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Natasha Trace

Top Gun: Maverick//Top Gun: Maverick//pinterest//David Shrigley, Fucking Ace//Top Gun: Maverick//J.D Salinger

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Fyrebird

The last in the June/Nat Daggerfest works finished just in time.

"In Slavic mythology and folklore, the Firebird (zhar-ptitsa) is a magical and prophetic glowing or burning bird from a faraway land which is both a blessing and a harbinger of doom to its captor." (wiki)

Based off of Slavic mythology but with a twist (zhar-ptitsa do not have human forms, and their feathers do not light the way to one's love or destiny)

A single fyrebird feather can act as a light for an entire room, glowing brightly even after being removed. The legend states that a feather removed from the bird's mortal form will lead one to their love, destiny, or heart's greatest desire.

The human form is often that of a beautiful woman, and is considered the most difficult to trap. Once captured, the wielder of the tether dooms themselves to the end prophesied by the bird, one that is often prolonged and brutal.

Variants and close up under the cut

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Dagger (pt.2)

aka "Bitchy Summer"

I will have a collection of the whole squadron being judgemental, and I will continue to put them in ridiculous shirts/outfits :)

Part 1

Under the cut -- lineart and sketches

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Barrel On

While the 2 from More Cowboy Than You were… preoccupied, Natasha “Phoenix” Trace and her horse Ash were busy putting on a breathtaking show in the arena

Barrel version, lineart, and sketches under the cut

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Rip Current

(Tides part 3) (Part 1/ Part 2)

Crown princess by blood, the deadliest of the sirens was known for her unearthly beauty and thirst for the hunt. The joy she derived from killing resulted in the unprecedented abdication of the crown -- and therefore royal responsibilities -- to the current king. Following the relinquishment she was often seen leading packs of her fellows in vicious attacks and triumphant celebrations, leaving the inter-kingdom chinwagging, entertaining, and glad-handling to the confidante who took on her mantle. The ancestral circlet and dull meetings were a price she gladly paid for the freedom to pursue the joy of the open water and smell of human fear.

While the newly turned prince consort was getting acquainted with his aquatic body, husband, and kingdom, the former ruler happily overpowered his human friend. The loyal companion naively believed that vengeance was owed for the brutal "death" of his peer, practically throwing himself into the water and proceeding to slash and tear into any limb within his reach prior to being overpowered. While the attack proved futile, the princess could always appreciate loyalty and a fierce spirit; regardless of species. Such an essence would have been wasted in death, and perhaps the human-turned-king would benefit from a familiar face.

Lineart and sketches under the cut

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smoke, fire, it's all going up

smoke, fire, it's all going up, Gen, Natasha Trace

A Phoenix will always rise from the ashes, but first Natasha has to get there.

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first month done!!

Thank you to all who participated in the Rooster month for Dagger Fest! Going forward if I miss reblogging something please please send me a message! I check the tag daily but tumblr sometimes likes to lie to me.

Thank you again!! And have fun creating something for Phoenix!! Can't wait to see everything.

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Dagger

A redrawing of the first sketch I ever posted, because I wanted at least one continuous theme that I could fit every Dagger into for daggerfest and "bitchy summer" seemed like a good fit.

Bonus tattooed Bradley because :) well why not?

Under the cut -- lineart and closeups of the tattoos

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Just under the wire, I managed to finish my Bradley entry for Dagger Fest! It's outsider POV and short and just a peek into Bradley's world a few years down the line. Family Photos

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Currents (Part 3/3)

Since it's the last day of MerMay and Bradley's dagger fest month, here is the last of the mermaid pieces.

There is even a little extra friend thrown into the mix

Part 1 - Part 2

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Currents (Part 2/3)

In honour of the last WIP Wednesday of the month, here is the next Met!Bradley for your enjoyment

Part 1 - Part 3

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In My Heart You're Always Found

Getting a bird call sign like his dad felt right but a little large at first, like when he'd first started wearing Goose's Hawaiian shirts. Maybe he'd grow into this, too.

Or, Bradley reflects on healing and all the people that cared for him through the years.

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I feel so grateful for the people over the years who helped me continue to survive and remind me to live. I thought Bradley might feel grateful, too.

Full fic on AO3!! My very first one 🥹

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Running routine...

Thinking about how I hadn't yet written anything for Dagger Fest for May, and then I started considering a Bradley that was raised by Nick and Carole, and then Carole, and I just think he would be someone that LIKES routine. Appreciates knowing certain things will happen at certain times. Wouldn't like surprises overly much. But then I thought of a surprise (or deviation from routine) that he might not mind and then I mini-fic'd. 🤷‍♀️🫣😶‍🌫️

🏞️🌳🏃‍♂️‍➡️🌳🏃🌳🏞️

Bradley likes his early morning running routine. It takes him less than five minutes to turn his alarm off, pull on his running clothes and be out the door. Sure. He might not be quite awake, but he finds it's the best time to exercise. Before his body is awake enough to put up a protest.

5.30am - leave the building. Turn right. Same route it's been for nine months since he moved in.

5.33am - cross over Mayfair Crescent and head towards the path by the river.

5.37am - catch up to, and overtake, the guy who wears all the fancy gear but runs like his underwear is riding up his ass.

5.40am - smile and say good morning to the retired couple who are walking in the opposite direction.

5.41am - cross over Park Avenue and head into the park.

5.45am - dodge the two terriers on their leashes and say good morning to the woman running with them. Don't stop and don't smile.

5.51am - wave to the cafe owner putting out their open sign. Knows he'll see them again later when he pop in for his coffee.

5.54am - take the steps down to the river path and let the legs stretch out.

5.55am - acknowledge the boot camp class running toward the stairs, but only two mornings a week.

6.00am - chin jerk at the guy who runs with headphones on. Get chin jerk back.

6.03am - overtake the man walking the older golden Labrador. Reply with good morning.

6.05am - overtake, with some difficulty, the two moms who run abreast while pushing their prams. Wave off their daily apologies.

6.08am - greet Anthony from the finance office by name and give a polite smile. Never not feel awkward.

6.10am - skip over the uneven cobbles in one spot because tree roots are lifting them up.

6.12am - prepare to enjoy ten minutes of uninterrupted running time.

6.14am - see a guy up ahead, bent over and doing up his shoelaces. Nice ass.

6.14am - watch as guy stands up. He's not wearing a shirt. Vain motherfucker. But he looks good.

6.14am - realise the guy is giving him an up-down sweep with his eye before meeting his gaze directly.

6.14am - he smiles.

6.15am - trip, stumble and fall. His knees and hands catch him, sting as they're scraped on the rough cobbles but he's suffered worse. He looks up. The guy is no longer smiling but his attention is definitely all on Bradley.

"You're new."

"I - what? Are you okay? I mean... I want to make a quip about falling for me, but you're bleeding..."

"I'll be fine..." Bradley says, and his brain is catching up with what else he just said. Flirting. "You know what would make me feel better?"

"What?"

"Your number in my phone..."

(Jake loves telling the story of their first meeting, totally exaggerates Bradley's flailing fall and says it's because Bradley fell for him instantly. Bradley never bothers correcting him.)

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Bradley Bradshaw

Brenn!, from Franklin House//Top Gun: Maverick//Joan Kwon Glass, from "Wildfire"//unknown photographer//Emily Dickinson, from her poem titled "1188," featured in The Emergency Poet//Top Gun: Maverick//Sleeping At Last, from Eight//rrouhi//Top Gun: Maverick

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The Best Day

‘Don't know how long it's gonna take to feel okay / But I know I had the best day with you today’

Thoughts on Bradley and Carole Bradshaw inspired by The Best Day by Taylor Swift

Over the years Bradley gets used to all the stories people tell him about his dad, from his mom, from Mav, Slider each time he was in town and came by to check in and take Carole out to dinner for a kid-free night, from various admin and admirals on base. It used to overwhelm him, to be carrying the weight of these stories for a man he never knew but feels guilty that he doesn’t, but over time he realised that the stories were for the people telling them as much as they were for him, and so he learned to smile and nod politely, and thank them for sharing.

But for every story he gets told about his dad, he loves to share one about his mom:

His mom, who kicked up a fuss and demanded they let her play in the fathers and sons baseball game in middle school

His mom, who took Bradley out to the back roads of town and taught him how to drive stick shift

His mom, who dragged him along to the craft fairs and thrift stores and taught him how to haggle and find a good piece

The image of her screaming at the tv during Monday Night Football, bowl of popcorn flying as she jumps to yell at the ref

How she loved female country singers of the 90s

His mom who curled up with him on the couch and a tub of ice cream and let him cry into her shoulder when his first crush asked Alvarez to Sadie Hawkins instead of him

When he came home from school one day mad as hell for no reason and she takes him to the batting cages and they yelled at the world as he whacked at the balls

When they fight and there is yelling all through the house and Bradley slams his door to sulk in his room, they both take time to cool off and his mom comes up later with a box of pizza and they sit on his bedroom floor eating until the fight is forgotten and they are smiling and laughing again

How she taught him the importance of love and friendship and caring for people

How she used to embarrass him when she sang along to the music playing in the grocery store, a full performance to Tainted Love in the middle of the cereal aisle, a banana as a microphone (how Bradley would do this to Jake all these years later)

His mom, who always spoke about how much she loved his father and him signing Great Balls of Fire and so he keeps singing it in the name of her legacy, too

His mom who was fiery and loud and colorful and had a short temper and didn’t always know how to raise a child by herself and screwed up sometimes but she always ended the day with love and the two of them against the world and he sees her in kitschy chicken themed home decor and bunches of yellow flowers and jean jackets and that gaudy quilt she made herself and the cheekiness of Seresin’s grin and

How he misses her