#we eat rocks in this game buddy

[lmaonade]

[karpingaround]

diner shenanigans ˚ ༘ ⋆

- random oneshot i wrote at 3am :’)

A/N : 1.9k words, fluff, mother lowkey evil, mitsuya and y/n being sewing buddies, y/n is used a lot, not checked through cba sorry :), tbh i dont really like this that much but wtv

Mikey x F! Reader

-i love the blob blob blob

The diner was slower than the usual rush of people. It was a Saturday and past noon, and the diner was emptier than any other Saturday! To you, this was bliss. It saved you from constantly running around the building to collect and receive orders from customers, but also to serve the meals that were ordered.

However, now you were bored. You were still scootering around the diner for small check-ins and cleaning, but nothing was really keeping you occupied as usual.

 

If you had a choice, you would be at the arcade down the road with your friends. But since your parents owned the diner, you were basically forced into labour! Although you didn’t mind since the diner mainly revolved around sweet treats and desserts, meaning lots of snacks in case your appetite appeared.

Right now though, nothing was satisfying your tastebuds or boredom.

 

“Y/n!” Your mother shouted, pinching your cheek to grab your attention.

“ouch- ma, that hurts!”

 

“It should do! You’re slacking on the job again.”

 

“Is it really a job if I’m not getting paid? Ya know, this could be considered as forced child labour-!” At your attempt at being witty, your mother, grinned.

 

 

"Well, you eat half of the food we make for the customers, so you don’t need to be paid.”

 

You gasp, offended, while she laughs.

"Ma, I don’t eat that much!”

 

“Sure Y/n.” She took your hand and put your notepad and pan in your grip. “Some customers came in a few minutes ago at table 18. Go get their orders, and after that, I need you to clean up table 3 when they leave.”

 

“They haven’t even finished eating, ma?”

“Just trust me!”

 

At her words, you promptly walked over to table 18. As you approached, you realised that it was a group of boys dressed in black gang uniform!?! You debated turning back, however, it was too late; you were already at the table.

 

“Hi, are you guys ready to order?” You ask, holding your notepad up, prepared to jot down some squiggles of code. While you waited, you looked at the faces of the boys.

 

“I’ll have a-“ A boy with long black hair started before you cut him off.

“Takashj?” You asked impulsively, and in turn, the lavender-haired boy looked up at you.

“Hey-!?” The boy got cut off again as Takashj spoke.

 

“You work here, Y/n?” He smiled, ignoring his friend, who was flaming up in anger.

“Yea! My parents own the place; it’s nice to see you.” You smiled. Takashj was the club president of the sewing club! You had been in there since the start of the club, wanting to try to make an apron for the diner. You talked to Takashi and the boys about his sewing club, completely forgetting about your job until the table went quiet.

 

“Y/n!” Your mother shouts from the counter, and you flinch in fear. When you look back at her, she is irritatedly staring you down as you enjoy your job for a moment. How could she tell?!

 

Embarrassed, you clear your throat.

“Sorry about that. What would you guys like to order?” You completely switch to work mode, taking everyone’s orders.

 

“So, two lemonades, an apple juice, one strawberry shortcake, one coffee jelly, two cokes, and the banana shake special?”

You look at everyone as they approvingly nod before a blonde speaks up.

 

“Add five dorayaki to that, please!”

“Mikey, I told you five is too much!” Another blonde hisses from across the table.

"Well, I want five!”

The bickering carries on for a few minutes as you stand blankly, unsure of what to do.

 

“Y/n can you just add five dorayaki to the order?” Takashj whispers to you, watching as the two go back and forth in a game of rock-paper-scissors, best out of twenty.

 

“Are you sure?” You whisper back, not wanting to interfere.

“Yes, I just want this to be over.” He chuckles, and you smile in response.

“It’ll be on the house then.” You give him a thumbs up.

 

You clear your throat again, catching the two’s attention. “I’ll add five dorayaki on the house.” You smiled, and the two settled down; however, the blonde who ordered in the first place is beaming with joy.

 

“I’ll come back to you guys in a bit!” You cheerfully say, going to the counter and preparing the order. As you make the banana shake, you make sure to add more whipped cream for the blonde boy and give him two cherries on top and-

 

“Y/n, don’t waste ingredients!”

“sorry ma!”

 

You stop at the two cherries on top.

And as you prepare their bill, you make sure not to include the five dorayaki. You already eat that amount when working - what harm would it do if you gave your lunch to the particularly cute boy at Table 18?

 

Nervously, you started bringing their order over to the table. You hoped he wouldn’t notice the excess toppings you added on top of his banana shake or the fact that you only gave him the fresh dorayaki right from the oven.

 

As you neared, you noticed the boys go strangely quiet.

 

Ignoring the forbading feeling, you asked for each order, placing it in front of the person who ordered. When it came to the blonde boy, your face slightly heated up as you placed his banana shake and dorayaki in front of him without a word.

 

“Very cool, Y/n.” Takashi commented, to which you narrowed your eyes at him.

“What? I just gave him his order.” You said, acting clueless as the lavender boy gave you a sly grin.

 

“Anyway, here’s your bill; enjoy the meal!” You bow your head slightly in embarrassment before going off to the table, which your mother had told you to do. They did end up leaving after you served the boys, and thankfully, the table was on the other side of the diner.

 

Once you finished wiping the table, you dropped the dirty dishes off in the kitchen, and your mother was swift to tell you that the boys had left and you needed to clean again.

However, your mother never mentioned the pale blonde who still sat at the table.

 

“oh, can I take these?” You ask, leaning to get a glance at his face as he looks out the window. Quietly, he nods, and you take that as a sign to get out - ASAP! You were not in the mood to mess with a gang member right now, and by reading the embroidery on his jacket, he was the president of his gang!

 

After collecting the tableware, you counted up the abundance of pennies and notes left behind. With a few hundred yen tip, you smiled. What nice delinquents!

 

Finally, you collected up the tray and the money left behind. “Have a good day.” You muttered, catching the boys attention as you turned on your heel to leave.

 

“Wait, Y/n was it?” He stood up from his seat, seeming to be urgent.

 

“Yes, do you need something?” You smiled, feeling your cheeks burn up as you noticed his happy grin.

 

“Thank you for the extra cherry and whipped cream.”

 

“How did you notice?” You ask obliviously, smiling as you were caught red-handed.

 

“The other booth ordered a banana shake special, and theirs was much less full than mine.”

 

“Crap! Really? I might get sacked.” You joke to yourself, yet the boy laughs.

“and the five dorayaki as well.” He adds on, and you sigh. "Well, that was my lunch, so I won’t really get sacked for that.” You laugh, feeling your stomach grueling with hunger.

“You can still eat more, though, right?” He asks, a guilty smile on his face, and you give him a nod. You usually ate lots of snacks during work hours anyways..

 

“You really wanna work here on your days off from school?” He asks, noticing you drifting off in your thoughts.

 

“I mean, I did wanna go to the arcade today..” You mutter, wondering why you were still talking to the pretty boy that was making your palms get sweaty.

 

“I’m going there now! Wanna join?” He smiled at you, his head tilted like a puppy, as he offered.

 

“I don’t think my mother would approve.” You whisper before you both laugh.

 

“Y/n! Stop slacking!” Your mother calls out on cue, and you can only smile awkwardly at the boy. You look back at her, mouthing ‘one sec!’ before turning back to the boy, who is patiently waiting for you to finish.

 

“I’ve gotta get back to work, have a nice time at the arcade..?”

“Mikey.” His eyes turn to crescents as he smiles again. “See you, Mikey.” You spin on your heel, quickly going into the kitchen and geeking out to your friend, who was washing the dishes, about the boy you had just met.

 

“And then he asked me to go to the arcade with him!” You sulked, imagining what could’ve happened if you were able to go to the arcade.

“What about a lunch break? Maybe you could join him?” Yumi asked, wiping her hands as she finished washing up.

 

“ 'already took one, since I figured it was a slow day and I wouldn’t need another break.”

 

“So you can’t eat lunch with me?” Your friend pouted, taking off her apron, sewn by you.

“I mean, I could ask for a fifteen-minute pee break?”

Yumi laughs at your idea as you try to come up with excuses for why you could get out of work.

 

“Y/n!” Your mother suddenly shouts from the counter, and you immediately appear, worried you were about to be lectured for trying to skip work.

 

“Yes ma?”

 

“This boy wants to take you out.”

 

...

 

“What-?” You stutter as your mother nods her head, smiling at you teasingly.

“Who? Where is he?” You eagerly walk up to the counter, looking around for Mikey.

“Outside on his motorcycle. Another nut head.”

She comments, and you gasp.

"Ma, you can’t just say that!”

 

"Well, he’s crazy for wanting to take you out.” She laughs at her own joke, and you hear your friend and father both laugh along in the kitchen. "Ma, that’s just rude!”

 

“Y/n, are you going to keep the boy waiting?” Your mother asks, watching as you rock on the heels of your shoes in anxiety.

"Wait, I can go with him?” You don’t even wait for an answer as you take off your apron and slip on your jacket.

 

“Wait Y/n-!” Your mother tries to call for you, but you’re already out the door and talking to the delinquent she just badmouthed.

She sighs to herself as she looks at Yumi.

“Can you take her shift?”

 

“Well… it’s kind of my lunch break right now!” Yumi smiles at your mother, taking a strawberry shortcake from the display and heading over to one of the booths.

 

Your mother groans as she slips on an apron and aggressively grabs your notepad that you had left behind. 

 

“stupid teenage love.” She mutters before heading to a table to collect their orders.

“I heard you talking about me in the kitchen! It gave me the courage to ask for your mother’s blessing!”

“ARE YOU CRAZY?!?”

“just kidding! I only asked if you were free.”

[holylulusworld]

Bad day at work (2)

Summary: It’s a bad day at the office.

Pairing: Jake Jensen x fem!Reader

Warnings: short reader, enemies to…, language

Catch up here: Bad day at work

“Nothing will happen, Mr…” You glance at the name tag on his shirt. “Jensen.” He glares at you while you cross your arms over your chest. Jensen purses his lips, ready to defend his colleagues. He’s just done hearing everyone complain because they are too stupid to switch their computer off and on.

“If I recall right, your job is to take care of the IT in this company. I called, asking for help only for the guy answering the phone to get cheeky. He ate and chewed loudly. I told him that switching my laptop on and off won’t help because the new software causes the problem.”

“I don’t think any of my colleagues would do such a thing!” He argues, making you furious. It’s one of Jensen’s rules to not eat or drink at your desk. Everyone knows the rule and follows it.

“He hung up on me! I can easily find out who was the one and get them fired. I don’t care if it was you or one of your buddies. I had an awful week, and today wasn’t better. All I was asking for was help. That’s your job!”

“Maybe you were aggressive and loud!” He steps closer, into your personal space. His chest almost touches yours as he defends his colleagues.

“I simply told him that switching off and on won’t solve my problem! He was unprofessional from the beginning. You can’t eat while taking a call. It’s impolite and immature.”

Jensen huffs. “Fine, fine!” He pushes his glasses back up his nose. “I’ll check who was on the phone and talk to them. I still don’t believe he did what he did, but I’m not unreasonable.”

“Neither am I,” you snap at him. “I was stressed, and maybe my tone wasn’t nice, but I tried to stay professional.”

He doesn’t believe you but takes your complaint seriously. “Wait here. I’ll check who answered your call.”

You grab your laptop and the remnants of your mouse. “I still need help with my laptop. Where is everyone? Why is no one here to do their job?” You look around the empty open-plan office. There is no one around but Jensen.

Jensen walks off, ignoring that you follow him. He’s already pissed and doesn’t need any more stress. “Brock! God! Charlie?” He calls, but no one answers. “Where is everyone?” He pokes his head into the break room, only to find Charlie and God in a battle over the last chocolate bar.

“Hey, boss!” Charlie grins as she wins the chocolate bar. “What’s up?” The redhead grins from ear to ear. “We took our break.”

“Who answered the last call?” Jensen sighs. Great. Now you saw two of his colleagues play rock, paper, scissors for a chocolate bar.

“Brock,” God grunts. He longingly looks at the chocolate bar. “You cheated.” He accuses and snatches the chocolate bar out of Charlie’s hands.

“HEY! I won it!”

“Guys, where is Brock?” Jensen runs one hand down his face. Charlie and God just proved you right. None of them seems to take their job seriously.

“Smoking.” Charlie snatches the chocolate bar out of God’s hand right when he wants to eat it.

“Great, none of you seems to work here.” You roll your eyes. “You know what? Forget about my problem. I’ll call my boss and tell him that I need a new laptop because the whole IT crowd couldn’t help me because they are busy eating chocolate bars and playing silly games.”

You twirl around and storm off. Wasting more time on them is not in your plans. Maybe you can fix the problem yourself. You’re not an IT due but know your way around a computer.

“WAIT!” Jensen easily catches up with you. Fucking long legs. “I can take care of your problem.” He walks next to you. “Listen, you caught me off guard. I’m very protective of my team. If Brock fucked things up, he’s in trouble. I’m his supervisor.”

“I thought you wanted to show me what happens when someone messes with the IT crowd,” you joke. “You know, so far no one has ever threatened me at my workplace.”

Jensen grins. He takes the laptop out of your hands and asks you to follow him to his desk. “I’ll fix your hard drive problems,” he dips his head to look at you. “And maybe I’ll help you deep clean it too.”

Tags in reblog.

[thelocalconstellation]

Y'know when somebody you know says something that makes you feel like you clipped into another universe or something?

Yeah that was my dad today, he asked "Is opening a portal to hell a bad thing?" In a genuine, lightly concerned but more curious than anything, kind of tone earlier while we were playing Deep Rock Galactic and I had to take a moment for that one.

Important context regarding my father, this man has the power of Logic and Google on his side he has possibly the biggest brain out there he has ADHD and while it plagues him he's also interested in everything ever just about and if the ADHD didn't stop him he would have ended up doing some really fucking interesting experiments regarding the human psyche and quantum physics. If anybody wants to hear about his theory on how the human consciousness moves through time I can attempt a poor explanation of what he said because buddy What The Fuck. His psychiatrist said it was interesting. It is though.

Anyway this is the smartest man I know I've been raised by this man to have some semblance of the skill he has so carefully honed of asking why so much until the universe unravels and spells all it's secrets out for you

And he has decided to ask, in a video game where bugs try and eat you for the mere crime of being in there presence for more than approximately .3 seconds, where if you enter the wrong region of the planet you'll have knife vines trying to give you free bottom surgery, if opening a portal to hell is a bad thing.

Yes dad. Opening a portal to hell is a bad thing in this case. Especially when the things that crawl OUT of the portal move as fast as I do.

[starlightswordfight]

FINALLY HC POSTING ABOUT THE KOPPAITES!!!!

– alph is not cis I don't know what to tell you. I personally really really like transmasc alph but I think it works in any direction you want to take it

– my god he is the second youngest of fifteen siblings. did not ever know an ounce of privacy OR of peace and quiet until he moved out, and now is incredibly sensitive to noise. he loves his family so dearly but It Got Loud In There. uses noise cancelling headphones during his work ONLY when it is safe for him to do so

– god awful sleep schedule PLEASE help him get out

– has an alarm for literally everything

– I think he would enjoy scrapbooking if he knew what it was

– makes this face often

– brittany, to my knowledge, is the only person in all four games to have a dress-like spacesuit! I like to think she made the adjustments herself or specifically requested for hers to look like that somehow

– wears glasses because of astigmatism. as it can be hereditary, this also applies to nelle. they're cousins but a LOT of their side of the family has it so they just are coping

– used to collect a lot of physical books but kept forgetting to actually read them and now she downloads books instead and also forgets where the downloads are so we are getting NO reading in

– she has a bad habit of hanging onto everything "in case we need it someday" and I mean EVERYTHING. she's working on it we're doing better

– she loves board games!! she also gets Very Very Competitive

– this one is kind of canon if you pay attention but I want to note anyway that she sleeps like a rock. when she's out she's out. hydrogen bomb detonation would not startle her

– charlie should've been an ornithologist and I do not know why he isn't one. I think he just keeps his interests separate from his work. ignore the rubber ducky rescue missions

– he's good friends with nelle, actually! went to her once when elizabeth was under the weather

– in canon he has also interacted with dobbs in the past, though they've since stopped interacting, which I believe is because of a falling out/some kind of big argument that they both regret but still refuse to work out

– gives his friends additional rubber ducks For Luck

– that overinflated ego is, to a degree, exaggerated. charlie in actuality is not half as confident as he acts. fake it til you make it

– walks into rooms then leaves the door open when he walks out and everyone hates it

– dobbs has a lot of scars, actually! the vast majority of them do not have any dramatic or harrowing reasoning. they're all mishaps. has one on his arm from trying to cook once and leaning it on the hot ass pan like I did and now it won't ever go away. the Battle with the Mashed Potato Ball

– WORLD'S WORST LIAR

– has a lot of different proficiencies/certifications, and some are very ... very specific. glad to know that you can forklift, don

– talks like "now listen here, pal" and "newsflash buddy" sometimes

– most likely to have a comically large backpack with every item in it would be don

– he should be good at cooking as a treat. this took years of practice; the mashed potato ball incident was a means to an end. I can't keep referencing my own leftover scar backstory. can they even fucking eat vegetables post cancelled everyone go home

– nelle has a debilitating caffeine dependency

– I think she should be a secret nerd for enrichment purposes. get her in tabletop and it's all over

– she has those mugs with the really really overly specific messages on them like how some t-shirts do it and none of them apply to her

– prone to migraines. they may be chronic. I'm sorry nelle I love you

– hi! my personal hc is that her and brittany are cousins. I just know that canonically they are Not sisters but basically anything else goes? anyway brittany's auntie bea is nelle's mom

– type of person to bring more than one umbrella when it's raining

– hi so yorke and dobbs while on pnf-404 have definitely directly worked with schnauz about perfecting the treasure apprasial AI

– energy drinks are to yorke what coffee is to nelle. don is so deeply worried about them both

– had an emo phase and only escaped it partially

– REALLY GOOD at procrastinating

– I know this man has shrimp posture. that has GOT to hurt

– yorke has more than definitely made really overly complicated machines/systems before to solve really mundane or stupid problems. "they call me the goldberg" "they WHAT?"

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Koopa the Sluggish

Debut: Super Mario 64

Huh? We forgot the picture for this post? Oh, no, not at all! He is there. Let me help you.

There he is! There’s our buddy!

You know Koopa the Quick! He’s a Koopa, he’s quick, and he’s big! Isn’t it strange, that he’s the only unique Koopa Troopa character in the entire game? Well he’s NOT! You silly unobservant goose. Sorry for calling you that. But there IS another Koopa who has been under our noses the whole time! Scientists have only recently discovered him while observing live Super Mario 64 tissue samples.

Do you see him? I don’t. He is microscopic. But he is here! Koopa the Sluggish! Mario is not just avoiding a rock here, but unbeknownst even to him, he is engaged in a race. A race with the smallest Koopa of all!

You see, when Koopa the Quick was born, he was far from the only one of his clutch. A bunch of eggs at once! That’s turtles! But one egg was empty. Unfortunate, but it happens, right? It would seem inevitable that some embryos just wouldn’t develop... but the thing is, this one did. And it was the smallest embryo in the world! Slipped right through the cells of the shell, and had to fend for itself in the microscopic world before even properly developing!

When you are this small, a whole lot of things want to eat you. And so, Koopa the Sluggish runs. He runs and runs and runs, maybe stops to nibble a diatom, then runs and runs and runs some more. It honestly feels disrespectful to call him sluggish with how much work he has to put into his constant fight for survival! But that’s what the Prima guidebook called him, and so that is all we got. Yeah, he’s significantly slower than Mario. But of course he is, at this scale! Instead of belittling him, how about we recognize his feats! He has to run and jump across bacteria just to get anywhere! That’s even more platforming in his daily life than Mario does. You know what they call bacteria! Nature’s platforming!

Koopa the Sluggish is one of those characters who just cannot get a break. He really deserves some more love! I know this is a lot to ask, but, try to make sure you don’t inhale him, it’s very easy to do but he hates that. Thank you! Hopefully we can get this Weird Mario Character the respect he should have had since 1996!

Never mind he was just eaten by an amoeba :( Sorry

[peculiar-potato]

Among Us animated series trailer analysis post!

(+ a theory on who dies first and who the impostor might be!)

here’s the trailer if you want to watch it yourself :)

This is going to be pretty long, whoops.

~~~~

Firstly, overall impressions on the tone/artstyle!

I mentioned a lot about the art style and everything in my first analysis post, but I just want to reiterate that it’s fun and I like it, and I like seeing how they take details of the game and translate them into the show.

From what I can tell the tone seems pretty lighthearted, well, as lighthearted as a murder mystery can be. It’s a little silly but in a charming way- but with a slight hint of dread. Kinda what I expected.

I think there’s still probably a little way to go before the show is ready considering there were no voice lines in the trailer, and it seemed more like “these are the characters look how fun they are” then actual plot/scenes, but that’s okay I actually really like that we’re not really seeing any glimpses of the plot or voice acting yet!

Anyways, now to the actual trailer!

So opening shot here is The Skeld. We already kinda knew it was going to be set there, but confirmation! At the moment I don’t think the planet/moon/asteroid thing behind them is important, it’s probably just to fill up the background, but who knows, it could be something!

Maybe impostor(s) come from there or something… or maybe it’s just a rock in space.

(My theories get better I promise)

With this image, we finally have an answer to my question from last time- what kind of pizza do the beans eat?

I noticed immediately that there was prosciutto and arugula (a specific kind of bitter lettuce) on the pizza, and with a little googling and a few subsequent suggested searches, I managed to find recipes for fig and prosciutto pizza with, you guessed it, arugula and cheese. (There were multiple kinds of cheese it could be- goat, gorgonzola, mozzarella to name a few)

So those round things are figs. Who would have thought?

Next up we see our first glance of the additional room they added to the Skeld for the show- the kitchen! And the first glance at a depiction of an impostor!

Yellow and Brown seem like good buddies. I wonder how long that friendship will last when impostor stuff starts happening.

My guess is the depiction of the impostor here is a bit more figurative- Nobody really notices them (expect one bean, but we’ll get to that later), and they just kinda seem to be lurking around being scary. Feels more like, idk the idea of an impostor than the actual impostor? I don’t know if I’m explaining that super well.

Maybe this is like the impostor checking out the crew before they start actually impostoring. Idk.

Also, seems like one shadow (although who knows honestly). Maybe it’s a sign of there just being one among the crew? …or maybe I’ve flipped the other way and am interpreting this too literally now.

Regardless, the impostor(s) do/does certainly seem very alieny.

(Alternate impostor conspiracy theories- impostor switches between crewmates/they’re all impostors (which would kinda defeat the purpose tho) or everyone’s just paranoid and there is no impostor (I feel like people would get disappointed by that though so they wouldn’t do it)).

After that we head to navigation.

Here, Red is slacking off playing video games (oddly enough with a human in them- as someone pointed out in the Innersloth discord server, which has some interesting implications. To expand on that myself, it seems like a kind of ancient-civilization human, which is interesting. I tried to figure out what game this is with a reverse image search but I couldn’t, I wonder if it’s a real game or something one of the devs made or something else.)

Anyways Red receives a call from a shadowy figure, presumably a boss of some sort, and scrambles to look like they’re doing what they’re supposed to. The image looks kinda similar to how they’re animating the impostor, but this could be an intentional red herring or just how they’re showing an unrevealed character or an “everyman” type being. Regardless, vaguely ominous.

As for navigation itself, I like the vibes honestly. I want to go there. I love the little headslug bobble head and a lot of the details in the background. Can’t assign everything there directly to a task, but it does have the three consoles and the chair. Also I noticed the bright yellow sticky note- like the “dum” visor cosmetic! I wonder what those papers on the floor say.

Next we’re in the cafeteria. (You can tell by the coloring of the wall, this is probably the vent near weapons)

A couple things I noticed here!

First of all, everyone’s very nonchalant about Lime venting. That seems to mean it’s established that Lime is an engineer like the role in the game (honestly I’m a little surprised a new role was included here!) and that the crew knows this and doesn’t think Lime traveling though vents is a big deal. Will this extend to other crewmembers? Will this put suspicion on Lime as things progress? Who knows!

Also, small thing here, but Cyan signs Orange’s waiver (on the clipboard they seem to carry with them everywhere) simply as “Cyan”. I assumed they would just be going by colors the whole time and not have names or anything, but this kinda confirms that.

(By extension, maybe colors aren’t even codenames or anything for them lore-wise, maybe their names are literally their colors. Also makes me think there may be just one of each color in the entire series if they sign simply as a color. Then again, here I am over analyzing small details again.)

We follow Lime through a vent and into the reactor, which is being watched on the cameras by Purple.

I don’t have a ton to say about Purple, they just seem to be doing their job here. I do find it interesting that the shadow blocks out the reactor camera and then makes it malfunction (is something going to happen in there?) but it may just be a kind of moving the trailer forward type thing.

Also, side note, what’s Lime’s deal with the reactor? They run up to it and snuggle it with hearts floating above them. Engineer really loves their engine I guess haha. I know people have to have already been meming this.

Next is a scene in the medbay.

They do seem to have the medical scanner in the background there, so I wonder if that visual task will ever come into play.

Also I see the MIRA logo on a poster in the background, so my guess is they are somehow under/related to the MIRA corporation.

Green is blushing as Blue checks their reflexes. I remember Blue’s character being described as very attractive, so it could be possible that everyone gets that way around them, or it could just be Green. Idk I’m not here to navigate the minefield that is shipping beans.

White is busy swirling around wine(?) until of course, the impostor shadow thing creeps in as with all the other scenes.

This time, however, someone notices. White.

My guess is White is going to die, and they’re going to die pretty early on.

I was already kinda suspecting White was going to die first simply because of how their character is described. Rich, here because they won some kind of contest, seems to be a bit of a jerk. Feels like the kind of person who would die first idk, just a vibe I’ve had for a while.

Also, I was thinking that 11 is kind of an interesting number, especially considering there were 12 original colors. (Side note, my guess is they’re waiting to include Pink alongside Coral and Rose as “the pinks” or something if they add the new colors in a later season). I feel like maybe they wanted a main crew of ten (because that is what the original lobby size is and thus what a lot of people associate with the game), but needed someone to die early to set up the plot so they needed up with 11.

Now, White being the first and only one to notice the shadow creeping around, and to immediately look terrified and be overtaken by it on screen? My guess is they’re the first to go.

One could also argue that this is an indication of them being an impostor, but idk that feels too obvious of a way to reveal that. (Also I have a different theory as to who it could be). My guess is we won’t know who the impostor is as the audience for a while.

Finally we have this image. I have quite a bit to say about this one!

First of all, I just love this image in general. Makes me so happy to see all the beans!

Anyways, the impostor shadow thing comes in and covers the “not” in “we’re not dead” and I love that I think that’s fun. Also, again, love the falling apart blinds (why are there blinds on a spaceship?) and the balloons duct taped to the window.

We also see them eating the aforementioned fig and prosciutto pizza. There are also a lot of red spheres on the table, which I haven’t quite figured out yet. Fruits of some kind? Or decorations perhaps? Maybe all red gumballs? Whatever they are, Orange is holding one. There’s bologna or summer sausage or something near Brown, and a gray disk in front of it. Not sure about that either, looks kinda like a giant coin, or one of those round lights you tap to turn on and off. Red’s reading what seems to be a rule book (they really don’t seem prepared aha), and there’s also an image of a crewmate on the other side. I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be Pink or Tan.

Blue has a piece of paper with a skull on it which looks pretty ominous, and Brown is holding a knife, but I think those are just red herrings related to their professions. Blue’s a doctor and Brown’s a chef, and Yellow is also holding a cooking implement.

Also, once again, no sign of an emergency meeting button. (Unless the weird gray circle is related somehow?)

With that I was almost ready to wrap up the analysis…

but then I noticed something.

Idk if it’s just me but this image is giving the vibe of the Leonardo Da Vinci painting The Last Supper. I don’t know where my mind pulled this from, but I just kinda looked at it was like… wait this looks familiar. At first I thought it was just my brain making connections, but when you look at the two images right beside each other, it seems like a pretty deliberate parallel.

If it is intentional… Orange is in almost the exact same position that Judas (the betrayer) was in in the painting.

Just saying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Maybe the red gumball thing made them an impostor /s

Also, just spitballing here, not really part of the theory, if Orange is working against the crew (either as an impostor or an accomplice), and they’re apparently affiliated with HR… what kind of implications could this have for the lore as a whole? Red’s probably just talking to their boss or something, but it feels ominous- what if MIRA (assuming that’s who’s in charge here) is in on the whole impostor thing?

But again, this is also kind of obvious of a hint, so I’m slightly skeptical of it.

Anyways, lots to think about with this, as you can tell I’m pretty excited.

[blowflyfag]

WWF RAW MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 1998

a commentary by Vince Russo

Ratz!!!

I love this rat race.

I love getting in my rat car every morning, driving to my rat office and seeing what rats want to challenge me today. I thrive on chewin’ people up, sittin them out, then givin’ ‘em a ride on the bottom of my shoe! Dog eat dog. That’s what this society is all about. You play–or you die. Can’t hang? Why then tuck your tail between your legs and get the !@#$ out!!! Hey, I didn’t make the rulz–i just live by ‘em. 

What is–simply is what is.  You can either cry in your Snapple–or drown in your Red Dog!!! Sure, one day I’ll “Get mine”, but until then–I’m just gonna enjoy the game!

And it is a game. It’s all about strategy. It’s all about burying your opponent before your opponent buries you. Let’s face it–it’s every man for himself!!! Friends? PLEAZZZZ. Aside from the television show featuring those chicks with perky breasts–THERE ARE NO FRIENDZ!!! Remember, it’s a rat race, a rat war and we’re all rat soldiers!!! It’s all about winning at any cost. Hell, you might as well throw family in there for that matter. How many Generation Xers are already counting the days until they receive that big inheritance from Mommy and Daddy. Sounds cold? Maybe even heartless? Well, guess what, Einstein–IT IS!!!

But then again–it is… what it is.

Is there really any question about where the relationship between HHH and Shawn MIchaels standz? What will happen when the Heartbreak Kid comes off the DL and re-enters the game? The rat race? Personally, I think the only question is–who, what, where, and when. Kidz, one of these “friendz” is screwin’ the other and that’s all there is to that tune!!! EGO–GET YOUR ICE COLD EGO HERE!!! That’s what it’s all about. Caring? Honesty? Doin’ the right thing? Hey, watch the Rosie O’Donnell Show, because we don’t play by them rulz here in the REAL world. 

[Where does the relationship between Triple H and Shawn (above) stand? Would a friend declare to the entire world that HBK “dropped the ball” at WrestleMania XIV as Hunter–here nailing X-Pac with the Pedigree–did?]

How can there even be any question? Remember the day after WrestleMania XIV, when HHH declared to the entire world that HBK had fumbled? Dropped the ball? What a guy–what a “FRIEND”. Then, of course, there was the X-Pac incident, and the match to determine who would challenge The Rock for the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam. Yeah, it was a real tough decision for HHH to screw his buddy–his pal. IT WAS A NO BRAINIER!!! And what about Chyna? How difficult was it for her to make her decision? No, the question is–HOW LONG BEFORE SHE SCREWS THE OTHER GUY–yeah, i’m talkin’ about HHH!!!

[How long before Chyna “uses and abuses” HHH. According to Russo, it’s the name of the game! (Right) isn’t Shawn the champ who “Doesn’t lie down for anybody”? Don’t friends like Triple H fall into that category?]

And what about Shawn? Isn’t this the champ who “doesn’t lie down for anybody?” One would think that “Friends” would have to fall into that category. I’d certainly think so. Use… and abuse, baby–it’s the universal language. Face it, there’s no “heart” in the Heartbreak Kid, and when it comes to his ass… or Hunter’s… HBK’ll be the one sittin’... or… sittin’ pretty. And, hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. Between the ropes–there is no morality… nor should there be. Morality doesn’t pay the bills. Friendship doesn’t put dinner on the table. Nobody gives–you gotta take. And those with the most by the end of the game… WIN.

It’s just that simple. So, go read all the uplifting, spiritual books you want, and believe that there is good in people… if you want. Go to church, say your prayers and take your vitamins. Just remember, the last guy who preached that… stabbed all the other rats in the back between breaths.

Later.

[andydrysdalerogers]

Cross-Checked ~ Chapter 1

Andy Barber x OFC Leighton "Leia" Andrews

Summary:

Andy Barber is having the best year of his life. His game is on point. It’s gets to play with his best friend and his fiancé just... dumped him?!. 

Reeling from a sudden change in status, Andy decides it’s time to just focus on hockey. Until his best friend's sister comes out with news that rock the entire organizations world., 

Andy has always carried a torch for the untouchable Leighton but in her hour of need, is now the time to shoot and score or risk getting cross - checked again? 

Warnings: Cheating (but not by the MCs); slow burn; friends to lovers eventually; SMUT!; pregnancy; jealousy; evil exes...

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS. Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Banners by me!

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 1: it's supposed to be my year - Andy 

Third Person POV 

The Red line is a good place to hide from the world. 

A dive bar that's only really known by locals and a perfect hideout for the local team, The Boston Bruins. This is where we can find the hero of our story. Or a broken heart reeling from the shock of a lifetime. The bartender puts the third glass of Glenlevet 12 in front of the broken man at the corner of his bar.  

Andy 

“You want something to eat Barber?” 

I shook my head. The idea of food just made me want to throw up. This must be the worst day of my life. Sitting at our local dive, all I wanted to do was to drink myself to sleep. Maybe then I'll wake up from this nightmare. Have you ever been stood up at the alter?  No? Lucky you. 

“Knew I’d find you here.” I looked over to my best friend and alternate captain Lukas Andrews. He signaled to Mike, the bartender, and pointed to my glass. “You ok?” 

“I'm great. Just perfect.” I pulled at the tie on the collar of my tux. “I mean I paid for an entire wedding and the down payment on a house, but my bride decided to fuck my team mate the night before our wedding and lucky me I overheard them arguing about it right before she was going walk down the aisle.” I slammed back my drink. “Oh, and she runs away with said teammate.” 

I signal for another. And dropped my head to the bar. “Andy maybe you should slow down?” Luke said. 

“Why? I don't want to feel Luke. I just want to numb the pain.” Can’t he see that I just want me heart to stop hurting.  I was betrayed by two people that I trusted tremendously and now have to deal with not just one heartbreak but two.  

“I know buddy but maybe you should sleep?”  

Luke’s a great best friend to have.  He always tries to take care of me and I’d do the same for him.  But right now, I don’t want to take care of myself. “No, we drink.” 

That's the last thing I remember. 

Please let me be dead.  

That could be the only explanation as to why I was in so much pain. The alternative is that its a massive hangover and that would suck worse. I cracked an eye and sunlight hit me like fucking a truck. Fuck, I’m alive and it was going to be a hell of a day. It took everything to get to the bathroom and throw up like I’m a goddamm teenager.  

I’m a 31-year-old professional hockey player. I don't get drunk anymore. 

At least I didn't before yesterday. And it hit me that the love of my life screwed one of my best friends and teammates the night before our wedding and I got listen to him beg her not to marry me. 

Fuck Fiona and fuck Craig Bailey. 

I wandered downstairs, the aroma of fresh coffee hitting me like water in the Sahara. This is why Luke is my best friend. Fully expecting to see him sitting at the island, I'm stunned when I see my other best friend and Luke's sister making breakfast. “Morning?” 

Leighton Andrews.  

If there was one girl I wish I could marry it would been her. I’ve known the Andrews siblings since Luke and I were in kindergarten. Hell, I've been around since Leia was just a sweet little baby. She was an annoying brat for most of my childhood. But then when we came home for Christmas our freshman year of college and every change. Leia was only 14 at the time but she grew up way more than that. She had always been short, taking after their mother but everything else had grown up. She had tits that were perfect, a banging ass that I wanted to feel in my hands. 

There was just one small problem. 

She's my best friend's sister. 

To call Luke overprotective would be the biggest understatement in the world. After their dad died in a freak accident, Luke took his job as “man of the house” very seriously. He made sure that his mom didn't feel lonely, and he made it his mission to protect his sister by any means necessary. 

As the dutiful best friend, I, of course, helped him in his mission to protect her. 

Did I have selfish reasons? 

Yes.  

Did I tell him that? 

I'm alive so what does that tell you. 

“Hey Andy, good morning!” Leia chirped.  She had always been a ball of sunshine and it was something that I loved about her. Except, wait, how did she get into my townhome? 

“I say this with love, Leia, but what are you doing here? And how did you get into my house?” 

She flashed me that goddam smile that makes me give her whatever hell she wants. “Mike called.” 

Sadly, that's enough of an explanation. 

“Where's lover boy? I thought you guys were attached at the hip?” I poured myself a cup of water, drained it with two ibuprofen and then moved on to coffee. 

“Bret is on a business trip right now. He'll be back on Friday.”   

Bret.  Blah, the man was a waste of space in mine and Luke’s opinion.  He’s a stockbroker for some Fortune 500 company. When Leia started dating him, he was the epitome of douche bag. For the last year, Leia had subtly changed.  She used to be a free spirit, dressed however she wanted.  But Bret wanted a sophisticated partner that was like the other wives of brokers in his company.  He would spend money to upgrade her wardrobe and then they bought a house together six months ago.  I hated that. Even when I was with Fiona, I knew Leia deserved better. But she’s happy, and that’s all I can ask for.  

“Was he even at my wedding? Or as I call it the implosion of my life?” 

Leia came over and wrapped her arm around me and put her head on my shoulder. “He was there. He told me to tell you how was and sorry that Fiona was a complete bitch.” 

“He did not say that.” 

“Ok, fine, it was me but that's because it’s the truth.” Leia smiled at me sadly. “I’m so sorry, Andy.” 

“Thanks, Leia.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I guess I'm just glad I found out before I married her.” 

“She's an idiot Andy. I mean who in their right mind ditch a man like you?” 

This really wasn't the time to get a semi. Her compliment is doing things to me.

“Please don't tell me she did it because I neglected her or drove her into another man's arms? I mean I know I’ve been busy but I was trying to secure our future, you know?” Fuck, did I screw this up? I was working to be named captain this upcoming season.  The Bruins made that announcement a couple of weeks ago.  It had been awesome at the time but was it tainted now? 

“I don’t know. She’s been with you for like three years. She knows what it's like to be a WAG. She’s a fucking idiot Andy.” She moved to rub my back. 

I looked around my townhouse. “I have to move out of this place because I have a new home. That she wanted. Fuck,” I dropped my head onto the kitchen counter with a thud. “Ow.”  

Leia chose at that moment to let out a series of adorable giggles, her second-choice weapon in her arsenal. “Feel better?” 

“No,” I mumble. 

She came over and kissed my forehead. “Everything is going to be ok. You are the captain this year. Your best friends are right beside you. And we'll always be by your side.” 

I looked up at her. “Promise?” I held out my pinkie, something the three of us have done since we were kids. She took it with her own. 

“Promise.” 

“Fuck, who turned on the brightness?” Luke wandered into the kitchen. He took a seat next to me and lowered his head into his arms. “I’m never drinking with you again Barber.” 

“I didn’t say you had to match me drink for drink Andrews.” I looked around, searching for his girlfriend. I vaguely remember her coming with him to the bar. “Where is Miranda?” 

“She’s sleeping.  I tried to wake her, but she said she’s not getting up unless I can promise pancakes and bacon in bed.”  Luke looked at his sister.  “I love you.”  

Leia rolled her eyes.  “Yeah, yeah.  I’m doing this because I need to make sure you guys were ok. I gotta get back home for a meeting.” 

I smiled at her. “You’re the best Leia.” 

“And don’t you forget it.” 

After the banging in my head subsided, I went to the new house. I needed to make this place my own. Fuck whatever Fiona wanted. I would make this the home of my dreams, not hers. As I walked up to the front, I saw someone sitting on the stoop. “The fuck are you doing here?” The nerve of this guy showing up to my house. 

Craig stood up. “I just want a minute to explain.” 

“Explain what? How you "accidentally" slept with my fiancé or how you were trying to convince her to leave me?” I raged. This fucker has balls, I'll give him that. 

“Andy, it’s not like that. I'm in love with her. I have been for a long time.”  

“You slept with her once and all of a sudden, you've been in love with her for forever? Bull shit man.” 

“It wasn't just once,” he said quietly.  

I stopped. “Wanna run that by me again?” I must have not heard him clearly 

“It wasn't just the once. We've been seeing each other for the last year.” 

We all heard that right? 

“You've got to be kidding me! You've been fucking my fiancé for the last year?” I don't even let him respond. I deck him across the chin and drop him to the floor. Lucky for him, Luke shows up just when I go to hit him again. 

“Andy! Stop! He's not worth it.” Luke grabs my arm and pulls me back. Another set of hands takes mine. I look back and see Leia and I calm a little under her touch. 

“I fucking hate you! You were one of my best friends and you did this to me. Fuck you! You're dead to me!” 

“We are on the same team Andy!” Craig argues. “I’m sorry but I love her, and we didn’t mean for this to happen.” 

“I don't give a shit. She was mine and you fucked me over. I'll work with you on the ice, but I never want to speak to you or look at you outside of the arena ever again! Go back to your bitch and tell her I'll send her shit to her mother's.” Luke pushes Craig away from me and down the drive. I turned away and Leigh wrapped her arms around me, and I buried my head in her neck, sobbing into her. “Why?” I asked her. 

“I don't know Andy but I'm right here.” She rubbed my back as Luke dealt with Craig. “Let it out, I've got you.” 

This was supposed to be my year. I had the captaincy, I had a championship caliber team and a fiancé that I thought loved me.  

This was supposed to be my year.  

Now I know what it's like to get screwed over with my pants on. 

Life is funny like that. 

NEXT

Taglist:

@patzammit

@texmexdarling

@slutforchrisjamalevans

@firephotogrl74

@tinkerbelle67

@before-we-get-started

@bunnyforhim

@alexakeyloveloki

@sunnyhummingbee

@whiskeytangofoxtrot555

@peaceinourtime82

@saucy-sassy-sparkly

@kmc1989

[lilithslittleworld]

Hanging In There: Pt 1

A/N: Felt inspired to write a little Rooster x Hangman blurb, kinda a fusion of fluff and some angsty teasing! This is my first fanfic for the TGM fandom so I hope y'all enjoy it at least a bit!

*i will alternate between Rooster and Bradley btw*

Summary: *Rooster's POV* Rooster gets an urgent call from Top Gun Academy one evening. The new mission is almost impossible, ready to break any and every pilot, even the best of the best. What's worse than a guaranteed death mission? Facing him again.

After word spread about Maverick's return to Top Gun, the last thing Rooster wanted to do was step foot in the academy. This, of course, was redundant because a summon was a summon, no matter who was or wasn't there.

One early morning in June, Bradley loaded up his Bronco with the few necessary possessions for the upcoming weeks. Summarized, there was just one duffel bag in his trunk. There was no denying the excitement that was coursing through his veins at the thought of being back in the cockpit. Flying was his whole world, a world for one. He loved the silence and peace that being in the air gave him, alone with just himself, the plane, and his thoughts. That was, when Hangman wasn't on too.

Rooster hated everything about him. His cocky attitude, the way he walked into a room, expecting everyone to fall at his feet, flashing far too many smiles. Hangman's arrogance only grew in the air, something Rooster absolutely despised. There was something in the way he looked at him that never failed to spook him.

The drive from Santa Monica was pleasant, only stopping occasionally to put gas and grab something to eat. After blasting 70s rock for about 3 hours, he was met with the 'Welcome to San Diego' sign and an elevated heartrate. Rooster had purposely planned all of the outfits for when they didn't have to be in uniform so that Hangman wouldn't take a dig at them like he had done three years ago.

It wasn't that Bradley was self-conscious or even modest about his appearance but the unspoken rivalry and competition between him and Hangman was palpable. He preferred Bob as a wingman but he had been assigned to Phoenix almost instantly after having made the cut.

Bradley took his final huff of a deep breath as he rolled his Bronco to a stop outside of Penny's bar. A drink always made him feel at ease. Besides, he was looking forward to seeing his old crew again after almost a year.

To call the bar crowded would be an understatement. It was brimming with people he'd never seen before, mostly newer fighter pilots finishing their courses. It took Rooster a good minute before he spotted Phoenix's tight, slicked back bun from afar. As he walked towards her, he recognized Bob, Fanboy, and Payback all hunched over the only pool table in the establishment.

He tiptoed up the wooden steps where his friends were playing, taking special precautions not to be seen or heard. Phoenix positioned her cue stick, taking ample time to consider the angle she was going to shoot from. Phoenix was always cautious and precise about everything.

"Careful or you'll take someone's eye out," Bradley said, just as Phoenix took a shot for the striped ball before her. She missed it entirely and spun around to jab him with her stick as she glared at him.

"How is it that you always manage to show up at the worst times, Bradshaw?" she teased, sticking out her hand which he gratefully shook. Bradley had always liked Phoenix. Not in that way, of course, but they were fond of each other.

"Must be my wonderful timing," he smiled at her, chuckling huskily before turning to the rest of the group who had paused their game, "Hey, guys."

"Rooster, we were wondering when you'd show up," Payback smiled, patting his friend on the back, "Fanboy here thought you were too chicken to show."

"Hey remember when I said 'Imagine IF he didn't come'?" Fanboy grumbled at his wingman, "I never doubted you, buddy," he promised Bradley as they shook hands.

"So, what's new?" Bradley sighed, leaning back on the pool table. A short silence interrupted the conversation as no one knew what to say.

"Um, I got engaged. The wedding's going to be next summer" Bob said shyly, scratching the back of his head as he blushed, "That is, if we even come back alive from this thing."

"Congratulations, Bob," Rooster smiled, "Will Phoenix be your best man?"

"Woman," Phoenix corrected, rolling her eyes at the pair.

"What are we talking about, gals?" A deep and slightly southern voice interrupted. Bradley knew that voice instantly. His heart sank momentarily as he turned to find Hangman's godforsaken grin staring back at him.

"Bob's getting hitched," Phoenix said, eyeing him carefully up and down before shooting Rooster a glance.

"Well, Bob, allow me to offer you my most sincerest congratulations," Hangman said, turning to Phoenix's wingman. "I guess that just leaves me and ol' 'Cock-A-Doodle-Doo' as eligible bachelors," he continued, craning his neck back to look at Rooster as he said this, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Keep this up and you'll be the longest living bachelor around, Hangman," Bradley interjected, his hoarse voice low.

"At least I'd be the best at something, wouldn't I?" the blonde responded, his ego on fire.

"You'd have to leave a lot of women 'hanging' to do so," Rooster smirked, visibly proud of his painfully bad jab at Jake.

Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Okay, ladies, let's keep drama for the locker room. After not seeing each other for a little over a year, I would have expected cleverer remarks," she stared at Bradley as she emphasized this point before turning back to his rival, "And that everyone would know each other's call signs."

"How about we all just play a game of pool?" Bob suggested, clearly uncomfortable with the energy.

"Sounds good," Rooster affirmed, finding his place around the table. Jake considered this a minute, before placing himself directly opposite from his opponent.

"Okay, looks like we've transitioned from verbal disputes to a round of pool..."trailed off Fanboy, eyeing the rest of the friend group.

Bradley was good at the game, he had made already made twenty-two points in the first shot, a sly smile on his lips as he turned to Hangman. "Your shot."

Hangman positioned himself at a corner of the table, leaning over as he calculated the distance and speed of his first hit. Rooster's eyes wandered innocently to the back of the man before him, taking in how well those snug jeans fit him. He averted his eyes immediately, making sure no one around him had seen him but half of his crew had gone to grab beers, leaving them alone.

The round continued, the scores were tight near the end and so was the attitude of both of its players. Both men were too proud to lose a simple bar game, especially with the disharmony they had had earlier and basically, since the first day they had met.

Rooster's last hit came rolling around the corner, as he bent over the table, arms extended outwards, ready to score his winning points.

"Nice stance," Hangman called out, his voice shrill with mockery, arms crossed across his chest.

"Stare at my ass and I'll beat yours," Bradley responded, not bothering to turn around as he watched his ball fly across the table.

"Nah, I'm just complimenting a friend," he smirked, twirling the toothpick that had somehow appeared in his mouth, his teeth glistening as he smiled.

"Well keep them to yourself," Rooster huffed, pulling out a small cardboard box and heading for the door, "Besides, I won the game."

The June evening air was cool as Bradley stepped outside, his shoes sinking slightly into the sand. He took a deep breath as he pulled out a cigarette from the box he held. For a few seconds, he stood there, listening to the waves crash on the shore a few yards away, inhaling and exhaling the pungent smoke into the night. Rooster hadn't always smoked. In fact, it was a rather new habit he had picked up. Something about the way he breathed while smoking always seemed to tone down the intensities of the world. He should probably just have learned breathwork and saved himself the inevitably fatal lung cancer but then again he dedicated himself to risking his life everyday. He could smoke once in a while.

The door swung open behind him, loud footsteps approaching but he didn't turn to see who it was that was leaving the festivities early.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you smoking kills?" a twangy voice broke the peaceful silence. Out of the corner of his eye, Bradley could see his wingman taking his place beside him with something in his hands.

He took another drag of the cigarette. "Didn't anyone tell you that signing up for the Air Force kills too?" he shot back, suddenly shivering at the breeze.

"Yeah, exactly why I enlisted," he replied, extending his hand out to Rooster, not bothering to face him. "Put this on or you'll catch your death."

Bradley looked down to see that what Hangman had been holding was a denim jacket, and that he too was wearing one. The warmth returned to his arms as he slid on the thick fabric, smoke still in his mouth as he exhaled with a sigh, the silence reappearing once more.

"What do you think he'll make us do?" Bradley whispered, his eyes trained on the dark, almost invisible, waves up ahead.

"Who, Maverick?"

Rooster nodded, hoping Hangman wouldn't see him pursing his lips in the dark.

"The usual but I'm sure he has a few life-threatening tricks up his sleeve," Hangman chuckled, shaking his head. Bradley said nothing.

"You're not losing it over this mission, are you?" he continued, a note of worry hidden deep in his voice as he turned to find a serious Rooster. The playfulness had eluded him entirely.

Bradley took a shaky breath before he spoke. "I guess I am."

"Listen, Rooster. Up there, you and I work differently. We look out for one another. I'm good, Rooster, very good. I would never let anything happen to you," he said earnestly, a firm hand had appeared on Bradley's back. He shivered again, thankful that it could pass off as a response to the nippy night air.

"Yeah, yeah," Rooster said, attempting to brush off his very real fear. For the first time in his life and career, he felt anxious. Anxious for what this mission held, for the safety of everyone relying on him, among other things. But he also felt grateful. Grateful for having such a reliable wingman, one who had a few ounces of empathy even if he was a real pain in the ass.

"Relax, Rooster. Everything's going to work out. We just have to do what we do best," said Hangman, flashing one of his famous smiles. Bradley returned it before patting him on the back.

"Well, I'm headed back in," Rooster said, walking towards the door, his heart much lighter than when he had come out. A grin pulled at his lips as he turned around once more. "Hey, Hangman? You look good."

"Like I said, I am good," he responded, with a wink. "Oh and Rooster? I was definitely staring at your ass earlier."

[sweetlittlenamjoon]

ahh im so happy i found an agere blog that talks about onepact!!!! if you can write stuff about jay or tag that would be real cool!!! /nf

aaaaahhhh!!!! yes absolutely here take some silly hc stuff :] i wasnt sure if you wanted regressor boys or cg boys so i just did both lol Jay 🐶🎸

★ cg ★

undisputed champion of peekaboo

dont ask me how to win peekaboo just know he somehow does

reads storybooks in the goofiest voices

lots of silly faces

playing games so you'll eat your least favourite foods on your plate

"okay, rock paper scissors!"

lullaby king

gives soft little strokes on your head to help you fall asleep

focuses way too hard when colouring with you

★ little ★

sleepiest guy in the world

like one minute he's up and playing then he's out cold the next

chatty lil dude

the world may never know what he's saying buy by golly is he saying stuff

extra distractible but also really gets sucked into things

no he can't hear you his show is on

just,,, laying down on the floor

vibing

but also running around in circles

you get it

silly dude

Tag 🦦🎧

✦ cg ✦

we hanging out

youre absolutely his little buddy

his little buddy he wants to squish to pieces but

he's totally chill about it

lets you watch the cartoons that say 'damn'

i think he'd find dressing you up in the ugliest combination of clothes he can find hilarious

"ngl i kinda cooked"

WILL pinch your cheeks

✦ little ✦

absolute menace

no filter whatsoever

so so many questions all the time

reads a lot

especially those animal fun fact books

he may bang out the occasional tune if you give him the cat piano

he'll do that unregressed too tho so,,,

chewy guy

little always nibbling on something or chewing

used to just chew on plastic spoons before he got chewlery

our goober <3

[poledancingdinos]

You’ve Got Me Hooked - Chapter 13

Pairing: Captain Syverson x OFC (Riley McKenzie)

Word count: 2.6K

Warnings: Sex work, Stripper, OnlyFans, general horniness

Catch up: Series Masterlist

Taglist: @amberangel112 @utterlyhopeful-fics @marantha @kebabgirl67 @littleone65 @omgkatinka @luclittlepond @marytudorbrandon @enchantedbytomandhenry @narnianaos @foxyjwls007 @peaches1958 @identity2212 @summersong69 @liecastillo @islacharlotte @evansabove1981 @eskiix @lilacwineandthesinkingsunmain @tryingtoliveonmywishes

A/N: If you want to be added or removed from my taglist, let me know! If your name is crossed out, I can’t tag you for some reason.

Masterlist

Sy

Riley is a fucking sight in that dress. It's youthful and cute but with those heels she looks anything but innocent. I don't know what to call them other than fuck me heels because that’s what they make me want to do. Her legs go on for days and all I want is to sink my teeth into the flesh of her tight little ass.

My plan for the evening is simple. I want to give Riley a night away from home to get all dolled up and let me worry about everything else. I want her to have the opportunity to let go and feel careless for once.

I change the radio to play low classic rock music for the drive and I can tell the plan is already working by the way she’s wiggling in her seat. Riley secretly loves to dance. That’s probably what makes her good at her job. She loves to sing too but never when someone might hear.

I'm taking her to a place owned by someone I went through basic training with years ago. At the time, he was just looking to make a bit of money while he figured out his next move. Turns out his next move was investing everything he saved in a restaurant. I originally made tonight's reservation with the hostess not knowing he even owned the place but I guess he recognized my name because he called me back the next day to catch up. He also said he’d save us a booth in a quiet corner where we would have a bit of privacy.

As soon as I park the truck, I hurry around to open Riley’s door. She clearly doesn’t need my help, seeing how easily she climbed in but she takes my hand and lets me help her out all the same.

The restaurant is dimly lit, the soft warm glow from the rustic, low-hanging lamps giving the whole place an intimate feeling. Some of the tables are occupied by couples but most of them look like groups of businessmen. It makes sense, after all, since it’s the middle of the week. It’s no surprise they’d take the opportunity to dine here and put it on the company credit card. This place is well known for steak and even wild game.

After I give my name to the hostess, she leads us through the tables to the back of the room like my buddy promised. Riley moves ahead of me in the narrow space but my hand stays on her waist and I immediately notice a few of the men turning their heads. She’s oblivious to the attention, mostly keeping her eyes forwards rather than studying the room. Maybe I should be jealous but I only feel pride that she’s mine.

Our waiter comes by a few minutes after we settle into our seats to take our drink order. I ask for a beer but Riley declines, saying that water is fine to start off. I assume she’s waiting to see what she wants to eat before picking a drink but when Riley winces as she looks over the menu, it all clicks.

“Sweetheart.” Riley looks up from the menu, biting her lip. “Are you uncomfortable bein’ in a place like this?”

“A little.”

My head tilts to the side as I study her. “You know I’m payin’ for everything right?”

“I figured you’d want to. You do like to talk about southern hospitality and such.”

I can’t help but smirk. “You were gonna argue for the check weren’t ya?”

She bats her eyelashes at me with a coy smile. “Maybe.”

Her exaggerated flirtiness makes me laugh and she does the same.

“One meal,” I eventually say. “I’m askin’ ya to let me treat ya to one meal. If this kind of restaurant makes ya uneasy then we won’t make it a habit. Do we got a deal?”

“Okay, I can do one meal.”

“Good. Close the menu.” She squints at me skeptically but does as I request with a curious smile. 

“Red meat, fish or poultry?” My question takes her off guard but she answers quickly without too much trouble.

I proceed to ask her a series of this or that questions until I have enough information to order something she would like off the menu without her having to see the price. We repeat the process until we settle on her having a glass of white wine to go with her meal.

When our waiter comes back, I order for the both of us and Riley perks up when she hears what she’s going to be eating. The mood instantly feels lighter and for the rest of the meal, I talk about my family and my time in the army and she in turn talks about her childhood.

Apparently Riley had a bit of a wild streak when she was younger and decided to dye some of her hair with Kool-Aid while she was at a sleepover with some friend’s. She made it a full two weeks before her parents noticed but as soon as they did, they dragged her to a salon and had them bleach it out only for it to turn bright green instead, nearly giving her mother a heart attack.

“What about you? You must have a few crazy stories from your high school days. I’ve never known a football player who didn’t.”

I move my empty plate aside and lean on the table with my arms crossed. “I mean, you’ve seen the town, there’s not much to get up to around there.”

“Oh, exactly. Which means you must have been extra creative to pass the time during your summer breaks.”

She’s got me there. Not that I expected her to let me off that easily.

“When we were fifteen Jared and I got lost in the forest after the stolen motorbikes we were using died on us and we had to cuddle to stay warm through the night until we could find our way back on foot the next morning."

“Oh my god, that’s even better than I was expecting.” She drains the final sip of her wine and sets the glass back on the table. “Okay, spill.”

“The property Jared’s parents bought had an old barn filled with junk from the previous owners. They found some old dirt bikes while diggin’ through everything and both our parents gave us strict orders not to go near them. They didn’t run but other than that they were in decent enough shape so his dad planned to sell ‘em off with whatever else was worth salvagin’. I told Jared that I could probably fix ‘em up myself with all I’d learn in my summers around Don’s. It took a few weeks of sneakin’ in and out of the barn. We learned how to drive from the computer in the local library and waited for his parents to be out of town to try them out.”

Riley leans back against the booth, looking rather shocked at what I’ve just said.

“You fixed up motorcycles on your own at fifteen?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve been around Don’s since as far back as I remember. My dad used to take me to work with him a lot. When I got to an age where I was always lookin’ for trouble they put a sponge in my hand and had me wash the cars. After a few years I traded the sponge for a wrench.”

“That’s really impressive, Sy.” It’s funny how for Riley, especially since she grew up in the city with a white-collar family, fixing up a bike seems like this massive accomplishment. To me it was just something I did to kill time. “So what happened to leave you stranded in the forest?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. When I got home, covered in dirt and shiverin’ from head to toe, to where my mama was fixin’ to have a fit ‘cause I broke curfew for the first time, my pop caught on real quick and we never saw ‘em again.”

I still remember the way my mama hugged my neck when I walked through the door. Then she proceeded to threaten to tan my hide for worrying her so much and sent me off for a much needed shower.

I always thought she worried too much when I was a kid. I often wished I’d had siblings to take a bit of the heat off of me. I’d do absolutely anything to have her fussing over me now.

“Can I get anything else for the two of you this evening?”

I look up to find our waiter staring at me as he waits for an answer. I turn my eyes back to Riley with a raised brow. I’m more than ready to head home and see where the night takes us. Since neither Riley or I have to go in to work until Monday there’s no need to end this thing early.

Riley pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she considers what to do. “I think we’re ready to head out,” she finally says.

I pull my wallet from my back pocket and the waiter rushes away to get the bill.

A half hour later, we’re back at the apartment. I took Aika out for a quick walk while Riley picked out a movie. When I got back she had the movie set up and two beers waiting for us on the table.

“Alright, what are we watchin’?”

She holds up the DVD case for me to see. The name is familiar from when I looked through her ridiculously well stocked shelves but I have no idea what it’s about.

“It’s a comedy,” she hopefully informs me. I should have guessed that from the cast but for some reason I expected her to pick something more… date night-y. “Haven’t watched it in ages so I have no idea if adult me will like it as much as I did when it first came out.”

“Works for me.”

She narrows her eyes at me with a small smile. “Don’t look so disappointed, there’s plenty of time to introduce you to the Nicholas Sparks portion of my collection. I just thought that making you watch ‘The Lucky One’ might be a bit too on the nose for tonight.”

I dump my phone, keys and wallet on the island and drop down next to Riley. A part of me wishes I could change out of these clothes. These pants were not made for lounging on the couch but I can suck it up for her sake.

Riley curls her legs up on the couch, smoothing out the skirt of her dress and leans into my side. I put my arm around her and get as comfortable as I can.

As I shift throughout the first half of the movie, my shirt gets untucked and Riley takes the opportunity to slide her hand under it. I’ve been shirtless around her quite a bit in the last week, including last night in her bed, but she’s never dared to actually touch or explore my body.

I’ve been randomly tracing circles over her arm just to enjoy the little goosebumps breaking out across her skin. I look down every so often when I feel her shiver and I have to hold back a groan when I see the outline of her nipples through the fabric of her dress. I figured she wasn’t wearing a bra but now that I know she isn’t, it’s fucking killing me.

I can picture her so clearly in my mind. What she’d look like without that dress. Without anything. I can imagine the sounds she would make for me. How her body would feel under mine.

The fact that the movie is indeed pretty funny helps pull my mind back when I start thinking about all the things I’d like to do to her tonight. I’m not sure what all she’ll be comfortable with but I can be very creative when the situation calls for it. I’ll find a way to make her see stars while staying within her boundaries.

Where my touch can pass as innocent, hers is anything but. I pretend not to notice or to appear bothered as her fingers trail the edge of my pants, threatening to dip below the waistband. I want her hands to stray but that doesn’t mean I intend to let her know that.

Riley changes her position for the second time in the span of a few minutes and her thighs rub together. I hoped that as the movie got closer to its end that the anticipation would start to build and that is exactly what’s happening. She’s picturing what comes next — or what she thinks will come next — and it’s making her all hot and bothered.

She moves again and this time she settles with her body facing mine, one leg over my lap. The hand on my stomach moves up my chest and she presses her lips to my neck. The touch lingers for a moment before she looks back at the movie. Her focus shifts between me and the screen, or at least, she pretends like it does. I’m pretty sure at this point she’s only pretending to watch the car dangling off the side of a skyscraper.

I can feel her heart beating where her chest is pressed against my arm. Getting more eager to catch my attention, Riley captures my neck with one hand and begins to suck a hickey into my skin. Her hips move ever so slightly, pressing against my thigh and letting me know that whatever she is doing isn’t just for my benefit.

When she reaches to unbutton my shirt, though, I’m forced to put an end to my air of indifference. “Slow down,” I tell her as I wrap my hand around her wrist, stilling her movements. “I told ya we weren’t doin’ anything until you were beggin’.”

“But—”

I take her hand and put it over my cock. Her eyes go wide when she feels the result of her teasing. Truth be told, I think I’ve been hard since I saw her come out of her room in that dress.

“I want ya. There is absolutely no doubt. Now be a good girl and watch the rest of the movie.”

Something flashes in her when I call her that. I know from the club and from what she’s said that when she performs, she acts like a dominatrix. Acts. But I can see what she really is. My girl secretly wants someone to take back control. She wants to be good for me.

“Stand up for me.” She does as I ask immediately. Oh yeah, she’s desperate to obey. I shift around so my legs are spread and pull her down to sit between my thighs. My arms wrap around her, keeping her back flush to my chest. She squirms a little when she once again gets a feel of my throbbing erection but eventually she settles with her head under my chin.

Every now the gets fidgety again though she stills on her own without needing me to intervene. She knows what I want. It feels like a lifetime has passed when finally, the credits begin to play.

Riley’s head tilts back, resting against my shoulder. “Please, take me to bed.”

I place a kiss right behind her ear. “Yours or mine?” I whisper.

“Mine. Please, Sy. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Chapter 14

[blackjackkent]

Lorroakan bossfight report!

Our buddy the mean wizard has four myrmidons on hand (earth, air, water, fire), plus an animated armor named Krank, and a dwarf named Miklaur.

The dwarf is kind of perplexing; all of the myrmidons have triple digit hit points, Krank has 50, Lorroakan himself has 98, and Miklaur the dwarf has... 8.

He's level 1! He's just a little guy! I don't know what the hell he's doing here or why he's in this fight.

Very strange.

Shoutout to Rolan, though! Unlike Aradin, he has been eating his Wheaties since Act 1 and is now level 12 like us!

The myrmidons are all thicc but not particularly scary; their primary function is to buff Lorroakan himself, who gets extra elemental damage for each one that is still on the field:

Realistically I think Hector (who does primarily Fists damage) could probably beat Lorroakan up regardless, but to do this fight as it is meant to be done, I think we want to get the myrmidons off the field ASAP.

Gale's Counterspell did a lot of work in this fight, as any time Lorroakan's turn came up was generally the scariest moment. Gale also managed to successfully Banish one of the myrmidons which was the first time we've done that successfully. XD

I was actually going to try to leave Miklaur alive since he seemed so useless and out of place in the fight but Aylin IMMEDIATELY obliterated him off the field.

I'm literally watching all of Rolan's combat logs and cheering him on. I think I've come to the conclusion that Hector feels distinctly paternal towards all of the tieflings at this point and it's rubbing off on me, because I'm sitting here cheering about Rolan having his own "Rolan's Magic Missile" spell like an overenthusiastic parent at a T-ball game.

Atta boy!

Lorroakan lost his entire third turn because he was stupid enough to run away from the earth elemental Gale summoned onto the field, and it bitchslapped him straight onto the floor, which was VERY satisfying to watch.

I actually kind of take back everything snarky I said about Aylin's combat back in Act 2; she rocked this fight. Maybe we'll blame the Ketheric fight on her having been in lockup for a century and needed to warm up. Look at this set of crits she got on a the Hold-Monster'd Water Mymidon:

Beautiful. Meanwhile Hector, who's usually flattening everything, spent the whole fight stunned. XD Everyone has an off day I guess.

Once the myrmidons were taken care of, Lorroakan folded like wet tissue paper. I actually skipped through a couple turns to let Rolan get the killing blow:

Get his ass. \o/

[manonamora-if]

Ask bomb

Are there any specific technologies or concepts from sci-fi books that you wish existed in the real world?

Do you consider yourself to be a picky eater?

You are given a choice to live in one of the fictional worlds where your games are set in. Which one would you choose and why?

If you were given a budget of 5000$ to upgrade your current house of tech setup, how would you spend it?

What's the most unusual item on your bedside table?

Have you read any of the IF works in chooseyourstory.com? While the forum is filled with unsavory characters, the quality of some of the works is better than most IFs found throughout the community as a whole

What's your favorite conspiracy theory, even if you don't believe it?

If you could have a conversation with your pet and they could understand you for just one minute, what would you say?

If you had a warning label, what would it say?

If aliens visited Earth and you were the first human they encountered, how would you explain our species?

What's the weirdest piece of advice you've ever received that turned out to be surprisingly useful?

What's the most absurd thing you've ever bought on impulse?

If you could have any mythical creature as a pet, which one would you choose and what would you name it?

As a french what are your thoughts on croak shoes and dad hats?

What's your favorite French expression or saying that you think the rest of the world needs to adopt?

If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance of winning a gold medal in?

😱

omg Anon...

Alright let's see

Teleportation. I hate the getting to places part of travelling. But also... Would it even work? Paris 2119 kinda gave me the ick about it at the same time.

I don't think I am. I'll eat almost anything and try new stuff when I can.

Any of the slice-of-life/like-the-real-world setting. Space is cool but it's too dangerous. Fantasy worlds don't have vaccines and medicine. It's like time travel: go in the past and you'll die of whatever disease is there, or in the future and maybe kill everyone with your bacteria (or was it the other way around? either way...). I'd rather live in a "normal" setting.

Half into a bed and mattress - the one you can bend up to read better. The rest in books and comics. If you give me the 5k in three years, I'll spend it in a gaming computer.

More unused bookmarks than books (I just have books on my bedside table).

I checked out the top rated listing on the main page a while back. Not my thing.

The Dead Internet Theory: the internet died some while back and is just populated by bots only. So we don't interact with people directly but through bots. It's a bit cuckoo. Or Nessie.

I've been told plants and rocks don't count as pets...

Volume not adjustable.

Don't bother, we're unsalvageable.

Touch grass. (go outside, take a walk, breath some fresh air)

Didn't buy, but I keep getting gifted croissant-related things: socks, kitchen towel... and more recently: the plushie. It is amazing. I love it.

The head of Mímir. I think we'd be drinking buddies. Especially if he is like in God of War.

Eh... Let people wear whatever they want.

« Quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire. » - When the wine is drawn, you must drink it. Or finish your shit.

I am so average at shit, even then I wouldn't win any gold medal. And that's fine :)

[oneatlatime]

The Warriors of Kyoshi

Two in one day, look at me go! Do not expect this rate going forward.

Before we start. I'd like to give thanks to the writers for putting the place name in the episode title. As someone who has been attempting to spell things phonetically, but has no familiarity with non-english names and has therefore screwed up many many times, I am grateful.

I really didn't notice Zuko's voice in the last episode but he's back to sounding like a muppet in this one.

My man that meditation is not working. Nor is the hair. After that burst of flame how do you have hair left?

Somehow I missed last episode that they had named the lemur. Welcome to the gang, Momo!

So this is going to be the 'Sokka faces his sexism' episode. I'm going to get really nitpicky here. Sokka says "You need to give girls space when they do their sewing" and Katara responds "What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Well, nothing actually! It's Katara who makes the leap and ties the two ideas together. Sokka then 100% puts his foot in his mouth (and follows through with getting his pants in his face) and I love the way Katara responds to it! Sew your own pants Sokka! But I gotta say, if Sokka had only kept his mouth shut he would have been in the clear.

"Where we're going you won't need any pants" is not a relaxing statement Aang.

Appa rocking the Justin Bieber look.

Guess Katara threw those pants harder than I thought she did. He's only got one tooth left.

'Lookit me! Lookit me! Mom are you looking? Mom did you see me? Mom are you watching? Mom did you see? Mom watch this! Mom look at me!' -Aang, while harassing the local wildlife.

Growing up in the South Pole, jumping into any body of water is absolutely insane, so yeah this tracks.

I love how Momo is the most enthusiastic watcher.

What do koi eat? There must be a lot of it here.

The fish is doing all the work!

Nessie on roids.

They caught Momo! I love how this implies that Momo carries the same status as a threat that the humans do. They don't blindfold him though. Do you think they had a bag big enough for Appa?

Yikes this is turning into an after school special. Rule of thumb: if you have to flanderize your character in order to make them objectionable enough to be a candidate for the lesson of the week, maybe that's not the right character to use to teach the lesson?

Is this Water tribe or Earth kingdom territory? The warriors are in green, but everyone else is in water tribe blue. Assuming the colour coding we've seen with fire and water extends to earth, maybe the warriors are assigned there?

Kyoshi is a place and a person. Now picturing Aangland. Also I guess the warriors are from here after all.

Aang is really good at finding ideally placed sharp edges on which to cut his ropes.

I like the game of telephone sequence and how the colours gradually change from blue to red.

Needs to eat but too tired to get up. We've all been there buddy.

Katara absolutely going for the jugular in the breakfast scene. Speaking of, Sokka's line reads in that whole scene are just beautiful. Offended and cranky, but still showing genuine appreciation for breakfast.

First time Katara's made me laugh out loud. She's spot on.

This painter's line reads are great too!

Your dance lesson? Sokka you're letting me down. You're making me want to watch the warriors beat you up. You're the best warrior in your village? You're the only warrior in your village. You won by default. (Although it must be said that he does refer to his potty break pals as warriors, so maybe he thinks of himself as the best of many).

Sokka how is your shirt staying closed? And you totally brought that on yourself.

Passed out Momo.

Oh lord AANGY?

Do you think one of those warriors could be convinced to do the Sokka treatment on Aang too? His head's getting a little big. Parallels!

Warrior lady Sookie has some very poor line readings. She's not helped by the fact that she's contrasted with Sokka, whose voice actor is probably the best in the show.

Aangy seen here being very unmonkly. The back and forth here is great.

"I got you!" Yeah Sookie he did. "You're not going to get it in one day, even I'm not that good." Maybe you aren't but Sokka is.

Nessie on roids has enough thinking skills to use his own self as a table. Well done Nessie. Don't hurt yourself.

Did the airbender forget he could airbend? He's being flung around through the AIR by Nessie. Just bend!

It's a good thing Katara is a waterbender, otherwise going into the water while wearing head to toe furs would have absolutely drowned her.

How does Katara know Zuko's name? Or recognise his ship?

How does Katara bend water out of Aangy's lungs? Doesn't she have no training at all? I feel like that could have gone horribly.

Momo includes himself in the 'girls come quickly' statement.

This has Mexican stand off vibes, as does the music. Also why are people hiding from firebenders in wooden houses?

This is why I don't like after school special plots. Sokka's been learning their technique for a couple of days and he's already better at it than Sookie. Which retroactively justifies all his patronising sexism from earlier in the episode.

Fire breakdancing is shockingly efficient. He took out three opponents while flat on the ground. Also Zuko is getting some serious air on his jumps.

That's twice now that Zuko has reacted to Aang's presence by saying "Finally."

Did Zuko happen to be carrying a bag of coal dust? Either way he's dead.

Shmymbolism!

Katara gives the single most stupid advice possible 'get inside this flammable building children!' and follows it with straight up lying to Aang's face. I'm glad he called her on it. And I'm glad she was so quick to change back to what she's been trying to tell him the whole episode (we need to LEAVE). You were right all along Katara, don't bend the truth now to make him feel better.

BIG SIGH. I don't know if this is bad writing, bad line reading, or both. It's just so corny.

So now he remembers he's an airbender. Also I hope he had some sort of air shield when he hit the water.

Roid Nessie's water breathing dragon traits coming in handy. And I thought that was just worldbuilding. That's two episodes in a row where what looked like worldbuilding was also plot. Sneaky!

Ha! They're going to rust.

Appa caught him! With his paws!

If I was the leader of Kyoshi, I gotta say I wouldn't be thanking the avatar. Thank you for luring the fire nation to our previously neutral territory and then having the decency to fix the immediate problem that caused, though long term we're still screwed. Assuming that Zuko's actions represent fire nation actions, Kyoshi's neutrality is gone and the houses no longer have roofs. Do you think the fire nation does reprisals?

So pretty.

And I've been spelling Suki incorrectly. I guess the gimme with the episode title was too good to be true. Gotta check my hubris. I need a Sokka treatment myself.

Final Thoughts

This episode ANNOYS me. First, the good:

I'm glad that the show touched on the status of avatar going to Aang's head. The first couple of episodes firmly characterised Aang as not wanting to be the avatar, but you'd have to be superhuman not to let it go to your head just a little. And Aang wouldn't be anywhere near as fun to watch if he was superhuman.

I also like that Aang explicitly verbally acknowledges that Katara was right, and that he can put into words the ways he was wrong and the lesson he learned. The lesson has a better chance of sticking if he can actually articulate it.

I like how this show is consistently sticking to actions having both good and bad consequences that can't be bended/handwaved/magic-ed away. In episode two, the flare went off and now the village at the south pole has a giant gash in it and Sokka and Katara had to leave home. In this episode, Aang stayed too long and now the village has burned down. There's no magic fix. This makes the world of the show feel real, and feel like something that's worth caring about. Actual stakes mean actual investment by the viewer is not wasted.

Katara got a turn with the brain! She was right about Sokka being a sexist jerk, right about Aang getting a big head, right about Zuko following them if they leave. I like Katara being right.

The bad:

I am not liking the direction that Aang and Katara's relationship is going. It's fine for Aang to have a little crush, and it's fine for Katara to baby him (he is younger, and judging by the ages of all the children in her village apart from her brother, Katara's been a mini-mom for a while). But it's jarring when those opposing perceptions are so blatantly juxtaposed. I think this is one of the places where the fact that I'm an adult and this show is for kids is making itself known. If I had watched this at 8 or 9 years old, I probably wouldn't have even picked up on the opposing dynamics. I can't quite articulate why it doesn't sit well with me. It just doesn't.

And now, the Sokka arc. BIG SIGH. Sokka needed to grow past his sexist tendencies. No argument there. But his sexism boils down to believing in the gendering of tasks and that said gendering has a basis in fact. That there are man things and woman things. That men ARE better at man things and women ARE better at women things, with the corresponding (though unacknowledged) belief that women are worse at man things and men are worse at woman things. Sokka was supposed to have these beliefs challenged and ultimately overturned in this episode by meeting, and being beaten up by, Suki and her warriors, women who excel at (what Sokka thinks of as) man things. Suki and her warriors do challenge the first part of Sokka's original beliefs, that being a warrior is a man thing. But after a 45 second training montage he gets the best of her.

Being a warrior seems to be Suki's full time job. We never see her out of her armour; this is her role in the village, a role she has presumably trained for for many years. And Sokka gets the best of her in the training room, and fends off Zuko after she fails to do so herself. If Sokka surpasses Suki so quickly at what she has devoted her life to, I guess being a warrior is naturally easier for men. And sure, women CAN be warriors, Sokka outright says it (although Suki kind of has to correct him as he only get halfway there), but putting aside the dialogue and looking at the action, Sokka's just better.

For that matter, given that Sokka was quite literally the only man over four years old in his village, he must have been used to seeing women fulfilling a male role. Unless his demonstrated subpar fishing skills could feed the whole village, the women were going hunting. Which is why I said he was flanderized earlier. He might want to believe in the gendering of tasks because it makes him feel manlier or more connected to his interpretation of his culture, or heck maybe it give him a sense of purpose or makes him miss his dad less, just spitballing here. But there's no way he hasn't spent every day since the men left for war seeing that belief be contradicted. And sure, he could have some cognitive dissonance going on, especially since he seems to have staked his whole identity on his manliness, but would that cognitive dissonance be enough to insult a pack of warriors to their face while tied up, then insult them even worse while they're actively practising with their weapons? I guess teenage boys have done stupider.

I'm probably reading too much into this.

The meh:

Zuko in this episode is literally just filling the villain of the week slot, and serious step down in narrative focus after the last episode, where he got a whole arc.

So I have problems with this episode. I like the avatar stuff temporarily going to Aang's head, but I don't think it redeems the rest of the episode. It won't be going on my rewatch list.

Last, totally vain complaint: this episode was nowhere near as pretty as the Southern Air Temple. That one had beautiful contrasts with blue/purple air and red/orange fire. This one is just beige.

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #18:

Bob Dylan's Dream / Lord Franklin

At some point in 1988 I discovered that there was music in my childhood home.

We'd grew up largely without it. I had an ancient, AM-only, dial radio at the head of my child sized bed, but that was strictly for listening to Vin Scully call Dodger games. At some point around 83 I spun the corroded dial experimentally and heard Borderline followed by Thriller. It was terrifying, and I did not repeat the experiment.

Therefore, as a child, the only song I remember singing along to was this ditty, which always immediately preceded Vinny declaring that it was "time for Dodger Baseball!"

Of course, I heard snatches of music outside our home. When Dolly, Emmylou and Linda put out Trio in 87 my mom bought the tape, shoved it into our red and white Vanagon's deck and kept that thing on repeat for years. And on the fourth of July I'd watch the annual Beach Boys Special at friends' houses while we lay about, sunburnt from head to toe and waiting for rock hard burgers off the grill. And yes, I'd sit in the park every summer and try to figure out how to eat KFC while the US Navy Brass band played. But all that music was around me, not in me.

Then, in 88, my buddy Matt's parents got cable, so MTV happened and we learned all about girls, I guess, from Straight Up Now Tell Me. By that point Buffalo Soldier, Shout, Brass Monkey and Take My Breath Away where spinning at elementary school dances and all the cool kids were bravely listening to Guns and Roses.

But I wasn't cool. I recognize this fact must be a surprise to all of you given the incomparably cool nature of this august blog and the meteoric rise of my Gordon Lightfoot musings among the cognoscenti (I have no doubt that among my legion of 14 followers cheesebot47 is Obama and dannhann is Bruuuuce while bloggin - I see you gentlemen! Thanks for my grand total of two heart emojis!), but I feel that my uninterrupted lifelong run of uncoolness needs to be acknowledged nonetheless. As proof I offer up the following evidence: my initial attempt at getting into music in 88 was buying the cassette single for Chicago's Look Away:

Yeah, definitely not cool. Even my father thought the song spewd chunks and the only song he ever sang to us as kids was Home on the Range. Baby! Look away!

So I did hear music at age 12. But my home had none to offer, and I'd yet to hear anything that really spoke to me, that shouted its way into my soul.

Then, somehow, furniture got rearranged or I opened my eyes a little wider and found a hitherto unknown cabinet in our living room. There weren't fur coats inside, or mothballs; nor did it take me straight to Mr. Tumnus. No, it was better than that. Instead, when I looked inside, I found The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

That's right: there was a record player in my home that I'd never noticed before, and records sat underneath it. No one had touched anything in there for a decade or more. But I knelt down and figured out what to do with it somehow and the next thing I knew I was listening to Blowin' in the Wind.

Picture me on my 12 year old knees, all 80 pounds of me watching the record spin, holding my breath. What was this noise? Why did it sound so glorious? And why, oh why, wouldn't it play smoothly?

You see, from the first moment Dylan began slapping at his 6 string and asking how many roads a man must walk down, the filthy, bruised record and the turntable's utterly battered needle refused to meld. I could hear only snatches of Blowing in the Wind before the whole thing popped and bolted and before you knew it there was a broken harmonica blast and Dylan was already telling me that he'd learned the next song somewhere down in the U-nited States. Then everything erupted again and it wasn't long before the needle leapt and dragged into full skid before thudding to a stop.

And yet somehow, one song on my parents' long forgotten and utterly ravaged copy of the Dylan's first masterpiece was largely intact and skip-free: at age 12 I joined Dylan on a train going west; I too dreamed a dream and weathered many a first storm. But Bob Dylan's Dream did not make me sad. Rather, it took my breath away.

And it still does.

I suspect each of us has a specific, elemental melody that insistently tugs at us; like an invisible tether, there's a combination of notes and pacing out there that's ineffably linked with our individual soul. Somehow, wonderfully, the borrowed melody Dylan used for his Dream is that tether for me.

Of course at that point I couldn't put any words together to describe what was happening to me when I listened. I was just fired up. What's more, I found that each time I replayed the record a bit more of it would emerge intact: the tortured needle harvested bits of dirt and debris from the grooves each time it passed through. Sure, I had to bully the record through several skips, but eventually I could track most of the record.

Next, somehow, probably at my friend Eric's, I found a blank tape and a turntable connected to a tape deck and was able to transfer my chopped up record into something I could carry around in my pocket like a talisman. There was a world of music out there, just for me. I had not found it yet, but I had a map.

And so I did what came naturally: I took the world's worst version of the The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan to my next Dungeons and Dragons game. Doing so made total sense to me. I was clearly 12 years old.

I emailed my personal dungeon lord, Jon, this week and asked him to recall what happened next. But Jon remembers nothing, which is surprising, because something definitely happened. The moment I pressed play on my brutalized copy of Freewheelin' in the middle of Jon's personally scripted orcfest he freaked the hell out, unplugged the stereo and carried my character sheet out to his dad's Weber, ranting all the while about how if I ever brought such crazed and unbearable sounds to one of his games again my character (I think he was named Illure...) would get doused in lighter fluid and would serve as a fitting holocaust to every god one could name. And Jon was true to his precociously literate 12 year old word: a few months later, when I brought not Bob Dylan but instead swiped cans of beer to D&D, Illure did indeed taste Jon's threatened flames and I was altogether banned from D&D henceforth. My buddy Jon: always totally awesome.

It's too bad about Illure. But I wouldn't change a thing.

So let's talk about Lord Franklin. Dylan openly acknowledged that he borrowed the tune for his Dream from Martin Carthy's version of the original. Let's drop the needle on the song's gold standard: Pentangle's version from their wrongly maligned Dollar Bin treasure, Cruel Sister.

Listen to John Renbourn, just above a whisper, recall his sighing dream. Bert Jansch's weary concertina trembles and pulses and Jacqui McShee's accompanying voice arches above and beyond until Renbourn finally produces the world's smallest and gnarliest electric guitar. Wow. What a song; what a version. That's my personal pulse friends; that's my tether.

Who knows how far back this melody actually goes; its primary known source, the Irish song Cailín Óg a Stór, is least 400 years old, but surely people were humming this thing under their breath long before any peer of Shakespeare thought about claiming ownership of it in print. Maybe my ever so great grandmother had some hand in its creation; or maybe yours did. I'll bet people all over the world have been warbling this melody in their own tongues for time out of mind.

Take a listen to the Carthy version that first inspired Dylan:

You can hear the song's racing pulse in Carthy's fleet picking beneath the swaying, stately melody. Maybe that tension of paces is part of the song's allure for me. I love slowly sung songs that still contain lurching threats of violence, terror or despair. Think Danger Bird or This Monkey's Gone to Heaven; think Mr. Bojangles.

Sure, Jerry's telling us his story with a smile. But he's not okay. He's grieving deeply as he sings, channeling his old prison mates' terrible loss for his dog.

Cailín Óg a Stór is a root stock that's been grafted beyond Franklin's tale and Dylan's dream. Happily, Stephen Stills' own take, a reworking entitled I Suck, remains unreleased. But check out Fairport Convention's A Sailor's Life. Hear the incomparable Sandy Denny spin that glorious melody in a new direction.

It takes some real guts to completely reconsider a song this elemental, but people are forever doing just that. Check out Renbourn's own masterful and hilarious version from the 90's. Just look at the guy sweat as he giggles then dives deeply in.

All of these examples help make Dylan's Dream particularly audacious. Forget telling timeless tails of terror on the deep; Dylan instead takes us to a scene from his own childhood: there they are, gathered about an old wooden stove, the first few friends he had. They never much thought they could get very old; but they have, they are all aged now, just like me and Jon, and all our long ago friends from 88.

Only art is timeless, Lord Franklin reminds us. Only art can never die.

Rest in Peace Sinead.