#welp. goodbye water

[hauntingblue]

Hancock looking at all this and just thinking damn.... this is full of musty bitches unlike my man luffy.... hope he is alright <3

[olderthannetfic]

Maybe I'm just dumb and uneducated, but the publishing world just sounds a bit like a scam. Not in the traditional sense, but more in the sense that everyone for some reason thinks they'll make the break through so you should aim to get a publishing deal because you might end up being the next big star! You'll be the one who's books will lead to having a movie made*, you'll get the merch, the comics, the games, you'll be lauded and remembered for your writing and how YOU changed the publishing world. You just need to be a human machine who managed to write exactly what the publishing chefs at the top want. Please keep individuality to a minimum. In reality you might get a boost in money maybe if your book ever gets deigned to be bought up, how much is the average? 10-20K? Everything after that is just dead air. You will probably never be able to survive on the royalties, your book is most likely gonna end up side by side with books with the exact same premise as yours, because publishing prefers just copy pasting the same things over and over. Maybe you'll be the rare "token" #NotLikeOtherBooks that's there to test the waters for the next big trend, but most likely not, because those spots are for nepotism publications or big social media names. Oh but maybe you'll be the super big social media star who managed to get a huge social media following, so maybe you'll get a publishing deal that way, not because you're a good writer, but because you already got an audience. Oh the writing of this famous person is subpar? Oh who cares, just buy their book, we can sell with their name! While you're at it, do all the advertisement yourself, we don't really want to bother anymore. What do you expect us to do? Actually promote your book? Pfff, do that yourself. Oh you don't have social media? Welp, goodbye!

*from what I've seen studios might buy movie deals but that just means they'll keep the right to making a movie, not that there ever will be a movie, and you obviously lose the tiny nugget of chance that another studio does it.

--

I think you're being unduly pessimistic, not because this stuff isn't true of publishing but because this is how most sexy jobs work.

You become an accountant because the pay is steady. You might also enjoy it, but it's not one of those sexy jobs with a zillion people flinging themselves at the opportunity to be perpetually underpaid. Most arts jobs and a fair number of other over-mythologized ones, however, are in this same category where people have romantic ideas that they'll be the lone success... and they won't be.

Sure, it's sad that the dream of buying a mansion from your book royalties is out of reach, but... lots of life is like this? I don't think it's a big deal.

--

Now, as for the movie deal thing, you've misunderstood that one totally. What studios buy is options. That means they're tying up your movie rights for a few years so nobody else can have them.

The key feature here is that options run out.

If you keep being successful for a long time, you can sell an option on the same work over and over and over. It's a great deal for the author!

The chance that your thing will actually be made and that, if it is made, the adaptation won't be an absolute abomination is low. It's not worth worrying about. (If you want to make movies, go pursue that, not book writing.) But that sweet, sweet option money is great if you can get it.

--

A lot of people like to get huffy about how "good" books don't sell and "bad" books do, but this is short-sighted nonsense.

Like other commercial art, a good marketing campaign can sell an inferior product, but a lot of what makes the difference is a book being appealing or not. Yes, yes, the plebes have bad taste, boo hoo. More people want to buy a romance novel than a very depressing and dense literary one in general. News at 11.

But for every genuinely shitty book with a lot of buzz, there are a number of solid genre fiction works that are obviously fun for the audience for that genre.

Celebrity memoir sells, sure, but the majority of novels aren't by famous people. There are some gimmick books on the market, including, yes, novels by social media stars, but a lot of "bad" books sell because people just actually do want a Wattpad-sounding crap romance with an alphahole dude and a girl who's pretty when she takes her glasses off—or whatever other cliche you can name.

--

Like other products, books benefit from a strong brand. An author who's been writing for years is more of a sure thing. As a reader, one has limited time and energy to vet newbies.

This is sad for us as authors, but think about it as a reader! How much of your free time do you want to spend magnanimously giving a chance to people who are probably wasting your time vs. picking up something you know you'll enjoy?

And also from a reader's perspective, I don't want surprises. Sure, I don't want a book that's so predictable it's boring, but when I pick up a romance novel, I want a happy ending. When I pick up a mystery novel, I want the mystery to get solved. When I'm reading on AO3, I expect your ship tags to be accurate.

It's a great mistake to focus on how ~nobody likes originality~. This is just pretentious art student puffery that ignores how normal human tastes and emotions work. People with this attitude are ill-suited for creative professions.

--

I think that, in general, most publishing pros, whether authors or not, are fairly up front that it's hard to live on royalties and that most authors have day jobs. This isn't new. It's something people have been trying to educate prospective authors on for decades.

I'd blame starry-eyed outsiders for these kinds of misconceptions more than I'd blame the industry.

I do support trying to inform hopefuls about the realities of choosing this as a career though. They need to know they're not going to be making rent money in most markets on writing alone.

--

All of that said, the two big changes that I do see are a couple of things related to publishing companies getting ever more beholden to corporate overlords. The profit margin has always been slim, and this can be an issue when the bean counters are too involved.

First, editorial standards have slipped a lot. 1990s trash fiction did often get at least a little bit of developmental editing from the publisher. 2020s trash fiction might get that from an agent, but often, it's expected that an author shows up with a publication-ready manuscript.

I think the idea that the publisher wanted to sit around with their thumb up their ass workshopping your baby forever was unrealistic even back in the day, but there has been a change and most people acknowledge it. I've also seen way worse basic proofreading in recent books that I don't see in used books from years ago. It's still rare to see many errors because publishers do provide this type of editing, they're good at it, and correctness is far more objective than for developmental editing, but I used to see basically zero typos and malapropisms in big publishers' books, and that is no longer true.

I'm no insider, but from what I hear, the basic issue is that publishers are being squeezed and they just don't have time or budget to do more than cursory editing now compared to some times in the past. (Of course, plenty of greats did come out of the world of pulp fiction, and I'm sure that was edited in ten seconds too, so...)

Second, yes, publishers offer very little in the way of marketing help, book tours, etc. now and expect a lot from authors. Again, I gather they're being squeezed.

It's that latter issue that made me just not bother to pursue traditional publishing. I don't trust them to understand BL-y type aesthetics in most cases. I don't want to write books within the word count that is most profitable in traditional print. And I really, really don't want to be asked to do marketing within specific parameters while not being given access to timely sales data like a normal marketer who works for the publisher or a selfpub author would have.

--

But all in all, people who work in publishing are not the enemy. They like books. If they have to make some commercial decisions over artistic ones or bow to popular tastes you don't like... well, that's life.

[tinselxoxo26]

𝓐𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓸 𝓸𝓫𝓼𝓮𝓻𝓿𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝐼𝑉

𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕀𝕀𝕀

[Note: this is for tropical astrology]

❈ Libra moon 🤝 relationship advice consultant, nahh fr they always ended up being a mediator in relationship problems like friendships or love at least once in their life. (I feel like this is a universal experience to all libra moons)

❈ Aries venus have a fear of commitment including friendships, even with an earth sun like a Taurus sun.

❈ Water sign in the 4th house cusp could indicate water themes with your childhood home or childhood in general. For example: you might've took swimming classes in your childhood, lived near a beach/lake/pond/pool, your relatives/siblings/yourself have an incident with things related to water etc.

❈ Mars square IC, I hope y'all are doing okay ❤️ We know that the IC represents childhood & square is not the best aspect to have. When it comes to Mars (aggressive planet) squaring the IC, this could indicate that in your childhood there could be incidents with physical aggressive behaviour with your family like fighting/arguing with your siblings. To the point where you might get scars/bruises from your family members.

❈ Mercury 10H, I'll tell you a little secret, they're everywhere (Snapchat, instagram, tiktok etc.) If you don't see them posting, chances are you're not in their close friend stories on insta. I swear they post everyday with multiple stories throughout the day even during exam seasons 💀. I ain't never seen them not posting. If you see their profile being organised & aesthetic, that's just an illusion hun. They probably have internal chaos on the inside. Their fashion choice *chef's kiss*, model material.

❈ 11H stelliums and their connections with ppl are no joke. They know ppl who are models, doctors, dentists to anyone who's well off. They might have free premium/membership cards or gifts received from those ppl.

❈ Something that I've noticed is that for those sagittarius placements whose grades aren't the best in their early years usually do well than their peers in highschool/University. Sagittarius is involved with higher education so that explains why.

❈ The planets/planet that has the 8H represents what physical problems you have with your body. For example sun 8H: scoliosis, mercury 8H: skin/indigestion problems, venus 8H: kidney problems.

❈ I've read that aquarius/11H placements especially stelliums can attract/attracted to ppl who might be well known in the future. This might be a theory but they might tend to attract 8H/scorpio placements or 2H/taurus placements (maybe even 10H/capricorn placements) cuz those signs deals with money & potential fame.

❈ Leo 4H cusp means that in their childhood they might be spoiled by their parents/caretaker, they might buy "royalty" things like fancy gifts/toys/clothing cuz leo is royalty. Their parents might've took a lot of pictures of them and they might act spoiled too as a child.

❈ Pisces/12H placements please stay away from alcohol, vapes, drugs, cigarettes especially pisces/12H stelliums. This might come naturally to you when you try it and you might get addicted to it.

❈ Cancer placements in personal planets 🤝 angry crier. It's a thing.

❈ Sagittarius placements/Jupiter dom might like the colour green. (idk maybe it's cuz the colour green is associated with luck???)

Masterlist

Welp, this is going to be my final post to announce that I'm going on a small hiatus cuz I'm currently busy with schoolwork. I will come back eventually so dw. My astro asks are still open, I'll just be answering them after my hiatus is over. Goodbye for now 💓💞✨

[jaynahh]

congrats on 200! :D scaramouche + zombie costume + child reader?

Scaramouche and Child!Reader

200 follower event

Purely platonic. Reblogs appreciated.

Scaramouche didn't care for Halloween. The only reason why he was sighing and staring at his costume in the mirror right now was because the 12th fatui harbinger bribed him into it.

Both harbingers made it to the city. "Well, I'm going. You better not run away." Childe disappeared into the city.

Getting blackmailed was worse. Scaramouche was pushed outside to go to Inazuma city. "For what reason?" Scaramouche almost whined. "Oh come on, Balladeer." Childe was careful not to ruin his own costume. "You need to stop acting so grumpy. Today's a holiday! Just relax and go up to people's doors and ask for candy."

Scaramouche squinted, blinded by the bright Halloween themed lights in contrast to the dark night.

He resisted scratching his neck, which felt tingly due to the sloppy green paint. A sigh fell from his lips as he reluctanty started making his way through the crowds, knowing that Childe wouldn't let him off the hook if he ditched Halloween.

Halloween was pretty boring so far... Until Scaramouche felt a stare. It seemed like an innocent stare, so he tried to ignore it. It was hard when the presence kept getting closer.

"Hey, mister..?" It was a child. Scaramouche stared down at you. "Are you a real zombie?" He was hesitant to answer, not knowing how to deal with kids. After a few moments he slowly nodded.

"Oh, it is a real zombie!" You tried to contain your excitement, looking up at the zombie in awe. "I heard that zombies don't talk, so I know you're telling the truth." Welp, guess he's not allowed to speak anymore.

Scaramouche internally sighed. He knew full well that you definitely wouldn't leave him anytime soon.

You told him to follow you so you could "help him trick–or–treat." Rambling mindlessly to him, you noticed he was only walking behind you. You came to a halt, and so did he.

"Oh I remember, zombies walk slow." In truth, Scaramouche didn't trust you enough to walk beside you. "Well, 's okay. I can help." You stumbled on your words innocently as you took his hand in your smaller one. The zombie had no choice, now walking beside you, hand tense.

"Look!" You pulled out your candy bag. "'s a lot of candy!" Hearing your little giggle, Scaramouche couldn't stay mad at you for long.

After knocking on a few doors to ask for candy, the harbinger got used to you dragging him around. When you were done trick–or–treating, you sat Scaramouche down at a restaurant.

"Hello! Would you like to order anything?" A waiter came up to you two. "Uhh, water! 'Cause it can get rid of cavities, right?" You looked at the waiter, the zombie, and back. "Of course! Anything for you, sir?" Scaramouche closed his mouth as soon as he opened it. He shook his head no.

When the waiter left, you suddenly went quiet to enjoy your candy. You offered your new zombie friend one, and Scaramouche surprisingly accepted the candy. You looked up at the stars. "Ou wait. I think I gotta go home now," you pouted.

"...Are we friends now?" You faced Scaramouche. He thought for a moment. Well, if it would make you–a child who was kind towards him–happy... He nodded his head.

You smiled. "Yay! Now I know we will see each other again!" You jumped off your chair, holding your bag of candy. "Bye mister!" The zombie slowly waved goodbye, watching as you ran back to where you came from.

The harbinger was dumbfounded, staring at his hands and thinking about everything that happened. Soon after, the same waiter gave him a glass of water. Scaramouche didn't touch the glass, only stared at it.

"Oh? What do we have here?" Tartaglia greeted the zombie and took a seat on the chair you used. "I saw everything. But, you probably already know that." The ginger laughed softly. "I truly didn't expect the almighty Balladeer to go soft for a child."

Scaramouche glared at the taller male. Childe raised his hands in defense. "Alright, alright... I'll get to the point." Scaramouche let out a little "hmph" and rest his head on his hand.

"You know, I actually know the kid you were hanging out with." The Balladeer raised his brow, side glaring Tartaglia. "Their past is sort of tragic, but I won't get into full detail."

Childe rest his head on his hand aswell, getting a better look at his fellow harbinger. He hesitated to continue. "You know, Scaramouche... I've never actually seen the kid happy. I've never even seen them smile. But, tonight was..."

Scaramouche stared at the glass once again, remembering the way you often smiled up at him. "Ah, but you get my point already. Anyway, there are kids waiting for me to trick–or–treat with them. See you at work tomorrow." And just like that, Tartaglia disappeared into the city once again.

The Balladeer stared at his hand that was painted green, turning it around to observe his palm. He could see some of the paint has been messily wiped off, like another person's hand was holding his.

He used the same hand to drink the glass of water before calling it a day and heading home.

[anartisticdreamer0]

time for liveblog of qtoo stream:

oh hi tilín o/

we’re all wondering what your doing here

“there will be more to come” tilín don’t be like this man

WHO TF IS KILLING THOSE PIGLINS DAMN

damn how evil was? is? q man.

oh okay we acknowledge the beeping, it’s definitely life support

ah a portal, but he doesn’t wanna go- he did- he looked at all his other options and went fine

he realized he’s really far out

RICHAS- pfft richas doesn’t have the fuckin skin on- BAHAAHAHA

there he is properly, q trying to get the admins to redo the scene pfft

tilin wants q to introduce them to richas

i like the detail that richas has their personal blue sign while tilin has the basic signs that they all used to have

PA QUACK AAAAAAAA CRIES

q asking why richas looks so bad and is happy one of them is treating him nicely

HIJA- FUCKING FINALLY

DAMN TILÍN- damn q is really trying to make them understand he loves them both and richas didn’t replace tilín to him, and richas still means a lot

why is richas here, someone free this stinky child.

HA RICHAS SAID IT! HE TOLD Q HES IN A HOSPITAL!

richas is doing the most-

WHY IS THERE A BOAT. (oh roier)

richas is like “nah dude its fine i get it” and tilín is like “nah fuck this guy”

should be clear i’m not 100% this is actually tilín but ya know gonna treat them as if they are until otherwise obvious

oop richas is burning the trees and tilin ain’t complaining

IS THIS A MAZE OF HIS SINS??

TALLULAH- HIJA YOU FUCK- why is he not saying whose tallulah’s parent is- BRO SHE AINT YOUR DAUGHTER- YOU TRIED TO KILL HER DAY ONE OF HER LIFE!!!

“a better father than you” well about that tilín- roier’s probably currently hitting his new kid or something

aww q’s excitement to see a picture of tilin and him together

WILBURRR- bruh not this bullshit of him maybe being tilín’s other father- BRUH YOU JUST WANTED IT TO BE WILBUR Q!!

oh etoiles!!

Q EITHER JUST SHAT ON WILBUR OR ETOILES- probably will- bro at least his kid is alive so ya know- he may be absent but hey at least she lives sooo

ayo is that a chest of tnt- AYO WHY DID TILIN JUST KILL Q DOR WHAT RICHAS SAID??

oh now they’re fighting- they want q to stay out of their fight- but richas is being weirdly mean towards tilin- hey wait what- WHAT?? HE LITERALLY WASNT LIKE THAT 5 MINUTES AGO???

that heart monitor should be going way faster truth be told

damn richas is so fuckin jealous for some reason

q is realizing how much he fucked up

oh richas statue is back.

IF I HEAR A CHEST OPEN ITS ALL FUCKED

ya know i did hear tilin was a big fan of fighting eggs

DAMN. “have you achieved something in life?”

IS RICHAS DEAD? ILL COMMIT ARSON.

IS RICHAS DEAD?? coma defo. OK SO NEITHER OF THEM DEAD. just tilin.

RICHAS CHILL FOR FIVE SECONDS WE’RE TRYING TO FIND OUT IF YOUR DEAD.

and we’re going full tnt. RICHAS IS NOT DEAD!! HES IN A COMA!! unfortunate, BUT HES NOT DEAD!!

awwww richas. richas said q made him really happy and asked if q was happy with life. q said no.

BOMBS AWAY TIME!! THERE GOES THE LABYRINTH OF MEMORIES! (bot yet) he just wants to keep the memory maze. to say goodbye.

he really wants to keep the memories- damn. “why do you think your life has value?” (tilin) FUCK. FUCK. “my life never had value, neither did my memories.” (q) AAAAAAAA “they meant a lot to me dad. but they were in the past.” (richas)

THERE IT ALL GOES!!

(oops looks like lore spoiled into the main game)

water. it’s always FUCKIN WATER.

oh he’s leaving tilin? telling them not to wait for him, not to come for him.

oh okay lore over? but he didn’t die? welp lore over.

[gyoobies]

Flirt With Me

Pairing: Lee Know x Fem Reader

Genre: Smut, slight angst, Enemies to lovers (kind of)

Warnings: Explicit content 18+, Minors DNI, Unprotected sex (Wrap it before you tap it folks) slight jealousy, a little soft dom-ish

Summary: Lee know is tired of you ignoring him and is determined to find out why. (for a brief moment in time my summaries had improved.. dah welp! its above me now hope you enjoy it)

PS: this may or may not have been proofed *insert nervous emoji here*

It happened at every gathering since they'd befriended you, and tonight was no different. You were a social butterfly, a comedian at any given moment and a natural flirt. You'd flirt with anyone, men, women, couples, it was never from genuine interest and was always accompanied by a cheesy gesture to convey that you weren't serious and just having fun. You were single but that wasn't for a lack of suitors, you'd always just sweetly turned everyone down stating that you were "in a pretty serious relationship with your career". You weren't lying, you were just too busy for a relationship.

Focused eyes watched as you shot a wink at Chan for the millionth time tonight and wondered if he had ever asked you out, maybe not, maybe that's who you were waiting for. He didn't know, honestly right now he didn't really give a shit, right now he wanted to know why out of everyone you never flirted with him. He tried not to let it get to him, tried to say it didn't matter because you were never serious when flirting anyway, but somehow that made it worse; it was nagging the fuck out of him, an itch he couldn't scratch. What about him made you deem him unworthy of your flirtatious interactions? He knew he'd have to get the answer directly from the cause of his irritation, you. 

You moved about the gathering making small talk with a few people, but something felt weird, like you were being watched. You glanced around the room and just as you were about to shrug it off, you found yourself locking eyes with Lee know. You should have turned away sooner, but something about his eyes kept you in place. It was only when the person seated next to him asked him a question did he look away, and you made a mad dash to the bathroom.

Lee know turned to the woman beside him with an annoyed expression.

"I was asking your name." she said in a tone that suggested she was equally annoyed with him for not acknowledging her sooner. 

"Lee know, now excuse me, I have something important to handle." He said as he stood and went to look for his target.

 After looking in the general areas of the party he opted to check the bathroom, but not the one being used by everyone, he knew you'd most likely have escaped to the basement bathroom. Just the thought bothered him. There were bathrooms on the main and top floors, but of course you'd choose to use the basement bathroom, the one closest to Chan and Changbin's rooms, the two men you flirted with the most. As he approached the basement bathroom he could hear running water and what he thought was your voice.

"CHILL the fuck out!" You said as you cooled yourself with cold water from the sink, trickling it along your exposed neck and shoulders. You thanked yourself for tonight's outfit choice as you began to cool down. 

"How could you stare that long? Are you nuts? Just go back upstairs, say your goodbyes and get the hell out of dodge." After scolding yourself for your moment of weakness, you quickly dried yourself as best you could and opened the door to leave, only to have the air knocked from your lungs at the sight of Lee know leaning against the wall directly in front of the door with his arms crossed.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't know anyone was waiting." You quickly tried to exit and make your way down the hall, but you were immediately stopped after your first step.

"You didn't know I was waiting? I find that hard to believe." He said as he turned you to face him. "I've been waiting, but you never come to me." He said with a pout. "Always flirting with everyone except me. Why is that? Hmmmm?"

He was challenging you, and you were not going to let him. "Ha! you're that bothered that I don’t flirt with you? I'm not even attracted to most of the people I do flirt with, I'm just being playful. It's not a big deal." 

"So play with me too. It's not a big deal, so play with me too." He said as he guided you backwards by your hips, back into the bathroom, and locked the door. 

You could feel your heart beating against your chest. He pressed your back against the wall as his hands left your hips to rest on your shoulders. A shiver ran down your body as his warm hands made contact with the cold droplets you'd  missed when drying off. He looked into your eyes as he waited for your answer.

"I- I can't be that way with you." 

You saw his mischievous smirk falter, felt his grip start to loosen on your shoulders as his head lowered slightly. You'd spent so much time avoiding him, your attraction, your temptation, but now, now you felt that if you let him go like this, thinking you didn't find him desirable, you would regret it forever. 

"Because, it'll be more than that, if I flirt with you it'll be more than playful."

His firm grip was now a sweet caress with his thumb, sweeping the water droplets across your skin, as he leaned in close to your ear.

"Sweetheart, you're wet."

The feeling of his breath against your ear erased any reservations you had, every hesitation now long gone as you pushed him back against the sink kissing and licking at his lips desperately, and he wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you in closer. You lifted your leg around his waist and he grunted into your mouth letting one of his hands fall to grip your ass, guiding you to grind against him. Heavy breathing filled the room as your kiss parted and you rested your head against his shoulder. 

You dropped your leg and pushed your hand between the two of you to palm his bulge through his jeans, effectively breaking his last restraint. He quickly changed position so that he was now behind you, facing you toward the mirror so you could appreciate the scene before you.

"Look at how hot we look together." He said as he licked your ear.

Gentle fingers drifted from your hip, to your thigh, lifting your leg onto the sink. He pushed your skirt up higher and began to play with your thong, pulling on it from behind causing you to groan at the feeling. The teasing lasted only a moment before he was dropping to his knees to appreciate the view. Lee know let out a pleased hum at the sight of your eager pussy glistening in arousal all for him.

"You have obviously wanted this just as much as I have" He said as he moved your thong to the side and began to rub your clit, his touch was heaven, and you were putty in his hands. Your eyes fluttered shut as he pushed 2 fingers deep into you.

"I'm sorry kitten, but can we skip the foreplay just once? I've been ridiculously hard since we locked eyes upstairs, and you seem more than ready." He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on your pussy.

"Yes, fuck me please."

"Anything for you," He said with an almost sinister smirk adorning his beautiful features.

You heard the zipper of his pants beckoning you to open your eyes, catching a glimpse of his reflection as he stepped out of his pants and underwear. He truly was beautiful, everything about him was, but in this lustful state, skin flushed, dick rock hard, biting his lip as he stroked himself slowly while looking at you through the mirror, nothing could compare. His girth was just right, but gawd was he long. A shiver ran through you knowing you were about to have your guts rearranged. The thought alone had you practically cumming. 

You closed your eyes to gain your composure and he took the opportunity to let you know who was in control. He took position behind you, left hand on your hip as he used the right to guide his tip into you, sliding only half of himself inside. You  both groaned in unison at the feeling, but to your dismay he didn't go any further, instead he took his now free right hand and placed it under your chin forcing you to lift your head. You were so lost in the feeling of him you hadn’t even realized you had dropped it.

"No kitten, if you want all I have to offer, you have to watch me. I need to see your pretty face while I fuck you senseless, I need you to see how good we look together, and understand why you'll only be flirting with me from now on. Do you understand?" He groaned as you clenched around him, and let a familiar smirk return to his delicate features as he looked into your eyes through the reflection of the mirror. "Fuck baby, I'll take that as a yes. Let's try not to disturb the guests upstairs hmmm?" He pulled almost all the way out and slammed into you, and for the second time tonight Lee Know had knocked the air out of your lungs. 

His pace was steady, his thrusts were hard, and every impact had you desperately gripping the sink and moaning uncontrollably. If he hadn't had such a hold on you, you may have  been thrusted face first into the mirror. 

"Fuck, you feel so good. I have to slow down, gotta pace myself or I'm going to cum soon." 

He slowed his hips, changing his stroke to a slow, deep, circular grind and you don't think you’ve ever felt something so intense before. You let out breathy pants as he tightened his grip on your jaw and pulled you closer to his chest. A familiar feeling began to bubble inside of you; you were about to cum, you wanted to tell him but all you could do was moan out his name.

"Mmmm you're squeezing me so tight. Are you going to cum on my dick kitten?"

Your only response was a whimper.

 " Ok luv let me help." With that, the hand that was holding your jaw was now rubbing circles on your clit as he once again pounded into you, leaving you gasping for air. Your legs began to shake and your moans became broken cries and soft whimpers.

"Oh please, Lee Know, don't stop."

"Minho," he demanded. "Everyone else calls me Lee Know, but my lover will call me Minho."

Your walls pulsed around him as you screamed his name. Minho watched as you struggled to catch your breath, loving the way you looked while he fucked you through your orgasm and beyond.

"Just a little more, and I'll..." But before he could finish his sentence he was pulling out and painting your ass with his cum.

 After a few minutes of recovery he cleaned your messes, helped you from the sink and turned you around to face him. Giving you a smile that almost buckled your knees he straightened your clothes and fixed your hair a bit. "Let's get back before we're missed, hmm?" 

You leaned in kissing him softly and intertwining your fingers before making your way out of the bathroom. As you exited the basement you were pleased to see no one seemed to notice your absence.

"How about we call it a night on the party and go to my place?" 

"You don't have to ask me twice. Let me run upstairs to grab a few overnight things and I'll be right down."

As you waited by the front door Chan came over to talk to you. 

" leaving already? " He questioned.

"Yea I'm a bit worn out"

"I see, well, did you need someone to walk you home? I can slip away for a moment.”

"Oh that's ok, Minho is going to walk me home.”

At first you thought the look on his face was surprise because the two of you rarely interacted until he smiled and said "oh, I see. Well, have fun with MINHO." Adding extra sass on the end as he said his name.

As you stood there dying internally you felt a hand grab yours. " What's with that face?"

"I just called you Minho to Chan."

"Good, he'll do the work for me now. He'll tell everyone you're mine because he can't keep secrets."

"I think you mean you're mine."

"Same thing kitten, now let's go piss off your neighbors."

Please! I have it bad for this cat daddy T_T 

[wanderers-archive]

@thelost-in-time orders: Can I get a fluffy Xiao with a s/o reader who gets anxious easily and talks super quickly when they're nervous?

And they're only more comfortable around him compared to strangers?

summary of the order: Donut(fluff) water(gn reader) honey(oneshot)

[note]: none

3rd person POV

as you were walking up the stairs towards katheryn to accept more commissions ''Ad Astra Abyssosque, welcome to the adventurers guild [name], here to accept more commission i assume?'' katheryn asked. you nodded quite excitedly, before katheryn turned around to get the list of commission you asked a question ''h-hey katheryn w-would you m-mind giving m-me more co-commission with int-interacting with more pe-people?'' you stuttered out, katheryn nodded and handed you your commission for the day ''well, here they are [name] goodluck and Ad Astra  Abyssosque'' she said before waving goodbye

[name] POV

as i looked at the first commissions in the list, it said 'help organize the wine at dawn winery' i suddenly regretted what i said to katheryn, master diluc was scary, everytime you helped employee's organize the barrel's he looked at you with a face that looked like he hated your whole existence so it's always scary when i go to dawn winery unless i go with someone im comfortable with like xiao and the traveller but since xiao was busy killing demons and lumine(imma make the traveller lumine cause #girlboss) being in inazuma i had to go to the winery alone...what am i going to do, i guess i can do it alone

~when you arrive at dawn winery~

3rd POV

welp here you are standing in front of the mansion, as you were walking to the front door,when suddenly someone touched my shoulder so you quickly turned around and you felt your soul leave your body, it was master diluc looking at you like a parasite ''well what are you doing here?'' diluc asked you while you were having a small panic attack on what to do when you suddenly blurted out

''i-im h-here to help y-you organize t-the wine''

diluc POV

hmm these grapes aren't ripe enough yet to be made into juice , why are these taking more longer then the other ones, huh it's that girl from liyue again what's she doing here again? ''well what are you doing here?" as they panicked to say an answer, ''i-im h-here to help y-you organize t-the wine''they stuttered out an answer ''oh well i'll lead you to the wine cellar'' i said beckoning for them to follow.

~after you finish organizing the wine cellar~

no ones pov

as you walked back to wangshu inn you looked back on what the commissions were today, first was *help organize the wine cellar at dawn winery* which wasn't all that bad as you soon realized that diluc did not hate your existence but juet looked at you with curiosity since you were always trembling . The second commission was * help flora gather flowers* not to hard as you interact quite better with children, the third commission was easy as well you just had to cook mondstat food-.

Before you could finish your inner monologue someone bumped into you, you looked up and saw 3 guys looking at you "oh? And whats a cutie like you doing walking around by yourself?" The first guy said but loud enough so you could hear it "i-im g-going to wangshu inn" you responded with a whisper " well why don't we come with you" the 3 men look at each other with mischievous smirks and roughly grabbed your wrist" um n-no need my b-boyfriend will be w-with me" you whimpered as the first men held your wrist roughly, you suddenly remember what xiao said 'if death comes knocking at your door, call my name, adeptus xiao' you needed help "x-xiao" you whimpered as the men who grabbed your hand suddenly tightened it when he heard his name "huh? What did y-"

"Let go of them"

The man was frightened when he felt something sharp on his neck, you slightly opened your eyes as ypu no longer felt a grip on your wrist. "Go. Unless you want things to get ugly." Xiao ordered, The other two men ran away.

"...are you alright?" Xiao questioned as he was you lightly rubbing your wrist "i'm okay, the only grabbed my wrist, other then that i'm okay'' you answered "let's go back, it's dangerous out here at night" he proposed "but.. my commis-" you were cut off when you both teleported back to your room at wangshu inn "just finish your commission tomorrow....I'll help you with it" xiao insisted, he had his back turned to you but you could slightly see a faint hue of red on his cheeks "really? I'm glad your coming with me xiao" you agreed on his idea "...you should rest now, it's almost midnight, mortals should sleep by now" xiao turned to you but had his head slightly turned

You slowly laid down on your mattress. You feel as your as getting more and more heavy. "Xiao, will you stay here for a beit longer?" You whispered, you didn't hear his response as you fell asleep.

"You don't have to ask me to stay with you, ill stay and protect you as long as you live." He held your hand to his cheek as he stays with you until you wake up.

°•End•°

Thank you note: I FINALLY FINISHED THIS AFTER A YEAR IN MY DRAFTS😭😭 THANK THE ARCHONS I HAD THE MOTIVATION TO FINISH THIS. Anyways ill probably be doing my other drafts, also this took to long because i lost my note book with the whole story written out (my skz photo cards😭😭😭) hope you enjoyed stay tuned for more updates😘

[confused-bi-queer]

It’s Wednesday and I’m trying to not freak out because I’ll return to school on Monday and goodbye writing time:c

Thanks for the tag @palimpsessed @larkral​ @stitchyqueer and @cutestkilla​ 

I’m a bit bad with fic recs BUT I’ve been reading long fics lately since I had the time and the last one was Poison In His Blood by notcanoncompliant. I really enjoyed that fic. Stars werewolf!Simon. And I just loved it. Even bookmarked it.

Well, now to the good part.

Regarding my Ballet AU, I’m struggling to end Chapter 14 but here’s some words from Chapter 10, which is the next chapter to come out.

Do you think Baz has suffered enough? Well. It’s Simon’s turn now.

“Snow,” I call him as he drinks the last sip of his water. He looks my way, and raises his eyebrows, silently asking me to go on. “Doesn’t your mum have alcohol? Or something to drink?”

It is getting sort of late, and the drinks always come after a splendid dinner. If we were at the Manor and Father liked Snow, he would have pulled out a bottle of alcohol already to continue with the lovely night. Joking around by getting just a bit tipsy.

His expression darkens a bit. He shakes his head, putting down his glass.

“She…” He sighs, looking away. “She doesn’t like me drinking. It’s bad augury.”

“May I ask for what?”

He keeps looking away.

“Dad was an alcoholic bastard and—Well, I guess you can imagine the rest.”

I really like this chapter, because it led me to write other 4 more, but the words aren’t getting out at all, so I decided to leave that fic alone for now because I’m going to get sick of it if I try to write more. WHICH IS WHY I found myself writing the next chapter for Protecting you like a Pitch. 

I have to admit that I feel like that fic is really meh for people who read my stuff for no reason. And it doesn’t make any sense because it’s literally my most popular fic, most kudoed, most bookmarked, most everything, and it still feels smol to me.

But well. Ignored the fic for five months and wrote Chapter 18 last night. I just published it, actually. So here’s a few words because I can’t never leave the boys be happy:

I always dreamed of the Mage loving me; he was my savour, after all, so I thought expecting those feelings from him was only logical. He must have had his reasons to show Watford to me, right? Other than wanting a soldier? A puppet?

I look at Baz, and I can’t help feeling that he was right all these years.

I was the Mage’s little dog, following after its owner without a question.

Of course Baz has apologised for having offended me so many times—I have as well—, but his words were always true. And I always knew, but I tried to fool myself. I tried to accept the Mage’s screams, his reprimands, and disappointed looks, because I genuinely thought I was the problem. And I was. Wasn’t as well.

Watching Baz defend me in such a feral way because it was unfair and wrong for the Mage to treat me the way he had always treated me was a shocker. My world turned upside down.

The chapter isn’t about exclusively that, but I thought of the Mage being an asshole and thought of making these two wips have that in common.

Welp, now tagging! @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @martsonmars @tea-brigade @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists @facewithoutheart @fatalfangirl @forabeatofadrum @bazzybelle @bookish-bogwitch @moodandmist @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @erzbethluna @johnwgrey @captain-aralias @basiltonbutliketheherb @ileadacharmedlife @kherub @artsyunderstudy @dragoneggos @sillyunicorn @ionlydrinkhotwater @foolofabookwyrm-activated @raenestee @whatevertheweather @ic3-que3n @angelsfalling16 @hushed-chorus @whogaveyoupermission @yeonjunenby @kohatenz @ineffable-grimm-pitch @ninemagicks @nightimedreamersworld @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @onepintobean @shrekgogurt

[theforgottenmcrmy]

Birds of a Feather (Chapter 6/?) ||| Bradley Bradshaw

Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Sam “Merlin” Wells’ Daughter OC

Warnings: Explicit Language, References to the Death of a Parent, Really Mild Angst

Word Count: 9,500 ish.

Summary: Breaking the hard deck? Openly taunting their instructor in a way that was borderline insubordination? Hell, Rooster was taking risks that even he had better sense than to try and get away with. 

DISCLAIMER: Spoilers for Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick ahead.

Masterlist /// Chapter 1 /// Chapter 5 /// Chapter 6 /// Chapter 7

A/N: As always, thank you to all of you who take the time to read this story and offer me your support and kind words. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and that you have a great rest of the week.💙

Chapter 6: Something in the Water

“... Welp, I think it’s time to call it a night,” Clara said after a few moments of awkward silence. The boldness she’d been feeling up until that point quickly began to fade in light of having rendered Hangman speechless- a feat which was one seldom seen. “I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.”

Though the majority of the group was still giving her and Hangman stunned looks, Phoenix was the first among them to break their silence, bidding her a farewell. “Have a goodnight, Parrot.”

Clara nodded with a shy smile and walked away, swearing she heard Hangman grumbling something under his breath as she did. She didn’t dare to stay any longer to know for certain what he was saying. After all, if Hangman was literally going to have her life in his hands, she thought it generally wise to avoid pissing him off too much in one day.

Even if it had been well-deserved on his end.

Clara quickly paid her tab at the bar, not bothering with a lengthy goodbye to Penny since she had a strong feeling the visit to the Hard Deck would not be the only one she had during the detachment.

She was outside for just a few moments before a wisp of air hit her side, indicating that someone else had joined her. She looked up, not surprised in the slightest to see Bradley walking beside her.

“You calling it a night, too?”

Bradley merely hummed in response. He seemed to be a little less upbeat than he had been during other parts of the evening, and Clara was beginning to suspect that being around Hangman was already beginning to take its toll on him.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she told him, moving to head out into the dark parking lot.

“Wait,” Bradley called after her, placing a light hand on her arm to stop her.

Clara froze, the touch of his calloused hand felt almost like it burned her skin, despite his gentleness.

Bradley didn’t seem to notice. He frowned, his eyes scanning parking lot suspiciously. “Where’s your rental at?”

“At my assigned housing,” Clara explained. “It’s actually only a few blocks away, so I decided to walk here.”

“I’ll drive you home then.”

“Really, it’s fine,” she protested, taking another step out into the night. “It’s like a five minute walk.”

“Wait,” Bradley pleated again, his serious tone making Clara pause once more.

She was still painfully aware of the hand on her arm that had yet to fall back to his side as she looked up at him. The few lights right outside the bar’s entrance casted shadows upon his face, but she could still see his pursed lips and eyebrows furrowed together in a worried look. The lull of the ocean waves in the background wasn’t doing much for her in her effort to stave off the impending tiredness she had begun to feel, but it did set a nice ambience for the sudden moment truly alone they’d found themselves in.

“I know you can take care of yourself,” Bradley prefaced, sounding aware of how lightly he ought to have been treading. “But it’s late, and if you’re half as tired as I am, that alone is enough of a reason- let me give you a ride. Please?”

Part of Clara wanted to turn him down. Bradley was right- she could take care of herself. But the other part of her was touched by his genuine concern he conveyed. It was as though he was more worried about her because it was her, rather than anything else.

Plus, it had been a while since she had spent any decent amount of time in Fightertown. While enrolled in TOGUN, she’d gotten what she believed to be a good handle on who around could be trusted, and who she ought to simply avoid. But that had been a few years ago, and the faces around the area had more likely than not changed drastically.

“Okay.”

Bradley looked at her with uncertainty, almost as though he hadn’t expected her to agree so easily. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” she confirmed with a light laugh. “Now, let’s get going- before I change my mind.”

“The Bronco’s right over there,” Bradley said, gesturing in the general direction he’d parked his beloved vehicle. “Lead the way, Darling.”

Jake Seresin was more observant than people gave him credit for.

Though he was no stranger to the spotlight, there was one aspect of himself he didn’t mind others not giving him enough credit for. The longer people took to catch onto him and his more subtle habits, the more opportunities he had to gather information he could later use to his advantage.

When he left the Hard Deck, begrudgingly calling it an early night, if only to read those damn briefing notes that the obnoxious Parrot had drawn attention to, he was met with a sight that was very interesting.

Bradley Bradshaw and Clara Wells had been pretty inseparable during their time in Lemoore. Jake had been there, and he had picked up on that relatively quickly. Though they may have repeatedly denied any involvement with one another when asked about it, Jake didn’t take either of them to be the type to readily admit to that sort of thing anyway. They seemed to be just as serious about their careers as he was, even if they didn’t go about it the same way. Or take the same necessary risks.

So it wasn’t new to Jake to see the two act so friendly earlier in the evening upon their apparent reunion. And it wasn’t surprising to see that the two had split off from the rest of the group after Bradshaw’s little performance to chat amongst themselves for a few minutes.

What was surprising to Jake was to spot the two still together in the Hard Deck’s parking lot.

He couldn’t leave the bar as soon as he would’ve liked; he'd be damned if he let anyone else know just how much Parrot’s comments had irked him. So after Parrot and Rooster had been gone for a few minutes, he respectfully excused himself for the evening and followed suit. As he stepped out the front door and took a breath of the fresh night air, he paused immediately after hearing the familiar voices. He took a step back, hoping to avoid stepping foot underneath the bar’s bright exterior lights, and tried to remain out of sight.

Fortunately for Jake, the pair didn’t notice him leaving. He watched curiously as Bradshaw led Wells to his Bronco, before he opened the door to the passenger’s side for her very cordially. She laughed, and politely used the arm he offered to help herself up and into the vehicle.

“I like the shirt, by the way,” he heard Wells say.

Bradshaw shut the passenger side door before heading around to the driver’s side. As he walked, his head tilted backwards as he let out a bark of a laugh. “Thanks. Are you gonna try and steal this one, too?”

… Now that was surprising.

And definitely was information worth holding onto.

Bradshaw started up the Bronco, backed out of the parking spot, and in what felt like the blink of an eye, the two were headed off into the night.

Jake was left standing in the entryway of the Hard Deck, speechless and desperately trying to make sense of what the hell he had just witnessed.

The trip back to Clara’s assigned housing was a quiet one, save from her soft spoken directions. If it was a five minute walk, the drive had to have only been a minute or so.

Bradley was thankful that the USS Gerald R. Ford had departed from Miramar instead of Oceana for the most recent stint. Since he had already taken the cross-country trip in his beloved vehicle beforehand, and left it parked at the base, it was readily available for the special detachment. The Bronco was practically made for the West Coast: few things were better than taking a nice drive through the quiet suburbs after a night out with the cool breeze blowing from the ocean.

Although, the calming drive was arguably better when he was accompanied by another.

All too soon, Bradley was pulling into the driveway of the small bungalow, which didn’t look that different from the one he’d been assigned himself just a few blocks over. He put the car in park, and looked over at Clara reluctantly.

“Thanks for the lift,” she said quietly, reaching over for the door handle. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait,” Bradley requested, for the third time that evening. “... Can we talk?”

Thankfully, Clara looked unbothered by his request. “Sure,” she replied easily, dropping her hand and settling back into her seat. She turned to look at him expectantly. “What do you wanna talk about?”

Anything. Everything. Bradley hadn’t had a face to face conversation with her in months, and he’d been alone with her for maybe ten minutes total the entire evening thus far. There were many things he wished he could bring up, but he found himself constantly looping back around to the most pressing issue on his mind.

“So… you’re really flying with Hangman, huh?”

Clara’s face faltered a little bit. “Yeah, it seems that way.”

Bradley remained silent, unsure of how to condense his vast thoughts on the topic into an appropriate response.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she continued, “And I’m obviously not his biggest fan, either. But this is the job. I can handle it, don’t worry.”

It wasn’t Clara’s inability to do her job that worried Bradly; rather, it was Hangman’s inability to do his job safely that was the cause for the most concern. Seresin was a notorious risk taker, and while that had only ever meant sticking out his own neck, if Clara was going to be flying with him for a good portion of this detachment- and possibly mission- that made his risk taking ways all the more dangerous.

Bradley could tell, just by looking at the tired look on Clara’s face, that she had already given some thought to the matter. She knew what she was in for, and Bradley feared it. But he could tell she didn't want him to remind or hound her about it. So it was all Bradley could do to drop the subject and desperately hope that Hangman had enough sense to consider the heightened consequences of his actions from there on out.

“Was what Hangman said true?” he asked then. “About Slugger?”

Clara gave him a small nod.

He could tell by the sullen look on her face, and by her reaction earlier that evening in the bar after Hangman’s comments, that it was a sensitive topic still. While Bradley was curious, he wanted to be cautious, and he definitely didn’t want to push her too far. “When’d you find out?”

“Yesterday,” Clara laughed once humorlessly. “Just as we received our orders.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was. And I was completely blindsided by it too- makes me wonder how the hell Hangman managed to hear about it already.”

The naval aviator community seemed small more days than not, so while it was a little surprising, it wasn’t that far-fetched to believe that Hangman had gotten some inside scoop from someone over at Oceana.

“I don’t know if Slugger’s going to be able to carry on afterwards, or if she’ll request separation,” Clara continued, her eyes falling downward to the floor mats that Bradley knew he should have had cleaned by then. “But I guess it doesn’t matter… I just have to get through this detachment, and then everything will work itself out from there, I guess.”

Bradley couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. Whatever Slugger decided, it would most likely result in Clara losing the partner she’d been flying with for years. And while it wasn’t as nearly a tragic loss as it could have been, it still was a loss, and would still mean significant change for her.

“Well, if you ever need to talk about anything, I’m here for you.”

Clara looked up from the floor, quickly rolling her head across her shoulders to peer over at him instead. “I know,” she replied quietly with a small smile.

A few moments of comfortable silence passed between the two. As Bradley looked at her, he swore he felt his heart wrench. The moment alone they’d finally managed to snag only reiterated to himself just how much he had missed her over the past few months. And just how royally screwed he really was.

“You know, there is one good side effect from the whole situation with Slugger,” Clara pointed out, breaking the silence.

He raised his brows, intrigued. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“It’s given me more to think about regarding my reenlistment.”

“Have you made a decision about that yet?” Bradley inquired, trying not to appear any more interested than what would be considered appropriate.

Clara gave him a look that suggested she caught on to his enthusiasm anyways. “Not yet.”

He was well aware of the fact that in a few months, Clara would have to make a decision on whether or not to reenlist for another 6 years. While his own reenlistment decision was still over 2 years away, Bradley couldn’t help but be interested in where Clara stood on the matter. She had made some comments to him in passing about it over the past year or so, but had never said anything concrete to indicate what she was leaning towards.

Bradley knew he shouldn’t have an opinion on the matter… but he did. He wanted her to stay, wanted her to reenlist. Clara was damn good at her job. Maybe Bradley was biased in thinking so, but maybe not- she’d graduated from TOPGUN just as he had, after all. She’d been selected for the special detachment, too. Biased thinking or not, Bradley was more than willing to argue that the Navy would lose one of its great assets if, or when, the day that Clara Wells decided to walk away ever came.

“The whole thing with Slugger has me thinking,” Clara elaborated, “I’m getting to the age where I need to start figuring all that out.”

Their thirties were right around the corner for both of them. His own birthday was just a month or so away. The changing decades had crossed Bradley’s mind more than once as of late, but apparently for different reasons than it had crossed Clara’s. Respectfully, he pointed out, “You still have time to make decisions about that.”

“Maybe,” Clara conceded, albeit a little reluctantly. “But the point still stands. For the longest time, I thought that the decision wouldn’t have to be made. I thought that without a doubt, when the time came, I’d reenlist, that I’d really want to buckle down and focus on my career. But…”

“But what?”

“I realized that if I were to walk away at this very moment, I don’t have anyone out there waiting for me. No kids. No family- save my aunt… No one special.”

A slightly less comfortable silence passed between them as they both processed her words.

“I don’t know if that’s something I can be okay with,” Clara confessed timidly. “... And since I don’t have anything like that yet, I’m wondering if I may need to actually leave the service. I may need to go out into the world and find it for myself, you know?”

Bradley could understand the sentiment of not wanting to be alone. Her father had already been gone a few years, and since he only had his grandmother left, he wasn’t in a dissimilar boat. But he just hoped Clara would never truly feel that she was alone, so long as she continued to let him be in her life in some capacity. For everything she had done for him over the years, he hoped to at least be able to offer her that.

“What if you could have both?” Bradley dared to wonder. “What if you could have a career and a family? … Or just someone to come home to?”

Clara scoffed, but it was lighthearted. She turned to look at him, with sadness, not anger, lingering in her eyes. “That’s a lot to ask of somebody.”

“Not for someone who truly understands what our line of work entails,” he disagreed, but lightly. Not for someone who understands all the hard work would be so very much worth it, if it meant to be with you.

“Well, If you’ve got any leads, send them my way,” Clara joked, effectively breaking some of the tension. “It’s getting late, and we’ve got an early morning.”

Bradley glanced at the dashboard, and grimaced. How the hell had it gotten so late?!

Clara leaned forward, wrapping her fingers around the door handle once more. However, she paused, and turned to look at him once again. “Brad?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you promise me something?”

“Anything.” He meant it.

“This mission… I need it to come first,” she told him seriously. “I know there’s history between us, and I know we’ve never really worked together before, but-”

“The mission comes first,” Bradley interjected full-heartedly, completely understanding the point that she had been trying to convey. Despite the conflicting feelings he felt about her wreaking havoc in his personal life, that was a concept he was more than willing to get behind.

Clara looked relieved by his response. She regarded him carefully for another beat, as if deciding whether to say anything further. But she must’ve ultimately decided against it, instead saying, “It really is good to see you again, Brad.”

“It’s good to see you too, Red Cross.”

She smiled at the nickname, a gesture that made his heart wrench again, before finally opening the door and hopping out. Bradley waited patiently, watching dutifully as she walked up the steps to the front door. It was only when she had gotten inside the house that he felt comfortable leaving and resuming the drive to his own assigned housing.

As the cool night breeze blew through his hair a few minutes later, Bradley felt oddly at peace.

He tried to ignore the ominous voice in his head that suggested it might be the only moments of peace he’d get for the entire detachment.

“Hangman, Parrot- I’d like to speak to the two of you for a moment.”

The feeling of being called out specifically by the Vice Admiral after the mission briefing the following morning was something akin to a teacher asking a student to stay behind after class. Or at least, that’s what it felt like to Clara.

However, she was determined not to let any discomfort show as everyone else left room to file out into the hangar, where their instructor for the training detachment would be introduced. Bob gave her a really brief sympathetic look as he passed by, as did Phoenix.

Clara couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with Bradley much that morning. Something about the reality of the situation- namely the fact that they were suddenly in very close proximity, with the potential of going on a mission together for the first time ever in their careers- seemed to be finally sinking in. Besides, after their conversation the previous evening, she could easily imagine the look that must’ve been on his face upon hearing the Vice Admiral’s request.

Once everyone else had filed out of the room, led by Rear Admiral Solomon, the door closed, and Vice Admiral Simpson turned to them with a stern look on his face. Although, it wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary for him to sport such a stony expression.

“Thank you, I’ll make this quick,” the Vice Admiral promised, glancing between them. “I understand that your partnership for this detachment came as a surprise, and is not what either of you expected.”

Clara didn’t dare to do anything but keep her focus on Vice Admiral Simpson, but she could’ve sworn she saw Hangman turn his head ever so slightly towards her, as if to give her a look.

“However,” he continued, his tone shifting quickly and easily from one almost cordial to one with a sense of resoluteness that was not to be questioned by anyone with some wits about them. “This decision was reached by myself and Rear Admiral Simpson, with input from none other than Admiral Kazansky. This decision was also made following the direct recommendations from your respective squadron COs. As such, failure to give your best effort to operate in the capacity of which you have been assigned will be taken as indication of a lack of respect for all of us involved.”

Clara couldn’t help but feel increasingly nervous as she processed the seriousness of the Vice Admiral’s words. She wasn’t certain what had brought on this type of speech and specific conversation, but she couldn’t help but wonder if her and Hangman’s little scene at the Hard Deck the previous evening had been witnessed by more than just their fellow Patches.

“Understand this: the needs of this mission will come first. And while the two of you have been paired together for now, and are expected to perform to the high standards for which you have been trained and have demonstrated out in the field, the fact of the matter is this: one of you may get chosen for the mission, and the other may not.”

That was news to Clara. Though she’d been paired to fly with Slugger for almost the entirety of the previous missions she’d been on, she couldn’t recall a time where they’d both been selected for a detachment and then subsequently separated.

Though she was still coming around to the idea in general, Clara knew one thing with the utmost certainty: if Hangman was one of the few chosen for the mission, she sure as hell was going to give every effort to make sure she was chosen for it too.

The Vice Admiral’s tone eased up- but only slightly. “If either of you want any sort of chance to be selected for this mission, I suggest you find a way to be cohesive, and quickly. Let’s just say it will not hurt your chances for the two of you to find a way to work together.” He gave them each a hard look. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Good,” he declared. “Now, go rejoin the others in the hangar. You’re dismissed.”

Clara felt like she couldn’t get out of the room fast enough. She headed down the hallway towards the exit with decent urgency.

Hangman was right behind her, sporting a grin that suggested that he hadn’t just been technically called and subsequently chewed out. “Well, well, Parrot, looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Clara almost froze mid-step at his nonchalant tone. Almost. She settled for giving him an incredulous look instead. “That’s all you have to say?” she implored.

“Did you expect me to offer you some profound wisdom or something?”

The gears in her mind started to turn. “Someone must’ve seen us at the Hard Deck last night.”

“Clearly,” Hangman agreed, unhelpfully.

Clara came to a stop before the exit door. Through the small window, she could see that the rest of the group had already taken their seats. By the looks of it, they’d saved two seats at a table right up front for her and Hangman. Great.

She turned to her newly-dubbed partner. “Listen- the Vice Admiral’s right. We need to find a way to work together. I’m not going to blow my chances of getting chosen for the mission just because we can’t find some way to be civil with each other.”

Hangman’s brows furrowed, and placed a hand over his heart. “You wound me, Parrot,” he exclaimed, with mild theatrics. “This might be surprising, but I actually agree with you.”

That was surprising.

“Sweetheart, we can play nice ‘til the cows come home,” he continued, still sounding as though he was taking way too much joy out of their situation. “And when we get chosen for the mission, I’ll show you what it’s like to fly with the finest aviator the Navy has to offer.”

Normally, Clara would’ve felt tempted to scowl at his cockiness. But at that moment, she found it oddly reassuring. Hangman wasn’t one to be motivated by much other than his own will, so it was reassuring that seemed ready to play ball. At least for now.

“Besides,” Hangman said then, “You never know- I could teach you a thing or two that you could take back to Slugger.”

Clara opened her mouth to respond, but Hangman brushed past her, opening the door and walking out into the hangar in a flash.

Although she wanted to give him an earful for the snide comment, it was pointless. She wordlessly followed after him and walked out onto the hangar floor.

If there was one thing that gave her some comfort, it was that there was no fathomable way that the day could get any worse.

Pete Mitchell wasn’t expecting a warm welcome upon his introduction to aviators recalled for the detachment.

He was alright with that. The trainees didn’t have to like him; they only needed to adhere to the lessons and hopefully absorb the wisdom he had to offer.

… Though he certainly would feel better about the whole thing if they found it in themselves to try and at least try and tolerate him.

Pete knew his work was cut out for him as he walked through the hangar, headed towards the podium from which Warlock had just stepped down from. As soon as his name was spoken, he saw the less than thrilled looks that fell over the faces of many of the ones who turned around in their seats to watch him approach. The Vice Admiral’s stern look was almost favored over some of the other looks he received.

But if Ice had chosen him for this, Pete wasn’t about to let some disappointed aviators and a doubting Vice Admiral stop him from giving it a shot.

The F/A-18 natops felt heavy in his hand as he walked, but it served as a good grounding point to distract him from the particularly heated look he felt coming from a particular recruit seated at one of the back tables.

Pete fixed himself behind the podium, and his eyes scanned over the group of twelve aviators in front of him for the first time. As far as he was concerned, they were all sitting in enviable seats. Half of them would have the honor of being chosen for the mission. The other half would have some comfort knowing for certain that they’d at least live to see one more day.

Though he didn’t make direct eye contact, he saw the trainee shooting daggers at him from the back of the room out of his peripheral vision.

To his credit, Bradley Bradshaw at least looked professional, as he had a reputation of being. Even if he was a little too reserved at times. Upon a first glance, he didn’t look any more particularly bothered by Pete’s presence than the rest of his peers did. It was only because Pete knew what signs to look for that he realized he was being given a cold look by the young man at all.

Pete’s eyes worked from the back tables all the way up to the front, trying to place the faces with the names and callsigns he’d read in the briefing notes and seen briefly during his meeting with Cyclone and Warlock the previous afternoon.

His eyes fell to the table right before him, where a woman and a man were seated. Both of them had been at the Hard Deck the night before. He glanced at the woman, and immediately felt a pang of guilt.

It really was her.

Pete had had doubts about the woman’s identity the previous evening, but judging by her clenched jaw and the less than warm look she had in her eyes as she regarded him, there was no doubting her identity anymore. Now that he was certain of who she was, it was with a dull sense of dread that Pete realized that she must’ve known exactly who he was too.

…It was going to be a long day.

Better to get on with it, Pete chided himself internally, placing his hands on either side of the podium as he mentally prepared himself to address the group at large.

Regardless who any of them were, and their feelings about him, it was time to get to work.

It was time for them to show him what they were made of.

He couldn’t believe it.

He couldn’t fucking believe it.

There really wasn’t a word apt enough to describe the combination of vexation and disbelief he was feeling.

For all his effort in making sure his feelings regarding a particular WSO didn’t get in the way of his performance during the detachment, it was bitterly ironic for Bradley to discover he’d been entirely too focused on all the possibilities. As if Bradley didn’t have enough on his plate already, it figured that the universe would have yet another laugh at his expense by abruptly throwing the one person he didn’t care to see ever again back into his life. Even if it was to be for a short stint, it wasn’t going to be managed very easily, that much was for certain.

“Rooster!”

He kept his head forward, though his grip on the handle of his flight bag tightened as he continued to follow the rest of the group making their way outside. Great. They hadn’t even had the chance to perform a quick inspection of the aircrafts before proceeding with the day’s designated exercise, and he was already attempting to pull him aside.

“Bradley!”

He kept walking, his teeth grinding down firmer.

“Lieutenant Bradshaw!”

Finally, and with great reluctance on his part, Bradley stopped, and turned to address the man who had been beckoning him. “Yes, sir?”

Maverick’s facial expression was nearly indiscernible, largely in part due to the aviators he donned and the bright sunshine covering the rest of his face. “Let’s not do it like this.”

It seemed they were already doing it like “this”, or like something at least. One being singled out of twelve? Bradley could practically feel more wandering eyes falling upon the two of them standing out in the open with every passing second.

“Are you gonna wash me out?” he demanded, though he tried to make it sound as respectful as he could manage. Unfortunately, the older man did outrank him. For now.

“That’ll be up to you, not me.”

Bradley narrowed his eyes, wondering what the hell that was even supposed to mean. Regardless, he didn’t want to keep standing there as he tried to figure it out. “Am I dismissed?”

He knew Maverick had no choice, and thankfully, Maverick knew that too. “Yes.”

Something was off.

Natasha squinted, half from the blinding sun and half from curiosity, as her eyes wandered over to Rooster, who had been specifically called out by Maverick.

It was impolite to stare, and it’d be decently embarrassing to get caught watching them, but she can’t help but be intrigued. What could they possibly have to talk about? None of them had even gotten up in the air yet!

She heard shuffling beside her, alerting her to her WSO’s presence. Sure enough, she turned her head and was met with the sight of none other than Bob. Natasha flashed him a small smile and refocused on the inspection at hand.

“What’s that about?”

Despite being several yards away, Natasha could hear Hangman’s inquiry from the other side of his own assigned F/A-18. She made her way around her own aircraft subtly. She heard Bob right behind her, checking things off the mental list for the inspection as he went along too.

When Hangman and Parrot came into view, Natasha’s curiosity peaked further. She felt confident enough to say she knew both of them fairly well, so she also felt confident saying she had a pretty good feeling of how their partnership was going to fare. Despite what had to have been a friendly warning from the Vice Admiral earlier that morning, it seemed the pair were already on rocky water.

Parrot frowned at Hangman, who was taking way less care than Natasha had to make sure his ogling of Rooster and Maverick wasn’t obvious. “It’s none of our business,” Parrot admonished gruffly, “Let’s keep focused.”

“Jeez,” Hangman said, holding his hands up in mock defense. “Didn’t think you’d be so keen to get up in the air with me, Sweetheart.”

“I’m not,” Parrot disagreed quickly, not evening sparing him another glance. “Just want to get this day over with, is all.”

“You and me both.”

Natasha shook her head to herself and turned to make a quiet comment to Bob about the ill-fated partnership. However, when she saw the look on his face, which included flitting eyes that refused to look at her for any longer than a second, she decided to keep the comment to herself.

Her curiosity about Maverick and Rooster, and Hangman and Parrot, was temporarily set aside as she proceeded to dare and sneak glances at her WSO instead.

When the conversation with Maverick was concluded, Bradley turned, and headed towards his plane briskly. Natasha didn’t miss the way Bob glanced at Rooster with the same anxious look as he passed.

Did Bob know something?

…

Payback, Fanboy, and Rooster were chosen to take on the legendary Maverick in the dogfighting exercise first.

The rest of the group holed up in one of the rec rooms, listening to the happenings over the radio as they killed time. Natasha and Bob were positioned right by the radio, listening patiently for any indication of what they were going to encounter themselves soon enough.

They were somewhat joined by Parrot, who sat on one of the nearby couches. She was less obvious about her active listening to the radio though, as she pretended to be interested in the various photos and memorabilia decorating the walls instead. Natasha knew she was only pretending though; every time a certain Lieutenant’s voice could be heard over the radio, Parrot’s head turned ever so slightly to face the radio’s direction.

Hangman was seated beside her, but he busied himself with fidgeting with a model plane that almost certainly been used previously for teaching and demonstrative purposes.

“This guy needs an ego check,” Hangman declared, right after Maverick had finished explaining the rules of the dogfighting exercise.

Payback and Fanboy followed Maveric’s challenge with a friendly bet of two hundred pushups, and then the fight was on.

Natasha couldn’t help but notice as Parrot’s interest in the radio chat became less than subtle when Rooster suddenly went below the hardeck. In fact, from then on, she seemed to be clinging on to every word he said.

Natasha knew that something was going on between Rooster and Parrot, but the other young women’s piqued interest was another matter entirely. Despite her efforts to look distracted, she was nearly at the edge of her seat. And every time she turned her head in Natasha and Bob’s direction, her face suggested that she was not just fearing, but rather expecting something to go awry.

… It seemed like Parrot and Bob knew something Natasha didn’t.

Natasha looked across from her and towards Bob, but he was still sneaking glances at Parrot, as if gauging her reaction. So instead, she dared to look over at Hangman.

Natasha had half-expected him to be fiddling with the model plane still, but to her mild surprise, he was staring right at her.

Hangman’s eyes flickered between Parrot, Bob, and the radio, before finally landing on her once more.

The suspicious look on Hangman’s face told her that he had noticed Parrot’s specific interest in radio communication throughout the exercise as well.

…

Later, Natasha watched out the window as Rooster proceeded with the two hundred pushups he’d been given. Though it was admirable that he had taken the fall for Payback and Fanboy, she questioned why it had been necessary in the first place. Flying below the hard deck was not typical for Rooster, even if it had been on “accident”. He was the kind of pilot who was usually two, if not three, steps ahead of everyone else. He didn’t make mistakes. But this time, he had.

What was it about Maverick that had Rooster acting so out of character?

Clara was a little peeved, to say the least.

Just seeing Maverick, let alone processing the fact that he was going to be the special detachment’s instructor for the imminent future, was unsettling. From her deceased father’s tales of the legendary aviator, he had become something more akin to a ghost legend than that of an actual person.

But then she remembered that ghosts had more of an excuse to miss a celebration of life for their former RIO than an actual person would have, and the anger began to take up residence internally once again.

Speaking of anger, Bradley was in a rare form due to his own. Clara hadn’t seen him this upset in many, many years, and despite having been one of the calmest and clear-headed pilots she had ever witnessed first hand, Bradley certainly wasn’t acting like it.

Knowing what she knew about why Bradley was so bent out of shape, she could hardly blame him, but she worried about him negatively affecting his own chances of being considered for the mission if he didn't find a way to keep the anger in check. His anger-fueled gut reactions had already earned him a sizable round of two hundred pushups.

Clara thought she could at least try to push past her less than pleasant feelings about Hangman for the day, but on top of the unaddressed resentment she felt towards Maverick, and the quickly overwhelming concern she was beginning to feel about Bradley, Hangman’s usual annoying but tolerable antics were straight up incendiary.

For their first run of the dogfighting exercise, they’d been paired with Phoenix and Bob.

Clara was able to convince herself that everything was fine, at least from the point of hopping in the plane, taking off, and getting up into the air. And for the most part, everything was fine; her job in that regard was the same, no matter who was sitting in the front seat.

Hangman was pretty quiet throughout that time as well. Not a single one of them had managed to shoot down Maverick yet, and he was more than determined to take that metaphorical crown for himself. He was focused, and more serious than she expected him to be. He had his game-face on.

But once they actually got into the air, and Hangman’s unnecessary commentary began, so did the trouble.

“Hey Phoenix,” Hangman said, and Clara could hear the smirk in his voice. “Hows about we tell everybody that BOB stands for something? Other than Robert, I mean.”

“Shut up, Hangman,” Clara quipped, more than ready to get the exercise done and over with. She looked down at the radar, but saw no sign of their illusive instructor. A quick visual scan of the area confirmed just as much. “Bob, you see anything?”

“Nothing yet,” he replied.

“Don’t take the bait, Bob,” Phoenix told him, circling back around to Hangman’s jest. “Wanna know why we call him Hangman?”

“Oh, I know,” Hangman said then, apparently more than willing to supply an answer to his own stupid question. “I got it: Baby On Board.”

Clara rolled her eyes, offended on behalf of her friend and with her newly-partnered pilot in general. As his laughs filled the cockpit, she began, “Would you just-”

She was cut off when the plane was thrown to the side, and Maverick flew right past the pair of them.

“Shit!” Hangman exclaimed.

“Greetings, aviators,” Maverick could be heard saying over the comms. “Fight’s on!”

“Let’s go!” Clara encouraged Hangman, surprising herself when her words came out more supportive and less demanding. Maybe she wanted a hand in taking Maverick down just as much as Hangman did. She put on a game-face of her own as she quickly put eyes on Maverick up ahead.

“Copy that,” Hangman confirmed. “Alright, Phoenix, let’s take this guy out!”

He gave her an order to break right, before going the completely opposite direction.

What the-

“Where’s he going?” Bob asked.

“No, no, no,” Clara said to Hangman, frowning heavily. “This is a bad idea.”

“That’s why we call him Hangman,” Phoenix supplied to her WSO. “He’ll always hang you out to dry.”

“Leaving your wingman?” Maverick observed, sounding highly amused. “There’s a strategy I haven’t seen in a while.”

“He called you a man, Phoenix,” Hangman pointed out in a very juvenile manner. “You gonna take that?”

“So long as he doesn’t call you a man!”

Clara urged her pilot, “Hangman, get down there and get him off them!”

But it was of little use: she might as well have been on the ground, miles away, as her words fell upon deaf ears. It was extremely evident that Hangman had a plan of his own, and come hell or high water, he was going to see it through.

“For all you folks at home, this is how you bury a fossil.”

He attempted to maneuver to get Maverick in the line of fire, but it was moot. Before he could do so, Maverick successfully shot Phoenix and Bob.

As their curses flooded the radio, Clara cursed herself. “Seriously, Hangman?!”

But Hangman ignored her. The sudden turn of events into a one versus one scenario seemed to light a new fire underneath him, and he had become beyond reproach. It was clear he was not going to listen to anyone.

A few moments later, Maverick pulled up, and Hangman followed. Both he and Clara were blinded by the sun. Though Clara attempted to turn her head around and locate their instructor, she was unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Hangman was grasping at straws, asking Phoenix for help locating him instead.

“I’m dead, dickhead,” Phoenix reminded him rather poignantly.

Bob added, “See ya in the afterlife, Bagman.”

Maverick shot them down shortly after.

…

The burn of two hundred pushups did nothing to soothe Clara’s rising anger.

There must be something in the water.

That was the only reasonable explanation Jake could provide for the events of the day. Everyone was in such a mood.

Though she had talked a big game about trying to get along that morning, Parrot wasn’t making it easy on him to hold up his end of the deal. It seemed he couldn’t make any decision without her voicing her disapproval.

He knew of her reputation to be particularly chatty over the comms, which had apparently played a role in her earning her callsign, and Jake also knew Parrot had never been particularly fond of him, but even he could tell she was in a particularly unpleasant mood that day. Maybe it had something to do with the talk from the Vice Admiral earlier. Maybe it had something to do with the two hundred pushups they’d been ordered to do. Maybe it had something to do with Rooster. Hell, it could even have had something to do with Maverick- Jake immediately noticed how tense Parrot got from her seat beside him when their instructor had been introduced that morning.

Even Rooster was off his game, which was already subpar to begin with. Typically, he was too cautious, and quite frankly, Jake was surprised he had gotten as far as he had in his career with his crippling inability to take any risks. But lately, Rooster’s behavior was way over on the other end of the spectrum. Breaking the hard deck? Openly taunting their instructor in a way that was borderline insubordination? Hell, Rooster was taking risks that even he had better sense than to try and get away with. 

For their second, and thankfully, final, dogfighting exercise run of the day, he, Parrot, and Rooster were getting another shot at Maverick.

Jake watched the interactions between Rooster and Parrot as closely as he dared, which was technically pretty close. However, though he had seen them leave the Hard Deck together the previous evening, the two weren’t displaying any outright signs of affection towards one another. In fact, if Hangman hadn’t seen Parrot's obvious concern for Rooster earlier in the day when he’d hit that snag with Maverick during his first run, Jake probably would’ve been able to write off the entire thing altogether.

But there’d been several signs, and they all seemed to say one thing: something was going on. And since Jake seemed to be out of the loop, he decided to take it upon himself to get to the bottom of it.

“So, Rooster, mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“Would it matter if I did?”

Jake could hear the other man’s displeasure very clearly. This’ll be fun. “So, what’s the story with you and Maverick? Seems like he’s got you a little rattled.”

“Focus, Hangman,” Parrot warned from behind. “I’ve already done two hundred pushups thanks to you, and I’m not about to do more.”

“It’s none of your business,” Rooster snapped at him. “Parrot, you see anything?”

“Nothing yet,” she answered. “Wait…”

Rooster huffed, “Where the hell is he?”

“Been here the whole time.”

Jake’s jaw dropped as Maverick, who had apparently been flying right underneath them, maneuvered his plane up and around Roosters’, so that he was inverted above him. “Holllly shit…”

“See me now?” Maverick asked coyly.

Jake continued to watch in a stunned silence. Parrot must’ve been stunned too; for the first time that day, it seemed like she had nothing to say.

Maverick and Rooster exchanged a few more choice words, before suddenly, both planes went downward, spirling around one another.

“What is with these two?” Jake wondered out loud,

Parrot, purposefully or not, did not make any comment towards his remark. Instead, she said, “See if you can get in a good position to get Maverick.”

But that was a feat easier said than done. While Jake had been able to maneuver them into a good spectating position, the downward spiral their wingman and instructor were entangled in offered merely a 50/50 chance of him being able to hit Maverick if a shot was attempted. And while Jake was gutsy, he was pretty sure the Vice Admiral would severely disapprove of him taking those odds, even if it was only a training simulation.

“Why aren’t they stopping?” Parrot said suddenly.

Maverick and Rooster were still in a tight locked spiral, quickly falling towards the ground.

Jake scoffed, though his joking facade was starting to slip as he began to process the gravity of the situation unfolding before their eyes.

Parrot added, with decent concern, Jake would later note, “What is this, a game of chicken?!”

Honestly, that was what it seemed like.. “Well, technically, Rooster is-”

“Shut up, Hangman!”

Though Jake could hear Maverick and Rooster exchanging less than pleasant words once again, he was concerned with the more pressing issue: their planes were still very, very quickly barreling towards the desert ground. Jake glanced down at the controls, before warning them, “Hard Deck’s 5000 feet, fellas! You’re running out of room.”

“Someone pull up, damn it!” Parrot chimed in.

“Your strategy is about to run us into the ground,” Maverick said, directed to Rooster. “What’s your move?”

Thankfully, the two pulled up a moment later, with Maverick taking the lead.

“Come on, Rooster!” Jake encouraged, surprising himself. He began to direct the plane over towards them for backup. “You got him! Drop down and take the shot!”

“It’s too low!” Rooster disagreed.

Capitalizing on his trainee’s reluctance, Maverick hit the brakes. He came to an apparent stop in the air and Rooster soared past him. Maverick aimed, took the shot, and Rooster was toast. “That’s a kill.”

“Damn it!” Rooster cursed.

Jake shook his head to himself. “Same old Rooster.”

“Shut up, Hangman,” Parrot berated him. “Mav’s coming for us next!”

But with Rooster gone, it didn’t take long at all for Maverick to defeat them in a one versus one scenario for the second time that day.

At some point, Hondo took pity on them, or he just got tired of counting. Either way, he attempted to dismiss them.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

Bradley opted to ignore his offer. If the other two wanted to quit, fine. But he had earned himself those pushups, again, and he was going to see them through.

However, Hangman on the other hand didn't need to be told twice. He sprung up and off the ground with an ease that could only have been obtained by the Navy’s rigorous requirements for physical upkeep. He looked down at Bradley and Clara as he dusted off his hands.

“Well, this was a hell of a first day,” he commented airily. Then to Clara, he added, “I’ll see you tomorrow, partner.”

Bradley just knew that Hangman’s echoing of her words had to have riled Clara up, but she said nothing in response. In fact, she didn’t move to get up off the ground either, though she did stop the pushups and sit up on her legs folded underneath her.

Hangman walked off, while Hondo looked down at Bradley. “Rooster, that’s enough, man.”

Bradley ignored him once again, just as he ignored the slight burning sensation in his arms, which would have done four hundred pushups by the time the day was over and done with..

His eyes were fixed on the ground, but he heard Hondo give up on requesting him to stop, and eventually, the other man walked away. Bradley expected Clara to get up and leave as well, but she stayed put where she was.

A few minutes later, the push ups were complete, but Bradley felt no more satisfied with himself than he had before he’d begun. He rolled over to sit on the concrete, which was still warmed by the setting sun.

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes, before Clara said softly, “I’m sorry about Hangman.”

Bradley fought the urge to scoff. Of everything that had happened that day, Hangman was the least of his problems at the moment. He didn’t look up at her, worried he’d say something he’d regret as he continued to silently seethe.

“It’s been a long day,” she tried then, though with a bit more firmness in her tone. “How about we go get a drink? … Just you and me?”

“I’m not in the mood.”

Bradley could tell by the awkward silence that followed that his snapped response must’ve hurt Clara’s feelings a bit. On any other day, he would’ve apologized immediately and taken her up on the offer, but at that moment, he just couldn’t.

“Listen,” Clara said, more forcefully still. “I’m not exactly thrilled with the situation either. Did you think I liked showing up here this morning and finding out that Maverick, of all possible people in the damn Navy, was going to be our instructor?”

He didn’t bother to answer her redundant question.

“But we can’t change the situation we’re in now,” she continued. “And pulling shit like you did today, pulling shit like that-”

“Like what?” Bradley challenged, whipping his head upwards and meeting her eyes for the first time since their conversation began. He saw her hesitate, but Clara seemed angry too, and she wasn’t quite ready to stand down, despite the opposition he was giving her.

Her eyes narrowed at him. “You know like what.”

“I thought we agreed to put the mission first. What happened with that?” he questioned, not caring how suspicious he sounded. Bradley sighed, before adding, “Look, I really don’t need you preaching to me right now.”

Bradley practically heard her jaw snap shut.

“I had my ass chewed out by the Vice Admiral this morning for something I haven’t even done yet. I still might strangle Hangman by the time this detachment’s over, despite the very clear warnings I’ve received not to,” she told him cooly, sounding more angry than he could ever recall having seen her throughout their many years of friendship. “So, forgive me if I’m trying to make sure my friend doesn’t get washed out so that I’m not left here alone.”

Before he could even realize how stupid it was, Bradley snapped back, “Well, as your friend, I suggest that you worry more about yourself, and less about me.”

Clara opened her mouth to respond, but then she closed it. She rose off the ground just as swiftly as Hangman had just a few minutes before.

She took a few steps away, before throwing her head over her shoulder and grumbling back at him, “I’ll see you later, Bradshaw.”

No Brad. No Bradley. Just Bradshaw.

Fuck.

As Bradley watched Clara walk away from him and back towards the hangar, he immediately regretted the harshness of his words. No matter how angry he’d been, he knew that Clara was extremely low on the list of those who deserved to face his wrath.

Damn Maverick for making him feel this way. Damn Maverick for bringing back the anger from years long since past that he could’ve sworn had been erased. … And damn himself for letting Maverick get the best of him anyway.

Bradley was so lost in his own pity party, he failed to realize Phoenix had approached him.

“Breaking the hard deck? Insubordination? Are you trying to get kicked out?”

It had been a long day.

Alright, maybe that was an understatement, but it didn’t make the thought any less true. Though Bob was beginning to feel a bit worn down, he didn’t want to let it show. Just one stop on the way home, and with any luck, he could be back at his temporary new home in an hour or two.

However, Bob knew the day was about to get just a little bit longer when he ran into Parrot leaving base that evening. She had come from the women’s locker room, and though a good shower was typically enough to help lift anyone’s mood after a long day, it didn’t seem to do the trick for Parrot. She still had a crestfallen look on her face, and didn’t even look up to meet his gaze until he audibly greeted her.

It was the most upset that Bob had seen her all day, and he had a few good hunches as to why that was.

Bob knew something was going on between Rooster and Parrot- he wouldn’t have been that observant of a friend if he didn’t. After they first met, it didn’t take Bob long to figure out that whoever Rooster was, Parrot was clearly very fond of him, as she talked about him frequently, and always with the highest regard. And it seemed Rooster cared just as much for her, as the man later flew across the country to attend her graduation from TOPGUN.

Rooster’s surprisingly reckless behavior throughout the day must not have been easy for her to witness. Something about Maverick had him throwing his usually cautious nature to the wind, and he’d been unpredictable at best.

But in addition to that, Bob had his suspicions about a grievance Parrot may have had with their new instructor for the training detachment. After she returned to TOPGUN following her father’s funeral, Bob had taken her to the Hard Deck for a few much-deserved drinks, and of course, food. Though she had probably gotten too drunk for her own good, Parrot did mention a couple of choice comments about one Pete “Maverick” Mithcell not attending her father’s service. Of course, Bob recognized the name- you’d be a fool in the Navy not to have at least heard of the infamous aviator. The following day, once Parrot had sobered up, he asked her about it, and she felt obligated to inform him that once upon a time, her father and Maverick had actually flown together. Though she apologized for the outburst, and insisted her words were too harsh, Bob could still tell that some possible resentment for Maverick remained.

But Bob wasn’t one to jump to conclusions about anything, let alone about people. He’d take Rooster and Parrot’s opinion of Maverick into serious consideration, but he didn’t want to condemn the man just yet.

Seeing Parrot still upset, hours after the majority of the tension-filled events had passed, made Bob pause, and he suspected that something yet again was amiss. Plus, Bob wasn’t one to blatantly ignore a friend in need.

“I’ve got an errand I was going to run,” Bob informed her, the gears already beginning to turn in his head. “And it’s something I could really use your opinion on. Do you maybe want to tag along? We can even grab a bite to eat afterwards- on me, of course.”

Clara’s downtrodden look lifted slightly, as her eyes shifted from a look of bleakness to one of curiosity. She offered him a small nod and an even smaller smile in confirmation.

But Bob still considered that a win. “Come on, let’s go.”

Chapter 7

Masterlist

A/N: Thank you so much for reading!💙 If you would like to be added to the taglist, please let me know!

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dnd adventures 38

infero killed mpreg mattpat ANYWAY

dess is back in eeby deeby and cam comes out with an egg! dans picks cam off the ground and fills them in. time to let barbie know we fucked up lol. sorry barbie he got away. "well thats not ideal." barbie asks kris if they can find him and they nod. time to say goodbye :( when dans fistbumps kris theres a fart noise xD 'good luck with the kid.' 'good luck storming the castle!' kris summons a dragon suzy is so fucking mad lol and off they go.

welp now what do they do. dans asks cam if they wanna face that ice dragon. time for a long rest its eepy time for frog lol. dans paid for the inn its expensive thanks cam lol. suzy is chewing on bones. frog is practicing music. dans is reorganizing his spells and he took both fire and frost staffs get fucked. inferno is fixing his hair. cam is calibrating a portable pair of merchant scales? undyne is eating a meatball sub lol. tori is reading.

dans has cam fix his beard feathers cause they got messed during the fight. frog just barges into the bathroom and asks inferno what hes doing. they need the bathroom stop doing your hair. he tells them to go outside nooooo. frog starts humming then disappears. inferno just shrugs and goes back to his hair.

vani starts war dancing at inferno. he starts walking from tori to inferno over and over. dans closes his eyes and suddenly shouts 'where is frog!' tori says shes gonna heat metal again. inferno sighs and runs out to find frog. tori follows lol. dans stays still since cam is working but vani follows.

inferno goes to the river and frog is swimming. he walks over and asks how they even got here. they teleported than walked! they disappear and appear behind him lol. he wants to teleport oh no. he sighs and says they need to go back before he gets killed. 'but im swimming?' inferno is like whatever so they jump back in with vani.

tori is trying to make frog come back cause their tired. they just wanna swim cmon. back at the inn cam finished dans beard so he takes the scarf and cleans it up. cam is leaning against them playing with the scales. he gives it back and says they look right and proper. dans says at some point their gonna have to face that dragon. suzy says they killed a dragon its easy lol. dans suggests finding smaller dragons to kill first. undyne says they can totally do it. dans tells cam he and undyne can rez people. cam is so upset were dead set on this.

dans pats cam on the back and says they can do it, he believes in them! dans says its ok to be afraid. suzy says she can smell cams fear lol. undyne says she can smell it too lol. she says cam has the strength to overcome it. cam blushes and says they appreciate the belief, but we werent there. undyne says cam has seen them beat the shit outta steve lol. cam frowns and says they dont wanna see that happen to the rest of us. undyne and dans agree that if they die cam is allowed to kick their asses. gonna avenge cams family! believe in undyne!

meanwhile back at the river! frog finally gets out and makes grabby hands at tori lol. sopping wet baby. tori scoops them up. vani gets out and dog shakes the water on inferno lol. the cat hides behind inferno lol. tori unties her apron to dry them and head to the inn. she gets lost oh no. inferno just leaves and tori follows him lol. they make it back nice. inferno asks where susie got the sub he wants one. cam used the bathroom and used all the fancy soaps earlier lol.

inferno grabs the sub and tries to get in the bathroom but dans is inside. dans is singing in there. inferno groans and leaves. its the punch baby song from adventure time. then the bacon pancakes song. inferno is invading other peoples bathrooms. tori meditates. dans finishes and comes out and undyne goes in. we can hear her armor clang on the floor lol. frog and dans play cards and explain to susie how to play uno. cam is braiding frogs hair with feathers. frog wins good job! cam helped them cheat lol.

undyne comes out and cam asks if anyones seen inferno. 'dont worry i didnt shower in the armor.' susie goes into the bathroom and eats the soap and hates it lol. dont eat that lol. business as usual xD. cam and dans go to find inferno lol. vani sniffs him out lol. inferno tells the guy hes invading to not rat him out lol. cam yells they know inferno is in there. inferno is trying to hide lol. the bar rail crashes lol. dans persuades the guy to let us in. trying to make him open and cam threatens to get undyne. dans counters and says if he comes we can spend some time robbing the place. inferno steals the soap nice.

cam tries to steal one of infernos soaps and he goes no these are mine. he groans and leaves one, the shitty one lol. as we walk we find a cart full of soaps and stuff! dans walks over with the bag of holding and he and cam are shoveling it in. so is inferno. then inferno grabs the cart and shoves it into the bag lol. then sneak back to the room. a hotel woman sees the cart is gone and is confused. undyne punches inferno for leaving lol.

long rest! but we got into a LONG argument about sitting on toilet lids. like oh my god.

pouring rain out. dans got breakfast for everyone. he lies about the coffee. he gives cam some perfume he stole. he also gives frog a fancy soap that looks like a seashell. cam has a fancy teapot cool. frog wants to learn how to make tea! dans says you have to stick your pinky out while drinking tea. oh no cam is info dumping lol. dans finished setting up plates for everyone. dans heads back for a bath again! you can hear megalovania lol. then bonetrousle. then spear of justice. when did he get a band wtf.

time to leave! dans cam and inferno just keep stealing shit. dans gives undyne a soap that looks like a fish. as we leave we find another cart fuck yeah! they power walk to the cart and get to work. tori is like wait no. quick get the cart in! suzy is confused lol. undyne grabs the cart noooo!!! cam scrambles up her back sksksk. dans says hes getting his moneys worth. undyne puts inferno in the cart and kicks it into a wall lol. cam climbs down and helps dans grab the stuff. undyne calls them babies. time to go with our stash!

dans pulls out his map and asks cam where they live and mark it down. several days on soupnik probably. heading out whoo! as we leave we see someone tell the hotel guys all the soap is gone lol. still raining on soupnik. inferno goes eeby deeby. its a full blown storm. undyne avoids getting hit by lightning! cam tries to get soupnik land. failed frick. tori summons flame blade. undyne wants to fly above the storm and cam says thats a bad idea cause no air.

undyne fucking raises her pike oh god no. she thinks she can take it. we keep arguing with her. tori calls her a fucking idiot sksksk. cam is curled up and holding their head oh no. undyne sighs and agrees to land. undyne gets stuck good job and drops her pike. cam laughs. we all take half damage fuckers. tori heals the rest of us but undyne. dans rubs his lighting scars they hurt.

frog grabs everyone into a huddle but tori and undyne and uses tiny hut protecting us and its comfy and dry. dans tosses out tori's and undynes tents for them. time to dry! cam calls undyne a dick. dans shows his lightning scar is pulsating and says 'gee thanks.' the hut looks like a missing texture lol. dans gives susie some jerky then asks tori when the storm is gonna end. still seems stormy oof. cam makes tea. dans is gonna bring tori and undyne tea to keep them warm. using vani for warmth lol.

while the tinies play uno off in the distance theres a bunch of tricerotops pog. tori also sees them pog. undyne gets a weird feeling of being watched. after a few hours the storm passes. dans collects the tents. frog goes to pet the dinos. tori watches frog lol. undyne stretches.

some giant cyclops throws a rock at the dinos! tori gets a free hit in! thats a lotta damage! roll initiative! for next time ;)

[cupcakegal25]

so i beat totk

and holy fucking SHIT it was good!!!!! i actually kept a record of my thoughts as i played it, so i'm gonna be posting that now just for funsies. major major MAJOR spoilers under the cut!!!!!!

RAURU OCARINA OF TIME??!?!?!?

why do i have to do the wholeass tutorial with no shirt. completely tits out

purah :eye: :eye:

love my horsies

2 eponas [accidentally summoned epona before linking stable accounts]

damn we were right about the time travel [dragon tear 1]

TEBA THE ELDER?!??!?!?!????!

the flying ship is vah medoh idiots /hj

revali’s gale 2 electric boogaloo [tulin's tornado]

damn is this what it would be like to fight the blights with the champions because if so :sob: :sob: :sob:

if revali finds out about this his impostor syndrome will only get worse istg

SAGES SAGES SAGES SAGES SAGES SAGES

SAGE OF TIME ZELDA MY FUCKGINH BELOFVED

what were the original sages named please

HOLY FUCKING BINGLE PHANTOM TULIN

ring :o

frozen lookin ass cutscene

REVALI’S LANDING (this is your fault hope)

great eagle bow……

did link just give the champion’s weapons back goddamn

VOW OF TULIN SAGE OF WIND <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

is sidon gonna have to sneak out to help me with this /hj

zelda has parents now love that for her <3 [rauru and sonia]

i was heading for gerudo town and now i’m in kakariko i do not know how this happened please send help

CHIEF PAYA???!?!?!??!??!??!?

made it to zora’s domain on accident. welp

WHERE DID MIPHA G O GET MY GIRL B A C K HERE [sidon statue]

WHO THE FUCK IS SIDON GETTING MARRIED TO WHAT

i would like to give sidon a hug please and thank you

WATER MANIPULATION SIDON GO AWOOGA

KING SIDON KING SIDON KING SIDON [dorephan and muzu]

sidon trauma arc [mipha come home :(]

ma’am i knew mipha [he doesn’t want to lose anyone else]

THERE SHE IS THERE’S MY GIRL [mipha]

sidon sage of water please? please nintendo? please sidon sage of water?

oh god oh fuck SIDON LOOK OUT [sludge like]

what the FUCK is up with the gravity here what the hell

oh god oh fuck water temple (i kinda figured this was coming but still)

CHAMPION PICTURE IN MY H O U S E THANK YOU KASS

link and zelda roommates :)

mucktorok is dancin

wtf is that a shark?

holy shit that’s like a zant looking death [mucktorok]

thank you sidon for my life [water shield]

wait that mask looks like vah ruta. wait

ma’am mipha is right there [my kin etc]

secret stone is kinda a dumb name i think

that’s LITERALLY the lightscale trident MA’AM [sage of water’s weapon]

i still love sage of time zelda. btw

dear god i NEED to know these people’s names this is becoming SUCH a problem

gonna take a detour to look for the dragon’s tears i think

sidon sage of water!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

i fucking adore him so so so much i love him SO much

another disney lookin ass cutscene but not as pronounced

KING SIDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i’m so proud of my boy

vow of sidon sage of water………

i love dorephan’s hat it looks silly

well guess i’m doing the gerudo quest last cause here i am in goron city

probably for the best given. history (thunderblight) (riju I’m sorry)

yunobo what the FUCK are you doing

i’m sorry i hate this outfit also what the hell

god daruk would be so upset :(

well this seems. bad [yunobo being mean]

oh yeah that’s really not good

CLEARLY NOT HIMSELF JHGKLASJGLKJAG [boss subtitle]

goodbye ugly mask!

did she just trap us in the cave with this stupid fucking rock [zelda and marbled rock roast]

oh it’s not just daruk's protection again that’s interesting! [yunobo’s charge]

yeah i one million percent guarantee that that isn’t zelda

what the FUCK am i looking at

moragia??? alright

god that was HARD to control what the fuck [wing]

holy shit the atmosphere in here is INCREDIBLE [death mountain crater]

damn is this dungeon going to be underground instead of in the sky? swag

woah the fire temple is the gorondia that i’ve heard about in side quests? pog

oh this is really interesting! big spirit tracks vibes [mine carts]

three whole boss fights in this section wow [yunobo, moragia, marbled gohma]

GOHMA?!?!??!???!??!?!??!

there she goes! why was the second phase easier than the first though that’s my main question

alright so the masks on the sages are definitely the divine beasts

i should wear my vah naboris mask for the last one lmao

yunobo is confused. dw bro i have played many games in this series and also seen two other cutscenes nearly identical to this

wait are the vas the same for the sages and their descendants and thus the champions. wait

well not the sage of water but that just supports my argument more i think. mipha voice actress real?

how did zelda fucking GET here how many fucking fireproof elixirs did she need to USE [fire temple]

elixir wears off as the sage is doing his little speech and zelda bursts into flames lmfao

hi it’s me, the swordsman link. nice to meet you [gorons will help swordsman named link]

daruk would be so proud of yunobo and mipha would be so proud of sidon and i guarantee urbosa would be so proud of riju (i haven’t gotten there yet) but revali would just be really jealous of tulin LMAO

yay sage of fire yunobo!!!!!!!!!! i like daruk better i’m sorry

AW FISTBUMB THAT’S SO CUTE FUCK YEAH

i know it’s just the secret stone but yunobo fucking looks like he’s on fire gkhlsakgjlagk [giving the vow]

wait this is on my thumb? that’s gonna leave a finger leftover what the hell [rings/vows]

i’m gonna like recruit riju and then all of us are going to storm hyrule castle together somehow LMAO

oh shit the rock roast was made of gloom? that makes sense actually

i love the gorons :D

BLUDO NO YOU’RE GOING TO THROW YOUR BACK OUT AGAIN [yunobo’s apology]

vow of yunobo sage of fire :D

actually fucking going to gerudo town know istg

slightly untrue actually i’m going to make a detour to activate the last three towers but two of them are on the way so it’s probably fine [forest, gerudo, wasteland]

rauru knows ganondorf is evil and is keeping him close to keep an eye on him so he’s already many many steps ahead of the oot king

also did no one notice how ganondorf was commanding the moldugas in the last cutscene. what

alright made it to kara kara bazaar! how the FUCK am i supposed to get to gerudo town though

also thank fucking god they put a shrine here i Need it

these guys think they’re gonna be liked enough to be allowed into gerudo town. They Won’t

okay thank you tulin for helping me get here i still have no idea where i’m going but i can work with it thank you

OH FUCK GIBDOS. TERRIFYING

going to avoid fighting those at all costs i think! Yikes:tm:

made it to gerudo town after many many detours! hooray!

wait hold on where IS everyone

THERE’S A GIBDO IN THE TOWN

okay made it to a. guard. this makes sense

alright so there’s people behind this wall but i cannot get in i am not allowed

where’s the dialogue option to tell this guard i’m nonbinary /hj

i have broken into the sanctuary and i think i’m gonna die

BULIARA DEFENDS ME???? AIGHT

okay heading out to find riju my beloved <3

PATRICIA!!!!!!!!!!

oh she grew up so pretty i’m so proud of her

yay she did it yay!

oh god that’s viscerally horrifying jesus christ [gibdo swarming kara kara bazaar]

oh that’s AWFUL i HATE the way they spawned

we did it yay!!!

that’s probably not actually zelda lbr

alright I’m back i was busy cooking

sage riju let’s fucking goooooo

just realized this is a new ganondorf (unless this takes place after fsa) absolutely wild we have had three of them and like ~20 links and zeldas

okay i’m as prepared as i can be i think let’s go

terrible horrible fucked up i hate it [gibdos]

oh god oh fuck oh shit she’s so COOL [riju]

alright i was terrible at that! fantastic [defending gerudo town]

whatever at least i won

ooh mural? let’s take a look

just realized i completely forgot about akkala lemme activate that tower

alright got sidetracked into doing a thing for josha. fought a frox. terrifying shit

but i made it here to the great abandoned central mine

why are there people here

oh that bitch is DEFINITELY a yiga

okay that’s an interesting new power [autobuild]

don’t wanna do this for them but here goes

alright, who’s the “master”

MASTER KOHGA??????

oh my god he fell into a pit maybe he’s been alive this WHOLE TIME

I WAS RIGHT

i cannot fucking believe this shit i’m so happy about it

great twist actually i deadass wasn’t expecting it

oh i love that so much

man are you planning on ripping my arm off. probably yes actually

alright boss time!

done! god that was so fun

i hope there aren’t any more misunderstandings in regards to his death though that would suck *cough @ofstormsandfire's absolutely fantastic fic no one ever mentions fear cough*

HGKLSAJGLKASG JUST FLIES OFF THAT’S SO FUNNY

alright that was a great detour and i am very happy i did it

back to josha!

i. completely forgot about faron. just a minute

climbed up totori rock. mistakes were made

back to riju. that puzzle was way too fuckin annoying [red pillar riddle]

ooh temple on the ground?

lightning temple… interesting. wasn’t sure if it would be lightning temple or thunder temple (maybe like sand or desert but i didn’t think so cause that didn’t seem like it would be a fitting sage title for riju)

OH GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT [queen gibdo]

am i just going straight into the boss fight??? no dungeon??? what the hell

ohhhhh it retreated. so i do still have a dungeon!

finally made it into this fucking place!

five bucks says this place is the token creepy dungeon. should’ve made that bet earlier tbh

oh that voice sounds JUST like urbosa holy shit

i like how the rooms in this place have like. names and stuff

alright boss time!

OH GOD THAT DID SO MUCH DAMAGE [queen gibdo]

holy shit this is gonna be a ROUGH one

FINALLY that took me 30 goddamn minutes

just realized i forgot to put on the vah naboris mask. oh well

ooh pretty earring

so the only ring missing is my middle finger. sure wonder why that is /s

oh man am i finally gonna be allowed in gerudo town without crossdressing? swag!

vow of riju sage of lightning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

alright, let’s go talk to purah. after we check in with her i’ll probably go looking for the rest of the memories

why is there a blood moon in the middle of the day. that seems really bad

okay time for dragon tears!

SONIA NO [sonia gets stabbed]

god that’s gotta be AWFUL for zelda since now she’s lost 3 separate moms :( [unnamed bio mom, urbosa, sonia]

oh god he looks damn near identical to demise [secret stone ganondorf]

oh fuck lynels look so terrifying now i hope i never ever have to fight one

thank you zelda for having braincells and leaving

rauru going to his death a better father than rhoam EVER was [zelda telling rauru about dehydrated ganondorf]

FI!!!! [fi chiming]

zelda??? zelda honey??? what are you doing?????  [dragon tear 11]

zelda??? Is that you??? [light dragon]

ZELDA NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [dragon tear 12]

god fuck I’m actually crying

heading to korok forest. i fucking hate this

oh jeez what’s up with the koroks? what’s up with the DEKU TREE?

FUCK GLOOM HANDS

i do not know how i killed them honestly

what the fuck PHANTOM GANON

okay that’s cool as fuck thank you totk for bringing back multiple great characters/enemies

alright i’ve got the master sword and i’m sobbing my eyes out thanks nintendo!

fucked around for a SUBSTANTIAL period of time i’m going to finally do the hyrule castle thing now i think

WHOEVER THAT IS SHUT YOUR SLUTTY MOUTH I KNOW BETTER YOU AREN’T MY GIRL [zelda voice]

i hate this so much i hate this soooo much stop looking like my girl and summoning monsters and let me fucking kill you please god

yknow this cutscene would probably hit different if i didn’t already do the dragon’s tears [sanctum cutscene]

alright i died to the first hit which is just excellent

FRIENDS! :D [sages showing up]

yknow if nothing else at least he didn’t make me fight a lynel

i love how tulin is just sitting on yunobo’s back after ganon’s thing. btw

oh, the champion’s tunic! thank you zelda i love you zelda

okay i love the conversation with harth and tulin. hope you were right about the polycule goddamn

i just noticed: link is BARELY taller than tulin holy fucking bingle

missing sage? :o

i bet it’s paya. i hope it is at least that would be cool i think

MINERU???? [voice]

oh god I’m in the ground MINERU WHY

MINERU!!!!

sage of spirit mineru pog!!!!!!

i was CONVINCED whoever it was would be the sage of shadow ngl but this works!

i have built a robot. this is apparently mineru now. i’m down for it tbh

she lost her secret stone? oh fuck that’s not good

I CAN RIDE AND DRIVE MINERU???? FUCK YEAH

oh what the FUCK is that [seized construct]

is there a dungeon here or just a boss fight? hold up

oh my GOD it takes NO DAMAGE i HATE that

wait fuck i slammed it into the fence that works thank fucking god

okay i stun locked it into the second phase which is excellent

done! that gives me big koloktos vibes actually i really like that

also really really helpful that i didn’t have to rely on my battery charge things during the fight i would’ve been FUCKED

MINERU WAS IN THE PURAH PAD????? THE WHOLEASS TIME???? SINCE MILLIONS OR WHATEVER YEARS AGO WHEN ZELDA SHOWED UP?????? i'm shook

actually the more i think about it the more her being the sage of spirit makes sense since she can like separate her soul from her body or whatever i'm pretty sure

there’s the last ring there’s the middle finger!

i do think that should've been riju though for. reasons

ma’am i swear to god if you tell me what i ALREADY KNOW about what happened to zelda

goddammit she is telling me that isn’t she

she’s the older sister? makes sense actually the vibes track

oh she’s explaining the murals from below the castle at the very very beginning! funky fresh

oh geez this is how he got dehydrated! or at least the start of it i guess

yeah, mineru, I KNOW WHAT SHE DID

MINERU WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN WHY DID YOU LET HER DO THAT

god like i understand that you’re dying and there was no other choice but FUCK this hurts

vow of mineru sage of spirit……. fuck

purah please i KNOW you’re smarter than this you GOTTA put the pieces together so i don’t suffer this knowledge alone i fuckin REFUSE

well there she goes but no fucking reaction makes it worse, thanks

oh god oh fuck oh no LYNEL

i am ZOOMING past that fight holy shit

OH NO I ASCENDED INTO THE LYNEL ROOM FUCK

“the power of the sages cannot reach you” thanks! i hate it!

fuck. back here again. game’s almost over huh [zonai mural room]

oh the last three murals….. fuck [sages v ganondorf, zelda and master sword, light dragon]

the fUCKING TORCH ON THE GROUND THAT’S ZELDA’S FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU

alright. let’s end this

FRIENDS! SAGES!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

okay i died pretty fast there so i left, made a bunch of food, used most of my sundelions, and i’m back to try again

alright that went much better! or at least the first half did i guess there’s lizalfos now

ah fuck gibdos

aaaaand moblins. please let this be everything

alright! i did it!

ah fuck bosses. hate that a lot thanks

nevermind! hate that more! [separated from friends]

fuckin. did you really need to seal me in. bitch

eyyyyy there he is! he’s rehydrated!

HE CAN PERFECT DODGE???? GODDAMN

alright. one health bar down. no way it’s the last one

OH GOD OH FUCK SECRET STONE

WHAT THE FUCK KINDA HEALTH BAR IS THAT IT GOES OFF THE S C R E E N

SAGES :D

okay the health bar doesn’t go off the screen but still THIS FEELS EXCESSIVE

just saw tulin soar past me teba and saki are GOING to have my head

don’t fuckin crook your fingers at me like that

y’know if nothing else i’m getting really good at perfect dodges

HE CAN DODGE MY FLURRY RUSHES NOW???? bullshit. unfair

back to ganondorf, i left to get a fuckload of sundelions make a bunch of sunny dishes

first phase done. that went really well, actually

HOLY SHIT HOW DID I PULL THAT OFF I JUST BACKED HIM INTO A CORNER AND I HAD ONE HEART AND BARELY ANY SHIELD LEFT WHAT THE HELL

oh my god is he doing what i think he’s doing

VENGEANCE FOR ZELDA. FUCK YEAH

oh that’s terrible i hate the eyes

that’s literally the calamity [demon dragon]

who?? called my name??? who was that???

also how the hell am i supposed to kill an immortal dragon or whatever

i am looking at the calamity right now istg [demon dragon]

okay nevermind that’s a dragon but STILL

demon dragon…. kinda slaps

oh i’m stuck in his jaws i’m DOOMED

ZELDA!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK DAD WHY DID YOU HAVE TO CALL NOW FUCK YOU

oh thank GOD i have my hearts back

i see a couple big fucked up eyes that’s probably the weak points

thank you zelda love you zelda :) [she catch me]

damn this is gonna go pretty easy it feels like like i’m not gonna jinx it but this is going really well so far

i fuckin fell off

zelda sweetie i think you caught me wrong for a sec i almost fell off the side

FUCK UP THAT SECRET STONE LINK HELL YEAH

there he goes! probably hopefully idk for sure

i don’t feel so good mr. stark -ganondorf probably idk i've never watched marvel [death]

destroy ganondorf, complete……

glowy hand?

i am in the void. with the zelda

my glowy hand is goin towards her

oh! rauru and sonia! hi!

wait is this zelda and sonia’s time power. wait

are we bringing her back?!?!?!??! like i didn’t think nintendo would leave her like that forever but still please please please

ZELDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my beloved baby girl she’s BACK

my shirt is off and my hat is off but i’m still wearing the royal guard pants. weird

bye sonia!!! bye rauru!!!

question. how are we gonna get to the ground

ZELDA NO!

dive to zelda… i love that actually

I CAUGHT HER THIS TIME!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

if that is the last gameplay in the game i would be so happy with that actually. the last thing i do is a parallel to the first thing i couldn’t

zelda :D fi :D

WAAAAAA I LOVE HER WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i am going to give her a hug. where’s the hug button nintendo

nintendo that’s nice that she felt like she got a hug but i want to hug her

SHE’S HOME!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

find princess zelda complete!!!!!!!

oh! post-credits scene!

me and zelda and sages and purah! :D

oh… bye mineru…. ilu….

i can’t believe zelda lost 6 separate moms (gender-neutral) over just 2 games (sorry) [unnamed bio mom, urbosa, sonia, mineru, rauru, daruk]

oh that’s so CUTE thank you sages

the end :D

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 11/11/2023 (Olivia Rodrigo, Jax Jones/D.O.D/Ina Wroldsen, The Kid LAROI)

Welp, with a ton of sales and some actually good streaming traction, the Beatles have done it. With their supposedly final single, they now have 18 #1s, the second most of anybody charting only second to Elvis. It’s their first #1 since 1969, “Now and Then” surging up to the top spot this week. So what about the rest? Well, welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

It should be no surprise that “Now and Then” hit #1. They sold 78,000 units - a lot of it being physical copies - which naturally stomps on the usual sales figures we get nowadays. They set all kinds of chart-span records, including gap between #1 singles, and whilst it’s far from the only story this week, it is pretty great to have a genuine chart moment much like the Christmas #1 where the average person may actually give a damn about the chart. Now that you’re interested, here’s what’s on the chart, our notable dropouts - songs exiting from the UK Top 75 after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we say farewell to all the Halloween-related re-entries and debuts - probably not worth listening here, just make five guesses and check last week’s episode, you’re probably correct - and then it’s just “ONE MORE TIME” by blink-182, “bad idea right?” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Bittersweet Goodbye” by Issey Cross and “Kill Bill” by SZA, it’s not exactly a week for big losses.

This is also one of those weeks where we do see resurgences of old songs, with “Bad Habits” by Ed Sheeran back at #74, as well as the return for “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls at #67. This is its first time in the top 75 since 2014, and it has a bit of a bizarre run in general. It charted at #50 on release, died almost immediately, came back the next year at #26 before soon drifting back away. With the introduction of digital sales and eventually streaming, however, “Iris” has won out, going in and out of the charts for 100+ weeks since 2006. It peaked at #3 after a performance on The X Factor in 2011 pushed its sales up, which meant it was competing with Sak Noel’s “Loca People” and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger”. Elsewhere, we see gains for “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac at #61, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi at #58, “As it Was” by Harry Styles at #57, “Another Love” by Tom Odell at #51 and the earliest defrosting of the Christmas hits ever, with “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey at #40 and “Last Christmas” by Wham! at #37. Therefore, Christmas rules need a reminder: I will not discuss Christmas gains past the top five unless they are entering the top 75 for the first time that year in that week. It means the rundowns get a lot less tedious during the holiday season.

To be fair, we have some more contemporary gains, like “MONEY ON THE DASH” by Elley Duhé and Whethan at #63, “Black Friday” by Tom Odell at #54, “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa, “Would You (go to bed with me?)” by Campbell and Alcemist at #29, and “On My Love” by Zara Larsson and David Guetta at #22. Additionally, Jung Kook’s solo debut album GOLDEN debuts at #3 on the albums chart, thus we see gains for “3D” featuring Jack Harlow at #45 and a re-entry for “Seven” featuring Latto at #35, alongside a new single in the top 10 which we’ll talk about later, standing right next to Taylor Swift swapping out “Slut!” for “Cruel Summer” returning at #7, and speaking of the top 10…

The top five this week consists of “Water” by Tyla back up to #5 with Tate McRae’s “greedy” at #4, Taylor Swift’s “Is it Over Now?” holding on at #3, “Prada” by casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe at #2 and of course the Fab Four at the very top. Now for our pretty scarce but vaguely interesting batch of new songs, though I say the term “new” a bit loosely.

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 - “The Night We Met” - Lord Huron

Produced by Ben Schneider

Okay, so we have another weird chart run here. This song by California indie rock band Lord Huron was originally released in 2015 - which is soon, terrifyingly, near a decade ago - and did not make much noise until it was featured on the soundtrack to Selena Gomez-backed polarising Netflix show 13 Reasons Why in 2017, the year in which this song actually charted below the top 75 for a brief couple weeks. The year after, a remix featuring Phoebe Bridgers of boygenius was featured in the soundtrack for the show’s second season, and gave the song a bit of a third wind… and now it’s back for a fourth because God knows why, probably TikTok because the show is long cancelled. Thankfully this constant slow-burn of a chart run is for a song that is genuinely very good, going for a slightly retro-sounding guitar lick with the haunting doo-wop vocal lead-in, for a song about losing the spark and connection of a relationship and just desperately wanting to recapture - or honestly, escape - the initial moments. I wish the lead vocalist would really get into it a bit more as whilst his fried devastation is effective, I’d like to hear a real belt considering the desperate melodrama of these lyrics. It’s also not the bets co-ordinated-sounding chorus in the world, isn’t really that impactful, and the mix can feel a bit compressed, but as a song, the qualities are there, and I think it lacking a bridge or real climax is by design. It’s the closer of the album after all, and I’m not about to complain about something that could be corrected by listening to the full record. I prefer the Bridgers version, primarily because of how a female perspective in the second verse just touches a better note for me, I don’t exactly know why. It doesn’t make any major differences to the composition so either will work, and if it ends up sticking around, it’s far from the worst indie pop track to have lying around at the bottom of the charts. Isn’t that right, Vance Joy?

#66 - “Brilliant Mind” - Blanco

Produced by Jensmuller

We’ve seen UK rapper Blanco, specifically accompanied by Central Cee, and he didn’t make much of an impression then, though the song wasn’t bad. Here he is backed with what may be one of the best drill beats I’ve heard this year, if it counts as one, applying the rhythms to a club bounce and some African-influenced blocky percussion, as Zelda-sounding flutes ring off in the background and as soon as Blanco starts rapping, a warm sax joins the mix, adding a lot of richer potency to otherwise standard flexing and violence, though the rhyme schemes and flows are on point, and Blanco has a fantastic delivery to sell all of this. I find the lack of ad-libs for the most part really interesting too, it makes the song feel a lot more self-interested, inward-looking rather than flexing on the audience, where each thing he’s grateful for in his life has the added caveat of what should have happened or what eventually does happen to defy the purpose and meaning of it, like when his old gang friends hop the gated fence he has up. It’s a shame that the name of the song comes from a corny sex pun in the hook because there really is a lot to this one, and I think a better outro would seal it for me, but as this there’s still a lot of quality here, especially in the production and that frankly fantastic second verse, for me to call this a pretty excellent example of where British hip hop could be going. Check this out.

#41 - “BLEED” - The Kid LAROI

Produced by Billy Walsh, Omer Fedi, Blake Slatkin and The Kid LAROI

So The Mid LAROI has slowly been drip-feeding songs from the new album he just released this week, and whilst rap is still an influence, LAROI is moving further into the pop rock direction Post Malone kind of took, which makes complete sense for LAROI considering he is some kind of amalgamation of Posty, Bieber and Juice WRLD, with the only thing that really makes him all too recognisable being his hate-it-or-love-it voice. Now I love “WHAT JUST HAPPENED”, but that’s not the single that charted this week. Instead, we have “BLEED”, which just goes for a similar indie pop-influenced acoustic rock sound, except more familiar and laidback than what the other single went for. It’s not bad at all, even if LAROI’s rawer lead vocal take seems a tad detached from the backing harmonies. I do quite actually like that interplay - or more accurately counterplay - on the chorus, where LAROI’s vocal inflections seem particularly dejected when he’s not going for a half-rap angst. The soaring backdrop makes this a pretty solid track, even if perhaps a one-note one that doesn’t go for much more than the one cool trick it saves for the second verse, that being the fast-pace build-up with the distorted guitar and synth flutters sliding in, but it doesn’t lead up to all that great of a final chorus, especially since some of the extra layers are stuck in the back of the mix or only in the left channel. There’s a good song here, but it’s not really fully realised and I don’t think it’ll ever be a great one.

#28 - “Won’t Forget You” - Jax Jones, D.O.D and Ina Wroldsen featuring The Blackout Crew

Produced by Jax Jones, D.O.D and Mitch Jones

Part of me perhaps optimistically hopes that D.O.D will offset some of Jax Jones’ copy-and-paste house-pop genericism by a lot trying a little, and we have Ina Wroldsen - who you probably heard on Jones’ older hit “Breathe” - on the meaningless vocals, so it’s not exactly a good sign, but hey, it’s not awful. Wroldsen sounds frankly terrible but the Euro-trance revival is still in full effect and that slightly jerkier take on the beeping trance synths is actually a bit of a cool, different touch amidst the rest of the oddly drowned-out atmospherics that Wroldsen is mixed way over. It was probably D.O.D’s idea but that’s not important, it’s still there… but it loses its novelty past the first drop. It’s an earworm for sure, though and for whatever reason, the Official Charts Company credits “The Blackout Crew” here for the less-streamed “donk edit”, which is basically the song sped-up and with comical rapping over the drop. Welcome back, Blackout Crew, you haven’t charted since you “Put a Donk on It” in 2008, and you haven’t gotten any better in those 15 years, but it’s still… just delightful. In fact their style of comical EDM-rap they introduced with that classic novelty single is probably more influential than I’d like to admit nowadays. I’d like to see them collaborate with some of the people that clearly take influence from them, like Kak Hatt or, uh, the “give me some time, I’ll have that Rover” guy. Yeah, that would work.

#18 - “Can’t Catch Me Now” (from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) - Olivia Rodrigo

Produced by Dan Nigro

Welp, there’s a new Hunger Games, and Lorde isn’t hip with the young-adult demographic anymore so guess who’s back? This seems to act as a semi-motivational semi-revenge track that makes many direct references - albeit through metaphors and imagery you could absolutely apply to, say, a breakup - to the film’s plot, or at least seems to. Rodrigo plays a powerful woman responding to mistreatment by just being everywhere and having whoever wronged her constantly reminded me of O-Rod, without them being able to “catch” her. It’s a cool idea for a song, but perhaps not an acoustic ballad? Rodrigo doesn’t feel like she’s signifying much power here, even if the acoustic guitars sound a lot richer this time around and the harmonies are pretty gorgeous as one would expect. For an acoustic Olivia Rodrigo ballad, it’s actually up there quality-wise, even if just for the swell and for the lack of annoying wordiness that is a bit of an O-Rod trademark at this point. The haunting strings do a pretty good job at feeling surrounding and particularly enclosing, giving a ghostly essence to the reverb and echo on Rodrigo’s “oohs” in the post-chorus. In fact, the bridge kind of seals it: her performance is fantastic, the initial hit is great, but then it repeats as a mantra, gaining swell but losing most of its steam. Unlike LAROI’s ballad from earlier, there IS a great song here, somewhere, but the structure of it - and perhaps my lack of connection of the franchise - doesn’t do it as many favours for me. I can see it growing on me or really being a fan favourite but for now, I just think it’s pretty good.

#6 - “Standing Next to You” - Jung Kook

Produced by watt and Cirkut

I’m still yet to be impressed by BTS solo work and whilst Jung Kook is somewhat close - he definitely has the charisma of a pop star - I feel like he ends up losing me just in the songs department, as they really end up being a competent version of a mostly competently-written song with a fun performance, and nothing more. They’re so fine-tuned and well-done it makes me forget that he was at some point a K-pop singer, and that’s definitely true for this one that just throws 80s synth funk grooves, harmonies and disjointed blasts of horns and bass at you, to convince that there’s some kind of bombast. But I’m honestly not convinced: it’s trying a lot, trying to make some kind of epic, but it doesn’t have a lot of the guts. One of the big lines in the chorus is “it’s deep like DNA” and the wham line it drops on is just a stuttered, kind of weakly-sold “take off”. There’s also just not a lot lyrically here at all, and I mean that in quite literal terms of how many unique words there are. It’s not bad, it’s just a nothing burger.

Conclusion

And sadly, on a decent week, that’s enough to get Worst of the Week. I probably have to clarify given it’s Jung Kook that I have absolutely nothing against the boys, just I’m not a fan of the song. I can’t sincerely give out a Dishonourable Mention so I’ll tie the Honourable Mention between “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron, specifically the version featuring Phoebe Bridgers, and Olivia Rodrigo for “Can’t Catch Me Now”, whilst Best of the Week goes to, surprisingly enough, Blanco for “Brilliant Mind”. I guess, keep it up, man. As for what’s on the horizon, we’ll be in festive season soon enough, but maybe PinkPantheress will give us something less confectionery to chew on in the interim? I don’t know. Regardless, thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week!

[lootsofathousandsworld]

Life of a Pirate Chpt 2

Welp here’s another chapter for you all! XDD  Hope you enjoy and sorry if the grammer is wonky.

Preview: https://at.tumblr.com/lootsofathousandsworld/life-of-a-pirate/1lwut1bs2x36 

Next: https://at.tumblr.com/lootsofathousandsworld/life-of-a-pirate-chpt-3/iznev36laj9z

I felt ice-cold water splash on my face.

"Wake up!" I gasped with a start at how cold it felt on my skin. I coughed and saw I was in a different place. And found myself tied to a chair with both hands behind it.

"Now, what are you be doing sneaking around on my planet, lass?" I looked up sharply and saw Captain Flint sitting on his golden throne with his long nails tapping his desk. I was inside his cabin, not knowing how long I'd passed out.

But I let it slide off because right now I'm speaking the front of a living legend. The one who was supposed to be dead! Dead in his own trove. All of this is not adding up.

He wasn't alone as B.E.N was beside him. And Billy, who was also here, is in the corner of the room, keeping eye at me making sure I didn't try anything. I swallowed with my heart pounding hard while Flint was giving me his cold glare.

"Well?" I felt overwhelmed and my mind was racing as he waited for his answer.

"I-I don't know," I manage to reply.

"Don't know?" He questions. "What do ya mean ye don't know?"

"I don't know how I got here," I repeated. "Honest." He raises all his right-side eyebrows and growls lowly.

"And I see you tend to be a spy from anyone I assume?"

"No," I answered fast. No, I travel alone."

"Lies," Billy confirmed and pulls out a cigar from his coat pocket and lit it. "Yer from that scurvy navy that is seeking out the captain's treasure."

I shook my head. "No, I swear!" I protest. "I didn't know this planet has people. I thought it was abandoned."

"S-sir, she might be telling the truth," B.E.N pipes in. I saw he was trying to help me.

"Quiet," Flint snarled. "If you bring this intruder to me, ye would not be in trouble." The robot hung his head, having a shameful look.

Then he turns to me and clasps his both bony hands together. "Then tell me how you get here," I breathed to see I was in a situation where if I tell him the truth, he'll murder me without hesitation. He only does it to keep his treasure safe.

So with no choice, I made a lie. "Actually, I crashed landed here,"

"So you did have a longboat?" B.E.N gasped.

"Used to." I corrected. "But not anymore." The Captain hums lowly and asks this.

"And ye set to believe my planet was deserted yes?"

I gulped. "Y-Yes, sir. " Then he asks another question.

"Then where is your long boat at?"

"I don't remember where it is at." I lied more. "But it's all broken and the pieces are all scattered." He was looking at me long as I was praying he's not seen the hidden lies behind my eyes.

He asked this final question. "And you be one of the people who are after my treasure?"

Again I shook my head, "As I told you no. I'm not.." I felt my blood freeze when B.E.N spoke out.

"But she told me she wanted to see them," About a second, he clasps his mouth with his robotic hands, realizing he shouldn't say those words. I saw the captain's eyes filled with rage.

So you are after my treasure!" He stood up fast and took his pistol out from his coat belt. My face went pale when I saw he was going to shoot me.

"Time to say goodbye, lass," He aimed it at my forehead and I shut my eyes in terror. Right before he pulls the trigger I yelled the word.

"PARALY!"

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

I panted heavily, shut my eyes, and waited for a loud bang noise. But I didn't hear it.

Trembling, I peeked my eyes and saw flint glance at me, now puzzled.

"What did you say?"

"P-paraly," I gasped. "You do paralys right? Where I'm protected until this bargain is complete?" I felt relieved when he begins to sit back down, lowering his pistol.

"Aye, there is a code for that."

"So if I used it I will not be harmed until the deal is done right?"

"You're correct but it only works if you have to speak to one of my crew. Still though," He turns to Billy and finishes," I guess him here counts," I felt more relief as I watched him put his pistol back and sat back down.

"What is it you want, lass?" After he asked this, I did not think for a second and answered quickly.

"I want to be set free when this ship comes across the merchant, and I don't want the merchant ships to be raided when I come aboard." Right when I said my wanting, he let out a dark chuckle.

'That's it? You wish to be dropped off when we plunder?"

"Yes?" I reply.

He then gives me his smirk with those nasty crooked fangs. "That I'm afraid I have to decline that lass,"

I breathed to see him refusing my want. With no other choice, I decide to play smart as I shrug my shoulder.

"Alright, either that or let me live to find my longboat pieces, and who knows, I might stumble upon your secret trove." I saw his face turning slowly from amusing to a scowl.

"You won't find it,"

"I'll only find it by accident." I corrected. "So which one is going to be? That or dropping me off. You're choice," I saw the Captain's nostril flare' almost baring his fangs like a Lion in irritation.

Wasn't sure if I was making a stupid life risk, but at least so far, that paraly worked out well.

Thank you Pirates of the Caribbean for existing!

"Cap'n, I suggest have her stay on this planet," Billy suggested.

I heard B.E.N gasp. "But she won't survive living here,"

"That is the point." He replied. "It be long for her to rebuild her longboat. And before we knew she be starving to death."

"Enough Billy," Flint silenced him. He looks at me, and my breath was quiet while he was studying my facial and felt nervous about what decision he was going to take. And of course, Billy was right.

I won't be able to survive staying on this planet. I would be dead probably by the next week or two. Then after a long silent treatment, Flint exhales in exasperation.

"Very well. You have my permission to stay on my ship until the merchant ship comes, and we release you and will not raid it.

I almost let out another relief sigh, "Yes thank you.."

"But on one condition," He holds his finger up, interrupting me. "You will be serving me as a new cabin girl. You do as you are told under my order without any complaints."

He then finishes. "And you will address me as Captain or sir, do I make myself clear?"

I slowly nodded. "Yes sir, do we have a deal?" Answering my question, he nods towards Billy, and the old turtle walks to me and pulls out his dagger.

He got behind me and cut my tied rope, releasing me. I got up while rubbing my wrist from the rope burning.

"You have a name? Miss?" Flint questions.

I bite my lips and answered. "It Ash, just Ash,"

"Hmm quite an odd name for a young woman," He stands up and holds out his hand. "Well, Miss Ash, it'll be accord to us,"

Knowing this was no going back and my chance of living, I took his hand to shake. All of sudden, I couldn't help to make a soft gasp at how his large hand was warm against mine.

Shaking this feeling off, I reply. "Alright, glad we settle this," He lets go of my hand and clears his throat.

"B.E.N!"

The robot yelped. "Yes?"

"Take her to find some suitable clothing. Billy will be with you shortly,"

"Aye aye, Captain!" B.E.N saluted. He hurried over to me and grabs my wrist while giving me a friendly smile.

"Come on I'll show you some clothing we have, you're going to love them We got the best ones!"

With that, he leads me out of the cabin, and without anyone seeing, I made a small smile. Feeling I was going to get my wish fixed soon after my paraly is all done.

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

Third's person POV

After the woman and B.E.N left, the captain hums.

"Billy, have ye noticed something odd about this girl?"

"No?" The turtle questions after letting out a cloud of smoke."

Flint glanced at his first mate and snorted. "Did you not see how she was looking at me? The way she sees me as if I was some kind of ghost."

Billy blinked. "It is pretty odd for a woman, but so what? Everyone in the entherium is afraid of ya." He inhales his cigar and blows out a few more smoke.

"Each of them has a different approach to ye appearance."

Flint tsks, "True, and still, none of them has ever caught my interest on why they fear me. And this woman is without a question," As he was talking, he pulled something out from his coat pocket.

It was a golden sphere with odd marks around it. He looks at his reflection in his clawed hand.

"She'd be hiding something from me,"

"And what are you gonna do with her then Cap'n?"

After Billy asked, Flint smirked. "Simple, keep her until I found out her little secret. Even if I have to break her pathetic paraly."

[roughandtumble-r]

It took me a while to finally do this, but Issue 50 is out, and I’m ready to talk about it! There’s a lot to cover here, so let’s jump right into it! Also, spoilers!

So both Sonic and Tails have been forced into fighting Surge and Kit, and while Sonic and Surge are getting ready to do so, Surge reveals what it is she’s planning on doing and why she wants to do it...

Surge is fully aware that her hatred towards Sonic is unwarranted because it was simply a false belief put into her head by Starline, but after thinking about it, she comes to the realization that none of this would have happened to her if not for Sonic. She’s really, REALLY upset that Sonic could have prevented her from losing her memories and has made mistakes and is still the world-renowned hero he is despite that, and it makes her realize that she actually DOES hate Sonic and wants to destroy him and everyone else even more now than she did before.

This goes even deeper a little bit later, but while this is going on, Starline takes control of one Eggman’s mechs, and the two begin fighting themselves...

Even after all that’s happened, Starline is still willing to let Eggman join him in his plan for world conquest. But Eggman? He’s had enough of Starline at this point and is ready to prove that he doesn’t need Starline to succeed on his own.

Also, Belle is still busy trying to fix Metal Sonic and eventually succeeds in doing so, only to find out by accessing his files that he can keep track of Eggman’s location, and the two set out to go find him.

Meanwhile, Kit is busy trying to defeat Tails, but while dodging his attacks, Tails becomes interested in Kit’s abilities and instead wants to talk to him...

Tails can tell that Kit doesn’t feel too good about himself, and Kit is also having a hard time making the decision to talk to Tails because he was programmed to always have Surge and Starline tell him what to do, but he eventually gives in and allows himself to tell Tails about Starline and how he feels towards him.

Tails then offers Kit to join him and the others in stopping Surge and Starline, but the mere idea of them stopping Surge from beating Sonic makes him stop listening to Tails and instead continue fighting him. 

Back to Sonic and Surge, Sonic is once again trying to talk Surge into changing herself for the better instead of fighting him, but Surge doesn’t see much of a point in doing so.

The two then continue fighting for a bit while Sonic continues talking about giving Surge a chance, and while this is going on, Starline has seemingly succeeded in beating Eggman with his Tricore.

However...

“So... how did you know I would use the cores to make the Tricore and use my glove to hypnotize you?”

“BECAUSE YOU JUST TOLD ME, PLATYPUS BOY!”

Also, after he defeats Starline, Eggman is met by both Belle and Metal Sonic, and Belle says one final goodbye to the man who was once her father...

Eggman gives Belle the choice to either continue hanging out with Sonic and the gang or work with him repairing his robots, but Belle of course declines his offer and begins making her way back to Sonic and Tails.

On her way out, however...

Welp, Starline’s dead. Don’t worry, give him enough time and he’ll come back, they always do.

Also, Kit ends up running out of water, and when Tails shuts off his backpack thing, he also somehow ends up knocking Kit out in the process.

While all of this is going on, Sonic and Surge have been fighting the whole time still, and it eventually leads to Sonic knocking Surge towards a hole and her just barely managing to grab the edge...

It’s okay, Sonic characters are immune to fall damage. She’ll be fine.

So Sonic, Tails (with Kit in tow) and Belle regroup and decide that the day is saved and it’s time for them to leave.

...actually, Eggman has other plans.

And that’s it for Issue 50! I honestly wasn’t expecting this Issue to be as loaded as it was, but I definitely had a lot of fun reading it and think it was a really good milestone Issue! I especially like the parts where we see Surge and Kit really let loose and let out their emotions that have building up since Imposter Syndrome, and I’m definitely interested to see where they both end up going in the following Issues. 

[bikepackinguk]

Day Three

Welp, maybe not quite taking it easy! The problem is that it's fun to keep going.

Another early start after sleeping under a lil oak tree for the night, then off along NCN 150 that runs along the whole coast of the Tendring Peninsula.

A very strong headwind whilst along the coast, but through Clacton-on-Sea right around to Walton-on-the-Naze with a few tea breaks along the way, before making it around to The Naze proper by lunchtime.

Alas further round the coast itself is Hamford Water Nature Reserve, and not easily passable. So back down to Walton we go to slog around and get back to the coast by Harwich.

Riding around the rivers Stour and Orwell would be a damn long way, so took the enjoyable ferry over to Felixstowe.

And with that, we say goodbye to Essex and hello to Suffolk! It's been a good few years since I was last here and it's still looking very pretty.

4pm by the time we landed directly onto the beach at Felixstowe, with an hour before the ferry to Bawdsey Manor packed up for the day so carried on a little further to make that, and then finally time to start thinking about a place to stop for the night.

Fortune smiles though and have managed to find a beautiful campsite a bit further along, so after clocking up over 60km today I have been rewarded with a very needed shower.

Booked in for two nights here for three reasons.

First, the legs have definitely earned a bit of downtime. Much as I like getting the distances in, gotta make sure this is sustainable for the whole trip. So, some enforced R&R for them.

Second, a bit of chafing starting to make itself known so a day off the saddle will go a long way to not exacerbating it.

And third, I did slice up my feet a bit taking a dip in the sea yesterday and a proper shower has been damn useful for cleaning the last of the sea mud out of the cuts. A little time to let them knit back together seems prudent!

And with that, I am looking forward to a bit of a lie in after the last two 6am starts, so I'm going to get my head down and catch you all in a couple of days!

[cupcraft]

welp its time for old cup to sleep.. thank you for distracting me and being so lovely in the askbox. Please rest, drink water, eat a snack or meal, take a break, binge a new tv show, do anything you need to do to distance yourself and take care of yourself. Tomorrow i have a lot of schoolwork to do so i may not be super active till later (though i always get distracted who am i kidding). and if youre leaving the fandom/site goodbye and you are all the world <3 pls take careof yourselves.

okay cup out till tomorrow