#But when i was like 9 i had my sister's old phone for games and i thought the french flag was the trans flag bc thats the only thing that

[lukasdoodles]

Just some cute pride doodles!!!

[call-me-maggie13]

My late 40s to early 50s boss just asked what’s wrong with 18-25 year olds these days

And as a 21 year old all I could think was

The world has been on fire since we were born and we’ve been told the adults are putting it out and now we’re old enough to realize they’ve been pouring kerosene on the flames instead of water.

Before my first birthday, 9/11 happened and the world wouldn’t let us forget it. When I was 6 years old, on September 11th, my teacher sat us down in front of a tv and showed us footage of 9/11 and then told us we weren’t allowed to cry. She said that it was real and those were real people jumping from the building because jumping was a faster death than burning.

When I was 7 years old, the economy collapsed and my family went from lower middle class to poverty, we went from healthy home cooked meals every night to mac and cheese and beans for weeks in a row. We started skipping holidays because mom and dad couldn’t keep the lights on and buy us new toys. We started wearing clothes and shoes until they fell apart.

When I was 11 years old, Sandy Hook was attacked by a grown man with a gun and 26 children and teachers were brutally murdered. My teachers never looked at us the same and I haven’t felt safe in a school since. After that, once a month we would have active shooter drills and we were taught to fight and cause as much damage as possible if an armed man entered our classroom because it gave other classes a few extra seconds to escape, it gave our siblings a few extra breaths of safety. We were taught to cover ourselves in other students blood and play dead if we weren’t hit, we were taught that we weren’t safe and we wouldn’t be safe as long as we were in school.

When I was 15 years old, my high school art teacher locked us in the classroom and told us if we heard gunshots we should line the desks up lengthwise so that they reached the other wall because that would be harder to break through than a barricade. She told us that she knew about the threats and she wouldn’t judge any of us that wanted to leave. She told us to get our siblings and stay in the buildings as long as possible, to duck in between the cars so we couldn’t be seen until we got to ours. She told us about the trail behind the auto shop that was lined with trees and led off campus. I got my brother and his friends and we left, we spent the day sitting on the floor in my living room waiting for a phone call that the people we left behind were dying.

Two weeks later, one of my friends dragged me out of a football game and forced me to go home with him. He grabbed my brothers and my best friend and forced the six of us into a two seater car before he would tell us anything. His mom worked for the school board and had told him the police found an active bomb under the bleachers in the student section, and they weren’t informing anyone because they didn’t want to incite panic.

When I was 16 years old, ISIS set off a bomb at a pop concert in Britain and killed 22 people, injuring at least 100 more. The next day at school, our teachers went over how to stay safe if we ever experienced something like that. They told us the most important thing to remember was to not remove any shrapnel because it could be keeping us from bleeding out, they said it was more important to get yourself out safely before you worried about anyone else.

When I was 18 years old, my teachers stopped teaching and put the news up on the projector and we watched as the Notre-Dame burned. The boy I had sat next to since second grade spent the entire day trying to call his sister who was studying abroad in Paris, I watched this kid I had never even seen frown fall apart in English because she wouldn’t pick up the phone. We didn’t know it at the time, but she was okay.

Six months later, my history teacher put the news on the projector again for another fire. This time, we watched as an entire continent burned for three months. We watched their sky turned orange from the smoke and their wildlife drowned in pools because they were trying to escape the heat.

When I was 19 years old, the whole world shut down because of a global pandemic. I didn’t meet a single new person for eight months, despite the fact that I had just moved across the country. I watched as people didn’t wear masks and spread it to everyone around them, I was so scared when I went back to my room every night because my roommate was immunocompromised and I was terrified I would give her Covid and kill her.

Just two months later, I watched a video of a black man being murdered by police officers. I watched the world around me explode after George Floyd’s death, people destroying businesses and police stations. I watched some of my friends realize police officers didn’t exist to keep them safe, they existed to keep the people in power in power. I learned that some of the people I had grown up with would rather watch a black man die than admit that maybe, maybe, the system was broken.

When I was 20 years old, I went to the mall with a friend to buy a birthday present and I was pulled to the ground by a twelve-year-old girl after gunshots went off in the mall. I held this child’s hands as she cried for two hours until we were evacuated by police, and then I waited with her outside and helped her look for her mom. I gave her my phone to call her mom and I watched as she called the number over and over and never got a reply. I waited with her until a police officer took her to the station to try to find out more information about the girl’s mom, I hugged this girl I had never seen before and I wished her the best. I never found out what happened to her or her mom, it keeps me up at night sometimes worrying that this little girl was orphaned.

When I was 21 years old, I started working at a daycare and exactly a week later, Uvalde happened and I found myself crying because my students are the same age those kids were. When they came in after school the next day, one of them had asked me if I had heard about Uvalde and I told her I had, I asked her if she was scared of going to school because of it. Her reply broke my heart. “We practice for it every week so that when it happens to us, we know what to do. I’m just worried that the shooter is going to start in my baby sister’s classroom and not mine.” I listened as other students with younger siblings agreed with her, one of them saying “I would take fifty bullets, if I had to to keep my little brother safe.”

Early this year, I watched Russia launched bombs into Ukraine, blowing up churches and schools and hospitals and apartment buildings. I watched as the estimated death count rose from the hundreds to the thousands to the tens of thousands. I watched men send their wives and children to bordering countries for refuge while they stayed behind to fight, knowing they would probably never see each other again.

Just four months ago, I watched as my right to medical privacy got taken away. I watched my old roommate fall apart because she was denied the right to have her dead fetus removed from her body for almost two days, I worried every time I looked away from her that the next time I saw her would be in a casket. I watched as the women around me realized the military-grade weapons that had torn children in classrooms apart were protected by the government but our bodies weren’t.

There is nothing “wrong” with my generation, we’ve experienced all these things as children and were expected to respond with patriotism for a country that continuously sacrificed their children for the “right” to military-grade weapons, that took away my freedom of choice. We are tired, we were told the world was a wonderful place then shown, at every step, how the world was a place of destruction and pain. And we are angry. We are angry because no one but us seems to be trying to fix anything. And we are scared. We are scared because our children, our nieces and nephews, our cousins and our friends children are growing up in a world that won’t protect them.

[hugshughes]

Patience is a Virtue C. Loveland

Colston Loveland x fem!Minter!reader

synopsis - Colston gets the trophy, and finally gets the girl.

wc - 3.8k

contains - UNEDITED! this is based off of this request! READER IS COACH MINTER(michigan defensive coordinator)'S DAUGHTER!!!!!!! kissing, hugging, fluff, cursing, stress over the game. guys if u don't like my cute outfit i picked then #1 ur a hater and #2 it's not a big deal! think of something else🤞🤞🤞 cause my Adidas navy handballs with gold accents ARE STAYING. there IS a picture of the outfit im describing but im obvi not gonna stick it in the middle of the fic so if anyone wants that i guess request or message me lols?

an - GUYS PLEASE LET THIS POST LETS PRAY TOGETHER. THIS WAS CUTE. i've been getting the BEST requests lately. i'm on my Michigan FOOTBALL grind. ive spent a long while introducing the jesse minter daughter reader.... she might have to stick around. i want to write for Blake Corum but don't know what to do because literally all i have written for the past week is like "girlfriend or friend of player reader comes to watch their playoff game, reader and love interest kiss after love interest wins game" so... DONT GET ME WRONG I LOVEEEE WRITING THAT SHIT. but it feels so repetitive. BUT THIS? I LOVED THIS. daughter of the coach is so scandalous and i love it. minter is only 40 so like we're just saying he had his daughter (reader) pretty young, like 21. hope u enjoyyyyyyyy ;)!

-

You woke up with a start. Your body jolted as you brain registered a shout somewhere in the room. You sucked in a breath, opening your eyes, only to close them again. You squinted, trying to orient yourself. You were in a hotel room, your brothers were the ones shouting.

You groaned at the realization, then let out a shout when you felt three small bodies land on top of you.

"Holy shit, get off of me!"

They immediately scrambled, most likely going to tell your mom you cursed in their presence. You loved your 3 baby siblings, but they were pains in your ass sometimes.

You heard a faint "she said shit mommy!" in the conjoining hotel room, and rolled your eyes. You sat in bed, stretching, grabbing your phone before grabbing your bag and locking yourself in the bathroom before your mom could scold you so your siblings shut up about it.

Today was the college football playoff championship, and it was safe to say your family members above the age of 8 were stressed. It was 8:11, and you had to be out the door by 9:50. You showered, drying your hair after and then starting to pick your outfit. You brought a lot of different gear, you had not clue what you wanted to wear to the game. You had so much Michigan gear, and even more maize and navy colored clothing, courtesy to your father.

After almost 30 minutes, you decided on a cute denim skirt, a maize long sleeve, and your navy Adidaas Handballs. You perfected your hair and makeup, successfully erasing any signs that you'd only been awake for about an hour.

You came out of the bathroom all put together, your bag and pajamas in hand. Your siblings were sitting on your bed, watching something on the TV. Since you guys had 6 people in your family, you'd gotten two hotel rooms with the connecting door in the middle. You slept in one room with your little sister on the other bed, and your parents and brothers slept in the other room. You walked through the connecting door, checking the time. 9:17.

Your mom was getting ready in the bathroom when you walked into it. You sat on the closed lid toilet and started talking to her about the plans for today.

"You really gotta stop cursing in front of the littles!"

Your mother scolded you, a grin wide on her face. She was joking, of course. You and your parents had always been close, you'd been their baby for the longest. You'd been with them since they were two just married 20 year olds in college. Not that you remembered it, but you were there for all of your dad's junior and senior year games when he played at MSJ. You'd been there through all the coaching jobs. From Cincinnati, to Georgia State, to the Baltimore Ravens, you'd been there through all of it.

You sat with your mom until it was time to go. Your dad corralled everyone together, taking a photo before you all headed to the elevator. When an elevator came, it opened up and there was barely any room unless your parents held two of your siblings, so you told them to go ahead and that you would wait for the next one.

You only waited about a minute before the doors slid open again, revealing none other than Colston Loveland. His eyes lit up, a grin shining on his beautiful face. You'd always had a weird little thing with Colston. No words were ever said about it, but there had always been a vibe between you.

Being the daughter of the defensive coordinator definitely drove a lot of the guys, even ones you had classes and other school related things with, far far away. The boys knew how protective their coach was of his family, and didn't want any bad blood on the team. Something about you just attracted Colston so heavily. He knew he shouldn't even think about it, but he never could help himself.

"Hey coach."

You rolled your eyes at him playfully as you stepped into the elevator. He always called you coach, he had to remind you he was one of your dad's players. You would've loved to forget that for two seconds.

"Hi Cole."

He could've died. You'd called him Cole, instead of Colston. It was the smallest, most insignificant little thing, but it made him melt.

"Where's your family at?"

You tilted your head towards him, he wanted to talk, okay. You smiled at him, he loved it.

"The other elevator was too full, some of the guys were on the way down too."

He nodded, the smirk never leaving his face. You thought about kissing it off of him, then realized you had just thought of kissing his smirk off of him. Shit. You were in deep with this kid, and there was little to no chance anything would ever happen.

The elevator reached the lobby, and Colston gestured for you to step out first. You exited the elevator, the boy hot on your tail. You were immediately greeted by a hallway packed full of Michigan players, coaches, families, and more.

You have Colston one last glance and smile before finding your mom, taking your baby brother out of her arms and into yours, playing with him. Colston's eyes followed you, he admired you as you smiled and laughed with your brother. You were perfect. He was gonna have to find a way to get around the fact that you were his coach's daughter.

You held your brother with one arm and your sisters hand with the other as you smiled at the cameras, walking through to the buses. Your family followed behind the rest of the coaches and families, the team trailing behind you.

The ride to NRG took longer than you assumed it would, almost an hour because of the traffic, and it didn't help that everyone could tell that the buses were transporting one of the CFP Championship teams in them.

Everyone went into the stadium together, through some backstage type area. You walked with the team until you had to go separate ways. You hugged your dad, squeezing him tight. You would see him again before the game, so you saved your 'Good luck, I love you Dad.' sentiment for then.

You'd always had a special connection with your dad, you were closer to him than almost anyone else. You were his baby, his first baby. Still, you were his baby in his eyes. Your dad would do anything for you, and he was quite protective. Though he was protective, all he wanted was for you to be happy, and if it meant dating one of his guys, he would have no problem with it.

Your family sat bored in the box of the stadium, looking down on the field as Washington practiced. There was over 6 more hours till the game started, and there was practically nothing to do.

You took a nap on the carpeted floor of the box with your siblings for a couple hours, your mother snapping photos that although you were embarrassed of, were undeniably cute. Once you guys had woken up, there was about 2 hours till game time. You voted with your family on whether you guys wanted to stay in the box, or sit way close to the field. You all wanted to be closer to the field, you wanted to see the action head on.

Your family departed the box, along with a few others to see the team one more time before the game. You got down onto the field in about 20 minutes, and stood with your dad for awhile. When you were being told it was time to go, you quickly hugged your dad.

"Good luck, I love you!"

He thanked you, saying the three words back as you guys waved at him, going to leave. Your eyes caught on a certain brunette as he ran off the field, his eyes finding you quickly. He smiled at you, ugh, that smile.

"Good luck, Cole!"

You smiled at him, right before you turned to go up the tunnel. More and more fans started to pour in as you got settled into your bleacher seats. You were three rows from the bottom with a perfect view of the field. You settled in as the national anthem ended and the game began.

As the game progressed, you were so happy to say that Michigan was winning, the entire time. You'd caught Colston's eyes multiple times during the game, letting it linger for a few seconds before giving him a stern look and gesturing towards the field. He'd mouth back, 'okay, coach.' and turn back around. Your mother caught the interaction once, her heart warming seeing her baby with a crush.

You stood up, your brother in your arms as you jumped up and down, shouting, Michigan had finally won! You cheered and danced around with your little siblings as you celebrated. You were all so insanely proud of your dad. Soon though, you were being escorted to the field, eager to see your father and congratulate him.

Blood was pumping and hearts were racing as you exited the tunnel, smiles burned onto your faces as you went to look for your dad. You held your sister's hand as you two ran around, trying to find him. Your mom shouted, and you turned to look at her. She pointed to your left, and there stood your dad, hugging one of his players. Your sister went back to your mom, to walk over to your dad with her as you all but sprinted over to your dad, weaving in between sweaty boys and families.

Your dad saw you incoming and held his arms out accepting your forceful hug. You both laughed, your dad squeezing you tightly. Your best friend had finally done it.

"Literally told you you would do it."

He laughed again, agreeing as he laid a kiss to your temple, pulling back with one arm to accept your other siblings into the hug, who'd finally made their way over. After a minute, you took your siblings from your dad so your mom could hug him, and kiss him, much to your brothers' disgust.

After talking with your dad for a little, you spotted a familiar 6'5 frame standing by himself as his teammates walked away from him. You sauntered over, shouting his name when you were in earshot. The brunette quickly turned around, the smile already gracing his face deepening.

"Well hi, coach."

"Congratulations, Cole. You know your catches were pretty legit."

You gave him a slightly impressed face, shrugging your shoulders. He laughed, rolling his eyes playfully.

"You can't win 'em all over, can you?"

You laughed in turn, stepping closer to him. Colston's heart was racing as he looked down into your eyes.

"But really, Cole, you were incredible, serious."

He nodded, accepting your praise with a grin, before he looked around, over-exaggerating a look of being in thought.

"You know, coach, I think I might just deserve a reward, for my quote incredible performance."

Your eyes widened, your heart starting off, faster and faster.

"Really? What might that entail, Cole?"

Shit, he was gonna have to kiss you if you kept calling him that. He was about to take the leap. He knew he had to at some point, and he was on an adrenaline rush, that just chanted at him to do it.

"Well I think it entails you accepting a date with me back in Michigan."

Your jaw dropped slightly, you were dumbfounded. Colston really wanted to go on a date with you?

"For real?"

Colston nodded, seemingly confident, though he was shaking in his boots on the inside.

"Well then, I think we can make that work."

Colston's heart erupted. He literally could not have been happier. He'd just won the Natty, and got his dream girl to agree to a date, holy fuck. You got nervous all of the sudden, leaning up to kiss his cheek, before turning to leave.

"Just text me, Cole!"

He nodded, his eyes following you as you went to go find your family again. His family came back over to him, they'd been gone for just a second but stopped and waited when they saw him talking to you. His family, especially his mom, knew quite a bit about you.

You found your family, immediately grabbing your moms hand to pull her a few steps away. You looked at her with the biggest eyes ever, still in shock over what had just happened.

"What's up, sweetheart? Why are you all, thousand yard stare-y?"

"Mom Colston just asked me out, and I said yes! And then I kissed his cheek! And then I left!"

Your mom laughed, her baby was finally growing up. You'd had a few boyfriends in all your days, but you'd never been proper crushing like you were right now.

"That's so good! I knew this was coming, we just had to wait for one of you to get the courage."

You blushed, hiding your face in your hands. Your smile suddenly dropped, a realization coming to you.

"Is dad gonna hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?"

Shit.

You ended up telling your dad later on in the night, when you were tired and sitting in the back of a restaurant the team was celebrating in. Your family didn't party for too long, having a 4, 7, and 8 year old didn't exactly allow you guys to stay out for too long. Even your parents 19 year old daughter got a bit cranky if she stayed out too late.

When you told your dad, he just laughed. He knew you and Colston had things for each other, he was waiting for the tight end to make a move.

-

You were stressing. Tonight was your date with Colston. You sat at your vanity, ranting to your roommate over it. You put on makeup and did your hair, wanting to look cute but not over the top.

Colston had told you to wear comfy clothes, so you were in one of your most common outfits. Leggings and a Michigan sweatshirt. You stared at yourself in the mirror, doubting yourself. You had known Colston for over a year, almost two, but you didn't really know him that well. You wanted him to like you so badly.

"Babe, you look fantastic. He's going to stare at you all night."

You sighed at your roommate's encouragement. But before you could respond, you got a text from Colston. He was outside your dorm building. Your roommate pushed you straight out the door, saying bye.

You went down the stairs quickly, making your way out of the complex. You saw Colston as you opened the door, slipping out. He looked up and smiled at you, his stupid beautiful smile.

"Hey, Gorgeous."

You felt the heat on your face even in the Ann Arbor cold. You smiled, shaking your head as you gave him a spin, showing off your extra casual outfit.

"Even in this ensemble?"

He nodded, his smile deepening. He pulled you into his side, hugging you. You were immediately enveloped in his warmth. You ducked your head down to hide the shock in your eyes. He smelled really good.

When you pulled away Colston led you to his car, opening the door for you before going around and getting in. You two buckled up before Colston pulled out of the parking spot, setting off into Ann Arbor. He gave you the aux, warming your heart. You both knew he probably didn't listen to the same music as you, but he wanted you to listen to whatever you liked.

Smaller Acts by Zach Bryan came on when you hit shuffle on your main playlist, making you smile. You resonated with the song, always having thought that smaller acts of love were more important than any grand gestures. You got to really look at Colston while he drove. He kept his eyes right on the road always, until you got to a red light, that's when you'd jerk your head back forward as he turned to look at you. He was really pretty, his jaw was so insanely defined, he had a strong neck, and the deepest brown eyes. You stared at the tattoo on his left forearm, he was hot, to put it simply.

You drove for around 40 minutes before the car slowed, pulling onto a gravel driveway. You looked out of your window, seeing a large screen and projector, and lots of cars. He had brought you to a drive in movie. You could've cried when you saw the sign reading the movie you would be seeing. Ocean's 11. The very first time you ever talked to Colston, he'd asked you your favorite movie. You said you couldn't pick one, then settled on Ocean's 11 because it was one you'd seen so many times you could quote any scene.

You couldn't believe he remembered. You'd never mentioned it since then. That was the kind of smaller, seemingly insignificant thing that meant the world to you. You jerked your head to the left, staring at Colston with wide eyes. He was dealing with the tickets for a few seconds before you pulled into a spot, then he finally looked to you.

"Cole, I cannot believe that you remembered."

Colston smiled, and on the inside he was celebrating that you loved it. What he hadn't expected though was you leaning over the console and hugging him. It was honestly the sweetest thing any guy had ever done for you, you were beyond grateful for this boy, and it was your first date.

"This is the sweetest thing a guy's ever done for me, I'm being serious."

Though you were mostly saying that about the fact that he'd remembered, the date itself was also amazing. Colston knew you enough to know that you'd have preferred this over any fancy restaurant, and that meant a lot.

"It's the least I could do, coach. You mean something to me, 'm gonna take care of you."

You just squirmed in your seat, getting more comfortable and smiling as you looked ahead of you. You wordlessly reached over and slipped your hand into his, pulling them into your lap.

Colston was so happy he could've gotten out of the car and started dancing. He acted as cool as he could on the outside. You two settled in as the movie began.

At some point, Colston had reached back into the backseat and grabbed a blanket that he tossed into your lap, and a bag of food and snacks.

You traced your free hand over Colston's tattoo, admiring the line work and shading. The movie ended, and Colston's hand stayed with you as you two began the drive back. You fell asleep on the drive, your head leaning against Colston's arm.

You woke up slowly about 5 minutes out from school. You kept your head on Colston's arm, but allowed yourself to carelessly stare at him in your tired state. At a stoplight, he turned to look at you, smiling deeply when his eyes met your sleepy ones.

"Hey, coach. Nap good?"

You smiled and nodded, yawning at him. He laughed lowly, turning his head back when the light went green. You parked outside your building, dampening your heart. The night had been perfect. You sleepily got out of Colston's car, after he told you to not dare opening your own door. He walked you up to the entrance with his hand on your back, rubbing his fingers back and forth lightly.

When you got to the door you stopped and turned around, wrapping your arms around his middle.

"Thank you so much Colston. This was like, the best date I think ever."

He smiled, hugging you tightly. Colston had the best time, obviously you were gorgeous, but getting to talk to you one-on-one without interruptions was his idea of a good time. His insides melted whenever you fell asleep, and before then, he could've swore he was in love while you traced over his tattoo.

You pulled away from him, looking at the boy through heavy eyes. He looked absolutely handsome in the dim lighting of a street lamp. You put your hands on his shoulders, leaning up and kissing him. You probably wouldn't have if your drowzy mind hadn't commanded you to. Obviously you wanted to, but you weren't sure if it was 100% mutual yet, but it was.

Colston's hands went to hold the back of your head, his hands in your hair. He kept the kiss shorter than you would've liked, knowing you were tired.

You looked up at him with stars in your eyes, a smiling fighting its way onto you face. Colston's hands shifted from your hair to your jaw, rubbing his thumb over your cheek.

"I'll see you tomorrow baby."

Your blown out eyes widened at the name, your heart clenching in your chest. Colston saw the reaction, his lips quirking up the slightest bit.

"I'll see you, Loveland."

You let go of him, turning towards the door. You paused for a second, quickly turning back around and kissing Colston again. Colston's hands grabbed at your hips, pulling you closer. Colston smiled brightly into the kiss, giggling to himself.

You pulled away from him, a grin falling to your face.

"You ever gonna let me leave, coach?"

"Thinkin' about it."

"You get inside, gorgeous. It's too cold for you to be out here."

You smiled, nodding at him, letting go of him for the last time.

"You gotta go too, off season just started. You gotta stay on your A-Game Loveland."

He laughed at you, shaking his head as he watched you walk into the dorm complex, turning the corner and out of his sight. You ran back up the stairs and to your room, squealing like a 13 year old as you described your date to your roommate.

Colston sat in his car, texting his mom that everything went well. When he put his phone away, he finally let himself think that you were the girl he'd want to be with forever. It was finally real. The boy just had to be patient.

[bunnywrites1414]

Happy Kink-tober ~~

This years kinktober is 100% compiled of self inserts because I am a spoiled brat and this is my account :)))

I am not sorry for any of these

As always pls read the tags for EVERY SINGLE fic before you read. Don’t accidentally trigger yourself.

Day 1: Steve Harrington

Teasing- Your friends cannot take a hint and Steve doesn't seem to care

Day 2: Suna Rinatarou

Thigh Riding- What kind of jerk invites someone over and then sits on a computer game for 2 hours? Suna, that's who.

Day 3: Shota Aizawa

Oral Fixation- Y/N gets bratty without something in her mouth and Aizawa is tired of hearing her.

Day 4: Jax Teller

Daddy Kink- Y/N knows what that word does to Prince Teller, she just doesn't care

Day 5: Eddie Munson

Corruption- She is the cutest thing he's ever seen and he cannot wait to ruin her.

Day 6: Spencer Reid

Sadomasochism- Angry Dom!Spencer = Unfair punishments

Day 7: Hitoshi Shinsou

Mind control- Hitoshi's quirk is fun, when he can convince his partners to let him do it

Day 8: Johnathan Byers

Brat Taming- Johnathan is a pushover. His submissive is well aware of that. However it takes more than a pout to sway his friend Eddie

Day 9: Izuku Midoriya

Forced Orgasms- Y/N tastes like heaven and Izuku can't control himself

Day 10: Ushijima Wakatoshi

Size Kink- Ushiwaka is a big 'ol boy

Day 11: Sam Winchester

Angry Sex- Sam hates Y/N. Y/N hates Sam. Dean and Bobby think it's hilarious.

Day 12: Billy Hargrove

Costumes- Billy didn't even know Y/N was coming to this party, but he knows they're matching costumes and that her ass looks perfect in those shorts.

Day 13: Taishiro Toyomitsu (Fat Gum) ft. Kirishima

Teaching- Kirishima has some questions for his mentor and Fatgum is happy to help.

Day 14: Katsuki Bakugo

Phone Sex- Katsuki's away on a mission and Y/N can't cum without him

Day 15: Eddie Munson

Throat Training-Eddie is really good with his mouth, Y/N wants to make him feel just as good as he makes her feel, but it takes a little work.

Day 16: Kotaro Bokuto ft. Kuroo

Group Sex- Kuroo's little girlfriend is really cute and he knows it. Bokuto is a connoisseur of cute things, and Kuroo's not so bad.

Day 17: Eijiro Kirishima

Pain Play- Kirishima is a people pleaser and Y/N likes a little pain with her pleasure

Day 18: Jax Teller

Dumbification- Even 'big hot shot Scientists' need a few moments to be a little brainless.

Day 19: Amren

Blood- Amren has never had blood wraith

Day 20: Arron Hotchner ft. Spencer Reid

Pet Play- Arron forgets to mention he's bringing home a friend, and Y/N is deep in pet space when they get there

Day 21: Cassian

Primal Play - Cassian’s an animal.

Day 22: Steve Harrington ft. Eddie Munson

Degradation and Praise- Steve and Eddie balance each other very well, or at least Y/N thinks so

Day 23: Azriel Shadowsinger

Edging- 'If you hold it I'll reward you'. Y/N likes rewards.

Day 24: Spencer Reid

Bondage- Reid wants to practice his knots

Day 25: Dean Winchester

Overstimulation- Dean is cocky and Y/N thinks it's funny to push his buttons.

Day 26: Eddie Munson

Dacryphilia- Eddie teaches Y/N a thing or two about discipline and can't help but notice how pretty she looks when she's crying.

Day 27: Shota Aizawa

DILF- Aizawa knows he's old enough to be her dad, but his Nanny is perfect

Day 28: Tetsuro Kuroo

Psuedocest- He knows he shouldn't but she sounds so desperate. What kind of brother would he be if he just let his little sister suffer?

Day 29: Spencer Reid

CNC- Y/N is stuck. Like really really stuck. Her neighbor Reid agrees to help under one condition.

Day 30: Keiji Akaashi

Mutual Masturbation- Akaashi is a visual learner, but Y/N thinks he just likes to see her embarassed

Day 31: Jax Teller

Rough Sex- Jax likes to fuck after he fights, and his choice of ass has a hard time saying no to that smile.

[eminsunnytoons123]

Emin's baldi's basics recast meme with class of 3000 characters

Dedicated to @splashy900 @sayuri-does-skits @nia1sworld @aquamarine-dream-queen @ducktoonz903707 @blo0st4r @iggyguyy @nightkit92 And all my other besties, Sisters, Brothers, pen pals, And my two girlfriends And my boyfriend that always support And love me And even love my Projects And ideas, heres another recast meme I had in mind Today =^_^=

So, I was playing baldi's basics on my phone, And I started imagining the class of 3000 characters as the characters because when I was a 9 year old boo-boo, I always watched lots of youtubers playing lots of baldi's basics mods, so I thought: "what if there was a baldi's basics mod but with class of 3000 characters?" So heres a recast meme of it =^.^= And this is called "Sunny's musics in education And learning" And I'll make this as Journal series AU =^_^=

And heres some explanation of the characters:

Number one, Lil' D as the protagonist - lil' D would honestly really fit the role of the protagonist because of his personality And all that, And I know that he is a big fan of Sunny but imagine that this is just like an act for them all

Number two, Kam as the protagonist's friend - Kam would definetly fit the role of the protagonist's friend, I know that protagonist's friend didnt appear in the game, but I imagine that he actually did And Kam appearing in this story as Lil' D's a.k.a protagonist's friend (I know lil' D And kam are already friends btw ^///^;)

Number three, Sunny as Baldi - Sunny would really fit the role of Baldi, but ofcourse Sunny will be music teacher just like on the show, And I feel like he would have his SAXOPHONE to probably slap in his Hand like how Baldi slaps his ruler in his Hand, I know its kinda weird for Sunny to really slap his saxophone in his Hand but oh well ^///^;

Number four, Madison as playtime - all the class of 3000 fans know why I chose Madison as playtime, Its obviously because of madison's playful, optimistic And quirky personality, And in my AU she actually loves playing with The jump rope. And like playtime, she would get sad when Lil' D a.k.a protagonist cuts her jump rope

Number five, Principal Luna as principal of the thing - Principal Luna is the principal like principal of the thing ofcourse, so thats why I decided for Luna to be principal of the thing. And I feel like in the story, he would Pick Lil' D by his shirt And get him to his office for detention And say: "when will you tweens And teens learn?"

Number six, Lil' G as its a bully - Since Lil' G is clearly Lil' D's rival like how Salieri is a rival to Sunny, I thought that this role would perfectly fit Lil' G. And he is a bully-looking Guy just like Salieri, Brooklyn Bill, Addison, Freddie, Bambi, jim And Jam. And I imagine Lil' G saying things to Lil' D like: "Oh, no items? You dont have anythin'? Then you get no pass."

Number seven, Cheddar man "Charles" as gotta sweep - I just thought of cheddar man "Charles" being gotta sweep, I know he isnt a janitor on the Show (neither in the reboot). And I imagine in the episodes of 'SMIEAL' (short for 'Sunny's basics in education And learning') stories, when Lil' D would Open the room where cheddar man "Charles" is in, he would just stand here with his arms crossed And probably be like: "why do I still work here" X3

Number eight, Philly Phil as arts And crafters - I imagined philly Phil being arts And crafters And being first kinda embarassed or not really wanting to interact with Lil' D, but then after lil' D collects all notebooks, just like arts And crafters he becomes more aggresive And mad And chases after lil' D in the way to help Sunny

Number nine, Jim as 1st prize - I know she is pretty rude, but she likes giving tight hugs And pushing others in my AU, And since she didnt really speak in 'westley side story' episode, her voice would be the same like Kim but a little more pitched. And in the episodes, whenever Lil' D gets away from her, she gets mad And says: "hey! How rude!" And she would just go away

Number ten, Salieri as Filename2 - I honestly thought Salieri would fit this role as Filename2 a.k.a 'Null'. And he wouldnt really be corrupted like how Null is, but he will often appear in the episodes of the story series

And if y'all have any more ideas or suggestions for this new AU, then y'all can say it either in replies, reblogs, ask box or private messages =^_^=

I hope y'all will like this =^////^= 💛🧡 I'll draw them all tommorow just like 'class of 3000 animal au', 'class of 3000 agent au', 'dark folklores of class of 3000 au', 'class of 3000 musical au' AND 'class of 3000 haunted School au' =^_^=

[phoenixwatchesmovies]

2023 Favorites

I'm kinda glad I was keeping track of what I watched, in retrospect, because looking back over my posts this year, I realized I forgot about a lot of stuff. XD After looking over the recaps and excluding rewatches, here's my top ten New Stuff I Watched for 2023:

10. Cabinet Of Curiosities

Bizarre nightmares unfold in eight tales of terror in a visually stunning, spine-tingling horror collection curated by Guillermo del Toro.

If GDT is your guy, give this a watch. Creature features, cursed objects, aliens, you name it. 8/8 tentacled eldritch abominations.

9. Wolf Creek

Three backpackers stranded in the Australian outback are plunged inside a hellish nightmare of insufferable torture by a sadistic psychopathic local.

Holy shit, this was intense. And as I said initially, so mean. If you're into Texas Chainsaw Massacre, try this. I'm into franchise bingo, so I'm going to look into the sequels and TV series. 3/3 heads on a stick.

8. Requiem For A Dream

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep.

I get the feeling this is one of those that hurts so much more on rewatching, so there's that to look forward to. I've also rarely seen movies that do so much harmonizing between the music and the visuals, and it was so satisfying. 4/4 refrigerator jump scares.

7. Evil Dead Rise

A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

This was probably the most fun I had with a horror movie all year, TBH. Horror exploring family dynamics will always be a fave, and this brought plenty of fresh stuff to the franchise while also holding onto the core traits. 5/5 Staffenies.

6. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

This was the most fun I had watching a movie all year, period. If you know nothing about DND, it's a good fantasy movie. If you're a DND nerd, the game mechanics are baked into it. If you're a fan of found families, guess what! 6/6 stealth checks.

5. Cowboy Bebop

A ragtag crew of bounty hunters chases down the galaxy's most dangerous criminals. They'll save the world--for the right price.

I got exactly what I wanted out of this, so haters be damned. The anime is a masterpiece and a classic, but if you're not in the mood for the existentialism and other heavier themes, here ya go. 3/3 shower-bath-showers.

4. The Black Phone

After being abducted by a child killer and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims.

Near perfect, as far as I'm concerned. The older I get, the more kids-in-danger as a concept fucks with me, making this the most stressful movie I watched this year (though It Chapter One gave it a run for its money, and I still think they would make a great double feature). 5/5 black balloons.

3. Evil Dead (2013)

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.

It's gnarly. It's badass. I almost puked. I had THE BEST time. The story works as an effective allegory, the effects are gruesomely awesome, and the finale is metal af. Plain and simple. 70,000/70,000 gallons of fake blood.

2. The Crow

A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.

Beautiful, sad, aesthetic for days, hella good soundtrack. *chef kiss* I still haven't seen The Batman, but they seem visually similar, so if you like that, you'll probably like this. For more in-depth thoughts, read my post. 1/1 epic rooftop guitar solos.

1. The Fall Of The House Of Usher

To secure their fortune (and future) two ruthless siblings build a family dynasty that begins to crumble when their heirs mysteriously die, one by one.

Not just a new favorite Mike Flanagan. A new favorite in general, and my number one for the year. I just screamed about this one last month, and I don't have anything more to add. I've seen Succession comparisons, and while I have no idea how accurate that is, there's my "if you like that, here's this." Holy crap. 7/7 deadly sins personified.

Happy New Year! 🥂

[doonarose]

Ohhh I had a dark, miserable moment there for a second. Weekend down to see my family was fine. I was mildly annoyed that when I arrived Friday night it morphed from my expectation - most of Saturday with my sister because it was her birthday and she always wants big birthday stuff, and then big family roast lunch sunday wit my mum and sister (new mother) and grandmother and like ten of us - to a reality I think they purposely didn't tell me about because I might have begged off - breakfast at the farmer's market with sister on saturday and then off to watch the most dismal game of sportsball with my dad saturday night (mostly because him and my mum are bickering and she wanted some time alone and he's lonely and wanted someone to whine to), and then roast lunch just with my parent's sunday.

Like honestly, the shitshow that is work, I might have had the guts to say: sorry, I'm not gonna drive three hours down for that, I'm going to use my weekend to recover and prepare.

But whatever, it was mostly fine. My parents are bickering, they've always bickered, but it's become a running joke that they're increasingly using me as their marriage counsellor and that's kind of fucked up.

But it also meant I'm wiped from the weekend which I cannot be because I have more teaching this weekend, and the ongoing trudge into the death of the academic sector and all of society to face, and I'm coordinator five evening events which brings science to the community (and many of my speakers are being fuckwits and we also haven't sold any tickets because society is fucked). All of which I think I'd have well in hand.

And then I got roped in to doing a live to air radio interview tomorrow morning. And all those tiktoks you see about people who have severe anxiety about talking on the phone, or talking at all, and planning out and practicing every interaction, and utter mortification and lifelong scarring for every misstep... I think that's me.

I remember when I was in grade 3 (9 yers old), I assumed the past tense for extinct was extunct and the librarian (sorry I know most of you are chill af) laughed at me in front of the whole class and I relive that weekly!

Anyhow, thing is I have more anxiety about letting people down or the perception of failure so I have developed coping skills for the terror of speaking in public but it is 100% bubbling up right now and the dogs were out the back barking and I was screaming at them and they did not care and I just wanted to burst into tears.

Anyway... marginally better now. Radio interview is at 8am. Another fucking class I'm not prepped for is at 9am. I'm going to try to switch off my brain, get up at 6am and just Be Ready.

I just hate that I'm not wired for this shit. I hate it.

[againtodreaming]

Firstly, when you get this, you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself, publicly. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)

@lyloneliness you send the first ask but also @mavr4xx @vinylbiohazard @ghostsinacoat @yumaisbored you also asked this too and omg i love u all but also, why do you do this to me 😭😭😭 i was already struggling a lot to think of 5 things with the first ask (and i still haven't even gotten to the tag game of this), and now I have to think of TWENTY-FIVE?!? ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚ (plus 5 more if I end up finding the tag game again plus the ability to think of 5 more...)

Anyways, thank you so much for the asks (´,,•ω•,,)♡ ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊♡ (even if they are the hardest asks I have done in my life 💀) (it was interesting and fun tho 🌟) you are all awesome 💖🌟💞 now here we go:

(25 things here in the same post bc…not sure I just started doing it after @ all of u and I am doing this draft in my phone and separating this in the other asks i still have to look for is too much work) (apologies for the length, the further i got, the longer some of the answers became😅)

1 - My hair (used to be really thick and my mom used to make this amazing hairstyles almost every day when I was a kid—there was one that was a huge rose made of braids or smth, the hairpins were awful and it took so long but it was so pretty, I think my mom even made it for the wedding of one of her friends, anyways I lost maybe more than half of my hair when I was like 15, stress probably, and then I decided to cut it even below the shoulder—first time in my life it was so short—bc I was so mad with it but also bc I had zero energy to even try to take care of it by that point. Grown back until like my mid-back—used to have it like waist length before—by now and now I got maybe a little more than half of the hair that I used to have at 13 which is a lot better than it was at 15 and hopefully it gets back to what I used to have in a couple of years more, but for now it's enough to start playing with it and doing braids)

2 - Open-mindedness

3 - Creativity

4 - Patience

5 - That I'm an older sister

6 - Uf, how do I explain this one—like, empathy? kindness? feeling things deeply? putting yourself in the other person's shoes and being considerate of that? being too sentimental? which can be really annoying too but I wouldn't trade it so...

7 - That I can talk really fast

8 - Being expressive

9 - Always thinking things through

10 - Confident in my likes? (okay, so this one feels complicated, but for example, when I was a little kid, 6 or 7 years old probably, I loved superheroes, but my classmates in my all-girls school were like, that's for boys 😒, and I felt horrible bc that was just another thing in that i didnt fit in with everyone else and i always wanted to fit in, but somehow—which looking back feels weird bc who even knew i could be surprisingly confident in some aspects—was that i never thought i was in the wrong for liking superheroes? Like, yeah, I always wanted to fit in and I felt bad that I didn't, but even with all the social insecurity I was constantly plagued with, I never felt like I was in the wrong for being myself or that I should change myself or pretend to like stuff I didn't just to fit in (that strategy didn't even cross my mind until I was…can't be sure, it was somewhere in the last few years in this country, it was either a documentary, fiction, or the group therapy, but the idea of actual people in real life doing smth they didn't agree and had no purpose except to fit in was like: 🤯!?!!?!?!) (I didn't handle it that well either to be fair, if I wasn't with my friends i just decide to hide during recess and/or to not speak at all with anyone, until I changed schools) (I liked the 2nd school better). I assume that in my head I was like: "shame that I'm not like all of you but what can you do, I'm me ╮(╥﹏╥)╭ "

11 - I'm usually also all or nothing with almost all things? Like, for example, math. I don't like math, it has always been the class I struggled with the most and all my math teachers in Peru were really strict and thank goodness that my dad loves math and really good at it or I would have been lost without someone to explain it to me. But last week, my parents got an email from my math teacher who was telling them how proud she was of me and how I always strove to understand everything and there was some implication that I did it bc I liked what I was learning, which like, I mean, I like geometry a lot more than algebra bc it's simpler, and I don't exactly hate it, but I certainly wouldn't do it for pleasure. At all. And yeah, I ask her about everything I don't understand (she insisted to the whole class to please ask her anything if we needed help, so i had permission; if she wasn't available tho, I just would have asked my dad or a friend who is good at math to explain it to me) and ask her to show me exactly what I did wrong and what would be the correct answer but all of that is bc well, if I'm going to do well in the class, I need to understand what I did wrong in order to fix it, and like, math classes always build on each other, so if I don't smth I will later have problems with it, and also like, I'm already stuck with the class whether I like it or not, if I'm going to do smth, I'm going to do it well. Which is smth my mom has complained a lot of times, especially during last school year when I had a lot of late assignments bc I was too anxious about doing any of them bc I was afraid of doing it wrong or bc I didn't have the energy to think clearly so I wouldn't be able to do my best so like yeah…I ended up not doing the assignments at all (this is the part that I hate about this all or nothing thing with me, but let's focus on the positive side right now). Or with projects, I once stayed awake until like 5 am like several nights straight to do a project for economics class which like…I decided to make my own illustrations for each slide of the ppt to illustrate the information on top of doing the reading and answering the questions stuff…and I was already in a hurry with it bc I didn't know the school put assigned summer readings in the school's website (it was my first year in this country and nobody had said anything about it the year prior, plus it was quarantine time) and the teacher gave me a few extra days bc I still needed to hurry up in reading the book so yeah, I should have done smth more simple and fast to just submit it and get a grade but it wouldn't have been doing my best, not even near my best and I was already compromising on some stuff to not take too long since there wasn't too much time for my initial ideas so…yep. The teacher loved my project tho (and gave me a 100 even tho it was one day late) and asked if she could use it for her class of next year soooo…totally worth it. But yeah, i was sort of confused that Geometry teacher thought to send an email like that when I have only been trying to understand the concepts I am assigned to learn?

Thinking, thinking, thinking….you know what, I want to put my height in here just annoy my sister (she would be all dramatic annoying fake pitying dramatic gasp about it and would drag the younger ones to her side of the argument) but she wouldn't even see it plus I don't actually care about heights (I just care that she's annoying about it almost daily) so that would also be a lie so another thing….you know what, i already got 11 in one morning, coming back to this later

12 - Okay, so I hate all my health problems, absolutely hate them, so annoying and expensive and restricting and confusing BUT—how do I word this…it has 2 parts…umm…okay, so I'm really familiar with the clinic in Peru I used to go all the time and, okay I hated having to go to the clinic so many times, especially towards the end, but I liked being familiar with it? Like, the people, the sense of a community, the building, the routine. It was probably more familiar than my schools since I changed schools a few times while the clinic was there ALWAYS (until we moved countries and I never expected to miss the fucking clinic but it happened which wtf but also makes sense which also omg mila (ノ◇≦。) but also, the medical system was definitely easier and less expensive than whatever the fuck they have going on here, plus not having all our usual doctors, so there is also a practical reason aside from me unreasonably missing everything that was familiar including things I didn't even like much). That's the first part. Second part is that it has brought…lessons ig. Like, idk, it's been a huge formative part of my life. About health and food and family stuff and experiences. Like, I hate having the health problems (they are A LOT better now than when I was younger as long I do some things to keep it that way, but yeah, really grateful for that) but also, I don't really know who I would be without those experiences? Changed the whole family too so like…idk, it's weird but felt worth mentioning.

13 - That I'm really curious and like learning.

14 - Sense of style

15 - Loyalty—to people (like, even swallowed down all my shyness and anxiety to try to reconnect with some childhood friends I hadn't talked in forever bc moving countries and depression thing) (going well, really happy that we are talking again) but also like to interests and values ig? Like, most of my likes (superheroes, anime, drawing, maybe writing but not sure about that one, all started before I even turned 8 y/o) and like, aside from maturing and a couple of things, I don't think I've changed much at all. I have never stopped liking smth I used to like anyways.

16 - Openness ig? Like, I never want to be a bother so it depends on the person and the history i have with them and sometimes on the occasion, but I never really had any problems asking for help or speaking about my problems or feelings

17 - My handwriting when it's not written in a hurry

18 - My attention to detail

19 - Not getting mad easily—which is you know good with being an older sister too bc like...my dad is really annoying (but like jokingly annoying) and a lot of times bc of it (or some other times other family members) my sister and my mom get mad about some small comment they take seriously and then they get angry and leave the table or living room or whatever and then it's like all awkward bc the mood got broken (which also, a little hypocritical especially bc the sister also loves to be annoying in purpose with everyone of us) but unlike them, the middle sister and me like...we don't really care much about it? We are usually the ones that get more teased by the others but it's like, smth one therapist didn't understand, which was so annoying wtf did setting boundaries had to do with my siblings being annoying, I don't care that they are annoying bc it's like, we usually get along well (presently; there used to be constant fighting between 2 of them we were little but they are better now) and they have always been annoying but it's like, a game, I know they are not serious about the matter. I can be annoying back if I feel like it and it's all in good fun. The only times I don't like it it's when it's actually serious, with you know, intention to hurt or being passively aggressive mad about smth, stuff like that. Point is that yeah, it's also good for sibling diplomacy bc I'm rarely the one getting mad with the other ones.

20 - That I like dogs

…I can't think of 5 more. Uf, let's see…okay, getting desperate here but—

21 - That I'm Peruvian

22 - Good at cooking

23 - Good at planning

24 - My self-awareness

25 - That I like to be more positive and hopeful about things in general I think? (myself is usually an exception) Constant argument with my sister bc she can be so pessimistic sometimes. Like, life is already hard enough as it is, having fun and connecting with people makes things more enjoyable, so why not try to focus on the bright side whenever possible and make things better. She thinks I'm naive, I know I can be naive, but also, if I have to live I'm going to enjoy it bc what's the point otherwise. Generalizing things doesn't help. I think.

OKAY!! DONE!! 25 THINGS!!! FINALLY 😭💖

Thank you again and I hope you are all doing well <33

[heygerald]

HEART MECHANICS - PART 1/9

Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x oc

Matty Neven had dealt with her fair share of pilots throughout her life. Most of them, she has fond memories of. Her dad teaching her how to ride a bike. Her godfather sneaking her into a bar so that she could see what it’s like when she was way too young to be there. Her mother hosting a cookout reunion every couple of months for whoever was in town to catch up at. 

But some of them weren’t so happy. 

Soldiers insinuating that she only got her job because of her family ties. Men with starry smiles hitting on her at the bar despite the fact that she wasn’t interested. One night stands that didn’t have enough manners to wait until sunrise before kicking her out. 

It was just the mechanics of it all.

And so, she made a very simple rule: love the jet, but never the pilot.

It’s a fairly easy rule to follow, right up until the moment she meets a pilot with a warm smile that seems to understand the heavy weight of family ties. 

Read the story here: ... / part 2 / part 3 / part 4 / part 5 / part 6 / part 7 / part 8 / part 9

Matty Neven was a lot of things. 

She was the daughter of an old school pilot, famous for his time at the local Top Gun academy and arguably even more famous for his late night cocktails that he could whip up using anything found in the fridge. She was the goddaughter of the Admiral Kazansky; Iceman as the other pilots knew him by. She was the oldest of her family, the only one that had enlisted in the military in her father’s too big footsteps while her younger sisters had gone the more delicate path of motherhood. She was the first in the entire Neven family to get expelled from school—a total accident, she would swear until the day she died, though Linda Ashlington did deserve to have her eyebrows burnt off during a wayward chemistry experiment—and the only member of the Neven family to puke at her high school graduation ceremony due to the excessive hangover she had been sporting. She was the blondest of all her siblings, the tallest too, and definitely the one with the worst sailor mouth when it came to cussing out bad drivers or drunken sailors. 

And right now, she was also, really, really, really fucking late. 

“Jesus, Matty,” Claire's raspy voice echoed in her ear; amusement in part, but mostly annoyance. “Where the hell are you? I thought you said you were coming.”

“I am coming!” she huffed right back, phone indelicately cradled between her shoulder and her chin as she turned into the too full parking lot of The Hard Deck. Not her favorite bar by any means, but certainly one that had the most character and the least likelihood of accidental food poisoning. “I’m literally pulling into the parking lot right now.” 

“How are you so late? Actually, how are you always late to everything we do?” Claire asked. Pondered, really. And as the music thrummed in the background and people were shouting over one another, Matty could practically picture the brunette arching a sharp eyebrow high onto the crown of her head while watching the boys goad some drunks into a game of darts. “I mean, seriously, we left work at the same time. And we’re in the Navy. Haven’t you learned time management by now?” 

“It’s not my fault.” 

“Sure, Matts, sure.” 

“It’s not!” she cried. Both annoyed that her friend wouldn’t believe her and anxious that she wasn’t going to be able to find a good parking spot in the overflowing lot. She was lucky enough that someone was pulling out, though, and as she waited patiently she nervously fixed her hair in her rearview mirror. “I swear. I did everything right this time—maybe I’m cursed. Too many broken mirrors over the years or something like that. Something with salt, I think. It would explain a lot, actually.” 

“You’re so dramatic.” 

“Dramatic but fantastically self aware,” she corrected, swiping some smeared eyeliner off her cheek as the Pontiac slowly muddled out of its spot. “Seriously though, I promise that It’s not my fault.”

“This time.” 

“Oh, piss of,” she rolled her eyes. “I really think the world just hates me.” 

Claire snorted. And, well, yeah, Matty would have too.

It wasn’t the best excuse she could have given for her tardiness, but it was true. 

Her lateness wasn’t her own fault because despite the fact that she hadn’t wanted to spend her evening getting clambered over by the latest handful of Top Gun recruits, she had been looking forward to getting shitty at the bar with her friends after a long week at work. Plus, Eggs was one of her closest friends, and she wouldn’t have missed his birthday party for anything. 

But, of course, life didn’t ever want to make things easy for her, and when she finally got home from work she didn’t have any hot water. And then her curling iron had gone bust, leaving her in a huff trying to figure out how to braid her unruly mop of hair into something half-up, half-down that Claire may have considered beachy with a splash of boho. Only to then have traffic backed up miles between her place and the bar.

So, no. It wasn’t her fault that she was late. Just fate. 

She pulled into the empty parking spot with a sigh and said, “just tell Eggs to chill out, alright? I’m coming in now. Literally, parking as we speak.” 

“You think Eggs would chill out if I told him?” Claire quipped. “The guy is so wound up all the time it’s amazing he even wanted to go drinking on a Friday night. He’s several beers in and is still grumbling about how he has to get up in the morning to mow his lawn before it gets too hot.”

Matty put her Jeep into park and removed her keys with a thoughtful glance at the small birthday present she had brought. “Maybe I should have gotten him a gift card for lawn maintenance instead,” she said, wondering how much he would like the leather wallet she got to replace the one he lost a few weeks ago. 

“What he actually needs is some weed and a good night’s sleep.” 

Matty laughed in amusement while hip-checking her door shut. The hinges squealed a little and she sighed because even though she was a damn good mechanic, some parts of her life tended to get lost in the fold. 

Parts being her Jeep that she hadn’t even washed in well over six months. 

Whatever. She could worry about that some other time. 

Turning away, she started across the parking lot with the present in one hand, phone in the other. “Yeah, yeah, well I don’t think the Cap would be too happy with him failing his drug tests, but I am coming inside right now. That should cheer him up.” 

Claire laughed. “Anyone ever tell you that you think pretty highly of yourself?”

“No. Why, have you heard something?”

“You’re an idiot,” Claire said. But as Matty opened up the front doors and was greeted with a wall of warm air and the smell of fresh beer, she hung up on her friend without bothering with a retort. 

Just sighed with a glance around. 

The bar was—unsurprisingly—even more packed inside than the parking lot was outside. Afterall, The Hard Deck sat in that sweet fourteen mile radius right on the edge of downtown that made getting to it easy for soldiers to get to after work and finding an uber ride home cheap enough to warrant. Uniforms lined every inch of floorboards from the pool tables to the bathrooms. A few old time veterans were perched at their unofficial seats at the bar, Penny on one side, smiling and smirking and making jokes as candidly as she could while also busting ass to serve everyone the drinks they wanted. People seemed jolly and drunk; probably a sign that some asshat had done something stupid and ended up buying everyone a round. 

She was sad to have missed that. It was always fun to watch someone get thrown out on their ass. Matty made a note to ask Penny about it later. 

Still despite the happy atmosphere, as someone bumped shoulders with her, Matty had to remind herself not to throw hands at every sailor that sent a beaming smile in her direction. 

She was here for a good time with her friends, and though Eggs always liked to place money bets on how many egos she could bruise without even trying, Penny had warned her more than once that she couldn’t smack every boy that looked her way. Plus, she couldn’t really blame the wandering eyes. Here she was strutting around in a tight pair of jeans and a cute tank top that highlighted just enough skin to warrant some attention. 

What was their fault, however, was their profession of choice. Matty was perhaps one of the only people at Miramar that disliked pilots with that sordid passion you could only get from being around them your entire life. 

Sure. She had a respect for what they did, what they sacrificed, and who they were, but she also knew them well enough to keep any boy in a uniform at arm’s length. 

Which was a little hard when the bar was packed shoulder to shoulder with them. Even moreso when a particularly brave one approached her. 

“Hey,” he smiled, leaning close enough for her to smell the whisky on his breath. “It’s... Matty, right?”

She eyed him over, not liking his smile or his hazy eyes, but nodded all the same before sweeping her gaze back over the room in search of her friends. “Yeah, that’s me. Do I know you?”

“Ah, probably not,” he shrugged. She would have described the gesture as bashful if his eyes didn’t linger a little too long on her chest. “I’m one of the new airmen for Bravo company; just started a couple weeks ago so I haven’t gotten the chance to introduce myself to everyone just yet. I’ve heard plenty about you though.” 

“Charming,” she said. despite the fact that nothing about the man was, in fact, charming. Decidedly less so, actually. “But if you’ll excuse me, I’m looking for my friends.” 

She stepped right. He stepped left. Matty ground her jaw when he just batted his eyelashes at her while stepping closer. 

“Let me help you.” 

“No thanks.” 

“Oh, it’s not a problem,” he told her, acting as if she was being bashful in refusing his help rather than flat out telling him she didn’t want nor need it. In fact, he wasn’t even taller than her, so she wasn’t quite so sure what he thought he could accomplish that she couldn’t. “I don’t mind helping out a pretty girl. You might actually help build up my ego a little bit.” 

“Wonderful, but I’m not the Make-A-Wish foundation, so maybe work on your ego with something else. Like a mirror. That should fix it real quick.” 

“You’re funny.” 

“I wasn’t trying to be.” 

He grinned as if they were sharing some sort of secret before throwing an arm over her shoulder, twisting her this way and that while looking for people she was sure that he didn’t even know. “What’s a pretty doll like you doing all alone here, anyways? I mean, are you sure that your friends are even here?”

“I’m sure.” 

“Because if they aren’t,” he barreled on, “you can always hang out with me and my friends. We’re pretty fun.” 

“I very much doubt that,” she deadpanned. 

He laughed once more and just patted her on the shoulder while twisting around. Matty tried her best to put some space between them, but as a group of new recruits swaggered into the bar, she found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

“Ah, I can’t find them,” he told her. She was certain that he didn’t look; even more certain that he didn’t know what to look for, but when his gaze stopped on the bar, she figured he found something else worth his time. “You want a drink while you wait?”

Matty rolled her eyes. “Not from you.”

He laughed—again—as if she had said something funny. 

“Ah, c’mon. I’ll buy you whatever you want. A beer? Mixed drink? How about some Sex on the Beach?” he asked. She pursed her lips tight at that, no longer even pretending to be cordial with some gnat from the base that she wouldn’t have talked to on a normal day, and he quickly dissolved into a cheeky laugh. “The drink of course. C’mon, Matty, we only just met you know.” 

“How about no. Not interested. Ever.” 

“But—“

 “If you want to keep that arm, kid, you’d better move it before she does for you,” a Southern voice drawled behind them; warm but somehow still ice-cold, threatening but with an easy going staccato.

They turned together. You know, because he still had his arm thrown over her shoulder and was still moving her around like a ragdoll, but Matty felt the guy go stiff on her shoulder when he took sight of the man looming in front of them. 

This time, it was Matty who smiled. 

How she loved Frank and the sound of him threatening someone for her. 

The airman blinked between the pair. He sized Frank up for a moment, but even drunk, it didn’t take him long to realize that he would not be winning that fight. Even when Frank wasn’t trying to take up space, he practically loomed over everyone else. At a clean six foot three, with heavy shoulders, large arms, and a nose crooked from one too many brawls, he cut an imposing figure among the sea of happy, go-lucky soldiers. 

The airman cleared his throat. She batted her eyelashes up at him impishly.

“What?” she chirped, amused. “You’ve never met my friend before? I’m sure you would have heard of him if you’ve heard of me. Frankie is always starting trouble on base.”

“Uh, no, I haven’t...” he shook his head while carefully and quickly retracting his arm from her shoulder before it could be done for him. When he stepped back, Matty even noticed that his face had blanched a bit. “I wasn’t trying to—”

“Offer me sex on the beach?” she asked, feigning ignorance, before blinking over at Frank. “The drink, of course.” 

That spurred the airman back another foot as he shook his head back and forth, no longer even looking at Matty as he couldn’t seem to remove his gaze from Frank’s unamused look. “No. No, I wasn’t—uh. Sorry. Have a good night.” 

Then he promptly disappeared into the fray.

Frank snorted at the kid’s retreat. It wasn’t the first time he had scared someone off for Matty—surely wouldn’t be the last time either—but he always seemed to find some amusement in it. Probably because he knew that Matty had a temper worse than he did, and that out of everyone here, she was the one more than likely to throw a punch at a handsy sailor more than he would. 

Yet, no one ever seemed scared of her. 

She wondered if that had anything to do with her pink lip-gloss and sparkly eyeshadow. 

“That didn’t take long,” he noted, sipping his beer with a smirk. “You were only here, what, two minutes?”

“Yeah, well, being beautiful is hard,” Matty sighed melodramatically before glancing over at Frank. “Although, couldn’t you have showed up a little bit earlier? I think he spilled some beer on me.” 

Frank rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome, dickhead.”

“It’s a new shirt, Frank,” she told him.

He didn’t care. Just eyed the garment with a look of disinterest before touting, “don’t start getting all pissy with me, Neven. It’s Diego's birthday. He gets to pick the bar and we get to pay for his drinks. Rules are rules.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled, waving a hand in the air to show that even though she had heard what he was saying, she really didn’t care all that much. “All I’m saying is we could have just as easily gotten drunk at his house. Much less men to deal with there.” 

“What—you got a bed time or something? You used to be fun, y’know,” Frank drawled before slinging his own arm over her shoulder. It kept any wandering eyes spurned in the opposite direction and allowed the hulking muscle of a man to pull her in the direction of their table, where the others were no doubt sitting already half-sloshed. “What happened to the girl who finished off an entire jar of moonshine that someone in the parking lot gave her?”

“Uh, she finished off an entire jar of moonshine that someone in the parking lot gave her. I don’t remember anything after the first sip, but I’m pretty sure that at one point in the night I fell off of a table.” 

Frank tossed his head back with a laugh. “You got right back up, though.” 

“Yeah,” she rolled her eyes. “And then I managed to fall right into some pilot’s bed. Try waking up to that with the world’s worst hangover. I haven’t touched moonshine since.”

“Seriously? A pilot?” he whistled, making fun of both the imagery and of her. 

It wasn’t a secret that Matty had grown up in a military family; everyone in the motorpool knew that story, knew which bases she had been moved to in her childhood, knew the embarrassing stories of her father scaring the shit out of her boyfriends when she was in high school. But it was a secret which particular family Matty came from. Though she was proud to be a Neven, over the years she had quickly grown tired of people obsessing over the callsigns Hollywood and Iceman. She had dealt with enough shit as is just being a woman mechanic—having people insinuate that she was only successful because of family ties had been the cherry on top of the metaphorical shit sundae.

And the best way to keep people out of her family business?

Well, that was easy. She simply avoided the people who would know the family business; people like the naked pilot she had gone to bed with a couple months ago. People exactly like the group of suave, egotistical aviators that were cluttered at the pool tables all arguing about who was the best. 

“I know, I know, I broke the golden rule.” 

“That’s pretty much you’re only rule,” he said. 

Matty sighed. Then she glared up at him. “Yeah, well, if I remember correctly I was left alone after finishing off the moonshine.” 

“Can you remember?” he teased. “It was a fuck ton of moonshine.” 

She punched him in the side. Not exactly a valiant effort given that Frank was more muscle than soft spots, but he groaned all the same, and Matty smiled up at him in victory as he dragged her around the bar. A pair of pilots stood talking to Penny, but when Matty caught the bartender’s eyes, she gave her a warm wave. 

It caught the pilot’s attention. The blonde one, a man with a striking smile and an ego that she could smell from there winked at her. Matty promptly gave him the finger in return, and when he dropped open his mouth at it, Penny had to smother a laugh into her hands. 

Frank shot him a smug look before directing Matty towards the back patio. 

“Oh. Eggs is pissed that you’re late, by the way,” he told her. 

“Ugh. It’s not my fault! I tried to be here on time.” He gave her a look. The same look that meant he didn’t believe a word out of her mouth, and Matty nearly whacked a bespectacled WSO in the face when she threw her arms up in frustration. She winced, but they were already moving on past, so she figured he would live without an apology. “I did. Why does no one believe me?” 

“Because you’re always late to stuff like this.” 

“I am not,” she groaned, rolling her eyes. “You’re the worst. You’re supposed to have my back, Frankie.” 

Frank snorted. “Show up on time then.” 

“I thought we were best friends. I would always defend you if something like this happened, you know.” 

“Hm,” he harrumphed, though there was amusement in his eyes when he glanced down at her. Matty batted her eyelashes up at him in return, and as they stepped outside, he shook his head with a disbelieving laugh. “You’re a manipulative fucker, you know that?”

“I prefer the term iconic.” 

He didn’t seem convinced. It didn’t matter because in the next moment they were arriving at their picnic table, cutting through the thread of conversation as everyone swiveled in their seats to take note of the group’s latest arrival.

“Well, well, well, look who finally showed up, eh?” Eggs chided. 

“Yeah, seriously. It took you long enough,” Claire tacked on, though she grinned all the same when Matty lovingly rolled her eyes. “I didn’t realize it took fifteen minutes to walk from the parking lot.” 

“I was accosted,” Matty told her. 

“By... beer?” Nick asked, gesturing to the stain on the top of her shirt with a quirked brow. Matty frowned at it, then at Frank.

“I told you he spilled some on me!” 

“It’s a shirt,” he said simply, both not interested in arguing and not even the slightest bit upset about the mishap. Matty might have hit him if Eggs wasn’t sitting right there, still managing to look a little upset about her tardiness. 

“Eggs, I swear I tried to be here on time,” she said, figuring that her attention was better spent on apologizing to the birthday boy than convincing Frank her outfit was, in fact, fashionable. “I really, really did.” 

Diego eyed her for a moment, a failed attempt at being upset, before breaking out into a cheeky grin. 

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t know why I expected anything else. You’re late to everything, Matts.” 

“I am not!” 

“I’m just glad you showed up. Nick had a bet that you were gonna fake a heart attack and skip the party entirely—again.” 

Matty swung her gaze to Nick. The kid looked a little sheepish under her glare, but he didn’t defend himself. Just offered a look halfway between a grimace and a smile. 

Whatever. She could kick his ass later. 

“Well, I didn’t,” she announced to the table. Then, as if remembering that she was here for a reason other than defending her life choices, Matty turned her attention back to Eggs. Handing him her present, she chirped, “happy birthday!” while planting a sloppy kiss onto his cheek. 

He grunted and waved her off, though everyone knew that he enjoyed the attention as much as the next guy. “Ah, yeah, yeah, enough with the loving, alright? It’s just embarrassing at this point, Matty. You know I’m married.” 

Frank snorted as Matty seated herself between him and Claire, smiling happily when Nick slid over a lukewarm beer. 

“Everybody is married,” she grumbled, though the table knew well enough that Matty didn’t have any interest in that particular milestone anytime soon. “Speaking of your wife, where is she?”

“Why? Still trying to convince her to make you godmother when the new baby comes around?”

“No,” Matty said. Then, when Eggs curled a disbelieving brow at her, she threw up her hands with a huff. “Although, I still don’t know why you won’t consider me. I’m great with kids!”

“You made Julia cry last time you babysat.” 

“She wanted to watch a cute movie.” 

“Yeah, a cute movie. Not fucking Bambi! She’s five, for fuck’s sake.”

“I already apologized about that, but whatever. I was just wondering if Maria is coming because I love hanging out with her. Besides, I could have used some more female company; I get tired staring at your ugly faces every day.” 

“Hey!” Frank ruffled her hair while Diego kicked her in the shins, but the entire table erupted into laughter at the comment. 

Claire simply smirked at the boys. “She’s not wrong. You fellas are fucking hideous.”

“Are you really a fair judge of the male gender?” Eggs smarted, prompting Claire to roll her eyes with a crass flaunt of her middle finger. “I'm just saying, if you’re not interested in us, then we’re not interested in your opinion.” 

“Fuck off; there’s a reason you’re not interested in men either,” she retorted. 

“Well, yeah, that’s because I prefer pussy—ow!” he grunted when Matty gave him a swift kick to the shins. Glaring, he sat back in his seat with a sharp huff. “This is my birthday! Will you stop being such a dick, Matty! Christ. First you show up late, now you treat me like shit.” 

Claire busted out laughing as Matty just gave the table a faultless flash of her eyelashes. Sipping on her beer, she decided to change the subject before Eggs could get distracted enough from his beer to start pouting. Glancing around, she asked, “well, why am I getting yelled at when we’re still a few boys short? I thought Boomer and George would have been here by now.”

“They are here.”

“Then where—?”

“They’ve been hustling some pilots for the last hour,” Eggs rolled his eyes, though there was an amused gleam in his eyes that he failed to hide from the table. “Boomer promised to win me some money for my birthday, but I think he has a gambling problem. He’s attracted to money like a goblin.”

“A dragon,” Claire piped up from around her beer.

Eggs blinked at her, pausing. “What?” 

Claire rolled her eyes, pointing at Eggs around the rim of her beer. “You mean a dragon. Not a goblin.” 

“Why would a dragon want money?”

“What? You’re kidding right? Dragons are, like, notoriously obsessed with money and gold and jewels and all that bullshit. That’s why people are always trying to kill them.” 

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Eggs shook his head. 

“It’s the truth! Don’t you know your lore?”

“My lore?” he repeated incredulously. Frank and Matty shared a knowing look—Diego liked to argue about every little thing when he was drinking, and Claire loved to prove everybody wrong—which meant that this argument wasn't likely to go anywhere good. “No, I don’t know my lore, Claire, unlike you I actually got laid in high school.”

“Oof, low blow,” Matty laughed. “Claire wasn’t even out when she was in high school.” 

“I was still fucking more women than Eggs," Claire tsked.

Diego rolled his eyes; disbelieving. “Oh, yeah? Like who?"

“Like your mom.” 

“Oh, fuck you!” he chortled, allowing the pair to fall into their natural stream of mindless arguments. Claire seemed all too eager to knock him a peg down; even on his birthday, the mechanic lived for destroying the opposite gender’s ego. 

Matty smiled as Frank leaned in, leaving the pair to their argument.

“Do you think she’ll let him win an argument for once?” he asked.

“Doubtful.”

“Not even on his birthday?”

Matty considered his point while sipping on her beer before shaking her head. She remembered a similar incident two years prior when Claire had spent two and a half hours arguing with Boomer about the superiority of the Woman’s US soccer team in comparison to Men’s. He hadn’t conceded defeat until everyone at the party physically forced the pair apart, and even then Claire had claimed victory for the coming months. 

“Doubt it. Not that it matters, though, she is right.” 

“About?”

“Dragons and their love of gold. I have no idea where he got the idea that goblins are obsessed with money, but he’s way off base. Not that I’m wading into that argument any time soon,” she eyed the pair for a moment before returning her attention to her beer. Frank laughed prompting Matty to turn to him with a scornful glare. “What?”

“You were a total nerd in high school, weren’t you?” he poked.

“Seriously? You think that Dad ever would have let me indulge in my nerdish fantasies without making a big deal out of it? He practically had a heart attack when I mentioned I wanted to join the debate club.”

“Yeah, well,” Frank shrugged, “that’s because people on debate club have no friends.”

“Hey!” 

He laughed, only pausing to feign pain when Matty slugged him in the shoulder with a mock glare, before settling back into his seat beside her. A cheer went up around the bar as the group of pilots finished their game of pool—no surprise, it seemed like the blonde had won the game—and she rolled her eyes in bemusement about it. 

Pilots always had to be loud. Then again, her table was pretty loud too. 

Frank caught her glancing. When she turned back, he had a dark brow arched on his forehead. “Thinking about finding another pilot to spend the night with?” he teased. 

“Not a chance.” 

“Your poor dad,” he mocked. “Does he know that you refuse to even be friends with pilots?”

“It’s not that I won’t be friends with them,” Matty corrected Frank, though there was still disbelief shimmering in his eyes that promised this argument would take more energy than she likely felt like sharing. “Oh, shut up. You know how pilots are, anyways. All good bodies but bad temperaments.” 

“Did I know that about pilots?” Frank muttered aloud. 

“And, yes, he does know that I don’t date pilots. Him and Ice spent years introducing me to their fair share before I finally broke down and told them that I wasn’t interested. That was a fun conversation.” 

“You ever think you might be a little hard on them?”

Matty rounded on Frank with wide eyes; this time, it was her that couldn’t believe him, and when he realized what he had just said, Frank seemed in disbelief at himself as well. “Ha, since when are you an advocate for the aviators? Last I remember, you thought that Cyclone was a total prick.” 

“Well, he is,” Frank shrugged. 

Matty moved past that. “Anyways, it’s nothing personal about pilots, and Dad gets that. I mean, hell, I love all of his friends.” 

Frank knocked his hand on the table at that. “Speaking of your dad’s friends,” he started, and, well, fuck, Matty knew exactly where this conversation was going. “I heard that Mav is back in town and—” 

Matty threw her head back with a groan. “Ugh. Don’t even start.” 

“What?!” 

“I am not hanging out with you two again,” she declared, an idle thought to the last time she had a cookout with both of them present. She had nearly shit herself when Frank set off that homemade firework. “My neighbors are still pissed at me for that, you know.” 

“It was the fourth,” he shrugged. “I was trying to be patriotic.” 

She snorted; no one believed that particular lie. “Well, feel free to hang out with him on your own time, but you are still banned from Ice’s house.” 

Frank rolled his eyes, grunting under his breath as he did so. “That wasn’t even my fault. It was Mav’s idea, you know. But, anyways,” he barreled on, though she knew that the conversation would be brought back up sooner rather than later. He was a rockhead like that. “Did you see him yet?”

She had. 

Maverick had made it a point to stop by the garage bright and early that morning before he was to show up at the school for debrief with Cyclone. It hadn’t been too much of a surprise considering his unwavering friendship with Iceman that he got the job in the first place, but his chirpy attitude had been enough of a surprise when she thought she was alone that Matty promptly slammed the bench drawer shut on her thumb.

When she swore with more colorful language than Maverick had ever heard, he keeled over at the waist laughing. And when he had tossed her an ice pack from the back of her fridge, she had laughed too because, well shit, times really didn’t change all that much considering it had only been a handful of years since him and Ice had slapped a packet of frozen peas onto her knuckles following her first fist fight at school.

Matty glanced at the digit, playing with the thick tape wrapped around it.

Frank pointed to it curiously. “Maverick did that?”

“Unintentionally. He always was a menace.” 

“Pot, meet kettle.” 

Matty knocked her shoulder into his, though the pair just laughed about the idiocy of it all, as the pilots started hooting and hollering once more. This time, they were crowded around the dart board.

“So, what’s the plan this time?”

“What do you mean?”

Frank shrugged while finishing the last of his beer. Matty tried to catch up, but as the bar just got more crowded, she figured she would need to switch to hard liquor sooner rather than later if she wanted to keep from causing trouble with the wayward aviators. “Ah, come on, Mats. We both know how secretive you are about the whole family thing. Now we have Maverick teaching the latest batch of recruits? You must have some sort of plan on how to keep people from knowing you two are best pals.” 

"Not best," she announced. Then cleared her throat with a shrug. "And, it's not like I'll be sitting in his class anytime soon. I can keep a distance."

“Maybe, but you don’t think his jet will be coming through the motor pool more often than the others? Rumor has it that Mav likes to play it loose and fast—that doesn’t exactly leave much room for a mechanical fuck up in his jet.” 

Frank had a point.

Matty knew because she had been considering it for the better part of the day. Maverick did like to fly recklessly, and he didn’t like people he didn’t know touching things that were his. Meaning she would most likely be stuck as his personal mechanic until she could convince him that the others in the motor pool were just as capable.

And knowing Maverick? That could take years just out of sheer insolence. 

Sighing, she rubbed the sore spot between her brows. “I… think tequila doesn’t sound too bad right now. You want a shot?”

Frank grinned like an idiot. “When have I ever said no to a shot with you?”

Matty rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm, but let a smile stick to her features as she turned to the rest of the table. Eggs and Claire were still knee deep in their argument. Nick had long since disappeared. 

“Hey," she waved a hand between them, "you losers want some shots?”

“Do we want some shots? What sort of question is that?” Eggs guffawed. 

“Tequila good?”

“Fuck no!” he shook his head at her, not even budging at the look that she shot him in return. In fact, his face split into that sort of shit-eating grin that she knew meant nothing good would be coming. “C’mon, Matty. It’s my birthday! Doesn’t the birthday boy get to pick the shots you’ll be buying him?”

She planted her hands on her hips, waving at him impatiently. “Yada, yada, yada. You talk more than a politician on Sunday. What d'ya want, Eggs?”

“You already know what I want.” 

The whole table groaned together, before everyone in unison said, “not Jaeger.” 

“That’s right! I fucking want some Jaeger! What do you fuckers have against it, anyways? If we’re gonna do shots, then we’re gonna do them the right way!” 

“Ugh. No need to go on a tirade,” Matty patted him on the shoulder, albeit unenthusiastically. She really hated him sometimes; birthday or not. “Jaeger it is.”

“Grab the boys on your way back too, would ya?” Eggs jutted his chin towards the dart board in the back of the room where two familiar heads were lining up their shots against a crowd of uniforms. “The last thing we need is to start a color war before we can even get properly drunk, eh?”

She waved off his request while making her way to the bar. 

Uniforms shifted left and right around her, a few familiar faces popping out against the sea of khaki and Tommy Bahama shirts. Matty tried not to let her eye wander too much; the last thing she needed was to embolden some sailor into trying to get her number, but the bar was unusually packed making it difficult to avoid every blue-eyed sailor that looked her way. Still, she managed to get to the bar in record time. 

Penny grinned at her arrival.

“Well, well, well,” Penny chirped, slinging her dish towel over her shoulder. There was a pair of pilots that she had been talking to who both glanced up at Matty’s arrival. She recognized the man with glasses that she had almost taken out earlier, but she didn’t have any clue who the dark haired woman beside him was. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to show up.” 

“You and everybody else.” 

“Late again?”

Matty threw her arms up. This time, she was much more careful about not whacking anyone across the face. Still, the guy with glasses kept a good distance for safety. “I swear it wasn’t my fault.” 

Penny snorted. “I’ve heard that before.” 

“Yeah, whatever.” Matty leant forward onto the bar with a depreciating sigh. The two pilots seemed amused at her theatrics, and feeling particularly nice, she smiled at them before turning back to Penny. “I need some shots.” 

“Let me guess… Jaeger?”

She grinned. “Eggs is predictable like that.”

“How many?”

“Seven.” 

“Does that mean you’re gonna drag Boomer off the dart board for me when things turn South?” Penny asked with a cocked hip, gesturing to the group at the back of the bar. Matty winced; Boomer was the life of the party, but he also loved to start shit with pilots whenever he got the chance. “I don’t think Hangman’s ego will be able to endure a game of darts with him. Plus, you know, I like my bar very much un-broken.”

The woman pilot snorted into her drink.

Matty eyed her a bit oddly, before turning back to Penny with a reassuring smile. “I’ll drag him out by the feet if I have to.” 

“Promise?”

“Scout’s honor,” Matty said, throwing three fingers up into the air despite the fact that she had never, in her life, been a scout. Penny either didn’t know that tidbit about her or didn’t care. Matty figured it was all the same, and grinned just a little bit brighter while wiggling her hand in the air. “Your bar will remain very un-broken, Pen, I promise.” 

“Hm. You know, sometimes I think you’re more trouble than he is,” Penny told her. “Hell, than any of these boys are.” 

“But I’m, like, way prettier to look at.” 

Penny rolled her eyes, though doesn’t disagree. Partly because she knows that Matty would argue till her lungs gave out if she had the opportunity, partly (probably) because she knows Matty was right. 

Seriously. Matty was a total smoke show. How could she not see that?

“Nothing gets broken,” Penny declared, reaffirming her biggest worry, while slowly gathering up as many shot glasses as she can handle. At this, the female pilot’s eyebrows disappear into her hairline, and Matty feels something like pride worm its way up the back of her throat. “I mean it, too, Matts.”

“Does that mean you’ll add a shot of Jose Cuervo for me?”

Penny paused. Matty gave her an impish grin with a wink, before the brunette was mumbling something to herself with the shake of her head. Still, as she disappeared down the bar, Matty watched her pull a bottle of cheap tequila from the bottom shelf. 

“Tequila, huh?” the female pilot chirped. 

Matty turned to look at her. The woman offered a warm smile along with an amused curl of the brows, and though Matty didn’t actively make friends with aviators, she was in too good of a mood to actively ignore one either. So, she just shrugged. “The best way to get drunk besides shine.”

“Moonshine?” Glasses asked from around her shoulder, almost worried. 

“Sure. Never had it?”

“No, I–I have,” he said, clearing his throat with an awkward smile. Matty darted her gaze between him and the woman, wondering if they were friends or just unfortunate workplace associates, but the woman gave nothing away as she grinned into her beer. Apparently, the idea of Glasses drinking moonshine is just as amusing to her as it is to Matty.  “Just didn’t think you could find it out here. In the South, sure, but...” 

“Hm. Well, you’ve obviously never been to some of the seedier bars scattered around Miramar. You can find it. Not sure if some of it should be drank, but it’s there.” 

The woman laughed. “Talking from experience?”

Matty grinned. “Something like that.” 

Glasses mumbled something under his breath that caught the woman’s attention, and as they fell back into steady conversation, Matty relaxed against the bar. She waved at a few regulars, smiled even when she spotted a friend of hers from basic, and snorted when some bickering started up at the dart board just like Penny had forewarned.

Yeah. Boomer was definitely trouble, alright. 

And Matty was more than happy to keep herself company as she waited for her drinks when someone new slid into the open space between her and the pilots. At first, she bristled at having someone standing so close to her, but then she realized that bar was standing room only and...

Well. 

He was standing. 

But then she cautioned a glance over at him to find that he was already glancing at her with a curious brow and Matty almost—almost—thanked god that he had decided to stand next to her of all people because damn if he wasn’t a fine ass drink of water. Tall, thick arms, broad chest, tan skin, bright eyes, sun-streaked hair that was accented by a soft mustache that somehow looked good on him  (not like the pornstaches that half of the fucking Navy was sporting nowadays). He almost looked statuesque beside her as he absorbed the warm rays of overhead lighting, smiled under her attention with something both inviting and cool, adorable and sexy.

Attractive really in every sense of the word. 

Entirely fuckable too, even without moonshine. 

And Matty was even considering making some sort of flirty comment towards him that would have, at the very least, earned her ten minutes of attention from a handsome stranger at the bar as she waited for Penny to return with her drinks, but then the female pilot said something to him, actually had the audacity to call him something fucking stupid like Rooster, and—

Fuck. 

He was a pilot. 

Matty just couldn’t win, could she?

“You weren’t saving this spot for someone, were you?” he asked after turning back away from the female pilot. The cadence of his voice was warm and inviting despite Matty internally wishing that his voice was squeaky and unattractive. 

She cleared her throat and glanced at the dark bar top. “Nope.” 

“Oh, good,” he nodded, still smiling. “Did you already order, then? I think the bartender—” 

“Penny is working on it,” Matty told him. He blinked, pausing slightly, before nodding once again. She supposed that he was trying to be nice, but Matty had to remind herself that nice guys were the ones she had the hardest time saying no to in the past. “It’s fine.” 

“You know Penny?” 

“Sure,” she shrugged, effortlessly cool, yet somehow still miserably failing at being outrightly dismissive. “Everybody around here does.” 

He turned at that so that he was facing her more than he was facing his friends, settling an arm on the bar in a nonchalant way that sent ripples up his toned arms and—where was Penny with those drinks? 

“Oh, well, yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck for a moment, before adding, “I guess I didn’t realize you were from around here.”

“Taking a census, are you?”

Her deadpan response provoked a laugh from his lips; not quite the reaction she had been going for, but for once, she didn’t really mind. He had a nice laugh that matched his even nicer smile. 

And—pilot, pilot, pilot.

Matty tried to keep that in mind when he leant the fraction of an inch closer so that he didn’t have to shout so much. “Not doing a census, no, just like talking to pretty girls.”

He smiled again. This was a little flirtier, a tad bit cheekier, and damn if he couldn’t be on a calendar for Miramar pilots. 

“I’m Bradley,” he told her. 

I’m Matty, she almost said, the reply so smooth on her tongue that it practically felt unnatural not to give it. But she shouldn’t—couldn’t—if she wanted to stick to her rules. So, instead, she smiled right back and chirped, “yeah? Good for you.” 

“Alright,” he nodded, taking her dismissal in stride. “If I buy you a drink, do I get a name?”

“I already ordered my drinks, remember?”

“Ah,” he snapped his fingers, offering up an expression of mock remembrance. “I almost forgot. You’re not waiting on someone, and you already ordered your drinks from Penny. Right. You just got it all worked out already, don’t you?”

“Pretty much.” 

He tsked, shoulders sinking with a sigh, as he tapped his hand on the bar counter. “Well, then, that only leaves with me one option.”

“Oh?”

“I guess I need to just go ahead and ask for your phone number,” he shrugs, as if it really is the only thing he can do. “I mean, normally I would say some stupid pick up line and then introduce myself, get a laugh or two from you, tell you that I think your name is just as beautiful as you are—of course, that's a given—and then I would ask for your number while buying you a drink. You’re really kind of ruining my routine here.” 

“A shame,” she snorts, rolling her eyes, and trying her darndest not to smile. 

It’s hard though. Especially when he is so unabashed in his flirting, so unbothered by her tone, and so fucking cute. 

“There’s always next time,” he whistled. “Unless you want me to start over?”

Matty leant on the bar. On the one hand, she wanted to tell him to get lost. On the other hand, he was cute and had a good sense of humor, and seemed to be in a good enough mood that she might actually feel bad if she shattered it callously just because of her silly rules not to engage with pilots. 

Still, when Penny brushed by with a curious look, Matty had to remind herself that one option was better than the other. “You can try,” she said, the implication that it wouldn’t be a successful attempt clear in her tone. 

Yet, for some reason, he stuck around.  

“Ah, c’mon, you don’t even know what I was gonna say,” he told her, leaning on the bar with just enough of a flex of the arms that she couldn’t help but look even if she didn’t want to. Bradley’s smile widened. The little shit obviously knew what he was doing. “Ready?”

“Alright then,” she waved a hand at him impatiently. “Let’s get this over with.” 

He made a show of standing up straighter, combing his hair, adjusting his shirt so that it hung just right, before leaning back onto the bar as if he had just shown up. “Hey, this is really weird, but I think there’s something wrong with me phone. Your number isn’t on it.” 

Matty couldn’t help herself and laughed loud enough that the nearby pilots could hear. The blonde from earlier—having recently vacated the dart board—glared at them from across the bar top. 

“That was horrible,” she told him matter-of-factly. 

“In a good way, though.”

“No, in a horrible way,” she tsked, slowly calming down from her laughter, and now truly struggling to keep a smile off of her face. Rules, rules, rules, she reminded herself while clearing her throat. “Maybe you should go find someone else to waste that line on.” 

“I kind of like wasting it on you though.” 

Matty curled a sharp brow at that, but somehow managed to keep from smiling again. What a reckless mess that would be. “I hate to tell you this, but you’re hitting on the wrong girl.” 

“That’s perfect then,” he shrugs, before smoothly saying, “because I didn’t tell you this yet, but I’m Mr. Right. I think we’d be a perfect pair.” 

His friends snicker to themselves over his shoulder at the obvious line, and as Bradley turns to shoot them a dark look that effectively shuts up their eavesdropping, Matty squares her shoulders. And when he turns back to face her, she actively tries to appear as disinterested as possible. 

“Look, you’re seriously wasting your time,” she tells him, only now managing to be a little bit more serious and a little less flirty. “If you had been around here much before tonight, you would know that I am not the girl to hit on. There’s plenty others though that would be totally into... this.” 

Bradley arches a brow high on his forehead, nearly touching the perfectly coifed curls that were resting against his tan skin at that. His smile was still bright and gentle, but there was a shine of curiosity in his eyes now. “You a big deal around here or something?”

“Or something,” she simpers.

If her attitude was off putting, he didn’t comment on it. 

Instead, he takes a long neck of his drink before gesturing to her with his free hand. “Well? Are you gonna give me an introduction? Since I’m new around here, I think it’s only fair that I know the local big deal so I don’t get myself into trouble without knowing it.” 

Damn him. Matty sighs at his continued persistence; even worse was the way she found herself wanting to stick around in conversation with him. Still, she knew. Better to shoot him down now before his plane got any wind under the wings—a fiery crash on the runway was less likely to hurt them both than a nosedive from the sky.

“Alright, fine. I’m not interested.” 

“Not interested, huh?” he hums while picking at the label on his beer bottle. “That’s an interesting name. Are your parents multicultural or something?”

It surprises her how quickly his response comes; so laid back, unoffended, without that familiar lightning strike of ego that boys like him often had provoked when she said something so upfront and defensive. But what surprises her more was the laugh that once again bubbles at the back of her throat.

Definitely not good.

A cute pilot with a sense of humor? Oh no, Matty knew better than to go down that road—not fucking likely if she had anything to say about it.

“Look, Buddy—” she starts.

“Bradley.”

“Bradley,” she corrects with a huff, “I don’t date flyboys.”

“Flyboys? Isn’t that term a few decades old?” Matty shoots him a baleful look at his humorous response, to which he just shrugs with that same easy going smile of his. If she had to guess—and she was usually right about these sort of things considering the majority of men all shared the same two brain cells—he was amusing himself by riling her up because his caveman brain associated a pissed off female with a horny one. “We don’t even know each other. Why are you so certain that I’m a pilot?”

To this, she cocks a brow and a hip. “Seriously?”

“I mean, I’m more than happy to play twenty questions with you, but that sort of borders first date territory, doesn’t it?” he says.

“No thanks,” she deadpans. “Besides, I’ve been around long enough to see you pilots come through training every couple of months. I knew you were one the second I laid eyes on you, buddy.” 

“It’s Bradley,” he corrects once more, amused at himself and at getting the chance to poke a little fun at her. “And how do you know I’m not a backseater?”

“Because you have that look.” 

“Look?”

Matty doesn’t explain, and just as he’s about to ask, Penny settles a tray of shots into the open bar space between them. She gives Matty a look—one that says what the hell are you doing still talking to him?—which only further prompts the blonde to focus on why she was here, and not why she wasn’t. 

Winking at Penny, Matty turns to Bradley, and promptly tells him, “WSOs don’t have that stupid swagger that you’re walking around with.” 

Bradley leans back an inch, frowning down at himself as if he's trying to pinpoint the swagger she’s indicating, and Matty takes pleasure in poking the pair of sunglasses hanging off of his shit. 

“Oh, and the aviators? They are decades old and a dead fucking give away,” she tells him before promptly throwing back the shot of amber tequila. It burns all the way down, relaxing the coiled muscles in her shoulders, and as she slams the empty glass back down onto the counter, Matty finds something cheeky worming its way along her tongue. “You meet your new instructor yet?"

His frown becomes perturbed as he coils a brow at her; no longer flirty, but curious, and slightly concerned. “No?” 

Matty hums. “Well, you and your friends might want to check your egos on the tarmac then; there’s really not enough room for both of them when you’re up in the sky with that smartass.” 

She heaves the tray onto her shoulder before turning away from the bar.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, only to be ignored as she surveys the bar. Boomer and George were already making their way outside, and she figures it was now or never if she wanted to rein them in from their gambling. Matty winks at Glasses on her way past as Bradley shouts, “wait! Seriously. Can I at least have your phone number?”

“Like I said,” she coils a foxy look in his direction, taking pleasure in the way he stands a little straighter beside his friends. “I don’t date pilots.” 

Matty never knew if he took offense to that. 

Probably, considering that every pilot everywhere had the ego of a goddamned Olympian, but the crowd swallows her up before she gets the chance to see his reaction. Fine by her; she hadn’t come to the bar to get hit on by this month’s latest crew of aviators. Instead, she had come to get drunk with her friends.

Friends that hoot upon seeing her arrive with the shots.

“Fuckin’ took you long enough,” Boomer crows, grinning wildly when she lays the shots down on the table. Everyone grabs their respective glass as he juts his chin towards the bar. “Another newbie trying to fuck?”

“They get more and more resilient every year," she jokes with an airy sigh. Claire snorts, amused, and makes a crude joke about why women were always better than men as George tosses an arm over Matty's shoulder with an endearing smirk.

“Yeah, well, fuck them,” he tells her. “I’ll keep you company, Matts.” 

“My hero,” she bats her eyes at him. The rest of the table laughs; all the boys having taken turns keeping Matty from fighting off pilots, all deeply amused each time it happens, so they know that despite her not needing the help, she enjoyed it all the same. Next, she turns her attention the only man she wants to spend attention on tonight. “Happy Birthday Eggs!’

Eggs laughs in response as the others share their sentiments, pink flushing his dark skin until his cheeks were the characteristic rosy color of someone that was a step too close to being drunk. He takes only a moment to think before raising his shot glass in return, proclaiming, “to fixing shit that shouldn’t be broken.” 

“And to breaking shit that should never be fixed!” the rest of the table responds in their self-proclaimed motto.

Together, they clink their glasses, cheer, and then throw back the Jaeger with varying degrees of disgust. In unison, seven glasses were slammed onto the table, and suddenly Matty finds herself forgetting all about egos, pilots, and cute boys like Bradley.

Afterall, he was a pilot. And rules were rules. 

She didn’t break them for anyone. 

***taglist (thanks for asking!) @callsignbarb @coyotesamachado @shanimallina87

[stitchkiss]

tell me a story about u

bestie you know more of my stories than anyone and you still want more?? i can’t believe you aren’t sick of them yet lmaoo. i’ll tell you a few from that liam-esque list i sent you a while back.

GATHER ROUND KIDS!! STORYTIME!!

story 1: idek when this was probably when i was like 13 but anyway we were gardening n shit and i was by all the tools takin a break bc i planted like 20 zucchini seeds (bad idea in hindsight all we ate that summer was zucchini) and i was tired. so i look down and there’s a garden hoe next to me and i’m getting flashbacks to my childhood when i watched tom and jerry obsessively and i think “huh. i wonder what would happen if i stepped on it” guess what happened. smacked me right in the face the second i stepped on it. blood went everywhere. face, clothes, tools, soil. brother is laughing. sister rushing for towels. mom making sure my nose wasn’t broken. dad wishing i was never born. my face messy with tears n blood n sweat. i consider this a win bc not only did i get to live out a childhood fantasy but i didn’t have to garden for the rest of the day!

story 2: i am. dumb. and impulsive. and i think movie magic applies to me. all this, but i’m 9 years old. we had just moved and a perk was that a golf cart came w the house. so when, for reasons i can’t remember, there was a dirt hill in my backyard i knew EXACTLY what to do with it bc i had just watched wreck it ralph AND played a mario kart tournament the night before so i know a ramp when i see one. see where im going w this? when i saw the dirt hill i got on the golf cart and fuckin floored it. the thing is, i didn’t know that the dirt wasn’t packed in, so it was too soft for the tires. i did not make it over. the cart tipped over and i fell out. it almost crushed me. the funniest part ab this is when my mom came over to check on me she was like “i saw you speed off and i KNEW what you were doing” i wasn’t allowed to try it again.

3. i had a goldfish named herbert. i won him at a festival when i was like 12 and he came in a plastic baggie like from finding nemo. so i brought him home and i quickly realized i had no place to put him bc he was my first (and only) fish. so i threw out these flowers my mom had in this really big vase and i put him in it instead. during this time i didnt have a phone bc i accidentally broke it a few days before when i was jump roping and had it in my pocket and it flew out. SO i didn’t know what to feed herbert bc no google and neither did anyone else and they didn’t want to help me raise my new son so i had to figure this out by myself. do you know what i fed him instead of fish food? ritz crackers. how tf was i supposed to know the salt from the crackers would kill him. the concept of “freshwater fish” eluded me at the time. i woke up the next day and he was floating at the top of the vase. but the worst part of this story? i was preparing a small, intimate funeral for herbert bc he deserved nothing less and i took him out of the vase and put him on a plate. then i left for like 5 minutes to make sure my brother and sister were going to be in attendance and to throw some rose petals in the toilet bc if i was gonna flush him it might as well be beautiful. but. when i went back to the kitchen to get herbert, my cat was eating him.

4. last story! my cousins and i are really close and we do this thing when all of us are available and we call it a version of guy’s grocery games based on who the judge is that night (we replace the g with our initial) where we each make food but change it up in a creative way. this time was pizza. i teamed up w one of my cousins and we decided to make a pizza based off the fast food chain raising canes. so we go to canes and order a bunch of chicken and fries and bread and we even got a cup full of canes sauce for $5 and we also bought a premade pizza dough. the pizza was DIVINE and i’d eat it again but be warned you need pepto bismal on hand if you eat it bc it’ll rly fuck up ur insides. but, even tho it was the best invention ever, we didn’t fucking win. what did we lose to, you ask? a ramen pizza. my brother and his gf made it w the recipe I SENT HIM!! but the thing is, this recipe called for soy sauce and my cousin is allergic to soy. my brother asked me for his allergy list in preparation and i forgot to put it on there. so my cousin was ab to take a bite when my brain connected the very very important dots and i smacked it out of his hand.

hope u enjoyed all that!!

[spicypussywave]

my 9 yr old nephew (indian moment) is so cute ☹️☹️☹️ he's usually always gaming while commenting out loud like a youtuber (EVEN WHEN THE GAME IS FUCKING STUPID 😭😭😭) but his phone got taken (it was his dad's) and he turned off the tv his sister and i were watching, giggled like a menace (affectionate) and ofcourse i had to teach him a lesson (tickled him till he absolutely couldn't take it anymore 😭😭😭) and played around a lot, tbh basically roughhousing like i would if i had a younger one (throwing him around. he enjoyed it). he was a giggling mess in the end 😭😭😭

he's the kid who never looks into people's eyes, always on phone, yaps a Lot though people around don't get what he's saying but he's never interacted with me before bc im not around him often AND HE DID THIS TIME! after all that play we were back to our stuffs and i was on my phone AND THIS LIL KID BROUGHT ME A PHONE STAND 😭😭😭😭 and said we could watch a movie on my phone 😭😭😭😭 HE TALKED TO ME FIRST THOUGH HE DOESNT USUALLY DOES IT 😭😭😭😭

he even hit me while playing and gave me stuffs?? to attack Him with 😭 HE'S SO CUTEEEE he actually responds whenever i talk to him he likes me now 😭😭😭😭

[acacia-may]

Heyo! I saw that you love A Series Of Unfortunate Events and that's so cool, I love it too but sometime I have the feeling it's not well-known. Question, what do you think about the adaptations, the film with Jim Carrey and the Netflix series? Personally, I like them too, but I also understand why they're not for everyone's taste, which is fair. I'm just someone who loves books, film and show of this series, so I always wonder how it's for others.

Hello there! Thank you so much for the ask! I so rarely get ASOUE asks so this is really special and very exciting to me! 🥰

I do love A Series of Unfortunate Events (I also enjoyed All The Wrong Questions). ASOUE was such a big part of my childhood and something I've gone back and reread several times in my life, and I've always gotten something new out of it which I think is the mark of an incredible story. It was also something I got to share with my two sisters, so it's special to me in that way as well. I'm much older than both of my sisters, and my youngest sister and I are nearly 10 years apart in age, so it was kind of difficult to find things that we all could enjoy together, especially when they were young. However, we read ASOUE aloud when my youngest sister was old enough to understand/enjoy the series and also in preparation for the Netflix series which was scheduled to be released, and she just loved it and we had so much fun reading it together. I tried my best to do all the voices... (I remember I could never quite get Book Olivia/Madame Lulu's and kind of butchered my way through Book 9 😅). When they were very young, my sisters wanted to have these imaginary "VFD meetings," and it was a very silly game but always so much fun to get to play at that with them. [And to this day, my one sister's nickname in my phone is actually still "Jackalope" as a very meme-like reference to her always being the "Jacques"]. Anyway, I have so much love for that series and a lot of good memories related to it. 💕

Long story short: I have an appreciation for the ASOUE adaptations since I think it's a very difficult story to adapt due to the fact there is barely any, actual "canon" information, and I especially liked a lot of Netflix's interpretation of the series. However, they are all very separate things in my head (so it's almost like I've got a "Book Lemony," "Netflix Lemony" and "Movie Lemony" in my mind, just for an example). My ramblings about the adaptations got so long and are riddled with spoilers so I am putting them under the cut!

(Warnings: Spoilers for all iterations of ASOUE and mentions of death, murder, & trauma)

As far as the adaptations go, I think that the nature of ASOUE makes incredibly difficult to adapt in any medium. Lemony is an incredibly unreliable and biased narrator, and the canon is often (purposefully) ambiguous, contradictory, and riddled with plot holes, which makes for a great story in which the reader really gets to take the reigns and, in a way, "make the canon" whatever they want it to be. It's such a different experience because we/the readers, honestly just don't know so many things about the story, the world, and the characters so it's up to everyone to kind of "play detective" and essentially create a canon of their own--but, at the end of the day, that "canon," as each individual reader perceives, is probably 20% actual canon and 80% headcanon (and that's being generous). So for me it's difficult to judge the quality of an adaptation of this story because I really view a lot of my personal perceptions and understanding of the series as my headcanons rather than the actual canon so my perception of the tv show and the movie is really just me comparing Netflix's headcanons or Nickelodeon's headcanons to my personal headcanons, if that makes sense? And in that way, like you said, I can completely understand why one or both of them would not be to someone's taste.

I personally see both adaptations as separate things from the book series and will often talk about certain characters as like "Netflix Kit" or "Book Kit" and things like that. They really are that separate in my mind. Overall though, I really enjoyed the Netflix series and was really happy with a lot of what Netflix did. I did not go into it expecting a lot because I just figured that my interpretations were going to be different than theirs, but I was extremely surprised by how similar the portrayals of a lot of the characters were to what I was imagining in my mind. Esme especially was just phenomenal--everything I had ever imagined her to be like! The children (both the Baudelaires and the Quagmires) were great! I loved a lot of the guardians/supporting cast: Monty, Josephine, Georgina, Vice Principal Nero, Hal, Justice Strauss, Carmelita Spats...I can't even list all the people. It was just so well-casted across the board!

And even characters who were different than what I imagined in my mind were really wonderful! I really liked the portrayal of Netflix Fernald for instance--he was much more likeable, and I loved that friendship he had with Sunny (and how that hinted at his own relationship with his (long-lost) younger sister). Netflix Count Olaf is another example of a character who I feel much more positively about in the Netflix series than in the books. Overall, I think Neil Patrick Harris's Count Olaf was a much closer interpretation to how I personally imagine Count Olaf than Jim Carrey's Count Olaf. Netflix Olaf was definitely, ultimately much softer and more sympathetic than I how I imagine Book Olaf, but I think overall Harris did a good job of treading that fine line of being a very melodramatic villain but also being actually threatening and menacing. I can really appreciate how difficult that must have been because Olaf is such a very complex character and I can see why he wouldn't be an easy one to portray. And of course, Netflix Olivia is basically an entirely different person but a very amazing person!

Which reminds me, I know that Jacques gets thrown out a lot as a character whose Netflix interpretation didn't quite match up to what people were imagining, but for me (and this was probably the most shocking because I always felt like the odd one out when it came to my personal interpretations of Book Jacques), Netflix Jacques was very, very similar to what I imagined his book counterpart to be like so I was feeling very excited and very vindicated that I wasn't the only one who imagined in that way. I think the most radically different (besides Olivia of course) was probably Ernest, but we know basically nothing about him so I don't have a problem with Netflix Ernest. For all we know, Book Ernest could secretly be an evil cowboy and lasso someone and boil them alive in curry--but my personal interpretation of Book Ernest is that he would not have done that. But I recognize that's all headcanons so I don't really have a criticism there.

Besides with Ernest (who was much more of a coldblooded killer than I what I was imagining), I think most of the changes in the Netflix universe painted the characters in a much more positive and sympathetic way than what I was imagining in my mind. Netflix made them less broken, less traumatized, less morally dubious, and ultimately much more well-adjusted than what I had been imagining based on the books. I think Netflix Lemony and Netflix Kit are both good examples of this. Neither one of them are nearly as jaded in Netflix as they are in my interpretation of their book counterparts. I love them as characters--have always loved them so I want these good, happier things for them. I want a universe for Kit where she gets to hold Little Bea before she dies. I want a universe for Lemony where he gets to reconnect with his sister one last time. And yes, though I realize that most interpretations (including my own) of Book Kit Snicket would have never, ever, ever in a million years been on board with jumping ship on VFD when she got pregnant and running away to island to the raise the baby away from all that, I still want that universe. I still want that universe where things are a little less bleak and a little more hopeful, so I feel I am very biased in that way because in a certain sense, I was grateful that Netflix gave us a happier, more hopeful world for these characters that I loved.

Overall though, despite the differences, I think Netflix ASOUE was made with care. I got this feeling while watching it and squealing over the little details and references to all parts of the Snicket-verse that the people who made it and were involved in bringing this story to life really, genuinely cared about the source material. They were forced to pick an interpretation and though that interpretation might not be exactly like mine, I can respect that they picked theirs with thought, effort, and care because they loved this series. And it was really such a delight to get to experience an adaptation that was made by people who clearly have as much love and passion for this series as me, if not more.

I'm not as fond of the movie. I feel like it missed the mark in terms of the macabre sense of humor of the series and was more tonally uneven than what Netlflix made. I did love the portrayals of the children in the movie--especially Klaus. Movie Klaus's sass was just top-tier. I loved watching his faces in the background! They're hilarious! But they didn't give him glasses (at least not ones he wears all the time), and the movie is just kind of full of little things like that that just kind of miss the mark for me. I wasn't a big fan of Movie Olaf either--I felt that he was too goofy and not threatening enough as a villain, but I did love Movie Monty. He's such a sweetheart, but Netflix Monty was just as good. The same with Movie Lemony versus Netflix Lemony. Jude Law and Patrick Warburton kind of played into different aspects of Lemony's character so they're very different portrayals but both still good.

My favorite thing about the movie by far, however, is the soundtrack. I have owned it for years, and I still listen to it all the time. I was just listening to "The Letter That Never Came" last week, actually, when I was working on my piece for the Wicked Way Exchange. I just love the music! It's gorgeous and fits better with the tone of my interpretation of the series than probably anything else in the movie. I grew up with this movie, so I think there is some nostalgia there, but if I wanted to watch or recommend an adaptation of ASOUE, I'd definitely choose Netflix.

Thanks again for the ask and for indulging my ramblings! Feel free to drop by to talk about the Snicket-verse anytime! 🥰

[darlingkara]

So, I haven't written here since December of 2022

I am finally reorganizing my everything! Well, that's the play, anyway.

Sorry for any typos-- I will be careful. I am working with a new but old laptop and I am not used to the keyboard. But, it works for my vanilla IT job and camming. I have not broadcasted publicly with it, but ran a password protected show and saw it from a phone, a TV, another PC screen. It looked okay at 720/60fps. I have not tried to hook the Cannon up to it yet.

I wish I were a desk person. I am just not. I have never been, haha. Chairs are uncomfortable, the desk height is usually off, and they are hard and uncomfy! I cannot study, or read, or work at a desk. I have always been a bed, couch, floor person.

My classes start in exactly 2 weeks from now... September 5. Now I can finally take the philosophy class I have wanted to take! I don't dislike economics, but the program degree is Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). I like socio-economics and more so ethics and behavioral strategy. So one Philosophy class and one Politics class. I won't be too too specific, as it wouldn't be too hard to find me. But I am excited-- I love both studies.

Btw, not like I care if people find ''out''. My family knows I am a cam girl... I think they mostly support it. My mother thinks it is like Twitch with boobies. Hahaha. Kinda, but I don't play games when I broadcast. Or really never or rarely.

Speaking of the devil, 2 outta 3 siblings are blocked on FB and I will never talk to them again, I assume. My sister said something about having to pay taxes on a parking lot that her church rented out to sell vegetables. She is umm... a Libertarian. I said, ''Well, at least the concrete was taxed''.

She told me to eat concrete... Like, wtf, I know. And then a slew of recent things she has said to me just hit me. Like, some stupid hypothetical boat story she was discussing a few weeks back. A person is on a boat and has to get to an island. They see a person drowning, and have space in the boat. I said, well, of course I would help them and pick them up. I am going there anyways, and it is not like I can watch someone drown. She said she wouldn't help them, but ''it's not like it was her hand drowning them''. I am sure I said something about how humans need each other and her thinking was a bit.... antisocial, shall we say.

After the EAT CONCRETE weirdness, she sent me a link with pre-made cookie dough being recalled for having woods chips in it, and told me I should eat that, too.

That was it. That was my breaking point. I told her... WOW... What a lovely Christian you are being. You are selfish and ill-willed, and you are dipping your toes into alt-tight territory. And that is the last thing she saw before I blocked her. And I feel so much lighter. She was not like this before. She's 5 years older than I am, and she is not stupid. She has 2 Master's degrees Philosophy and Psychology. Thank fuck she isn't someone's therapist. She did have a patient kill themselves when she first started... and she found them. She was distraught for awhile, which is understandable, but I repeatedly told her that she had nothing to do with it-- The person would have committed suicide anyways, at some point. She obviously wasn't allowed to talk about the specifics (HIPAA). But I felt for her.

Anyways, it is weird to mentally lose two siblings. Albeit, they were older than I am by 5 and 9 years, but we were still close. I was the youngest-- I am not quite Gen X, but due to their ages and influences, I am half Gen X, half Millennial, whatever that means. Of course they are both Anti-Vax (but just recently). It is just so odd. We were not raised this way. They have both become fairly religious. I am almost certain my brother has been celebite for a decade, if not more.

His daughter, who is 18, started college in a kinda southern and eastern state. For some reason, he decided to follower her, move there and I was thinking like, man, get a life. I loved my dad, but that's the last thing I would want him to do-- follow me states away at 18. Bejesus.

....Enough whining from me. Sorry, I don't have an outlet for my feelings.

...8 hours later... I worked way too much. I did my IT job for 4 hours and I re-did the floor (again) for another 4 hours. It's getting there! If only I realized I probably only needed stronger acetone to remove the damn spots and tar, it would have been much easier. It is like, half wood, and half I don't know. There are pics on Twitter. I think I will eventually have to buy some oak stain for some spots I over-sanded. But, not so ba+d or expensive thus far. Nail files, acetone, mineral spirit alcohol and a stove scraper I already had, haha.

My weight loss had plateaued for a bit. I was stuck at 90 kgs/190 lbs for almost a month, and now I am 86.7kgs or 191 lbs. I really only want to get to about 160-170 pounds, Anything less than that, I look kinda weird, imo. Start weight was a very shocking 247 lbs or 124 kgs. Yikes. You don't realize how slow you pack in on. I am sticking with 1100 calories a day. But I am so bad. All I want are these little chocolate doughnuts, veggies and meat. It could be worse. :)

I will try to update more than every 6 months, haha. Lately all I have been doing is being snarky on Twitter, working, and reading.

This Trump et al thing is craaaaazy. But I am not surprised. I cannot believe people are so gullible and believe in such bizarre lies. I have been obsessed with Erik Prince and Mike Flynn fir awhile, as well as the Wagner group, before they were all on most people's radar. And Musk/Twitter-- that was not by accident. None of this is.

Until next time... Keep yourself sane, content and safe!

[uncle-dusknoir]

🔴 - rotomblr, rotumblr, or a secret third choice

🕰️ - how long have you been roleplaying before you made a pokemon irl blog?

(@old-chateau-dweller)

hi moss 👋

(forgot to say hi to everyone else that's been asking as well 😔)

🔴- rotumblr. It's still [tumblr], just with a rotom flavor! rotomblr makes it more rotom than Tumblr. Basil doesn't even have a rotom phone. ro[tumblr]

🕰️- back when i was 8-9-10-11 i would stay up all night with my little sister. we had an ongoing plot in which everyone in the mario universe fucking hated Mario in particular. so like,,, a very long time lmao. we called it 'the talking game'. (for reference, I'm 19 now.)

i also used to rp on roblox for a while- i was that weirdo who did full paragraphs in the Twitter ass text limit. mostly discord though.

[rena-sims]

Sims tag

I was tagged by @simoleontree and @phoebe-twiddle. Thank you <3

1. What’s your favourite sims death?

I don't like my sims dying, so I prefer it when they die of old age after a happy and long life

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match?

More maxis match

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight?

Nope

4. Do you use move objects?

Who doesn't?

5. Favorite mod?

ACR really spices up my gameplay. Everything's a total mess and I love it!

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got?

I guess that was "Hot Date" for TS1

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing?

aLIVE. Maybe LIVing makes more sense, but it'll never change in my head

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

All of them?

9. Have you made a simself?

Yep. But I didn't do a good job

10. What sim traits do you give yourself?

Unflirty, Cat Lover, Dog Lover, Family-oriented, Loyal, Socially Awkward

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color?

All of them

12. Favorite EA hair?

Ähm... This one that doesn't look too bad

13. Favorite life stage?

Adult

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Gameplay, but sometimes I'm in a building mood

15. Are you a CC creator?

I tried, but I'm not good at it and it's no fun for me, so I quit before it really started

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad?

I like many simmers here, but you can't call it friendship

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4)

TS2, but TS1 will forever be in my heart

18. Do you have any sims merch?

My boyfriend got me a shirt xD

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims?

Nope

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing?

It became more maxis match and I got into rotational gameplay. In my first neighbourhood (which I shared with my sister), it was all chaos!

21. What’s your Origin ID?

I really don't know

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator?

They're all doing such a great job!

23. How long have you had a simblr?

A long time for reading only. I started posting last year

24. How do you edit your pictures?

A regular windows editor xD I'm too lazy for everything else

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next?

"Sims 2 - We got rid of all bugs and everything runs well!"

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far?

Pets is great - for obvious reasons. I also love Seasons and University for the cell phones!

[aria0fgold]

OH MY GOD THIS WAS A PAIN TO MY WRISTS BUT I WAS SO DETERMINED TO FINISH IT TODAY

My 4 AU Kids with my 4 main ocs! I also found a similarity between attsanm omori and the 5th oc but i couldnt fit them in so another time for them.

A little info on each oc! And since I was lazy to colour I'll just put in text their hair colour and eye colour.

Alec:

Red hair and blue eyes!

BIG BROTHER!!! Literally too, he has 4 younger sisters.

27 years old! 6'3"... He's very tall.

He regularly works out and has a muscular build but my baby skills don't know how to draw MUSCLES.

Works as a preschool teacher!

Uploads gameplay videos in youtube as a hobby, eheh.

He lives with his boyfriend!

Childhood friend of Ray.

Ray:

Black hair and dark brown eyes!

CHAOS! He has an older sister and a younger brother. Middle child yes.

25 years old! 6'0"... Tall people.

Sometimes joins in with Alec when he works out! Not as muscular as Alec and he mostly focuses on stamina.

A very skilled actor though it's just his hobby. He wants to become a scientist one day.

Also does youtube as a hobby! He was the one that roped Alec into it too.

He lives with his girlfriend!

Childhood friend of Alec and his girlfriend is also a childhood friend of theirs!

If you're new to him, he will always introduce himself like this: "Hello! I'm Ray! A ray of sunshine!" ohgod

Water:

Yes, his name is literally just Water, it's not a nickname.

He has an older brother called Wind. Their mom thinks it's both funny and a nice theme.

Blond hair and blue eyes!

21 years old! 6'0". Same height as Ray.

Seph's best friend, though Seph won't ever admit it openly.

Works as a game developer, Seph's partner.

Sephirah:

Blond hair and brown eyes

Turning 17 years old this Feb 14. 5'0". Tiny...

Only child.

Works as a game developer, Water's partner.

Likes to draw a lot! He loves the horror genre especially. He teaches Water how to draw well too.

Does not like his parents.

EDIT! I FORGOT TO ADD THIS! Sephirah is Alec's cousin.

PHEW THAT'S ALL FOR NOW! Phone at 9% I still need to play a bit of proseka.

Also! Yes, their ages change along with the years. Their ages were frozen at 23(Alec), 21(Ray), 19(Water), and 15(Sephirah) for as long as I had them until my old friends decided to celebrate it in uhh... 2020? So yeah, I've just also been adding onto their ages and stories! Eheh...

There's a lot more to say about them but I'm like, holding myself back cuz this post boutta be way way too long. I just love them a lot!