joeyalohadream

[joeyalohadream]

okay  while  Masters  of  the  Air  might  not  be  my  all-time  favorite,  i  genuinely  don’t  get  the  weird  level  of  hate  it’s  gotten  just  for  not  being  a  carbon  copy  of  Band  of  Brothers  (this  one  is  always  brought  up  most  when  hating)  or  The  Pacific.  idk  if  it's  because  i  was  military  that  i  can  appreciate  it  on  a  level  or  what.  but  people  seem  quick  to  write  it  off  as  if  it’s  got  nothing  worth  appreciating,  just  because  it  doesn't  tick  the  same  emotional  boxes  or  follow  the  same  structure.  but  that’s  kind  of  the  whole  point—you  can't  compare  bomber  crews  to  infantrymen  like  they're  doing  the  same  job.  it’s  a  completely  different  branch,  different  doctrine,  and  a  totally  different  kind  of  hell.  if  you  go  into  it  expecting  foxholes  and  fire  teams  or  the  same  kind  of  bonding,  yeah,  you’ll  be  disappointed.  but  that’s  not  a  flaw  of  the  show  but  rather  just  a  misunderstanding  of  what  aerial  warfare  was  and  is.

infantry  in  ww2,  especially  airborne  units  like  Easy  Company,  were  all  about  close-quarters  fighting,  patrolling  villages,  ambushing  convoys,  and  defending  trenches.  small  units  moving  in  squads  and  platoons,  always  on  foot,  sometimes  attached  to  tanks  or  calling  in  mortars  and  artillery  for  backup.  they  had  to  physically  hold  ground,  inch  by  inch.  they  lived  in  it—wet  boots,  frozen  mud,  the  reek  of  blood  and  unwashed  skin.  it  was  dirty,  slow,  and  intimate.  there  was  a  lot  of  downtime  mixed  in  with  terrifying  bursts  of  chaos.  and  when  someone  got  hit,  they  were  usually  right  next  to  you,  screaming  for  help,  and  you  had  to  make  a  decision  fast.  save  him,  leave  him,  move  on.  that  stuff  sticks  to  you.

and  that  same  raw  brutality  hit  even  harder  in  the  infamous  The  Pacific.  marine  infantry  fighting  across  the  islands  weren’t  dealing  with  towns  or  forests  but  were  out there  crawling  through  heat-choked  jungle,  volcanic  sand,  caves  dug  into  mountainsides,  and  dealing  with  enemies  that  didn’t  break  easily,  didn’t  surrender,  and  often  preferred  death  to  capture  and  making  sure  they  took  down  every  marine  they  could  alongside  them.  they  faced  not  just  bullets  but  starvation,  disease,  exhaustion  so  deep  it  made  hallucinations  feel  real. fighting  on  Peleliu  or  Iwo  Jima  was  a  war  of  inches.  flamethrowers  cleared  caves,  and  artillery  tore  apart  coral  ridgelines  a  lot  of  the  time.  the  kind  of  violence  marines  faced  in  the  Pacific  theater  was  was  existential  and  was  the  kind  of  war  where  you  lose  parts  of  your  humanity  to  survive,  and  you  do  it  right  alongside  your  brothers,  who  are  all  you  have.

now  take  a  look  at  the  bomber  crews  in  Masters  of  the  Air.  these  weren’t  riflemen  or  tankers.  they  were  part  of  the  U.S.  Army  Air  Forces,  operating  thousands  of  feet  up,  freezing  cold,  strapped  into  big  aluminum  glorified  coffins  full  of  big  ass  bombs  and  machine  guns.  every  mission  lasted  hours.  you're  sitting  in  this  vibrating  cage,  oxygen  mask  clamped  to  your  face,  watching  for  black  clouds  of  flak  and  praying  a  fighter  doesn't  scream  out  of  the  sky  and  rip  through  your  fuselage  and  fuck  you  up  real  good.  it  wasn’t  about  ground—it  was  about  altitude,  formation,  precision.  instead  of  squad  tactics,  you  had  Flying  Fortresses  stacked  in  combat  boxes,  each  plane  relying  on  the  others  for  cover.  get  separated  and  you’re  easy  prey.

a  B-17  or  B-24  had  a  ten-man  crew,  each  one  doing  something  specific:  pilot,  co-pilot,  navigator,  bombardier,  radio  man,  a  couple  of  waist  gunners,  a  tail  gunner,  a  guy  crammed  in  the  ball  turret  beneath  the  plane.  each  man  had  one  job  and  no  room  to  fuck  it  up.  and  if  flak  hit  just  right  or  a  shell  exploded  mid-fuselage,  it  could  tear  someone  apart  in  front  of  you.  maybe  it  was  the  guy  you  joked  with  that  morning.  maybe  he’s  just  gone.  not  screaming.  just  gone.  and  you  couldn’t  stop  to  help.  no  medic  on  board.  you’d  have  to  fly  the  rest  of  the  mission  with  blood  on  your  boots  and  keep  your  head  down  so  you  don’t  join  him.

people  don’t  seem  to  realize  that  the  air  war  was  strategic,  not  tactical.  the  Eighth  Air  Force  wasn’t  sent  in  to  hold  terrain—they  were  there  to  wipe  out  German  industry.  oil  refineries,  factories,  rail  yards.  cripple  the  enemy’s  ability  to  wage  war.  they  flew  in  daylight  so  they  could  hit  their  targets  more  accurately,  which  also  made  them  easier  to  spot  and  shoot  at.  for  a  long  time,  they  didn’t  even  have  proper  fighter  escort.  so  imagine  that:  you  got  hundreds  of  planes  in  tight  formation,  no  protection,  flying  into  Germany  knowing  full  well  you  might  be  dead  before  you  even  see  the  target.  some  missions  had  50%  casualty  rates.  half  the  planes  don’t  come  back.  you’re  flying  through  a  meat  grinder,  and  you’ve  got  to  do  it  again  tomorrow.  and  again,  until  you  reach  your  mission  quota.  25  was  the  magic  number  early  on.  if  you  survived  25  bombing  missions,  you  could  go  home.  the  problem  was  that  most  didn’t  make  it  that  far.

and  unlike  infantry,  where  you  might  rotate  off  the  line  for  a  few  days  after  a  big  push,  these  guys  flew  mission  after  mission.  there’s  no  foxhole.  no  tree  to  hide  behind.  just  metal  and  sky.  and  flak.  and  fire.  so  when  people  knock  the  show  for  being  “too  slow”  or  “not  emotional  enough,” they’re kinda ignoring  what  kind  of  stress  those  men  lived  with.  it  wasn’t  loud  all  the  time  or  super  deeply  intimate.  a  lot  of  it  was  waiting  in  silence,  knowing  any  second  something  could  explode.  that  kind  of  anxiety  doesn't  always  scream  loud.

and  also,  the  structure’s  very  different  too.  instead  of  platoons,  you  had  bomber  groups,  squadrons,  wings.  it  was  way  more  mechanical  and  hierarchical.  the  camaraderie  was  more  confined  so  your  crew  was  your  family.  the  plane  was  your  world.  and  behind  every  mission  was  a  massive  machine  of  logistics  and  maintenance.  ground  crews  worked  nonstop  to  keep  those  bombers  flying,  and  without  them,  the  whole  system  collapsed.  it  was  not  super  personal  in  the  same  way  infantry  combat  was,  but  it  was  just  as  brutal,  devastating,  and  necessary.

so  while  no,  while this show is not like your favs, it’s  literally  not  trying  to  be,  and  i  do really like  that despite not being the most interested.  it’s  telling  a  different  kind  of  war  story,  and  that  should  be  acknowledged  and  respected.  i  love chair  forcers (even pre-seperation, they're included in that loving nickname),  even  if  i  give  them  shit,  so  put  some  respect  on  their  names  please.

and  because  i'm  a  hoe  for  these  kinds  of  things,  here's  a  little  old  breakdown  comparing  the  differences  between  the combat  environments  because  why  not??  if  i  write  and  post it,  you  shall  be  subjected  to  it !

[joeyalohadream]

ALWAYS BE YOUR SUGAR

Chapter 3: Keeping Up

Williamsburg, Summer 2002. More stories about food and houses (this time, literally). With playlist!

[joeyalohadream]

There’s a crew cutting tree tops down outside my house and I can’t help but think of Let your heart be light 😂 the boys combining their job skills.

[joeyalohadream]

Seasonal Headers | Spring

[joeyalohadream]

Seven Sentence Sunday

Thanks @roseszirnheld for the tag! This is from the upcoming “The Ghost of Gale Cleven” fic I’m working on. This is more than seven sentences but it’s Easter so you get extra treats. 😘

———

That is until Johnny Brady showed up and said that Bucky was on his plane. That is until Johnny Brady showed up and said that Bucky was on a suicide mission to avenge his supposed death. That is until Johnny Brady showed up and said that Bucky had to be pushed out of the airplane because he didn’t want to keep living in a world that Gale didn’t exist in.

He’d scoffed at the time. That couldn’t have been true. But now, now he understands.

Gale parks his bike outside a local pub. He recognizes it because he’s been here before with all the boys but mostly with Curt and Bucky.

Curt and Bucky.

He closes his eyes as he feels their loss deep within his gut. For a man who always finds purpose where his feet are planted, Gale sure is questioning everything now. How is he here and they are not? As he looks at the door to the bar, he feels like he is standing there on the edge of the hatch, not sure if he should jump or go down with his plane. Will he keep living in a world without Bucky? Does he even want to?

Gale makes his choice and steps inside the pub without a parachute.

———

No pressure tagging @hogans-heroes @joeyalohadream @steviewicks45 @trekkiehood @softmamawrites ❤️

[joeyalohadream]

That Ol' Devil Called Love Chapter 12 (of 14)

Gale and John's night together gets interrupted by a phone call. Brady feels the full consequences of his decision and Benny tries to keep him together. Kenny's mom struggles to know how she's going to pay for her son's treatment, and Bucky flees. Gale and Marge reach a crossroads. He finds Crank at the 100th, and together they come to a terrifying realisation. Bucky makes amends, and no one knows where to go from here.

Read on Ao3

Content warnings in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.

Art commission by @swifty-fox (and thanks for letting me borrow Li'l John <3)

[joeyalohadream]

I NEED to reply to AO3 comments because I’ve been seriously slacking and if I haven’t replied to you, I’m sorry!

Comments are so appreciated and the longer I wait to reply the worse I feel, but I’ve been in a slump and in one of the cycles where I feel like everything I write is garbage and praise makes me feel lousy and guilty and strange and is this a thing others fic writers feel? Or am I just spiraling?

I’ll get over it, I know it, just needed a wee ramble for a moment.

[joeyalohadream]

A second batch of "eBook" covers that I threw together to use for these fics on my kobo! The first batch is here. Once again, I'm shouting out big throbbing reccos for all of these, which were delightful to read in so many different ways.

don't take that sinner from me by @moghraidhs - tense and emotionally fraught Western AU with some beautifully achey, deliberate prose

for without are dogs by @constanthaunt - for an impeccable unpicking of character and faith and the meaning of devotion, with writing which is gorgeous and loaded in each and every sentence

hustle up starlings by @ableseamen - yes it's horny and wretched, but honestly what got me so caught up in this was the slick and precise prose

nose dive by @flatconcrete - a trip through the Buckies' relationship via a series of sharp and brilliantly-framed vignettes, with some incisive, snappy dialogue

that love is like a star by @whirlpool-blogs - a beautiful little bittersweet fairytale that really hits the style and tone which the genre asks for! A true delight

The Fire and the Ember by Muccamukk (who does not have tumblr) - a unique take on Marge/Peggy, which re-imagines Marge as an OC and does such gorgeous work with their relationship

two-dollar kisses by @spaceshipkat - there's a beautiful smoothness to Kat's writing that makes reading it a dream, and this "deleted scene" showcases that so well

who will have mercy on your soul by @basilone - using the premise that Gale can see manifestations of death, this is writing full of reverence and beauty*

you were there all along by @joeyalohadream - full of longing and so tenderly written—I could feel the care for John and Gale in every word, which was just so lovely to read

*Painting is detail from Death on a Pale Horse by Benjamin West (1796)

[joeyalohadream]

I saw this on twitter and thought of you, specially for the cooler fics.

😂 this is great. And also very sweet ❤️

[joeyalohadream]

Crying real tears watching Rory win The Masters and get that career grand slam.

That was the most stressful tournament I’ve ever watched. Being a diehard Rory fan is always a roller coaster but, whew. That one was A LOT.

(p.s. for my followers that have never see me mention golf, because I never have. Golf is my favorite sport and it’s one of my favorite things to watch 😅)

[joeyalohadream]

I worry about you since you lost your job. Hope everything works out for you.

No need to worry about me!

I still have the job that pays the most and I’ve been picking up so many extra bartending and serving shifts that I’m still golden.

I just would like to amputate my feet and my back and my brain half the time, but other than I’m just fine.

And thanks to everyone that’s sent similar messages. I’m here, just tired.

[joeyalohadream]

Heyyy I just wanted you to know that I LOVE your fic "let you heart be light" the last chapter was sooo long It took me 3 days to read It all ahaha, BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!!❤️❤️

Can't wait for the next!!💕

Thank you ☺️

Happy you’re enjoying the story 🎄🌲

[joeyalohadream]

just wanted to tell you how much i'm loving "let your heart be light". the last chapter hurt my heart but in the best way! this is such a comforting fic <3

I’m happy to hear it! 💕

Comforting is the feeling I’m going for with most of my writing and this story in particular ☀️

[joeyalohadream]

It’s 2am and I just finished Chapter 5 😭😭 there are no words to express how much I love it!!! I’ll come back to comment when words return to my brain in the morning but I couldn’t go to sleep without telling you that you blessed my whole damn week!!!! 💗

Thank you, dear. Messages like this always make me ☺️

💕❤️💕❤️

[joeyalohadream]

LOOKING FOR EIGHT

A Clegan Rodeo AU. Still with playlist. Now with podfic from @angelfruittree!

This is it y'all. This is the end. Thanks so much for coming along for the ride. <3

Chapter 14: Exempt from Qualification

R1.2.14.1 Contestants Exempt From Qualification. The following contestants may be exempt from the Dollar-Won qualification rule:

A) Former World Champions in the event they are entering. B) Three-time NFR qualifiers in the event they are entering. C) NFR qualifiers in the event they are entering during any of the past three years. D) Those who have been injured a total of six months during and who have not entered and paid entry fees for the event in question at more than 20 rodeos in the previous year...

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association 2023 Rule Book, 126-127.

[joeyalohadream]

maybell.eequay

[joeyalohadream]

I hope every writer who sees this writes LOADS the next few months. Like freetime opens up, no writers block, the ability to focus, etc etc you're able to write loads & make lots of progress <3