catch colt, the result of a teaser stallion getting loose one night and breeding an expensive mare. Rex bought High Tower years ago and has used him as a ranch and movie horse and for dressage, open jumping, driving, team penning, and roping wild bulls. “It’s easier to tell what we haven’t done with him,” Rex grinned. For this movie, High Tower’s greatest attribute is the ability to instantly “fight” on cue and instantly shut off on cue. He can be likened to a police K-9 dog who charges after a bad guy on cue but stops dead in his tracks when so ordered. Rex said teaching a horse to fight is easy. “It’s teaching him to stop when you tell him that’s the hard part.” High Tower excels at this, and Rex said, “I’m not afraid to let him get right in your face because he’ll quit when I tell him.” With that said, Rex gave me a personal demonstration. I stood next to him, and High Tower was about 10 feet away when Rex cued him to charge. Even though I trusted Rex, I instinctively jumped back when this 1,200-pound horse suddenly thundered toward us. But right on cue, High Tower stopped inches away from where I had been standing. Because High Tower is so honest and responds instantly to cues, he was the horse Rex always used when Redford was between them. In other words, when Pilgrim was charging Redford, Rex stood behind Redford, off camera, cueing the horse. Rex trusted High Tower to stop before freight-training the star. What’s really amazing is how quickly High Tower turns off his “anger.” After charging, attacking, or doing a biting scene, he stands calmly and quietly as if he’d been munching hay. Rex’s No.2 and 3 horses are not that way. Says Rex: “It takes about 30 minutes for the No.2 horse (Cash) to turn it off and forget it. The No. 3 horse (Maverick) … well, a fight scene is no game with him. We have to be ultra-careful with him.” Both Cash and Maverick have racing Quarter Horse bloodlines. Mike Boyle, Rex’s brother-in-law, was the head wrangler for the movie. He told me that shooting in the stall, in Connecticut where Pilgrim was confined after the accident, was extremely difficult. First of all, the horse playing Pilgrim bad to be very disinterested because he didn’t like people, he had no human friends, and he was in bad condition. He’s all to himself and doesn’t want anything to do with people or other horses. He stands off in a corner until feed is thrown into the stall. Then he has to come up like a wild horse.” Shooting a fight scene in that stall was complicated because the stall was so tight and because the horse had to express just the right attitude, then charge. Added Mike, ” It took days to get it, then we had to reshoot due to some lighting problems. So we brought the ‘detention stall’ to Montana to set up and do it all over again. We finally got a great fighting scene.”

Another equine star not mentioned yet is Buck Brannaman ‘s Rambo, who plays the role of Rimrock, Tom Booker’s No. 1 horse. Rambo, registered with the AQHA as Rambo Roman, is by True Roman, a descendant of Fair Truckle (TB). Buck has owned the 10-year-old Rambo for 5 years. Buck first saw the bay when he was brought to one of Buck’s clinics as a 3-year-old for starting under saddle. Buck’s wife, Mary, describes Rambo as being extremely sensitive to the rider, operating off featherlight cues. But Mary added that Rambo seems to adjust to other riders less skilled than Buck. That includes most of the rest of us.

#the horse whisperer #behind the scenes

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canonicallyobserving911 · 1 year

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Buck & Eddie: Maddie sees Evan and Eddie sees Buck

In addition to the couches, hearts and water metaphors that were included in 6x12, there were others that revolved around who Buck has, is and will continue to go to for comfort and reassurance in the future. The differences between the ways Maddie and Eddie were there for Buck were VERY LOUD. They’re the two most important people in his life and both of them know Evan the child who was emotionally neglected by his parents and Buck the firefighter who has grown into a 30-year-old man. Even though Maddie and Eddie were wearing the same color shirts (her work shirt and Eddie’s t-shirt were both burgundy) the issue was Maddie still sees her baby brother Evan and she’s still trying to fix things for him the way she did when they were younger. Eddie sees Buck the man who is his soulmate, his life partner, his future husband, the love of his life, the man who’s already a great second dad to Chris and he sees Buck the family man too. They help him in different ways but in 6x12 Buck’s interactions with them illustrated how those dynamics are changing and the way they will look in the future after Buck and Eddie become a CANON couple.

Before 5x18 “Starting Over”, Buck went to Maddie to talk about his feelings the same way he did when he was little and most times their conversations would be followed by a conversation Buck had with Eddie. If Buck was upset with Maddie or if she wasn’t there, he talked to Eddie first like he did in 4x4 “9-1-1 What’s Your Grievance?”, 4x5 “Buck Begins” and 5x4 “Home and Away” but when he felt like he couldn’t talk to either of them about his feelings, like he did in 4x2 “Alone Together”, he searched for a therapist and he found Dr. Copeland. He told Dr. Copeland he thought she was right when she said he hides his true feelings from others and it’s been speculated he was talking about Eddie when he said it but it hasn’t been confirmed in CANON yet who he was talking about.

Maddie invited herself to Buck’s loft but Buck went to Eddie’s house

Even though Maddie invited herself over to Buck’s loft with groceries at the beginning of the episode, Buck chose to go to Eddie’s house to talk to him about the way he was feeling. While Maddie stocked his refrigerator with groceries, he told her that she knows he lives alone but she told him he was supposed to be taking it easy and letting his body heal. Her intentions were good but she was still trying to fix things for Evan like she did when he was 5 years old. When he tried to tell her that he was fine, she wouldn’t listen.

When Eddie opened the door, Buck immediately said, “Don’t ask me how I’m feeling” and Eddie responded, “Ok.” He let Buck get situated on their family’s couch and then he asked Buck if he wanted a beer. Buck said more than one and Eddie went into the kitchen and grabbed two beers from the refrigerator. The difference is Eddie listened and he didn’t push Buck but Maddie wasn’t listening because she wanted Buck to know how him almost dying made her feel. Eddie knows Buck can take care of himself, he listens to him, he knows Buck will talk when he’s ready and it’s one of the many things’ Buck loves about Eddie.

Eventually Buck did go to Maddie’s house but as soon as she opened the door, he told her to stop trying to fix him. This is important because now Buck is CHOOSING his family, Eddie/future husband and Chris/their son. Going forward Maddie won’t be the person he turns to for help anymore and she will no longer be the person he talks to about his feelings because that’s Eddie’s role now.

Maddie’s “Buck… you died!” vs. Eddie’s “You died Buck.”

After Buck raised his voice and said, “Maddie! I’m fine!”, she turned around and said, “Buck… you died! Ok and not almost… you actually died”. Maddie’s tone showed she was scared for him but it also illustrated how she was adamant about making things easier for him even when he told her he didn’t need her help and that’s what caused him to become annoyed.

Eddie asked Buck if he was allowed to ask how he was doing and Buck responded that he really didn’t know. Then Eddie quietly said, “You died Buck” but it was pained and filled with a quiet panic but Buck listened and hung onto Eddie’s every word. In that moment Buck needed a life partner who supports him in a way only Eddie can. Eddie knows Buck’s heart and he knows Buck wasn’t being reckless when he got hurt. It happened and there wasn’t anything either one of them could do to stop it.

Maddie’s pot roast vs. Eddie’s soul food

Maddie cooked a pot roast and even though Buck said it smelled good and he would maybe have it for lunch, it wasn’t what he needed. He did eat some of it and it’s debatable if the only reason why he did was because Hen stopped by but he still felt emotionally empty after they ate. His feelings of emptiness were further shown when Hen asked him about his cardiologist and he said he just wanted her to tell him if his heart was fine or not fine. Then he said he felt fine before he got struck by lightning too which proves he wasn’t fine before or after he got struck. He’s still searching for someone and he knows who it is.

After Buck woke up, Eddie allowed him the time and the space he needed to ask for what he wanted. Buck asked for some water but he wasn’t shown eating any food. The reason for that is because Buck’s heart and soul needed to be fed and only Eddie could provide him with that type of emotional meal. After he drank the water, he immediately asked Eddie about the way he felt when he got shot and Eddie explained the pain along with the way he didn’t see any white lights or trippy mind puzzles. Even though Eddie was preparing Chris’ lunch for the next day, Buck didn’t ask him for a sandwich, potato chips or anything. He allowed Eddie’s words to fill all the empty spaces in his heart, mind and soul as he feasted on the words Eddie spoke.

Maddie’s “When I was sick, I felt so alone” vs. Eddie’s “Now am I allowed to ask you how you are?”

Maddie told Buck about her trauma to make him talk to her at the end of the episode but Buck asked Eddie about the trauma he experienced when he got shot. This is important because it illustrated the difference in Maddie’s and Eddie’s roles and the way their dynamics are changing. Maddie assumed she knew what Buck needed and organized everything without talking to him about it. This is the way she reacted when he was younger but he’s a grown man now.

Eddie did the exact opposite of what Maddie did. He waited until Buck came home and he let Buck come to him instead of trying to force him to talk. His approach worked for Buck because it gave him the chance to be vulnerable and Eddie’s words gave him the solace he needed in that moment since he realized it was ok if he didn’t know how he was feeling. Eddie didn’t tell him how he felt when he got shot until Buck asked him about it. That’s another difference between the way Maddie handled the situation when compared to the way Eddie handled it.

When Buck went to Maddie’s house, she said, “I’m just trying to help you” but she never considered giving him the chance to ask for her help. Buck has to do this for himself and that’s been the plot of his arc for the entirety of season 6. In 6x1 “Let the Games Begin”, Eddie told him he could have bought a couch (had a relationship) by now and Buck said he didn’t want to make the same mistakes again, so Eddie stepped back and started waiting to give Buck the room he needs to figure some things out. Also, Bobby told him after he took inventory of his life, he would know when he’s at ease. After Lev died in 6x2 “Crash and Learn”, Hen told him there were some answers he had to find for himself. In 6x4 “Animal Instincts” Buck told Maddie about the way he met new people and went different places before he arrived in L.A. but when she asked him what he was searching for now, he told her he didn’t know. She didn’t tell him he needed to find the answers for himself like everyone else did. Therefore, Maddie trying to help is making everything harder for him because it’s not giving him the chance to figure things out on his own. She meant well and of course she was trying to take care of him the same way she used to when they were kids but she’s not who he needs and she can’t give him what he needs, only Eddie can do that. The change in the person Buck seeks now for comfort wasn’t SUBTLE and the comparisons between Maddie and Eddie were GLARING.

Buck is in the process of choosing his family and even though Eddie and Buck both work for the LAFD, the family they’ve built together is separate from the 118. In 3x11 “Seize the Day”, while everyone was at Eddie’s house, Eddie told Chimney the 118 was the family they chose but after he said it, the camera panned to Buck and Chris while they were sitting on the couch together.

Then Buck went into the kitchen and told Maddie “This is Eddie’s house I’m not really a guest” after she told him people bring food whenever someone invites them to their home. She was explaining a customary tradition to him but his response to her was that Eddie’s house is his house too. At the time she was still the person he went to first to talk about his feelings like he did in 3x16 “The One that Got Away” but a quick reminder is when they had that conversation about him being left behind, Eddie had already changed his will to prepare for their future together.

In 3x14 “The Taking of Dispatch”, Sue said, “I thought you’d be over there with your sister” and Buck said, “She already has everything she needs” because she was over there with Chimney who is her life partner. Therefore, Maddie might tell Bobby in 6x18 “Pay if Forward” or some future episode that Buck has everything he needs when she sees him with Eddie. It’s also likely Chimney will be the one to tell Maddie something similar to what Eddie told Buck in 5x4 “Home and Away” about the way she doesn’t know Buck the way Eddie knows him. When she looks at Buck, she sees her baby brother who needed her to take care of all his bruises and injuries but she can’t do that anymore because Eddie and Buck will be life partners like her and Chimney and they’re going to spend the rest of their lives together.

Maddie can’t give Buck what he needs because she doesn’t know him like Eddie knows him. Eddie is there for Buck as his partner/soulmate/love of his life/protector/husband basically his everything while Maddie has been and will continue to be there as his sister. Her role as his sister will never change but Eddie’s role is transitioning from work partner to life partner which means Buck will go to his husband instead of his sister when he needs to talk about anything. Of course, Maddie still wants to protect him BUT THAT’S NOT HER ROLE ANYMORE, IT’S EDDIE’S. Eddie’s legal name, Edmundo means protector and he not only protects Buck, he’s in love with him and he’s Buck’s forever.

Eddie’s and Maddie’s roles in Buck’s life are changing now and it’s possible Maddie may be feeling some type of way about it but since she and Eddie DON’T COMMUNICATE IN CANON the audience will have to wait and see how their dynamic continues to change and evolve with regards to Buck.

Will Buck be the one to tell Maddie he has everything he needs in Eddie or will Chimney be the one to enlighten her the same way Eddie enlightened Buck in 5x4? Only the showrunners, writers and producers know the answer to that question.

#buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #maddie buckley #911 fox #911 on fox #911onfox #911 speculation #911 meta #911 s6 #911 season 6 #911 season 6 speculation #911

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handeaux · 2 months

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Wendell P. Dabney’s Lifelong Efforts To Preserve The History Of Black Cincinnati

Anyone who studies Cincinnati’s history owes a debt of gratitude to Wendell Phillips Dabney. Nearly one hundred years ago, Dabney published one of the most important books ever written about the Queen City.

“Cincinnati’s Colored Citizens” appeared in 1926 and is still essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the rich history of our city. At a time when Black people faced unrelenting persecution and segregation, Dabney compiled an exhaustive and almost encyclopedic record of African Americans in Cincinnati. His book highlights the accomplishments and points of pride of a thriving community derided and stereotyped by the majority power structure.

On page after page, Dabney documented hundreds of Black citizens raising respectable families, owning solid and profitable businesses and residing in homes better than those occupied by many of Cincinnati’s white residents. He demonstrated that Black professionals thrived in Cincinnati despite legal and societal prejudice, and he showcased charitable institutions created, constructed and funded by Black generosity, including an orphanage, social clubs, churches, schools and homes for the elderly. Almost a century later, Dabney’s book is the only available source for information about Black Cincinnatians before the civil rights era.

Dabney promoted his personal political agenda through his own newspapers. Dabney’s were Cincinnati’s first newspapers aimed at an African American audience. He published the inaugural issue of The Ohio Enterprise in 1902, changed the name of the paper in 1907 to The Union, and single-handedly published that paper until his death in 1952.

A big fan of Dabney’s was Alfred Segal, the Cincinnati Post writer known by his byline as “Cincinnatus.” Segal often shared items from Dabney’s columns with his own readers. According to Segal [27 August 1950], The Union was less a news medium and more of a lectern for the irrepressible Dabney:

“It hasn’t been really a newspaper in the sense of handing out the latest news; it has been more of a reflection of Wendell P. Dabney himself and how he thinks and feels about everything. It is a paper for colored citizens but many white ones read it just to get the flash of Mr. Dabney’s mordant humor.”

While it is true that his newspaper published many wry examples of the editor’s humor, Dabney was an untiring opponent of segregation. For much of Dabney’s life, integration was a controversial position among Blacks as well as whites. Many in the Black community believed that segregated schools, hospitals and other institutions provided protective environments for African Americans. Dabney would have none of it. He wrote [30 December 1922]:

“This drawing of the color line in public institutions and establishment of ‘jim crowism’ is largely done by Negroes themselves, either through ignorance or desire for money. Civic rights legally belong to all citizens. Segregation of people is not necessary to fit them for civic duties. We have here and in other cities, colored people in nearly every profession and department of public life. ‘The Caste System’ has never done anything but degrade.”

Dabney’s health began to fail as he reached his eightieth birthday in 1945 and made noises that he would soon give up publishing The Union, but soldiered on. Soon after achieving that eight-decade milestone, Dabney hopped up from his sickbed and demonstrated that he was still capable of the old buck and wing as well as some clog dances. A celebration of Dabney’s 84th birthday in 1949 attracted more than 350 guests. The Union maintained its weekly publishing schedule until Dabney died in 1952. In an obituary of sorts, Al Segal of the Post [4 June 1952] observed:

“He never made any money out of being a publisher; it was pay-off enough for him to hear people laughing with him.”

Wendell Dabney was born in Richmond, Virginia just after the South surrendered in defeat to end the Civil War. His parents, John M. Dabney and Elizabeth Foster Dabney, had been enslaved but built a successful catering business after achieving freedom.

Dabney graduated high school in Richmond and began appearing on stage, sometimes with tap-dance legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, a childhood companion. He later attended Oberlin College in Ohio and performed in that school’s orchestra.

After teaching for a couple of years in Virginia, Dabney relocated to Cincinnati to manage property inherited by his mother, including the Dumas House, the only Cincinnati hotel that accepted Black guests.

Intending to stay in Cincinnati only long enough to stabilize his mother’s properties, Dabney was introduced to a young widow with two children, Nellie Foster Jackson. They married in 1897 and Dabney credited Nellie with his later accomplishments. In Cincinnati’s Colored Citizens, he wrote about her:

“The loyalty and courage of his wife through twenty-five years of storm and stress engendered that domestic harmony and inspiration to which whatever success he may have attained is indebted.”

Dabney integrated himself into Cincinnati’s social and political fabric and excelled at several endeavors. He was an accomplished musician who composed and published songs and melodies and offered lessons through Cincinnati’s Wurlitzer emporium. He published a biography of his friend, Maggie L. Walker, the first African American woman to charter a bank and the first African American woman to serve as a bank president. Dabney was the first president of the Cincinnati chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was, for many years, a stalwart in the local Republican organization. With the rise of the progressive Charter Committee in the 1920s, Dabney switched his allegiance to that organization.

For 26 years, he served as paymaster for the City of Cincinnati. Dabney noted dryly that, although he had been entrusted with dispersing a total of $80 million over the course of his career, his personal salary was only $150 a month. Such was the nature of political appointments under George Barnsdale “Boss” Cox. As founder and leader of the Douglass League of Negro Republicans, Dabney was an essential factor in getting out the Black vote. The Cox machine rewarded key influencers like Dabney with spots at City Hall.

#wendell dabney #wendell p. dabney #the union #black history #cincinnati's colored citizens

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horce-divorce · 2 months

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I think that anon belied a common misconception among many well-meaning people, too, that is actually worth addressing, wrt my donation posts: I DONT usually get money from strangers, and I DONT put those posts up with any expectations at all! Sometimes they don't work! Sometimes we get nothing for weeks on end, or just $5 here and there, and we go a month without everything that we need, and we make do with what we can find anyway.

But the thing is, when I do put up a post and I ask for money, I'm NOT asking strangers. I have a TON of connections near & far that I talk to online. I'm putting out a call to all of my friends, giving them an update, and saying, "hey if any of you is better off right now, we could use a hand!" often my friends are no better off than me, and they can't help. that's fine! Its hard times for everyone! that's why I know they don't begrudge me for asking.

In fact, a lot of my friends send me money WITHOUT me asking!! one of my IRL friends has learned to recognize when I need more help and I'm playing it down. They gave me $60 just recently, after I waffled for hours about taking their money, and finally told them I could get by the rest of the week on $30-50. Another friend, someone I've known since we were toddlers, sent me $80 out of the blue several months ago just bc she missed us and was thinking of us, and she had a little extra. Last time we talked to her, I mentioned how our food stamps got cut, & we'd be out for another week. She venmo'd me $30 labeled "pizza tears" before we even got off the phone (which I think was hilarious fwiw). A different friend recently heard that Bel and I wanted to go on a date to taco bell, and when I said we could do it for under $20, she gave me $50 and said "make sure you get the cinnabons!!!" Another friend bought me winter boots and socks this year as soon as i said i didnt have any- THE best, warmest, cosiest socks I've ever owned. Last year, one (1) of my tumblr mutuals covered my ENTIRE cost of post-op care for top surgery. I said "I'll probably need $$$" and they covered all of it! That same person has bought me groceries, meds, and gas on many other occasions, too. All of these people are folks I've known for years either thru tumblr or IRL.

Very occasionally, it's a newer mutual or even a stranger. One time, when I was still on Twitter and very early in my transition, I said something about how gender affirming my old high school Chuck Taylor's were and how I missed them so. My mutual from another COUNTRY immediately sent me $60 for gender affirming Chuck Taylor's. I haven't spoken to that person since Twitter went south, sadly. If youre still out there, I named my shoes after you, Bergamot & Jones, and I think of you every time I step outside. Another time, a guy who wasn't even my mutual sent me a bunch of binders and boxers for free. Sometimes even my old coworkers from my mall days pop up out of the woodwork and send me 20 bucks or something.

I have more stories like this. Not even just about money. Like that guy who saw me pop a flat tire in the mall parking lot and insisted on changing it for me.

I actually also never feel guilty about asking for what I need, or accepting it, and you shouldn't either. I don't like this idea that you need to grovel and be exactly This self-flagellating and full of hatred and remorse to ride and earn one (1) morsel of kindness. What do I look like, a Catholic? You dont have to apologize for wanting to stay alive. You didn't ask to be born, and you weren't the one that put a price on living!

You know what I do instead? Pay it forward. Yes, I ebeg often, yet I, too, will sometimes send $5, $10, $30 to people I care about whenever we wind up with a little extra. You can't save money as a poor person anyway, it doesn't work, so why cling to my last few pennies when someone else could use it right now? I've watched Bel give away his last $5 to a different homeless person twice since we've been living in the car. One time we stayed and had dinner with the guy and his dog. He was a hitchhiker named Ray and he was SO interesting to talk to.

There are studies that show that the most generous people when it comes to donating are NOT the people with the most money. It's the poorest ppl in the community who have been or are in your shoes, and who know how you feel, who pitch in when you need it most. Hence the community $20. The idea that panhandlers are expecting something from well-off strangers who can't empathize with us is like... kinda silly lmao, we know most of those ppl hate our fucking guts and want us dead, actually. (Are rich ppl really just that threatened by the idea of sharing that they see someone going "help please (generally speaking)!" And they immediately go "ugh, ME????? How dare you ask ME specifically for MY hard earned money?????" Idk it kinda tracks.)

I also use a jovial tone in a lot of my posts because I have to ask for help a lot, and it gets tiring to everyone to constantly hear "I'm soooo sorry for being such a needy piece of GARBAGE, AGAIN, I really hate that i have to do this, but..." because that's just The Friend Who Is Apogizing For Breathing. That doesn't feel good to hear any more than it does to say, no one likes that. And yes SOME people DO want you to feel that way about needing help- but its not going to be the people who will help you, I promise you that. Also, think about what you're saying when you talk about yourself like that. Why are you garbage? Because the cost of living is too high? Because your boss doesn't pay you a living wage? Because your landlord wrings you dry? Because you can't afford your meds or food? How is any of that actually about you at all? How does being hungry and wanting to live make you garbage???

Deeply unfortunately, you also tend to get more attention with a chipper tone and a preemtive "thank you" instead of an "oh God oh God oh God I'm so sorry I'm so fucking sorry, fuck!!!!" I also won't imply urgency where there isn't any. Sometimes we DO need money asap and it's like, we'll literally be stranded in the woods with no food if we don't get it. But other times, we need money, but like, we have time to figure it out. I save the urgency for the times I really need it.

Instead I focus on the positive: I DO have a lot of friends who care about me, all over, and even strangers who care about me, too! Those people have been keeping my ass alive for YEARS! They shouldn't have to do that! I shoudlnt have to beg to continue to use my own organs! But also, how cool are my friends for being the realest commies I know??? They're not going to just let me die out here. Why would I be sad about that? Why would I feel bad about people caring about me and wanting to see me pull through? Why would I apologize for proving that the human loving spirit is in fact alive and well? In the times when there IS less urgency, I think it's just nicer to my friends to make a lighter hearted post once in a while- you know, for the ones constantly seeing this stuff and helping me out. I think it's nice to acknowledge them in a positive way, instead of always being like "god im do sorry that im STILL BREATHING, i know you guys HATE that!!!"

Like. Idk if this is making sense. Remember that post where the person was telling their partner, "I'm just so worried that you'll think I'm stupid and want me to shut up," and their partner said, "Thats kind of mean, I wish you wouldn't think of me that way"? It's like that. If your friends and mutuals wanted you to shut up and die and feel guilty for living, they wouldn't be sharing your posts or donating to you, and it's kind of... mean? To get off on that foot. It's like we expect people to only help us begrudgingly. Thats not true at all! Donation posts are optional. Most people who reply to them do so because they're in a position to help and they WANT to, because it makes them feel good.

It's thanks to my friends that I am still alive to make all these delightful posts for them to read. They want me to stay alive because they like having me around. So i try to continue to be that presence in exchange for their love and suppport, and yes, i will incorporate that into my posts asking for help, especially if its a less time-sensitive ask. Idk like, re-framing a situation and focusing on the positive is a basic coping skill from many types of therapy and I hate to say this but it really is good for you. (Also fwiw I try to always say "thank you" to every individual who sends me money, each and every time. Sometimes they don't let me send messages back thru the pay apps, and sometimes I forget, but I try to every time.)

Plus, damn near EVERYONE needs help right now! Poverty and income inequality and chronic houslessness and chronic ILLNESS are all at ALL TIME HIGHS. Pre-covid 25% of the population was disabled. I wonder what it will look like next time we get a handle on those numbers?

So just to be clear, again: I don't expect donations to pull us out of poverty! If that were realistic, it would have already happened, ive been doing this for a decade. I don't expect strangers to have a stake in our situation, either. All either of us want is to be able to keep living our lives as best as we can for as long as we can- and a lot of our friends, and other people, DO sympathize with that. That's a point of pride for the community I've chosen for myself. I refuse to feel guilty about surrounding myself with caring, wonderful people who actually read my posts. That sounds like a pretty big win for me actually lmao.

AND I refuse to feel guilty and self-deprecating over circumstances that are out of my control and don't actually weigh on my character whatsoever. Being disabled isn't a character flaw. Being unemployable bc of my symptoms isn't something that's "wrong" with ME. Being homeless during an ALL TIME RECORD HIGH of homelessness ISNT something thats "wrong" with "me," and it's not something I would want anyone else to feel guilty over, either! These things don't determine who I am as a person or the impact I have on the people around me. Clearly I continue to have a positive impact and be a good friend, or asking my friends for help wouldnt be keeping me alive. I simply don't have enough followers to get that much money from strangers lol. And I have more followers than a lot of people (around 1500 currently).

So yeah, this is to everyone else who's ever felt horrifically guilty for asking for help online or otherwise: even if you dont have a lot of connections and you ARE asking for help from strangers, needing one another isnt a character flaw! The people who care will WANT to help anyway, period. It makes people feel good to know they can help. And yes it does make people feel better to hear a "thank you! we are still alive and happy to be here!" Over a "fuck God I'm so sorry I'm still alive and burdening you all so with my high cost of breathing!!!!" I'm so sorry that you have to have a body! Me, too, bud. It's rough, but it's gonna be ok.

Anyway needing help is morally neutral. Now im just thinking about the way the upper class has poor people at each other's throats for the perceived "selfishness" of needing help- because in a world where you are constantly burnt out from work, and the value of a dollar is so horribly out of proportion to the effort it takes to earn, sharing that hard-won effort with anyone else does sometimes feel like too much. Im thinking about the way hoarding wealth & resources & keeping them behind paywalls is seen not only as morally superior but a sign of objective intelligence and life skills, vs how the way sharing is construed as foolishness, the way needing help to stay alive is construed as greed, while the upper class that literally stays healthy and youthful and thrives on the blood, sweat and tears of the lower class gets to pat themselves on the back for being morally superior, individualist, and "not needing anyone." Kinda makes me sick when I put it like that!

Anyway. Again, needing help is morally neutral, especially in this economy, and I refuse to hate myself for circumstances that aren't my fault and for having people in my life who are invested in me and want to see me pull through. Everyone deserves friends like that, and I hope you find them.

#me #homelessness #disability stuff #long post #car living #in case you missed the context #i had put out a donation post w a lighter tone. the one w the kitty gif on it #and this anon was like soo mad that i was 'trying to be funny and cute' instead of begging desperately #but ive been wanting to make this post for a while anyway just bc so many people do this #the whole oh my god im so fuckint sorry i have to do this again im so sorry to besmirch your dash and darken your doorstep etc etc #im sorry but i really feel like the ONLY people who WANT to hear that #are ppl like my anon who spend 0% of their time helping anyone ever #and most of their time saying shit like '97% of poor people have refrigerators' type shit #(real thing from fox news a few yrs back icymi. like poor people arent THAT poor. see. refrigerators!)#the only type of person who wants to see you self-flagellate for needing help getting meds #is someone who doesnt think anyone should ever have help getting meds.#wow i couldve just said that and instead heres a 10k word essay rofl.#anyway!!!!!

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itsjessiegirl1 · 2 years

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"Walker" Fanfiction - Wish To Be A Walker

Genre: General; Greif/Mourning; Hurt/Comfort; Whump; Aghast

Characters: Cordell Walker, Abeline Walker, Bonham Walker, Liam Walker, Stella Walker, August Walker, Captain Larry James, Micki Ramirez, Clint West, Trevor West, OC

Summary:

Fifteen year old Madeline Stanton has lived in more places then she cares to remember. Since the death of her mother, her world has been turned upside down The life she has, to her, is normal; but when she and her father move in next door to the Walker family, it makes her begin to question if the life she knows is the one she really wants or deserves.

Trigger Warnings; Child Abuse, Neglect, Attempted Suicide

Author Note- My first Walker fanfiction! This story has also been uploaded in its entirety to Wattpad (Under the name of itsjessiegirl1), Fanfiction (Under the name of MissieWritesFanfiction) and also to AO3 under the name of MissieWritesFanfiction)

Hope y'all enjoy

Chapter 1 of 30

So, this was it… This was to be their new home for the foreseeable future…

A reddish-brown haired teenage girl stepped from the truck, looking around as her father turned off the engine. A neat and tidy house was surrounded by a white picket fence, flowers growing in the many pots and garden beds inside the yard.

'What do you think?'

'It looks nice.' She replied to the question, glancing over at her father as he stepped out of the vehicle. 'How long will we be staying here for?'

Robert shrugged as he closed the door of the truck. 'Depends on how work is, have to put food on the table. Shall we go have a look before we unpack?'

She nodded and the two of them headed up the sidewalk to the porch. Her father pulled a key from his pocket then opened the door. She glanced around with surprise as they walked in, the house was probably the best place she'd stayed in with him so far. Her face lit up as she saw a proper oven and fridge in the kitchen, no more cooking over gas camping stoves. 'Look Dad, I can finally cook something other than two-minute noodles for a change.'

He rolled his eyes as she eagerly went through the well equipped kitchen, one of her biggest flaws was her enthusiasm for the simplest things. 'Don't go getting too comfortable Maddie, we might only be here a few months.'

She sighed inwardly. Ever since she'd been living with her father, they'd moved through fifteen states in four years. It would be nice to finally have a place to stay longer then a couple months, a place she could call home... 'How long is the lease for?'

'A year.'

'So you committed for a year even though we might only stay a few months?'

He shrugged again. 'I couldn't get a shorter lease, the old owners wouldn't let me sign for anything less then a year. Seems comfortable enough though-' The house was fully furnished, the previous occupant an elderly lady who had gone to a nursing home and her children had looked to make a quick buck leasing out the property. 'Might even be good enough for your expensive taste. That's one thing your mother could have forgotten to teach you, I can't ever keep you happy with where we live. Well-' He looked down at her. 'Is it up to your standard?'

Maddie swallowed and nodded. 'I like it Dad, thank you. It really is a nice house. Can I go and choose my own room now?'

He motioned for her to leave. 'Afterwards you better start unpacking, I need to make a trip into town.'

‘I won’t take long.’ She assured him and started up the hallway, peeking into the rooms as she went past. There were two smaller bedrooms and a larger one she guessed her father would want. One of the smaller bedrooms was a soft light pink with white furniture and a sad smile graced her lips as she looked at it. It reminded her of her old room when she lived with her mother…

‘We don’t have all day Maddie.’

‘Coming, coming.’ Her reply was shouted back and she hurried out to where he was waiting at the truck. ‘I’ve chosen my room, the one down the hallway from the living room.’ She quickly helped him untie the tarp off the back of the truck, taking her suitcase down from the pile. ‘It looks really nice here Dad.’

‘It’ll do for now.’ He grunted and between the two of them they emptied their belongings from the truck and onto the porch. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he took a quick look at the time. ‘I’ve gotta get, you’ll have to finish unpacking yourself. You know the drill.’

She nodded as he started for the driver's side of the truck. ‘When can I expect you back?’

‘When I pull in the drive.’

‘What about the groceries, we need to eat.’

‘If I have the time, I’ll drop by a store.’

Maddie sighed heavily as the truck reversed down the drive and turned around, the teen standing on the porch steps until she could no longer see the vehicle. It’s an improvement on that apartment room, I guess. It could be worse... She thought as she looked around again. It was still and quiet, no life sturring on the flat, grassy horizon. Not even birds sang. At least we’re not in the city anymore.

Glancing down at the belongings to unpack she pulled her phone from her pocket, turned some music on and set to work. Her fathers things she took into his room and left them in a neat pile for him to sort through when he returned. Their shared belongings went into the living room for her to arrange and then she set to work on her own room.

Humming along to one of her favorite Beth Crowley songs she organized her clothes into the drawers, thankful to have drawers again. It was nice to finally have a house to live in once more, since they had moved so much they’d gone from motel and hotel and in town apartments; now they finally had a house once more. It was nice to be able to put her clothes into drawers again and not live just out of her suitcases.

When her clothes were away, she turned her attention to her other belongings. Gently she picked up the framed photo of her and her mother, her eyes misting with tears as she ran her fingers across the smooth glass. I miss you Mama… She sniffled as she placed the photo on the bedside table and after a little while longer, she had finished her unpacking.

It was late in the evening when she made her way back to the living room, flicking on a light as she walked into the kitchen. There was no food in the cupboards or fridge when she looked, but she had expected as much.

Can you bring something back for dinner please? She texted, waiting a few minutes for a reply but there was none. Looking around again she decided she’d look around outside while there was still some light.

The back door out of the kitchen led into a large garden and after a moment she found a ripe tomato for a snack. The garden could use some work. She thought as she walked around. At least gardening is something I kinda know how to do.

Behind the tall fence she spotted a barn and after finding a gate, headed out to look at the building. It smelt of old leather and horses as she walked in, a smile coming to her lips. Sunlight drifted through the window high above, two stalls on either side of the aisle. There were cobwebs everywhere, the barn hadn’t been used for many years but to a curious teenager, it was like stumbling across a lost treasure. Her mother loved horses, when she was little she could remember her mother putting her on the pony rides at the rodeos they used to attend.

‘You’d have loved this place Ma.’ She spoke into the silence as she gazed around, an old leather halter and lead hung up on the stall door catching her eye. ‘Stardust.’ She read the dusty nameplate out loud, imagining for a moment the horse it might have belonged to. A spirited palomino stallion perhaps? Taking the halter off the hook she continued on through the barn, halter in hand.

There was still hay in the loft when she climbed up to investigate, fresh and green as if it had been baled yesterday. The roof didn’t leak then if the hay was still good and already her mind was turning the loft into a cozy place for her to claim as her own. It would be her perfect hideaway, her own little secret-

She opened the loft door, looking out at the landscape around her. It was the kind of place that she could imagine herself calling home. For the first time in years, she felt at peace with where she was. No noisy cars screaming past, no sirens. Just calm, peace, and quiet.

‘Might even be lucky enough to get a horse.’ She said to herself then chuckled. No, that wouldn’t happen. Her father wouldn’t allow that. She’d have to content herself with her books and stories of magnificent steeds for the time being. Perhaps though, if they were going to stay here awhile, maybe- No. She shook her head. She should be grateful for what she had, not wish for that she couldn’t have.

Closing the doors again, she climbed back down and found herself coming to another room. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the many saddles inside and blew the dust off a western saddle. It was beautiful, one of the most beautiful saddles she had seen, with silver trimming and ornate carving. It needed a good clean but as she ran her fingers over the leather, she could just imagine herself riding in it on a fast bay horse-

Her phone rung with a message and she pulled it from her pocket to read. Business took longer then expected, no chance to pick up groceries. Pizza?

It would have to do. Quickly she typed a reply then started out of the barn, closing the door behind her. First thing tomorrow morning she would clean that saddle up then make her own little place in the barn. A smile was on her lips as she headed to the house, perhaps things were starting to look up for her.

~~~~~~

Maddie stepped back, brushing the dirt from her hands as she surveyed her work. It had taken her three days of work but finally, the loft was fixed to her liking. The bales of hay she had managed to arrange nicely in the corner, a couple left out for chairs. A few horse posters from magazines decorated the walls and the western saddle she had found held pride of place in the corner.

‘Perfect.’ She exclaimed with satisfaction. ‘But there’s just one thing missing…’

A quick trip to the house and she returned with her mother’s guitar, placing it in the corner against the saddle. Yes, that looked right. ‘Now, it’s perfect.’ She reaffirmed with a smile. Yes, this place would do nicely for her…

Her father had been gone since they’d arrived, returning late at night only to leave again in the early morning. He’d told her he’d gotten a job on a construction site but she wished that he could have taken a couple days off before throwing himself back into work. She hardly saw him these days and it was lonely with just herself for company. Doing the loft had been a welcomed distraction but now that it was finished she found herself trying to find something else to do next. The garden could do with some work, I guess.

Leaving the barn once more, she found some garden tools in an old shed and set to work. There were a lot of plants that were overgrown, growing across the paths and that was the first thing she started on. Humming as she worked she delved into her work and soon it was mid day.

It was the sound of a vehicle pulling up out front that distracted Maddie from her work and she decided to go investigate, the girl brushing the dirt from her jeans as she got up from the garden bed. As she came around the side of the house she saw that a silver truck had pulled up in the drive, one she didn't recognize. The thought of running and hiding crossed her mind but the woman inside the truck saw her and waved. She swallowed hard, heading out of the yard to speak with her.

'Hey there-' Abeline smiled as she stepped from the driver's seat. 'You must be our new neighbors, we live just down the road aways.'

Maddie nodded, taking a moment to look at the woman. She was about five foot five with curly hair that touched her shoulders. She wore a denim jacket and red skirt but it was her blue eyes that helped alleviate some of her fears. She looked kind and gentle, like her Mama… 'My Dad and I just moved in a couple days ago.’ She replied. ‘I'm Madeline Stanton.'

'Abeline Walker.' The two of them shook hands, Abeline looking at the girl. She looked to be around the same age as Stella, her long brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail. 'I wanted to drop by and introduce myself on behalf of my family, I made a sponge cake as a welcome gift.'

'I can't say no to cake.’ Maddie smiled. ‘Would you like to come inside? I apologize for the mess, we’re still getting settled in.'

'Mess doesn’t bother me the least.' She replied with a chuckle. ‘I have two teenage grandchildren at home and between the pair of them the house is always a mess.’ She grabbed the container from the car then followed the girl into the house. The house was in a bit of a mess and she noted the many empty beer cans beside one of the couches in the living room as she walked through. The smell of alcohol was thick in the air but she made no comment, following the teen into the kitchen.

‘Have a seat.’

She sat at the invitation, glancing around. The kitchen was much cleaner than the living room and she placed the cake on the table as the girl went to wash her hands in the sink. 'So it's just you and your dad living here then?'

Maddie nodded. 'Yeah, just the two of us. We get by though just fine.’ Wiping her hands on a towel she then went to a cupboard to gather a couple plates and some cups. 'Would you like a drink? I'm afraid I can only offer cold water, my dad hasn't had a chance to do a proper grocery shop yet.'

'Water would be just fine, thank you.' She said, the girl filling the glasses then brought them to the table. 'You guys planning on staying here long?'

'Well Dad took out a year lease on this place-' She brought over a knife to cut the cake then took a seat across from the woman. 'but it depends on his work.'

'What does your dad do?'

'Odd jobs, he does most anything.' She shrugged as she placed a piece of cake on the plate. 'He's got a job on a construction site at the moment so he'll be working there for a few weeks at least.'

'And your mom?'

'You ask a lot of questions, don't you?'

'Just trying to make conversation is all.' Abeline said, noting the girl appeared half starved as she quickly devoured her piece of cake. 'It's an old family recipe, this one. My grandmother used to make them.'

Maddie swallowed down a big mouthful as she nodded. 'It's good, really good.' Before long, she had finished off her piece only then realizing she'd made a pig of herself. 'Please excuse my lack of manners, it's been a long time since I've tasted something as good as this.'

'As long as you enjoyed it, that's all that matters.' She chuckled, taking a drink.

'To answer your question though, my mom passed away a few years ago.'

'I'm sorry to hear that.'

Maddie shrugged. 'It's no big deal, my dad and I get along just fine on our own.'

'Still, it must be hard.'

'Sometimes…' She was going to say something else but decided to change the subject. 'I noticed there's a barn out back, did the old owners used to have horses?'

Abeline nodded. 'This place actually used to be a horse stud, they had the small barn and pens close by to keep their favorite horses near the house. Have you looked around the property?'

She shook her head. 'Haven't had a chance yet, I've been busy unpacking and such… The garden needs attention too, I don't know a lot about gardening but it seems such a waste for it to die.'

'When you get a moment, you'll find the main barn and the rest of the stud a little down the trail behind the barn. I assume you like horses from the question.'

Maddie nodded. 'I love horses, so did my Mama. I've never had the chance to learn to ride though, the closest I got to a horse was pony rides at the rodeos. I know a lot about them though, I read every book about horses I can get my hands on.'

'Your welcome to come see our horses, my husband Bonham breeds Quarter horses.'

Her face lit up. 'That would be great, I would love that.'

'I also dropped by to invite you and your father to dinner tomorrow, if you would like to join us.'

'I'll ask my Dad and I'll let you know.'

'Well-' Abeline looked at her watch. 'I must be going. If you need any help, feel free to ask. That's what neighbors are for.'

She nodded as she got up to walk her guest to her car. They exchanged phone numbers before she left, Maddie standing in the drive watching her leave. She seemed nice, she seemed like a person she could trust… And she had teenage grandchildren! Perhaps maybe, she could finally make some friends. She hadn't had friends in years, not since her mother had died and she'd lived with her father. Hopefully Dad will let me visit them. She thought, wondering what her father's reaction to Mrs. Walkers invite would be. It would be nice to have friends again.

~~~~~~~~

When her father's truck finally pulled into the drive that night, Maddie fairly hurried out to meet him. 'Hey Daddy, how was your-' She stopped short as he stepped from the car, her dad with beer can in hand. He'd already started drinking… She sighed. 'Come on Dad, let's get you inside.'

'I don't need your help!' He hissed, staggering away from her up the path. The gate was abruptly kicked open, his daughter following as he walked into the house. 'Where's my dinner?'

'I didn't know what time you were going to be home, it's not ready yet.'

'Well don't just stand there useless, go get it ready.'

Maddie nodded. 'I'll go get it now.'

'While you're there-' He picked up the tv remote, flicking it on to the sports channel. 'Get me another can of beer from the fridge.'

Soberly she headed into the kitchen, placing a frozen meal into the microwave to defrost before taking him in his beer. 'Dad…' She didn't know how to ask him, deciding it was best to just blurt it out. The worst he could do was get angry at her… 'I had a visit from one of the neighbors today, they invited us to have dinner with them tomorrow night.'

Robert took a long swig from his can. 'I'm busy tomorrow night.'

'Could I still go, please? I promise I will be on my best behavior, Mrs. Walker seems like a really nice person and she has grandchildren who are my age. Can I please go?'

He thought about it then shrugged. 'Fine by me, I couldn't care less what you do.'

'Thank you Daddy, thank you-'

'Hurry up with my dinner before I change my mind.'

'I'll get it right away.'

He said yes! Maddie was overjoyed as she went to the kitchen, checking on the meal in the microwave. It was ready so she took it in for him, her father giving a grunt of acknowledgement as she placed it on the table in front of him.

'Now get, I've had a busy day and don't need the likes of you whining in my ear.'

She nodded, hastily making herself scarce from the room. The tv's loud blaring could be heard from her room as she got herself ready for bed but she hardly paid it any mind. He actually had agreed to let her go! As long as she didn't make a fool of herself, everything would be just fine…

#cordell walker #bonham walker #abeline walker #stella walker #august walker #liam walker #fanfiction #fanfic #jared padalecki #walker fandom #walkerfamily #walker fanfiction #ilovetotorturemycharactersandnoonecanstopme #maddiesfathersucks #maddiejustwantstobeloved

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rookieforlife · 2 years

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I was able to bypass it by clicking on the reader view. Here it is.

Think 9% Inflation Is Bad? Try 90%.

With the world grappling with rising prices, a tour through Argentina reveals that years of inflation can give rise to a truly bizarre economy.

BUENOS AIRES — Eduardo Rabuffetti is an Argentine who has been to the United States once, his 1999 honeymoon in Miami. Yet he probably knows the $100 bill better than most Americans.

He says he can pick out a counterfeit by touch. He can tell you exactly what $100,000 looks like. (Ten half-inch stacks, small enough to hold in one hand.) And on numerous occasions, he has walked down the streets of Buenos Aires with tens of thousands of U.S. dollars tucked into his jacket.

That is because Mr. Rabuffetti, a property developer who has built two office towers and a house here, bought the land for each of those buildings in $100 bills.

“Here, if you don’t actually see the money, nobody signs anything,” he said. “After the number of crises we’ve been through, let’s just say you get used to it.”

It is not just Mr. Rabuffetti. Nearly every big purchase in Argentina — land, houses, cars, expensive art — is done in tall stacks of U.S. currency. To save up, Argentines stuff bundles of American bills into old clothes, beneath floor boards and in bombproof safe deposit boxes past nine locked gates and five stories beneath the ground.

Argentines hold so much U.S. currency — experts believe perhaps more than anywhere outside the United States — sometimes it gets thrown away by mistake. Last month, passers-by found tens of thousands of dollars blowing around at an Argentine dump.

The dollar is king in Argentina because the Argentine peso is disintegrating in value, particularly over the past month. One year ago, about 180 pesos could buy $1 on the widely used black market. Now it takes 298 pesos to buy a buck. With the peso plummeting, prices are soaring to keep up. Many economists expect inflation here, already at 64 percent this year, to hit 90 percent by December.

It is one of the country’s worst economic crises in decades, and that is saying something for Argentina.

As countries across the world try to cope with rising prices, there is perhaps no major economy that understands how to live with inflation better than Argentina.

The country has struggled with rapidly rising prices for much of the past 50 years. During a chaotic stretch in the late 1980s, inflation hit a nearly unbelievable 3,000 percent and residents rushed to snatch up groceries before clerks with price guns could make their rounds. Now high inflation is back, exceeding 30 percent every year since 2018.

To understand how Argentines cope, we spent two weeks in and around Buenos Aires, talking to economists, politicians, farmers, restaurateurs, realtors, barbers, taxi drivers, money changers, street performers, street vendors and the unemployed.  The economy is not always the best conversation starter, but in Argentina, it animated just about everyone, eliciting curses, deep sighs and informed opinions about monetary policy. One woman happily showed off her hiding spot for a wad of U.S. dollars (an old ski jacket), another explained how she stuffed cash into her bra to buy a condo, and a Venezuelan waitress wondered whether she had immigrated to the right country.

One thing became strikingly clear: Argentines have developed a highly unusual relationship with their money.

They spend their pesos as quickly as they get them. They buy everything from TVs to potato peelers in installments. They don’t trust banks. They hardly use credit. And after years of constant price hikes, they are left with little idea of how much things should cost.

Argentina shows that people will find a way to adapt to years of high inflation, living in an economy that is impossible to fathom almost anywhere else in the world. Life is especially manageable for those with the means to make the upside-down system work. But all those striking workarounds mean that few who have held political power during years of economic distress have found themselves paying a real price.

“We ask ourselves the same thing: How is society allowing these things to happen?” said Juan Piantoni, the head of Ingot, a safe-deposit-box company where business is booming as Argentines pay to stash their cash. “At this moment, I think we’re on the eve of a situation that could lead to a major crisis,” he added. “No one has lit the fuse yet. But the day that happens, we’ll see what we’re up against.”

So far, things have remained largely calm. Wages for many jobs are rising at nearly 50 percent a year. Landlords can raise rents at similar rates. And millions of Argentines use the black market to evade government restrictions on buying U.S. dollars.

The result is that in the wealthier areas of Argentina’s capital, construction continues apace and restaurants and bars are packed. The next dinner reservation for two at Anchoita, one of the city’s hippest restaurants, is in January 2023.

In poorer neighborhoods, people collect scrap cardboard to sell, pool their money for food and swap used goods to avoid the peso altogether. Argentina’s poor typically don’t have jobs with automatic wage increases, and they certainly don’t have extra cash to buy U.S. dollars. That means they are left making few pesos while everything around them gets much, much more expensive. About 37 percent of Argentines now live in poverty, up from 30 percent in 2016.

On July 2, Argentina’s economic minister resigned. Over the next 26 days, the peso’s value dropped 26 percent. Then President Alberto Fernandez fired the new economic minister. It was the 21st time that an Argentine economic minister lasted two months or less.

Argentina’s recent bout with hyperinflation is linked to the same things that have driven up prices worldwide, including the war in Ukraine, supply-chain constraints and big increases in public spending.

But many economists believe Argentina’s inflation is also self-inflicted. In short, the country spends far more than it takes in to fund free or deeply subsidized health care, universities, energy and public transportation. To make up for the shortfall, it prints more pesos.

The International Monetary Fund, which is owed $44 billion from Argentina, has asked the government to cut its deficit and pass stricter monetary policies. On Wednesday, the new minister, Sergio Massa, made one of the most significant steps in years when he pledged that Argentina would stop printing pesos to fund its budget.

Yet many Argentines were skeptical that the country was ready to make the tough choices necessary.

“We might need the patient to have a heart attack before the family says, ‘Let’s do the surgery,’” said Hugo Alconada Mon, one of the country’s top investigative journalists and a best-selling author who spent almost the last of his savings recently on car repairs. “But how many people will end up in poverty because of that? How many people will leave the country?”

Abandoning price tags

Argentines are hoping the current moment does not spiral into a disaster like 2001, when there was a run on the banks.

That year, it became clear that foreign investors believed the Argentine peso was worth far less than the government’s official rate, and Argentines rushed to get their money before it was lost. Instead, the government halted withdrawals — and then gave them all a haircut, reducing everyone’s savings in a sudden devaluation. The president resigned and left the government offices in a helicopter to avoid the angry crowds in the regal square out front, Plaza de Mayo.

Two decades later, the angry crowds are still in Plaza de Mayo. Thousands of Argentines gathered there last month to protest the soaring inflation.

Ana Mabel was on the outskirts of the crowd, mixing peanuts and caramelized sugar in a metal vat. She was selling bags of candied peanuts for 200 pesos each, or about 70 cents; she had charged 150 pesos a week earlier. But that increase hardly kept up with her costs. Everything she needed had gotten pricier in just the past few weeks: the peanuts, the sugar, the oil, the gas tank, and the plastic baggies to package the treat. She has five children to support, and for the first time, she had taken on debt.

“Nothing regulates the prices,” she said, frustrated, slowly turning the peanuts in the vat. “The businessmen don’t want it. The government can’t. And that all falls on us.”

For Argentines, it is an old story. In 2017, prices had risen so much that Argentina doubled the size of its largest bank note to 1,000 pesos, then worth about $58 on the black market. Now that note is worth about $3.45 — about the price of a Big Mac. An iPhone can now cost more than 1 million pesos.

Many Argentines have lost their bearings on value. Menus are constantly changed. Taxi meters are frequently adjusted. And price tags are often outdated.

Oscar Benitez runs a meticulously organized hardware store the size of a large walk-in closet. He sells 80,000 different products, and he hardly knows the price of any of them.

That is because they change every few days, updated in a running list sent by his suppliers that he checks on his computer for every sale. He has largely abandoned price tags.

He shows a pair of scissors that the supplier says should now cost 600 pesos. “A month ago, it was worth 400 pesos,” he said, consulting his list. “A year ago, it was worth 120 pesos.”

He looked exasperated. “It’s sad. But for me, it was always like this,” he said. “If I wasn’t 51 years old, I’d be in the United States, which is what I’m now trying to make happen for my daughters.”

Prices are fluctuating so much that in recent weeks many companies have halted sales to see where prices settle, making it difficult to find certain items, including cooking oil and car parts. Some farmers are also holding onto their wheat and soybeans, betting prices will rise — and blunting the economic benefits of a commodity boom that should benefit an exporter like Argentina.

At a small shop in downtown Buenos Aires, Noelia Mendoza was selling her last stock of toilet paper. Her suppliers said they had no more, so she had raised her prices. A pack of four single-ply rolls now cost 290 pesos, or $1, up 50 percent from a month earlier. “There is going to be a shortage,” she said.

Her friend standing nearby, Carla Cejas, chimed in: “I never understood the bidet until now.”

A duffel bag full of 10,000 $100 bills

Ignacio Jauand, a 34-year-old publicist, buys everything he can in installments, including his bed, his clothes, a PlayStation 5 and a potato peeler.

It’s not that he can’t afford them. It’s that he’s betting the value of the peso will fall. If he’s right, his final payments cost significantly less. That bet, he said, has always paid off. “The last installment I paid for the TV or the fridge cost two or three McDonald’s combos,” he said.

“Buying stuff is how you beat inflation,” he added.

That is the mantra of Argentina. Pesos disintegrate in value, so you better spend them as quickly as you can.

People go out to eat or buy appliances, art or cars, while shop owners stock up on inventory, betting prices will only go up. “When I think of my savings in pesos, I say, ‘Let’s pay for a trip, let’s renew something in the house, let’s buy stuff,’” said Eduardo Levy Yeyati, an Argentine economist and visiting professor at Harvard University. “Otherwise I feel like I’m losing money every day by keeping it in the bank.”

Perhaps Argentines’ favorite things to buy? Dollars.

Argentina’s central bank estimates that Argentine households and nonfinancial firms hold more than $230 billion in foreign financial assets, mostly denominated in U.S. currency. Most of that money is held in international bank accounts, but some is also stashed in safes and hiding places across the country.

That dependence on the dollar is bad for the peso, so the government restricts Argentines from buying more than $200 in U.S. currency each month. For that amount, Argentines can use the official government exchange rate, which says each U.S. dollar is worth about 130 pesos.

But a different exchange rate — used for Western Union wires, certain corporate transactions, and the black market — values the peso at less than half that: Each dollar is now worth about 300 pesos. (Because this rate is a truer measure of the open market’s view of the peso, we used it to convert values in this article.)

In downtown Buenos Aires, men and women dubbed “arbolitos,” or little trees, stand on street corners hawking dollars. They lead buyers to so-called caves to change the money in private.

It’s all illegal, but police standing nearby don’t seem to mind. Many use the market themselves.

Juan, a money changer who delivers wads of cash on his motorbike, said three of his regular customers are police officers. Even so, he agreed to speak on the condition that only his first name be used.

Money changers and cave managers estimated the black market moves $3 million to $4 million a day. Those dollars underpin much of the economy here.

Yanina Arias, a Buenos Aires real-estate agent, said she has completed hundreds of deals over her 10-year career, but never one in pesos. Sellers often require “dollar bills without stains, without rips, and that are big-faced,” Ms. Arias said. “Small-faced bills are not accepted.”

The face in question is Benjamin Franklin’s. The black market generally offers 3 percent more for newer $100 notes with Mr. Franklin’s enlarged portrait because they are harder to counterfeit.

Seven Argentines described paying for properties in cash, but few were willing to allow their names to be printed because they were worried about being audited.

To head to the bank to close the deal, they described stuffing tens of thousands of dollars down their pants and into grocery bags full of produce. Ms. Arias said wealthier people have hired armored trucks.

A financial-services worker in Buenos Aires said that when she sold her family’s farm for $1 million a few years ago, the buyer handed her a duffel bag full of 10,000 $100 bills. Later, when she bought her apartment, she put $100,000 of the cash into the pockets of an oversized coat and hustled to the buyers’ home. The sellers, an older couple, insisted on counting each bill by hand.

After Adela Castillo and her husband lost their jobs during the pandemic — she was a caretaker and he worked in shipping — they took a big risk. They converted their home in one of Buenos Aires’s poorest neighborhoods into a shop selling cement, limestone, paint and plasterboard.

At first, it was paying off. The government was building new affordable housing in the neighborhood, and it became a big buyer. To keep up, she needed a forklift. And to buy one, she needed $15,000 in cash.

A bank would never make that kind of loan, but luckily, she had a family friend who had that much stashed away. “A huge favor,” she said. “Nobody lends you money like that.”

She bought the forklift. “It helped a ton,” she said. Then the value of the peso continued to plummet. “He wants me to pay back in dollars. He doesn’t want pesos,” she said. With each decline in the value of the peso, her debt has effectively grown bigger.

“It’s a screwed-up situation,” she said, standing outside her shop, limestone dust in her hair and down her fleece. She was not sure how she would pay it off. “We’re treading water,” she said. “We’re fighting.”

With the peso losing so much value, some poor Argentines are trying to avoid it altogether.

Silvina López, 37, was standing in the biting cold with her infant. She needed diapers but she was broke. After a stroke, Ms. López was blind in one eye and didn’t work, while her husband was a construction laborer when it was sunny. But his wages — about $7 a day — hadn’t increased while the prices did.

But here, next to a bus stop in the poor suburb of Lomas de Zamora, she didn’t need pesos. Instead, she had sacks of powdered milk, handouts from the government that she could trade in order to make sure her 1-month-old, Milagro, or Miracle in Spanish, had diapers.

Another woman had set up shop on the street corner to barter, and she traded Ms. López a 12-pack of diapers, two bags of sugar and a box of cookies for the powdered milk. Ms. López’s 8-year-old daughter, Mia, immediately tore into the cookies.

“My family, my siblings, they all come here,” she said. “They have lots of children, too.”

During the recession that accompanied the 2001 run on the banks, a half-million people were regularly meeting in so-called “trueque” clubs, or bartering exchanges, to swap goods without pesos. The clubs largely disintegrated over the years, but with inflation again soaring, they are making a comeback.

On a recent Sunday, nearly 100 people hustled among two dozen tables, swapping their wares: used clothes, cleaning supplies, homemade pizza dough, insecticide, fried quince pastries. To facilitate the trades, they used “créditos,” the club’s own currency, printed onto white paper.

Women clutched handfuls of the notes as they shopped at their neighbors’ tables. They all said they preferred the crédito to the peso.

At one point, an organizer who was selling Avon makeup, Karina Sanchez, paused the cumbia music to make an announcement: They were exchanging older, smaller denomination créditos for newer, larger ones. She showed much older notes worth one-half a crédito. Last year, they introduced a 1,000-crédito note.

Yes, Ms. Sanchez said, the crédito was experiencing inflation, too.

Natalie Alcoba contributed reporting from Buenos Aires.

Thank you thank you thank you for taking the time to do this!!! I appreciate it! 💌🙏🏽

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hazelcephalopod · 2 months

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Listen. So 911. Imma be honest Buddie ship is great, I’m here for it, I think they should do it. In the canon of the show -bonus if the relationship is 99% the same except they kiss now. Do I really believe that has always been the endgame for them? No. Absolutely not -and maybe I’m wrong idk the deep lore I’m just a slightly more than casual viewer whose recently noticed the fandom. That said… to be clear this isn’t me trying to call the show out but just analyze the text in a colloquial way. This is normal mainstream tv and my expectations are real low*.

The show has that old school “look how close these two guys are. Like sooo close. Mm if they were different genders this would 100% be a will they won’t they dynamic” thing, the “this probably started as, a little bit of a joke about how close these two guys -or sometime girls!- are” while being a genuine friendship but there’s a vibe. (Or the oopsie option, also possible here tbh. S/x actors just do a thkng but imho it’s the other creatures responsibility to work with that?) Which, later the show starts to play into that more and more, usually creating a queerbait. Now, to be clear I’m using that descriptively. No judgment here, just that’s what I’m seeing. As I said could be an accident, coulda dig themselves into the old QB hole.

Because. Let’s go over it. You’ve got these two guys, they meet. They click instantly. They become the most important people in each other’s lives. They do all the other things the romantic couples do in the show. Meta the creators clearly know people are shipping them and play into that a bit while backing off by pairing each with random woman. In canon there’s jokes and comments about their really close relationship. One of them adopts the others child basically. Sometimes when one is hurt the other looks like they might weep or cry in agony. Sometimes you swear the looks they give each other have no straight explanation possible. Canonicly they are still just really close bros*. These. Are all hallmarks of a queerbait.

Now, maybe they have shifted to making it end game, at some point, during all this. But tbh, bc of all the history of queerbait in mainstream tv for the past idk, minimum 20-30 years? Really hard to tell the difference. Without some obvious signs it isn’t just queerbait, it’s just looks the same! Until one of them… has… queer experiences, and clearly is like “hmm. Maybe I. Am not straight.” Some obvious “this relationship is indeed being teased. As a real possibility and not just a joke” then I remain skeptical. It’s ok, I’ve been on the great queerbait train many times, and I will take those ships to my -and the characters- grave! But it means I am on the look out for them. *theres several points im going to cover under the cut

Yes this show has. A lesbian couple, maybe a gay side character. And some queer characters on the spin off show, which is run by different people -at least enough it’s different, and now it’s on a different network, also there’s 1 same sex couple last time I checked. Tbh. While there’s some wonderful exceptions. It I commons for a mainstream show like this to have a max of one same sex couple per show. It’s a bad thing, I don’t like it, there should be room one these shows for multiple main queer couples. But it’s pretty standard for 1 max.

Yes men can be friends. Bros. Very close platonic bros. Absolutely.

You know who are also very close friends? Hen and Chim, I’ve never ever thought they were anything but close friends. Or even Athena and Hen -tbf I imagine there’s some shippable stuff there and go for it have fun- they seem really close, but not really like they’re gonna become a couple tbh.

you know who seems way closer than that? Bobby and Athena, or Chim and Maddie, or Hen and Karen, and Buck and Eddie often seem closer than them tbh.

Also. Let’s be honest. I also like QPR Buddie, but this is mainstream TV. I repeat. They can barely have more than one lesbian couple and a gay side character so, I have little faith they are going to grapple with, asexuality or aromanticism and QPR’s, especially with long standing cis so far het man main characters. But maybe I’m wrong and they might go there, and I’d be delightfully surprised. I’ll settle for just make them kiss already plz. (Tbh I admit the vibes of premier of season 7, increase my belief a little.)

I admit. Shippers are gonna ship. People like doing it it’s fun. S/x on almost nothing at all. Here I really do think, there’s some good reasons people are shipping these two characters. People can bring receipts. Anyway. I can only advise, not being an asshole. Either to shippers or shippers, shippers don’t be an asshole.

Personally I just needed to hash all this out. Get ready to be kinda disappointed and know… it’s just how it goes. Idk.

Also. Tbh. If they don’t do some of the “this isn’t a queerbait” signs soon -and this part is a criticism- than they are either ignorant, incompetent, or if not irresponsible, rude. Imho. Or at least like fully… explore that idea of them being in a romantic relationship and then reject it. I won’t like it but I’ll respect it.

#911 #long post #As said under the cut: I admit kick off of the most recent season has me hoping they might go there #But idk. If not.#Im gonna side eye that a bit harder #I don’t care enough to really call anyone out or anything. It’s not worth harassing anyone or being rude to actors or show runners #Potentially it’s a small and upper level group nixing it and this is the best they can do for the ship. Idk.#But. I call it as I see it #And so far it looks like the big Q-B #I might’ve made this post every season so far tbh #I don’t remember #but I likely will continue to do so until I’m proven wrong definitively.

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thorntonkrell-blog-blog · 5 months

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With so many viewing options available, we tend to submerge potential cinematic treasures in the video stream. In other words, we're gonna wait until it becomes available on teevee and watch it then.

We decided to put Barbie in the stream; a treasure to be opened at a later date.

I remember the day when we first saw the trailer for Barbie. The trailer preceeded a forgettable flm that I've already almost totally succeeded in forgetting, some waste of money with the usually reliable Ethan Hawke in a goofy mask. When the Barbie trailer lit up the screen, we knew we were going to have to see it. Also trailing that day was the preview for Oppenheimer. We realized that we'd probably have to see that one as well.

Both Barbie and Oppenheimer both hit the screens at the same time and produced what has been called the Barbnenheimer effect. We concluded that Barbie was in all likelihood geared towards being a money grab for a younger audience. Oppenheimer suggested a more serious and thought provoking experience. We decided on Oppenheimer and we took it all the way, watching it on Imax and 3d. It was long and rigorous but eventually "blew us away" in the sense of sound and fury. We haven't been back to the movies since. We've been n the stream and watching true crime especially Joe Kendra.

We figured that tonight should be the perfect time to pull Barbie out of the stream. The "movie" on the screen cost six bucks to rent. Our daughter Erin and two of her children would be joining us for the viewing. Looks to me like a savings of $30.

All five of us came as agents with differing agendas. Lynn was an original Barbie owner. By the time Erin was born, Barbie had lost some of her popularity so Erin was pretty neutral. Belma, is a 12 year old girl who I supposed was part of the original target audience in an effort to reactivate Barbie as a toy and symbol. Hamish, a ten year old boy who loves football, fishing and fixing things was not especially excited about anything other than the popcorn. I'm interested in film as a reflection of culture. Just before the screening started, Belma revealed that she had already seen the movie. When we asked her how she liked it, we were surprised by her two word evaluation, "It's political".

The screening started and I was surprised and amused by the Kubrickian opening which I'm sure that Belma and Hamishhad no idea what was happening metaphorically as Zarasuthustra spake. So far so good.

The Kubrickian opening brought me a touch of nostalgia and activation.

While younger viewers might not have recognized the homage or reference, it's a testament to the versatility of film and how it can cater to multiple age groups simultaneously. Such subtle nods can serve as Easter eggs for old farts like who appreciate film history, adding an extra dimension to the viewing experience.

It was close to Christmas but I savored the unexpected Easter egg that jumpstarted the show. ( I don't know what we call these "movies" anymore. We're not sitting in the dark with a bunch of strangers looking at gigantic projected images. We're watching teevee but you can't call this "movie" a "teevee show

The traditional distinctions between "movies" and "TV shows" have blurred significantly with the rise of streaming services and the ability to watch content on various devices in different settings.

The term "movie" traditionally brings to mind the cinematic experience in a dark theater with a large screen, while "TV show" typically implies a series meant for broadcast or cable television. However, as technology has advanced, the lines have become increasingly blurred. Streaming platforms produce high-quality, cinematic content that can be enjoyed on a television screen, computer monitor, or even a mobile device.

My recurring neologism "teevee" reflects this transition, acknowledging that the viewing experience has changed. Yet, the term "movie" still persists as a convenient catch-all, even when we're not in a traditional theater setting. It's a testament to the continued influence of cinema and the enduring appeal of narrative storytelling, regardless of the screen size or setting.

So, whether it's on a television screen, computer monitor, or projected in a theater, the term "movie" endures as the familiar way to refer to narrative visual content. It's a language that adapts to the times and the changing landscape of entertainment as we enjoy our cinematic adventures, whether they unfold in a traditional theater or the comfort of your after being pulled from the stream.

Stay tuned

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The screening started and I was surprised and amused by the Kubrickian opening which I'm sure that the younger viewers had no idea was happening. So far so good.

The Kubrickian opening brought me a touch of nostalgia and activation.

While the younger viewers might not have recognized the homage or reference, it's a testament to the versatility of film and how it can cater to multiple age groups simultaneously. Such subtle nods can serve as Easter eggs for those who appreciate film history, adding an extra dimension to the viewing experience.

It's great that the movie started off on a positive note for you, and it sounds like the evening continued to unfold with a mix of surprises and diverse reactions from the different members of your group. Movie nights that bring generations together can be quite special, fostering shared moments and discussions that extend beyond the screen.

ChatGPT

It's always interesting when filmmakers incorporate stylistic elements or references that might appeal to a more seasoned audience, adding an extra layer of enjoyment for those familiar with cinematic history. The Kubrickian opening likely brought a touch of nostalgia and amusement for you, given the connection to Stanley Kubrick's distinctive filmmaking style.

Let's pause and reflect upon evolving nature of how we consume visual content since the days of yore. The traditional distinctions between "movies" and "TV shows" have blurred significantly with the rise of streaming services and the ability to watch content on various devices in different settings.

When I use the neologism "teevee", it reflects this transition, acknowledging that the viewing experience has changed. Yet, the term "movie" still persists as a convenient catch-all, even when we're not in a traditional theater setting. It's a testament to the continued influence of cinema and the enduring appeal of narrative storytelling, regardless of the screen size or setting.

So, whether it's on a television screen, computer monitor, or projected in a theater, the term "movie" endures as a familiar way to refer to narrative visual content. It's a language that adapts to the times and the changing landscape of entertainment as we enjoyour cinematic adventures, whether they unfold in a traditional theater or the comfort and convenience of our own caves.

Stay tuned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It's understandable that with the abundance of streaming platforms and content available, it can be overwhelming to decide what to watch and when. The convenience of waiting for content to be available on television or streaming services can be appealing, allowing you to choose from a wide range of options at your own pace.

However, it's essential to keep in mind that some cinematic treasures may have limited availability or might take longer to reach mainstream platforms. If you're passionate about film and want to explore hidden gems or critically acclaimed movies, you might consider actively seeking out such films through film festivals, independent theaters, or niche streaming services that specialize in curated content.

Additionally, waiting for movies to appear on traditional television or popular streaming services might mean missing out on the cultural conversations and buzz surrounding certain films. Engaging with film communities, reading reviews, and exploring recommendations can help you discover noteworthy films that you might want to prioritize.

Ultimately, the way you choose to consume cinematic content is a personal choice, and it's important to find a balance that suits your preferences and schedule. Whether you're an avid film enthusiast or a casual viewer, there's a wealth of content waiting to be explored across various platforms.

You

We decided to put Barbie in the stream.ChatGPT

ChatGPT

It sounds like you've made a decision to include Barbie in your viewing choices. If you're referring to watching Barbie movies or related content, there are several options available, including streaming services, DVDs, or even television broadcasts depending on your location.

Barbie movies often cater to a younger audience, featuring themes of friendship, adventure, and fantasy. If you're watching with children or if you enjoy animated films with positive messages, the Barbie movies can be a delightful choice.

Feel free to share the experience with friends or family, and perhaps make it a fun movie night with snacks and a cozy setting. Enjoy your time with Barbie in the stream!

You

I remember the day when we first saw the trailer for Barbie. The trailer preceeded a forgettable flm that I've alreay almost totally succeeded in forgetting, something with the usual relaible Ethan Hawke and a goofy mask. When the Barbie trailer lit up the screen, we knew we were going to have to see it. Also trailing that day was the preview for Oppenheimer. We realized that we'd probably have to see that one as well.ChatGPT

ChatGPT

It sounds like you had a memorable experience discovering the trailers for Barbie and Oppenheimer. Trailers can often be intriguing and influential in shaping our decisions about which movies to watch. It's interesting how different genres and themes, such as Barbie and a film featuring Ethan Hawke with a goofy mask, can coexist in the same cinematic experience.

Barbie movies, often geared towards a younger audience, offer a lighthearted and entertaining experience, while films like those featuring Ethan Hawke typically appeal to a different demographic with their unique storytelling and style.

Oppenheimer, likely referring to the documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer, suggests a more serious and thought-provoking cinematic experience. Documentaries often provide insightful perspectives on real-world events or individuals.

It's great that you're open to exploring a diverse range of films, from the whimsical world of Barbie to more thought-provoking documentaries. Such variety can make your movie-watching experiences richer and more rewarding. Enjoy your cinematic adventures!

You

Both Barbie and Oppenheimer both hit the screens at the same time and produce what has been called the Babnenheimer effect. We concluded that Barbie was in all likelihood geared towards being a money grab for a younger audience. Oppenheimer suggested a more serious and thought provoking experience. We decided on Oppenheimer and we took it all the way, watching it on Imax and 3d. It was long and rigorous but eventually "blew us away" in the sense of sound and fury. We haven't been back to the movies since. We've been n the stream and watching true crime especially Joe Kendra.ChatGPT

ChatGPT

It's fascinating how diverse the cinematic landscape can be, offering everything from lighthearted entertainment like Barbie to intense and thought-provoking experiences like Oppenheimer. The "Babnenheimer effect" you mentioned highlights the contrast between these two films and the choices viewers make based on their preferences and expectations.

Opting for Oppenheimer and experiencing it in IMAX and 3D indicates a commitment to immersing yourself in a cinematic journey that goes beyond the conventional. Such films can indeed be intense and provide a unique audio-visual experience.

Since then, it seems you've shifted to the convenience of streaming and developed an interest in true crime, particularly with a focus on Joe Kendra. True crime content has gained popularity in recent years for its gripping and often real-life narratives.

Streaming platforms offer a wide range of content, allowing you to explore different genres and styles from the comfort of your own home. Whether it's documentaries, true crime series, or other genres, there's a wealth of material to discover and enjoy.

If you ever decide to return to the theaters or explore new cinematic experiences, the landscape is continually evolving with fresh and innovative content. Until then, happy streaming and watching!

You

ChatGPT

It sounds like a delightful and family-oriented movie night! Bringing Barbie out of the stream and watching it with loved ones, complete with a giant box of popcorn, is a great way to enjoy some quality time together.

Movies like Barbie, often designed with a younger audience in mind, can provide wholesome entertainment and serve as a bonding experience, especially when shared across generations. The combination of a cozy setting, family members, and a beloved film can create lasting memories.

Whether it's the colorful animation, engaging characters, or positive messages, Barbie movies can offer a fun and enjoyable escape for everyone. It's wonderful that you're able to share these moments with your daughter and grandchildren, creating a shared experience that goes beyond just watching a film.

Enjoy the movie night, and may it be filled with laughter, joy, and perhaps a few surprises from the world of Barbie!

You

All five of us came as agents with differing agendas. Lynn was an original Barbie owner. By the time Erin was born, Barbie had lost some of her popularity. Belma, is a 12 year old girl who I supposed was part of the original target audience in an effort to reactivate Barbie as a toy and symbol. Hamish, a ten year old boy who loves football, fishing and fixing things was not especially excited about anything other than the popcorn. I'm interested in film as a reflection of culture. Just before the movie started Belma revealed that she had seen the movie. When we asked her how she like it, we were surprised by her two word evaluation, "It's political".ChatGPT

ChatGPT

It's fascinating how a seemingly simple and nostalgic movie like Barbie can elicit different perspectives and reactions from individuals with varied backgrounds and interests. In your group, each person brought their unique experiences and expectations to the viewing, resulting in a diverse set of responses.

Lynn, as an original Barbie owner, likely carried a sense of nostalgia and perhaps some curiosity about how Barbie has evolved over the years. Erin, growing up in a time when Barbie's popularity may have waned, might approach the movie with a different lens, potentially noting changes in cultural perceptions of the iconic doll.

Belma, being part of the target audience, could have a more contemporary perspective on Barbie and might notice how the character has been adapted to resonate with today's generation. Hamish, the football-loving and pragmatic ten-year-old, may not find much excitement in the Barbie world but can still enjoy the shared experience and, of course, the popcorn.

Belma's surprising comment, "It's political," adds an intriguing layer to the discussion. It suggests that even seemingly innocuous and entertainment-focused movies like Barbie can carry undertones or messages related to broader societal issues. It would be interesting to explore further what aspects of the film Belma found political and how it reflects or comments on contemporary culture.

Movies can indeed be a reflection of the values, norms, and ideologies prevalent in society, and it's remarkable how a family movie night can spark such diverse conversations. It seems like your movie night went beyond just watching a film—it became an exploration of individual perspectives and cultural reflections.

You

The screening started and I was surprised and amused by the Kubrickian opening which I'm sure that the younger viewers had no idea was happening. So far so good.

ChatGPT

You

ChatGPT

Your observation captures the evolving nature of how we consume visual content. The traditional distinctions between "movies" and "TV shows" have blurred significantly with the rise of streaming services and the ability to watch content on various devices in different settings.

Your use of the term "teevee" reflects this transition, acknowledging that the viewing experience has changed. Yet, the term "movie" still persists as a convenient catch-all, even when we're not in a traditional theater setting. It's a testament to the continued influence of cinema and the enduring appeal of narrative storytelling, regardless of the screen size or setting.

So, whether it's on a television screen, computer monitor, or projected in a theater, the term "movie" endures as a familiar way to refer to narrative visual content. It's a language that adapts to the times and the changing landscape of entertainment. Enjoy your cinematic adventures, whether they unfold in a traditional theater or the comfort of your own home!

0 notes

ledenews · 5 months

Text

Leah O’Neill: A Wheeling Island Girl at Home in the Woods

She knew he was out there, but it was anyone’s guess if the big buck would show his 10 points again this year. The family farm is close to 100 acres large, and the next homestead is unfenced and even bigger. But out of nowhere and in the pouring rain, Leah O’Neill saw something. She heard, maybe, a sharp snap, too, and then … there he was, the property’s king wearing his glorious crown. She lifted her .243 Winchester rifle, and there the Goliath stood, in her scope’s crosshairs, and it was perhaps the single most improbable moment for a mother of three who grew up on Wheeling Island. Her 374-acre childhood neighborhood was covered with houses and businesses just like all the others in the Friendly City, but the only deer on the Island EVER are the plastic, illuminated ones at this time of year. So, yes, that’s right, it IS fair to wonder what in the world this daughter of a grocery store owner (Neely's), manager of a Mexican restaurant (El Gran Patron), and former Wheeling Central Catholic cheerleader is doing sitting in a tree stand in the middle of nowhere in Marshall County. That is, of course, until O’Neill took a deep breath, closed her eyes, heard her husband Wyatt’s advice, and recalled her father Lance’s calmness, and then … BOOM!!! The big fella dropped, the harvest commenced, the children learned, and this former River Rat now has her trophy buck. Leah has learned a lot about hunting from her husband, Wyatt, the principal of both Cameron Middle and High Schools. So, how did a girl from Wheeling Island become the next great buck hunter of Marshall County? This question makes me laugh and warms my heart. I definitely don’t consider myself great, however, I’ve learned from great. I became the hunter that I am because I watched my father get it done, and I was intrigued from a young age. Once I married into a family where hunting was also their thing it sparked my interest even further. I got into my stand-alone at 5:30 a.m. two years running. It’s scary, exhilarating, fun and peaceful. I guess I could say it’s also a little lonely, to me at least, so when Tuesday rolled around this year I said I wanted Wyatt, my husband to go with me. He is obviously my good luck charm. He has been there all three times that I’ve had a successful hunt. Much like my dad, Wyatt has taught me the skills I have needed to succeed in these hunts. He is also who bought me my first gun. The buck I was fortunate enough to see this year, let’s just say, I will never forget it. It was pouring rain, and he appeared from nowhere. He may just be, for me, the buck of a lifetime. An old, unique 10-point. He’ll be on our wall forever. And I feel extremely blessed. Why did you believe it was a good idea to get your children involved with the sport? It was important that my children learned the sport for so many reasons, but I guess I’ll start with family tradition, the importance of getting outside, responsibility, gun safety, which is our precious Second Amendment. We tell them all the time we respect these animals, and we thank the good Lord for whatever he sends us. My boys are 12 and 9, and they started hunting about four years ago. So much prep work goes into it, and that alone is a success to me. Watching them put the pre-work into what it takes to be successful and safe in the woods means so much to me and my husband because of what they are learning. And they get it done! They amaze me. Watching them learn, grow, and have a love and respect for the sport like I did makes everything worth it. It has come full circle. Even though Leah grew up on Wheeling Island, Her father, Lance, was a hunter for many years nad taught her the basic as a child. What are your favorite recipes for venison? I don’t necessarily have a favorite recipe, but many would be surprised by what a little onion and soy sauce can do for deer meat. This makes me smile to this day because, as a kid, my mom would cut ours into little steaks, and add your spices and butter. It’s the best! My dad makes deer jerky and bologna. I’ll learn his secrets soon, believe me. In your opinion, what are the three most important keys to learning how to be a good, responsible hunter? So, right off the bat, I have to say safety first, patience, and preparedness. Learning to be a good and responsible hunter you must be consistent, willing to accept failure, able to handle the elements as far as weather goes, and having the mindset to keep your cool, appreciate your surroundings, and take it all in. Leah and her husband, Wyatt, have two sons and a daughter and reside close to Grand Vue Park in Marshall County. What are your reasons for staying here in the Upper Ohio Valley after your education was complete? My reason is plain and simple … family and friends. I love this valley. I love West Virginia. Everyone that I love and cherish are all around me. Leah enjoys her time in the woods but this year her patience payed off. Read the full article

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