#fun fact i did not know this song was on my playlist and am not sure how it got there ahdkfn guessing someone recced it and i just threw it

[outeremissary]

Ten songs tag game

Tagged by @arendaes to put a playlist on shuffle and post the first ten songs. Although I'll confess I ran this with several playlists, it would feel like cheating not to share the first one I'd done: Carmen's. My deep seated conviction that this was the one playlist that was pretty above the board throughout was unseated instantly by the second thing that came up.

Ready as I'll Ever Be (orchestral arrange) - Tangled: the Animated Series, Frostudio Chambersonic [YouTube | Spotify]

Convictor Yamaxanadu - IOSYS [YouTube | Spotify]

So yeah, this is on Spotify it turns out and you can find an English translation quite easily here, but I know that for me the PV is uh. An essential and not very classy part of the experience.

Uroboros, the Serpent that Devours the Horizon - Bravely Default OST [YouTube | Spotify]

Roundtable Rival - Lindsey Stirling [YouTube | Spotify]

Rightfully - Mili [YouTube | Spotify]

To the Last Drop of Blood - Beast in Black [YouTube | Spotify]

The Edge of Dawn (FamilyJules cover feat. Adriana Figueroa) - Fire Emblem: Three Houses, FamilyJules [YouTube | Spotify]

Kaisarion - Ghost [YouTube | Spotify]

Seven Sisters - The Sword [YouTube | Spotify]

Samurai Ghost Girl - Akatsuki Records [YouTube | Spotify]

English lyrics can also be found here. The privilege to kill for perceived offense...

I am not sure who has or has not been tagged, and this post will be queued, so apologies ^^;; @mountainashfae and @camelliagwerm, if you're interested?

#y'all know that it's a struggle for me to not commentate fucking everything I do for no reason (anxiety...?) but I did it #anyway in the tags I am free. I'm cringe above but down here I'm free. if you listen to one of these listen to Rightfully #iconic Carmen song to me and has been for many years very very glad it came up for this. if asked to pull One Song for her that'd be it. #anyway glad I could find spotify links for everything. I don't use spotify but fortunately this playlist already had a spotify mirror #(my only spotify mirror) #my last fun fact is that the spotify version of the playlist is titled Rose-Scented Zealotry #tag game #arendaes #carmen regis #Spotify

[romy350-romyakari]

My sanctuary for random music collection is in shambles 💦

Or well more like it is in shambles bc I use Android.

Hope they get to sorth it well eventually since I miss some of the tracks on my list.

#you have no idea how much I love to use souncloud #spotify who? idk them #i would pull a youtube playlist on the background through vanced any other day but I prefere souncloud #souldcloud. my beloved bypass of firewalls bc people forget about it and I don't mind if the version of the songs I look for are nightcore #or experimental cover or probably the song recorded from a speaker playing it #you know how much it ssved me back in time I had no way to access my youtube playlist or #spotify log in bc it was tied to my abandoned facebook? souncloud been just ignore from all was a blessing #random rambles #I am too attached to this website just like with tumblr #did u know I get every year a playlist to my most played songs in there? every year and not a miss even if I inky played 5 song and other #years over 60. always a playlist! take that u spotify #the fact I just gave up to using spotify that often that by the end of the year my minimal use is not enough data for them to tell me #that flashy year review of statistics. #soundcloud woukd never. ir at least not for now which make this fun #may this bug be fixed

[pallases]

♪ <3

— send me "♪" and i will shuffle my playlist and write my favourite line with my handwriting!

#thank you! #fun fact i did not know this song was on my playlist and am not sure how it got there ahdkfn guessing someone recced it and i just threw it #on there for later #ask #Tina #ask meme answers #sunsetcurveauto

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

I am not the asshole, and I think this whole thing is stupid, but I was promised that if I sent my side of things to this blog I could pick the hotel for our honeymoon, and I am marrying a man who once tried to take me BACKPACKING of all things, so this ask has become a necessity. In light of that:

AITA (I'm NOT) for planning the seating for our wedding in a logical way?

I got engaged in June, apparently in part because of my partner writing in to this blog (I don't know how to find or link to his posts, but I'm the man who got the cat to bite him, if that rings any bells?). At any rate, for the past ten weeks, I've been in the beginning stages of planning our wedding with my fiance, whom I have been secretly attempting to remove from the planning process as much as possible. I have ALREADY been given a list of his must-haves, and I AM incorporating as many of them as our budget allows. This has NOTHING to do with the emotional side of the event, and EVERYTHING to do with the fact that this is an idiot with no real planning experience or taste who thinks he knows more than me.

For the most part, this has worked very well. I'm the one who's been collating all the contact information for things, so I just replaced all the emails for the tacky companies with false addresses, responded to his inquiries as the companies to say the date was already booked or the price was outside our budget, and let him filter his way to the ones I DO like on his own. I also made a fuss about being "willing to compromise" on the few things he's picked I'm completely fine with in the hopes I can use it to make him compromise later, and have been humming portions of the songs I want on the playlist in the hopes he'll think he came up with the idea to include them himself.

None of this is the real problem. The PROBLEM is that he is deliberately ruining my seating chart, by moving our horrible friend's seat when I'm not looking.

The man in question dated both of us at one point in our VERY early 20s (both ended BADLY), is generally the messiest person we know, and will almost certainly get sloppy drunk and try to make a speech IF he does make an appearance. I'm banking on the fact that he won't, because he's also ridiculously wealthy, and will almost certainly send us some very lavish gift in lieu of coming.

He is SUPPOSED to be sitting beside my fiances aunt, at the same table as his grandmother, his work friend, and her girlfriend, because all four of these women are stone cold terrors who I believe are more than capable of keeping him in line on the slim chance he does come. My fiance INSISTS they won't be able to have any fun if they're running interference all night, and keeps moving him to sit at the head table instead. You know, where WE are. I finally caught him switching the label magnets on my planning board last night, and confronted him.

I tried leveraging how much I've been compromising already, that he's almost certainly going to RSVP no, and that I shouldn't have to deal with him on our big night. My fiance said he knew about all the fake emailing and such, and told me, and I QUOTE: "Look, the mind game shit was hot when it was just about the colour scheme or whatever, but I actually care about this. So you can suffer with everybody else, or you can do the normal thing and not invite a guy you hate to our wedding, you weirdo."

I said that if I did that, it would take out half his groomsmen, he called me an asshole and said I should go explain this to "literally any rational adult" so they could tell me I was in the wrong, and now here we are.

Would you recommend calling my fiance's bluff, since he doesn't want the man sitting near us either? Or should I focus on ensuring he'll turn down the invitation no matter what, so the matter of where he WON'T be sitting can be a moot point?

What are these acronyms?

Original post

The update

#aita #am i the asshole #the saga of proposal anon

[hee0soo]

Ambassador of the Heart |Part 2.|

PAIRING — Kim Hongjoong x afab!ModelReader

SUMMARY — An encounter at the Balmain Winter Show 2023 leaves you flustered...

GENRE — FashionAU

WARNINGS — controlling men (not the members)

WORD COUNT — 1.5k

~Part 1~ |~Part 3~

March 2023

“You want to go see what now?” your manager hissed, irritated by the news you had just shared with him.

You weren´t phased by his tone, already used to the mood swings the man sometimes had and instead continued munching on the snacks currently in your hands.

Waiting for the camera team to set up for your photo shooting, you had sat down on one of the couches specifically prepared for you and the other models hired to do the job while scrolling through you Insta feed which brought you to the current situation.

“I want to go see the Ateez concert tomorrow night. You remember the guy we met at the presentation a few days ago? He´s part of the group and they´re doing a Europe tour at the moment.”

The man put his hands on his hips, looking like a bird puffing out his feathers to appear more threatening.

“No!”

Looking away from the screen of your phone to eye him, you carefully considered what to say next.

“No? What do you mean no?”

“It means exactly what I said, y/n! You will not go see some concert of a man you don´t know!”

Juliana, who was cleaning up some of her utensils, was rolling her eyes at the man´s behavior while you had to school your face into neutral one.

You didn´t need a scandal just because someone from the staff misunderstood the way you looked at your manager.

“I´m sorry but since when is that a decision you can make?”

You put the phone down and leaned back on the couch, arms crossed as you were getting slightly annoyed.

“I am your manager!” the man snarled.

Nodding calmly, you fixed your eyes on him.

“Exactly! You are my manager, Cole, not my babysitter! Which means, if I want to go see a groups concert whose music caught my interest, I. will. Go!”

Your voice was low as you enunciated the last 3 words of your monologue.

The fact that this was even something you had to argue about was getting on your nerves! It was as if Cole thought you weren´t able to make decisions for yourself like some child!

“Come on Cole, she wants to go to a concert! Not buy drugs in a back alley… If she wants to go then you have no say in the matter!”

Juliana cut in, throwing the man a hard look.

He only huffed and stormed away, mumbling something you were sure was not for your ears.

You looked at the other woman thankfully.

“Remind me why I’m still paying him to be my manager?” you whined, letting your head rest on the back of the couch.

The stylist shrugged, not knowing what to answer.

If she was being honest, that was a question she had often asked herself already! Cole was good at his job no doubt, but the way he treated the people around him sometimes bordered on bullying!

Maybe that was also the reason why his wife had left him with her 2 kids, but that was a thought Juliana didn´t dare utter out loud.

“Don´t worry about him darling. Just go have fun tomorrow and tell me everything you know about this group. You really got me curious about them.”

She assured you with a gentle smile only to sit down next to you while you waited for your turn to be in front of the camera.

So that´s what you did.

You told her about everything. How you had searched the strangers name as soon as you got into the car after the presentation just 2 days ago. How you now have 99% of his groups songs on your playlist. How you binge watched fan edits of them all night to the point where you were severely exhausted the next day. How you adored the way his dimples showed when he smiled at his fans and how you confidently called yourself an Atiny now.

Juliana listened patiently, suppressing a fond smile.

And if she shot the management a text to get you backstage after the concert, you didn´t have to know about it until the next day….

The concert was amazing and you finally understood what fans meant when they talked about post-concert depression. The overwhelming sadness you felt as the boys went backstage after their last song was unlike anything you had ever experienced before!

You were getting up from your seat in the upper ranks when someone held you back.

The man who had touched your shoulder looked vaguely familiar but you couldn´t place from where you knew him. He showed you the little card attached to his jacket, telling you that he was part of the staff working for the groups you had just watched.

“Can you follow me, y/n-ssi?”

You hesitated. Was this really a good idea? Maybe you were getting tricked!

But the man did have an ID to confirm he was from the Staff so how bad could this be?

You just knew that Cole would whoop your ass if he knew that you actually considered following the man and maybe, for once, it seemed like he would be right!

This smelled like a trap.

A trap you were going to fall for if it was one as you nodded once and followed without asking more questions.

You had a hunched where he led you as you past the security with him to get into the artist area where you were greeted by 8 very tall men, getting ready to leave the arena.

It was the youngest who noticed you first, seemingly recognizing you as he waved enthusiastically at you. Gummy smile on full display as he elbowed the blonde half of the twin towers who looked confused by the sudden contact with his ribs.

The man beside you fake coughed to get the attention of the rest and you watched in amusement as 6 more heads whipped around to look at where the sound was coming.

“Annyeonghaseyo! I´m y/n!” you choked out in a hurry, probably making a fool out of yourself by how much you stumbled over the words as you introduced yourself.

But even then, you were glad you had decided to look up the few words when you had first found out what language the group spoke.

It didn´t take longer than a second for them to unfreeze and suddenly you were in the midst of the chaos that was Ateez as they did their group greeting.

Seonghwa stepped forward, leaving the stunned leader rooted to the ground.

“You watched, the concert?” he asked, fumbling with his words as much as you were earlier.

“Yes you were amazing. I really loved your performance!”

“Ah thank you!” Wooyoung yelled as he skipped over, promptly receiving a scolding glance from the eldest member for being so loud.

You had to admit that the younger topaz member had quickly taken the place as your bias wrecker so the pout he sends towards his hyung way made you want to squish his cheeks with your hands.

While his members were distracted talking to you, Hongjoong watched the interaction carefully.

It wasn´t that he didn´t want to talk to you, more that he was too shy to do it!

The rapper had been enamored ever since Oliver had officially introduced him to you and even before he had been curious as to whom the beauty in the elevator was!

He even had told his members about you, which had cause a flood of teasing for the leader, which had been stopped by his very serious threat of sending the members to his room…

That threat had worked better when they were still rookies.

San had even gone as far as to search you up and sent the picture of you and him to the group chat! So when you had walked into the green room, all of them already knew who you were and now that you were here, he didn´t know what to say or do.

“Hyung! Look who came to see us!” Yunho said while removing the chocker from around his neck.

“Aish, you-“he playfully lunged at the tallest who dodged skillfully.

“Come on, this is you one chance of talking to her without anyone judging!”

“You mean besides you brats?”

“Seonghwa-hyuuung? Joongie-hyung called us brats again…”

Seonghwa skillfully ignored the complaint and continued talking to you with Wooyoung and Yeosang while Jongho and Mingi were removing their make-up.

Your eyes found his while Wooyoung was animatedly talking about something you could quite grasp.

Hongjoong gave you a quick smile, joining his fellow 98-liner by your side.

The manager at the door was signaling that there wasn´t much time left before you had to leave again as he was tapping on the watch on his wrist.

“So you, enjoyed the show?” he asked, voice sounding a little breathless but none the less sincere. His cute accent while speaking English having the same effect it had on you before!

“I did. Thank you and I’m happy to meet you once more.”

“I´m, very happy, too.”

Taglist: @marirose25

#cromernet #ateez #kim hongjoong x reader #ateez hongjoong x reader #kim hongjoong imagine #hongjoong x y/n #ateez hongjoong #kim hongjoong #ateez fluff #ateez fanfic #kpop writing #kim hongjoong x y/n #ateez x reader #kpop x reader #hongjoong x you #hongjoong #divider by cafekitsune

[the-authoress-writes]

Wherever You Go Chapter One

Tom “Iceman” Kazansky x Aviator!reader (Callsign: Thorn)

Moodboard by @bradshawsbaby

Written for @roosterforme’s Top Gun Rocktober Playlist Fic Challenge

Synopsis: Tom Kazansky made a mistake.

Or rather, a series of mistakes.

He chose to take the assignment as an instructor at TOPGUN.

He fell in love with one of his students.

He broke her heart.

He chose to leave TOPGUN, and redeploy.

Now, he was stuck onboard the USS Nimitz with the woman whose heart he broke, with no way out.

Unbelievably, that’s not the problem.

Problem is, he still loves her.

Series Warnings: Teacher/Student relationship (but you already knew that) with no real age gap, warnings will be updated as the series progresses.

Warnings: Here be cursing, because these are people in the Navy.

I don’t think there’s anything else, though.

Author’s Note: “It’s only going to be a oneshot.”

Yeah, freaking right.

This took forever (become a church musician, they said, it’ll be fun, they said, you’re in charge of the choir for the Advent season and Christmas while the choir director is on medical leave), but I’m fairly happy with how this turned out.

I think.

The impostor syndrome do be impostoring.

Thank you so, so very much to @roosterforme for hosting the Top Gun Rocktober Fic Challenge, and for allowing me to use one of my favorite 80s rock ballads, “The Flame” by Cheap Trick.

Lyrics from the song will be peppered in throughout this series, because it’s too good not to, and the song is the reason this story exists, as it is what birthed the plotline.

A huge thank you and shout out to @thatsrightice, who helped me so much with the hop maneuvers, by researching the F-14 and A-4 high and low for me.

Special thanks also to @valmare, the fact that I am writing Tom Kazansky x reader! fic is all your fault; but thank you so much for dragging me down with you, it’s been an absolute joy!

Previously on “Wherever You Go”…

And as he ate Carole’s heavenly consolation in a cookie, Tom reflected on just how he’d ended up in this position.

Two months ago…

“So, you looking forward to teaching the next generation of stick jocks like us, Ice?” Mav spoke, barely intelligible around the food he had in his mouth.

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak whatever language that was, because it definitely wasn’t English.” Tom deadpanned, looking up from his forkful of the fairly-decent facsimile of scrambled eggs from the famed Officer’s Mess Hall of NAS Miramar.

Mav rolled his eyes and hastily swallowed his own forkful of eggs. “I said, are you looking forward to teaching the next generation of pilots like us, Ice?”

“Like me?

Yes.

Like you?

No.”

With Slider’s approval, he had taken the instructor assignment after it was offered to him shortly after the Layton, he and Slider wanting a little stability for two or three years—maybe even four—the Layton mission having shaved off what felt like a whole decade from their lifespan.

The fact that he was going to be able to fly and show off—sorry—instruct, was a nice bonus.

And the fact that his wingman, the only other pilot who could hold a candle to him, was also an instructor, was another plus.

They’d kick the asses of the hotshots they were going to teach, no problem.

“Oh, come on, you know I’m the best,” Mav grinned, nearly maniacally.

Tom put his scrambled eggs in his mouth, and made a show of chewing and swallowing, before replying, “Second best,” gesturing with his fork.

“I’m the best and you know it,” Mav practically vibrated.

Tom squinted at his wingman. “How much sugar did you put in your coffee?”

The other pilot froze guiltily. “I’m sorry.”

He sighed—hyper Mav was even more of a chaotic gremlin than normal Mav.

The younger man had an incredibly high, almost unnatural, tolerance for sugar, but put enough of it in his system, and you got one Pete Mitchell who could fly without a jet.

Tom had personally seen the other man put what seemed like half a sugar bottle in one cup of coffee. “Why?”

Mav pouted, looking like a child, and not the twenty-four year-old naval aviator he was. “I just wanted to indulge myself a little, Ice, ‘cause, you know, we’re instructors—together—we’re gonna kick ass—it’s gonna be great!”

“I know we’re gonna kick ass, but you’re not going to be able to instruct if you’re vibrating so much they can’t even see you,” Tom chuckled, shaking his head, trying to figure out how he could burn off Mav’s extra energy before they, along with Viper and Jester, had to head to the classroom to greet their new students later that morning.

“I know—but I just wanted something a little sweet as a treat,” Mav murmured, green eyes cast down and glazed with shame, and he got a glimpse of the child his wingman must have been over fifteen years ago.

He softened on the younger pilot, and reached out to ruffle the raven hair with a soft smile. “‘m not mad at you, Mav, it’s okay.”

Mav pulled away with a grimace and a slap at Tom’s hand, before fussing with his dark hair, but the familiar light returned to the other man’s eyes, though with considerably less mania than two minutes ago.

They continued eating, but Tom’s devious side reared its head. “You do know what this means, though, right?”

“Wha’?”

Tom nearly laughed right there.

Mav had half a forkful of eggs balanced on his lower lip.

“You and I are going to go for a little run around the south hangars, to burn off that energy.”

An intense green stare fixed on him, clearly considering. “Okay, fine—I might… might have overdone it a little bit with the sugar packets.”

“A ‘little’, huh?

Good for you, bud, getting more self-aware.”

“Fuck you, Kazansky,” Mav smirked.

“No thanks, not in the mood,” Tom grinned. “Come on, finish up, so we can get a decent shower after our run.”

“You okay there, old man?” came the smug voice not far above his head.

“Two—two years, that’s all you have on me, Mav,” Tom muttered, massaging the ankle and knee of his right leg, stretched out on the bench of the instructor’s locker room, mentally cursing the old injuries he’d sustained there from a bad ejection he and Sli endured during one of their first deployments, on the Constellation, when the arresting gear failed because a new crewman didn’t check the weight on the valve of the wire.

It was why he had to wear a wrap on his knee and ankle whenever he and Slider played volleyball.

Mav continued, “You know I was gonna kick your ass running even if I wasn’t amped up on sugar, right?

Tall people wear out faster—that’s what you get for being freakishly tall.”

Tom frowned. “If I’m freakishly tall, what’s Merlin?”

Long pause.

Smirk.

“No,” Mav accusingly pointed, “I refuse to fall for that—I will not speak ill of my RIO, even though I’m his teacher.”

Tom chuckled.

Merlin had been lucky to be selected for TOPGUN again, though it was with the caveat that he wouldn’t be able to win the trophy in his session, as his pilot was going to be an instructor.

Merls had taken it well in stride, glad to be at TOPGUN, even if it meant he’d only graduate, as a reserve RIO for his session.

“Hey, did you hear?

History’s being made this session—we’re teaching the first female naval aviator selected for TOPGUN,” Tom remarked, once he’d eased the ache in his knee and ankle.

“Yeah, I know—and I know her; hell of a pilot,” Mav nodded. “Hell of a woman too.”

“Oh?” a blond brow rose wryly.

“Yeah, I met her two or so years ago, when the Black Aces chopped in on the Big E.

Callsign’s Thorn.

And don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

Mav’s voice was slightly muffled as he dug through his locker for a stick of deodorant. “Like you think I know her… carnally.

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t flirt with any woman with a pulse.”

“Only most,” Tom nodded sagely, a smirk tugging his lips, even though his wingman couldn’t see it.

A finger was flipped in his direction over a shoulder. “Get in your khakis already, Icy-Hot-Man.”

He rolled his eyes, “Fuck you, Mav.”

“No thanks, not in the mood,” Mav threw back, and the shit-eating grin was audible in his voice, which made Tom secretly smile, to know his wingman and brother was happy.

After the two of them managed to get into their khakis in record time, they came up to the building with their classroom right with Jester and Viper, who spotted them and waved off their salutes. “Kazansky, Mitchell.

It’s good to see you both.

You ready.”

It was more statement than question, but despite the stoicism on the Vietnam veteran’s face, Tom could see the pride in his CO’s eyes, and the added glint of paternal pride, when he looked at Mav.

Though it made him sad to see that, reminding him of what he used to have, Tom was glad that the other aviator had a paternal influence in his adult life.

He’d had one before—Mav, on the other hand, hadn’t.

He really missed his Dedushka.

He pushed the thought away in time to see Viper gesture to follow him and Jester inside.

They all slipped their garrison caps off once they were under the fluorescent lights of the building, and the classroom door was in sight after a short walk.

“Alright,” Viper sighed, gaze running across all of them, a smile reminiscent of his callsign on his face, “time to school another batch of hotshots.

Let’s begin.”

The two wingmen exchanged a little grin, before squaring their shoulders and following Jester inside as Viper trailed behind.

“ATTENTION!!” Jester barked, striding to the front, Tom and Mav moving to the right side of the classroom, opposite the TV, following the order like everyone else in the room.

“At ease.”

At this, they all moved to parade rest, Tom and Mav having the luxury of clasping their hands before them, while Jester picked up a clipboard. “I will be calling out the driver and RIO teams.

After I call both your names, make yourselves known.

Lieutenant Solomon Bates, callsign “Warlock”, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Kenneth Han, callsign “Shogun”.”

“Present, sir!” an Asian man about Tom’s height, and a tall African-American man enthusiastically chorused.

“Lieutenant Stephen Ruth, callsign “Babe”, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Timothy Martin, callsign “Priest”.”

“Here, sir!”

“Lieutenant Edward Arellano, callsign “Belter”, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Gabriel Presleigh, callsign “Elvis”.”

“Yes, sir!”

Lieutenant Henry Baker, callsign “Snackbar”, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Matthias Novak, callsign “Links”.”

“Sir!”

“Lieutenant Julian Howell, callsign “Ash”, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Randall Simmons, callsign “Igor”.”

“Up and ready, sir!”

The pilot, Howell, it was plain to see, had an arrogant, smug look on his face, almost like he felt it was inevitable he’d be at TOPGUN, and Tom sent Mav a sideways glance, which the other man returned.

Any hop with that particular pair was going to be interesting, and it was clear from the look on his wingman’s face, that his immediate dislike of the pilot was shared by Mav.

Tom looked forward to him and Mav educating Howell as to who were the best pilots, in the final hops.

“And finally, Lieutenant __ __, callsign “Thorn”, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Emmett Kinford, callsign “Romeo.””

“Yes, sir!” came a resonant alto and an even, low baritone, the call jarring insofar as it was to hear a woman’s voice mixed with that of a man’s in this room, heretofore the demesne of men.

Both had even expressions on their faces, pilot and RIO gazing straight ahead, while the OCD part of Tom’s mind registered that their khakis were in better form than even his own, ribbons not the slightest bit out of place, with creases you could cut yourself on, and that was saying something.

Her hair was carefully pulled into the regulation tight bun, not a single strand out of place, and her RIO’s dark waves were also the picture of military perfection.

“You may be seated.” Jester said after a beat, casting his gaze shrewdly around the room. “I am Commander Rick Heatherly—callsign Jester.

I am the Executive Officer of Fighter Weapons School, known to all naval aviators as TOPGUN, and your Lead Opposing.

Each one of you have been selected for a very specific reason; to become the best of the best’s best.

Blinds.”

The room went dark as the blinds were shut, and the familiar video began playing, the familiar speech being recited.

Soon, Jester finished his speech, calling for the blinds to be opened.

Light flooded into the room, and Tom fought to look dignified, not squinty, even as the sun assaulted his eyes.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to your Junior Instructors, and this school’s Secondary Opposing; Lieutenant Tom Kazansky, callsign “Iceman”, and Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, callsign “Maverick”, last year’s Top Gun, and second place finisher respectively—”

Both he and Mav somehow straightened further, nodding professionally at their class.

“—and finally, our Commanding Officer here at TOPGUN, the very first man to win the Top Gun Trophy; and there is not a finer naval aviator in the world.

Captain Mike Metcalf—callsign “Viper”.”

Viper strode in and told the first class of ‘87 much the same things he did the flyboys of ‘86, and they all turned to get a good look at the Top Gun Trophy, whose newest brass plaque bore the engraving “LT T. Kazansky & LTJG R. Kerner — 1986”.

“You think your names are going to be up there?” Viper gazed speculatively at the class.

However, this time, no one filled the silence with an affirmative response—unlike Mav the year before—though Ash and Igor had hungry and yet self-assured looks in their eyes.

“Well, regardless of whose name ends up in brass at the end of these five weeks, at the end of the day, you—we—are all on the same team.

Gentlemen—and lady,” Viper nodded towards Thorn, “this school is about combat—there are no points for second place.

Dismissed.”

“Report to the quartermaster for your housing assignments, you’ll have today to get settled.” Jester called out to the room at large, “and remember, tomorrow’s first class starts at 0800.”

Most of the class quickly shuffled out of the room, but not before a few of them shot Thorn and Romeo, both of whom were still seated, skeptical—and in Ash and Igor’s case, outright dirty—looks, looks which she ignored, though one would have to be blind not to notice the protective menace emanating from her RIO despite the similar expression of indifference on his features.

But once her classmates had filed out, Thorn looked towards him and Mav, her indifference giving way to a radiant smile.

“Mav,” she exclaimed, striding over.

“Acey!” his wingman laughed, pulling her into a hug, briefly lifting her a slight distance off the floor.

“Fuck, it’s good to see you!”

“You too—it’s been too long.”

“Yeah—” here her expression sobered, “and I’m so sorry—I heard about Nick—Ro and I couldn’t believe it.”

“Nick was a great guy, it was such a shock—damn canopy of all things,” Romeo said, having walked over to give Mav a warm pat on the shoulder.

“Thanks,” Mav breathed evenly, a bit too evenly for Tom’s liking. “Oh, uh, Thorn, Romeo, this is my f-friend and wingman, Tom Kazansky.”

All too glad to take the spotlight to give Mav time to breathe, he stepped forward, extending his hand. “You can call me Ice, it’s good to meet you.

Mav’s told me about you, Thorn.”

“Oh?

Only good things, I hope,” she said, shaking his hand.

Her hand had the same callouses he and most fighter pilots had—which gave him a bit of cognitive dissonance, because he was used to only feeling those callouses on other men—with a strong grip, and a confident posture as she looked up at him.

“Practically praised you to the stars and back,” he smiled, letting go of her hand.

“Hello, I’m chopped liver,” Romeo wryly stated as he shook Tom’s hand. “Call me Ro.”

“You’re hardly chopped liver, Ro, you’re the sixth best RIO I know,” Mav interjected, his voice and breathing seeming more like baseline.

“Thank you, I guess?” Romeo frowned.

Thorn broke in, “I gotta admit, for a second, I was kind of worried that you’d suddenly become too good for the likes of me and Ro, Mr. TOPGUN-Instructor and Three-Confirmed-Kills, I swear, Mav, that was the stillest I’ve ever seen you.”

The aforementioned man shrugged. “That’s Ice’s influence.

Got to stand still so you hotshots have a chance to admire us.”

Thorn huffed a light-hearted laugh, but Mav continued, “And I only got those kills thanks to this guy.

I had to lead some of the MiGs away so that he could have one all to himself,” Mav beamed, waggling his eyebrows.

Thorn blinked, “Oh yeah, you’ve got one too.”

Before he could reply, Mav proudly cut in, “Yes, he does—and this guy held out against five MiGs.”

“Sli and I’d have burned in if you didn’t get there in time, Mav,” Tom said, determined that his wingman would get the praise he deserved.

Said wingman turned, eyes narrowed hopefully. “Is this you admitting I’m the better pilot?”

He scoffed lightly, “Any pilot would have trouble against five adversaries, the best or not.”

“I’ll get you to admit it one day,” the diminutive pilot muttered.

Tom clapped Mav on the shoulder. “Today is not that day, buddy.”

Another huffed laugh had the two wingmen remembering that their students were still in the room.

Romeo was shaking his head in the way of those who have fondly dealt with the inimitable Pete Mitchell, and Thorn had a small smile on her face, but it was no less bright than the one she had when she greeted Mav. “You look good, Mav.”

“Uhh… thanks?

But I always do.”

Thorn scoffed, and Romeo rolled his eyes so hard, Tom was surprised the RIO didn’t pull something.

She turned to him, a look in her eyes that spoke as if he had passed some test he didn’t know about, turning the tables on him, her instructor, and they weren’t even in the air yet. “You keep taking care of this Firebird for me, huh?”

Something about receiving her unsought approval shot a bolt of feeling through him, searing through his being, like standing in the middle of a lightning storm. “Of course.”

“Good,” she breathed, her small smile turning to a grin. “I guess—I guess Ro and I better go, because I’m sure our classmates got the good housing already.”

“We’ll accompany you to your housing, once you get your assignment—the uh—” he cleared his throat and sniffed, “the housing here is laid out pretty weird.”

Tom could feel Mav’s gaze snap to him at a practically supersonic speed, but he ignored it, in favor of shooting Thorn a charming, if not slightly awkward, smile.

Her head tilted at a slight angle, keen gaze analyzing him like he was some sort of problem she couldn’t quite solve. “If that’s what you want to do with your time, sure thing, sir.”

His brain shut down on him for a split second, for some odd reason, but he managed to evenly reply, “We’re the same rank.”

“That shiny Junior Instructor title of yours begs to differ, but whatever you say… sir.”

A nudge at his side snapped him out of whatever strange fugue his brain was trying to drag him into.

He’d have to get more sleep, he figured.

“What’d I tell you, Ice?

Sometimes I wonder if Acey here should have been the Firebird instead of me—because I’m well on my way to becoming an ace, as you all know,” Mav declared.

“Imagine being deployed with this for months,” Thorn sighed, but with a teasing glimmer in her eyes.

“Imagine agreeing to get stationed with him, and being his wingman,” Tom reparteed.

“Oh, I can,” she nodded knowingly. “I have stories, by the way.”

“Oh?

Do tell,” he grinned, playfully ignoring the groan from his wingman.

She blinked, her expression frozen for a split second, before she gestured to the aisle, “Mind if we walk and talk?”

“At your leave, Lieutenant.”

She shook her head slightly, but strode onwards, their strides matching in less than half a beat. “So there was this one incident with some shaving cream…”

When the four of them arrived at the quartermaster, as Thorn predicted, her and Romeo’s classmates were long gone.

“Hello, shitty housing,” she muttered, as she and Romeo approached the quartermaster, while he and Mav stood a ways behind.

“You’re being weird.”

“What?” Tom turned to see Mav staring at him like he was an F-14 requiring diagnostics and a shit-ton of maintenance.

“I said you’re being weird—”

“Yeah,” he slowly began, “I heard you the first time, Mav, what do you mean?”

“You—you’re being… nice,” was the other aviator’s perplexed reply, accompanied by an equally consterned gesture.

It was his turn to stare. “I am nice.”

“Uh-huh, but you’re not usually this—this, to people you don’t know.

Who are you, and what have you done to my wingman?”

If Tom were to be honest, he himself knew that he wasn’t exactly acting in character, but there was just something that tugged him to… be warmer towards Thorn and Romeo.

He put it down to wanting to repay the TOPGUN students for being kind to his brother, when not many others were.

“Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, Mav,” he said, sounding somewhat lame to even his own ears, truthful as it was.

“Okay, sure,” the other man nodded, in an extremely distrustful tone.

“Got it!” Thorn declared, she and Romeo marching up. “Let’s see what Government Issued shanty we’ll be put up in, shall we?

Looks like we’re at… 315 Vraciu.”

Tom spoke up. “That’s not bad, I think; a couple of our classmates last year were put up in that same housing—Charles Piper and Marcus Williams—and I don’t think they had any problems.”

Romeo clicked his tongue, “Well, that’s a first—less-than half-decent housing’s usually par for the course for me and Thorn.

This’ll be a refreshing change.”

Tom would never understand why good pilots were blamed for things they couldn’t change, Mav for his father’s “betrayal” and his own unconventional flying style, and Thorn for her gender, through relentless hazing and/or poor treatment.

If he ever rose high enough to change things, he swore he would.

The housing was a basic, cookie cutter home a little over a five minute drive from the main TOPGUN building, and on the way there, Thorn and Mav were seated in the back of Tom’s truck, catching up, while Romeo sat shotgun.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, Tom saw that both pilots were animatedly discussing things that had happened since the last time they saw each other, including the infamous inverted-over-a-MiG situation.

“Are they always like this?” he said in sotto voce to the RIO beside him.

Romeo flicked his dark gaze to the backseat, a soft smile on his face. “Yeah.

It’s nice to see her happy.

Not a lot of people think much of her, since she’s a woman, you know.

But Mav, he and Goose, they never saw that, they just saw a good pilot, and I’m grateful.

They were the only ones who wanted to fly with us.”

Tom frowned in disbelief. “You’re kidding.”

If Mav was singing her praises, she must be a phenomenon in the sky—who wouldn’t want to be part of that?

“Nope.

They were the only ones who volunteered, so they kind of got stuck with us that whole deployment.”

At this point, they arrived at 315 Vraciu, and they all hopped out, the two students carrying their seabags to the door.

Thorn unlocked the door, she and Romeo tossing their bags in the entrance. “Well, thanks for the ride,” she nodded, Romeo doing likewise behind her.

“No problem, my pleasure,” Tom replied, clasping his hands behind his back.

“I’ll see you both around, I guess.”

He imagined that her eyes lingered longer on him than they did on Mav, and… he didn’t exactly know how he felt about that.

Mav threw off a nonchalant salute while he sent a respectful nod, before they moved to go back to his truck.

They were halfway there when they heard, “Hey Mav!”

The two of them halted, turning to see the fire of challenge in Thorn’s brilliant eyes. “You gonna take it easy on me?”

Mav scoffed, “You think I’m an idiot?”

She carefully maintained a blank look, and Mav flipped her off with a grin.

Her expression sharpened, gaze landing on him, callsign all too accurate, as the edge of defiance in her voice rang through the air. “And how about you—are you going to take it easy on me?”

He had to admire her for that already.

“If you’re as good as Mav says, that’d be a damn injustice.”

Her answering smile was dagger-keen. “Looking forward to seeing you up there, then.”

Something in him thrilled to the thought of having another worthy opponent in the sky. “It’ll be a highlight of my day, I’m sure.”

“We’ll see.”

Though not unkindly, the door shut in their faces soon after.

Tom stared at the door a moment longer, before again turning to see Mav frowning.

“You’re really being weird.”

“…Shut up, Mav.”

“Alright boys—just to remind you, we have the classes in the morning, and we’re going up in the afternoon.

For the first hop, it’s going to be Jester against Thorn and Romeo, Mitchell against Warlock and Shogun, then Ash and Igor.”

An unexpected wave of disappointment washed over Tom as he realized Viper’s hop arrangement meant he wouldn’t get to fly against Thorn the first day, but he managed to keep most of the expression off his face, especially with Mav treating him like a problem to solve the whole rest of last night.

Indeed, the shorter man was and had been surreptitiously studying him.

“Which leaves me with Belter and Elvis, and you, Kazansky, with Snackbar and Links, then Babe and Priest, for the second hop.”

Just a banner day for Thomas Kazansky, wasn’t it?

Couldn’t fly against Thorn, and didn’t even get to school Ash and Igor.

“Everyone understand?”

A chorus of “Yes, sir!”s rang through the room, and Viper nodded, pleased.

“Dismissed, then.

To your classes, gentlemen.”

Viper knocked a fist against the table twice before he and Jester departed the briefing room.

Tom gathered his folders and looked at his wingman, who was neatening a very short stack of papers. “I was hoping to have first crack at Ash and Igor,” he muttered.

“I know,” Mav smirked.

Resigned, he sighed, “Well, kick their ass extra hard for me, will ya?”

The smaller man’s smirk took on a devilish quality. “I’ll draw first blood, then you wipe the floor with them, and us together, it’ll be game over,” he stated, as he extended a fist.

“Sounds like a plan,” Tom nodded, sealing the agreement with a fist bump.

As he bent to pick up his attaché case, Tom’s eyes were again drawn to the minuscule stack of papers the other man had. “You got the material for your class today, right?”

“Uhhh, yeah, sort of,” Mav shrugged.

“‘Sort of’.

What exactly do ‘sort of’ class materials look like?”

Mav spread his hands, and he knew. “In all honesty, I was gonna just kind of wing it.”

Tom honestly should have seen it coming—but Maverick mavericking was what made Maverick, Maverick.

“Okay,” he replied, trying to hide his grin. “Sounds good.

Good—good, good.”

He managed to hold his laughter in until he reached the hall, but even then, an “Up yours, Ice!” followed him around the corner.

Tom’s class went smoothly, and after a lunch that he eagerly finished, he eventually found himself in his flight gear, fidgeting in the instructor’s ready room.

Having completed his preflight, he decided to chalk his restlessness down to the novelty of flying an A-4, a single-seater, with no Slider in his ear or backseat, as he listened intently to the comms for the first hop, Viper doing the same across the room.

Mav and Jester engaged Warlock and Shogun, and Thorn and Romeo, respectively, once the Commander called “Fight’s on!”, and Mav made short work of Warlock and Shogun, getting tone on the other pilot and RIO in a little over two minutes.

Commendable, in his opinion, for their students.

Mav called for them to knock it off and return to base, before moving on to Ash and Igor.

It was then that he realized that Jester was still engaged with Thorn and Romeo.

Romeo was evenly calling out altitudes, positions, and break directions, while Thorn composedly called maneuvers out, interrupted only by the sound of the two aviators g-straining, the F-14’s engines in the background.

He briefly turned his attention to Mav, who had engaged Ash and Igor; the two were, as he predicted, scrambling wildly for their “lives” (and based on what he was hearing, would get tone locked in a matter of seconds), in radical contrast to Thorn, who was calmly holding her own.

In his head, he could see a vague picture of what was going on up there with Jester, Thorn, and Romeo, and Tom realized that he wasn’t sure how it was going to end, the sound of Mav getting tone on Ash and Igor fading into the background.

Tom could hear the strain in Thorn and Romeo’s voices as they fought more g-forces while calling movement and other things out—they had to be at or near corner speed to make them sound like that.

Tom could hear the faint, steady beeping which warned of imminent tone lock, and he hoped she would win this, if only to prove his wingman’s faith in her skill correct.

Just as the beeping grew faster, Thorn muttered, “Just a little… come on, come on…”

He leaned forward in his seat, and realized he was holding his breath, but he couldn’t bring himself to inhale.

Then suddenly, the blare of confirmed tone.

Disappointment for her sake sank in his stomach, but only for the briefest moment, because the voice which triumphantly called out “Good lock!” was distinctly female. “That’s a kill, Commander!”

And Tom could breathe again.

Holy shit, Mav was right—she was a hell of a pilot.

Thorn managed to keep too much of the gloating out of her tone, but it was a fairly narrow thing, and in his opinion, it was justified.

A faint sound caught his attention—if he didn’t know any better, Tom could have sworn that that was a… fond chuckle that came from Jester.

“Copy kill.

Well, knock it off, Lieutenant, and RTB.”

“Yes, sir!”

Without really thinking about it, he went to the flight line, in time to see the three F-14s and two A-4s land.

His eyes were drawn to her jet as she pulled in to the flight line, and he was faintly aware of Mav’s A-4 pulling up beside his.

She’d done the impossible; Thorn, a female naval aviator, got chosen for TOPGUN, and got tone on her instructor the first day.

Technically, that wasn’t anything new—Mav had done similar—but in a sense, it was.

Women were just starting to be seen as capable of being in the military, in combat roles, to be exact, and to see a woman do something that had been the domain of men for decades, centuries, and do it just as well as a man—better even; as evidenced by the fact that in her hop, she was the only one to get tone on her instructor…

He really had to admire that—admire her.

“That good enough of an ass kicking for ya, Ice?”

Tom was snapped out of his introspection from the sudden appearance of his wingman at his side, running a hand through his hair, helmet under his arm.

“What?”

Mav grinned, “I got tone on Ash and Igor in roughly a minute or so.

How the fuck those two got picked for TOPGUN eludes me.”

Tom scoffed and shook his head in agreement. “Bet I can get tone on them faster, though.”

Mav slapped him on the shoulder, “We’ll see, Ice.”

A sudden whoop of jubilant laughter drew his gaze, and he could see Thorn about thirty paces away, coming ever closer, and his breath caught in his throat—her mouth was split in a beaming smile, wild and passionate, illuminating her from within with effervescent joy, her shining eyes endlessly reflecting her exhilaration.

Her bun was coming slightly loose, tendrils of hair framing her face and swaying in the breeze, while her flight suit clung to her figure, helmet dangling insouciantly from her fingers; it was decorated with a briar all over, red roses among thorns made of black aces, and it had her callsign across its brow.

Her eyes landed on him, and her smile took on a mischievous quality. “We got Jester, nailed him on the first day.

You gonna be ready for us?” Then, as if she only noticed Mav next to him at that moment, she amended, “Both of you?”

He grinned, just shy of showing too many teeth, nonchalantly stepping closer, shifting his weight to lean towards her, hip slightly cocked to keep his balance, barely paying any mind to the tension in Romeo’s stance behind his pilot. “We’ll see who gets tone on whom first.”

Thorn smirked as she looked him up and down, teeth tugging her bottom lip for the briefest moment before she clicked her tongue, “Good thing I’ve got front row seats for that show, then.” She pivoted on her heel, walking backwards as she sent him a casual salute, before turning to stride back to the locker room, Romeo following her with a minutely narrowed glance over his shoulder at him.

“Huh.”

He turned from watching the pilot and RIO, to see Mav again at his side, glancing back and forth between him and Thorn and Romeo.

Tom frowned, “What ‘huh’?”

“Nothing, nothing,” came the too-quick answer. “Just huh.”

“…Now who’s being weird?”

Tom’s hop with Viper was not quite as interesting as Mav with Jester’s, though he did have to commend all three pilots for holding out for a few minutes, which was more than Ash and Igor could say.

The debrief was a thing of beauty—going in reverse order from lowest to highest hop score, meant that he got to witness Mav positively eviscerate Ash and Igor as the first order of business, and the sheer stupidity that Ash displayed in the air, made Tom wonder what guardian angel or deity sent this idiot to TOPGUN.

He mentally saw a dozen different maneuvers that Ash could have done, that, while they might not have gotten him tone on Mav, they would have helped him last longer against the other pilot.

The debrief drew on, Tom stepping forward when it was his turn, not sparing the other pilots their vivisections, though theirs were not quite as harsh, by sheer dint of them not being as idiotic as Ash and Igor, and finally, it was the debrief he was waiting for; Thorn and Romeo’s.

He had an idea of what happened in the air, but he wanted to know what exactly she had done.

It was textbook and yet genius.

He was right; once they hit the merge, flying at corner speed through a series of turns, Thorn had maneuvered to force Jester to increase his turn rate, bleeding his airspeed, playing the Skyhawk’s weakness against it, before before placing him in her sights.

“…all in all, great work, Lieutenant,” Jester complimented, writing her hop score of 5 on the board, the highest number of all the teams that day, sending her a nod.

Her face was impassive as she replied, “Thank you, sir,” but Tom could see the vindication in her eyes.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve all learned something from your classes and most especially, your hops today,” Viper declared, pacing the front of the classroom. “This is only the first day, and to borrow a saying from our SEAL cousins, ‘The only easy day was yesterday’.”

The Captain stared the students down, pair by pair, searching for something in each of them.

Finally, he stated, “You’re all dismissed.”

After Jester and Viper left, leaving him and Mav, as the junior instructors, to neaten things, Ash and Igor were predictably the first out the door—just shy of storming out, while most of the others looked at Thorn with less suspicion than the day before, a few actually lingering.

While he was fixing the markers, out of the corner of his eye, Tom saw Warlock step forward first, a light smile on his face. “Hey, uh, that was great, what you pulled today—I’m Solomon, but you can call me Sol or Warlock, whichever you prefer.

This is my RIO, Ken, but he prefers Shogun.”

The Asian man genially lifted a hand in greeting, “Really wish I could have seen that.”

Babe chuckled, “Yeah, that was good, wish I’d have thought of what you did, maybe I’d have had a chance against Kazansky—I’m Stephen.”

Priest, his RIO, cooed, “Aw, you embarrassed by your callsign, Babe?”

“Shut up, Tim,” Babe glared.

Priest raised both hands in surrender. “Not my fault your last name’s Ruth—I’m this stick in the mud’s RIO, Tim—call me Priest, that there’s Belter and Elvis.”

Tom almost laughed at the expression Thorn made; the momentary shock on her face was palpable, but it was swiftly concealed—the only reason it registered for him was because he was so used to reading Mav’s microexpressions.

“Thanks—nice to meet you all.

I’m Thorn, this’ Romeo, my RIO.”

Romeo shook hands with them all, a pleasant, but guarded expression on his face.

“You weren’t too bad up there yourselves, from what I heard,” she continued.

“Yeahhh, but who got tone on their instructor first day?

Not this guy,” Priest waggled his eyebrows, jerking both thumbs at his pilot, “and not any of these guys,” making the others groan or laugh.

Tom ducked his head, hiding his smile; he was glad that the others seemed to be warming up to her, he wanted her to have the same experience as he did at TOPGUN—establishing a brotherhood with his classmates.

“—Tom!”

He pivoted to see Mav snapping his fingers close to his face, and he reflexively flinched back from his wingman’s hand in his face. “What?”

He belatedly realized that he’d been saying that a little too much recently.

As if he were speaking to a particularly dull child, Mav spoke slowly. “Do you think I can erase the board now?”

“Yeah, uh, but not the scores.”

“Of course not.

You okay, Ice?”

“Yeah—fine, it’s just a… long day.”

The suspicion in Mav’s eyes didn’t fade as he sighed and nodded. “Feel up to The O Club tonight?

Maybe decompress a bit, have a drink?”

“That sounds great, actually.” Maybe a drink was what he needed, his mind seemed to be all over the place.

“‘Kay—meet you there?”

“Yeah.”

Once he finished with the room, he followed Mav out, sending a look to where Thorn was still talking with her classmates, to see that her gaze was already on him.

Her eyes immediately went back to her classmates, but nevertheless, he felt branded by her stare, like it was a tangible thing, searing through his veins, sending a paradoxical shiver down his spine.

Deep in the recesses of his mind, he could admit it; he didn’t know what it was, but he felt drawn to her.

To what end… he didn’t know.

And that…

That scared him.

Tom eased his precious Chevelle into a parking spot near the door of The O Club; a rarity, but one very welcomed, given how busy the bar seemed.

(The fact that it was within sight of Mav’s highly recognizable Ninja was a perk—he and Slider had stopped one too many parking lot beatdowns.)

He reached for his Shooters, narrowly stopping himself from putting them on (Mav hated it when he did that at night; “It makes you look like a dick”, according to his wingman), instead tucking them into the pocket of his whites, carefully opening the driver’s door, squeezing himself out of the narrow gap he afforded himself.

The black metal flake paint was pristine, and he intended to keep it that way, it didn’t matter how ridiculous he may look.

The O Club was, as the parking lot showed, busy, full of people in service whites, throwing him back to last year, that first night for the flyboys of ‘86.

He cast his gaze around the bar, peering through the haze of cigarette smoke and the people, searching for his wingman’s squirrelly figure, before a call of “Ice; over here!” pierced through the sound of numerous conversations and the jukebox, before a hand flailed wildly, becoming visible over the heads of the crowd.

Mav had claimed seats at the bar; prime real estate with the place this hectic—he didn’t want to know how the other man had kept the seat next to him free when every Tom (hah), Dick, and Harry were clamoring for a seat at the bar.

He made his way through the crowd, gratefully settling onto the barstool next to Mav, also dressed in his service whites. “Hey Mav,” he greeted.

“Hey; I ordered already, I assumed you’d want your usual vodka on the rocks.”

“Thanks; you know me too well.”

“Kind of hard to miss when it’s literally what you order every single time,” Mav smirked.

Tom rolled his eyes—he was a creature of habit, sue him.

(And if vodka on the rocks reminded him of his Dedushka, what was wrong with that?)

“Seems like all of Fightertown is here tonight,” he muttered to Mav.

“You’re not too far off on that, I saw basically all of our students here,” the other man replied, taking a sip of his beer. “Only ones I haven’t seen are Thorn and Romeo, actually,” he finished casually.

Rather against Tom’s will, something in him lurched forward, his thought process halting, making him feel like he’d just snagged the third wire on the carrier deck.

Despite that, he managed a calm—at least in his opinion—“Oh.”

“Mmm.” Another calm sip of beer from his wingman—too calm.

He narrowed his eyes and sighed at Mav. “What the fuck is that ‘Mmm’ for?”

The dark-haired aviator pulled an expression like he just sucked on a lemon. “What, can’t a guy just ‘Mmm’ anymore?”

“Not when you’ve been fucking weird for the past two days,” he replied, sending the harried bartender a grateful nod as they slid his vodka on the rocks over to him.

“I’m not weird, you’re weird,” was Mav’s reply, and he narrowed his eyes at the muted shimmer of something in the other pilot’s eyes.

He was about to retort when his eyes were drawn to the door, and the bulk of Romeo walked in, his head and whites-clad shoulders peeking above quite a few people’s.

It was mere curiosity, he told himself, that led him to lean to see if his pilot was also with him.

It took a beat, but then, several people in the crowd moved, and he saw her—her hair cascaded down her shoulders, as sharp eyes surveyed The O like it was the skies, dressed, unlike everyone else in the Navy who occupied this space, in civvies; a loose, white blouse tucked into jeans, cinched with a thick brown leather belt at her waist.

And everything seemed to fade into the background, the sight of her drowning out the sound of the bar, and Mav’s howling laughter.

To be continued…

Previous Part Next Part

Faceclaims

Russian glossary

Disclaimer: translations are from the interwebs.

Please don’t kill me.

Dedushka: Grandfather

Two years is the real-life age gap between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.

The story behind Ice and Slider’s bad ejection actually did happen to a pilot-RIO pair, then-Commander William Switzer and then-Lieutenant (junior grade) David “Bio” Baranek on December 19, 1981, aboard the very same aircraft carrier that I mentioned.

You can read the detailed description of the incident here, retold by Commander Baranek, for the Ejection Tie Club of the Martin-Baker company, who specialize in making ejection seats—including those of the F-14 Tomcat—for pilots and backseaters who have ejected using a Martin-Baker ejection seat.

VFA-41, the “Black Aces”, based out of NAS Lemoore, were featured in Top Gun: Maverick as the squadron of Natasha “Phoenix” Trace, and I thought that would be nice to include that, in this universe at least, Phoenix is a member of the squadron with the first female naval aviator selected for TOPGUN.

Icy-Hot is a liniment that has been on the market since before 1931.

The name of LTJG Kenneth “Shogun” Han is a reference to this scene in the now-ABC hit series, 9-1-1, where paramedic/firefighter Howard “Chimney” Han, played by actor Kenneth Choi, replies that if he weren’t a paramedic/firefigher, he’d have liked to be a Navy TOPGUN graduate, with the callsign “Shogun”.

The names of Henry “Snackbar” Baker, Stephen “Babe” Ruth, and Timothy “Priest” Martin are a reference to both the original name of Leonard “Wolfman” Wolfe—Henry Ruth—and the Martin-Baker company.

The speeches that Jester and Viper give are nearly word for word the same as the speeches that they gave in TG86, with some authorly variation because I didn’t want to rehash the same speeches that we heard in the movie word for word.

Again, VF-1, a now inactive squadron based out of NAS Miramar, is the squadron that Mav and Goose belonged to before they went to TOPGUN, although it must be noted that, like most of the squadron patch designs in Top Gun, the patch design as seen on Mav and Goose’s flight suits, is incorrect and not matching the squadron designation, instead bearing the insignia of VAW-110, the “Firebirds”, who flew the E-2 Hawkeye, which was shown as Comanche in TG:M.

Alexander Vraciu was a WWII Navy ace who downed 12 Japanese aircraft and sank a Japanese merchant ship with a direct hit to her stern.

The merge is a concept used in air combat, where aerial warfighters engage with enemy aircraft by steering their plane toward the adversary—this maneuver is referred to as “going to the merge.”

Corner Speed

Did anyone catch the TG:M line reference?

Special thanks to @valmare for the Ice has a Chevelle headcanon!

Service Whites

Taglist

@valmare

@callsign-skydancer

@permanentlyexhaustedpigeon88

@tadomikiku

@malindacath

@aviatorobsessed

@lynnevanss

@djs8891

If you’d like to join my taglist, just send me an ask!

#top gun rocktober #top gun #top gun fanfiction #top gun fanfic #tom iceman kazansky x reader #tom kazansky x reader #tom iceman kazansky #tom kazansky #val kilmer

[pretty-blkgirl]

Minho Day

//gn!reader x Minho//

Synopsis: You reminisce a little on your and your boyfriend’s relationship

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None (unless you count a little bit of swearing)

A/N: It’s our Lee Know’s birthday!!!! Y’all I love this man so much I don’t think you understand 😭 Fun fact: both Lee Know and I were born on the 25th of October 😌 So Happy Birthday to me too (at least in Korea lmao). Trust and believe I’ll be putting out another story tomorrow for my birthday 🫶🏾

~~~~|~~~~

“Be careful” Minho sighs, watching closely as you attempt to cut the Kimchi you just prepared. You move carelessly with the scissors, almost catching your fingers in the blades before he takes them from you.

“Lemme do it love, you go make your lemonade”

You nod and stand up from the seat at the dining room table to go into the kitchen. Once there, you start grabbing the ingredients for your homemade strawberry lemonade.

You can hear Minho humming in the room, a new song Chan helped him write last week. You remember him excitedly calling you down to the studio to listen to it.

It was perfect, so romantic and intimate. It wasn’t until the song finished that he revealed it was about you. You cried maybe 4 times as you listened to the song on repeat.

Minho always did little romantic stuff like that. On your first date, he took you to a fancy restaurant and then on a nice, long walk in the park.

After he took you home, he stayed up all night clutching his chest as his heart started to fill with unwavering love for you. He was so embarrassed that he had already fallen head over heels.

He couldn’t wait to see you again, so he got up at 2 AM and went back to your house, standing outside your window with a speaker, blasting the playlist he made for you.

You were, obviously, very confused when you woke up to a random cheesy love song playing outside, but when you walked to the window, opened it, and peered out to see Minho, you could only giggle at his antics.

He would spend the next few days apologizing to your neighbors and roommates for waking them up. He honestly didn’t know what came over him, he just had to go see you.

He was so far gone when it came to you. All thought and logic went out the door when he started to think of you. He was a fool for you, and vice versa.

On your first anniversary, he decided to take you horseback riding.

It was a trainwreck

He stepped in horse poop, and almost fell off the horse one time so he was scared to get back on, it started storming even though the forecast predicted a low chance of rain, and you guys got a flat tire on your way back home.

He felt so defeated as you two sat in the car on the side of the road, completely soaked from the sudden rain storm.

“I’m sorry baby” He sighs, looking over at you with the saddest eyes. You could only smile largely, taking his hand and kissing it.

“Sorry? For what? I had so much fun!”

He looks taken aback, but his shock is quickly replaced with a look of relief.

“You did? How? Everything went wrong”

“Nuh-uh!” You disagree, “The horses were so sweet! And I got to ride them for a whole hour before it started raining. The horse’s owner was able to clean your shoes for you, and it was so romantic to be caught out in the rain”

“Romantic?” He repeats, “How is this romantic babe?”

“I don’t know! You always see couples dancing and kissing in the rain in movies, it’s cute”

He smiles softly at you before looking out the window to see the rain still falling.

“It’ll be a while before Chan Hyung can get here with a spare tire,” He says, “How about we take advantage of this romantic moment?”

You watch as he goes to his phone and finds the playlist he made for you a while back. He puts on the most romantic song he can find, and puts it on through the radio.

He then turns it up loud enough to where you can hear it from outside the car. He gets out of the car and runs to your side to open your door.

“May I have this dance?” He asks, making you roll your eyes playfully. He holds out his hand and you take it, allowing him to help you out of the car.

You two start to dance on the empty road, hoping no one comes and ruins your moment.

You get through 4 songs before Chan pulls up with Hyunjin (who immediately starts snapping photos of you two).

That was when you realized Minho would do anything for you. He would do anything to make you happy, and you would do anything for him as well.

Before you know it, you’re done with your lemonade, and you walk back into the dining room with a full pitcher. Minho is finishing setting up the table when he sees you.

“Baby I missed you,” He says dramatically, which would usually make you laugh but you could only cry when you thought about how much he means to you.

He was your absolute everything. You never knew you could experience a love so beautiful, so powerful, and so unconditional.

He started to panic when he saw the tears run down your face. He took the pitcher from your hands and set it down, staring at you with pure concern.

“What’s the matter, baby? What happened?”

“Nothing,” You say through sniffles, “I was just…”

You sigh and he runs your back, silently encouraging you.

“I was thinking about some of our memories and….you mean so much to me. I love you so much that it scares me.”

He stares a bit more before chuckling

“You’re crying because you love me? I thought you fucked up the lemonade or something”

You groan and playfully punch him in the arm. You knew he was only joking so you would stop crying

And it worked

“In case you didn’t know” He started, “I love you so much that it scares the shit out of me too. Now wipe your tears and come eat with me”

You find it ironic that he tells you to wipe away your tears because he’s wiping your face before you can even lift your hand.

You two take a seat across from each other at the rather small table. Immediately you start to talk and joke around with one another.

Everything just felt so good, so right.

When you two were done eating, he sat back in his chair and set his hands in his stomach to signify he was full.

“Dinner was a great baby” You say

“Thanks, babe, I made most of it”

You laugh again before getting up and going into the kitchen to find the present you were hiding in the cabinet and pull out the small cake you had gotten him earlier from the fridge.

You walk back into the dining room to see Minho send you a smirk

“For me?” He asks with a hand over his chest.

You smile, setting the cake down in front of him and putting the present on the floor. After a quick happy birthday song, you kiss his cheek and whisper;

“Happy birthday baby”

#skz bang chan #skz changbin #skz felix #skz han #skz hyunjin #skz jeongin #skz lee know #skz seungmin #skz x reader #skz minho #skz smut #skz imagines #skz scenarios #skz angst #skz #skz fanfic #skz poly x reader #skz stay #skz fluff #stray kids #stray kids angst #stray kids x reader #stray kids fanfic #stray kids fanfiction #stray kids imagine #stray kids texts #stray kids reactions #stray kids scenarios #stray kids fake texts #stray kids smut

[sleepanonymous]

Hi, I was wondering if you knew when Vessel started 'dancing' on stage? I'm pretty sure he started doing in in the late Sundowning-ish era/ TPWBYT era but I thought you'd probably be the best person to ask about finding videos from when he started dancing.

Oooh this is an interesting rabbit hole, thanks for asking Anon 🖤

So... I guess it depends on what you mean by dancing, because Vessel has always sort of moved on stage, you know? But what he did back then and what he's doing now is completely different. Like... maybe a better word for what he used to do is "writhing." The earliest video of a ritual I've seen of Sleep Token's was their third ritual in (what I'm assuming is) late 2017, and "writhing" is probably the best word for what Vessel was doing on stage (and I say that affectionately/respectfully).

TLDR; Conclusively I would say Vessel started dancing, as we see him dance on stage today, in the summer of 2022. He's always moved on stage, and even acted unhinged during Sleep Token's earlier rituals. Below the cut, I go through rituals on YouTube from 2018-2023 to try and pinpoint exactly when Vessel started dancing like we see currently in 2023. (I went through quite a few videos, most not even mentioned in this monster of a post, so I made a YouTube playlist here).

A great example of Vessel's early "writhing" dancing is this YouTube video of Nazareth from the 2018 Leeds Festival (he's also an absolute menace here!! He steps on III, he didn't paint his waist or his back, and he strangles and spits on the original OG IV. Like... the man had demons and I am here for them). The dancing that's most similar to current times starts around 2:37 and 3:40.

2019 is impossible to find good videos for lol, since they did most of their rituals for the Beautiful Oblivion tour as an opener and, apparently, nobody films openers. But there are some with decent audio quality from ArcTanGent (my favorite being The Offering). Interestingly, he's less animated, still writhing, but not a menace to the rest of the band while doing so. If anyone is even slightly photosensitive please don't watch these ArcTanGent videos, the lighting effects really didn't agree with the camera's shutter speed.

This is a video of Higher from December 2019. The sound is not as crisp, and the videographer is quite a bit further from the stage, but Vessel is still moving, especially towards the end. The breakdown starts around 2:15, and while III and OG IV are definitely more animated than Vessel, he's still dancing with them. He even jumps down to scream the end of the song at the barrier (and has a mini-wardrobe malfunction) at 2:39. That crowd was really feeling it and so was Vessel.

Because of the plague in 2020, all of Sleep Token's shows were in January. Vessel's behaviour was very similar to the video posted above (just with less crowd interaction). The first show they played in 2021 was the Download Pilot. This is the best audio quality of that show, and Vessel also moves/dances the most in this video, though it's toward the end around 2:31, where the videographer forgot they were filming and just started vibing, so it's really hard to see, lol. I don't blame them, but it's also shakycam to the max. (Also, a quick fun fact, this is the first show the band played with our current IV as far as I can tell.)

This is another video from 2021, but from Sleep Token's TPWBYT rituals tour. It's Hypnosis, and in the very beginning, we see some Floor Vessel, which is neat and reminiscent of the most recent NA rituals, before he does some of his usual writing, though quite a bit more animated. Around 4:06 you can see the writing again, but after 4:19 it morphs into what we've seen from more recent rituals. (Also, if anyone wants a full 70-minute video of this show, filmed from the center of the balcony looking down on the stage, you can watch it here. Some parts have major flashing, so just be careful).

Here's another video of Hypnosis, this time from September 2022. Here, finally, we see Vessel's current version of dancing, hops and arm flails included. It starts right when the song kicks in at 0:13, and he does it again at the end, around 4:29. Technically they did a UK tour with the Architects in May (see this video of The Offering at 3:50) and an Australian tour in June 2022 with Northlane (again, see this video of The Offering at 0:20, 1:37), with similar behaviour from Vessel, but that BRRF Hypnosis video is the first video I ever watched of Sleep Token live so it's very dear to me and it's also better sound quality than anything I could find from earlier in the year.

I went way overboard with answering this question, Anon, but it was super fun, so thank you again for asking 🖤🙏 Again, I made a playlist of all the videos + several others. If anyone has any recommendations for me to add to the playlist, send the links my way (especially if they aren't The Offering or Hypnosis lol) and I'll add them in chronological order.

#asks #answered #sleep token #vessel sleep token #vessel #sleepanon rant #i blew this ask way out of proportion #so sorry anon #if i had the ability to gif this would be a much better post lol #also would anyone be interested in that video of ritual iii? #it's literally a minute long screen recording of someone else's video of nazareth #but still interesting to watch

[monbons]

✨9 people you’d like to know better✨

Last Song: I just cleaned up my writing playlist for my fic, so mostly that. But normally I listen to reggaeton and hip-hop on repeat and dance around the house or drop it like it's hot while doing dishes. [Hilarious side note: I was doing laundry while listening to some Lil John or Sean Paul (probably) when I was 9 months pregnant with the first kiddo. I did in fact drop it low at one point, my water instantly broke, and I went into very active labor while no one else was home. Fun times...]

Favorite Color: Barbie pink. Magenta. Millennial pink. Dusty rose. Blush. Anything and everything pink. [Another fun fact: My first tattoo was literally the word "pink" on my shoulder. In black ink. Ha! I was 18 and stupid. I've since gotten a sick coverup. But talk about years of confused stares and questions.]

Currently Watching: Had a day date with the hubs last week to watch Dune. Binging Young Royals.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: All of the above? Give me some good Thai food (which has all these flavors + sour) and I am in heaven. In fact, be my friend long enough and I will have you over for Thai. I'm an excellent cook.

Relationship Status: Married for 10 years. Bagged him at a mutual friend's holiday party 12 years ago because I kicked his ass at beer pong.

Current Obsession: Snowbaz is my entire personality. In my mind, I am Baz Pitch.

Last Thing You Googled: Are hawks associated with Athena? (Did this for work. A kid made me question what I definitely knew. The answer is no.)

Thanks for the tag @raenestee! (All the below also applies to you!)

I've seen this making the rounds, so I am sure everyone I am tagging has probably already done this. Instead, accept this as my super awkward way of saying you seem cool/I fangirl over your stuff/I make a good friend and you should adopt me because I am clearly a little cool based on my answers.

@thewholelemon, @roomwithanopenfire, @cutestkilla, @bookish-bogwitch, @artsyunderstudy, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @drowninginships, @valeffelees, @emeryhall

#tag game #i'm actually full of all sorts of ridiculous stories because i am a ridiculous person #this only scratches the surface #adopt me and find out!

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/16/2024

did not commit fratricide this week but it got a little close there

listening

spotify tried to rec me some electro remix of this Eartha Kitt song i did NOT care for but i did enjoy the original Mink Schmink (YouTube). very similar to last year’s favorite Peel Me A Grape by Anita O’Day. this is a particular kind of oldies #girlboss song that i am super weak to

i also have an entire album to rec! spotify recced me a movie soundtrack by this artist and i went to check out their latest work. a very pleasant outer space themed saxophone-forward experience to enjoy while trying out a very slow video game! the opening track Chaldene will let you know pretty fast if you’ll like the whole album. bouncy, in the ways that saxophones are. very cowboy bebop soundtrack adjacent? i have a data entry playlist with many instrumental albums of long pieces for when i need really consistent vibes or vibes that change very slowly and this is going to be such a good addition

reading

feeling a little bit grim about the state of the world and long-tail reporting/continuity of knowledge, partially bc some friends got fired from the games industry and are throwing in the towel (do not blame them at ALL, also now this means i don't know anyone in the industry with more than three years of experience under their belt) and partially feeling a little bit grim bc i read an article FOREVER ago from the old motherboard team at VICE about how locations were being harvested from various religious and health apps, and FINALLY that data broker is starting to see some real consequences. the ONLY reason this reporter is still following this story/is still a reporter is bc after VICE summarily fired like half the site last year, he went off and started his own site.

grim! grim article, grim context, grim all around.

watching

i would love for my best friend's son to become obsessed with a different movie than pixar's elemental. but if this is the price of having an only semi-interrupted conversation with his mom then so be it.

playing

“sail forth” by developer Quantum Astrophysicists Guild and published by Festive Vector (pair of really killer names there) is the free epic game this week. i spent a reasonably okay hour with it but do not plan to continue further. the opening area has some problems that do not interest me in whatever this game does in the next area. tldr: the actual sailing part is fun, which is good bc it's a sailing game, but there isn't enough to Do in this adventure/exploration game and it's all really far apart.

it has a particular sensibility married with its art style that makes me say “cozy game” (derogatory). your main character is named captain toot. everyone has funky sentence structure liberally sprinkled with nautical terms that come off vaguely nonsensical instead of piratical. there are a lot of almost-kennings like “deepblue” “moontiders” “fishfolk”. things of this nature. while i do love a kenning i don’t have a lot of patience for this. which is unfortunate bc this game tested my patience in several ways.

the actual Sailing part is the best part of the game. there's some very fun weather-- i have seen light and heavy fog, light and heavy rain, and a full on thunderstorm. the fact that sailing is the best part of the game would be good except everything is VERY far apart, and while the call of a blank horizon is super important in an oceangoing game (i think) when it becomes more fun to just fast travel everywhere instead of sailing the long way, i think that’s where you have to refine some things in your game. this is less of an open world and more little pockets of things in between a truly ridiculous amount of empty space. i cannot imagine this runs in an acceptable manner on switch.

the good parts of sailing are the thoughtful controls: the compass, the wind on the compass, and the little sail trim bar. you should also keep an eye on wave direction bc that will really impact your top speed. you CAN tack back and forth directly into the wind but this game will make you fucking work for it, which i do like. i also liked sailing with the camera zoomed all the way in, it felt very fast and dangerous on the very long wait to get to the next island. and then it was no longer fun on the very long sail to get to the next island. i am almost confident these islands are procgen, it’s possible i got a weirdly big seed but i don’t care enough to fire up a new save.

the general pace of the game/this first area feels a little underbaked or weirdly optimized. i got enough wood in the first hour to upgrade to the best available one-mast sloop, i fought a pirate which required a lot of precision seamanship with my one lonely bow gun, i did a race, i declined a target practice course, i poked my head into eight different map locations. despite this variety, it all felt very samey. generally the map locations have one or two things to do plus one resource (the precision seamanship required to collect resources is fun for the first two islands but then stops being interesting) or one collectible. no one island is particularly memorable. i really loved Sunless Sea, a game that also features a large map and very slow travel, but there’s a WAY more resource management and random events, and shit is simply closer together in that game.

if i was looking for a very slow podcast game and was 20% cutesier as a person this would be ideal, but for who i am right now? not for me.

making

my siblings visited! we did not kill each other, nobody had food poisoning, and nobody died! that's all i can really ask for. here's me and my sister looking at a big quilt at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum

phil went to the emergency vet sunday afternoon bc her spay site was looking Gnarly. she either has an infection or a reaction to her sutures but the treatment is the same either way. the emergency vet said we could probably skip our normal vet visit on friday but, given that we discover a new problem every time we go to the vet, we will be keeping that appointment. all recent pics of her are smushed up on my lap at a goofy angle. have a pic of mackaroni and beans

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem #Spotify

[togrowoldinv]

Peace

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

When you’re listening to music late at night, Natasha asks to listen with you

Note: Okay y’all it’s like almost 2am and I’m listening to Taylor Swift, so this fic is kinda based on that fact. Also, I just think Nat would like Taylor cause she’s the best. It’s some fluff and comfort. Forgive me if it’s not good cause I just wrote it super fast and it’s late haha. I hope you enjoy it!

Natasha Romanoff Masterlist, Main Masterlist

“What time is it?” your wife asks you as she sleepily rolls over in bed to look at you. You’re sitting up against the headboard with earphones in listening to music. You take one out to talk to Natasha.

“It’s like two am,” you answer. “Sorry did my music wake you up?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay,” Nat says.

She sits up and kisses your cheek before resting her head on your shoulder. You kiss her head and she smiles sleepily at your touch.

“What are you listening to?” She asks you.

“Oh, you know the usual,” you say a little shyly.

“So what like Taylor Swift?” She jokes but it’s true and you laugh.

“You know me so well.”

“Let me hear it,” Nat says.

“This is one of my favorites. Don’t be alarmed at how sad it is, okay?” You say and she looks at you warily.

“Okay, detka,” she eventually agrees.

You hand her the other earphone and press play. She listens for a minute before silently reaching for your phone to look at the title of the song.

“Peace?” She asks.

“Peace,” you confirm.

She doesn’t say anything else as she listens to the rest of the song. When it’s over, she looks at you with tears in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” You ask her.

“No, because how did she perfectly explain how it feels to love someone who’s such a good person?” Natasha asks rhetorically.

“I’m not sure. But she nailed it, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, she sure did. Are you okay?” Natasha asks you.

“I’m okay. She does kind of put into words how I feel being with you sometimes though. I mean I’m always feeling that I can’t give you peace,” you admit, looking down at your lap and not at your wife.

“Hey, y/n baby, you give me peace,” she says. You look at her with disbelief. “You really do.”

“I’m such a mess sometimes and I’m scared a lot and anxious and-“

“And I love you. Not despite of all of that, but including all of that. It’s all you. You are my peace, you are my comfort, you are my home. You’re my everything,” Natasha says. Her hand intertwines with yours and she squeezes it three times.

“What did I do to deserve you?” You ask through heartfelt tears.

“I ask myself how I got so lucky to have you every day. The only answer I can come up with is that we were meant to be,” Nat says and you cry a little harder at her kindness.

“I love you so much, Natasha. So incredibly much.”

“Come here,” Nat says as she pulls you into her arms. “I love you too, y/n.”

You bury your face in her neck and she rubs your back softly.

“Hey, I have an idea,” she says.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep. Let’s go for a drive and you can show me some more of those Taylor songs. Preferably some less sad ones?”

“Nat it’s late and we have to be up early,” you say.

“Come on. It’ll be fun. Please?” Nat asks and you shift to look at her. She has the cutest smile on her face and you can’t say no to that.

After all, she is doing this for you. She knows how you can’t sleep sometimes and music is the main thing that helps.

“Okay,” you say.

“Yes, okay. You get that playlist ready and I’ll get the car warmed up,” Nat says. She gets out of bed and you smile at her enthusiasm.

“Hey Natasha?” She turns around. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she says.

The two of you get somewhat dressed and get in the car.

“So, what’s first?” Natasha asks.

“This one is called All Too Well,” you say as you turn it on. “Be ready for your life to be changed in the next ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” She asks you with a raised eyebrow.

“Ten minutes,” you say seriously.

Natasha smiles at you from the driver’s seat and you feel better already. She is definitely the source of your peace.

Tag List: @gracebutnotgraceful @i-wished-for-you-too @idkwhygregg @romanoffscottage @be-missed @likefirenrain @hehehehannahthings @mythosphere-x @readings-stuff @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @madamevirgo @milfloverslut @yelenabelovaisthebettersister @mrswidowjohansson @alotofpockets @wandassitcom @ggrangerdanger @marvelwomen-simp @maia-lightwoood @mortallytremendoussandwich @xxromanoffxx @peanutbutterprincess @karmasgxrl @picnicmic @wandaslittlewhore @exhaustedfangirl @when-wolves-howl @natashalovers @marie45019 @inluvwithfictionalwomen @sammi1642 @itsyourgirlmalise @jujuu23 @the-night-owl-blr @blackwidow-3 @strangegardentaco @avatarsnips @romanoffswoman @natashasilverfox @imthenatynat @natasha-danvers @sayah13 @harleysincairo @rach2602 @cordyandbilliehavemyheart @lovelyy-moonlight

#natasha romanoff x reader #soft natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff comfort #natasha romanoff fluff #natasha romanoff

[sunbloomdew]

my olba mc timeline!

introducing my darling buttercup, Haru Nakamura :D

finally i can post this! i'm very happy to talk about a character i have been working on since may haha. does that mean they are fully cooked? let's talk about something else :) insert why do they call you babygirl meme

you don't wanna know how long was the process of making this one drawing,,,, 1/10, would do it again no question, but god did that take time. here's the sketch for comparison :]

(hopefully) short and concise description of each step below + a couple of songs that i assign to each step, from their playlist because i can and i will

ʰᵃʰᵃʰᵃʰʰᵃᵃᵃᵃᵃ ᵗᵘʳⁿˢ ᵒᵘᵗ ⁱ ʷʳᵒᵗᵉ ᵃ ᵇⁱᵗ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ʰᵃʰᵃʰʰᵃᵃʰ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ʳᵉᵃᵈ ᵃˡˡ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰⁱˢ ʸᵒᵘ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵐʸ ʰᵃⁿᵈ ⁱⁿ ᵐᵃʳʳⁱᵃᵍᵉ ᵇᵗʷ

now before i move to each step, i want to take a moment to talk about Haru's name. they are japanese american (their biological parents were both japanese people who moved to california) so i wanted them to have a japanese name.

first their birth name, Kaito. i picked this [快仁] way of writing it. 快 means "pleasant, comfortable, agreeable" and 仁 means "humanity, benevolence and kindness". i chose it as their birth name because of a few reasons:

first, some other ways of writing this name include a kanji that means "ocean, sea". it's an obvious connection to the setting of olba, as well as the character's deep connection with sunset bird, especially in their childhood.

the meanings assigned to the version i chose, describe haru at their core and during step 1 when they use this name. they are a comfortable presence whose greatest desire is to make meaningful, genuine connections with other people (fucking extravert). while they are pleasant they are a people-pleaser as well - part of their journey is to unlearn that.

it sounds very cute and they are the sweetest kid

now the name people actually know them for, the one they feel describes them the best - Haru. the kanji that i picked [春] means "spring, season of growth and renewal" and it's precisely what Haru's 'arc' is about. the meaning and value of their personal growth, understanding themselves and working with oneself instead of against.

a little tidbit about their name: there is a kanji with which it can be written that means "cherry blossom". those flowers are considered as a symbol of spring in japan, usually blooming between the end of march and beginning of may. another fun fact, haru's birthday is on the 2nd of april :]

Nakamura is a surname i chose instead of Last in the game. i thought it would be fun to headcanon that the family's surname is actually from Noelani's side (some Hawaiian last names are Japanese in origin, hence Nakamura). The kanji i picked to write it are [中村] - 中 meaning "in, inside, middle, center" and 村 meaning "village, hamlet". I think of it as a reference to sunset bird itself.

so once we put all of the ingredients together it already forms an image of a character. i've been reading a book by david day "the hobbits of tolkien" in which the author describes j.r.r. tolkien's process of creating the hobbits. it's very fascinating, the way in which he used his philologist knowleadge - digging up the word first and then tracing it's origins and the word family to slowly create the hobbits we know today. my process of creating haru was somewhat similar in methods, though definitely not the process (god no, i am nowhere near tolkien's level). i wanted to mention that because the words we use to describe the world, or in this case characters are important.

i like to think that haru's whole name means "spring in a village", with them being the embodiment of said season, connected to an undeniably summer town. a little bit like baxter, our resident autumn boy stumbled into a seaside tourist town. only in haru's case the lines are more blurry. i think of them as the manifestation of the spring/summer period, when the sun shines brightly and trees bloom but the wind is still chilly and strong.

in any case, let's move further! fairies know i could talk just about their name forever

Step 1: welcome to childhood folks! in step 1 Haru uses their birth name, Kaito, and he/him pronouns. Kaito is a lonely child who wants only one thing - to have a friend. he is too fat, too shy, too different from other kids his age, which leads to him being isolated from them. this plants the first seeds of his insecurities that will follow him into the future. being ignored and laughed at really impacts Kaito, who only wants to make friends with anybody. it makes this thought slowly grow at the back of his mind: "there is something fundamentally wrong with me." thankfully, he has the support of lizzie and their moms and the soothing sound of the waves and the warm sand at the beach, which make his social isolation feel less hurtful.

when it comes to his personality, Kaito is an open-hearted, open-minded kid who is quite shy. he is naive, terribly impatient and impulsive which can be a fatal combination. curiosity is another defining trait of his - not really with any things of an academic nature, but definitely about other people, so much he can be very nosy. despire that he is pretty good at reading social cues and figuring out people's feelings. if only he had enough foresight to actually confirm his thoughts with others - he is prone to assume things solely based off his judgement. he is empathetic and a good listener. his tendencies in people-pleasing are only starting to grow, but it will be a huge problem down the line.

a sidenote about his design: colours chosen for each step hold a meaning. the colour palette for step 1 is a triadic colour scheme with purple, teal and yellow. i chose those colours because they remind me of summer, and in step 1 kaito is at the beginning of his growth as a person. at this point in their life, they are connected with summer as a season the most, because they have yet to begin the process of figuring themselves out and understanding themselves.

Cove moving in is a turning point for Kaito. he changes his life by befriending him. it doesn NOT alleviate the insecurities and doubt still nestled in Kaito's heart. rather he views Cove as someone special for befriending him. the setting for their relationship is Nervous Fond. Kaito likes Cove immediately (as they do with most people, they are very open) but is very nervous about this whole making friends process.

Alright this all probably sounds very angsty but this internal turmoil of Kaito's is (for now) very much in the background. think of it like a box covered with sheets, dusted over and hidden in the attic. step 1 is mostly cute kid shenanigans (and some crying).

Songs:

hawaiian roller coaster ride - mark keali'i ho'omalu, kamehameha schools children's chorus; lilo and stitch original soundtrack

the right amount of dumb - kan gao; finding paradise (original game soundtrack)

i have a hole in my tooth (and my dentist is shut) - dodie

take me anywhere - kan gao; to the moon (original game soundtrack)

second child, restless child - the oh hellos

(the right amount of dumb is like their theme in step 1 because they are a bit of a dumbass <33 silly little kid)

Step 2: ahhh early teenage years. i think 12yo and older is the time when you start to realize how profoundly fucked up reality is and react appropriately! which is exactly what Haru is going through, on top of being obsessed with becoming popular. sigh.

step 2 is very rough for Haru. for one, their insecurities from childhood only grow. they see their inabilty to create a large circle of friends as a reflection of their worth. their self-esteem is at all time low, which is why they do everything they can to cover it up. kids are cruel so they cannot show any weaknesses. in order to cover up their low self-confidence they become very arrogant,they arrive at this conclusion: if they are so unlikable (false) then they only need to pretend to be someone else entirely to make people like them (bruh. teenage brain is a mystery).

and so begins their fabrication of themselves, altering parts of their appearance, personality even giving up and picking up hobbies just to appeal to the 'popular kids'. deep inside they know that this is futile. you cannot make people like you, you cannot make them respect you if they don't no matter how hard you try. but they are so starved for social interactions, that it doesn't matter at the moment. if they get to hang out with the cool kids, if people wave to them in the corridors then what does it matter that the person they are greeting is fake?

those purposeful but forced changes consume them. they are constatly playing a role around people they know but don't trust - they can only relax with their family, Cove and Derek. but even then, they aren't fun to hang out with that much. seeing as they can reveal their true thoughts only then, it makes them constantly angry (at everything, but at themselves the most probably) which affects their relationships with their friends and family.

to them it feels like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. they can't bear their soul to the cool kids group, because that would mean admitting that they are not a person they pretended to be - this loud, out-going, larger than life, perfect person. and in their head they think they can't reveal anything to their loved ones either - it would mean admitting defeat in making friends.

so yeah, the struggle is there y'all. despite all the harm that comes from their behaviour and their environment, they learn a couple of things too. they realize they aren't a mind reader and perhaps asking people about their problems is better than assuming you know what is wrong, even if you are like 99% sure you know. doesn't mean they won't ask in the most blunt, tactless way possible tho. their shyness as if evaporates completely - you're not gonna make it far in middle school being shy. funnily enough, they are a massive people-pleaser. you'd think that this bold, boisterous teen star would be far from it, but every action Haru performs in their school circle is for the approval of others. if there are any mild upsides to their state is that they can fulfill their innate need of connecting with other people. it's not deep or meaningful in most cases but what can you do.

as you probably noticed, the main colour of this step is green. but why? green is such a nice colour, with so many positive meanings... sike! i mean yeah it is, but you know what else green symbolises? greed and envy. i used green for this step to highlight haru's desire of becoming popular not as a genuine dream, not even as a way to connect with others but because of the immense jealousy they felt. of other people who got to have friends that liked them for who they are. of elizabeth especially, who never seemed to struggle with making people like her. in this stage of their life, green is definitely a negative colour for them.

the comfort level in step 2 is Direct Fond for both Cove and Derek. no matter which route i'm deciding on romantically, haru does not have a crush on anyone in step 2, or at least doesn't allow themselves to have.

Songs:

freaks - surf curse

kawaki wo ameku [カワキヲアメク] - minami [美波]

carnivore - starset

stand out fit in - one ok rock

remember my name - mitski

(i especially like carnivore for this step because haru starts avoiding eating meat, cause they don't like the taste that much. the choice of this song is a bit of an inside joke for me, also the lyrics fit very well)

Step 3: we enter era of healing! i'd say in step 3 haru is at a solid 3/4 way to doing better internally. step 2 was their lowest, but now they are beginning to bloom. but growing older doesn't only bring knowleadge and growth, it also brings a new lot of issues to deal with.

Haru has been confronted about their behaviour. the impact it had on others and on themselves (there was a lot of crying and broken confessions, not a good time). as they reached their limit, they finally decided to speak their feelings and accept help from their loved ones.

now, it's hard to simply get rid of one's insecurities, especially those that seemed to be reinforced by the outside world for a long time. they use a strategy as old as time to deal with (not cover up anymore) their low self-esteem - fake it till you make it. some of their arrogance stays with them, as a blanket of security in a way, but they are determined to be confident in themselves.

their growth starts with a somewhat superficial thing but one that they always cared about: their clothes. they were always interested in clothing and fashion but only in step 3 they move a bit further with that interest and begin to make clothes on their own. it's an important passion to them, not only being very therapeutic but also allowing them to express their true self, both in terms of their personality as well as gender.

a major shift in their perception of their relationships with others was caused by realizing, that gaining popularity was not going to make them feel fulfilled. they had always desired deep, meaningful relationships, and while being recognized at school was nice, it wasn't really what they were looking for. this in turn make them rethink their whole "pretending to be someone you're not" business and with their loved ones assistance they figured out that... it simply wasn't worth it.

and because haru is the most impulsive person on this side of the globe, they did not ease themselves into this realization but again forced themselves to abandon their old ways in favor of being painfully true to themselves. and then everybody smacked their foreheads.

haru is a lot kinder to themselves now, courtesy of cove and others, but they still tend to ignore themselves in favor of somebody else. their shyness returned, and they no longer try to force themselves into acting more out there than they are. since the let down their walls, they speak their mind without thinking and are prone into agreeing to things immediately, often finding themselves in uncomfortable or annoying situations.

right now their most pressing struggle is dealing with becoming an adult. they feel as if they had just got peace and stability in their life and yet their friends are leaving or staying, getting jobs, time is slipping through their fingers like sand and everything is different. haru themselves feels very lost and overwhelmed by the future, so for now they latch onto people, their friends, sister and moms and try to spend as much time with them as possible, drowning the sound of their own fear in their laughter. on top of that there is a new guy in sunset bird, who seems to have a bit similar internal struggles to them, and haru feels like they could make a connection for life. i wonder how that will go :]

step 3 colours! they wear a lot of different colours because their style is mostly inspired by the 80s, plus they like to go crazy with the clothes they make. but colours that appear the most are definitely pink and yellow, plus a little bit of green. green appears in smaller amounts and in shades closer to yellow to express it's different nature than the green in step 2. this time it represents growth, freshness and hope.

now yellow is a very important colour that i consider haru's main colour. they are simply inseparable in my head. it was completely gone from their colour palette in step 2, and in step 1 it had more of a golden shade, one reminiscent of summer, but in step 3 it brings forth thoughts of spring more. it is purposeful, as Haru is finally growing into the person they want to be. yellow's positive meanings are among others optimism, happiness, creativity and enthusiasm. but it can also be associated with fear and cowardice and that is definitely something that fits haru in this step as well.

pink is prevalent in this specific outfit, but like i said, the clothes they wear in this step are pretty colourful. still, it holds meaning, seeing as it's also visible in their step 4 clothes. pink is invincibly linked with romance and romantic feelings - something haru allows themselves to open up to in step 3. like most things about them, if they have a crush on somebody their infatuation comes fast and strong, seemingly out of nowhere. but other than romance, pink is a colour of youth and playfulness.

after dealing with all that teen angst, they are very playful. combined with the dread of the future and genuine excitement they finally feel, they are a sweet, sociable person. the comfort level is Relaxed Fond, unless they have a crush on either Cove or Baxter, then it's Nervous Crush.

Songs:

permanence - bears in trees

wishing well - the oh hellos

infinite - lyn lapid

summer depression - girl in red

what if it doesn't end well - chloe moriondo

(i didn't put this song here despite it being the first one on haru's playlist, but teenage dream by katy perry is such a step 3 haru song)

Step 4: sweet woes of adulthood! Haru has grown and grown up but of course, life is a continuous string of things happening and us having to deal with them. some things stayed the same, for example their big ego. from aiming to cover up their low confidence, to actually gaining a healthy amount of it, like in most things they do, they went overboard. and while some of it is still a little bit of a defense mechanism, they are also completely insufferable and a beast of self-esteem. you win some you lose some.

they grew into the person they were always meant to be: free spirited, open, empathetic and creative. even so, they still retain their oh so recognizable traits. their curious, almost nosy demeanor, impatient nature and people-pleasing ways. they are still reckless though not quite as impatient, they learned to be a bit more chill.

haru learned to manage their intense nature. especially when it comes to meeting new people, they realize and respect the fact that not everybody will be eager to form a deeper bond, as much as it confuses them sometimes. they have always been ride or die type of person, but growing up has mellowed them out a bit.

the most growth happened with their way of managing their relationships as well as their perception of themselves. they are a lot more mature and as such manage to maintain their relationships. even if they still sometimes assume other people's thoughts or take up too much upon themselves, they see what they have accomplished and are very proud of themselves.

their struggles now involve the usual perils of adulthood, but mostly keeping up with their friends and making sure everything is alright. other than that though, they eagerly travel and go out of their way to meet even more new people - they do need someone to anchor them, or they will get carried away and eventually step on somebody's toes (or fail to return from another state on a scheduled date).

speaking of their adult relations, baxter leaving was a huge blow to them. like traumatic event rank S type of thing. when they meet again it's a storm lol

when it comes to Haru's other dreams and goals, i picture them with a business that makes custom clothes, like handmade ones. their side job would be helping out cove with surfing lessons and his business. they like to work with other people and are a fairly good leader, but they dislike doing the simple tasks because they are so boring.

last design notes! so there is yellow and pink, a bit of blue and white, at least in this outfit. yellow, pink and white are their characteristic colours, but green finds it's place here too sometimes (to drive home the spring theme more).

like i mentioned, haru's colour is yellow. it's the colour of sunshine, buttercups, the sand and some birds and fish, and most importantly it's the colour i associate with spring (along with green). haru is a character that represents the late spring, teeming with life and joy, intense in growth and weather, downpours or clear skies alike.

i don't think there is much more to say about the colours in this step, as in my opinion yellow is most significant. pink also connects with haru's acceptance of femininity and figuring out exactly how much they associate with it. and blue is the colour of the sky :)

in step 3 they are at Direct Fond or Crush. I like their energy in relationships with other people :]

Songs:

hey blondie - dominic fike; barbie the album

everybody loves me - onerepublic

never gonna not dance again - p!nk

sick of losing soulmates - dodie

rebel rebel - david bowie

dancing with myself - billy idol

(hey blondie is such a bop holy shit you guys- also very much a haru song <3)

wow i can't believe i actually wrote this. i am very particular about my characters so now that i have this sort of "introduction" for haru posted, i can post other things about them! don't ask me how that works, it has to be chronological

if you've read this thank you very, very much <3 and if you didn't, fair i feel you lol. feel free to ask about them if your heart desires :]

toodles~

#my eyes are closing on their own #so tired #but i'm proud of myself for finishing this :] #if you've seen any typos you didn't!!! #mei's kids #olba mc #olba #our life beginnings and always #our life beginnings & always #our life #sunbloom draws #sunbloom talks #<3 #this post is over 3.5k words long btw

[crystalclear97]

If you could make an Aruani playlist, what songs would be on it?

oMG this question is perfect to me.... aruani and music yes yes yes my passion THANK YOU!!

I've actually already made an aruani playlist!!! BUT it's bad... It's a work in progress. I'm gonna show you the playlist and then I'll elaborate 👁️👄👁️

The most aruani song for me is Liar by Paramore

I don't think it needs any explanation, listen to the lyrics and that's it. So I decided to make a playlist because of this song. I had a few more that I knew I wanted to include like Crystal Clear and Thick Skull but that was it. So I forced it a bit: scrolled through my playlists and random "enemies to lovers" playlists on spotify... I wanna redo almost the whole thing tbh. I just wanna be casually listening to my music and if I feel that something has to go in there, then put it in there. But if I'm purposely looking for songs I end up forcing them u know?

So when I have a decent playlist I'll share the link 🥰 (Obviously it's gonna depend on my personal music taste)

Now let's talk about some of the songs that are currently on it 👀

🤍 Liar - Paramore: LISTEN TO IT. I'll make an AMV in the future. This is a fact. Another (fun) fact is that this song is actually about a friends to lovers story but I think it fits so well aruani who are kinda enemies to lovers... slow beautiful song.

What was the moment? It's hard to say I'm sure I don't remember anyway Before I only knew to hesitate Pin back in the grenade And all the ways I'd keep you safe I keep you safe from me

And, oh my love, I lied to you But I never needed to Oh my love, I lied to you But you always knew the truth

...

🤍 It's allright - Mother Mother: this one works with almost any aot character but hehe obviously for me it's them. Cheerful song!

It's alright, it's okay, it's alright, it's okay You're not a monster, just a human And you made a few mistakes

...

It's alright, it's okay, it's alright, it's okay You're not a demon, there's a reason You're behaving that way It's alright, it's okay, it's alright, it's okay And I believe, yes, I believe That you will see a better day

...

🤍 Thick Skull - Paramore: same for this one, works with aot in general. I recommend it a lot, good AMV content too... amazing "rough" song.

I am a magnet for broken pieces I am attracted to broken people I pick 'em up and now my fingers are bleeding And it looks like my fault And it looks like I'm caught red-handed

Hit over the head, epiphany Over my head, repeatedly Thick skull never did nothing for me Same lesson again? Come on, give it to me Give it to me, give it to me, give it to me

Only I know where all the bodies are buried Thought by now I'd find 'em just a little less scary Might get easier but you don't get used to it Keep on autopilot, hey, hey What's the body count up to now, captain?

...

🤍 Crystal clear - Hayley Williams: hey that's my name hehe. This song is Liar's sister so yes yes yesss ss s! beautiful song.

I remember standing on the edge Closing my eyes Counting to three, I Jump in with the rush in my head Only to find, the water was concrete

And now you're pumpin' air to my lungs This don't feel anything like sinking In fact, no matter how deep I go Into you it looks like the water is crystal clear

Crystal clear I won't give in to the fear

...

Well I think this answer is long enough and yes I'm obsessed with Paramore, but that's nothing new!!

Thank you for the ask!!! 😊❤️

#ask #answer #personal #aruani #music #paramore #hayley williams #playlist #mother mother

[skz-maybe-incorrects]

Here's A Little Get-To-Know-You Tag Game!

Tagged by: de wonderfulest ppl @noonaracha @straykidsgallery and @itsstraykids thank you sm!!! (go appreciate their cool point stories!)

Name(s): juni! is what i decided. some friends on this hellsite also call me solar so wtv u prefer. atp i just have a bunch of nicknames bcs i also have a Weird Name, A Weirder (Family) Nickname in real life

Pronouns: he/she/they/it<3 when i say feel free. pls and thank u

Star Sign: libra, right when it starts (and just a day after seungmin's!)

#of Siblings And Fun Facts About Them(if u have any): one (1) younger gremlin brother, and the funnest fact abt them is that he has been a walking directory of telephone no's since he was 4 and now can be relied upon to calculate large numbers inside his head in point seconds. Still hates physics(and most things theory)> by which, he also stores insane and inane amount of stats info (abt all types of things, but mostly sports) inside his head ready to be flourished at a moments notice, which is mildly impressive when ur 6 and debating with college students the scores of a game that happened 15yrs before u were born but not now when ur 17 and ppl are more focused on your test scores rather than ones u know, so</3 also has his birthday on changbin's but he doesnt know abt that

#of Pets: there's a history there. with fishes that my ma deceived me with on my 12th birthday(when i asked for a pet, i imagined smth i could hold) and then liked too much herself that we had them for 5yrs. three times; birds, but my brother kind of freed them while singing a lullaby with only me as an unbelieving witness. a dog (belovedest of em all) my dad picked from street as a puppy and who, then, had to be given away after 3yrs bcs of Stupid Reasons im still mad abt. now i just have street cats showing up at my front door to safekeep their babies on my staircase's isolated nooks till they grow up and vanish and street dogs who believe i have endless supplies of treats and show me sad faces when i dont. i really want a pet</3 but for now im contending with pictures of kitties whose moms operate on strict 'see-dont-touch' policies and sweet sweet strays who like to befriend u too easy.

Fandoms: many, but rn im active mostly in skz and mxtx. id love to be in other stuff i read and watch but since Capitalism hates me dearly,,,

Favorite Color: darker shades of all and any colors(esp blue green and red)!!! can be relied upon immensely to look warm and pretty always

Favorite Song: picking favorites for anything is out of my capabilities. also am just listening to my favorite bollywood playlist a lot these days.

Favorite Author: have a working list of favorite poets that does not end at 1. have not read a book seriously in four years of exam/prep-locking. but even if i did, idt ill be able to pick any favorite bcs, yk. good things in many things. (tldr; its roald dahl) (and ruskin bond who i read when i was 5 and still read when im so tired bcs his stories inspire me to write always)

Hobbies: I dance(perform) sometimes? I write??(←derogatory, dubious) make stuff, mostly poems and stories and tinker with free things i can do, both online or craft. analysis of things with friends is a beloved activity. i liek yoga and stretching (rn in an ongoing war with 3° winter mornings to drag myself out of bed and go to class at 6) cooking when i have time but mostly, always, reading (or! watching) stories, poems and learning abt cool nonfiction things (does crying abt fiction count)

Favorite Holiday: none of the above its the trips and getaways u make for yourself. all my beloved memories are always mostly from when our family makes a trip to someplace my mom insists or there's a non-worrying emergency to go somewhere. just family getting together under some pretense, even tho it is stressful as fuck.

Do You Have Any Partner(s): persuading my best friend atm but sadly she's straight</3(no lmao)

Fun facts about you/anything extra you wanna share!: since im having it rn- coffee doesnt keep me up or sometimes even makes me nod off, a fact i discovered after my 14yr old brain had the brilliant idea to try out the cool, forbidden drink after dinner knowing i wasnt allowed to. this is not fun to my ma but growing up in a sort of restrictive household, im also just weirdly good at sneaking and doing stuff im not supposed to without getting caught. i also do not know how to talk in lesser words. this is an absolute curse, yes i have tried. beware</3

this^ is a mess but thank u i had fun!! lemme tag: @winterfloral @syannie @hyunhomoons @quokki @chogiwow @agibbangs @rainknow @lixence @hyunebear @straykidsgallery @jerirose @ambivartence @hongjoongpresent + anyone who wishes to! apologies if tagged already!

#tag games #no pressure giys but also pls do it im nosy and id love to know !! #also ignore. the wordiness. i tried my best

[iamdangerace]

4 Albums Tag

Once upon a time, @ourladyofomega and @justmakesuresheeatsthemouse each posted 4 or 5 incredibly cool albums that they were listening to intensively during the weeks just prior to the time of their posts, which was, I am sorry to admit, quite some time ago. Then they tagged me to do the same. Thank you so much, both of you. Album tags are always fun, primarily because I got to listen to the music you selected, and you did not disappoint.

I prefer listening to LPs, Eps, singles with B Side songs over listening to song playlists. I think that in most cases albums of songs listened to as a whole best convey the artists’ expression of the complete story they want told. Listening to the individual songs is like reading a quotation from a book. It may be powerful, but it’s still being taken out of context.

At any given point in time, I listen most intensively to albums of which I recently acquired physical media. Here are 4 of the albums I acquired during the past few weeks:

Sonic Youth Live in Brooklyn, NY (2023)

This is the recording of the final live performance given by Sonic Youth in the U.S. after 30 some years of touring. It was played on an outdoor stage at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn NY on August 12, 2011. Kim, Thurston, Lee and Steve (joined by Mark Ibold, of Pavement, on bass guitar) sound brilliant on this recording.

Super Heroines, Cry For Help (1982/ 2014)

Super Heroines was the punkerest of the deathrock bands formed in Los Angeles during the early 1980s. Cry For Help was their debut album. On this album, Super Heroines featured Sandra Ross on bass guitar; Del Mar Richardson on drums; with vocals and guitar by Eva Ortiz. Eva O. was also briefly one of the many guitarists to come and go from Christian Death and she contributed to their album: Only Theatre of Pain (1982). She was Rozz Williams’ wife from 1987 until shortly before he hanged himself in 1998. She is alleged to have been in a relationship with The Night Prowler, Richard Ramirez, before his arrest. Eva’s 4 decades + making goth rock earned her the title of L.A.’s Queen of Darkness, and she continues to earn that title today. Cry For Help is an embodiment of her dark energy and talent. Eva’s throaty vocals and searing guitarwork gives the album a very cool goth punk sound.

Magic Dirt, Girl (2008)

This is currently my favorite album by Australia’s seminal indie rock band from Geelong, Victoria. Magic Dirt is: Adalita (Srsen)(vocals/guitar), Dean Turner (bass guitar), Raul Sanchez i Jorge (guitar) and Adam Robertson (drums).

Mannequin Pussy, Gypsy Pervert (2014)

Hella talented. Zero fucks to give. I think the band’s name stands for “zero fucks to give.” On Gypsy Pervert, Mannequin Pussy is: Marisa Dabeast (vocals and guitar), Thanasi Paul (guitar) and Drew Adler (drums).

I’m going to take advantage of the precedent set by @ourladyofomega and add a bonus album: The Lion and the Cobra by Sinéad O'Connor (1987). Not something I just acquired. I acquired a number of copies decades ago. In fact, I was surprised to see that I have a cassette tape still in the factory wrap. I’ll have to give it as a gift to someone who I know will appreciate it. I also hadn’t listened to it much for a very long time until recently. Recently. I've listened to it very intensively.

I tag: @ellingerfarmer @bonnieprincegnarly @sage9991 @maldoror-est-mort @experimentv @thedown5 @sexcaprice @cchris47 @left-handed-leftist @cavegirl66 @myfriendgoo94 @quietquietlife @xenon2022 @hannahcheeks @itsmsstone

Look, I know many of you taggees tagged me for similar things and I haven’t responded yet. I know this because I kept the email notifications. In some cases, it was a very long time ago. I didn’t ignore them. I’ve been slowly working my way through a massive backlog of follow-backs and tags. Maybe tagging you now isn’t the appropriate thing to do, but I also know you all have extraordinarily good taste in music and would probably throw up some pretty cool album titles that I'd like to see and hear. And isn’t what I want really the important thing here?

Also anyone else who wants to play please do it. You can even dm me and I’ll edit you onto the list of the tagged and no one will be the wiser. Then Bob’s your uncle.

#4 albums tag #mine

[amourkive]

SOUL TWIRLING | JHS

a/n:I...am in love with hobi. And i miss him, come home (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠) also I don't know much about the different styles of dancing so please bare with my mediocre knowledge.. stay gold⁷ -Miri

masterlist

/ᐠ• ㅅ •ᐟ\

You stood by the double doors, waiting silently as a couple cars drove by. You really hoped Hoseok would hurry up and open the doors, or else you might freeze to death.

A few more minutes pass, and you hear the clink of a door opening, the hinges singing out as it did. "Hi baby, sorry to keep you waiting." He greeted, laughing as you pushed past him, into the warmth of the building.

Taking off your coat, you turned to watch him as he made his way across the room, scrolling through his phone. presumably his playlist, which was your best guess. You sat on one of the vacant chairs, patiently waiting.

"it's okay, I wasn't out there for too long. I just can't wait to see what you've worked on!" He smiled brightly at your words, as if your words were the only thing that mattered to him. "of course, of course. I'm ready to impress my beautiful girlfriend!"

with a shake of your head, and a short laugh coming from him, your ears perk up, as a song, usually used for waltz fills up the room, and you watch Hoseok in amazement as he elegantly moves around the room in long steps.

You see the concentration on his face as he does a small turn, and you can't help the tightness in your chest. This was new. Hoseok never danced ballroom style, nonetheless the waltz. And yet, here he was, moving so effortlessly across the floor, and you truly believed he was born to dance.

You were in such a trance that you weren't aware of Hoseok pulling you up from your seat, until he had one arm wrapped around your waist, the other grasping your hand gently, moving along together.

"what do you think?" He asked, not needing your approval, but wanting it anyway. You smiled, finally, wrapping your free arm around his neck, nodding.

"I think, per usual, that you're amazing! How'd you pick it up so quickly- look at you, you're not even stepping on my feet. You know how many people have, and they've been taking classes for years!"

He laughs, throwing his head back, as he twirls you around, before going back into first position, shrugging softly. "I don't know...I'm just-too good! Especially when I want to dance with the most wonderful girl in the world!"

You laugh, pinching his neck softly, letting out a sigh, before looking at him with all the love you have for him. "Hobi, thank you for learning...I know it's not your usual style, but the fact that you learned it anyways means a lot to me. I promise I'll try to take hip hop classes to make up for it."

He 'tsk'ed shaking his head, "My dear you don't have to worry about that. I've always been meaning to learn, especially after seeing you dance oh so long ago. (it's been a year) I knew I had to try it out! and-its actually fun."

"Maybe we should get you in Tango classes. I just know that's your calling." Twirling you again, bringing you back in, and ending with a dip, his heart-shaped smiled etched onto his face, engraved into your mind forever;

"as long as I get to dance with you, it'll all be worth it."

And he was right.

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