ofdanique-blog

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task two: character aesthetic

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w/ a monotone voice “wow that is so wild”

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@sungrown​

the sound of bird calls echo through the still air, and dani sinks further back into the plush seat she’s dragged out front of the manor. the view before her is of tree-scattered hills, and in the distance, mountains peak and crest. they remind her of family holidays as a child, of packing into the van with her parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins for a day of hiking. some of the best days of her life had been spent complaining, sweating and batting at flies, until they finally reached the top of lion’s head and decided all had been worth it to get there.

( she wonders if the view over cape town is just as beautiful as today, or if the undead have ruined her other home too. )

 have hope. have hope. the mantra started in her head the morning the camp had realised topher was missing, and it hadn’t died since. it came unbidden, when her thoughts turned dark and the sadness crept in. his optimism must have rubbed off on her, and the thought of never seeing him again makes her stomach drop. ever since she’d stumbled across him during a scouting trip all those months ago, he’d been a constant in her life. he was the first person she’d been able to let in since the apocalypse started, perhaps even before that. he was her friend. 

she needs to find him. if not for her, then for the whole of the camp. they need him. she’s lost count of the times she’s searched. where could he be? what could have happened to him?

she crosses the porch and approaches lionscrest’s sniper, shielding her eyes from the sun to look up at them. she knows better than to leave camp without letting someone know.   ❛ i’m going to head  —  ❜ their sniper cuts her off with a yell, and dani turns to follow their gaze. there’s a figure in the distance. she strains her eyes to make them, heart thundering in her chest. ❛ topher? ❜

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the air was cold, despite the sun’s brilliance; from her vantage point on the roof of the old theatre the wind was particularly uncomfortable. dani flinched at its bite, shrugging her jacket closer to her body. she’s out in the open, exposed in a way she usually avoids when scouting, but for today’s trip it can’t be helped. she needs her view to be unobstructed.

with the hoard’s retreat, she can finally survey the damage done. all around her, boulder is in shambles. broken glass lies on the footpaths, biters strewn across the roads and spilling out of nearby buildings. most are still and quiet, but with every sweep of the binoculars she sees spots more twitching limbs and gnawing mouths. though the worst was over, stragglers still remained, and danique needed to know exactly how many and where. with the decimation of the crops, and topher’s disappearance, the manor was more vulnerable than ever, and she doesn’t have it in her to see any more destruction. 

she lowers the binoculaurs, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, but even without the view she cannot escape her surroundings. groans of the undead float up to her ... and so does the sound of footsteps. kak. her eyes fly open at the sound of the even pace, seeking the newcomer out.

❛ enjoying the sunshine? ❜ dani keeps her tone light, hyperaware of the weapon on her. she can’t yet tell if whoever is out there is friend or foe, but playing nice whilst preparing for the worst has kept her alive thus far.

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have you heard of danique “dani” emery? she is a thirty-six year old survivor in boulder county, who looks like kim engelbrecht. she is intelligent, which helps her as a scout at lionscrest manor. however, she can also be reclusive, so i’d watch out for them. they are known as THE ERUDITE.

hi all ! i’m emily, your latest hells newbie. ( thank you for having me. ) below the cut is a summary of who dani ( love of my life ) is, and what she has been through to get to boulder county. if you want to plot, or have any questions or issues, pls don’t hesitate to hit me up ! i’m in the discord group, and am also contactable via tumblr dms.

tw: infertility, cancer.

dani was born danique amahle isaacs in capetown, south africa on the 7th of july, 1982. she has an older and a younger brother, both who still live in south africa with her parents. 

as a child she was very well-behaved, and never caused her family any trouble. she helped her mother wrangle her youngest brother for school, and assisted in doing the housework whilst her father worked long hours. the family was working class, not below the poverty line but not sitting comfortably above, either. 

she stood out in school due to her academic excellence, which led to her being seen as a bit of an outcast, even amongst the small group of her coloured peers. she found this very difficult, though her eldest brother made sure no one gave her too much grief. 

after graduating, dani was offered a scholarship to study (tertiary) abroad. she enrolled in an anthropology course at the university of denver, colorado, and moved there shortly after turning eighteen.

a few years into her studies she met nick emery, a mutual friend and her future husband. after a few months they began dating, and at the completion of her masters they eloped. he was, and still remains, the great love of her life.

nick worked as a social worker in denver, and wholeheartedly supported his wife in everything she did.

whilst working on her phd, dani and nick decided they wanted to start a family. it was to no success. dani had been diagnosed with severe endometriosis years earlier, and it had only increased in severity. she had so hoped to concieve, but instead followed her doctors advice and underwent a hysterectomy. following the procedure, her pain lessened, and her life as a chronic pain sufferer was changed dramatically.

the couple looked into adoption. nick had wanted to do so for a long time, and dani agreed it was just as special a way to have a child as natural conception. a month after completing her phd, dani and nick were selected by a birth mum interstate. they had a little boy on the way.

birth mama was in her six month of pregnancy when nick’s headaches turned something frightful. within a very short span of time, their nightmare came to life. nick had a tumour on the brain. the prognosis wasn’t good.

the adoption fell through. dani stopped her anthro lectures to stay with her husband and enjoy the last few weeks of their time together. his family gathered around them. dani’s mother flew to america for the first time to be with her daughter and son-in-law.

nick emery died on november 20th, 2016.

“she had walked with ghosts long before the dead rose.”

dani survived the intial stages of the outbreak by doing what she does best: staying quiet, hidden, and keeping her head. she hauled up in she and nick’s suburban home until she almost starved  — much like she had in the months after her husband died. then, she hopped in the car and made a run for it. she didn’t know where she was going, or even why she was keeping herself alive. it was instinct that told her to move, to find a place for herself outside of the cemetery that was denver.

the radio broadcast felt like a miracle. boulder. people were still alive out there, after all. it didn’t take long until she found a group of survivors, hauled up in a fancy ass mansion in lyons. 

they offered her a place.

she took it.

some more misc facts:

dani is fluent in afrikaans (first language) and english. she can also speak a little dutch.

she has a strong south-african accent. she was very self-conscious of it when she moved to the us, but no longer has issues with it.

dani is not shy, but she is very quiet. she can come across as quite intense, but really she’s very kind, thoughtful, and loyal. she can be very emotionally closed off, and is still grieving the loss of her husband alongside the loss of almost all she once knew.

she has dual south african and american citizenship.

dani was a lecturer at denver university. she has a doctorate in anthropology.

her husband nick was big into adventure sports. rock-climbing was one of the few that dani greatly enjoyed, and she took it up as a hobby. it has become very handy in her role at lioncrest.

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ciscosbarry‌:

Oh, Clifford. You are nothing without me. – (requested by @bravenlarkes)