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#violet goes to the beach
sigulary · 2 years
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April Commission
Illustration requested by @pacthesis
For more information about commissions, see here
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HARLEY BERG from VIOLET GOES TO THE BEACH
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JUSTIFICATION:
"Okayokayokay. Harley. HARLEY. So. He got ISSUES, man. He's got a tiny woman friendo named Violet who lives with him in his apartment and basically, he's in love with her but he struggles with that because he had a fiancee who DIED and also he has struggled with self-esteem issues all his life. The amount of fucking self-loathing in this man, damn. He could power fifteen goddamn windmills with his sadboy energy. So far in the comic he has NOT admitted his problems to any of his friends and prefers to bottle up every single one of his problems until he starts fuckin' crying. LIKE BRO HE JUST KEEPS ON CRYING. You would not BELIEVE the amount of TEARS that come out from this FUCKER'S eyes. The amount of lacrimation from the eyes of Mr. Harley Berg could turn the entire Sahara Desert into a goddamned ocean! AND HE'D HATE HIMSELF OVER THAT TOO. Anyway he's a grown man who is shy, sad, immature, and and really needs therapy I think. The most he's got was in a dream where he realizes he needs to work on his self-loathing problems and I mean I'm happy for him for making SOME progress but bro. You also gotta fucking talk to someone. It's not like he's alone anyway, he has friends and people who support him, he just DOESN'T WANNA OPEN UP TO FRIGGIN' ANYONE. I think most of his problems have been revealed in internal monologue or smth. At the very least get THERAPY, bro. He's not even the angstiest most traumatized character in all of fiction, there's others who have suffered through a lot more worse than him and VGTTB isn't necessarily THAT fucked up and dark, it def doesn't hold a candle to some other works of fiction in terms of that, and heck even some of Pacthesis' earlier characters might have more fucked up/darker backstories (like probs Xolga and Mr. Toko and the Star Days Sim Date cast), but still, the vibe of this comic feels much...heavier than Pacthesis' other works? Even if the others are technically angstier VGTTB feels angstier and heavier (to me at least) because I think it goes deeper into the characters' problems/emotional turmoil bc like Harley's issues are like. Damn. He really needs a hug (and therapy). Anyway the only reason I'm submitting Harley here was bc Pacthesis (the creator) drew him as a goth gf and I thought she was kinda cute. She'd still probs cry a lot even if she were a woman but ahwell. Anyway read Violet Goes to The Beach everyone it's kinda cute but also surprisingly angsty, personally the creator's other works are more of my favs I feel more connected to bc of childhood stuff and they just make my heart feel more happy (and personally I like the characters more) ig, but VGTTB I think it still has a lot of nuance to it and interesting dynamic. IMO transition might not NECESSARILY fix unless we drag Harley by the ear to therapy, but I still think goth gf Harley deserves a shot." - Anonymous
Reminder: Submissions are always open! Submit here!
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lorichu · 2 years
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I absolutely adore Violet Goes to the Beach by @pacthesis, and got inspired to do a little fanart! If you haven’t checked it out already, I highly recommend taking the time to: violetgoestothebeach.com
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kororettelife · 1 year
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Making of “Mini Show of Life” (commissioned illust.)
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Hello! This will be my first in-depth journal/blog entry in a very long while after being quiet for 5? years since dA’s fall from grace. But, I hope you can find something of use, or at least get some entertainment out of it. Do take care though; once the talking starts...it’s not going to stop. Please feel free to skip through parts you deem only worthy of your time (or just the pictures really), I won’t take any offense! I will be mostly using these to gush out roughly 5 years-worth of recepientless chattiness directed to anyone willing to sit through walls of text anyhoo.
  However long the stay; thanks for stopping by!  (´• ω •`) /
CONTENTS:
0 - Making (overview)
1 - The Concept
2 - Inspiration
3 - Breakdown
4 - Never Finished
⓪ ― メイキング ―
Start of project (concept pitch): 2022年 February 7
Start of Labor (revisions and onward): 2022年 November 10
            Date of completion: 2023年 March 27 
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Total time passed from start (labor) to finish: 
   4 months +17 days?  ( ~3,280 hours / ~137 days )
Very Rough Estimated Labor Duration (*excluding breaks/sleep AND reference hunting + test runs) : 
= ~1,128 hours / ~47 days / ~7 weeks / ~1.67 months in total.
※Very rough estimate indeed, my math may have failed me in a few places-
Although it seems like a lot of time has passed (*also in comparison to the previous one that was arguably much more laborious), it’s worth taking note that the duration of the entire process got hit by two major holidays in a row (Christmas + New Year), then immediately followed by my birthday haha so it had more days of rest than it did labor through all that time.
        ① ― THE CONCEPT ―
Around 2023年 early February, I was contacted by MissPacthesis (otherwise just known as Pacthesis) on twitter to draw a movie poster/book cover-type of illustration featuring the two main characters of their original webcomic, “Violet Goes To The Beach”. Since there was no specific request for the composition, I made four concept sketches with different themes and moods for their consideration. This was the first one:
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The basic idea was to create an artificial dollhouse-like environment that showcased the characters’ daily lives, as depicted in the comic.
I’ve always been fond of miniatures but, for some reason, never really thought about making them as the subject for my drawings? So I thought the whole physical dynamic between Harley and Violet was the perfect opportunity to explore that.
The three other concepts have already been finished by the time it was this one’s turn (despite being the first one to be conceived). 
MissPacthesis was super generous and patient with me when it came down to the deadlines. And so, I wanted to take my time with it and really make sure to end it with a bang for the now-final boss of the bunch!
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Following through the requested changes/details after the rough concept sketch was delivered + as well as my own additions, this was how the first set of revisions turned out.
Some of said requests are:
the moooooon
stars hanging on the strings as props
set curtains+lights (to establish a ‘show’ setting)
putting Violet against a less cluttered environment someway
One of the bigger issues was the size difference between the two characters; Violet inevitably can’t be clearly seen with how small she is in comparison to Harley, much less stand out in the composition in the original version. In the other three previously completed commissions, she always remained small and near the environment, while Harley’s ginormous size in comparison unintentionally hogs the spotlight (unless he’s bringing Violet near him).
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I was really, really fond of Violet’s outfit design on this one, so I asked if I could make Violet be bigger than Harley for once; even through just an illusion of perspective. I got MissPacthesis’ OK and was feeling pretty OK myself, but immediately screaming and not as OK after realizing I had to draw the female anatomy in close-up view Aiyaaaah
       ② ― INSPIRATION ―
Each and every external inspiration used as reference is difficult to pin down in retrospect, but I can tell you that throughout the duration of this drawing, it wouldn't stop coming after me anywhere I happened to look. 
The introduction of the fairy tale themes was inspired by its references in the comic, which leads to me connecting it with old fairy tale book covers that are known for being super intricate, magical, and no longer made how they used to be now. Then again, those things were probably super expensive too...
If we’re talking about the overall shape, then it's definitely the magical doorway in the movie “Barbie as Rapunzel”. I didn't remember it at all until I came across a pirat- I mean, a s l i m e  t u t o r i a l on Youtube, that made me realize that it must've made an impact on kid-me; it was just this concept embedded in my subconsciousーraring to get blurted out at a moment’s notice. Just look at the way the flowers circle around the scenery as a border. Heck, even the same type of flowers in thereーpink ‘n blue morning glories. I was near finishing cleaning up my lineart when YT hooked me up and it hit, “oh sht, I copied the homework and I didn’t even know??”
Technique-wise, I’ve been keeping an eye on Art Nouveau styles that I discovered through the anime called “GOSICK”, which then introduced me to the works of Mucha, who is arguably THE poster man of Art Nouveau. I got acquainted with them in my very early teens, which is nice for familiarity. But due to even poorer understanding of fundamentals at the time, all I ever took from it was really:
 '...very thin line on the inside, THICK BOI LINE OUTSIDE'. 
A bit of a silly and insulting understatement to the nuances of the technique, but this simplified understanding did help fixing my shaky, shaky lineart through the years to now, hereーhelping me not go completely nuts over advanced class Art Nouveau complexities I won’t even pretend to understand. 
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And from there, inspiration for colors burst out from newly-released movie posters smack dab in the duration of the commission; like
 “Disenchanted”’s, 
and even “Everything Everywhere All At Once”'s. 
And then mid-lineart fixing, I got hit with “RWBY” Volume 9's start with the V9 Opening (”Inside” by Cassie Williams and Martin Gonzales), setting the tone with all the colors and all the madness. 
It was my weekend hype man.
Although what I was working on was quite far from these in overall concepts/tone/themes (which, lowkey recommendations, btw-), they still served as a nice color setter inspiration + something that just made me keep remembering to continue working on my own colorful composition through the distracting days. 
Aaand finally: 
it’s most likely my unrequited love for miniatures that started and shaped this composition from the beginning + stayed after the ungodly amounts of revisions at the top! 
 The fact that the entire premise of Violet Goes to the Beach is pretty much enabling this obsession of mine? makes me feel like it was destined to beeeee (if you believe in that kinda thing anyway). I’ve pined for the concept even before knowing what they were actually called or how to spell and pronounce the damn word. 
And I’m starting to think it’s the reason why I’m super drawn to the tiniest of details, be it in my illustrations or other fields with unnecessary hyper-everything. 
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As a lonesome nut in a cramped household, my hobby has always been staring at everyday objects and filling the rest with my imaginationーmaybe tiny plants growing on it? Or turning them into furniture for any and all small-enough creatures; anythingーI'll imagine a whole dang ecosystem growing or interacting with anything I can find, and then put myself in there to imagine what would it be like to just...vibe on top of gigantic everyday objects with all the space I could ever need and more. 
This was essentially my standard as well for finalizing the composition of miscellaneous flowers in the piece: 
"Do whatever you feel like, as long as a mini-you would wanna move in it; swim in it; jump on it? or be a e s t h e t i c c enough to be considered ‘instagramable’ or... or something. ヘルプミ- ”
The moment something felt off through a closer look, or disagreed somehow with its neighboring details, it got erased and rethought of until the vibes are decidedly pleasant enough for an imaginary miniature village of mini-me’s to live in there. 
I think they’d all be screaming regardless.
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      ③ ― BREAKDOWN ―
no, not of the mental variety-
I’m not exactly sure which place this piece goes on the ranking of detailing levels I’ve ever worked on, but it’s definitely one of the most detailed, by far. Took 4 months for goodness’ sake lol
Similarly to what I did to the previous big piece also featuring Harley and Violet (*I’ll write about that next + link it here later!), I deconstructed the parts into multiple parts to make it easier to digest as I went.
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I kept previous versions of the color tests/sketches as a reference map of sorts while finalizing certain details, so I don’t keep going “wait, how did I want this to look like again” all over again.
I also made frequent “test runs” for certain techniques I want to/plan to apply in certain areas before finalizing them. Not that I’d really be in big trouble if I didn’t, since I can ctrl+z just fine... but it might just be a traditional illustrator-doing-digital’s habit at this point haha
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In a nutshell quickly drawn with a mouse, this is how the layering went down in my poor, overworked, one-too-many overlayered drawing software:
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While I absolutely do not recommend layering as extremely as I tend to do, I will say this: 
                  Layers (can) help! 
When it comes to hiding each different sections to focus on something behind or above it, having separated everything into non-intersecting layers make it easier to navigate through a big piece.
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If you have a similar approach to linearting similarly to how I do mine as well, layering will help when it gets down to cleaning/refining the details, since no lines belonging to different parts/objects intersect with one another in a single layer.
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Tedious and fatigue-inducing as heck, but I personally find parts of the process oddly therapeutic.
    ❹ ― NEVER FINISHED ―
You might’ve noticed that throughout my nonsensical ramblings with occasional pictures, said pictures contained preview of the unfinished drawing enclosed within a square frame when the actual finished product is in some curly...burly...shaped...thing.
That’s because the outer shape has changed multiple times:
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When I looked at the first revised shape with the rough color test (square frame), I thought the entire scene looked kind of cluttered? I also wanted to especially put more focus on Violet, so I repositioned things and decided to go the lineart-heavy Art Nouveau route to make the details really stand out from one another and not blend together in a single blur of colors.
And so, on top of everything else, I decided to cut the entire illustration into sections visibly seen and presented to the audience, outside of the actual layered sections of the illustration we broke down from earlier. 
I was satisfied with the shapes overall, except for the very top part. It looked very flat and almost... incomplete? So, I experimented around giving the shape a fashionable tippy top hat.
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I liked A, but I disliked how the teardrop-shaped gem at the middle was jutting out compared to the rest of the surface.
B retained the flat top, but this time with an added section cut at the upper-middle part, as an attempt to also draw more focus on the moon.
C is the start of the brainrot for a “fish tail” shape.
D tried to just go with a smoothened semi-circle shape for the top, but was the start of the “now THAT’s a moon!” formation that I definitely preferred than what was originally planned.
E wanted to mix the new moon shape + fish tail shape together. I really liked it, but there was something that felt unnerving when looking at it from a distance together with everything else.
F tried bringing back the flat surface together w/ the new moon shape.
and finally, G saved the day (and my sanity). I went back to A and said “dang it, I still want that gem somehow though”, and figured all it really needed was a bit of trim to slot right in the corners and no longer be jutting out. The addition of the yellow and pink on each of its sides were in honor of the fish tail shape. It looks a lot less like one now, but I hoped the teardrop shape at the middle sliding in between two side-twisted oblongs might resemble a fish? haha
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             the plan     vs     the done
And, there you have it. By this point in time I’ve yet to upload the finished illustration here on Tumblr (*I’m still not done migrating my older stuff from dA to my main tumblr blogs orz) but I’ll update with a higher quality of the final version here as soon as everything’s caught up!
Thank you very much for stopping by, and I hope you have a wonderful day ahead!  ヽ(*・ω・)ノ I’ll see you in the next one?
 ― AKI SHOURIKAWA・APR 2023 ―
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let’s end it on the note of how I discovered two fibonacci spirals kissing is actually a heart
I actually do not understand how to use the fibonacci, was just taking the piss out by making cool shapes
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14dayswithyou · 1 month
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Hi! (age is at my profile)
If MC is going on a vacation outside the city, who would tag along and who would wish them safe travels?
ANSWERED: I think everyone would tag along if Angel asked! It might be fun to imagine it as a group outing ghhdsj
Similar to the beach and Disneyland asks:
Elanor and Conan would be the ones who take shifts driving the minivan into the city.
Teo would be awkwardly sandwiched in the first row scrolling through his phone while Olivia tries to get his attention (she keeps "accidentally" shifting closer to his seat every time the van goes over a bump) and Kiara busies herself with her work laptop.
Violet, Leon, and Jae (and by extension, Maple) would all be in the next row either talking about some random topic or leaning on each other's shoulders and snoring away.
Finally, Ren would claim the entire back row for for himself and Angel, and would gladly let them use his lap as a pillow if they wanted to sleep during the whole trip!!
...Except it proves difficult when Alice is right there in the middle. (Conan trusts Angel to look after his kid!!)
Once in the city, everyone would probably branch off to do their own thing before meeting up for lunch, or something.
Teo and Kiara (SEPARATELY!!!) would go off to look at high-end fashion brands and blow a hole in their wallets.
Conan would take his daughter Alice to a quiet (fast food) restaurant or cafe to unwind and have lunch, before going on a walk and taking in the sights.
Elanor would tag along with Violet to do some window shopping, and maybe even visit some cute cat cafes and candle shops! El might buy some souvenirs for everyone, even if the city is only a few hours away from Corland Bay.
Jae and Leon would see if there are any bustling activities or recrooms nearby (like bowling, indoor sports, a gym, or even go nightclubbing)
And Ren would happily tag along with Angel to meet their online friend for the first time at the airport! ...Then awkwardly third wheel while they talk about finally meeting, AoG updates, and of course; Haruko.
In between these moments, however, Moth would be not-so-subtly teasing Ren and Angel for their... relationship(?? girl help, even Moth doesn't know what to call it lmao)
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cowgurrrl · 11 months
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“I want to be great or nothing.”
Summary: When world famous rockstar Joel Miller finds himself in some hot water with the press, his PR team suggests fake dating an up and coming actress to refine his image. However, when they actually start spending time together, the happy couple can’t stand each other. Will they be able to turn it around for the cameras or will it all be for nothing?
Warnings: smut indicated with an asterisk, tlou au, fake dating, enemies to ???, Sarah is alive :D
01. Smile You’re on Camera [1.7k]
02. When The Sun Goes Down [2.6k]
03. BWFW [3.8k]
04. Kiwi [3.8k]
05. A plea for tenderness* [7.3k]
06. Blueberry Pancakes* [4.5k]
07. Losing My Cool [1.1k]
08. Never Thought [3.5k]
09. Layla [2.3k]
10. Pine Point [4.7k]
11. Old Friends Die Hard [3.6k]
12. Too Close [2.5k]
13. The Chain [2.6k]
14. From the Dining Table [4.5k]
15. Wonderfully Bizarre [1.2k]
🎸🎸🎸
Drabbles
A Soulmate Who Wasn’t Meant to Be: You settle into life without Joel
Night Shift: Joel settles into life without you
Tennessee Whiskey: A (somewhat) quiet night as you and Joel adjust to sharing life again
Thank God I Found You: You and Joel talk about going public with your relationship
Gold Dust Woman: Oscars season with Joel
The Actress: Red carpet interviews with Joel
Je te laisserai des mots: You and Joel realize forever doesn’t sound too bad
I Want To Marry You: Joel asks you The Question
Kiss Me Once, and Kiss Me Twice: You and Joel get married
Heavy Metal Drummer: When Joel’s drummer suddenly drops out, who better to fill in than the girl who’s been there since the beginning?
Just A Boy: Joel struggles with your newest cast mate
Small Bump: You tell the girls you’re pregnant
Beautiful Boy: You and Joel find out the gender of your baby
Hayloft: Joel being protective of his family
Choreomania: Sammy tries to figure out if he likes what his dad does
Brooklyn Baby: You and Joel welcome your son
Iris: Sarah and Ellie hold Sam for the first time
Hey Me, Hey Mama: Mother’s Day
Jackie and Wilson: A night in the Miller household
Little Wonders: When Mom Guilt takes over, Joel finds a way to support you
Mama’s Boy: Sam’s going through a phase
Daydream Believer: Daisy seems to know something you don’t
As It Was: You and Joel have an announcement
At Last: Sam doesn’t seem to know the difference between real life and acting
Daylight: An almost perfect Texas day with the Millers
Yo Gotti: You and Joel read thirst tweets together
Beautiful Girls: Your first night at home with your twins
Love You: Joel being the best dad to tiny baby angels
Unknown: You find out Violet has asthma
I’m Still Standing: Actors on Actors: You and Carolina Garcia-Long
My Girls: The first of many Sophia and Violet days
Lucky: The girls are going through a phase
Girls On Film: Joel accidentally starts discourse
I’m Just Ken: A Halloween fashion show with the Millers
Live from New York: You and Joel take on SNL
Please Come Home for Christmas: The Christmas season with the Millers
Bug: The BuzzFeed Puppy Interview
So This Is Love: A Beach Day
Salad Days: The t-shirt coup
The Millers: A Year in The Life: A documentary about your lives
Good Old Days: A SAG-AFTRA Career Retrospective
🎸🎸🎸
Extras 🤠
Joel and sundress season*
Dancing with Joel
Your instagram story 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
ACL with the Millers
Joel’s tattoos
You and Joel find out you’re having a baby
Your reaction to questions about kids
Family headcanons
Random thoughts 1
Random thoughts 2
Honeymoon with Joel
Actress!reader freaking out about Joel on Instagram
Talking about your relationship with Joel
Sammy Insta posts
Family instagram posts
Sophia and Violet
Birthday headcanons
What the kids do later in life
Text threads :D 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
The kids’ instagrams
Grandpa Joel
Grandpa Joel pt. 2
Instagram stories: Barbie edition
Random family thoughts
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coconutcordiale · 1 year
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“If I could stop loving you, I would.” With any of the pilots
love that's a real long shot
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pairing- hangman x pilot!reader (callsign violet)
synopsis- you and jake keep running into each other over the years and jake just can’t seem to let you go
warnings- fwb! happy ending!!! angst! 18+ for slight smuttiness (if you read my normal stuff this is extremely tame comparatively - just want to manage expectations 😉) light enemies to it’s just sex to pining to lovers. naval inaccuracies but it's my pretend world y'all just live in it, sad jake's pov but he's pretty he'll be fine
length- 7.7k
an- companion piece to this 0.6k drabble one time thing but that is not required reading - pretty much all of ott is revisited in this fic
i really, really don’t know how I feel about this one but i've been tinkering and agonizing over it forever and i have to be done so LOL here ya go
credit for the cs violet goes to my soulmate @justfandomwritings thank you for loving angst as much as i do, thank you for being brilliant
title courtesy of it ain't over - the black keys
tagging those that were upset with me for the ending of one time thing - @unstablecaffeinatedmind / @ahopelessromanticwritersworld / @gigisimsonmars / @flashyourgreeneyesatme / @forever-sleepy-sloth / @gingerbreadandpaper / @lovingjakeseresin
also - @mandylove1000 ily
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Virginia Beach, 2019
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Jake’s glad the packed bar gives him enough cover to stay hidden when he overhears Bradshaw asking his new roommate if she’s interested in him.
He bites back a huff of annoyance, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He talked to her for all of five seconds before mustache boy strutted up to make it very clear his friend was off-limits, was barely even flirting with her. Charming smiles are basically a reflex of his at this point.
“That man has never given a girl an orgasm.”
Jake rolls his eyes but keeps his mouth shut. It’s categorically untrue, but who cares what Bradshaw’s roommate thinks?
Your back is to him too, but he hears you hum in agreement, stifling a laugh. Jake’s hackles suddenly raise, and he briefly wonders why it irritates him so much that you seem to agree with that statement.
Rooster chokes on his beer. “Excuse me?”
She shrugs, fidgeting with her drink. “You were asking if I was into your friend – Hangman, was it? That should be enough of an answer.”
“I don’t really want to think about Seresin’s like in bed.”
“You’re breaking my heart, little bird,” Jake drawls from behind Rooster, figuring he should let you guys know of his presence before you get any further. “And here I thought we had something special.”
You roll your eyes before pushing your stool back. “Well, that’s my cue to leave.”
Jake immediately wonders what the appropriate amount of time is before he can excuse himself too.
+
“If you wanted to know what I’m like behind closed doors, you could’ve just asked, darlin’,” Jake murmurs from behind you, having found the corner of the bar you disappeared to. “I’d be happy to give you a lesson. I’m very hands-on.”
“Hard pass, Hangman.”
He smiles lazily, turning the charm up to full wattage and leaning on the bar next to you. Not close enough to make you uncomfortable, but enough to make you avert your eyes from his bicep and shift a little in your seat.
“I have a pretty good idea already.”
His smirk goes a little sharp around the edges, a predator locking in his prey. “That so? And what idea might that be?”
You raise an eyebrow. The derision you manage to convey in one unimpressed glance goes straight to his cock.
His eyes flash, fingers clenching around his beer, but he makes sure the infamous smirk stays put. “Think you’ve got me figured out?”
You shrug. “Guys that look like you are rarely anything more than a disappointment in bed.”
He smiles at that, leaning towards playful instead of goading, wondering if you’ve realized what you just admitted. “I think you’re pretty too, sweetheart.”
“You’re intelligent enough to know what you look like. It’d be stupid to pretend otherwise.”
He rolls his beer between his palms, gaze far away and calculating.
“Stop that.”
“Stop what?” He asks, feigned innocence taking over as he brings his eyes back to you.
“Stop thinking about how you’re gonna get me to sleep with you.”
The problem for you is, Jake sees the way you look at him. And it’s nothing like the polite boredom he’s witnessed you grace guys with when they truly don’t have a chance with you.
“Tell me one thing, Violet,” he says, your callsign rolling off his tongue like honey. “Why is it that you’re so nice to everyone else, but so mean to me?”
“Maybe I just don’t like you that much,” you answer, but the barbs in your words are undermined by the way your eyes dart to his chest. He wants to pat himself on the back for going home to change out of his flight suit and into a threadbare grey t-shirt before coming out tonight.
Jake purses his lips, nodding like he’s seriously considering your words, leaning in, and lowering his voice. “Or maybe, you like me a little more than you’d care to admit.”
You shoot him a dirty look for invading your space. “You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?”
Your thighs press together, almost imperceptibly. If he wasn’t completely attuned to you, he probably would’ve missed it.
Bingo.
“Tell me to fuck off and I will,” Jake rumbles, mouth ghosting over your ear now, too close to be played off as a joke. “Or let me prove you wrong.”
When you lift your eyes to meet his, refusing to shy away from him towering over you in your seat, there’s something dark, something glazed taking them over.
“A one-time thing and I’ll never bring it up again,” Jake promises. “I have new orders for Lemoore anyways; I leave in two days.”
“Fuck,” you whisper. “Take me home before I change my mind, Seresin.”
+
You’ve been gripping his hair for what seems like hours, thighs still shaking where they’re bracketed around Jake’s head.
“What was it – I’ve never given a girl an orgasm?” He asks smugly. “I must be some kind of prodigy, then.”
“Don’t ruin my afterglow,” you manage, voice hoarse. You’re still far too coherent for his liking, and Jake ducks his head back down, savoring the broken moan that rips from your throat.
He doesn’t stop until the only word you can form is his name.
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North Island, 2020
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“Look who showed up,” Jake calls from across the Hard Deck, eyes running down your body. He shifts, adjusting himself as subtly as he can. “If it ain’t Violet.”
As generic as your uniform is, all he can picture now is the body he knows lies beneath it.
“Hangman,” you say, not quite able to hide the smile tugging at the corners of your lips.
“Glad to see we have a runner-up for the TOPGUN trophy.”
You look almost, dare he say, fond? “Your ego hasn’t dimmed a bit, has it Hang?”
Jake gives you another obvious once-over, smirking to balance out the warmth he can’t keep out of his voice. “Good to see you, sweetheart.”
+
Jake’s skin has been buzzing all night, high off his win, drunk off being within inches of you outside the Hard Deck after thirteen weeks of having you just out of arm’s reach.
“Congratulations,” you say, and you don’t even seem that sore about it. Your eyes linger on where his shirt has slowly been coming unbuttoned as the night wears on when you add, “Can’t believe you beat me for first place.”
“An inevitability, darlin’.” Jake leans in, pleased to see your mouth part in his proximity. “Don’t tell anyone, but I might’ve worried you were gonna give me a run for my money for a second there.”
You scoff, but don’t move away, if anything you sway closer. His fingers twitch at his sides, fighting to pull you against him, aching to run his hands up your bare legs and under your flimsy sundress, to see if you’re as wet as the heat in your eyes suggests.
You turn to face the ocean, which just pushes your hips in closer to him and makes Jake’s mouth water. “Obviously. You barely won.”
He winks, knowing you’re keeping tabs on him from your periphery even as you pretend to study the crashing waves in front of you. “That’ll be our secret. Care to congratulate me in private?”
“Thought you said that was a one-time thing, Seresin.” There’s a teasing lilt to your voice and in that moment, Jake knows he’s won for the second time today.
“Shut up and meet me at my truck.”
You smirk, turning on your heel without another word.
Jake doesn’t take his time with you this time. Only immense self restraint and the threat of being slapped with a public indecency charge keeps him from bending you over in the parking lot of the Hard Deck.
It doesn’t help that you seem less than willing to wait too, running delicate fingers along the inseam of his jeans, letting your skirt ride higher and higher as you shift in the passenger seat, giggling as he swerves when he catches a glimpse of red lace between your thighs.
By the time you reach his house you’re practically dragging him up the stairs by his belt loops, looking like you’re heading for the bedroom before he pushes you back up against the front door and takes you right there.
The second round you only make it as far as the couch, but he at least manages to get your clothes all the way off.
When you finally end up in his bed you’re both still panting and spent, Jake curling around you even though he’s tacky with sweat.
“I’ll be in Lemoore, now that I’m done with TOPGUN,” you whisper when you’re forming coherent sentences again, so quiet he can hardly hear you over the wind whipping against his bedroom window. “I think it’s short term, but we’ll see.”
Something warm lights up in Jake that he doesn’t want to examine very closely. “Good, everyone there is shit at pool. I’m in need of some actual competition.”
You smile against his skin and he drops a kiss to the top of your head, wondering if you can feel his heart speeding up.
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Lemoore, 2021
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You’re tracing mindless shapes across Jake’s chest, playing with his chest hair when you rip the rug out from underneath him.
“Got my new orders.”
It’s always amused him how fond you are of his chest hair, so it takes a few seconds for your words to sink in. When he does, his entire body flashes hot, then cold. He hopes you don’t notice the rigidity suddenly running through him. “When do you leave?”
Your face is blank, frustratingly neutral. “Tomorrow.”
Jake takes as deep of a breath as he can manage without being noticeable. Which given your proximity to his chest, is not very. He wants to be mad you didn’t tell him sooner, but the rational part of his brain reminds him he has no right to be.
“Where to?” He asks after a few beats of silence when he’s pretty sure it’ll come out even.
“Fallon.”
The scoff he lets out is genuine, at least. “Gross.”
Your indifference breaks as you giggle against his skin at his derision and he forgets that this is the last time he’ll get to have you like this. For now, at least.
“Are you spending the night?”
Jake doesn’t know why you ask anymore, in the last year he’s said no to sleeping in your bed zero times. He's turned down the opportunity to save you from sleazy guys hitting on you in dive bars even less than that - which is to say he does it without being asked and without even checking if you want his help anymore. Tact really is his middle name.
But like always, you ask and like always, he fights to keep the eagerness out of his voice. He’s fortunate to have decades of practice of keeping his tone level under his belt. “If you want me to.”
“I do,” you whisper, face still tucked into him, but he manages to see your lips purse, looking like you want to say more.
You don’t, though, and Jake hides his smile in your hair rather than commenting.
“Good. Wanna wake you up with my mouth on you,” he murmurs, trailing said mouth against your soft skin. He wills himself to say something else, to tell you he’ll miss you, that he doesn’t want whatever this is to end.
But his tongue stays stuck, arms tightening as his body says what his lips can’t.
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North Island, 2022
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Jake’s fists are clenched by his side, nails digging into his palms, pinpricks of pain the only thing keeping him from seeing red.
“I’m sorry?” You look confused. Scarlet edges into the corners of his vision. “That I didn’t tell you they sent me back to TOPGUN too? I haven’t seen you in almost a year, Jake.”
“Don’t act like we haven’t talked since then.” Jake doesn’t want to know what his face looks like, his normally careful façade shattered in favor of quiet outrage. “I think you know you were supposed to mention it.”
You had talked. Mostly sporadic, surface-level texts. Memes of an exasperated Chris Pine on his press tour he knew you would get a kick out of. In return, he received a graph detailing Leonardo DiCaprio’s age versus his girlfriends’, noting a clear age limit. You kept your jokes about him being a future Leo to a minimum, at least.
And on one memorable occasion, you called him drunk, and he got to talk to you for an hour after you snarkily admitted to missing him.
Neither of you mentioned it the next day.
You deflate. “Maybe. I don’t know what you want from me. We were always playing by your rules here.”
Jake’s mouth forms a tight line. “Right. My rules.”
Some bullshit he said, before Lemoore, way back in Oceana. Before you’d slept together, before TOPGUN, before he’d gotten to know the real you, before you’d gotten under his skin.
“Let’s just get through this mission, it’ll be easier if we’re not fighting. You do enough goading with Rooster.”
Jake’s so caught up in his own head that he doesn’t even bother to protest about Rooster. He’s grinding his teeth, jaw clenched so the rest of his body can remain still. He knows, on some level, that he’s probably overreacting. But he mentioned this return to TOPGUN to you last week and he can’t help but feel like he’s playing catch up when suddenly you’re here too.
If there’s one thing Hangman doesn’t allow, it’s being left behind.  
He doesn’t know why this is on the laundry list of things you refuse to talk about. That’s probably the most frustrating of it all. You’ve always been the puzzle he can’t quite figure out.
“We’ll stay out of each other’s way,” he finds himself saying, mask slipping back into place. “Focus on the mission.”
“Yeah, focus on the mission,” you echo, and Jake wonders if it feels hollow to you too.
+
Your head is on Jake’s chest again, bare legs tangled with his and the tension is finally bleeding from his body.
“Don’t like fighting with you,” you mumble, muffled by his arms wrapped around you.
“Ended well,” he jokes, magnanimously gesturing to your naked state just barely covered by the thin sheet. “Gave us a vigor we haven’t had in a while.”
He feels your cheeks grow warm where they’re pressed against his skin, clearly thinking back to the adrenaline laden, ‘thank God we’re alive sex’ that lead to the casualty of at least one lamp.
Jake silently thanks Maverick for being such a hot mess that the Navy is unlikely to worry about a few broken items in his bunk.  
He smirks at your embarrassment, as if falling into bed together is anything new. It’s the post-orgasm glow, he knows it is, but Jake feels the truth bubbling to the surface. Wouldn’t it be so easy not to let this end?
“Yeah.” You sigh, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t know. All the arguing, then making up so we can fool around. It’s time for us to grow up, don’t you think?”
Jake lets the words die on the tip of his tongue.
“Probably,” he manages.
He kisses you deeply, saying what his lips won’t. He doesn’t mean for it to turn heated; he just can’t bear to let you go yet.
Making love is the only way to describe what comes next. You’ve been at this for a long time, going on three years, and you’ve fucked; hard and fast and fiery. You’ve slept together; gentle and languid and easy.
It’s never felt quite like this.
When he slides into you for what he knows will be the last time, he tries to memorize every line of your face, every gasp from your parted lips, every flutter of your lashes. It’ll be months before he forgets the soft, unguarded shine of your eyes, the way your fingers feel tangled on the nape of his neck.
It feels like goodbye.
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North Island, 2023
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Your name is out of Jake’s mouth before he can stop himself, longing bowling over his reasoning abilities. Every urge to text you that he stomped out over the last year shows itself as a waste since any sense of self-preservation goes out the window once he lays his eyes on you.
It doesn’t hurt any less to see you without warning in Coronado, but at least this time he holds onto the reigns tightly enough to keep his tone level.
Your voice is happy when you turn towards him, and Jake tries not to outwardly react. “Hangman, hi.”
He wants to rush over, grab onto you, and never let go. Wants to tuck his nose into your hair, smell warm citrus, and have that niggle in the back of his brain soothed.
He waves as you stride towards him instead, boots cemented to the floor. “Back in California already?”
You chuckle, the adorable, lyrical sound raising goosebumps on his arms beneath his flight suit. “Thank God. Fallon’s a shithole.”
Jake’s mouth is open to respond when he clocks someone with curly dark hair behind you, moving forward decisively to your side.
“Babe,” the guy says, and Jake’s spine stiffens, noting the inch or two he has over this mystery guy out of reflex. “Hope you weren’t waiting long.”
There’s a split second where your expression shutters, where Jake thinks the fight or flight thrumming through him might not be necessary.
But as quickly as it shows up it’s gone, and he finds himself hoping the boom of jets taking off covers up the sound of his chest cracking open.
“Brandon, this is Hangman. We were in the same class at TOPGUN.”
Jake’s mouth is dry, tongue glued to the roof of his mouth as he internally winces at the obvious reduction of your history.  
“Riot,” Brandon says, sticking his hand out to shake. Jake tries not to crush the bones in his fingers.
Riot and Violet, he thinks sarcastically. How cute.
“You’re with the Eightballers.” Jake glances at his patches, making sure to keep his tone neutral.
Helicopters. He wants to roll his eyes.
Riot nods and you grin, letting it light up your whole face. “His friends can’t believe he ended up with a jet bro. Can you imagine the shit I have to endure, hanging out with these helo knuckleheads?”
You're unmistakably fond, and Jake feels bile rising in his throat. Mercifully, he’s saved from having to answer by a group of pilots trying to get your attention.
“It was good to see you." Your smile softens as you turn to leave, the sun shining around your head, painting you in gold.
He nods. “I’m sure I’ll see you guys around.”
Jake doesn’t sprint to get away from you, he’s too calculated for that, but it’s a near thing. If his strides are just a touch longer than normal, no one has to know.
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North Island, 2024
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“It’s nice, what you guys have,” Jake's mouth is saying outside the Hard Deck, celebrating your fucking engagement, of all things. The words taste like acid on his tongue.
“Don’t tell me, eternal bachelor, Jake Seresin is thinking about settling down. The women of California will be knocking down your front door.”
Jake wants to laugh, that that’s still what you think of him. But knowing it’ll just come out thick and wet, he keeps the noises to himself. He hasn’t done much in the last year to combat that reputation – Coronado’s smaller than he’d like and you’ve never seen him with the same girl twice because he hasn’t been with the same girl twice.
What’s that they say about old habits?
He takes another sip of his beer instead. “No.”
The teasing is still lighting up your features, barely visible in the moonlight. “Just an introspective mood then, huh? Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Thinking about what it might’ve been like.”
“What?”
“To be with you.”
You blink.
“You never gave me a shot,” Jake continues. He can’t help himself. “You were always convinced I wouldn’t pull the trigger.”
“I don’t think you would have.”
“I think you’re wrong. Doesn’t matter now though, does it?”
Jake tries to smile, but it comes out more like a grimace. He can’t help but reach out for you, squeezing your wrist one last time, studiously avoiding looking at the diamond on your other hand. “I’m happy for you, sweetheart.”
It’s only partially a lie.
+
Jake wishes he could say the noise wakes him up, but he’s already busy staring at his ceiling fan and its endless circles when he hears the pounding on his front door.
He knows it’ll be you before he finishes rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.
“What the hell is your problem?”
Jake scrubs his hand over his chin, nose scrunching. “Sweetheart, it’s the middle of the night.”
You glower at him in response.
Whether it’s for the term of endearment or the fact that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut in the face of your blinding diamond ring or some combination of the two, he doesn’t know. What he does know is that you have every right to be mad at him, after spilling secrets he’s held close to his chest for years.
He sighs, wishing he could say the timing was an accident, but he can’t lie to himself quite that well. “Come inside at least, so the neighbors don’t call the cops.”
Apparently, your earlier question was rhetorical because the moment the door is closed, you’re rambling, talking at him, really. After a couple of minutes of watching you spew a bunch of nonsense to skirt around the issue at hand, with no end in sight, Jake sighs again and moves into the kitchen to pour himself a drink.
The wooden chair creaks as he settles his weight into it, sliding a glass over to you wordlessly. He’s not even sure you’ll notice it’s there, but you pick it up and gesticulate wildly with it before taking a sip. He’s somewhat impressed you don’t spill a drop.
You haven’t sat down, can’t seem to stop moving and Jake wishes he had a toothpick.
“We were so chaotic, Jake. We wouldn’t have worked.”
You finally look at him, taking a deep breath. Jake wonders about your lung capacity since you clearly haven’t breathed since barging into his off-base housing.
“I’m not arguing.”
You’re pacing back and forth, frustration bleeding from every pore. “What do you want me to say?”
Despite everything, Jake manages a smirk at that, albeit dimmer than normal. “I haven’t said anything for, like, ten entire minutes.”
The scowl he gets for that little comment is unbearably cute. He tries to ignore the tightening in his chest, stay in reality. “Is that what you stormed over to my house in the middle of the night to tell me, that we shouldn’t be together?”
You visibly deflate. “I don’t know why I’m here.”
There’s an inkling in the back of Jake’s brain that says he does, but he tells it to shut up.
You do not have a history of sticking around when it comes to verbal confrontation, and he’s painstakingly aware that one misstep could have you sprinting out the door.
It was something that worked well with you two, at the beginning, when everything was easy and fun. Blowing off steam with the competition, neither of you had ever been any good at talking so you figured why bother?
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Why now? Don’t you think your timing sucks a little bit?”
“I don’t know.”
It’s a lie.
He knows. As much as he’d like to tell himself he was overwhelmed, seeing the ring on your finger, watching everyone congratulate you and your fiancé, deep down he knows that’s not true.
Like everything he does, it was deliberate. There was something telling him this was his last chance. Is his last chance.
“If I could stop loving you, I would.”
You drop down into the chair across from him, stalling as your brain clearly restarts.
“Loving, present tense?”
There’s a weariness to your voice that he doesn’t like one bit, which makes his heart drop into his stomach as he’s reminded of the risk in telling you this. A calculated risk, but still a risk. One where he’s already bet big, his chips all in, but the river is flipping over, and his gut tells him before he sees it that it’s not the card he needs.
He takes a sip of his Balcones, hoping the burn scorches the rampage building beneath his ribs.
You purse your lips, waiting for a response.
Jake shrugs, but he’s aware it doesn’t have the effect he’s going for when the tension refuses to bleed from his shoulders.
You look like you’ve forgotten how to breathe and will pass out any minute now. Jake debates the merits of passing out to get out of the hell that is this confession.
He avoids your eyes instead. Coward, his brain screams at him, willing him to look up at meet your gaze. “I’ve tried to stop.”
Hangman makes strategic withdrawals. When someone can’t be needled into responding, he pulls back. This is different. He’s never backed down from confrontation out of fear and he hates it, like he’s just discovered his skin doesn’t quite fit him.
Your mouth opens and closes several times without a noise leaving and it frustrates him to no end. When he grits his teeth, he doesn’t know if it’s to hold back the pleading and desperation or frustration at having flayed himself open only to receive silence. “Say something.”
“I’m shipping out,” you tell him as if that’s any sort of answer. “On Monday.”
Jake blinks. That's only three days from now, he wants to say. Opens his mouth and closes it, once, twice. Doesn’t bother with a third time. It won't change anything.
Maybe that is his answer. Let this go, this hope he’s carried onto multiple aircraft carriers, through several states, across endless miles of sky.
This is you telling him to let you go. To start over.
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Hawaii, 2025
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Some things have changed in 2025. Jake’s ability to control his mouth at the sight of you is not one of them.
“Where’s our helo hero?”
He feels pretty good about that one. As hard as it is to see you, as much as his entire being aches to touch you, he’s going to be normal with you and your fiancé. He owes you that at least.
Unfortunately, for him or for you – he doesn’t know who suffers more at this point – normal includes the patented Hangman barbs he just can’t seem to let go of.
“Seresin,” Phoenix whispers harshly.
Jake immediately thinks he’s missing a puzzle piece, that he’s flying blind, making a drop decision without a laser. Unwilling to admit anything he does what he always does; he rolls his shoulders back and smirks.
You shift from on your feet, clearly uncomfortable. “He’s not coming.”
He can’t resist the jab, but it feels sticky in his mouth. “Aw, come on, the rest of us managed to sync up our leaves, but helos are just too important?”
Phoenix pinches the bridge of her nose, scowling at him, murder in her eyes. “Hangman, shut up.”
He tries to pretend that look doesn’t send chills down his spine, but he’s man enough to admit that Natasha Trace could put the fear of God into just about anyone.
You cough, shifting uncomfortably on your feet. “Uh, we broke up.”
Jake looks around, sure the world is suddenly tilting the wrong way on its axis. Fortunately, the rest of the group seems to be trickling in, so you and Phoenix don’t detect his crisis.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he murmurs quietly while Phoenix is distracted by Bradshaw strutting towards them. “I didn’t know.”
You give him a tight-lipped smile, a mask so familiar he feels like he’s staring into a mirror. Jake’s seen this cover before, it’s fight or flight. In the next few seconds, you’ll either be pretending he doesn’t exist, or you’ll be cutting through his armor with a few well-placed, very specific remarks.
You angle away from him, surveying Fanboy and Payback to your left. “All good, Hang.”
Guess it's flight.
+
Several bars and a few too many shots later, Coyote elbows Jake in the side. “What’s up with you tonight?”
“Just bored of beating y’all in darts,” Jake insists with a cocky grin he knows doesn’t reach his eyes. He just hopes no one notices.
Luckily for him, the only person that always sees straight through his bullshit smirks is you. And you’re at the bar, waiting patiently for the bartender, politely making conversation with some cheesy tourist.
A guy in an atrocious Hawaiian shirt (that he probably bought yesterday at the nearest ABC store, his internal monologue snidely adds) is clearly hitting on you and Jake forgot what it’s like to watch this. Because it’s been years since you were single, he forgot how it feels with sharks circling in the water around you, seeing you make small talk with strangers who have no reason to stop because you’re so goddamn kind and there’s no boyfriend for you to mention that will abruptly end their interest.
There’s a chance you actually want to talk to this chump, but Jake promptly tells that line of thought to kick rocks.
He kind of wants to throw himself into the ocean and drift away from this stupid vacation he should’ve never agreed to. Mrs. Lee will be fine watering his plants if he never comes back, right?
Because once upon a time, in a shitty bar in Lemoore, he’d save you so you wouldn’t have to turn anyone down and he’d tease you, that no one that’s seen you in the air, so quick and decisive and cunning, would ever believe you’d need a knight in shining armor to keep the creeps at bay. You’d tell him to shut up before dragging him out of there by his belt.
He shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the memory. As it stands, the ocean is probably his best bet.
“Pool?” You ask when you return with a fresh mojito, sans cheesy Hawaiian shirt, and everyone rolls their eyes.
“Miss the Hard Deck already, Vi?” Fanboy teases.
Even though the ice between you hasn’t completely thawed yet, Jake ignores him in favor of getting up, making his way toward the table in silent agreement. He figures it’ll give him something to do besides staring at the side of your head.
If his mid-game trash talk is a little pointed, a little too on the nose; well, that’ll stay between the two of you.
+
Jake tenses as he hears the back door of the bar swing open behind him, footsteps heavy and likely belonging to a number of people he doesn’t want to explain his sour mood to right now.
“Surprised you and Vi aren’t still going at it at the pool table, thought it was about to be a rematch of TOPGUN in there,” Rooster says.
“Couldn’t beat me then, can’t beat me now." He chuckles out of reflex more than anything, but it feels hollow and forced. "Sometimes I just like to rile her up, get her out of that shell she always wears on the ground.”
Rooster hums in agreement. “Better than the last time I saw you two together. You barely looked at each other then.”
During the Maverick mission, Jake hears lingering in the silence in the humid Hawaii air.
“Sure,” the blond says, willing to agree to anything that stops this train in its tracks.  
“There a story there?” Rooster asks slowly, careful as ever.
“No,” he answers, but it’s rote, automatic. Even Bradshaw isn’t dense enough to miss the friction between you two, Jake knows that.
Rooster raises an eyebrow and Jake pointedly ignores him in favor of pulling a toothpick out of his pocket.
“How’s your girl, Bradshaw? Are you guys ever going to stop living in sin and tie the knot?”
He doesn’t comment on the abrupt change of subject, shrugging. “We’re happy. She’s pretty focused on her career right now. But when she’s ready.”
“I guess when you start fucking your roommate it’s nothing but sin from there on out, anyways, huh?”
The other man grins. “Jealous?’
Jake can’t help the way the corners of his mouth twitch upwards, an admission in its own right. Just not for what Rooster's implying. “Maybe.”
“Planning on coming after my girlfriend? Gotta tell you, Hangman, back in Virginia she was never very impressed by you.”
“She’s not my type. Any girl that’s into that atrocious caterpillar above your lip clearly has impaired vision.”
The other man brushes aside the dig easily. “That’s right. You only had eyes for Vi back then.”
Jake fights a full-body cringe, blaming the fact that he just walked straight into Rooster’s trap on the shots he took with Javy earlier. “What do you know? You hated me in Oceana.”
“Who says I don’t hate you now?”
“Touché.”
Rooster sighs, long-suffering like he can’t believe he’s the one that got saddled with the job of making sure Jake isn’t gonna lose it and ruin their vacation. “Seresin, you’re not the only one who notices things.”
Jake doesn’t need to dignify that with an answer. He’ll turn in his wings the day Rooster is more observant than him.
“Seems like forever ago, now, but I always thought she had a thing for you too.”
“I don’t know where you got that from, she was always arguing with me.”
Rooster waves it off. “Pulling your pigtails. Sound familiar?” He shoots him a knowing look that Jake pretends he doesn’t see, which unfortunately just gives mustache boy the idea he should continue.
“Yeah, sure,” Jake agrees, not without an air of sarcasm. Rooster may be right but it’s not like he’s going to genuinely admit that.
“D’you ever play Sudoku? My mom always loved it.”
Jake tries not to get whiplash, schooling his face into something neutral. He doesn’t know the ins and outs of Bradshaw’s childhood, but enough to know the other man’s putting a lot of faith in him by bringing his mom up at all.
“Did she?” he echoes, for lack of anything better to say.
Rooster nods, eyes far away, unfocused. “The thing about Sudoku is, you have to think about where you’re placing the numbers, so they don’t interfere with numbers in other boxes and lines.”
Jake barely bites back the word obviously, accompanied by a roll of his eyes.
“When we started dating, things weren’t always easy. We went from zero to sixty at the beginning, already living together.”
“But your mom loved sudoku,” Jake says, albeit dryly. “So, you knew to look at the puzzle as a whole.”
Rooster knocks their shoulders together in agreement, now you’re getting it.
“We had to slow down, take a look at what we were doing, where we were going, talk so that we didn’t fuck it up before it could even start.”
The blonde sighs. Leave it to Rooster to use some convoluted metaphor for Jake to parse out when his brain already feels like it’s been muddled alongside the mint in your mojitos.
“M’not the guy you should go to for relationship advice, normally.”
Jake snorts. “No shit.”
Rooster shoots him a bit of side-eye for that but nonetheless barrels on. “But I’ve known you and Vi a long time. For the better part of a decade.”
And isn’t that a thought, that Bradshaw of all people would be the one to know you and Jake better than anyone else?
“Is this your long-winded way of saying Vi and I need to slow down?”
He shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not. Just gotta figure out the key. Whatever that looks like for you guys.”
Jake turns it over in his head a few times, pushing down his every instinct to blow this off, to make a joke that breaks the intensity that’s thicker than the Hawaii humidity.
“Patience,” he mutters, because of course it would be that for Bradshaw. “Trusting you’ll get there when you get there, not letting the pressure get to you guys.”
“Hm?”
“That’s your key.”
“Yeah,” Rooster nods, before taking a pull of his drink. “But maybe our puzzles are different.”
Jake scrunches his nose, so unused to metaphors and convoluted thinking. His head is still a jumbled mess, unpacking everything he’s learned in the last twelve hours.
“Sometimes you have to drop down and take the shot. Don’t pretend like that’s not in your wheelhouse, Seresin. You’ve always held back with her. Too scared she’s the only one that can keep up with you, maybe. That she's the only one you won’t shake off your tail.”
Rooster is frighteningly insightful tonight. Jake resolves to switch to whatever he’s drinking the moment he goes back inside.
“What would you have me do?” He asks, maybe a little more abrupt than Rooster deserves.
“Basic, normal, human communication would be a start.”
Jake flips him off.
“Not letting her go again, would be the next.”
+
It only takes Jake one Dark ‘n’ Stormy (of course, Rooster's drinking something that Jake feels like an idiot ordering) to build up the courage to follow you outside.
“You called it off.”
It’s not what he planned to say when he saw you sneaking out the back door of the bar. He was going to let you bring it up, maybe goad you into telling him what happened.
But he’s starting to realize his puzzle is less of a Sudoku and more of a jigsaw. He doesn’t know all the steps to complete the goal and won’t know until he’s in the middle of it. Each step comes up when it needs to, and he’ll have to figure it out then.
At least, he thinks that’s the point Bradshaw was trying to make. You two have to talk about something real, at some point, but patience hasn’t gotten him anywhere with you in the last six years.
You nod, staring into the distance, eyes focused on the water ahead.
“When?”
“Right before I deployed.”
Jake balks. He’s not sure what he expected your answer to be, but it wasn’t that. “And you didn’t think that was something you should tell me?”
You look down at your hands. Jake suddenly feels like an idiot, for not thinking anything of your bare ring finger. He should’ve known. He just assumed you’d become one of the many pilots that’s allergic to wedding rings.
“I wasn’t—I didn’t know what to say.”
There’s something working its way into the edges of his earshot, a timer dinging, the buzz of the right answer chiming. He laughs but there’s no humor in it. It’s only because otherwise, he’ll scream, as the puzzle pieces finally fit together.
“That was almost a year ago,” he mutters because he’s a glutton for punishment.
You continue staring at the water, still refusing to meet his gaze.
And he remembers, you’ve never been good at saying the hard things. As fierce as you are in the air, you temper your words on the ground, too wary to cut someone to the bone.
Shrinking violet, he thinks, wondering who was even well-read enough in your first squadron to know that reference.
He takes your silence for the answer that it is, nodding curtly and squeezing your wrist before turning to go back inside, a mirror of the last time his chest felt like candy glass, just waiting for the director to start the next take so it could have its turn to be shattered.
You finally turn to him, eyes glassy with tears. “Jake, I…”
He can’t wait for you to finish, doesn’t want to hear an excuse. Patience has never been his strong suit.
Jake shakes his head, biting his cheek to keep the tears at bay. You’ve never seen him cry and he’ll die before he lets that change on the back patio of this kitschy tiki bar. “Message received, Vi.”
Fucking Rooster. This is why he put this off for so long. It’s excruciating.
“No, Jake—that’s not what I—”
“Loud and clear, Violet.”
“I didn’t know if you’d feel the same way once I was single,” you say suddenly, and it stops him in his tracks. “You seem to forget you never said anything until I was supposed to marry someone else.”
“Then why?”
“Why what?”
Jake wants to pull his hair out. “Why did you call off the fucking wedding? Because it sure as shit wasn’t for me or you would’ve mentioned it sometime in the last ten months.”
“I was with him for two years, Jake. That doesn’t just go away. I didn’t want to tell you before I knew where my own head was at.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Silence.
He turns to leave again, knowing the panic is showing itself in his shaky hands and uneven voice. Desperately, he wishes he had a toothpick or a beer label, something to tear at so his expression could remain carefully blank, tone collected.
When you finally speak again, your voice is thick and heavy with emotion, muffled by unshed tears. “Because.”
Jake raises an eyebrow, not bothering to figure out what expression is playing itself out on his face.
You clear your throat. You play with the hem of your dress. You look anywhere except his eyes.
Fight or flight, he says silently. What’s it gonna be, Vi?
He hopes to God it’s fight.
“Because you don’t marry someone when you’re in love with someone else.”
It takes a few seconds for the meaning of your words to register. He feels like he’s underwater, slow and sluggish, when he finally asks, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Takes more than love to make a relationship work, Jake.”
It’s funny, how you choose the words Jake has repeated to himself in his weaker moments. When he wondered if loving you was enough, if it could overcome that you two are so much more similar than anyone would guess. You might have a reputation for mincing your words, but he’s the only one that takes that for what it is – a mask. He’s spent enough time underneath one to recognize it when he sees it. It’s your way of keeping people at bay, staying in control, not letting anyone climb those walls you’ve spent so long carefully building.
Someone would have to take their hands off the controls, even for a second. Neither of you knows what it’s like to rely on someone else. To not take the lead. To let someone else have your back.
“You have to be able to give me a chance sometime,” he counters, as gently as he can manage. “Let go of the reigns enough to let me try. Trust me to take the shot.”
“I’ve never been very good at that, especially with you,” you say, nodding and Jake’s chest is getting lighter by the second, that you've thought about this. “But I also knew it was going to take me time, to work through ending things with him. I couldn’t ask you to wait.”
“I did anyways.”
You raise your eyes to him at that. “You did?”
“I told you if I could stop loving you, I would have already.”
You exhale shakily, fingers twitching like you want to touch him, but just falling short in the air between you. “I didn’t – By now I thought you would’ve – fuck, Jake. I didn’t think you meant that. Thought you just needed time to get over me.”
He wants to laugh, feels it twitching at the corners of his mouth. “In less than a year? Have you met you?”
You grin at that, rich and bright and open like he hasn’t seen in far too long, and there’s something loosening in your defensive posture. “A lot of people would say ten months is a long time.”
Jake feels fuzzy, from his chest to his fingers as he reaches to pull you into him. You fold back against him, and he ducks his face into your hair, nudging around to get his lips on your jaw, letting his words get muffled by your skin. “Ten months is a blip on the radar.”
He feels you melt into him and finds the courage to lay the rest of it on the line.
“Doesn’t matter anyways because it hasn’t been ten months. It’s been six years. I was just waiting for you to catch up.”
“Sorry, I’m so slow. Hard to keep up with the infamous Hangman. I hear he flies like his ass depends on it.” The teasing is back in your tone, and it spreads warmth all over him.
You reach up to where his forearm rests on your collarbones, where he can’t bear to loosen his hold on you, his fingers twisting in the strap of your tank top.
The entire line of your back is touching him, his nose tucked into the crook of your neck smelling citrus and vanilla and home, but it’s still not enough, as far as Jake is concerned. Too many years spent apart, too many moments with you just out of reach have him itching for more.
“It’s okay,” he breathes against your neck. “As long as we get here in the end.”
“I trust you,” you whisper. “You know that right?”
He nods, fighting a shiver as your hand drifts across from his elbow to his hand. You run your thumb across his pulse point, fingers encircling his wrist. You squeeze, and he feels your promise.
This time he gets to start over with you.
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"because you don't marry someone when you're in love with someone else" was stolen from michael westen in burn notice, episode 2.15 sins of omission (fantastic show!) although i changed the wording a little bit
thanks for reading!
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anistarrose · 4 months
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colors of space and time
On the Starblaster, one could distinguish which twin dyed their hair recently by simply walking into the bathroom, and noting the color and intensity of the stain. But you would only need to if somehow, you missed them parading their new looks around that day.
Sometimes, they’ll bleach it at the same time, but Taako always dyes his pastel. He’s the more likely one to spring for cool colors, too, but always seafoam greens (on the beach world) and pale purples (on Tesseralia). Lup isn’t so reserved — she dyes hers a saturated, electric blue the year after the Conservatory, and when she pulls it back in a ponytail, it looks like flames fanning out behind her head.
They coordinate, but never by choosing the same color, their crewmates notice. No, they go complimentary — Lup goes violet while Taako goes blond, he goes green when she chooses red. Some of the time that she chooses red. She chooses red a lot, after all.
When did they dive into hair dye for the first time? When did they realize they liked the look of purposefully messy roots? Lup can’t recall the answer anymore — it must’ve been well over a century ago. Maybe two — Lup had lived so many lives, even before the start of the cycles. Sometimes the details of her early adulthood blur, let alone childhood.
But nevertheless, she knows the reason why it all started. To remind everyone looking on that though twins, she and Taako were different people.
(keep reading on ao3!)
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antoniosvivaldi · 3 months
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Assorted Christmas playlists vol. 2 - Here is a set of four new Christmas playlists for different emotions and atmosphere of the festive season. Comes with a Christmas themed Tag Yourself meme, just like the previous instalment from 2019! (Tag yourself collab with @violets)
Companion uquiz | Assorted Christmas playlists vol. 1
Gingerbread House - Christmas crackers, practical jokes, enjoys watching anime, has an eclectic taste in music, loves to brainstorm, arts & crafts, messy handwritings, mismatched socks, comic strips, colourful flashing lights
A selection of funky songs to dance to for Christmas
{Listen on Spotify}
Silent Night - Counting blessings, candlelights, quill & ink, vintage posters, staying awake at the middle of the night, feels everything deeply, coffeeshop jazz, solving puzzle games, slow and steady to the finish line, mindfulness, ancient library
A selection of introspective songs for the winter nights
{Listen on Spotify}
Cozy Fireplace - Quality time, lovestruck, cardigans, the smell of winter berries, heartfelt letters from loved ones, romance novels, a bowl of hot soup, the smell of fresh oranges, rewatching classic films, stuffing Christmas stockings
A selection of heartwarming songs to enjoy together
{Listen on Spotify}
Christmas at the Beach - Carefree, goes with the flow, life of the party, listens to punk rock at full volume, shirts with tropical prints, street smart, dancing like nobody's watching, fruity punch, loves to be surprised, loves to surf
A selection of pop / punk songs for the summer lovers
{Listen on Spotify}
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jsketchi · 9 months
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Violet POV
Do you ever think about how crazy Ducktales is from Violets POV?
Imagine you and your Dads move to Duckburg. You don't know anyone so you join a bunch of clubs, volunteer organizations ontop of school and your own personal research at the library.
You join the Junior Woodchucks but you realize that you and your family are already so busy that you can't physically attend any of the meetings. So you earn badges by yourself through your other activities.
Then you spend any remaining hours studying about myths, history, science, dead languages etc.
Then one day on the beach, it goes dark and peoples shadows comes to life! Real actual magic! And multiple witnesses of it and proof! And soon there is a big storm and bam! A magic amulet appears in-front of you! It completely changes your perception of reality and how it works. Actual real magic, not just myths or science but magic! This could be a once in life time opportunity to observe real magic up close.
Then when start looking for answers in the local library. Then you meet an excitable girl who has the exact same interests as you and even wanted to check out the same book you have in your very hands! What a coincidence!
Then she invites you to a sleep over. She happens to not only to live in a mansion but the mansion owned by the richest person in the world. The mansion estate also contains some the most historic and magical artifacts ever.
Then the house is also crawling with paranormal activity and ghosts. You are able to successfully communicate with them enter into their reality. Then from there you through the power of friendships are able to essentially bring this spirit back from the dead! 
Then because this other new friend doesn't have a home, your parents decided it would be ok to let her stay with you. Soon she is adopted into the family and now you have a sister. All this because you found a magic amulet on the beach!
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autumnviolet · 14 days
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i love so much that pokemon is starting to bring back weird video game rumors. like the elaborate way to evolve galarian yamask and then the really specific and difficult (but hinted at by npcs and actually dialogue about sepia from the original black/white) way to catch meloetta in pokemon scarlet and violet
i see a lot of people saying "its too confusing why would they do this!!!" but thats the charm and soul of it. its like mew under the truck. its like L is real in super mario 64. its like that one youtube video that told 10 year old me i could unlock shadow the hedgehog and ridley in smash brawl by beating subspace on the hardest difficulty 10 times in a row and then i told my cousin and we were so convinced ridley was playable in smash brawl. and then i later saw a fake modded video of geno in smash brawl, and young gullible me was like "HOOOOLY FRICK"
thats what its all about.... and like. i love it. because pokemon is making those weird video game rumors Real.
its awesome too because its not outright lying like luigi in super mario 64 and stuff its literally actually stuff in the game that just happens to be super weird and elaborate
sure we on the internet can just search "how to catch meloetta in pokemon violet" but think about the large portion of the world that doesnt use the internet all the time. all the kids on the playground spreading theories because an npc mentions spinning around with strange winds in the beach biomes. imagine how many people are still searching for meloetta but not using the internet. pokemon sv is one of the best selling pokemon games ever theres a whole world out there that has not the slightest idea on how to catch meloetta
i Love That. that is wonderful.
nowadays games dont really get to have a lot of secrets. a new game is announced, someone somehow emulates the game early, prosafiagaming uploads the final boss in a thumbnail youtube forces onto your algorithm, and then the game is datamined and every detail and piece of code is now on the internet. its Booooring
that or the games just dont have secrets. smash brawl has hundreds of unlockable pieces of content, quite hard to get characters, unlockable stages and trophies and tons of side modes, theres countless secrets and you find something new everytime you play the game! smash ultimate... uh.. hands you every character within the first few hours, has every stage and assist trophy unlocked, replaced trophies with descriptionless pngs, and goes "you want more characters? pay up." once again... booooring
but when indigo disk dropped, dataminers and so many people were absolutely scrambling to find meloetta. it took Days to find which is astonishing for the modern internet. they struggled so much and were freaking out because theyre so used to being in control and making sure video games have no secrets but this time gamefreak one upped them and made something they couldnt spoil upon release. it was awesome
i love it so much- one day id love to use the internet less and i hope when that time comes the next pokemon game will have some weird obscure secret that ill be stuck for weeks trying to find an answer too and feel like a kid again. gosh new pokemon is so good
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annlillyjose · 8 months
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Rock Salt – WIP Intro
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hello again! on today’s news, your girl has a new wip aka something to fixate on and mould her life around for the next couple of months (or years). and because i cannot keep any exciting news to myself, here’s a wip intro.
but before we head into that, here’s a little backstory to how it happened. i finished writing dairy whiskey, i worried about my brain being incapable of forming new book ideas, two to three days after i get this new book idea that i’m totally hooked on, struggles to find a name, names it, decides to go forward with it, so again, here it is – rock salt!
here are the specifics:
disclaimer: this is an original work of fiction. plagiarism of any kind will not be tolerated. don’t be a pathetic loser.
genre: literary fiction
pov: first person retrospective
structure: probably going to be just full-length chapters
projected word count: 50k
concept: identical twins rain and norah move out of their family home for college where they purse two different degrees, live with different people in separate homes, and fall in troubles of their own. these begin to affect each other and they grow apart, being forced to navigate the the most confusing part of their lives – their shared existence as twins.
aesthetics/vibes: indigo skies, the beach, moths, seawater, salty breeze, chopping off one’s hair because existential crisis and queerness, lesbian relationships, house parties, fire, gloomy days where you feel like it’s going to rain but it doesn’t, cheap housing, bad grades, rotten food in the fridge, the moon, hanging plants, weed and local flowers
CHARACTERS
if you’ve heard these names before, no you haven’t, but again, they’re from twinepathy – the short story i wrote nearly three years back and scrapped afterwards. i tried to create new characters for this book but they feel like the perfect fit, so here they are.
norah
18
lesbian, she/they
her real name is eleanor
the protagonist and the narrator
studies political science
shoulder-length black hair, dark brown eyes, 5'3, skinny, wheat-coloured skin
always wears basic t-shirts or sweatshirts with a pair of mom jeans
distant, secretive, in constant disapproval of everything
strives on academic validation (and is being too hard on herself to bring in good grades)
rain
also 18
aroace, she/her
her real name is lorraine
studies painting and the applied arts
long black hair, dark brown eyes, 5'3, skinny, wheat-coloured skin
is a goofball, sunshine and rainbows, has a lot of friends, is extremely talented in her art, golden retriever energy with some drama to be unleashed
cannot keep her mouth shut so ends up in trouble with norah
don’t want to introduce them officially, because they’re not key characters, but here’s a little info on their older sisters –
harper
23
is called harp
is a high school geography teacher
engaged to her college boyfriend
oldest child in an asian household (i guess that’s saying enough)
violet
21
is called viv
the neglected middle child
in her last year of a nursing degree
wanted to study music but was too scared to bring it up to her parents and ended up being stuck at a hospital
plans to go abroad and marry a rich guy
well, that’s all i’ve got for you today. i haven’t started writing this book yet and i think i won’t until i finish editing dairy whiskey in august. i think i’ll start in september and then hopefully do nanowrimo for it in november. i’m super excited to work on it because it’s so different from dairy whiskey in a lot of aspects. but i’m discovery writing (as always) and we’ll just have to see where it goes. but until i come back with an update for this book, you take care, stay hydrated, water your plants, and eat a second dessert tonight.
– ann
general taglist (ask to be added or removed)
@shaonsim @heartfullkings @vnsmiles @dallonwrites @wannabeauthorclive @sienna-writes @violetpeso @flip-phones @silassghost @ambidextrousarcher @zoe-louvre @writing-with-l @magic-is-something-we-create @femmeniism @frozenstillicide @wizardfromthesea @rose-bookblood @coffeeandcalligraphy @rodentwrites @saltwaterbells @snehithiye @at-thezenith
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disneytva · 2 months
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February 2024 Programming Highlights
Friday, Feb. 2 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Pupstruction “Pizza-struction/Baby Builders” (1-18) (10:00-10:30 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/9:00-9:30 a.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Pizza-struction” – The Pupstruction Crew helps Chef Bonetelli make a giant pizza for a big bunny birthday party!
“Baby Builders” – Pupstruction needs to create a daycare center fun enough to keep baby builders busy! TV-Y
Original Series – Season Two Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “The Great Beyond-er!” (2-01) (8:00-8:30 p.m. EST) When Moon Girl and The Beyonder become stranded on a desolate alien planet, the two set out to find a rumored black hole in hopes of getting home. *Edward James Olmos (“Battlestar Galactica”) guest stars as Molecule Man, and Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix” trilogy) returns as The Beyonder. TV-Y7 FV
Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Suit Up!” (2-02) (8:30-9:00 p.m. EST) When Lunella tries to juice up her new super suit, she goes overboard and accidentally “juices up” a dangerous desert scorpion. *Jackée Harry (“Sister, Sister”) guest stars as Merle, and Ann Harada (“Avenue Q”) guest stars as Matsuye. TV-Y7 FV
Saturday, Feb. 3 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Kiff “Fun Uncle Pat/Kiff Escape!” (1-29) (8:00-8:30 a.m. EST) “Fun Uncle Pat” – Kiff’s favorite uncle visits.
“Kiff Escape!” – Kiff and the crew must solve an escape room. TV-Y7
Friday, Feb. 9 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Firebuds “Balancing Act/Monster Truck Piston” (2-14) (12:00-12:30 p.m. EST on Disney Channel/9:55-10:25 a.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Balancing Act” – Violet tries to impress her visiting birth mom, a circus acrobat. *Lea Salonga (“Mulan”) guest stars as Yolanda Yamada.
“Monster Truck Piston” – Piston gets new monster truck tires and helps the Firebuds stop a theft. *Adam Pally (“Happy Endings”) guest stars as Diamond Diesel Dave. TV-Y
Saturday, Feb. 10 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Kiff “Beach Day/Sun’s Out Buns Out” (1-30) (8:00-8:30 a.m. EST) “Beach Day” – Barry and the Chatterleys go to the beach.
“Sun’s Out Buns Out” – Barry learns to swim. TV-Y7
Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Belly of the Beast” (2-03) (10:00-10:30 a.m. EST) When Devil Dinosaur eats a dangerous Moon Girl gadget, Lunella and Casey must shrink themselves to retrieve it. TV-Y7 FV
Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Ride or Die” (2-04) (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST) When Moon Girl must transport Quickwhip to S.H.I.E.L.D., keeping the criminal in custody becomes harder than she imagined. *Robin Thede (“A Black Lady Sketch Show”) guest stars as Quickwhip, Carol Kane  (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) guest stars as Bube Bina and Cobie Smulders (Marvel’s “The Avengers” franchise) returns as Agent Hill. TV-Y7 FV
Wednesday, Feb. 14 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures “AfterShock/Feather Frenzy” (1:00-1:30 p.m. EST on Disney Channel and Disney XD/11:40 a.m.-12:10 p.m. EST on Disney Junior) “AfterShock” – The Jedi help a prince serve his people.
“Feather Frenzy” – Large creatures take over the landing pad at Nash’s garage. TV-Y
Friday, Feb. 16 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures “Best Friends/Happy Trails, Nubs” (1:00-1:30 p.m. EST on Disney Channel and Disney XD/11:40 a.m.-12:10 p.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Best Friends” – Kai and Nubs team up for a training exercise
“Happy Trails, Nubs” – Lys and Kai must rescue Nubs from the Ganguls. TV-Y
Saturday, Feb. 17 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Kid Kree” (2-05) (10:00-10:30 a.m. EST) Moon Girl’s rivalry with a new teenage super-foe, Kid Kree, threatens her budding friendship with his human alter ego, Marvin. *Xolo Maridueña (“Cobra Kai”) guest stars as Mel-Varr, and Andy Gracia (“The Godfather Part III”) guest stars as Pad-Varr. TV-Y7 FV
Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Wish-Tar” (2-07) (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST) When The Beyonder gives an arcade machine the ability to grant wishes, Lunella is pumped to use it. *Ephraim Sykes (Broadway’s “Hamilton”) guest stars as Bobby the Myth, and Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix” trilogy) returns as The Beyonder. TV-Y7 FV
Friday, Feb. 23 Original Series – Season Three Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney Junior Mickey Mouse Funhouse “Chickie Boo-Boo, Where Are You?/Playground Heroes!” (3-01) (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST on Disney Channel/9:30-10:00 a.m. EST on Disney Junior) “Chickie Boo-Boo, Where Are You?” – Mickey, Minnie and their pals picnic with Willie and Chickie Boo-Boo.
 “Playground Heroes!” – Clarabelle invites the gang and their gnome friends to help build the Herotropolis playground. TV-Y
Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures “The Tale of the Short Spire/The Team Up” (1:00-1:30 p.m. EST on Disney Channel and Disney XD/11:40 a.m.-12:10 p.m. EST on Disney Junior) “The Tale of the Short Spire” – The Jedi investigate who is cutting down spires on Batuu.
“The Team Up” – Taborr and the Jedi must work together. TV-Y
Saturday, Feb. 24 Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “Make It, Don’t Break It!” (2-08) (10:00-10:30 a.m. EST) When I.S. 833 gets an impressive science teacher, Lunella is so eager to impress her that her drive toward perfectionism starts doing more harm than good. *Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”) guest stars as Dr. Akonam Ojo. TV-Y7 FV
Original Series – Episode Premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur “The Devil You Know” (2-09) (10:30-11:00 a.m. EST) When Lunella and Devil Dinosaur spend the weekend apart after a disagreement, Devil Dino gets mixed up with a rag-tag group of ex-super-hero sidekicks. *Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”) guest stars as Granite, and Alex Newell (“Glee”) guest stars as Pebble. TV-Y7 FV
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cowgurrrl · 9 months
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So This Is Love
Pairing: rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader
Author’s note: this came to me in a fever dream
Summary: A Beach Day [1.5k]
Warnings: time jump kinda (Sam is 17 and the girls are 13), me giving Dina and Jesse last names (Caradonna and Pierce) because Neil Druckman couldn’t, Lucy is Tommy and Maria’s daughter 🥸, family life, fluff
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If there's one thing you've realized about your family, it's that they love nothing more than a beach day. Sam will almost immediately ask when you're going to the beach when temperatures get past the eighties. His follow-up question is always, "And can Penelope's family come with us?" Because it can never just be a Miller beach day, it has to be a Miller-Hernandez-Garcia-Long-Caradonna-Pierce beach day. As the kids have gotten older and your lives more hectic, it's nice to have a chance to get away every once in a while. Sarah, Ethan, and Isaac will drive in from Sacramento, and Ellie, Dina, Jesse, and JJ will meet you guys there since they don't live far from you, Joel, and the kids. Joel and Ryan inevitably become pack mules because they refuse to let you or Carolina carry anything, and you've both learned not to argue with them. 
That's what today has consisted of. You, Sarah, Carolina, and Maria sit in the sand as you watch your husbands unload beach chairs, towels, coolers, sand castle molds, and more. It took Sam all of ten seconds to break into Fun Uncle Mode and start a game of football with Isaac and JJ, Penelope, and Lucy joining the boys. Elizabeth, Victoria, Sophia, and Violet sit in a circle with supplies to make bracelets and whatever books they're reading at their feet, gossiping just out of earshot of their uncool parents. Ellie, Dina, and Jesse have given up on arguing with Joel about helping to unpack and have settled on wading through the water, splashing each other when they're not looking. They make a sweet little family. Unconventional, sure, but loving and amazing, nevertheless.
Once the Hernandez-Miller-Long boys unload all their stuff, they join the football game Sam started, in which nobody keeps score because they're all laughing too hard. It's fun to watch Joel and Tommy play on separate teams, the sibling rivalry coming out just enough to entertain you and Maria. You would think Joel would slow down or get tired faster than he used to, but something about the summer sunshine makes him twenty-five years old again. He goes from playing football and playfully tackling Isaac to teaching JJ how to surf, holding his hands as they stand on the board together, to bounding over to Ellie in the waves, picking her up, and throwing her in the water. "Mom!" She complains when she breaches the surface with a big smile. She laughs when you throw up your hands to let her know you can't control him. 
All the moms end up running around with sunscreen, water, and snacks to make sure nobody gets neglected, no matter who they actually belong to. You once joked with Carolina that, at this point, you basically have a commune of parents who take care of all the kids. Jesse will send birthday cards and money to the twins on their birthday. When Elizabeth got too drunk at a college party, she called you instead of her parents. Not because she didn't trust them but because she knew you'd pick up the phone even though it was two in the morning. And when Sarah gave birth to Isaac, you, Lucia, Maria, Carolina, Ellie, and Dina descended upon her home to take care of the laundry and dishes, prepare food, and ensure Sarah and Ethan slept. It's like having a huge family without the drama or strained relationships. 
After Joel has all but run himself ragged and the sun is casting purple and golden rays across the sky, he pulls you onto his lap, and you sit with him as you watch your kids. Ellie, Dina, Jesse, and JJ sit nearby, munching on sandwiches and listening to JJ's latest science fair project about space. Sarah and Ethan build sand castles with Isaac, and Ryan, Carolina, and Victoria nap together in a too-small beach chair. The only ones still up and being rowdy are Sam, Penny, and the twins. Sam is trying to teach Penny how to throw a baseball, and the twins are surfing along the coastline. The sound of the waves and the heat from Joel's body makes you sleepy as you rest against his chest, his hand drawing patterns into your thigh. 
"D'you have fun today?" He asks quietly as he kisses your temple. 
"I always have fun at the beach with you."
"Cheesy," he shakes his head, and you slap his chest. "You can't even get mad at me 'cause you know that was cheesy."
"You married me for my cheesiness."
"No, I married you for the money. Obviously." He says, and you laugh. Penelope and Sam's laughter overlaps yours, and you both turn to see them leaning against each other with big smiles. Sam's eyes twinkle familiarly in the sunset as he looks at Penny again, holding up his baseball.
"Be serious about this! When I go pro, you're gonna be the one to throw out the first pitch!" He urges, and she rolls her eyes.
"If you go pro, you'll have much bigger things to worry about than me throwing out the first pitch." She teases, and he raises his eyebrows, hiding the baseball behind his back and stepping into her. You'd have to be fucking blind not to see the way they flirt with each other. 
"Oh, yeah? Like what?" 
"Like controlling your roid rage."
"I'll have you know I've never done steroids in my life!"
"You're still young, Miller. I give it three years."
"You think that little of me?" He asks and collapses to the sand dramatically when she nods. You laugh, and Joel adjusts so your ear is by his mouth.
"They remind me of us." He whispers, and you furrow your brows as you face him. He smiles sleepily and reaches out to push your hair out of your face.
"How so?" 
"Other than the fact she just called him 'Miller,'" he says, and you smile. "'M not sure. He just... seems lighter around her. And they're always together. They have their own little language and dynamic. Not to mention, anyone with eyes in a twenty-mile radius can see how hopelessly in love he is with that girl."
"I thought you married me for my money."
"I mean, that was a plus, but I married you 'cause I couldn't imagine spendin' another moment without you as my partner and 'cause I wanted to be with you every day," he says as he kisses your jaw. "'Cause I was and still am hopelessly in love with you." You take a deep breath as you wrap your arm around his shoulders and lean back to look at him in all his sunburnt nose, heavy, happy-eyed glory. 
He's aged in the years since you've been together. His hair is a little more gray than brown, and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes have deepened through late-night feeds, early-morning school drop-offs, tours, movies, albums, everything. You've aged too. You're not the same twenty-something you were when you met Joel, but you love this version of yourself. You love this version of your marriage and family and can't wait to see what joy the next version will bring you. You lean down and kiss him. He tastes like sea salt and beer and him. His beard scratches your face, but his hands on your skin are soft and heavy. You remember an old song from the original Cinderella film. She hums it after meeting her Prince Charming and goes home utterly in love with him. You swear, if this moment were a shot from a movie, that song would play over this moment.
"Cheesy." You mumble against his lips.
"Oh, that was cheesy?" He asks, and you hum. In one movement, he secures you in his arms and stands. You squeal and hold onto him for dear life as he starts walking through the sand. "I'll show you cheesy." 
"Joel!" You yell as he walks into the cold water and dunks the both of you under within two seconds. You don't see or hear it happen through the salt water in your eyes and your laughter, but your family rushes into the water after you—all of them. Ryan picks up Carolina, Ethan picks up Sarah, Jesse, and Dina work together to grab Ellie, and Sam picks up Penny, and they all run into the water. The kids follow suit, and before you realize it, all your favorite people are in the water with you, laughing and smiling as they cling to each other amidst the waves. Sophia jumps on Joel's back, and he goes underwater with all three of you as the sun sets overhead and the moon slowly appears over the cliffs. You're shaking from the cold and clinging to Joel, but you can't stop smiling. There's no place you'd rather be than here, freezing in the water with your family as the sun sets on another perfect Miller-Hernandez-Garcia-Long-Caradonna-Pierce beach day.
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riseofamoonycake · 3 months
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Benzaiten x mermaid!reader x Bishamonten headcanons?❤️🫶
Oh my, this will be fun to write ahahahah
Benzaiten x mermaid!reader x Bishamonten
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How it starts...
They hear you singing in the clear evening. A sweet melody, a singular voice leading the calmness on the sea and the dance of the waves, under the violet sky. A vision of heaven. A dream.
Benzaiten is the first to fall in love with you, as soon as she hears the song. There is also a bit of envy, because she thought she was the best at playing music and singing, so the second after she starts playing the biwa, matching your voice with the sweetest tunes
Bishamonten stays unbothered as always, but he listens to the song feeling the turmoil in his body and mind
Too many sensations rolling in their heart!
Then, Benzaiten goes to hunt, following your voice to catch you. And then here you are, a mermaid! A mermaid combing her hair, her tail playing with the waves like a kid. What a surprise!
"Great voice, sweetheart! Do you mind if the Lucky Goddess of Arts and Knowledge keeps you company?"
No way this tigress is going to avoid some innocent flirting...
And some sweet caresses on your tail
Bishamonten reaches you two as well. He glares at Benzaiten with a look of disapprovation, then stares at you with his arms crossed, judging every singular part of you, from the head to the end of the tail. And he can't help blushing a bit, at the sight of your naked chest... your eyes glimmering in the evening... your lips wet and inviting...
Congratulations creature, you killed two Lucky Gods. Pew pew.
... And how it goes.
No one is surprised if I say Benzaiten is always, always near to you, pampering you with hugs and kisses, teasing you by poking your cheeks and sides with her nails, flirting without mercy
And to be fair you are the same, always trying to make her fall into the sea by pushing her with your tail, so you can have an excuse to come and save her... to grab her waist and hips, and those legs you don't have...
Oh, Benzaiten has the most energic and beautiful legs you have ever seen! They are so thrilling when they move in a dance, and the desire of biting and squeezing her thighs and calves is strong, very hard to keep a bay
Sometimes you even fail, so it starts a playful fight between you two and your laughters can be heard everywhere
Swimming competitions go wild
But the real fun starts when Bishamonten is involved
He is basically your plaything. Yes, even if he is huge, and strong and... oh, his chest... well... *blushes*
And it is especially for this size difference you have a lot of fun teasing him by trying to get him into the water, and you lick your lips at the thought of what you can do to him
He is basically stoic and stays still all the time, even when he enters into the water and you can play with him for hours
He doesn't move if you stroke his hair, if you squeeze his arms or make your way in between his arms, cuddling against him like a cat. He doesn't move when your tail wraps him and teases his waist... it is the way to show he is interested in you, because he doesn't mind being treated like a giant plushie here in the sea, where anybody can see you
But if you go too far, he grabs your tail or arms and lifts until his height, before scolding you
The most interesting thing is he can't even stare at you without blushing. Even a little. You are too adorable in his eyes, he can't stay angry with you even when you act like a brat
And the sensation of the waves on him is so appealing... if you listen to him closely, you can hear him sigh...
So, a massage of your fresh hands, especially if you are also humming, is very appreciated
If he is in good mood, he swims with you for hours
After it, it is your turn to be cuddled on the beach, couched on his chest, your tail moving a little for the excitement while his big hands gently caress your back and shoulder and his eyes never leave your face
Sometimes Benzaiten joins you, so you have four hands for the cuddles!
It always ends in you and her singing like angels, with Bishamonten listening to you and relaxing under your voice
In the love making, they both start it by kissing your tail from top to bottom
Sometimes they decide to take you together, sometimes they argue on who goes first and you have to do a counting out rhyme with your tail
They both find you precious, you are their treasure.
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crazedstoryteller · 7 days
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I'm currently looking into Rhode Island, and it's admittedly tough to get opinions of other's thoughts and headcanons of Rhody that goes past chihuahua type behavior 🤨 so I'm wondering what headcanons you have for him? Even there ain't much!
Rhode Island headcanons and thoughts:
-is the second most densely populated state (after NJ) so he doesn't like crowds
-definitely was a pirate and/or privateer
-definitely was in the mob
-Rhodey is a sailor and fisherman at heart though--nothing better than the open sea, and a day of fishing. It's how he relaxes
-the man is a fighter: he was the last state to ratify the Constitution (and he only did so after the threat of tariffs and assurances that the Bill of Rights would be included), he was the first to have a Battle with the British, created to be home to religious dissidents etc
-In the Gilded Age, major industrialists from other NE states came to vacation in his state, centering on Newport (like implied, he, NJ and FL all don't like tourists from NY, MA, and CT, lol)
-his cooking specialty is everything to do with clams and any type of sealife
-my preferred ship for Rhodey is with Delaware (they are the other old marrieds but they aren't actually married unlike NH and Vermont who are), but I also like Rhodey/CT, Rhodey/Mass, Rhodey/NJ, Rhodey/Mary, Rhodey/Alaska, Rhodey/Hawaii as options
-Can speak Dutch, England, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Irish thank you very much
-has the sixth-largest Dominican community in the country
-Rhodey and Jersey are buddies: they share the same state flower the violet and a hatred of the influx of tourists from NY, MA, and CT to their beaches
-Rhodey and Connecticut served on the same ships together as sailors, then privateers, then pirates
-actually has islands as part of its state: Narragansett Bay, as the wiki says, forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago.
-Rhode has his soft moments, but he is easily provoked
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