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theyapper0 · 6 months

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HAZBIN HOTEL REDESIGNS!!!!

I recently watched Hazbin Hotel for the first time! I've never been into it before, and I vaguely remember it when the pilot first came out years ago but I never even watched THAT!!

It's not............. the best show ever BUT I HAD FUN WATCHING IT!!!!!! I mainly like it bc I love Catholicism and the bible SOOOOO I'm rewriting it and I'll be posting ALL MY IDEAS!!!!!! (Ppl are gonna hate it LOL)

Close-ups + notes are under the cut :)

CHARLIE: OK SO I basically got rid of all the goat stuff that she (didn't) have going on ASIDE from the hooves hahaha, I didn't draw them here but she still has those bc I think they're COOL

So taking inspo from the fact that Charlie's design was based off porcelain dolls and marionettes, Charlie is LITERALLY a doll come to life!!! Lucifer and Lilith, bc they couldn't naturally conceive a child (bc Lilith is dead + is known to be responsible for the death of newborns), basically just made a child-doll and gave it life with their demonic magic!!!

I ALSO WANT CHARLIE TO CONSTANTLY BE TEETERING THE LINE OF LOOKING CREEPY AND FUCKED UP!!!! She's literally a living doll, I need ppl to look at her sometimes and be unsettled (sheep in wolf's clothing)

VAGGIE: Like Charlie, I'm completely throwing the animal (moth) motif that Vaggie (supposably) had. I'm mainly leaning more into Hotel Manager/body guard. WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW!!!!!!

Honestly, I've changed Vaggie's design over 4 times and it's subject to change STILL. I gave her a cloak bc I think it's epic and I think she's epic and you'll be seeing her in future posts with what her outfit looks like without the cloak, it's a sleeveless collared shirt and she's got long fingerless gloves on :) AND THE CLOAK IS ALSO THERE BC I THINK SHE'S EDGY!!!! She's edgy and emo and amazing

I WAS gonna make her with awesome battle scars but then I remembered that angels can only be harmed with angelic weapons so :(((( no hot scars

ANGEL: MY ANGEL DESIGN IS NEVER CHANGING!!!!!! I have no notes, I think I'm in love with my Angel.

I heard somewhere that Angel in cannon has one black sclera and one white one bc he died with a black eye sooo..... He died with 2 black eyes LOL!!!

I didn't wanna give him prominent wrists and ankles bc I thought it looks cute :3

HUSK: He's a tuxedo cat, I think they're adorable and I think Husk is a 70 year old man who should be adorable. And NO BOW TIE!!!! I'M TIRED OF EVERY CHARACTER HAVING ONE!!!!

He's a frazzled drunk who's still Alastor's pet LOL

ALASTOR: I took a lot of inspiration for Alastor's design from Dr. Daddy-o, a radio DJ/host from New Orleans in the 1940's!!! I LOVE his voice and I wanted to base Alastor off of a BLACK RADIO HOST bc he's you know, BLACK!!!!!!!! Idk who that white boy is in cannon

He and Charlie are tied for the tallest in the cast, they're the same height (not counting his antlers)

I wanted to make Alastor look pretty human looking, aside from his antlers and deer ears ofc bc I don't think he needs to look scary all the time, he usually uses his words to provoke ppl anyway (and if that doesn't work THEN he'll use force) (Wolf in sheep's clothing)

NIFFTY: Niffty's design is based off Rosie the Riveter (WE CAN DO IT!!!!) especially with her her top, her hair and her headband/bandana.

I also made her taller than she is in cannon bc she's not the kind of character that the audience or even the other characters take seriously so in my head adding a couple inches to her will make me take her more seriously LOL

#hazbin hotel #tw hazbin hotel #charlie morningstar #vaggie hazbin hotel #angel dust #angel dust hazbin hotel #husk hazbin hotel #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor the radio demon #niffty hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel redesigns #my art #I wouldn't call these notes #its more just me talking abt NOTHING hahaha #hazbin motel

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grantmentis · 7 months

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Madison Packer sports the Black Rosie Metropolitan Riveters jersey before the PWHL New York game for Black History Month

video from Black Rosie Media // Linktree for Jo, designer of the jersey

#pwhl new york #madison packer #metropolitan riveters

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sumquiasum · 2 months

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A crazy spell puts all of the riverdale characters in separate decades. What decade do you put each character in, and how are they fairing?

1900s: Cheryl. Turn of the century, between the old and the new, industrialisation in full swing but not everywhere. More of a clash of the centuries. She would fare alright, though she wouldn't thrive.

1910s: Archie. Trench war-fare 2, electric boogaloo. Guess how he's doing.

1920s: Veronica. She'd THRIVE. She already owns a speakeasy in canon.

1930s: Kevin. US-American reaction to Nazi Germany, rising fascism in the US as well. Kevin's complicity turning into refusal as he realises the leopards would 100% eat his face too and finds community with other marginalised people. He doesn't thrive. (Alternatively: Jughead gets to be one of those Great Depression authors.)

1940s: Betty. Rosie the Riveter but it's Betty. Charles is fighting in WW2. The Coopers mysteriously always have meat. Unrelated, sometimes people disappear without a trace around Riverdale. She'd be doing alright.

1950s: Fangs. Rockstar Fangs was pretty fun so let's do it again.

1960s: Jughead. Cold War. Conspiracy theories. He also gets to get involved in civil rights in a very 2x11 way where he learns racism exists, is outraged by it and becomes a fierce ally for a week before getting distracted by space aliens or something.

1970s: Toni. Free love, black power. She is THRIVING! Also maybe she'd get an afro.

1980s: Tabitha. She's just having fun living a John Hughes movie, but more diverse.

1990s: Josie. Disco revival. Need I say more.

2000s: Reggie. Partially responsible for the economic crash. Scammed a lot of people out of a lot of money. He's thriving.

#asks #anon #riverasks #as u can see i limited myself to 1900 and later #was also toying with starting in the 1700s but that would have had too big a scope #also i am seeing this as a s6 au #where tabitha tried to send everyone back to the 50s but spread them all over the century instead #and has to collect them one by one

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stealanity · 10 months

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11:56 ꕤ choi yeonjun

warnings : suggestive

the air around you seemed much warmer since yeonjun had entered your room. what was supposed to be an ordinary evening with friends, had turned into a secret rendezvous in your bedroom, while the others played console games in the living room. the door had closed behind you, your back now pressed against it, while yeonjun's fingers ran innocently over the skin of your hips, your top pulled up to the bottom of your bra. his lips brushed yours, tempted to finally cross the line between friendship and love, and kiss you the way he'd always dreamed of but never dared to do. your fingers mingled with the black locks of yeonjun's hair, tugging gently as you kept your eyes riveted on his rosy lips, which seemed to be calling out to you. your breathing seemed jerky, as if all the temptation in the world was making you run out of air — until he nibbles your cheek playfully, urging you to pull a little tighter on his hair. « kiss me. » he sighed against your skin, placing a kiss on the corner of your mouth. and perhaps the alcohol coursing through your veins causing you to tilt your head slightly to one side, grabbing yeonjun's tempting lips in barely a second. it was hot and passionate, rushed but addictive — until he nibbles your lip to slide his tongue warmly against yours, fighting with you to dominate the kiss. while your mouths led a wild, passionate, and hot dance, his hands slipped under your thighs to lift you off the ground, forcing you to hook your legs around his waist. and he kissed you, again and again, with more and more desire and love.

reblogs & feedbacks are highly appreciated !

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joecooperzz · 4 months

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dogtooth (joe cooper x jenna reed smut) (18+)

Content: Sub!Coop, oral (f! receiving), cumming untouched, hair pulling, praise kink

Word count: 1,938

Title from "Dogtooth" by Tyler the Creator because that's it, that's the fic.

The first thing on Coop's mind is how nice the sheets are. He's spent too many nights on the same flat, dumpy mattress, box springs digging into his back, old dingy sheets beneath him.

But Jenna has a queen-sized mattress and silk sheets that smell vaguely like her perfume. It's all he can do not to bury his face in them and just inhale deeply, trying to breathe in every trace of her.

She makes him so pathetic.

He knows she's just on the other side of the bathroom door. She promised she'd return as soon as she freshened up. He hears the running of the faucet, her absentminded humming, the faint hiss of a hairspray bottle. He knows she'll join him in bed at any moment, and yet impatience still stirs deep within him.

The way he feels about her is a physical hunger. He needs her, — intensely, urgently, immediately. Any bit of herself she might offer him, he will happily take, — though he knows that he will always want more afterwards. It's the strangest feeling, — some pleasurable purgatory, the most divine sensation, but never enough of it.

The door cracks open with a waft of a sweet, crisp fragrance, and his head snaps up in some sort of fucked-up Pavlovian response.

The smile she gives him as she approaches the bed melts his insides.

She looks fucking ethereal.

Long auburn hair, soft and freshly-washed, hanging down her back in waves. Her face, free of makeup and rosy from the warm water. A little black slip that leaves hardly anything to the imagination, revealing an endless, riveting expanse of soft, tan skin. The most breathtaking smile he's ever seen.

He practically chokes as she settles into bed beside him. “Holy fucking shit,” he squeaks out inelegantly.

Luckily for him, Jenna just laughs at his stupidity. She expects it by now. “Yeah?” she softly presses him to elaborate.

“Yeah. I mean…” He clears his throat. Weak , he thinks to himself as he tries to gather his thoughts and spit out something coherent.

“Look at you,” he finally breathes before his hand comes to rest gently on the back of her neck, pulling her down to meet his lips.

Immediately, she moans into his mouth, eyes fluttering closed. She tastes minty, like toothpaste, with a faint hint of vanilla from her lip balm. It's so perfect, so her. Coop wants to drown in it.

He pulls back, grabbing her by the hips. He pants as he looks up at her, pupils blown wide.

She smiles down at him. A sharp edge rests beneath her usual gentleness as she reaches down to cup his face.

“What do you want?” she purrs.

Without hesitation, Coop gives a reply. “Whatever you do.”

Jenna audibly moans at this. He chooses to take that as a good sign.

His hunch is confirmed as she leans down to kiss him again, harder and hungrier this time. One thing he never expected about her, but was pleased to learn: she can be rough.

She pulls back, panting. “Fuck…” She straddles him, her aching core positioned just above his thigh.

“Need to sit on your face,” she breathes.

Coop's eyes go wide, his breath hitching as his heart begins to hammer in his chest. “Okay, fuck, yeah,” he says before lifting her hips and pulling her up towards him. She gives a delighted yelp as he stops pulling, leaving her hovering just above his face.

He huffs out a stuttering breath as he sees that she's bare beneath her slip. Not to mention dripping wet, — a condition he can hardly believe any woman is in because of him, much less one as beautiful as her.

Denslow Cup winner or not, he really is the luckiest motherfucker alive.

“Shit, Jen,” he murmurs incredulously, running his finger across her slit.

She moans, shivering slightly above him. “Don't tease,” she warns him.

He hums an agreement before tugging on her hips, pulling her down. She huffs out a gasping laugh as she makes contact with his face, — mostly his nose at first, but he quickly readjusts and brings her to his mouth instead.

He moans against her, and it's totally genuine. If her mouth tastes good, her pussy is even better. He could devour her.

And so he moves his tongue, — not too quickly, but greedily. She moans, returning his intensity by desperately grinding herself down onto his face. He just lets out another shaky moan at this, hands sliding down to grip her thighs as she moves against him.

“Fuck, Joe…” she whines. “Your fucking mouth… God!”

Her cries are high pitched, borderline whiny. Her desperation makes him achingly hard, but he won't even think of taking care of that until he makes her come a time or two.

He groans again as her hands suddenly thread through his shaggy bleached hair. She gets a good two handfuls and tugs, moving faster against him.

Holy shit, he thinks, not for the first time.

“Yeah… yeah…” she whines desperately. “Just like that, baby…” She rolls her hips against his face, falling slightly out of rhythm. “Mmm…”

He does what she asks, loyal as always. He closes his eyes as his tongue circles her clit, over and over again. He can't get enough of her, — the sound of her voice, the feeling of her hands, the taste of her…

She lets out a choked moan and pulls his hair hard. He lets out a muffled groan himself, causing a definite vibration against her pussy.

She gasps and shivers on top of him. “Fuck…” She runs her fingers through his hair, gentle, soothing, before beginning to rock her hips again.

At this point, Coop's air supply is a bit scarce, but he really can't bring himself to care. This is kind of more important than breathing to him.

“Mhm… Such a good boy for me,” she says breathily, hands still soothing over the strands she pulled. He moans against her again, a chill running down his spine as he twitches underneath her.

Then he feels himself, leaking precome in his underwear. He gasps, though it's muffled by a mouthful of pussy.

Just like he thought before. Totally pathetic.

All it took was a little praise, mingling with the taste of her juices, the sound of her gasps and moans, the softness of her skin under his palms. He's throbbing in his boxers, trying and failing not to rut up against nothing. Trying, — and failing, — to keep himself composed.

This is about her, yes. But he's only a man. He can't help that it's making him really fucking horny.

Luckily, Jenna is too far gone to notice that his dick is much more selfish than his mouth. He imagines that she probably has her eyes closed as she gasps shakily and grinds down hard against his face.

“ Good boy ,” she pants again, and Coop is dangerously close to losing himself. He tries to talk himself down mentally, — tell himself to think about it like he's trying to make a goal, that it's a methodical thing rather than a sexual one. But he just can't get himself in that headspace when she's all he can taste, feel, hear. This gorgeous, gorgeous woman, this fucking goddess.

His girlfriend.

God, she's his girlfriend. He can't believe it most days.

But he's pretty sure he isn't dreaming, because she's pulling his hair again, and it hurts, though not enough to keep him from moaning against her again. She tugs him around like a ragdoll, guiding him to where she needs him, and he obliges her every whim. At the end of the day, that's the only thing he wants to do.

Fuck sports, business meetings, beer, video games. He could do away with it all if it meant he would always have Jenna.

He had never been in love before. He hopes he never has to do it again, because this is it.

She's it.

“Jenna…” He moans against her, but, of course, it's incoherent, and it occurs to him a little too late that it's impolite to talk with one's mouth full. But it doesn't matter, because she's still riding the everloving fuck out of his face, and that's the only thing that means anything to him at this point.

Her hands unthread from his hair, and he whines against her at the loss. But the next thing he knows, they're sliding down to his chest, holding him down against the bed as she lets out an especially desperate moan, and he knows that sound. He knows it well.

Anticipation spreads through his entire body, his heart hammering in his chest, his breathing falling even more out of rhythm, fingers digging a bit too hard into her thighs.

“I'm gonna come,” she pants, though she really doesn't have to tell him, because he knows. He knows, and he's fucking delighted.

“Mmm…” He speeds up the movements of his tongue, giving her no reprieve from the overwhelming sensation.

It doesn't take long for her to cry out after that. God… her poor neighbors. She sounds like something out of the old softcore movies he used to rent out of the back of the video store, the ones Remer always managed to find and endlessly make fun of him for. Except she sounds better, and he's pretty sure she's being a little bit more genuine about it than those girls were. After all, he's pretty certain that she can't fake the way she's soaking his face, dripping onto his tongue.

He laps up every last bit, because, as he decided previously, eating Jenna out ranks higher on his list of needs than actually getting an adequate amount of air.

Maybe the oxygen deprivation is what prevents him from paying much attention to the knot tightening in the pit of his stomach, or maybe he's really just that good at tuning out any and all distractions when he's focused on the task at hand, — or mouth, as it stands.

Whatever the case, he somehow doesn't recognize that he's right on the edge until he's tensing up beneath her. For a moment, he thinks he might pass out or something, — not out of character, sadly, — but instead, he shudders, gripping her legs and moaning against her as he comes in his boxers.

It feels really fucking good. Of course it does. He just blew a huge load while eating out the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Then he starts coming down, and he realizes that it's kind of embarrassing.

Not to mention messy. And he hasn't gotten around to keeping extra clothes at her place yet.

He hears her laugh breathily, slowly lifting herself off his face, wriggling out of his grip. “Did you just—” she pants.

“ Aww,” he groans abruptly, a hand coming to rest over his face.

She laughs, shaking her head. “You're serious ?” And then she looks down at him and gasps.

Again, some things just can't be faked.

“Yeah,” he says softly. “Fuck. Gotta go clean up…”

He stands up, and she chuckles. “Most guys don't do that,” she comments, like that's not fucking obvious. “Like… I haven't even read about it in a book, or anything.” She hums. “You're special, Joe.”

He shakes his head. “Not special,” he huffs, heading for the bathroom. “Just… like you a lot.”

She laughs. “Think that's an understatement.”

It is. But if he expressed it to the full extent, he'd look like a total loser.

So he shrugs and walks out of the room, hoping to reclaim a bit of his dignity. But just a little.

#baseketball smut #baseketball x reader #coop #joe cooper x jenna reed #coop x jenna

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talas-first-lady · 9 days

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Zari Tarazi Fashion Tournament: Round 2 Match 5

Outfit from the implosion of John Constantine's character and her relationship

WWII factory party Rosie the Riveter outfit

Find other polls here!

#zari tarazi #zari tarazi fashion tournament #legends of tomorrow tournament #legends of tomorrow poll #lot 6x13 #lot 6x14 #lot 7x07

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mastersoftheair · 11 months

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hi! question!! ok so like. I've been in hbowar fandom for awhile but I must admit I haven't followed MOTA news quite as religiously so I'm sorry if this has been answered before but like...... can I ask why there was such an emphasis on austin butler and callum turner's characters? is it because they're the "leaders" of a sort? (and if so, in like a dick winters way? in that they're the leaders of their unit? or is it in a sledge, basilone, leckie way? in that the narratives of the shows are based on their memoirs of the war?) or is it because they're the actors you're bound to recognize at first glance and therefore are pandering to the audience?

piggy back riding on that question..... do you think mota would follow a band of brothers kinda story telling where the povs sorta change almost every episode? and there's an emphasis on the group as a whole? or is it gonna be like the pacific? where it centers on 3 pov characters, as i said before, based off the irl guys' memoirs of the war?

thank you for running this blog, btw. it's good to have all the news in one place instead of having to go hunting for it!! have you tried to appeal to tumblr staff about getting the blog unshadowbanned? maybe they could help?

i think this website gives a very helpful overview of who the "main players" are (it's a bit dated tho, last updated in 2019!) lots could've changed by then, and even the author admits that it's all speculation. but by 2019, there were 5 confirmed "main characters": john "bucky" egan, gale "bucky" cleven, rosie rosenthal, harry crosby, and ken lemmons. they're palyed by austin butler, callum turner, nate mann, anthony boyle, and raff law, in that order.

the focus is on the 100th bombardment group ("the blood hundredth"), with likely a narrower focus on the 418th and 350th squadrons, with probably some focus on the 349th. cleven's part of the 350th, egan and cruikshank (also important) are part of the 418th, and major william veal's part of the 349th (which is likely less important, but i'm adding it bc i saw his name among egan and cleven's name in this behind the scenes photo almost 2 years ago, but not much on veal otherwise).

so, this is one group and (more or less) two different squadrons. the narrowed focus is meant to lean more "band of brothers" and less "the pacific".

to answer your first question, the focus on butler and turner is probably 1) better for promo (they're more well known to the public) and 2) cleven and egan were both the commanding officers of their respective units. the leaders, for sure. also known as "the two buckys", as they both had the same nickname and were very close friends (as the above article puts it, they "were roommates throughout flight school…[they were] roommates during training, but they would eventually become roommates in a POW camp as well.")

i like that you brought up leckie and sledge tho, bc while the bulk of the show is based around donald miller's book, it seems like they'll also be leaning on harry crosby's memoir- a wing and a prayer. he was a group navigator in the 418th. also, the smithsonian has a little scrapbook that you can read here.

i'm thinking that, yeah, the povs may change depending on the episode (given how it seems they want to follow the "band of brothers" playbook, to a point). there's definitely gonna be time devoted to the ground crew (lemmons was a mechanic in the ground crew and stayed in england for the duration of the war) and rosie rosenthal, especially (his crew was called "rosie's riveters"). then, there's the inclusion of black soldiers in the 332d fighter group, part of the tuskegee airmen (hence the casting of ncuti gatwa, branden cross, josiah cross, among others).

keep in mind that these are all just my guesstimations! i don't want to predict what's gonna happen, given that i still want to be surprised lol

and i'm happy you enjoy the blog! it's fun keeping it regularly updated (despite tumblr hiccups, like thinking i'm a spam bot apparently?? but i think it's been sorted out for now *fingers crossed*)

(also, i recommend everyone to go play around in this website, bc it's stuffed with all the 100th bg information you could ever want!)

#it's all about theorizing!#masters of the air #hbo war #history #asks

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thatsrightice · 6 months

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Hey fellow aviation people, check out iloveahangar because their merch, especially their shoes, are insane!!!

They have high-top (and even more low-tops) for tons of popular aircraft squadrons and individual planes themselves fit with logos and paint schemes and accurate serial numbers. You can get most of them with either black or white sides/laces.

They’ve got F-14 Tomcats squadrons, U-2, A-10 squadrons, Tuskegee Airmen aircraft, individual SR-71s, individual B-17s, individual P-51s, and soooooo many more to choose from.

For my F-14 Tomcat people, they have the following squadrons (that I’ve seen):

VF-1 WolfPack

VF-2 Bounty Hunters

VF-31 Tomcatters

VF-41 Black Aces

VF-84 Jolly Rogers

VF-143 Pukin’ Dogs

I was hoping they’d have VF-213 Black Lions and VF-114 Fighting Aardvarks, but maybe it’s for the best they don’t because then I would have to buy them both IMMEDIATELY on top of the pair I already bought.

For my Masters of the Air friends, they have a collaboration with the 100th Bomb Group Foundation where you can custom make your own pair of B-17 Flying Fortress high top shoes. They also have some of the most popular aircraft in the group’s history with the nose art, for example: “Our Baby”, “Our Gal Sal”, “Rosie’s Riveters”, and “Alice From Dallas.” They come in drab green and some are in silver!

I just got a custom pair of these with the B-17 serial number 42-3393 Just-a-Snappin’ and I am soooo excited to wear these to EAA!!

I recommend browsing some of the individual collections for particular museums and historical foundations by going to the three lines and selecting “Museums and Collections”. Check out some of the others I mentioned below and check out their website for tons more, including other products like bags and duffels and wall art!

#SERIOUSLY GUYS GO CHECK THEM OUT #airplanes #aviation #wwii #f-14 tomcat #b 17 flying fortress #masters of the air #top gun #p 51 mustang #p-38 Lightning #sr 71 blackbird #a 10 warthog #tons more #I would cry if they had a VF-213 or VF-114

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mercurygray · 7 months

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Short Days Ago

Several months ago I promised all the TDS girlies a special command performance by our favorite actress/dancer/comedienne. So, fresh from her record-setting bond tour with John Basilone - EILEEN HAMMOND!

Felt like a lot of nonsense, just to see a show.

Ken didn't know what business the USO had, trucking a whole bunch of dancers in here in the middle of a war. It wasn't like the Clubmobile girls, who came in their own truck and could pack themselves out at the end of the day. Everyone on the base seemed to be on high alert the whole week before they were due in, sprucing up paint and setting a stage up near one of the empty hard stands, like they didn't have anything else they should have been working on.

"C'mon, Lemmons!" one of the new fellows said with a grin on the day of the concert. "You can take an hour off!"

But he couldn't take an hour off - not really, not when everyone else was doing the same thing. They'd be on mission alert the next day and every single one of these forts needed to be able to go up and he wasn't making that mistake again. He could hear the music across the fields a little, when the wind shifted, but he wasn't missing much, he felt. He was needed here.

The show was just wrapping up when he drove by the parts store, looking to get a replacement magneto. The dancers had all come down from the stage, posing for pictures with one and all, and the biggest crowd, by far, was around a black-haired beauty with a smile that just wouldn't quit. Well, I'll be. She's back. Lemmons pulled up short and joined the crowd.

Eileen looked around the sea of faces with a big, take-all-comers grin. "You know, the last time I was here someone said I was so pretty they ought to paint me on a plane. They had a new fort in and they were looking for a name. Irish Eyes, I think they said."

Lemmons spoke up. "Yeah, sure, Miss!" The crowd parted a little, deferring to the sound of their crew chief. "She's still here. Hammond's Hornets." He pointed off into the distance, where the plane was parked out on the far side of the field. Wing damage - needed new levers in an aileron. But anyone who walked by the nose today would have seen Eileen Hammond in all her perfect pin-up glory, casting that same grin out into the sky in a yellow and black bathing suit.

The crowd around him buzzed a little, and Lemmons felt a twist in his chest. Would any of them have known that was where the name was from? After all, Rosie's Riveters were named after Rosenthal himself, not his girlfriend, and that visit had been long ago.

"And it was - it was Waitley who asked me to kiss the plane!" Eileen remembered with a grin. "Bob Waitley - from Tennessee. He was trying to go for the main chance and I told him I only had so many to go around - so he had me kiss the plane instead."

Lemmons nodded, smiling and remembering. What a joker, Waitley - always trying to get a pretty girl to catch his eye. "We painted the outline that afternoon - even tried to match your lipstick. The fellas used to touch it when they got in. For good luck."

"Is he still around?" Eileen asked, searching the crowd for a familiar face. "Bob Waitley? I don't think I saw him when I came in."

Ken felt cold. "He was… shot, ma'am." He didn't want to tell the rest of that story, about how Bob had taken a piece of flak through the thigh and bled out on the way home, and his co-pilot had brought the plane down with a dead man in the front seat and three more in the back. He also didn't want to say anything about what had come after, about scrubbing blood out of the cockpit and replacing the covers on the seats, and how they would open the cockpit windows, when crews like that came home, so the souls of the dead wouldn't stay with the plane on her next mission. Pilots were a superstitious bunch, but crew chiefs could be, too. And he'd still kept on having the crew touch up that kiss mark, though it was getting a little wavy now. Good intentions, that's all that was - nothing bad luck about a friendly kiss from a girl.

And Eileen Hammond, for all that she was a showgirl, knew what he meant when he said shot and ended his sentence early, and had enough sense not to ask more questions after.

Behind him, the newer crew was shuffling their feet. "No one told us that story about the kiss." "I just thought it was a joke." "Is that why we couldn't name it ourselves?"

"Well, I'm sure Miss Hammond has a very tight schedule," one of the pilots said quickly, noticing the frosty turn in the conversation. "We should let her get going, gents."

The crowd moved off, but Eileen stayed put, catching Lemmons' sleeve as he turned to leave. "Can I go and see them, Sergeant? If you've got time."

Ken looked her straight in the eye and realized she meant it. "Sure, Miss Hammond. I got time."

It was quiet, out here on the tarmac, speeding off to the far side of the airfield, and Eileen wasn't singing now. Her black curls were going to catch hell from this ride in the open jeep, but she didn't seem to care. Ken pulled off to the side of the taxiway and pointed where they were headed -a half-hidden mound of stones, the remnants of some ancient wall, sheltered under an equally ancient oak. The oak's spread roots had tumbled the rocks here and there, but there were plenty of crevices for dog tags and cigarettes and lucky pennies, and plenty of moss to soak up beers. Plenty of privacy to sit and remember, or to drink and forget. Here's where you bury the guys who don't come home.

"Every base has one," Eileen said, quietly. "Visit enough and you know to ask." She swallowed and looked out across the fields, the low mountains of distant planes far away. "Rather pretty out here. They have a nice view."

"Sure do, miss."

She nodded, and turned to look at the wall, smiling at the beer bottles carefully perched on the top, the half-full bottle of whiskey at the base and the series of small round stones stacked here and there. She stepped gently around the items on the ground, and kissed the largest stone, the print of her lips uneven and red on the rough surface of the rock. "There you are, Bob. A few months overdue." She stepped back to survey her handiwork and took a deep breath, in and out. Behind them the wind was in the grass, and there was a rustle in the oak overhead. All was at peace.

"Don't paint that one on, Sergeant," she said, quietly. "Wouldn't want the other fellows getting jealous."

"'Course, miss," Ken nodded. "Some times the best things fade."

She smiled at that, looking at the stone and the bottles and the way they were catching the late afternoon light. "You want me to re-do the other one? While I'm here?"

"If you like, miss," Lemmons said with half a smile. "But good luck kisses don't expire."

"Maybe so," she said with a shrug. "But it can't hurt, either, can it?"

---

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields. -In Flanders Fields, John McCrae

Though we never see this in the show, archeological excavations at Thorpe Abbotts indicate that the fliers did have some kind of memorial spot for their dead. A team from a nearby university excavated the site in 2017.

#i have written a thing #mercurygraypresents #eileen hammond #all the crossovers #tds cinematic universe #yes it's sad but you need that every once in a while

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