#City Tripper

[naimahtaylor]

Here are Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Photos of Kamek and He is Driving with a City Tripper

[angelfoodscake]

ruben and unnamed toad oc

experimented a bit with the colours/effects on this one. not sure if overdone , but i think it looks nice

[fieriframes]

[LOOKS GREAT. WHEN WE COME BACK. QUITE THE STAND-UP PLATE RIGHT THERE. SALMON CLUB, CORNED BEEF HASH AND EGG. THANK YOU. AT THE BLUE PLATE DINER IN SALT LAKE CITY... CAJUN FRIES FOR YOU. FORMER ROAD-TRIPPER JOHN BOUZEK...]

[fierifiction]

LOOKS GREAT. WHEN WE COME BACK. QUITE THE STAND-UP PLATE RIGHT THERE. SALMON CLUB, CORNED BEEF HASH AND EGG. THANK YOU. AT THE BLUE PLATE DINER IN SALT LAKE CITY... CAJUN FRIES FOR YOU. FORMER ROAD-TRIPPER JOHN BOUZEK... AS MYSELF. I BELIEVE. MYSELF. MYSELF'S POKEMON. I WOULD NOT FELT BE ANY KIND OF KENTUCKY IN THAT DUMB PEDI. COOK BEEF HUGS TO YOU. WOW. WOW. AND THAT WE WOULD DUMB PEDI? BECAUSE I HAD BEEN IN LOVE WITH MYSELF FOR A YEAR AND YOU WOULD LIKE HER TO DOW IT WITH ME. SALON CLUB I AM THE BEST SALON CLUB EVER. WOW.

[harmonysanreads]

Some more thoughts for the Sumeru Love Hexagon AU !!

Alhaitham has gifted you a matching pair of noise-cancelling headpieces, after seeing that you loved it when he offered his pair to you once. Drunkards can get unbelievably loud sometimes and for everyone's peace, the best you can do is ignore them. Secretly, he revels in how this basically shows you're undeniably entangled with each other.

Though, Wanderer is always willing to toss the nuisances in the fountain or restrict their air supply (and he has done it, more times than he cares to count), but he needs to keep his unassuming facade around you, so, he begrudgingly allows you to flaunt it off to everyone.

Your daily overall look is decided by Kaveh. It started in miniscule amount, him making friendly suggestions on what colour or accessory would suit you best on this particular season and after you start taking them more prominently, it spirals. To a point, you have to take him with you to shopping (much to your former shopping buddy, Dehya's chagrin). Sometimes, you can negotiate about your preferences but really, he knows best! You receive the most compliments when you wear what he tells you to, no? An expert guilt-tripper, will bring up reasons to back him up you cannot refute to.

When Cyno is in Sumeru city, he'll always do a night patrol around the area you live in. Coincidentally, he's certain he sees traces of dendro elemental energy when he scouts the area, whoever it belongs to seems to leave before he arrives, though. He has a hunch and if it's true, this stalker (or what if they're a ‘protector’ like him?) would appear to have more energy than they express they have.

Tighnari purposefully weakens the effectiveness his medicine would have, just to keep you hanging around him. It's unethical, he's aware. But in his defense, it's still nothing compared to what the others are doing.

When the four of them gather for TCG, it's simultaneously entertaining and exhausting. On one hand, you have Alhaitham purposefully asking for your input on his bickering with Kaveh. The topic itself doesn't matter, they only care if it'll be another line added on their tally of wins.

Sometimes, Kaveh will be flat out drunk, singing off-key songs at the top of his lungs. But honestly, you'd much rather prefer that over the times Alhaitham somehow wins against Cyno and it almost escalates to a physical dispute (had it not been for your intervention). Tighnari isn't innocent either, unnoticeably egging them on.

And when you go behind the curtains for something, the silent Wanderer finally shows his true face, no word he spits are even the slightest bit honeyed and it doesn't even take much of them to get the rage burning inside the other men. Every time, anyone tries to fight him though, you magically return and of course, you don't believe any of those barbaric charges against this pure boy. Hm, perhaps, they should collaborate to expose the two-faced prick.

[timberwind]

Yarragardee Basin, Mangala, 7995 A.D.

------------------------

Accompanying music: You’re On Fire by They Might Be Giants. Summer road trip music of all time, in my opinion.

Here’s a little expository write-up on the history and geography of the worlds shown here. Someday I’ll have more to show of the personal story of these two critters and their travels; until then, a more macro-level description.

------------------------

Mangala and its sister world Kahira (visible in the background) are binary planets, orbiting one another in a manner not entirely unlike that of Pluto and Charon in the Solar System. Mangala is a relatively small world - just about twenty percent the mass of the Earth, something like if you took two copies of Mars and smushed them together; without the internal heat to drive a carbonate cycle long term, it had long been a frozen, dusty, and arid place when transhumanity first established a permanent presence in the Tahoka system some four hundred years ago. Since those early days, terraforming using a Birchian soletta system (a huge but foil-thin Fresnel lens of mirrors, with a secondary focal lens for burning atmospheric gasses out of the regolith) has rendered it shirtsleeve habitable to baseline humans across much of the surface, although the global water inventory remains low* and the air in the “continental” uplands is stratospheric, with only the hardiest lichens establishing a foothold. Most of Mangala’s major metropolitan areas are located in the deep rift valleys and basins, where air pressure is highest.

Kahira on the other hand, a rock almost a fifth the mass of its sister world (a little under the mass of old Mercury), remains unterraformed - surface conditions are persistently cold, with a thin barely-Martian atmosphere. Some of its larger rift valleys and craters have been tented over, aerated, and planted with tall low-gravity forest and grassland, a style of habitat construction dating back to the first Mars colonists almost six thousand years ago. Industrial complexes and buried cities sprawl out across the bare surface of the moon, with huge low-gravity lava tubes seeing extensive urban development.

The Yarragardee Basin, pictured above, is a graben basin in Mangala’s northern hemisphere, notable for the historic industrial city of Tirupati - here we see two road-trippers between cities on the basin’s great plain, taking a break in the long late afternoon of a sunset-day***. Having stopped for a night at a motel near Tirupati’s aerospace complex, they’re now continuing their journey to the city of Redmond-Tonasket, located in the Woronora Valles trench system about two thousand kilometers to the southwest.

* While plenty of water could have been imported from Tiandonias’s cometary halo, it was decided not to do so in order to avoid inundating pre-existing cities in the valleys and deep basins. The extremely humid hothouse conditions that come after slamming dismantled ice moons through the stratosphere at over six kilometers a second were also broadly considered unacceptable.

** Smaller worlds have been terraformed in transhuman space, both by worldhouse and more open-air methods, but it’s largely the kind of thing that much more energy-rich systems do as a vanity project. Kahira may someday see blue skies, but likely not for a thousand years at least. (edit, one year later: I actually changed up some of this while simulating this system for stability. I’ll be posting more about this soon.)

*** Mangala and Kahira, being tidally locked to each other such that they always show one another the same face as they orbit their common center of mass, both have days exactly as long as their orbital periods - 403 kiloseconds, or roughly 112 hours. This is for convenience divided into month-weeks comprising four “circadian days” of 100 kiloseconds (~26 hours), with the remaining three kiloseconds added on to the last day of a month-week to keep synchronization.

[amtrak-official]

Hey! So I live in a very conservative state with no intercity passenger rail lines connecting the major cities. The two major cities are geographically fairly close (about 60 miles from the center of one to the other) Tons of people drive back and forth between these two cities for work, shopping, leisure, major events, etc. I’ve talked to people in the past about how much better our lives would be if there was a train connecting the two cities and I always get the question of how would people get around within the cities once they arrived. It’s a fair question because both cities are very car oriented. The historic downtown areas of both cities are fairly walkable but also mostly full of cute shops and very few offices so putting a rail line to the center of town would be great for day trippers but wouldn’t do much for all the people daily commuting to giant office parks on the edge of town. Do you have any advice for what my response could be? Buses? Taxis? Bikes?

The main way I see people getting from town centers where train stations are located to the places where jobs are in the suburbs would ideally be things like busses and maybe trams if the city is large enough. Basically if we want rail to be effective we need good inner city transit to go with the intercity transit. I know it's not really a great answer but it is really the best way to get use out of a train line

[northameicanblog]

Long Sault Parkway, Ontario, Canada: The Long Sault Parkway is a group of eleven islands west of Cornwall in the Canadian province of Ontario, as well as the name of the 10.1-kilometre (6.3 mi) scenic parkway connecting them. This Epic Road Trip Takes You To 11 Ontario Islands Connected By A Single Road: Ontario is a great destination for road trippers because there are so many beautiful places to visit. From vibrant cities to serene parks, there's no shortage of locations to explore in the province.

[the-sum-of-many-poets]

between the brenta & the sile

santa sofia’s gothic fingers

pick the locks of the city

a foundry of clandestine meetings

& we are

a bridge of sighs

beguiled

confessing to the long shadows

ancient salt traders

watching buildings plunge into the water

iridescent on the murky emerald

like phantoms on a staircase

sometimes a garland

sometimes a wreath

these submissive ships

move through the canals & islands

romance petrified on their walls

crumbling & edified

carrying lagoon dwellers & winged lions

how they transcend

the hem of piss & vomit left by day trippers

& we rally this crooked masterpiece

we will not forsake

its dim lost corners of sorrow

& love

a wick of light

turning with the gardenia’s caramel perfume

©️ david sichler

[dracula-dictionary]

Dracula Dictionary, July 24th

Bay of Biscay: the part of the Atlantic Ocean immediately north of Spain and west of France

round robin: a petition or protest on which the signatures are arranged in a circle in order to conceal the order of signing

Whitby: a seaside town in the north of England

the Crescent: a street in Whitby

viaduct: a type of bridge that consists of a series of arches supporting a long elevated road

piers: the pillars that a viaduct's arches rest on

Nuremberg: a city in the south of Germany, one of several german cities that are known for their fachwerk houses that Mina references

Danes: the people of Denmark. Danish vikings are known to have raded English settlements in the 8th and 9th century

Marmion: a long poem that deals with love, betrayal, and revenge and is partially set at Whitby Abbey; at some point in the story a nun is sealed inside of a wall for breaking her vows, however this actually takes place at Lindisfarne, an island that is signifiantly closer to the Scottish border than Whitby

white lady: the ghost of a woman that typically appears inside houses wearing a white dress

parish: a part of a the territory that is overseen by a bishop, with its own church and a designated priest

Kettleness: a hamlet by the sea, just northwest of Whitby

shoals away: becomes shallow

Waterloo: a city in Belgium, previously belonging to the Netherlands, where Napoleon was defeated for the final time in 1815

fash masel: worry myself

them things be all wore out: Those are tired stories

comers and trippers: tourists

feet-folks: people who travel on foot

jet: a type of gemstone

creed aught: believe anything

fool-talk: nonsense

gang: go

ageeanwards: towards

crammle aboon the grees: climb up the stairs

belly-timber: food

sairly: badly

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

I love your nuanced takes. They are always a joy to read.

I'd be curious which songs, beatles or solo, do you think they wrote for/about each other and their situation (beatles&solo).

You don't have to go into great detail on them if you don't wanna.

Hope you have a great day. <3

Hi anon :) Glad you enjoy my takes! Hope you have a great day too <3

Preface that while I think this is fun, I really don't generally think songs are a good vehicle to extrapolate about the real life of these people. So, I try not to base my analyses of them as people on these songs, even the ones I feel more strongly about.

I'll categorize these by how certain I am about them (and I'll leave out confirmed stuff like Too Many People, Early 1970, How Do You Sleep?, Run of the Mill, Here Today etc.)

If you have a question re: why some specific song is in this category and not the other I can try to explain, though some of it is admittedly just vibes (and since I try to separate this from the Main Analysis™, I feel okay utilizing the vibes as a justification at times lol) If I left a song off you'd like my take on feel free to ask as well.

Close to positive:

Day Tripper is imho at least partially about Paul. This one feels so obvious to me, given what John said about it and the timeline (written squarely before Paul took LSD, conveniently after the whole LA fiasco), yet I rarely see people talking about it. Sad! It could also be partially about Cynthia.

Tug of War: Paul said it was about John in 1982 but then retconned that. IDK why he did that but. Come on!

I Know (I Know): I nearly put this one a tier lower but the I've Got A Feeling intro and the way it fits in the timeline. The Getting Better reference. It matching up with Paul's description of them tripping together + "share in each other's mind". It's too much.

A compelling case can be made:

In My Life: it makes a lot of sense. But Paul isn't the only likely muse IMO. he might be the most likely one, I'm not sure. I Know (I Know) makes me tend more to it though, admittedly.

3 Legs: yeah. Probably! It's not entirely clear to me what he's expressing outside a feeling of betrayal though.

Oh! Darling: Likely about John, but perhaps actually about the band as a whole.

The Answer's at the End: the way George quoted that same saying when asked about Paul in that live chat… THE IMPLICATIONS! (at least that maybe George came to associate the song with Paul later on?)

Remember: I tend to think this song is specifically about running away from the Beatles. There's more sadness in it, given John references Bring It On Home in the lyrics.

Who Can See It: this one also appears to be about George's general relationship with the Beatles. I don't think this is a hot take but no one talks about this song lol. I love it!

Cafe On The Left Bank: the song referencing Charles de Gaulle making a speech does place this quite firmly in the 60s. It's not really a love song though so I don't get why people consider this one such a win lol. It seems to mostly be about the city of Paris itself.

I like to think it's true but am admittedly not sure:

Call Me Back Again: it's a vague song, really. But damn… those mellotron flutes.

#9 Dream: IDK. this versus "The dream is over". the production-style. I like reading this song as a reconciliation with The Beatles as a concept.

Little Lamb Dragonfly: the whole being haunted by the dragonfly even though you're trying to move on thing :/

No Words: COME ON??????? but the Denny writing credit does puzzle me lol.

Crippled Inside: it would be soooooo devastating @ Paul!!! (probably only partially, possibly also self-directed)

Could have been inspired by the other but not necessarily in the way people think:

Some People Never Know: I do think Paul felt John was cynical in the way he's describing in this song. (I don't really think I Know (I Know) is a response to this song btw)

Silly Love Songs: ditto. He is Not fucking saying "I love you" (romantically) to John in the song he's duetting with his wife lol. but it could be a cheeky lil nod.

We Can Work It Out: I believe Paul when he says this was written about a fight he'd had with Jane. But Paul was also in conflict with John at the time (again, the LSD thing), thus I think that might have in some way informed his outlook when writing this. And John may have been thinking about their conflict while writing his part.

Let Me Roll It: it sounds a lot like John, yeah! but idk about the lyrics.

Look At Me: it could be about Paul, but it could be about the whole world, really. It's more a wish to be seen and understood really.

Dear Boy: I'm annoyed by people insisting Paul is lying when he says the inspiration is Linda's ex-husband. She's co-credited (and she actually isn't credited on every Ram song. I don't think the credit was "handed" to her, at least not at this point in time)! That being said, Paul may have bonded with Linda over feeling unappreciated in their previous life situations.

Yvonne's The One: Look. I think John's death really shifted how Paul felt about telling people he loved them. That may well have influenced the lyrics song. I don't think it's necessarily that literal.

However Absurd: ditto. This song is even more abstract so it feels even less literal.

?????? Who Knows

If I Fell: usually I think no it couldn't possibly. But– (And I don't find that Valentines card very compelling, no. but it's just like: well then who else would this song John called very personal about? I guess, for all I know, it could even be Brian. wow!)

Girl: I mean. Maybe! Sort of. They also said at the time it was about religion, and that makes a lot of sense, but it could still be that the character of the girl was inspired by how John felt about Paul at the time.

I'm So Tired: it seems equally likely to be about Yoko to me.

Don't Let Me Down: ditto. Actually. this one's more likely Just about Yoko tbh.

I'm Losing You: maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe. but also. Yoko.

Now And Then: genuinely who knows. this one's admittedly stranger for Yoko but… they did "interrupt" their relationship often, requiring to "start again". Also May is an option.

The Pound Is Sinking: Mostly, I don't know how straightforward it is.

Honestly… Not really

(Just Like) Starting Over: the "My Love", "Another Day", "Wings" thing has never compelled me, based on those being OLD songs by 1980, plus none of the phrasing or word choice is particularly conspicuous to me. But I also don't feel very strongly that it's not about Paul. It could be, though I don't know that I'd assume it was meant as a direct declaration of love then. Also the line before being a reference to Through The Looking Glass is neither here nor there. Since when is John Lennon dropping Lewis Caroll references only reserved for Paul? that feels like putting the cart before the horse, based on one single lyric in Glass Onion.

I've Got A Feeling: I think he's just saying words here, tbh.

Real Love: if it's about Paul that's fucking depressing. But I don't think it is really.

[naimahtaylor]

I More Photos of Lemmy Koopa Doing the Race of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Nintendo Switch

[gaitwae]

Where do you think all of the star trek captains would take their students on a field trip?

Hoooooo boy. What a question. I haven't seen LD, yet, and I'm not touching Discovery. Here we go!

Jonathan Archer: He would take his kids* to the aquarium. He's notoriously known as the "cool" field tripper. He seems to have the kids figured out, but somehow, there's always an accident or a kid missing and he swears he's never going to do it ever again. Someone hits their head on the glass or gets lost in the jellyfish section. 4/10 field tripper.

Christopher Pike: He would take his students to an art or history museum and make a big, scary speech upfront about how there would absolutely be NO messing around and if anyone breaks anything, they're going to get in big trouble, mister! He ends up the one screwing around with students, though, but nothing is harmed and no one is lost. Una keeps him on track so they can see the whole museum. 8/10 field tripper.

Jim Kirk: This guy is a Lugnuts** game field tripper. He wanted to go and there was a discount. He'd say there were math benefits or something and give them all a worksheet to fill out about statistics or safety or etc on the bus. No one is lost, but there might be a fight or two after sitting the wrong kids together in the stands. 7/10 field tripper.

Jean-Luc Picard: 100% to an art museum, no if ands or buts. He'd keep strict attendance and yell at anyone who dares touch any of the exhibits. I think there would be tears at one point but overall an excellent field trip. He'd know some obscure knowledge about every piece and it would be soothing to hear, and he's also really having a fun time with the kids. Tight leash on his students, no fights, no missing kids. 10/10 field tripper.

Benjamin Sisko: Lugnuts gamer as well, but also maybe a capital building or botanical grounds and gardens. Most of his field trips have educational value and he wants his kids to learn something that will stick with them the rest of their lives. He lets them have free reign and usually no one ends up missing. They'd all meet up for lunch halfway through and everyone appreciates how he treats them as if they have their own minds. 10/10 field tripper.

Kathryn Janeway: Also known as the "mom" field tripper, she'll probably take you through a city you've never seen before or the zoo. She's got simple field trips but always always always a dead-set purpose. She's got wiggle room for just-in-cases and lets the kids split into groups with chaperones. She'll yell if you get out of line. Sometimes people go missing but she always gets them back within half an hour. 9.5/10 field tripper. (Would go higher but there was someone crying... so...)

*I'm assuming this is a school-friendly field trip setting, so think average school institution budget kind of field trips. **The Lansing Lugnuts are a minor league baseball team in the American Midwest.

[yeehanfrf]

Week 12 Recs: Simple Pleasures

Week 12's theme was "Simple Pleasures," or PWPs. Whether you think it stands for "Plot? What plot?" or "Porn without Plot," the point is these are all short (or short enough) and smutty.

Behind the cut, you'll find the recs gathered from the Yeehan community. These are all rated Explicit this week, so they're organized alphabetically by title.

A little bit scandalous, but, baby, don't let them see it by doctorziegler [4,843 words]

There are some things that Hanzo wants kept under lock and key.

A Picture In Blue by Hoodedscarlet [4,835 words]

The mission was nothing to write home about on the surface; some casino in Monaco with corrupt Talon agents and blood money on their hands. Jesse knew that they'd have to dress the part to even get in the door; nice clothes, good hair, the regular works to blend in among the rich.

But he hadn't expected this - Hanzo walking out dressed up like he owned the place, hair slicked back and suit immaculately fitted. He looked good enough for McCree to sink to his knees in awe - and with him down there, looking at Hanzo with doe eyes, both of them had some ideas for how they should spend the time before the mission...

all the better to eat you with (my dear) by Hoodedscarlet [12,798 words]

An assassin specialises in disappearing into the shadows, making himself one with the quiet and the unknown. But one can become too good at slipping into the darkness - and when McCree realises that perhaps this time Hanzo hadn't planned for this it's too late to save him. When Overwatch get a note with a location and the words 'Come get him' , they have to go and save their friend - and the man that McCree meets is not entirely the same one he remembers.

Bend Over, I'll Drive by millenial_falcon [4,407 words]

Twenty-four hours ago they had been discretely sniffing around LumériCo’s newest installation, playing the part of road-trippers laying over in town for a couple of days. Now, Cassidy is driving to beat the devil, with Hanzo pressed warm and solid against his side.

Blowing Off Steam by FanficsbyVe [4,654 words]

After a rotten day, McCree finds an unexpected visit by Hanzo makes everything better. One-shot.

Bounty by orphan_account [4,853 words]

“I know a great deal of things about you... A common criminal who gained status on merit of his skill. A former Blackwatch operative. A competent mercenary. You have impressed me, but there remains one thing I have not figured out yet... Do you like men, Jesse McCree?”

McCree and Hanzo have worked together on more than one occasion and Hanzo proposes a mutually beneficial 'arrangement'.

But I Don't Have No Money by dicktrickle [9,676 words] Reccer comment: "hanzo wrecks his car and gets himself wrecked in turn"

Hanzo was stranded in the desert, his car stuck in the only shop for 50 miles. Without his wallet.

He was going to kill Genji. But not before paying the rugged mechanic for his services with the clothes off his back.

Difficult Men by motorghost [10,378 words] Reccer 1 comment: "PLS READ THIS ONE RN (but mind the tags)"

Reccer 2 comment: "Not just a favorite PWP, but one of my fave Yeehan fics overall."

A newer, smaller Overwatch has just had their first victory and Cole's going to celebrate the only way he knows how: with questionable substances, unsavory characters and maybe inadvisable deeds.

Dim City Glow by Interrobang [6,485 words] Reccer comment: "I know we're focusing on the smut, but I truly adore the lived in feeling of the relationships Interrobang writes WITH their great smut."

Hanzo steps away from a party for a breath of fresh air, but McCree is more than distracting enough to keep Hanzo from gathering his thoughts.

Good thing Hanzo doesn't need to think much for this anyway.

Dying Grass Moon by motorghost [7,774 words]

The hunter Cole Cassidy finds a creature in the forest who needs his help. Clearly the giant white wolf isn't from around here, but it's dangerous to pry into a spirit's affairs.

Freebie by robocryptid [2,945 words]

Cole's thoughts are a dull buzz. Foggy, clouded with need. He’s aching inside, hot and softening up, and Shimada… Fuck Shimada.

Probably never had to work to get laid. Just shows up. Claims no presumptions, but why the fuck was he there, then? That’s all it takes. All he has to do. Now he’s in Cole’s head.

Giving a Finger by hunahuna_un [10,487 words] Reccer comment: "I'll also toss in one of mine, bc we all need more cowboy with oral fixation~"

The intel mission about the Null Sector goes sideways so Hanzo and Jesse are forced to retreat into a safe house. Little did they know how Jesse’s nicotine withdrawals would test their patience.

He only gave a finger...

heron by cowboyflesh (cowboymeat), G0REPUP [4,905 words] Reccer comment: "no one knows who's the hunter and who's the hunted"

McCree scavenges, picks up what he can; opportunistic. He’s been around quite a bit and isn’t one to settle down. 

Hanzo hunts. Unassuming, poised as demure and uptight, something to be taken apart and ruined and not the other way around.

Allowing the gunslinger's broad palm to slip into his kimono, Hanzo turns and looks up at him with practiced pleasantry. A soft smile, toothless and submissive, as McCree’s eyes narrow at him. He grins hungrily, the lingering laughter still left on his lips as his attention is taken by the archer’s act.

“Gettin’ to be late, why don’t we take this back to my quarters?” McCree drawls, soft and smooth as can be as he massages Hanzo’s shoulder, sweetening the deal.

I got this fever, fever burning inside by CourtneyCourtney [11,300 words]

Hanzo has heard stories of this 'weapon', the most lurid tales courtesy of McCree, naturally. A libido accelerant Talon injects intravenously, giving its victims the option of mauling a stranger for sexual release, forcing themselves on a teammate and ruining any trust built between the two, or - to quote Jesse's turn of phrase - dying of "blue balls."

In other words, not a way for someone like Jesse McCree to go. Not if Hanzo is determined to help. It would be a shame to lose a colleague as altruistic and reliable as McCree to a weapon so primitive.

If he has to choke out the voice at the back of his mind questioning his own altruism in performing this act, then so be it.

(or, McCree gets sex pollened by Talon, and Hanzo helps him out the way any good friend would (Really. Stop gagging, Genji.))

Imagination Infatuation by Partymeowth [9,117 words] Reccer comment: "steaming hot phone sex"

After many, many years of having crushes he’s forbidden from acting upon, Hanzo's used to relying on his imagination to make up for the absence of anything concrete.

Infatuation by ChillieBean [2,131 words]

Cole was jogging on the treadmill, and ten minutes in he removed his shirt. Hanzo did not think anything of it at the time, it is nothing he had not seen before, but when he stole a glance a few minutes later, he could not tear his eyes away.

While Cole was intently focused on his workout and completely oblivious to Hanzo’s leering, with his gloriously hairy, muscled chest and trim waist on show, Hanzo noticed that his pecs were bouncing with each step.

Bouncing. That is a testament to just how fit he is for someone who drinks, smokes and eats the greasiest food he can get his hands on. He has pecs. They bounce. And Hanzo needs them.

It Will Come Back by CorvidFightClub [3,434 words]

McCree and Hanzo are captured by a gang somewhere in the American Midwest after a mission. The situation becomes more dire when Hanzo finds out the gang isn’t the only thing he has to worry about.

Known by vaguely_concerned [1,217 words] Reccer comment: "slow and sweet sex"

Just some happy sex.

Love and Comfort in Gibraltar by ChillieBean [2,879 words]

Hanzo pulls his hand away from that scar and moves his hand back up to rest his hand in the middle of his chest, skipping the same two scars like he always does. Cole doesn’t mind honestly, Hanzo knows his story, he knows why they’re there. It’s not like they’re not that easy to see these days with the hair that’s covering his chest now, but Hanzo’s always been careful to avoid touching them.

Cole thinks about telling their story, weighing up the option of giving Hanzo the distraction or just comforting him in silence. Hanzo knows the story of every other scar on his body, what they make Cole feel when he looks at them.

He thinks again about the trust Hanzo has in him, and decides it’s time.

“I ever tell you about the other two scars?”

Mile High Noon by motorghost [7,055 words]

Two late-thirties bounty hunters break some minor sky-laws.

Nantaimori by ChillieBean [15,403 words]

It had been months in the making, and it was supposed to be a straightforward night: Be Hanzo Shimada's personal waiter, gather intel on a potential partnership with a neighbouring clan, get out without making any waves.

Cole's plans come to a crashing halt when he is asked instead to be the nantaimori—to lie naked for the duration of the meeting while Hanzo eats sushi off him.

Only You Can Cool My Desire by robocryptid [4,202 words] Reccer comment: "cuddling for warmth, my favorite trope and just for me!"

Tasked with cataloging Overwatch assets, Cole and Hanzo spend the night in one safehouse. This one's supposed to be well-equipped, but it's cold as hell and the tiny space heater just isn't suited to the task.

Pine Woods by coinin [14,659 words] Reccer comment: "'Pine Woods' because cozy cabin! And snow!"

After a mission goes awry, Cassidy and Hanzo are forced to flee into the Finnish wilderness. Will they find shelter before they freeze to death? And more importantly, what are they going to do to stave off boredom if they do find safety?

Poker Face by Cadeykat [28,383 words]

“Shark, my ass. Man cleared out $60,000 at the first table he played at.”

Hanzo shrugs, silently delighting in how Daniel sucks in a bracing breath at his nonchalance. Oh, he loves riling him up. Serves him right for calling him in on his day off. “So? That’s not entirely uncommon. Perhaps he’s just good at poker.”

“He’s won almost $250 grand over the last four days.”

Oh.

This is going to be fun.

Say My Name by ChillieBean [9,448 words] Reccer comment: "spite fucking in the most delicious way possible"

Things have been good. Better than Cole thought when he first reluctantly signed up. There wasn't a problem this new team couldn't solve, they gelled together like they have been working together for years.

And things had been good, right until Genji invited his brother to join them.

Cole hadn’t really factored in just how angry seeing Hanzo’s stupid smug face made him. He’s sure the stick up Hanzo’s ass has a stick up its ass. And the shitty part of it all is that Hanzo hasn’t done anything since joining to warrant his anger. Hanzo’s polite, he keeps to himself most of the time, and in group settings, he gets along with everyone.

Yet, all Cole can see when he lays his eyes on him is the carnage done by his hands; Genji’s bloodied body gasping for air.

Shoot to Kill by robocryptid [2,963 words] Reccer comment: "Cupid Hanzo Cupid Hanzo Cupid Hanzo"

Cole convinces Hanzo that Overwatch's Valentine's Day party is a costume party. It's supposed to be a light hazing, a way to welcome Hanzo into the fold. He doesn't expect it to backfire quite so spectacularly.

Slip of the Tongue by robocryptid [5,840 words] Reccer 1 comment: "some of thee dirtiest dirty talk I've had the pleasure to read"

Reccer 2 comment: "Cassidy's weaponised voice results in accidental phone sex"

This was meant to be Cassidy’s job. He did the research, studied the blueprints, laid out the plan. Two nights before he hoped to depart, he broke his leg from a nasty fall. If Hanzo didn’t take over, Cassidy would lose the opportunity entirely. The compromise was simple: Hanzo would do the work on his behalf, but Cassidy would not have to relinquish full control. Instead he remained connected by a standard Overwatch communicator and a minuscule camera.

Hanzo offered of his own free will. He chose this. His only regret is that Cassidy seems incapable of giving instructions that don’t sound like innuendo.

Soothe the Itch by fishpoets [2,650 words]

Jesse wakes restless and irritated, with an insistent urge to clamp something between his lips. Maybe Hanzo can help.

sparring gone sexy by Dio Almark (dancingassassin) [9,659 words]

Hanzo thought that inviting Jesse McCree to be his sparring and training partner had been a good idea. At least at first. They were both mercenaries, training together would keep them at the top of their game. That was all well and good, but then Hanzo had to go and fall for the cowboy.

Truth or Dare: Loophole by thtzwhatuthink [1,213 words] Reccer comment: "a simple, short, but very dirty truth-or-dare situation"

“I dare you to tell McCree all the dirty things you would do to him if given the chance—right now, and out loud.” Hanzo is unfazed by the dare; he is a man of few words in casual conversation, and of even fewer in work settings. When Hanzo smirks, Genji’s smug grin falters a little. He found a loophole.

Truth or Dare: Piercings by thtzwhatuthink [5,610 words]

Playing Poker while a game of Truth or Dare goes on in the same room will inevitably get a certain Cowboy involved in a rather pleasing predicament. Especially with the help of some good ol' brotherly bickering about... inappropriate piercings.

Truth or Dare: Thongs by thtzwhatuthink [5,446 words]

Leave it to Genji to dare Tracer to get her underwear drawer from her room and set it down in the middle of the truth or dare circle. Resident Cowboy is dared to put a thong on, and he's not the only one. In fact, the thongs are merely a catalyst for what Hanzo gets himself into tonight.

what ails you by motorghost [4,858 words] Reccer 1 comment: "Hanzo gets injured and Cole visits him in the hospital. Very hot, great dirty talk."

Reccer 2 comment: "lives rent-free in my head"

A bad injury puts Hanzo in the medbay for a week. Cole pays him a visit in the night.

Wolf by Phylix [3,946 words]

Hanzo awakens in the night to see Jesse needy and asleep. He takes matters into his own hands.

---

And that's a wrap on the Week 12 recs! Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a recommendation.

If you happen to find a fic you love using this rec list, be sure to leave the author kudos and a comment! Even "I found this fic because someone recced it" is a lovely thing to say.

Keep an eye out for next week's theme: "It's About the Yearning," or all the pining your heart can stand.

In the meantime, you can also check out the Week 11 recs here, or check the full list of past and future themes here.

[cupiidzbow]

i think it’s funny to think what kart variation i would have in game bc my favorite bike to use is the city tripper bc i love anything that looks like a moped. i love the pattern and color on the first one but i think i want something brown…. i want smth that looks like a hippie van or smth …..

[sounwise]

“Paul McCartney’s secret love affair” (interview with Maggie McGivern in the Daily Mail, April 12, 1997)

[Full transcript beneath the cut:]

-

Millions of words have been written about The Beatles — but little, if anything, is known of a girl called Maggie McGivern.

Yet now it can be revealed for the first time that she is the woman who had a secret affair with Paul McCartney for more than three years.

They were the years songs such as Paperback Writer, Strawberry Fields Forever and All You Need Is Love were enchanting the world.

More pertinently they included the years in which he had his relationship with actress Jane Asher, and when he met the woman who would become Linda McCartney.

The saga begins early in 1966 when Maggie was working as a nanny for Marianne Faithfull and her husband, John Dunbar, a Cambridge graduate and artist.

Their son, Nicholas, had been born the previous November. Marianne had a third-floor flat in Chelsea, in the heart of what was then Swinging London, the capital city of the Sixties. For more than three years The Beatles had been storming the pop charts — and society.

Help! was the sensation of the previous summer and the double-sided Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out was in the charts. Beatlemania was everywhere and Maggie, through her new job, would quickly get used to rubbing shoulders with the famous.

One day when the buzzer rang on the intercom for the flat, she didn’t recognise the voice from the ground floor. The young man asked if John was around. ‘Who is it?’ said Maggie. ‘Paul McCartney,’ said the voice. ‘Oh — come up . . .’

‘Paul ran up the stairs and came in,’ she recalls. ‘Very casually I told him John wasn’t really in — and that sent us both into hysterics. We were laughing and chatting.

‘I had made a nice lunch for Marianne and a bunch of her friends but they never showed up. Paul and I sat together and ate it instead. I’ll never forget the meal — it was chicken casserole. It was such a funny introduction that it threw us both off guard. It could have been very embarrassing, but there was an immediate rapport and we just couldn’t stop talking.’

Maggie, whose once-dark hair is now dyed honey-blonde, told how she and Paul became closer in the months that followed, even though they each had a separate relationship.

Maggie had a photographer boyfriend and McCartney was seeing a pretty young actress called Jane Asher, living for a time in her parents’ house before she moved in with him.

‘It was a gradual thing,’ says Maggie. ‘From that point on Paul kept coming up to the flat. He was very good friends with John but I knew he was coming to see me.

‘He would ring and ask if anyone was there and if there wasn’t, he would come up. We used to talk about lots of things but it was obvious to both of us that our other relationships were not going well.’

It took six months before their association, as Maggie puts it, turned from friendship to love. The Beatles had been recording their Revolver album, released at the end of summer 1966.

-

One evening McCartney, John Dunbar and some friends returned from Paris with some demo tapes of the album and played them for Maggie. ‘There was something in the air that night and that’s how it all started,’ she says. ‘He ended up staying the night and we went to bed. It was wonderful.

‘The next morning was one of the most previous moments of my life. We didn’t say much but it was such a tranquil, pleasant feeling — made all the more so because we left things unsaid. He stayed with me until lunchtime and we chatted and larked about. Everything with Paul was so natural. From that moment on he used to come around regularly.’

By this stage The Beatles had stopped doing live performances and tours but McCartney was putting just as much effort into recording. Maggie was frequently abroad on modelling assignments.

‘When we were having our love affair, I hardly phoned him,’ she says. ‘He used to find me wherever I was, and that was fine as far as I was concerned. He did tell me that Jane Asher had moved in with him at his house in St John’s Wood and I remember saying that it meant nothing to me.

‘Throughout the relationship I never pursued him — I just didn’t think about him having other women. My view on relationships has always been that if something works, it works. If it’s meant to be, let it be. Besides which, I had a busy life, and I was very busy living it.

‘Our relationship was a secret from day one, at first because we didn’t want Jane to find out, and later because we preferred it like that. We hardly ever went to parties. We would occasionally go to restaurants but normally we’d walk his dogs in Regent’s Park or go for drives in the country.

‘We craved isolation and I for one did not want to become an overnight superstar — I certainly wasn’t ready for that emotionally.’

Secrecy, of course, was vital for the continued success of their relationship. Maggie, who now lives in Brighton and works as a rollerblade instructor, says: ‘I don’t believe celebrities when they say they can’t keep affairs secret. We managed it quite well for more than three years.’

She described a trip to Paris in 1966 with John Lennon and The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein. All of them flew into France separately — Lennon had been filming abroad and Epstein had been away on business. Maggie and Paul, she says, traveled apart ‘as part of keeping the relationship secret’. During the five-day trip the foursome stayed at the same Paris hotel where she and Paul shared a luxury suite. ‘It was a marvelous holiday,’ she says. ‘. . . just walking around the streets of Paris.

‘My abiding memory is of me, John and Paul lying under the Eiffel Tower, gazing up at it. We couldn’t go up because we would have been recognised, and we were masters at the art of avoiding people.

‘Throughout the relationship we never met in obvious places. We would go to places like auction rooms in South Kensington, and say “whoops — fancy meeting you here”.’

By this point, Maggie saw Paul as a permanent fixture in her life, but gave no serious thought to marriage or children.

Maggie was 20 and McCartney 23 when they met. At the time, she says, she had no conception of the enormity of the scene in which she was involved. ‘I know it really sounds strange but I didn’t really regard it as a big deal. They were mad times and the world was changing. People look back on it now as an era — but all we were doing was living in it.

‘I knew in my heart that Paul was a real family man — when I was working at Marianne’s we used to spend hours just looking at little Nicholas. It was obvious Paul wanted children but, at that stage, I was in no way ready for it. I was a free spirit.’

Maggie worked for Marianne and John for about 18 months before leaving to set up an antiques stall in Chelsea Market. Even without that direct line to the famous, however, she still saw a great deal of McCartney.

She had a shared flat in Chelsea, but she was still busy modelling, and had appeared as an extra in films, including Blow-Up, which was released in 1966.

At one stage, she says, Paul had wanted her to be a chorus girl in The Beatles’ production of Magical Mystery Tour, which was screened on TV over Christmas 1967, but he couldn’t locate her and chose another girl, also called Maggie.

By now their relationship was becoming serious, she says: ‘By this time he knew that I was in love with him, and I knew he loved me, too.

‘I never told any friends that we were seeing each other — that was an unspoken rule. My mum and dad knew, but not in any detail.

‘I used to spend many nights at his house in St John’s Wood. It was a beautiful Regency house, and his garden was full of Alice In Wonderland characters built in stone. We spent many romantic times there. At the end of the garden was a glass-topped, circular, domed building where we meditated. I’ll never forget the first time he showed me that place.

‘We went inside the dome and he told me to stand on the floor. Suddenly, the floor started rising and there I was, up in the air, looking at the stars. After that we used to spend a lot of time together on the raised platform looking at the stars.

‘That’s what it was like, you see. By the time he and The Beatles were into the Maharishi and that whole scene, so was I — there were amazing parallels in our personalities.’

One day the couple went to the Indica Gallery in London with a group of showbiz friends, where John Lennon met Yoko Ono.

‘We spent more time with John and than we did with George and Ringo — we hardly saw them at all.’

In the summer of 1968, McCartney’s engagement to Jane Asher ended. Later, it emerged that she had arrived back at their house to find him with another woman — not Maggie, but an American called Francie Schwartz.

-

Maggie says: ‘By September 1968 I had rented a flat on my own in Fawcett Street, Chelsea. I really wanted to live alone. I hadn’t been there long when one day I got a telegram at my flat from Paul. It said: “Flying to the sun. Car picking you up at 8pm. Love Paul.”

‘I was so excited because I had no idea where we were going. A car drew up and we went to pick up Paul at St John’s Wood. As he came out he took an Instamatic camera from a fan, who was camped outside his house, and told us he was borrowing it to take on holiday.

‘Paul had hired a private jet so no one would spot us. There was a proper lounge, no rows of seats — we were drinking champagne and laughing and joking with a male cousin of Paul, and his American girlfriend. I kept asking him where we were going, but he refused to tell me.’

The plane landed in Sardinia but Maggie had no idea where she was until she spotted a sign. They had a hotel suite overlooking the ocean.

Much of their time was spent in restaurants where, she says, they were ‘treated like royalty’. At one banquet in their honour, they walked into a room full of women dressed in ballgowns. Maggie had a T-shirt dress. ‘Paul and I just collapsed in giggles,’ she says. ‘We thought it was hilarious.’

Most of their time, however, was spent on the golden sands. Indeed, while they were on the beach, two things happened which changed the course of their relationship.

First, they were spotted by a photographer — a picture of them together appeared in a Sunday newspaper back home. The report described her as his ‘new girlfriend’.

Maggie confirmed that they had been going out together — and suddenly the world knew of their secret liaison.

More significantly, perhaps, it may have changed the way they viewed themselves.

Maggie explains: ‘We were lying on the beach just being young and in love. Paul turned to me, smiling, and out of the blue he just said: “Have you ever thought about getting married?”

‘I said: “Yes, I suppose, one day . . .” and I thought nothing more of it. Looking back, it was obviously the wrong answer. When I said “one day” I meant in six months, maybe, but not never.

‘But Paul was always slightly insecure and probably saw me as such a free spirit that he thought I was never going to settle down.

‘On the journey home we were singing Those Were The Days and falling around laughing. I went back to Paul’s house with him — I distinctly remember waltzing around the room with him.’

Paul and Maggie continued to see each other in the following months but the subject of marriage was never mentioned again, she says.

‘I suppose I assumed we would end up together but at the time I was just enjoying it all. In the Sixties there was so much going on that I didn’t have time to sit and think about the future. I suppose that, with the pressures of fame, Paul was craving security.’

He would find it, it transpired, with an American blonde called Linda Eastman.

Maggie says: ‘One day, a little while after we returned from Sardinia, I rang Paul — and Linda answered the phone. I had seen a newspaper story about him having lunch with her before that, but I wasn’t the type to ask questions or get jealous.

‘I remember Paul telling Linda to get off the phone and I asked him who she was and what was happening. He said: “I don’t know the scene, man. I don’t know what’s going on.” ’

-

By late 1968 and 1969, The Beatles had massively increased the following of the Flower Power and hippie movement in Britain. It was a time of freedom, free love, drugs and music.

But for McCartney it was also, it seems, a time of emotional confusion.

Maggie remembers McCartney arriving at her flat late one night. ‘He was really down and I couldn’t seem to get a word out of him,’ she says. ‘He was crying and I knew he had been stressed. I stood and held him and asked him to tell me what was wrong. Then suddenly he jumped up and he said he had to go. Somehow I knew when I closed the door that night I wouldn’t see him again.’

A couple of days later she was walking along the King’s Road when she noticed four words on a newspaper billboard: ‘Paul and Linda marry.’

‘My heart just thumped,’ she says. ‘I couldn’t believe it. He never told me he was getting married and he never told me our relationship was over. I didn’t contact him for ages. I had never pursued him and I wasn’t going to start then.

‘Not many people knew we were going out together in the first place so there was no point in telling them it was over. Obviously, I told my mum and dad but not even they knew the depths of my suffering and depression.

‘Looking back, I think I was in serious shock and it didn’t come out properly until years later.’

Until yesterday, Maggie has never felt able to discuss her true feelings about the relationship and the separation. The remarkable story emerged only after her mother, Evelyn, confirmed details to the Daily Mail.

Maggie agreed to speak only reluctantly — she said she would always care for Paul, and desperately wants to avoid upsetting him and his wife Linda, who is fighting cancer.

-

Subsequently Maggie started a relationship with rock musician Denny Laine and it was through him, after he joined McCartney’s group Wings, that she saw Paul again, in 1971 or 1972.

‘It was a very emotional meeting and we had a great big hug. We were standing there gripping each other when there was a tap on his shoulder. We turned around and it was Linda. Paul told her who I was and she said she had heard about me. There was, of course, an unfriendly atmosphere and we didn’t get a chance to have a real conversation.’

The next time Maggie ran into Paul she was seeing her husband-to-be, Mel Collins, whom she married in 1974 after falling pregnant with their daughter, Naiama. This meeting was also difficult, she says. ‘There were a lot of sarcastic comments towards me.’

Six years passed before she saw him again. Maggie was shopping with her daughter at Harvey Nichols in London when she decided to try on a designer dress.

‘I was looking at myself in the mirror when a voice said: “That looks great.” It was Paul . . . he was buying Christmas presents for Linda. We got talking for a little while and then just said our goodbyes. We never discussed the relationship or anything like that.’

It was only at a later meeting, at a film studio in 1984, that she remembers rediscovering some of their earlier rapport. But it vanished when Linda appeared. Maggie says: ‘Paul’s whole demeanor changed — he’s a different person when he’s with her.

‘But, to give Linda credit, although we were still uneasy we chatted quite amiably about horses and things like that. I suppose after years of marriage and several children, there was no need for any nastiness.’

That was the last time Maggie saw McCartney, but she admits to thinking about him almost daily.

‘Marriage? I’m the type to move on and live my life and not regret anything,’ she says, ‘but obviously I still feel the pain. I kick myself for that day on the beach in Sardinia.’